Seriously Involved

bullits, please

2012-01-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

the life is waaay crazy busy right now so i'm only going to note the highlights as bullited items

I'm sick. nothing new but it's why i have time to sit in one place and write right now
Thanksgiving was delightful. The A-Beane totally saved the day by going to pick up our turkey for us whilst i sat in unbelievable amounts of traffic. Then we had the co-rents over and had waaaay too much to eat and sat around and it was great.
CP and the Other Pretty Co-Rent are preggos!! Yay! Couldn't happen to a nicer set of folks. Spark is beside herself excited. The Boo is pretty anticipatory as well. (Just between you and i, i happen to know for a fact that they're having a girl because i had a dream and my dreams are NEVER wrong. Except the ones where i'm flying and that just may be something that just hasn't happened yet....!)
Went to and came back from Israel. Amazing. I loved it. The trip was exhausting but so very lovely and inspirational and mind-expanding, blah, blah, blah but really -- soooooo glad i got to go and so glad i went.
X-mas = also lovely. Felt a bit rushed due to the fact that I got back second before the actual day but the tree The Spark picked out was grand and i do love breaking out the x-mas decorations!
Got the best boots for my B-Day from the Angel and the D-Boy in the Tex of As. They. are. beautiful.
Heard from DB that they may be close to re-locating the babies and the grandparents back to Japan soonish. (Everyone is in NM right now homesteading whilst DB and the Little Lady work on making Tokoyo a more conducive place to grow up in/not die of radiation poisoning. Fingers crossed for them. i imagine it's hard to be apart for so long.
The Teenager is going to her first High School Dance social thing and she has a FANTASTIC dress! Really quite spectacular that she selected herself and was sashaying around in just a little bit ago.
I had a really serendipitous opportunity present itself over the last few days about which i am wildly excited but am not going to say much so as not to go jinxing anything (!!) {squeal}
Dogs escaped from the backyard and somehow made it all the way to the tiny island-city next to ours before being brought to justice. Thinking of changing their names to Bonnie and Clyde.
Adam Ant, who i was going to see in just a few weeks has re-scheduled his show for October making me sad but strangely o.k. with it.
Pretty Boy is engaged to be married to his very lovely lady-friend, which is awesome
My OTHER long-lost roomie buddy, R-Pick just recently wed his long-time GF as well -- also spectacularly awesome (although he announced it by changing his status on Facebook which does give me a rather slight pause/shiver vis a vis the world today but whatev...)
Family is doing well in gen. Everyone is healthy and growing. (Basically i plan on being the shortest member of our little group by the year 2014)
My and the Wife seem to be getting along. Not a bunch of time to actually see each other but when we do find it, it tends to be sweet. :-)
Work, kind of a lot but predictably so. {sigh} Hopefully we'll get things a little more sorted out over there so everything doesn't have to be so silly all the time but regardless, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new team. they = awesome.

K. that's it for now. i'm feeling the strain of being upright/need to be in a more fit shape later today to go pick up some childrens so.... Ta til later.

two weeks and counting

2011-11-13T12:24:00.001-08:00

You know what's cute?? A crate full of pit bull puppies that's what!

Me and the Little Big Girl just got back from taking the kitten (and friend) to the vet clinic over on Broadway (which I LOVE, BTW) and in addiction to all the randomly just sort of generically cute dogs/cats that were there, some man rolled in with a crate full of Pit puppies - about nine of them, all about 4-6 weeks old! Seriously, there ought to be a law.

{sigh} So, we're getting closer and closer to that magical Nov. 29 trip to the land of the Israel and i'm getting a little panicky about having everything as sorted out as possible. I mean I know everything will be fine, but i'm also kind of a mess right now (inside, where you can't see it as opposed to my usual external squalor which i totally own/think is kind of cute!) ...

also just realized that i've not really sat down to document the life in a REALLY long time so feeling a little lacking on that front as well. Not lacking in the sense that i plan to do anything about it, just like maybe i should. :-)

broke my toof!

2011-09-22T09:16:00.001-07:00

Doh! i cracked my tooth last night (chewing gum. that's right. gum. i am officially a mess.) and now it's all jagged and annoying and my dentist can't fit me in until monday. Probably need a root-canal crown. Blah.

Plus, i'm already all stressed out about money (or lack thereof). Double blah!

the good the bad and the just plain sucky

2011-09-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

This week-end was intense. All our bikes were stolen. This is less about me because i am a slug from way back but the Wife and the Big Big Girl and to some significant extent, the Little Big Girl LOVE their bikes. And they had really nice bikes. Sad. We do have renter's insurance and the Wife is busily looking into getting things documented and sorted through and eventually, i feel like we'll get replacement bikes but still...A weirdly annoying counterpoint to an otherwise normal Friday.

We also got a kitten. A little orange stripey one. it came from a semi-feral mom who produces litters every couple of months and this time she popped out a few orange ones which is like CRACK to my Wife so... The Boo and her buddy went and rounded one up and here we are! Cute coming out of our ears!

Then, I got to go on this nifty "three-hour cruise" thing with my buddy IHOEL which was fabulous. Really, the cruise itself was a vendor relation thing but the vendors happen to be adorable/super nice, the food was tasty (the big sized food at least. I wouldn't go near the tiny stuff with a ten-foot-pole but my erstwhile partner in crime assured me it was by and large "fine"), the view was insane/amazing and i met some other folks who were "in IT" but who also managed to not have soul-sucking careers so.... all very refreshing.

Also spent the week-end driving the Little Big Girl around to various parties which was good practice for me as it is what i will no doubt be doing all day every week-end from the point at which she turns 12 to the point at which she gets her license.

All in all, a busy, action-packed, kind of chaotic week-end. some good, some bad, not so much sucky really just lots of "lots"!!

2011-08-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

Art and Soul

You know what i love? I love brown people. Seriously, this may be one of those "I can say it because i am it" but really, a BIG part of why I am so stupid in love with Oakland is, in large part due to the fact that it does things like host Art and Soul where large groups of fabulous folks sportin' myriad shades of brown skin, show up to just hang the heck out. I mean, there's singers, artists, community organizations, families, teens, hawkers, assorted 20-30 somethings with their screechey observations -- it's just loud and fantastic and cute as hell. Plus the ladies are BEAUTIFUL. All "done" hair and berry-red lipstick; pretty clothes, and sunglasses and smiles.... Man. Fun too. we went on rides (and by we i mean the Little Big Girl and her friend), had some garlic fires, watched some amazing dancing (Dance-A-Vision - i'm writing that in here because it's an awesome all-ages-dance company and i'm sure my Little Big Girl will someday own it!); ran into old friends (what up, AEG and O-GVers!) made some new ones - LaLaGirl, you know we're meant to be BFFs! cawl me! The weather was great as well. {sigh} Why can't every street party be like this?

2011-08-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Holy be-jezus!

Whew. K. so just back from a fantastic Hollywood vacay (Universal Studios, Madame Tussaud Wax Museum, Book Soup book store, World's Biggest reptile Show, oh my! Stay tuned for pics!); the Big Big Girl has started high school (eek!); the Little Big Girl had her Musical theater camp show (Honk, Jr.) (awesome-pants); we got to visit the Mistah L-L's (to help celebrate the King's 2nd birthday and finally get to meet his Little Princess month-old sister "Pea"!) and most recently, we just attended a super lovely last-bash-before-the-big-shoulder-surgery dinner party at the BBQ's where i, once again, was reminded why i love hanging out with my best-est and closest buddies soooooo much.

It's crazy that the life is so crazy but it's going so well i think it's probably worth the exhaustion!

2011-07-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

SummerBridge, we hardly knew ye

And so it goes... tonight's Celebration marks the last performance/day of the kick-a** program that kept my big Girl off the mean streets lo these last three years and (arguably) eased her way into the high school era that will begin in a mere three weeks. I'm so proud of you, Miss Boo. You're such a trooper -- giving up all those lazy days for weeks of homework, fieldtrips, forced comradery and early rising! You were a star in that star of a program and while i'm glad you're (finally) finished i'm also a little sad to see yet another significant milestone in your lifetime of achievements go flying by. {sniff - pass the tissues please}

2011-07-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

Good stuff has happened

and annoying stuff as well.

First, the good:

1) I'm going to Israel! Thaz right, Baby! The "largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth", birthplace of the guy who could very well have been the "last" Son of G*d to circulate freely 'monst da peeps (shhhhh! Don't tell the Mormons!); a nation-state which purportedly scoffs at idea of signing a nuclear non-proliferation treaty and yet was "the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as 'conflict free.'"

This is the highly debated; mostly unknown; I'm sure largely misunderstood place to which i am receiving an expense paid trip to visit through a grant/scholarship program thing set up at my work and I just have to say (again) that I count myself among THE luckiest people on the planet! Plus, and perhaps more importantly, by going to this beautiful/political hotbed of a land, I may actually, finally find out why "Kiss Legend, Gene Simmons" somehow figured into the results for every search i've done so far on the place!

2) Having the girls around at camp and coming over after the SB program ends all summer has been beyond cool and probably the biggest thing i will miss once school starts again in mid-August.

3) We're going horse back riding! Me and the Big girl. For a half day, right before school starts. Just the two of us because unfortunately the place doesn't accept younger riders (actually, they didn't accept my Big girl age riders but i called and begged/lied just a tiny bit to get her in!) but i think it will be fabulously fun.

4) I'm really liking our Flea Market Crew Faux-B-Q's (I tried that made up term on the Wife earlier today and she was unimpressed but i think i'm still gonna "use it til i break it!" or whatever that phrase is...!) I think the peeps on my FMC were all really quality people and i'm delighted we seem to be able to have figured out the "staying in touch when we don't have to" part of friend making. This week-end is our turn to host! Whoo hoo! I know, not sure why i'm so excited about that other than it sort of means the Wife has to come but still... i think it'll be fun.

5) we're going on vacation soon. A real actual vacation with the fam to HOLLYWOOD! yay! seriously. i am packing sunscreen, my shades and a bikini. (Ha! that was kind of fun to write seeing as i am currently not even remotely involved with ANY of the aforementioned [see item 4 below].)

6)My A-Tail got herself a delightful job at a fantastic place and i'm sooooo happy for her! Yay!

7) Dirty Boy is back in the states for the time being (and yes i realize this could rightfully go on either list but i'll put it here because i'm so proud of him for being a stand up kind of guy who takes care of his babies/his s***!) which means there is some likelihood of me meeting the children instead of just being treated to pictures of them that are at best five to seven years shy of "current".

8) My girls are awesome. they just are. the Big Girl is so insightful and funny and gracious and BEAUTIFUL and the Little One is suddenly moving into this very lovely mix of silly and sweet and super aware/explanatory (while still retaining the very real ability to make me crazy at a moment's notice!) -- I'm just beyond amazed that i get to see them and interact with them and claim them (on any level). I do not know what i did to deserve such fantastic-ness but i am in awe of their person-hood every single day at least once if not multiple times throughout!

...

And then there's the Bad

1) it's 81 degrees in my house right now. It's hot and not in a good way. sucks.

2) Cloudy the Rat passed away.

she put up a good fight but didn't quite manage to win her last bout. We still have the Daisy but Cloudy was a special little gal who will be muchly missed.

3) Work is hard. Seriously, it just kind of sucks right now. I think/am sure it'll get better soon but Holy-Jesus-to-the-Cristo, i don't care what anyone says, doing your job(ish) plus two halves of two other people's if freaking ridiculous!

4) I'm getting kind of pudgy. There. I said it. at the ripe old age of 43 i am admitting to being in a shape i am not particularly happy with. And we're not just talking "I wish i could run/walk up those stairs without having to stop for a lengthy rest every five steps or so" I really am at a point where i (I) am looking in a mirror or at a scale at the doctor's office where i have to go because i SPRAINED THE TOP OF MY FOOT doing....?! Yes, exactly! Doing NOTHING! and i think "whoa! really??? O.k. no more jelly toast/red wine for me!" [she says as she has another sip of the shiraz by the keyboard]. And it's not just that i'm thinking i'm a bit bloated or that I'm "letting myself go" due to my happily married state... it's more that the body has changed significantly while i was busy focusing on other stuff. I wasn't paying attention and now i'm all puffy. granted I may get fine with being puffy but for right now it's disconcerting having my "go-to" pants fitting all weird.

5) I'm tired. I feel like i always say this but it's always true. I need to get more sleep. i'm tired and i think that makes me grouchy/unpleasant. i know it makes me more yell-ey [she says, staying up late to continue typing]......

{sigh}

actually, i think that's it. I just wanted to try to capture some of what's been going on so it's not completely lost to The Record. Sort of sorry now that i started with good and ended on bad. Really it's a mix and things, in sum, are fine. really. S'all good. I'm happy. tired but happy. really, really happy. :-)

2011-07-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today is the day my beautiful niece turns 21!!!

Such an awesome lady! So glad she arrived in our lives all those years ago, bringing beauty and sunshine and sweetness and continues to be such a freaking fantastic representative of all that is cool about the Magnet clan!

In other news two quotes from this morning bear recording

1) "It's a body splash, Mommy!" [uttered in a "sheesh! how are you gonna not know that??!" kind of a teen-agey tone]

and

2) ... [doh! i've totally forgotten the other one. I'll check with the kid in question and update his post at a later date. Sorry... back to your regularly scheduled programming....]

2011-07-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

Happy (late) B-day BBQ!

Such a lovely gathering! such a lovely time! Congrats on reaching such a lovely landmark year!

In other news, Fireworks was grand! We went with IHOEL and the twins to the Emeryville Marina to watch the fantastic-ness and ended up getting to see like five different shows! Seriously. it was awesome.

We have the Big Girl here with us all week which is lovely. I wish I was less STRESSED OUT though. There's alot going on at work right now. Good -- fer sure for IHOEl, potentially for me -- stuff but seriously, so, so much that needs tending. {sigh} S'all good though. IHOEL is figuring stuff out and (IMHO) he tends to make pretty solid decisions so really for me it's just sitting tight as it were until things get sifted through.

k. back to work with me. Supper will not make itself. Nor will pages test their own code. Although, now that i'm thinking about it... why don't our pages test themselves??? Now that i know the guy in charge of these things, I'm going to see if we can find someone to look into that! :-}

2011-06-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Seriously!

exhausted does not EVEN begin to cover it! Still though, happy and exited that both girl children have now successfully completed their respective school years and have advanced into SUMMER!
Also happy that Big big Girl has new neighborhood friend to squirrel around with and that this last week at work did not kill me! yay, life! yay that my wife who was injured last week is well on the way to rcovery and is once agian walking dogs! yay promise of waffles at the K-D house tomorrow! Especially yay to see the Little Big Girl dance on Sunday! Whew. see, all that enthusiasm and now i'm even more tired. :-}

2011-06-04T19:17:00.001-07:00

Ju-Jitsu!

Oh! I totally forgot to mention, the little Big Girl is all into Ju-Jitsu which, not only is she fantastic at, is a-DOR-rable to watch! Just sayin. :-)

2011-06-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

Boo still gone. Me still sad.

Seriously. there's something wrong with me that i'm so mopey when really it's only been like thirteen seconds! I don't know how the wife deals with me sometimes...

k. me bucking up = now!

In other news, the rat known as Cloudy has a little respiratory infection. the doc says it's normal and that she should be fine but she has to take this nasty purple antibiotic stuff for two weeks. Those of you out there who have never been in a position to have to administer yucky purple stuff via syringe dropper twice a day for two weeks to a tiny, sick rat have NO idea what you're missing. REALLY.

Let's see.... what else.

The Big Big Girl graduated from the eight grade (fun! there were speeches, a dance and a special "parents only" event at which i finally met a whole bunch of the people who are responsible for my Daughter's friends and who I will probably never see again. FUN!)

Pretty much the *second* Boo graduation ended we shipped her off to L.A. to hang out with those crazy Gals about Town the Wedding Planner and Star (who, can i just say, is HUGE -- tall, gorgeous, still fantastic of course but still, can someone please stop these babies from growing up so d*** fast??!) for a week. She seems to be having fun. I am a wreck. Is this how parenthood is supposed to be???

2011-05-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

Real quick-like!

Who got married??? My BBQ and her Lovely Former Gal-Pal-Around-Town Mizz Jill from the Block, that's who!

Now to answer all your questions:

1) Was it fantastic? Yes!!
2) Did you cry?? Yes!!!!
3) Did your feet hurt from all the standing, dancing, hiking (don't even ask) you were happy to be doing in those really hot, awesome-pants, PRADA sandals you got for like fifty cents at some consignment store? Yes, but who cares??! It was worth every "lost" toenail!
4) Was your hair really long/colorful? Why yes! yes it was!

Here are three pictures. One taken by my Wife, one by my Boo/Big Big Girl and one by my Little Big Girl. See if you can guess who took which (these are not from the wedding BTW, those will no doubt show up later):

And here's one more of me and the Little Big Girl just for giggles!

Seriously. It was all just so lovely and meaningful and cool (and Jewish! Who knew!!) My heart, she sings with happiness for those two. Really. couldn't have happened to two more deserving of and for each other people. Mazel Tov!

2011-05-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Mom's Day!

O.k. so really this post is not about mom's day at all -- it's more about how i feel like i've been run over by a slow-moving truck but as it occurs on mother's day i felt it only right to acknowledge that fact before moving on. eh hem. now then.

Last week-end was the Little Big Girl's Birthday extravaganza. It was awesome. there was a jump house involved and some cake (although i let it get all melty and was duly chastised by The Wife who - to be fair - was only passing along info received from a parent-in-residence so really it was more of casual observation that i gave undue weight to/let hurt my feelings, but still....) Fantastic to see my peeps. lovely that i got to paint some faces. Also lovely that i got to catch up on the ML-L news (new digs, new baby due date - well *same* baby due date but news to me! - everyone doing well.) Still struggling with how *old* my children are but at some point, i feel i will come to terms with it and stop being amazed all the time.

The day prior to the B-day party was all about the Big Big Girl playing drums in Windsor with her band at their Cinco de Mayo festival. Again, the awesomeness was awe inspiring. I love love love watching that kid play. i love her band as well. There were some truly talented individuals up there (although there was one weird lady dancing like a maniac THE ENTIRE TIME in like 100 degree heat!)

The week-end before that was the Little Big Girl's debut prayer dance at the church she goes to (more on how an 8 year old gets to independently be a member of a church when her parents are essentially non-affiliated by choice and in some case sheer laziness at some later date when i'm less tired/more inclined.) which was awesome! seriously. i teared up. my cheeks hurt with all the smiling. really very fantastic.

This week-end (yesterday) was the Big Flea Market fundraiser for the Little Big Girl's school and while i was amazed that it went so well (enough vendors to make it "interesting" a line-up of really amazing DJs, live bands and Mexican dancers, great food, no rain) I have to say I was a bit disappointed by the turnout. We did end up raising close to the amount we'd set as our goal but still... I feel like we should have been able to get at least three times the amount of people to attend. Ah, well... Live and learn. [Quick shout out though to The Wife for helping tiny people paint mother's day cards all day and to my Buddy AEG for not only showing up in a "vendor" capacity but for also totally chipping in with helping with the other booths and just generally providing a sunny, useful presence through-out!]

Finally, this coming week-end which is the BBQ's wedding week-end and which will be soooo fantastic I will not be able to stand it!

After that - downtime. Hopefully. Please god.

2011-04-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

This month is all about the Little Big girl's birthday

plus a bunch of other stuff! Excited that aforementioned LBG is taking Ju Jitsu (and is loving throwing her *Other* Mom around quite a bit! Also, lovely that the birthday theme has been sorted out (Monsters!) and that arrangements for the blow-out that will be the party of the year (well one of them anyways) is shaping up planning-wise (bouncy house! glow-in-the-dark-fangs! monster cakes! Anyone????!)Seriously. big fun is guaranteed to be had by all.

In other news, we are also deep into the planning/production of the first (hopefully) bi/tri-annual Fund Raising flea market for the LBG's school. I'm excited because i think it's going to be huge amounts of fun but also a little skeered because our committee seems to be shrinking a little more every week. no worries though! We have sooooo got this! May 7. 9-4. Manzanita SEED in Oak-town. Mark your calendars!

lastly, just wanted to remark on a fantastic movie i saw the other day called Soundtrack for a Revolution which showcased the freedom riders viewed through a lens of the music they took with them and drew strength from. It. was. awesome. Very well done and interesting. Good to remember how it is that i personally came to exist/be so blessed.

2011-03-23T09:38:00.001-07:00

Also exciting

that i got to see the whole DB fam yesterday for a little bit as they made their way in from the japan! babies = ADORABLE. Grandparents also pretty cute. Sorry about the issues with everything, again anything i can do to assist, just let me know. :-)

2011-03-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

It's just a collection of metal parts, right??

Seriously. Who mourns a truck's death? i do.

The truck has officially moved on. yes, technically it "moved on" well over a year ago but because i am proving to be frighteningly true to my New Mexico upbringing, i am all about leaving ones broke-down truck "up on blocks in the front yard" until such a time as I "get around to fixing it!"

Well, another truck came. Old truck never actually got fixed. Sort of became storage moving toward liability then thinking about high school for the big girl and massive house cleaning/re-arranging and "bulky stuff" set out on the curb for pick up and me thinking "it's time!" Time to donate the old truck. time to move on. time to embrace the extra space and let our two car driveway actually accommodate our two (working) cars for once. Very nice man came right on time. Sign here and here and here. I'll just attach these pully things here and here and viola! You're done. Thank you for your time/donation. Have a nice day. It looked sad. I'm sad too. Couple of things occurred to me in that moment, looking at the truck all propped up and about to be towed for the last time:

1) I love/d that truck
2) I had that truck longer than I've had almost anything else (kids, relationships, various homes, friendships -- the one caveat here being the Big Girl who beat the truck by just a few months)
3) Symbolically, that truck did a whole hell of a lot of heavy lifting (first major purchase after supposed partner for life broke up with me, nice/obvious indicator of Alt Girl identity, big and powerful and able to be lived in if necessary making actual allegiance to any one home pretty much unnecessary, cool reference item at parties, RED with a padded plush bed -- nuff said)
4) Almost all my really great pictures/memories involve the truck (even if they're defined by the lack of it for some reason.)
5) More than anyplace i've lived (remember we moved ALOT when i was a kid) the truck defined my (MY) space. Like a turtle. No matter where we were if we were in the truck we were home.

{blah} k. so.... now i feel like i'm getting (getting??!) maudlin. It's just a piece of machinery right?

I'll stop. Entered into the record though, the bumper stickers:

"We have enough youth -- How about looking for a fountain of smart?"
"I'm more invested in the fate of communities than I am in the catharsis of individuals"

2011-03-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

YAY!

We just heard yesterday that the Boo is going to the High school she/we wanted (her) to go to! Whoo Hoo! Such a relief to have that sorted out. Also sort of pleasing/gratifying to find that she was accepted to some of her "Plan B" schools as well (Which given that these school were by and large other people's "Plan A" makes for a significant statement vis a vis her hard work applying/shadowing/interviewing/testing lo these last several months!)

yay again. so happy. so relived.

In other news, it would appear that the DB Fam is coming back to the States. Very lucky/fortunate for them/lovely for me that they were only minimally affected by the disaster/have the visa's citizenship/wherewithall to be able to decamp ahead of what is sure to be even harder times in that afflicted country but sad (super sad) that Mrs. K will be separated from her peeps (even if it's not for long.) Glad to have you all back, sorry for the circumstances. Let me know if i can do anything to make the US stay better/more fun!

2011-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

So much to tell, so little ability to prioritize!

So, here's the thing with the blogging. If you're living a life like mine which is vast and rich and filled with fantastical heights of fun and excitement pretty much every waking moment, if you stop posting for even a second, you will soon find that so many wonderful things have occurred that it's practically impossible to give them their due mostly because they each deserve their own "accolade set" as it were. BUT, the flip side of that then you don't post and more great things happen and the original things never get documented so fifty years from now it becomes impossible to remember exactly who made the boots that Prince was wearing at the concert you went to with your lovely wife to celebrate her 40ieth (!!) birthday (Chanel, FYI). You also might not remember how delightfully poignant it was to see the very tiny, tininess of your buddy M.'s brand new Baby Boy as he sat blinking up at your 13 year old daughter as she held him on her (13) year old lap and instantly fell if not in love then at least in some very serious like. You might remember that you at some point did receive pics from the DB re: the newest Tex-Mex-Japanese-Mix baby girl to arrive in japan as well as LONG-overdue images from the alleged wedding but because you never posted them, they are now lost in the wilds of what used to be a sort of manageable wasteland of past e-mails.

(Yay!)

You might also, eventually, fail to properly recall the giggle inducing visits to the SPERM bank with your trying-to-build-a-family buddy and/or the shock/awe of coming across an online purveyor that featured "specials" on vials as well as urged you to "follow them on Twitter!" (???!)

Or what about documenting the AMAZING clock your BBQ gave you for your own birthday, there's the highly successful "making of the space" that occurred (and continues to occur) at the Orange House in the town of Oak. There's the new dog walkers, the finishing of the high school applications, the impromptu discussions re: SEX and "how you can get babies when you're 16!" with the 7.5 year old (she brought it up, not me!) and, of course the BRILLIANT cake boss parody assembled by the Big big Girl for her Sita's birthday....

[Case in point. We spent a wonderful 5 days in New Mexico with my adorable family at Christmas time and I have not posted peep #1 about the life-enriching fabulocity of that experience!!]

{sigh} It's funny because i thought I stopped writing because i had nothing left to say, but now, I'm actually realizing, I'm just incredibly lazy!

2011-01-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

Yes!

happy Birthday little Akiko Mei! Welcome to the world and welcome to my birthday! (Thas right, baby, yet another fantastic girl child born on the 23rd! Whoo hoo! Congrats, DB -- yer a star (even though I know you didn't actually DO anything....!)

k. so, back to the primary reason for this particular post which is to say happy B-day to my favorite book-mark buddies the fantastic Mizz Tail and the always effervescent Mz. ERG (22nd and 24th respectively) as well as to give myself the proverbial pat on the back for having the foresight to surround myself with the kinds of friends/kids/marital companions that make birthdays GREAT! Seriously. 43 never felt so good! I'm going to upload the comic as soon as i get it scanned in just so everyone is specifically aware of how very extraordinarily lucky i am!

2010-12-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

Lots to say, not enough time to really go into it all

1) went with the Big Big Girl on her 8th grade overnight trip to Yosemite. it was awesome. there was tons of snow. the kids were great. i don't think I embarrassed anyone too much. I got to think alot about a bunch of stuff and so. although the typical wake time was 6:freaking 45am in the G-durn morning, it still worked out o.k.

2) Went to my Little Big Girl's 2nd grade conference thingie to chat with her teachers about how awesome she is. It was adorable. She sat across from us next to her main teacher all businesslike, reading us a few selections from her "portfolio of work." {seriously dying!}

3) got a tree. Yay! I love, love, love X-mas and even though we're technically going to be in New Mex for the holiday proper, i still can't imagine late Dec./early Jan. without a tree twinkling in the "foyer"!

5) got tons of pretty material for the X-mas presents the Big Big Girl is going to make. The girl who helped us with all the cutting was name Jessica and was flippin' a-dorable. I totally imagine her as the kind of Gal my Boo is going to be buddies with in college. So cute!

6)freaking exhausted. me=tired. still tired. always tired. pretty happy in general, work is good, life is good, kids are good. just sooooooooooo tired.

k. actually, that's it for right this second. i'll try to find time for more in depth analysis once my head stops hurting. :-)

2010-11-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

Happy t-Days!

We launched a new tradition this year which I think i like a lot! On Thursday we had the regular, delightful, hosted by the Wife's Fam traditional Turkey Day dinner (which was lovely), but then on Friday we had another Thanksgiving Dinner with all the favorites including scalloped potatoes, really amazing rolls, ham, brownies, stuffing we cribbed from the day before, yet ANOTHER turkey (which i learned to carve by watching the The Wife's sister, Maestro T. on Thursday -- i'm telling you, Friday so directly and totally benefited from Thursday!) AND still more tiny pies!!! {sigh} I could get used to this. really....

2010-11-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

Where to begin

O.K. so i figured out that i'm employing two altogether different styles of parenting with my children:

1) Delivering instruction with a reasonable expectation that it will be considered if not actually heeded

and

2) Doing everything in my power to reduce collateral damage

Seriously, what does one do when one has a child who really has no interest whatsoever in doing something (anything) because you (the parent) "said so." Not just "no interest", but no idea as to why anything coming from my mouth/brain might be a good thing to try. Today instead of getting the typical stubborn face reaction to one of my parental urgings, i actually got a perplexed expression -- and this re:tooth brushing; something that happens every morning not some random wacky idea i had about maybe wearing our clothes backwards or something insane/that might merit further explanation.

Anyways.... that being said, things are going well i spose. I'm sick or tired or both so everything is very "grey" right now. [The Big Big Girl doesn't like that the color grey gets such a seemingly bad rap but i feel like i'm using it appropriately -- e.g. lack of brightness, quiet, neutral, drab-- so i'm standing by my assessment!]

Luckily we have some lovely things coming up so i think this little slump will be over soon and we will be back to our "normal" enthusiastic self. Hope so anyway. being "low" is annoying. :-)

In other news: got to go to the Little Big Girl's School Expo this afternoon which was awesome. The Big Big Girl came with and it was quickly made CRYSTAL clear who the most beloved person in our little family happens to be. Seriously, I think if LBG's other mom and i hadn't been co-opted by another parentless child for "expository" purposes we really might have had to wander sadly 'monst the fantastic exhibits completely unattended and sadly alone for the duration of the event! Sad, yes, but probably something we need to just get used to.

2010-10-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

Shadow visits!

So, this is new too me but apparently kids today go on these things called "shadow visits." apparently the "shadow visit" is paid to a school at which said student would like to attend and is meant "to give the prospective student" a "glimpse" of what their academic and social life would be like should they attend said school. (!!) Seriously. one the one hand i think it's a grand idea on the other.... PRESSURE!!!

Anyhoo, today was the Big Girl's first shadow visit (coincidentally to the school she REALLY wants to go to) and it went "fine." meaning she survived it. I, on the other hand, [heh.] emerged from the entire ordeal with a bruised/squashed ring finger. Noone's fault but my own. Apparently i need to work on getting in and out of my truck without getting damaged. It's a process....

RE: SV -- I think she had fun. At any rate I'm glad it wasn't traumatic. (mainly because she has four more of these things to go. it would really suck if the first one was horrible!)

in other news, the BBQ was sweet enough to host me and mine for some fantabulous spaghetti sup-sup last night. Ostensibly, she was showing me how to make sp. sauce on my own but fortunately it devolved into one of those splendid situations which I love so much wherein i get quite a bit of credit for really doing very little work. A win-win-win as far as i'm concerned!

{sigh} o.k. my finger is starting to hurt a little so i'm going to go. Have say the current outlook is good. A solid B+! :-)

2010-10-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

My Wife is insane!

Insane about the GIANTS, that is! Heh. sorry. i just think it's cute is all. Go giants. :-)

2010-10-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

take your daughter to work day!

You know what i love?? having my kids at work, that's what! Really. Yesterday was Columbus Day meaning (weirdly) school for one of them but not the other so I got to see my Big Big girl basically all day which was AWESOME.

Having said that, however, i do have to also say this last several round of days/weeks is kind of kicking my bottom. I mean, who knew that getting a single child into the San Francisco High School System was so ... much ... work??? now don't get me wrong, i acknowledge that nothing good is just handed to one (although that hasn't exactly born up in my own life but i'm sure there are less freakishly lucky schmoes out there who have to work for the good stuff they get!) but really.... the planning and the schmoozing and the open-housing and the committee meetings and the "shadow visit" setting up and the "discussing" and strategizing with the co-parental peeps and the filling in of spreadsheets and the constant "on-ness" of it all...... {sigh} i do have to say, I'm sort of looking forward to Feb when it's all all be over but the shouting, as it were.

Aside from rampant busy-ness though, the week-end was quite nice. I totally blew my SB Volunteer Committee Chair person duties vis a vis the annual picnic (got lost going there for set-up, forgot a bunch of stuff I was supposed to bring, didn't pick up either of my kids on time or as planned and ended up missing all but the last 15-20 minutes of the actual event) BUT we did have a nice row about on Stowe lake and some quality playtime in golden gate park following the event so that was lovely.

Also not sure i mentioned this or not (heaven forbid i just look at the past postings on this thing) but we were in South lake tahoe last week-end for the Big girl's b-day which was also quite lovely. I dunno. i think sum total = life is good but individually, i do have to say i'm finding the days a little harder to slog along right now. Maybe i will begin scheduling time for actual sleep. that might fix everything :-)

2010-10-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Just checking in

We're off to Lake Tahoe to celebrate the Big big girl's entry in to teen-ager-hood (eek!) in about THREE seconds but i wanted to mention the very nice dinner me and The Wife indulged in to celebrate our anniversary at a fantastic little place recommended by the BBQ called Marica in Oakland (on college). It was AWESOME. The food was great (which coming from me is saying something!), the service was great, the local was great. Just plain great all round. Plus my girl was cute which was also pretty cool. :-)

2010-09-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

Happy birthdays all round!

Seriously. First there's the b-day of the fantastic Wife's little niece, h. celebrated on Sundee, little Big Girl's Best buddy's baby brother K having his birthday today, Little Big Girl's Best Buddy, herself, having hers next week. then we have Our own Big Big Girl turning the big 1- freaking-3 on Sat. (!!) and My own Baby brother turning the big eh, HEM on Tuesday! Slide yet another super important big b-day for our very own moms to the Baby Bee-clan into the slot on the 1st and you've got (i think) the short list of all the fabulousness that saw fit to bless this short two week period with their arrivals! Happy B-days everyone! Mwah, mwah! My heart she ess delighted I have gotten to know you all!!!!!!

2010-09-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

my current writerly obsession...

is with this man

"As for me, I'm valiantly studying French, go to work each morning, come home insane in the evening, expect letters, don't write any myself but still expect, every evening, at the very least three letters. They should be lying there when I open the door, white, dazzlingly white, with the dear stamps upon them, the sweet postmarks and all the rest. And when there aren't any, I get perfectly stupid and can't work, and then I say to myself quite sensibly: you never write any letters, but you expect them! You blockhead!

It isn't precisely that I expect letters, but now I'm always expecting something as dear, as tender as a letter. Every evening there ought to be some uplifting little surprise for me, just like a letter.

But one can live quite well without excitements, can't one, only one ought to be endowed with a bit less poesie and the like, should one not, should one not? What a babbler I am, am I not, am I not?"

I heart him. Plus, there's a new book of his "scribblings" which are extremely tiny:

"his works we have, are written on the backs of tear-away calendar pages or on the detached covers of penny dreadfuls and that the writing is in a script so tiny as to be nearly illegible."

besides which, i think it is rare/odd to be introduced [fictively] to a writer who so completely wanted to go unnoticed yet at the same time was so clear he would like his word-collections to be properly appreciated

"You must without fail be satisfied with me, do you hear? Without fail. And then that little mat. This reality. This treasure trove of in-fact-having-occurred-nesses. This car drove off, and he and she were sitting in the back. How do you like my "trove" and "drove"? Make a note of these words! They're not my invention. How could such delicate expressions have originated with me? I just snapped them up and am now putting them to good use. Don't you think my "trove" is ben trovato? Please do be so good as to think so. Accept my heartfelt greetings and do not forget the pride of that silly little dog. He was adorable."

Adorable.

2010-09-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

My nose feels weird.

No, really. I have a cold/flu/some random disease and it involves me wiping my nose and it feels weird. I mean, how often do most people get a chance to feel their own nose. Like REALLY feel it. My nose feels like a small plum. only squishier. O.K. so maybe it's just me but seriously. I think it's a funny little shape.

eh hem... sorry. moving on.

in other news, me and the Missues are going to an actual grown-up cocktail party event on Saturday night which makes me pretty happy/excited/etc. Major big kudo-prop thanks to IHOEL for providing kid-coverage for half of our rapidly expanding brood! I owe you, Man! no, really!! ;-)

2010-09-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Feeling all happy and effective right now

I'm not at work (Happy Jewish New year, everyone!) which i think probably explains this particular sensation but i just finished sorting out this whole huge "phone call/contact chain" thing (I think) that i signed up for in a moment of intense enthusiasm combined with some pressure from a certain about-to-be-eighth grader last summer to support my kid's summer school program. Seriously. the fact that math was involved, i think explains quite a bit but, only two erroneous e-mails to my list of call volunteers, one completely wrong spreadsheet of student contact information and a phone call to the program coordinator later and i think i finally figured it out! Yay me!

in other news, week-end was grand. the girls made a batch of Dee-licious lemonade from the lemons on the tree outside -- which i've heard made the tree in question a lot less "stressed" so that's good. Noone wants stressed out lemon trees!

we also got our first batch of paperdoll cutouts back from the printer/cutter people and they are A-Dor-able!! Really, seriously. Amazing. Really, I'm so excited about this project, it's a little crazy.

Other recent developments: a number of school check-in affairs wherein I became intensely nervous as to the sheer amount of dates that are extraordinarily important and that I and my children need to participate in if they have any hope whatsoever of being successful in their future schooling endeavors and which I have no idea how i will accommodate... I mean, of course, they will be accommodated, it's just a lot is all. No worries, though! I've always felt that my time spent at work, with my family, friends and/or sleeping are vastly overrated and needed to be cut short anyway so I'm sure time will magically materialize in my schedule. ;-)

2010-08-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

Go Giants!

K. just to keep those of you who know me AT ALL from scratching your heads in concern/confusion... the backstory.

We went to the Giants game yesterday (Sunday) and it was tres fun. The weather was lovely (even a little too hot at times); we took the ferry over which was sweet (yay, no exorbitant parking fees!) and upon which the Little Big girl made (yet another) lifelong, lasting BFF. Had some fry bread, slide on some massive (Scary)coca cola bottle slides oh yeah, and even watched a little bit of the game -- although, truth be told, there wasn't all that much in it for me and the Big, Big Girl as
1) I don't actually like baseball as it is too complicated and i'm never sure when i'm supposed to leap up and shout something (seriously, how is a "hit" sometimes not a "hit"??)
and
2) Tim-Timmy Linsecum wasn't pitching so really, what's the point. Regardless, the outing was by most account an huge success. Kudos to the wife for throwing it all together!

The rest of the week-end was also good. Little Big Girl's very, very best friend moved in down the street from us so that's kind of awesome and resulted in a seventh hour sleep-over for her on Sat. eve.

Since the absence of a child gave us some extra time Me and the Big Girl switched some fuses around in the truck and managed to fix my blinkers. Also very cool. Plus, i let the Big Girl parallel park on Sat. and she (o cor) was a Star! {sigh} i heart the truck. Also heart the Big Girl. sooooo much!

then, lastly school for the Little Big Girl starts today so fingers crossed that it will be as fantastic as the years before!

2010-08-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

the there, there...

K. this week-end was great. Mostly it was great because the BBQ power lifted these insane amounts of weight in her first ever competition of that kind and we got to watch and it -- was -- awesome!

Additionally the Big Big Girl managed to finish her last of three essays that were due today (first day of school) and that required reading three incredibly difficult (in their own varied ways) books and sticking to an insane schedule to get through them all. She rocks! BBQ rocks. I'm so proud of them both! yay!

{sigh} I heart my people. I really do.

2010-08-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well, i suppose i should say something here

Don't get me wrong, i am, of course, beyond delighted with the recent ray of sunshine that burst in upon our typically depths of winter-gloom San Francisco summer. I am delighted because i like it when thinking people take the time to think about something and who, additionally (especially if they happen occupy positions of power) don't feel that it's bad to put the conclusions they derive out there into the world. I'm looking forward to reading the decision though. (I tend to geek out on that kind of stuff.) I'm also excited about this decision being handed down on the very anniversary of our paper-nuptials! Sort of seems like the stars lined up for us and the other 271 couples who managed to get hitched at SF City hall that day!

Other fantastic things that are happening right this second include the successful ending of my Big Big Girl's summer program. It was swell. She had a good time (i think) and we just got home from the final celebration thingie wherein she was "tech" and got to run the spotlight. nice!

Let's see.... work today was the pinnacle of annoying but instead of regaling anyone with long (boring) stories of things i'd rather just forget right now, i will instead insert a few lines here from my new favorite book:

"Until recently it was thought that humans had at least one hundred thousand genes, possibly a good many more, but that number was drastically reduced by the first results of the Human genome Project, which suggested a figure more like thirty-five thousand or forty thousand genes - about the same number as are found in grass."

NOT too be confused with Graci-as!!

2010-07-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

in shock...

Hello there. I am in shock. I am in shock because of a few things.

1) My buddy DB's baby-girl is essentially a grown-up [image re-printed with permission by DB]

2) July is almost over. WTH??! Seriously. it was JUST My BBQ's birthday and now it is basically done.

3) Big Girl school starts in like three minutes. Again.... where was I when they made school a "yea-round" event??

I got sleep (real, actual sleep) in what feels like the first time in a long while so that may be what's responsible for this sudden awakening to the realities of life but still... i'm feeling a little fragile right this second so maybe a colossal roll-back date/timewise is in order....

2010-07-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

All just a little too much

Except not really i guess. the Little Big girl was sick all week which necessitated me staying home a bunch and trying to work from there which was fine and everything except we had this major launch to shepherd for a set of folks who are particularly high-maintenance and so all sort of panties got proverbially "wadded" and all i could do was sit at home and try to surf the onslaught of e-mail demands while not getting too caught up in the fact that my kid was lying on the couch all glassy-eyed and groaney and needing water and cheese and the "black remote" and soup and noodles and not noodles and that "blow-uppy thing" and the cat (for some reason that was never quite made clear to me) all of which was perfectly understandable/reasonable/expected because she was hot and phlegm-filled, dammit! but still... I guess it helped sort of that technically one of the home days was one i was supposed to be off anyway -- at least the "totally abandoning my team at work" guilt was slightly alleviated by it having been "planned"....

Added to all of that though were some really very delightful things, like...

1) I actually liked hanging out with my Little Big Girl. She's a sweetie and i know she's trying to get better. I just need to manage my stress, weirdness, guilt, etc. and stop acting like she can do anything about this particular situation... {sigh} Someday, really, i will figure out the "parenting" part of this and we will all be good!

2)I did get some work done on the Mood Doll project (thanks to A. here in the office for the awesome-pants outlines she did for us!) so we're ready to move a little more forward with it. yay!

3) the Wife and her partner (tennis, that is) won their match in the playoffs last night in a way that was spectacularly awesome so we're all very proud of her. the team did not win overall but no matter, they made it to the playoffs which was kind of cool in the first place so.... Good job, ladies! You're all winners in my book!

4) I'm getting a new phone! this is huge news because I am not the kind of person who typically gets crushy about techie stuff (although i'm not sure cellphones qualify as "hi-tech" anymore) and I am sort of seriously loving (the idea anyway -- it's not actually arrived yet) of this phone! Mostly i like that reviewers keep talking about how clear the sound is. My current phone is a million years old and tends to drop calls any time you make a sudden move (like shifting your weight from one foot to the other.) Also, i like that it makes texting "a breeze" especially now that i'm trying to keep up with an about to be teen-ager who keeps making fun of my total inability to write a message of any length in under five minutes!

oh! and

5) I cleaned my oven. Really! I know.

:-)

2010-07-07T08:40:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been awhile

Happy 4th of July everyone! Happy 7th as well! And happy B-Day (in advance) Ness!!! Tomorrow is my Super Big Lady Grown-up Niece's birthday so i'm doing the official shout-out today. Given "the track record" with me and the posting i feel it may be best to just do things as they occur to me instead of on some "schedule"....

Also, great big "congrats" to the CP for her getting (practically immediately upon wanting one) a fancy new job formatting things! And to my lovely ms. Tail for her continued having and enjoying of such a lovely little on-going thing with her new Man-friend. Seriously, I don't think i've ever heard her so happy about where she is with a boy (and such a nice-sounding boy, too) so, good job!

Actually, i have to say, the past little bit has been grand across the board.

Scoot's project was successful (THANKS to everyone who contributed/supported her/us! You are all rock-stars!!) so now we get to move on to the next big phase of fantastic doll creation -- Yay!

I'm stupid in love with the wife right now, not sure if it's her new cologne or not but for some reason I'm just finding her irresistible.

Minor sickness aside, kids are doing well. Little Big Girl has a show coming up which I expect to be the off-broadway sensation of the year.

Also, should probably note for the record that two sweet little rat folks have been acquired to serve as the Big Big Girl's new pets for the next little bit. We got them from the pound but we "met" them through Rattie Ratz which is such a cute site with all sorts of listings from orgs that end up caring for orphaned rat-people. Really, if you're looking for tiny, sweet, totally adoptable folks to add to the fam, go here first. The pics alone are sort of deadly.

Moving on... the week-end was awesome. We got to do a bunch of family type hanging out which was lovely (anytime i get to watch the Wife run around "on the courts" = just such a "win-win" sitch pour moi!) then after single handedly alleviating the runny toilet sitch (seriously, i think the reason i love being one of the gays so much is -- beside the ability it affords me to be married to my hot wife -- the fact that i get to play both sides of the Girl continuum pretty much as the whim strikes me without being all "hmmm, I wonder if I'm undermining/confusing anyone by my loving of the figuring out how to fix plumbing at the same time as i'm really [hearting]the cute new dressie dresses the Sweetheart Sister of the Bee-matriarch just gave me! And, yes i realize there are all sorts of couplings and lots of flexibility of roles within those situations but still, having been in a few of those boy-girl things, i never felt as "allowed" to be all the ways i want to be without having to "lay the groundwork" prior to busting out the jigsaw. Hm. i feel like i'm rambling here but whatev... It's not like you read this thing for the succinctness) we got to spend some quality time with aforementioned Quality Sis of MamaBee at their new homestead which is divine! We didn't manage to see any very high up fireworks onna counta the fog but me and the Little Big Girl did do some driving around the hood before we turned in for the night and caught quite a few smaller versions of fantastical, glowy, sparkle light shows. Loud and probably dangerous, but fun nonetheless!

{sigh} k. so i'm supposed to be working so i'm going to go do that now. Cheers to everyone. Hope the various lives are going well....

2010-06-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sad.

My Big Girl's little pet snake died last night. Actually it's a complete and total mystery to me why that happened since he was doing great a day and a half ago (slithering, eating, all the regular snakey type stuff) and he wasn't particularly old or anything... he was an albino though which may have something to do with random, genetically activated reasons to die ... i don't know. Makes me sad though. poor little one. makes my Big girl sad too. She was pretty attached. {sniff}

2010-06-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

Wow.

Just wow. This week-end was great. First off, the Wife kicked some serious booty and ended up with two medals (one for first place Doubles and the other a second place, Singles -- wherein she played against her doubles partner!) In addition to this fabulous-ness there was also swimming, hoteling, and some serious Miniature golf! Really. Major, big fun all around!

Also, filmed the video that supports The Big Project pitch. Please take a moment to go review, contribute and please feel free to link at will! The more folks who see this the sooner we can meet that pesky goal and the sooner we can start distributing paperdolls to the masses!!!! p.s. Thanks in advance.

Click to watch PaperDoll Pitch

2010-05-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

Yet another quickie

So, i was thinking all week that i wanted to write about last week-end because we went back to visit the "old house" which was where the Big Big Girl got bigger, where the Little Big Girl came home to and where we lived behind the now-Wife and her then-GF. Needless to say, lots of rushing back memory drama but nice and sweet. Awesome to see my old landlady. Cute to see the cottage again. We stalked the current tenants/harassed them until they let us in (not really. We just happened to be there when they came rolling up, mom in tow, and unleashed some of the Magnet charm on their collective selves. I swear, i'm glad i'm not normally in a position to have to resist myself/my Kid-peeps because it has got to be next to IMPOSSIBLE!) The girl who lives there now has planted all sort of serious vegetables in the front so there were cabbages and corn and strawberries. Cool. The boy and the mom were also super sweet, standing around jawing, inviting us inside. All-in-all a pleasurable little visit. Did get me thinking alot about the good ole days though. I miss that place. good times.

in other news, THIS week-end promises to shape up into a humdinger. First off, we have The Spark's best bud Little Lady K. here with us and she is fabulous! In mere moments we're going to be constructing some cookies then we're off into the world for some Ice Cream socializing with the Rock Star and her Mom, then further off to the Paly Altie hinterlands to watch us some quality tennis playing by the Little Lady in her fancy-pants "seeded" tournament sitch after which there will be BB-Qing and staying in an actual hotel! i know! Sunday = more of the same except i'm feeling like there may be some put-put.... Really, I know every week-end ends up pretty choice but this is really seeming like it'll be super extra awesome! I can't wait!

2010-05-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

You know what i love??

I love it when I've just arrived home with kids in tow, tired after a freakishly long week, looking forward to a little quality down time with the Childrens only to have the phone ring heralding a conversation that goes something like this:

Me: Hello?
Nice person on other end of phoneline: Hi! this is [person from your daughter's chi-chi-uber-prep-school program]. I'm just calling to remind you about Boo's 4 hour test tomorrow morning.
Me: Excuse me?
NPOOEOP: Test. the 4 hour test we told you about at the mandatory Parent meeting two weeks ago...?
Me: Ah... oh, yes. of course. [NO freaking idea what this person is talking about]
NPOOEOP: O.K. well, we also sent an e-mail.
Me: Mmmmmhmmm. [Nope. didn't see that either]
NPOOEOP: K. Well it's at 7:30 so we're recommending that parents have their students to us by 7:15 at the latest...
Me: Excuse me??
NPOOEOP: Yes?
Me: 7:15 in the morning?
NPOOEOP: Yes.
Me: But it's Saturday.
NPOOEOP:[frosty, clearly we're more interested in your child's getting into a decent school than you are but for the purposes of this charade, and since we really do actually value/want to help your child to achieve her goals we'll murmur something noncommittal..] Um hm... If you'll recall it was covered in both the materials that were handed out as well as in the e-mail.
Me: Ah, yes. yes. right. yes. Got it. so. Tomorrow then. 7:30?
NPOOEOP: 7:15.
Me: Right!
NPOOEOP: Send her with a snack, please. The children tend to get hungry mid-way through.
Me: Rightey-o ["Rightey-o"??? Now I'm British???!]
NPOOEOP: Alrighty. we'll see you tomorrow!
Me: Yes! Yes, of course. thank you!

[hang up. poop.]

2010-05-19T16:42:00.001-07:00

Yay!

My Boo is back! where from you might ask. From far, far away where she's been on some "outdoor ed" overnight thingie her school has engineered to make persons like myself sad/get the not-so-wee ones out of their traditional classrooms for a few days so they can go commune with "pond vertebrates." Whatev. Alls i know is she's back and she looks good/healthy/happy, cetera, cetera. Whew! {Sheesh. at some point i really must learn how to handle this whole separation thing a little more gracefully!}

In other news, week-end was nice. had a grown-up date with The Little Woman wherein we attended a grown-up birthday at The Cheese School in SF and sampled (you guessed it!) cheese! Now this just happens to be hilarious because those of you who know yours truly know i have less than no use for most kinds on non-processed food stuffs but the Wife loved it so i spose that's what really matters. Plus, everyone who i've subsequently described the event to seems to think they would have enjoyed it as well so now really, i'm just sort of hoping I have other compelling qualities that might keep the Wife interested/wondering if this is one of those instances where we may just have to agree to allow "date stand-ins" you know, like taking separate vacations....Anyhoo, curdled cow-based emissions notwithstanding, outing was fun. subsequent hanging out in a relatively empty house with my cute Lady Friend = even more fun. Rest of week-end involving packing for overnight, acquiring Jamba Juice and just general hanging about = also delightful.

K. quick word problem:

if two family members who have not seen each other in sixty thousand years are walking down the street post-hamburger-french fry pigout and one young man, late-twenties driving a blue pick up truck, stops to honk/gesticulate/grin/wave what are the odds that he is:

a) one of those random crazy people who likes to honk at well-fed, recently reunited mother/daughter groupings

b) wanting the primo parking space that is about to be vacated by the satiated set

c) an "old friend" of my 12-year-old who hasn't seen her in awhile but remembers how delightful she was when last they hung out and wants to say "hello!"

Really. I mean i get that my kid is da bomb but sometimes I wonder whether the twenty-five-years and up peeps might be better off finding folks their own age to hang out with... Just sayin'

2010-05-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

And the Pimpin' just won't quit!

me and the girls took The Truck down to San Joser today to get a Weatherguard Saddle Tool box (steel. white.) Can i just say... not only was the trip/price/seller-guy delightful/cheap/unbelievably cute with the short, black hair, crooked smile and and freakin' blue-green eyes(His brother had em too. I ask you...!), but seriously, everytime I forget how completely blessed i am, someone wanders into my life offering to sell me a great locking storage solution for a FRACTION of what it cost new then for no reason other than because he's a REALLY sweet person, goes ahead and spends close to an hour installing the damn thing for us. Plus he knew all about Junie b. Jones and Fancy Nancy! (don't even get me started on the incredible array of tools!) Seriously. I can't wait to meet my guardian angel cause i really owe him/her/it/them a very warm and heartfelt "Thanks, Dude! You rock!!" :-)

2010-05-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

"Luckily, I had a piece of duct tape on my knee!"

Also, overheard recently:

"Hey! You just wrapped your gum in my snot!"

Gosh, i love having a 12 year old! k. so. the Dakota has been a bit under the weather of late -- nothing serious, just overheating earlier this week then making an extremely loud intermittent "sprinkler" sound THEN overheating AGAIN this morning... Quick, let's take a quick poll. How many of you out there would have taken this truck which we (royal we) claim to be "in love with" to the mechanic at the first sign of trouble (e.g. the initial overheating.)? Um, hm. And how many of you would have maybe let that initial indicator slip but responded to the clearly distressed loud, wet popping sound that caused both passerby as well as concerned security guard types to check in/recommend various hypothesis vis a vis what might be wrong? i see. Well, clearly you people are not me. Me, i turn the music up. I say, if it can't take a little coolant spurting out of a hole in the water pump onto on the engine then what the hell good is it??! I have however, been known to change my mind about things (and i really do love my truck -- plus, I have not entirely forgotten that the OTHER truck died due to lack of moisture. See! I can learn! ish...) so i actually did take it in today to get fixed. It's much happier now. I'm much poorer but happy as well.

in other news, i think i found a nice little (used) tool box for the back so i don't have to keep trying to figure out a way to some how move the camper shell from one truck to the other and/or carry around a whole lot less stuff. it's not to much but it's hecka far away. Still though, beats both of my other options which, clearly, are not things i'm even remotely capable of so.... Beside, I like it the back all open . Reminds me of The Homeland.

2010-05-10T20:49:00.001-07:00

Oh! One more thing!

Check out my Ex-Baby-Nanny's latest!

She's awesome. :-)

2010-05-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

seriously, where to begin

You know how you get a little behind with a thing and then the time comes when you actually have a chance to sit down and update the thing you were behind on but by that time it just seems like all the stuff you wanted to say isn't really relevant anymore and the stuff that is relevant or at least recent is just not as compelling as the other stuff so you're torn and you're not sure what to write an while you're sitting there not writing you're realizing that the window of time you've allotted yourself to just freaking write something is slowly inching toward closed so you sort of take yourself mentally by the scruff and you give yourself a good shake (because dammit, sometimes you're not above getting a little physical with yourself if that what it takes to make you listenfer chrissakes!)and you tell yourself, "Fer chrissakes, already, just freakin WRITE something!" so you do,(because, let's face it, noone likes getting yelled at. jeeze!) but it just doesn't seem anywhere near as interesting as all that stuff you had in your head and besides, now your water's boiling so you're REALLY out of time and you haven't actually written anything yet -- at least not anything anyone would be interested in reading so you just say F- it (Because, dammit, you're not above the occasional, redacted, swear word even if this is a family blog and you decide to just make a list of all the interesting things that have happened so at least you have a record of them someday when you're wondering what happened on that day, so long ago, when you thought you had nothing to say but still felt as if, probably that still wasn't really a good enough reason to not just freakin' write.

1) Happy Mother's day. i was sad yesterday. Mostly i missed my Big Girl. But also i got my feelings hurt. Also possible I was a little sulky about not having every single thing be the exact way i would like to it to be all the time (case-in-point, Missing-Big-Girl on Mom's Day)... Also possible I was just really tired. Who knows. I did have my Beautiful Little girl though so that went a pretty long way toward making things MUUUUUCCCCCH better. I'm fine now though. Just amybe need to learn to deal.

2) Big Little Girl had her birthday. Happy Birthday, Baby!!! You are awesome and huge and I love you sooooo mcuh it's scary. Really. Sometimes I wake up int he middle of the night terrified at how much i adore you. Plus sometimes i think I hear ghosts. Mostly though because I love you!!!

3) i am (AGAIN) infectious. And no, not the good kind. I hate (that's right, I said "hate"!) having coldsores. Really. Not the 24 hour party they're rumored to be!

4) My buddy, the Rock Star's mom got herself broken again and I'm sorry about that. I sort of want to wrap her up in cotton wool and keep her on the shelf but she's got this thing where she wants to be all independent or whatever...! Whatever... Feel better soon, Chicka. I'm only a stone's throw away if you need me to come over and open any jars or anything!

5) Work last week was rough. Nor horrible or anything just a little hard. S'over now though so I'm not dwelling....

6) got to go out to have some sushi with The Missus the other night. that was fun. Except the freakin' dishes wouldn't stay put. She was fien with it though. Possibly got her early sushi eating experience in N'Orleans or some place riddled with glassware that cruises like that....

{sigh} k. so i'm sure there's more but the water is really boiling now so.... More later I hope. we're all pulling for it at any rate!

2010-04-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, My beautiful Little Big Girl!!

Ah yes, it's been seven glorious years ... wait... or has it been six glorious years...? I'm not sure how the counting works. Anyway. I LOVE YOU!! You are my shining gem and make me forever happy. I owe your bio-mom so much for helping you get here so I could snatch you up! :-)

in other news, i love Sandra Bullock. I just do.

2010-04-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

With great spring cleaning, comes great responsibility...

Man, what a lovely week-end! Let me begin by stating that our yard looks amazing! Let me finish by stating that that is entirely duet o other people's hard work. Namely the really very sweet gentleman and his work crew who were so kind as to stop by on Sat. and whip it into shape. Seriously, it's actually nicer than it was when we moved in. i do miss the two foot tall grass a little bit but i think the appearance/uncovering of three raised planters and some sort of large flowering person more than makes up for it. Although, i am a little concerned about trying to keep it tidy now that we've clearly taken the lead in pruned expanses to lay about in. (Every single person we know and/or have ever met whilst out walking the pooches dropped by to let me know how much they appreciated the clean new look. And while it's clear to me that they're all jealous, it is also clear to me that we just missed becoming "those people on the corner with The Yard" that everyone talks about at the block party.) {whew!} K. So. if anyone needs yard cleaning, hauling, semi and/or monthly plant maintenance, Call me so i can give you the number of Fidel Guerrero, et al, Gardeners to the Gods. They rock!

2010-04-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

Eh.

Tired. Although now, at least, I've had my bone-deep, eternally felt exhaustion confirmed by modern science/my fancy new doctor.

Also, I have a mild ear infection.

According to the Doc, the ear infection is basically a non-starter and should clear up in a day or two; the *exhaustion* thing though (if left untreated) could cause "stuttering, memory loss, angina, twitching, acne, excessive appetite, loss of appetite, digestive problems, hallucinations," etc., etc. the list literally goes on and on. She also informed me that "I'm not as young as i used to be" [shock! and a little weird that such a young doctor would feel the need to resort to that kind of cliche...] and that I "cannot expect to continue racing along at the same breakneck speed as I have been with out feeling the cumulative, system-wide effects of extreme stress-exhaustion!" then she got all stern with me and asked me what i intended to do about it. Admittedly i was at a slight loss given the sheer enormity of The List, however, also given that my pal A-Tail totally nailed this as my particular ailment days before the doc ever got a hold of me, I was able to point to a few things i've been trying to incorporate in terms of de-stressing my everyday world/my newly minted plans for getting sleep on a semi-regular basis and she seemed (somewhat) satisfied. She also took my blood pressure again and let me know i'm pretty calm for a stressed-out person which made me feel oddly happy/superior!

2010-03-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

Just a wee bit obsessed....

So, in my ongoing effort to figure out a viable way for my not-quite-teen-age-child to support me financially (you know, until the littler one "makes it" on Broadway...), I've come up with a yet another doll-making business opportunity and I must say, I'm a little obsessed. I've not actually made any dolls yet but i'm still spending hours on-line looking at glascine envelopes suitable for mailing. {really} This is actually o.k. because the Big Girl has taken it upon herself to learn everything there is to know about the actual production of the actual product so... i think with the two of us on this, it'll turn out well. That is until CPS comes around inquiring about the sudden spike in income/The Boo's sudden need to be "homeschooled"....

In other news, since we're discussing the Boo, she's out in the desert right now with the CP having a glorious time. I know this because i have text message proof to that effect. Being the empathetic, centered, loving, big-hearted momma that I am, I am NOT sad at all that she is not miserable without me. Furthermore I am DELIGHTED that she and her CP get to spend some quality time in the desert which I grew up in/adore, surrounded by my beautiful family, partaking of real quality bonding time mono y mono. Really. I'm not bitter at all.

Spent yesterday bonding with the other kid who had the day off from school. We had a rocky start due to some suspicious regurgitative activity but in the end everyone ended up healthy and sound so... sa'all good. In between forays out into the world, we relaxed watching the Kids Choice Awards (6 times when all was said and done) then for laughs I threw in some Jesus Christ Superstar. I know. I'm not super sure what I was thinking either. I think it had something to do with seeing Rhianna on a pink tank 4 times running that made me think "O.K. Rhianna. Singing. tank. dancing. Jesus Christ Superstar! That's got tanks and singing and pretty brown people dancing! plus it's almost Easter. What better time to indoctrinate he Child into the teachings of Our Lord in Heaven who so calmly gave his/her only begotten son so that we might partake of all the Krispy Kremes we want and still get into Heaven!" Note for anyone who is considering showing following in my poorly thought out footsteps: Your average 6 year old may have a bit of a hard time accepting why the nice man who is trying to make people nicer to one another ends up captured, beaten and killed. Just saying. I'm no theologian but it's a dodgy proposition at best. Here's just one post-flick conversation:

"Wait, why did he die?"
"Well, he died so we could go to heaven."
"But i thought we had to be good to go to heaven."
"Well, you do, I guess. I mean, that's what some people believe"
"So, they get to be bad?"
"Um. Well... i guess."
"And still go to heaven?"
"Um. yeah. I think so."
"That's not fair."

Which, really when it comes right down to it pretty much sums it up, doesn't it.

Oh! And don't even get em started on the mid-movie learning moment vis a vis Judas' suicide. "Well, Sweetheart, he made a bad choice. Sometimes people make really, really bad choices...." {sigh}

Additional note: It is, furthermore, not lost on me that I could have just left Nickelodeon on so we could have instead watched Victoria Jackson - teen fashion designer. Honestly, I blame it on the new administration.

2010-03-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

Quote for today

"It is hard to do justice to the marriage of John and Mary, other than to say that it appears to have been one of the worst in recorded history..."

I do not know why i love that sentence soooooo much! It just plain makes me happy.

k. so, not really doing anything more than posting because

1) It's been awhile and i was thinking about how i never really write anymore on the drive in to work today

and

2) I'm waiting for a work-related "sync"/report situation to finish running...

this last week-end was o.k. Definitely had it's ups and downs. Felt a little sparse in that while i think individually all the key stakeholders in the family managed to have fun (lots of sleep-over type situations that grew into playdates which in turn supported parental types getting to play with their friends as well!) we didn't really get all that much time together which, for those of you in the know, means Sad-Mommy fallout over not chatting about the life with the Big Big Girl/marveling at the Little Big Girl's ability to be so freakishly adorable about pretty much everything..... Ah well. we were not put on this planet in order to get every single thing we want when we want it (I've heard anyway)... plus the upcoming week-end pretty much has us all joined at the hip the entire time so, I think it'll all work out in the end.

2010-03-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

What Oscars?

You know what i did yesterday? I watched my Wife and My Big Girl watch the Oscars. I have to say, it was as interesting (possibly more so) than actually watching the show. the commentary alone was delightful. Plus the two of them sitting on the couch being all captivated/outraged/enthusiastic in turn was just kind of cute.

That's actually not all i did yesterday though, me and the Little girl took a few exploratory trips to a few places -- for lunch we went to a Taqueria where she was all authoritative and ordering her pollo con queso en Espanol! then to the Lovely little enclave that is the Alameda where we happened upon quite possibly the nicest park I've ever seen/been allowed to go into! Plus, before that we all found a lovely little diner type place that had this truly amazing french toast as well as real, basic, easily separatable food cooked exactly the way I'd cook it myself (assuming i could cook, which i can't, hence the diner-outing....). then back to the house to finish putting some quality Decals onto the new (sooooo adored it's probably against a few laws) Truck (I'll post pics soon some everyone can share in the tattooed-truck-love) before the big lead-in to the Oscie-festies. And don't even get me started on the fun that was Saturday with the Stanford vs. Cal Bears Girls B-Ball game and the Alice in the Wonderland viewing... Sheesh. i was just sitting here wondering why I'm so freaking exhasuted right now, but having just written it all out, now I'm wondering why I'm not still actually in bed. :-)

2010-03-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

Some of us just feel a little more equal than other people

This morning i was lying in bed and my sweet darling little girl came in to snuggle up with me. Whilst we we lying there (her very awake, me not so much) she reached over to rub my belly, grinned up at me and announced "You're having a baby!"

For the record, I am NOT having a baby. What i am doing is developing a "pooch"... Not sure what i think about that. I mean, i'm pretty in touch with my feminist embracing of the myriad ways in which my weight chooses to express itself, I'm also, however acutely aware of the fact that I eat peanut butter and jelly for breakfast every morning and recently (this past week-end) actually hurt myself playing (in the water) with my kid. So, yeah, not about to run off and join the next Pilates Boot Camp that the fitness peeps at my work have seen fit to organize, but possibly, maybe, a call-to-action in terms of edging slightly out of the swamp that is my health and into a (slightly) more energetic way of living ....

In other news, this man is brilliant. Listen to his podcast/talk; buy his book. That is all.

2010-03-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

The truck is dead! Long live the truck!

That's right folks, we got another truck! 1996 Dodge Dakota cub cab V6, exterior is a little rusty, banged up, interior is clean though. A/C, automatic door locks & windows, cruise control, tilt steering, faux wood paneling... AND we got it for at least $1,000 bucks *below* Kelly Blue Book! [note: when going to buy truck that you really want, make sure to bring along lots of little girls; adding in one that's a little carsick is not a bad thing either. Definitely helps to sway the nice man selling said truck in your direction!]

{sigh} I am seriously, stupidly in love with this truck. And mi familia is as well! Spark said "it's like riding in a limo" and Boo is simply beside herself for the same "little girls who like to drive big trucks" reasons that i am! The Wife was smiley as well. Possibly because she thinks she might one day be allowed to drive it but... no worries though, she looks hot sitting shotgun!

BTW, lest anyone think this newest purchase equals scratching the Boo art sale/raffle, we are sooooo still on with that, details to follow but rest assured the "Pimp-Our-Truck Art Sale Raffle" will be kicking off soon!

2010-02-22T17:55:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthdayyyyyyyyyy

To the Wifeyyyyyyyyyyy! Right. Despite some random insecurities pour moi, Birthday festivities were AWESOME! We {heart} this place. So nice and accommodating and just plain awesome! Plus, they TOTALLY had the chocolate fondue. we like. :-)

2010-02-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

TBD

K. so yesterday when we were driving home the Big Girl (Boo) kept repeating this really funny phrase that consisted of two words; which was HILARIOUS and which i determined to copy here into my little on-line journaling of most of my "significant" life events but which I right this second, cannot, for the life of me remember!!!!! Arg. It was hilarious though. trust me.

K. in other news, I'm cranky right this second for a really silly reason. I point out that my reason is silly because i like to acknowledge the *very few* times I myself start down the path of irrational/crazy partly because I believe self-knowledge is the key to greater understanding/satisfaction and partly because it allows me to feel even more justified in pointing out this type of behavior in my nearest and dearest!

Now then, back to the cranky. I am cranky because I'm trying to set up this dinner thing for The Wife who is having a birthday (she has one every year) and I thought I was doing pretty well until this morning:

The Wife: I'm excited about Sunday!
Me: Really?
TW: Yes! I love fondue. Especially the chocolate!
Me: [long pause] uh. hm. I don't think they have chocolate. They have a bunch of really tasty sounding cheese things....
TH: Oh, every restaurant that does fondue has a dessert fondue. They'll have chocolate.
Me: [having just read the menu the previous eve] uh.... I don't think they do. Are you going to be disappointed if they don't?
TH: [smiling] They will.

Then i get to work and I look at the evite thingey and I see that included in the "yes" response from The Wife's Ex (who I only invited because I was feeling all "large and expansive and comfortably married" -- last time I give in to that emotion!) the following: "And, let's not forget chocolate fondue. There will be chocolate at this bday party, yes!?"

crap.

maybe i can find/borrow that chocolate fountain we had at our wedding.... :-)

2010-02-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

And now, because it has actually "been so long"...

I'm going to trot in here acting like nothing has happened and we're all good/just spoke last week-ish and give you my current "raison d'annoyance" which is this:

What up with kid's gummie vitamins not having iron (or calcium for that matter??! I mean I know what up -- I read on "The Internets" something about the gummie-ness of the gummie vitamins, not being conducive to containing certain of the required minerals for a completely balanced supplement, HOWEVER, I would still like to demand a certain number of apologies from the makers of those vitamins for fooling me into thinking they were, in fact, addressing ALL my growing girl's dietary supplemental needs when in fact they were only setting me up to look like an idiot/supremely irresponsible parent in the dr. office when my Big Big Girls' bloodtest came back with a big ole "(slightly) anemic" stamped all over it! O.K. sure, it is entirely possible I could address this issue through actually paying attention to the ingredients list on said supplements/including leafy greens (or any greens actually) in my child's diet, but dammit, I am an American and I demand a single pill option that will fix all of this so I don't have to think about it!!!! Seriously, is that so wrong?

2010-01-22T09:23:00.000-08:00

Two things...

1) Happy Birthday, Dearest-Angel-put-on-this-planet-to-keep-me-sane-friend-o-mine, Abby-tail! Happy being 40! It's the Year of the Blanket so you know it's gonna be good!

2)Welcome to the world little AiDen Trujillo! Aka: "Chika"

K. So, DB and the Missus-San had their baby girl yesterday. 7lbs. 5 oz. He called to share and the following conversation ensued:

Chick: Yay! What's her name?
New Dad: Aiden.
Chick: Awww!
New Dad: Yeah. We like it. I guess it means two things, it's like a compound name "Ai" is Love of others" or something like that and "Den" means "gift from ancestors"
Chick: Oooo! Cool. Sounds kind of "american" too. Aiden.
New Dad: Yeah, people keep telling me it sounds like a boy's name. but those are girl's names here.
Chick: Yeah, well Everyone kept saying the Boo's name was a boy's name...
New Dad: Oh yeah?
Chick: Yup. people are stupid. She's your baby. You name her whatever the hell you want!
New Dad: Heh. O.K.
Chick: Who are these people anyway?? How dare anyone tell you anything about what you decided to name your Baby????!
New Dad: Eh. Just people. Whatever.
Chick: Does she have a nickname yet?
New Dad: Yeah. "Chika."
Chick: "Chicka"?
New Dad: Yup. Means "smart" or "wise" or something like that.
Chick: Her name is "Aiden Trujillo", "Chicka" for short?
New Dad: Yup.
Chick: You know you picked the most Chola sounding Japanese Baby girl names on the planet, right?
New Dad: Shut up.

:-)

2010-01-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

It's been so long....

[Chorus]How long has it been??
[Chick] It's been so long since i updated this thing, i forgot me freaking password! [queue canned laughter]

Eh. I blame it on the IE scare.

So, let's see. Long week-end was grand. Made mostly notable by the fact that I survived the website luanch form hell (although given that the LAST site I launched was a complete and utter debacle combined with the fact that my manager was an [content edited per ratings review] I think this one actually went o.k. Glad to be on this side of it though. Seriously. If i wanted something to obsess about that was causing constant stress, life-re-evaluation and thoughts of random panic, i'd start dating again! [ba-dum, bump!] Sorry. I'm waiting for food so i think i'm a wee bit punchy. weeek-end=good. love hanging with the girls. We went on a massive fabric buying adventure and spent waaaayyyyyy too much money on the world's most comfy fabric. It is destined to be made into blankets; two of which already exist and the third of which will hopefully happen tonight. Yay!

What else? Birthday coming up. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about it. 42 doesn't seem like a "big year' in the grand scheme of things but i still like that i'm on the "wrong side of forty"... Makes me feel like "I've got stories to tell" and should be working in some diner somewhere calling everyone hon.... Actually. You know what. i never made a formal resolution so i think that's it. From now on you are all "hon." That is unless you're "Toots". I'll leave it to ya'all to figure out the difference. :-)

2010-01-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

A moment of silence, please...

{sigh}Friends, Family, people who've never met me but still like reading this (nowadays-infrequently-updated blog), it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you all that The Truck/my love/my heart/my symbol of independence/bestower of "lesbian-cred"/(not so)sub-conscious link to my middle-of-the-country homeland/practically last remaining icon of the decade plus that defined the life I'm so fortunate to be benefiting from right this second -- that Truck has gone to meet it's mechanical maker. 12 years ago the truck carried me and my baby out of what seemed to be a hopeless situation and into a future filled with possibility. It assisted with innumerable moved, hosted picnics and playdates, provided protection form snows, rain and even too much sun. When everyone else was going digital, the truck boasted a cassette deck which tore its way through dozens of mix tapes composed by myself to help indoctrinate the girls in the ways of the truly gifted of the musical demagogues (Meatloaf, Dolly, Lyle, Tom and George). That truck survived desert heat, blizzards, my erratic driving and total lack of depth perception to carry me and my babies safely through the better part of the last decade and I will miss it soooo much (this is assuming I don't decide to hold a bake sale of something to raise the roughly 2,000 bucks it would take to replace the -- none "compressing" engine.... {sniff}

Anyway. Happy Holidays folks. Hope everyone is happy and healthy in the coming year and that you are all blessed with every kind of wonderful goodness. I heart you all and look forward to communing with each and every one of you as we all march on. We'll just have to plan our communing around the bart/bus schedules, is all. At least until I learn how to stay on a bike for more than thirteen seconds. :-)

2009-12-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

Eek!

I have a follower! Sorry, blogger just updated it's interface and now all of a sudden, I have "1 follower". Anyway... moving on...

I'm tired of work. Actually i like work. I'm tired of working. I'm soooooo glad that i'm seeing the end of this particular development tunnel so I can finally get back to living La Vida Comfy!

{blah} Sorry. i thought I had stuff to say but it turns out what I really have is the ennui.... I'll write more later, maybe after the super fun BBQ's chickie B-day party that's happening tomorrow.....

2009-12-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

Our forefathers would be proud....

O.K. so maybe it doesn't match some of the other major inroads made earlier this century (or even most of the "minor" ones) But I'm happy dammit! I'm happy to FINALLY be able to walk out of a freaking movie theatre without having to act all supportive about my little girl's desire to grow up to be a (Caucasian) dancer or a (Caucasian) princess or even a (Caucasian) tough Girl who gets to run around blowing up things..... I get that this is "just a movie" but it's also a moment in time where I'm not explaining why "all the people in the town are Peach" or why they used a "Black actor's voice" but made him "light with red hair"... Seriously, it's not even all that much of a stretch. Same storyline as most of the other princess movies, Same cast of "crazy characters" -- It's Disney so, it's by default pretty to look at, just so many different shades of people all pretty without being ridiculous. I dunno, maybe it's because other stuff is sort of kicking my butt right now... but I just really liked having a moment of relaxed enjoyment without having think/worry/wonder why something so basic as portraying diversity always seems like such a big deal....

2009-11-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

Happy turkey Day!

What i'm thankful for:

1) that one of my main supports both at work and in The Life made it safely though massive, intensive bi-lateral, outpatient surgery and is now recouping nicely in a way that makes him unable to do anything but address MY concerns about my stupid work project.

2) That my Wife is staying married to me despite the cranky, stressey, uncommunicative, mood-swinging moments brought on by aforementioned stupid work project.

3) that legally my kids can't leave either no matter how much aforementioned silliness around aforementioned S-project may make them want to.....

{sigh} K. enough of that. I am actually really thankful that i have a job. A very lovely job that is accommodating and kid-schedule friendly and where wonderful people abound who make me happy just cause they exist. I'm happy my friends are healthy and (relatively) happy and that families (and dogs) are intact and thriving. I'm thankful that my brothers and mom are doing well especially given "the economic climate." I am thankful that my Wife continues to be such an amazing font of support and assurance and information (and that she continues to allow me access to her 'pert little figur and killer smile!!) I am happy/thrilled that she (The Wife) has a new job to look forward to and the assurance of the few quality people at her old job that she was valued and will be missed. I'm thankful my babies are healthy, (relatively) happy and a freaking joy to be around every single minute of every single day. I'm thankful i have such great friends who combine supportive with understanding with butt-kicking in all the right proportions according to highly changeable situational "needs".... Hell, I'm even sort of thankful my dogs like each other so much as it would be sad to have to figure out how to raise them separately!

2009-11-11T19:34:00.000-08:00

Good hair

Also wanted to mention that i had a very fun date last night with my very good friend Mizz Tail. We went to see Good Hair which was a (IMHO) very good movie -- nuanced, sweet, factually correct (mostly), culturally interesting, thought/conversation inducing etc. etc. -- but which also marked the first time in well over a year that i've gone with an adult to see an adult movie sort of kind of when it was still topical! I am so proud of myself. What with that and the walk I managed to cajole my BBQ into taking with me this week-end, I'm feeling quite on top of my "get out and hang out with those people you say you like" new year's resolution... Sure, I'm kickstarting it a wee squeach late but whaddaya want??? I've been busy. We got a puppy! Sheesh...

2009-11-11T19:23:00.001-08:00

yay!

I would first like to say that I am just so happy/thrilled that The Wife has landed a fancy-pants new position with a cool-seeming company that is mere minutes away from mine own work place (hint, hint, lunch anyone?)

She's being all practical and cute right now with the "Well, I mean it's good and everything but I think we're still going to have to figure out how to manage the Boo schedule since it'll probably be awhile before I'll be allowed to work a more flexible schedule..." As IF. As if I'm going to segue from concerned to sensible without even a few minutes devoted to sheer, unabridged delightedness. Whom, might I ask, does she think she's married to?? Forget the potential rearranging of a schedule or two. Wifey got a new job! She is no longer going to be stifled and annoyed (well not in the same way anyway) and berated by her passive-aggressive boss over ridiculous butt-covering crap! she will be rolling into a pretty part of a pretty town and working in an environment which is interesting (at least for now) and in which folks seem to actually talk to one another. She will be able to learn new things and develop even more fantastic coding skills and finally, have a chance to stop with the constant worrying about "finding a job in this economy" because that. part. is. done! I am thrilled. Thrilled, I tell yas. I love you baby. Seriously, Couldn't have happened to a better goil!

2009-10-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

"The amount of Effort matches the amount of Desire"

My lovely friend Mizz Tail used this phrase yesterday whilst she was "breaking something down for me" and I just thought it was lovely. not just lovely sounding but really clarifying as well. I'm sad for her because her Pooch is not feeling well and she is down about it. I hope things get better fast as I simply cannot have one of my very best-est buddies feeling sad mere moments before the best day of the year! There's also this new study which i think further bolters my point (DST = why????!) if you think i'm just being curmudgeonly...

Beyond that, things are going o.k. i'm hating this project we're working on at work but mostly because it's a freaking lot to do/think about, not because it's going badly or anything. I just kind of want a break from obsessing about it all the time is all.... ah well. that extra hour of sleep will help i think. Halloween parties at the Bees will help as well! Yay! now i'm happy agian.

2009-10-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

"Mommy, i have an eraser in my nose and it hurts."

This is the phrase my 6 year old used as she strolled into the bathroom minutes before i was supposed to take her to school this morning. I glanced her direction, saw no eraser and thought "Hm. maybe 'eraser' is code for dried mucus or something. Possibly a term she picked up at school." Then, being the exemplary type of parent I am, I ignored her mostly. Kept brushing my teeth. Asked her somewhat distractedly where she got the eraser from. How it got in her nose, etc. All the while, flossing the teeth, wondering about the demands of the day ahead.... "From the pencil." she said. She was "playing with the eraser. it came off the end", so she put it in her nose. "now it hurts." This, folks, was the point at which I started paying attention.
I sat her down. Examined the nostril in question and saw.. an eraser. A pink one. in her nose. Queue minor freak-out. "Omigawd, are you o.k???? An eraser?? Where'd you get that from?? Why in your nose???! K. Wait. Sit, just sit. don't touch it [scrambling through cosmetics bag looking for tweezers] does it hurt??" [she nods having already answered these particular questions but humoring me because it would seem i am FINALLY trying to be useful] Find the tweezer, silently thank god for my "collector/hoarding" ways, channel the Milton-Bradley old-school game "Operation" et viola, one pencil eraser extracted from one tiny nostril without even a small visit to the emergency room! Yay for me!/God. Why did it take me so freaking long to respond??? Useless. i am useless. And, quite clearly, not equipped to raise a "normal" child.....

2009-10-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

And then there was pink...

O.K. so, those of you in the know, know that i'm always messing with my kids' hair. Not in any sort of "political" or "I wish you'd brush your hair more often!" kind of way because, seriously, who would i have to become to really start caring about stuff like that??? but more in a, "so you wanna be a rockstar, eh...." kind of way. So, this week-end me and the Big Big Girl were sitting around discussing hair facts and hair boredom (and "passing for straight/boring now that i'm married/in a 'respectable' job/profession") and decided it was high time she repaid the coiffure favor by helping me make my head a little more interesting to look at. Then, being decided and after doing a tiny bit of research, we took a little trip to the local beauty supply and got us some hair (mostly brown, some pink), sat ourselves down on the stoop, did some twisting and waxing et viola! A mere 45 minutes later we had Me with large, fluffy doll-like hair. Very fluffy. The predominant theme was locks without all the twisting. I gotta say, I love it! Even the Big Big Girl approves. the Little Big Girl is withholding comment but i think that's more because she was gone all week-end at some massive sleep-over birthday Hannah Montana princess party than because she actually formed any lasting opinions. I'm not entirely sure how the Wife feels but I do know she's at least still willing to kiss/snuggle me so... probably the best i can hope for at this point!

Oh! Also, wanted to give a little shout-out to the fantastically fun crew I got to hang with this past Thursday at some random PJA fundraising dinner. (That's right folks, I'm finally embracing my progressive Jewish Side!) the dinner itself was quite lovely, the company was awesome and one of the speakers, Ruth Messinger, was brilliant. Really. I want to be her when/if I grow up. Or at least just get really close to people who are really close to her so I can continue staring at her without her thinking it's creepy. :-)

2009-10-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

One other thing i wanted to mention whilst avoiding diving into API definitions and contextual field labeling (blah...)

I love my Spark. Her school was out on Friday and we had THE best time ever! Seriously. I'd been promising her all summer that i would take her to China town and so, after a brief stop off at the place that pays my bills, we escaped into the world to do some touristy type siteseeing. Awesome! She was especially captivated by the red paper lanterns. The nice lady at the noodle bar was captivated by the sheer quantities of chow mein my Little Big Girl was able to eat. Seriously. She was sort of in awe. kept saying "She eat alot!" and giving her extra stuff (like egg rolls and potstickers and plastic monkeys. Not sure why the monkey but hey, when in ChiTown....) We also stopped in to have a peek at the Rose Window in Grace Cathedral. Have to say, the Spark was not all that impressed by the stained glass but she was all over the Friar paintings/carved gargoyle people. We had to leave suddenly though because she started asking what all the imagery was for and I didn't have a nice little succinct answer for her vis a vis 2000 years of inductive Christianity and the creation of massive (expensive) edifices supported by colonized riches. It was pretty though.

2009-10-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

Jealous!!!

Me that is. Of Mistah L-L and his getting to spend the day with the fantastic-ness that is da Boo. Mizz Boo had the day off from school on Monday and the L-L totally stepped up (finally) to his God-Uncle duties and took her out on the town to celebrate the big 1-2. Judging by the photographic evidence.....

It would appear that they had a good time. :-)

FYI: please note that the controversy happening in the image above centers on a certain someone getting a chair and the other animals being jealous.... Hm. life lesson pour moi or just random coincidence... you decide.

2009-10-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

First and foremost....

How freaking cute is this???!!!!

k. sorry. moving on....

2009-10-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

something pithy goes in here...

So, i'm sort of an awkward mental place right now because it's my year one wedding anniversary and while I am DELIGHTED to have managed to remain kept for a span of time that is twice the going rate in Hollywood, I am also at work where the wife is not and I'm really feeling more "overwhelmed with work project" than all "inspirational notes for posterity" right now. i mean I will be excited -- we have a whole situation planned for the eve and I am beyond happy and content with the life and the Wife.... Basically, i feel like i need to put something here as a placeholder for the date, though so that when i do come back with all the sappy stuff (probably tomorrow), you, the readership will hopefully not think that I am completely lame/forgot the largeness of today!

In other news, Happy Birthday to my beautiful Baby brother who may or may not be turning 39 as we speak! The Wife thinks they're the same age but i'm really not sure. i sort of stopped counting after i hit 16. Suffice it to say, i know he's close enough in age to have witnessed at least two of my high school years so for that reason alone, I need to keep him happy/in my camp!

2009-10-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

66!

You know what's easy? My life.

You know what's hard? Walking 60 freaking miles over a three day span without
1) dying
2) giving up and
3) being the world's biggest grouchy-pants after completing the ordeal and being suddenly surrounded by hundreds of happy, still-having-all-their-toenails-supporter-types who want you to remain standing so you can tell them "all about it!"

BBQ, you are an incredible, inspirational, amazing athlete and i am sooo thrilled you let me continue to bask in your reflected glory. Also, so in awe/proud that you came in 66th out of 1000+ walkers!!! You're a rock star. I {heart} you!

2009-10-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

And the winner is....!

Me! Why, you ask? Simple. Because this is the day the clearest indication that i am among the luckiest people on the planet waltzed into my life. Happy Birthday Big Big Girl Boo. You are my greatest accomplishment and have already in the twelve short years you've been on earth, brought me all the happiness one person could ever hope to need!

Also, major shout-out the The Missus bee whose birthday managed to squeeze by yesterday without me documenting it for blogosphere posterity but who still remains my go-to for a nice, solid, crafty, sweet example of what goodness looks like. Thank you so much for being born, growing up and letting me tag around your life. I'm better for knowing you and yours.

Lastly, Congratulations on a day well walked to the BBQ who is partaking in the fund-raising extravaganza that is the Three-Day-Walk-to-Cure-Breast-Cancer! We are unbelievably proud of you and what you've accomplished (in training walks alone!) and I, for one, can't wait to see you at the closing ceremonies!

2009-09-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

Still waiting...

so you know how you can have one of those days where things seem to be trundling along fine then all of a sudden they're not anymore...? I had one of those days. It's all sorted out now but still. I'm all wrapped up in my head trying to sort it all out and i know there's no "big Thing" that needs to happen but i feel like there must be or should be or whatever so i can *do* something to somehow "fix" everything... eh. i don't know. just feel a little stymied i guess. And tired. I'll get over it.

In other news, went to a lovely party celebrating the newly 7-ness of my charming niece which was just grand. There was a HUGE inflated water slide thingie which the Spark (once she got the hang of it) actually never came off of. The Boo went down a few times just to please me but as it really wasn't her scene we ended up hanging out in the front yard enjoying the quiet/tree swing. Also very nice getting to hang with the Boo uninterrupted-like. We should really do that sort of thing more often. :-)

Also attended a B-day celebration for the BBQ's Little Princess last night which was also quite the hit with the Little Big Girl. Then tomorrow we're going to (you guessed it) ANOTHER B-day party for the Rock Star which will involve an actual viewing of the actual movie FAME which is now in a theater near you! {Whew} I know. I don't think it's physically possible to squeeze in any more celebrating at least not until next week when the Big Big Girl's birthdayz commence with the commencing! Yay!

2009-09-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Back to school nights rock!!

O.K. sure, i complain about having to go and drag my feet a little getting there but really, i actually do like hearing what the folks who are essentially raising my kids during the day have to say about their jobs/expectations. Ths year both girls eem pretty set. The Big Big Girl in particular I predict will OWN all four of her teachers by mid-November. She's already half way there but there are one or two hold-outs who are trying to be a little stand-offish but whatev. One of them reminds me of my BBQ. In fact, scratch that original assessment. I give it until the end of October, and then ONLY because the Big Big Girl is being a little bit shyer than usual.

In other news, we've got the rock star here with us today. She and boo are leaping around to various "Oldies", singing to the karaoke machine tracks and filming themselves. It's times like this when i realize I must have been doing SOMETHING right. k. sidenote, my keyboard is breaking or something and it's making my typically disjointed spelling even more psychotic. Example: i just spelled siienote "iiote"

watch i ll type this next couple of sentences without going back to corrrect anything. alo delighted by this new book i'm reading. issabelle allende the house of the spirits. very compelling. i know it's not particularly nw but it is to me so... i'm gla the world is till producing quality writers who write stuff i like. Gah. o.k. so as soon as i complained about the keyboard it stopped being so wierd. whate....

2009-09-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

How is it possible to be doing so much while accomplishing so little??

Ahg. I'm tired. I'm happy though (now) I'm home. I am surrounded by my sweet, adorable family of humans and cats and dogs... That's right, folks. Dog-singular has become plural (not unlike that whole Adam and Eve thing although I don't think the puppy began her life as a Biscie rib. I mean, sure, it's possible. Anything's possible. I'm just saying., I find it... unlikely.) She's cute. A little too cute. You can see pics on the wife's blog. {sigh} Sorry, that's really not all that's going on, i'm just really super tired and the brain is refusing to think right now. more later once i reboot a bit. promise.........

2009-09-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

AND...

I forgot to mention how proud/sad I am that the Little Big Girl who is now in the 1st grade took her own grown up self to class today. I was all set to take her -- and for once was reasonably close to "on time" but she was all "No thanks. I can walk myself!" {sniff} I'm not actually sure what I'll do once she doesn't need me for anything anymore either.... possibly fall back on puppy/kitten fostering except it would appear that that's actually The Wife's forte more than it is mine. :-)

2009-09-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

by bestowing a kindness that implied an expectation, and by setting an example...

This is part of a quote from a Wendell Berry book i found in the mark-down bin at Green Apple books (first marked down to 12.00 then to 8.00 and finally to 6.00 where I happened upon it. 6.00 for a twice-reduced, used paperback. That, my friend is how you measure quality!)

I'm sitting here ruminating on these words, trying not to bug The Wife who seems to have actual work to do as she is holed up with the laptop on the couch and avoiding taking a bath which I know is waaaaaayyyyy overdue but which, for some reason i cannot bring myself to have truck with. I think it's maybe the hair. long hair takes a million years to dry and i'm afraid of it getting all tangley and matted if I go to bed with it wet. Plus i'm afraid of water AND those friends I still have have seen me through worse so...

I also just watched a tiny bit of Mr. Obama's health care reform speech. (we listened to it on the way home today but it's always better to watch the man. I know i'm not alone in thinking this but Da Prez is HOT! Now with that tidbit (his reaction to a "heckler") in my head plus the Berry quote plus some other stuff i'm trying to sort through for this massive work project we're kicking off i'm sitting her trying to figure out the best use of the time I have allotted before i take myself to bed..... Research pit puppy behavior/growth patterns? Finish reading the Berry article? Call a buddy for a little check-in? Watch the latest Ellen on Hulu? Or just call it a day and go to sleep..... I'll leave it up to the peanut gallery. You all decide. (but make sure you let me know otherwise i could be sitting here all night!)

2009-09-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

Now that we've all "grown" a little...

DB just found/sent me this personal ad he wrote a little while ago [reprinted with permission from the author]:

"Thinking of Awesome Titles Sucks!
Age: 30
Location: New Mexico

For real. Geez. What hard work and I didn't even start yet. K so I guess I'm a super lamewod but I'm just going to come out and say a few things:

Right now, I might be the loneliest person in the world. Definitely the lamest, but that's okay, I have a huge, uh...heart.

I only just recently realized that my poetic and charming nature has long been dormant, and somehow I should really try to get it back.

I miss kissing someone and thinking how lucky I am, and then thinking "hey this chick is lucky too damn". All sloppy and open-mouthed.

I'm tired of convincing myself that I'm happy, and admitting this now, even with virtual invisibility, stings a little.

I am flawed. Sometimes I'm temperamental and I have a dirty fucking mouth. And Orbit gum doesn't clean it up.

When I look back and read over this I will hate every desperate word...but I will not change it 'cuz I'm a stubborn bastard.

There's got to be someone out there who would actually want to love me, right...?

I used to be good at sex. (holy crap) I wonder if I ever will again. (Jesus, James)

I love sad music.

I am NOT medicated. And sometimes I think I should be. But fuck Earth.

My roommate just asked what a personal ad is. ? (and now I'm trying to figure out who the loser is)

Morrissey was better than The Cure. Yes he was.

I am sooo tired of porn. Seriously.

I quit smoking 08/21/07.

I quit drinking 2 years ago.

I quit smoking weed 3 1/2 years ago.

I quit doing coke almost 5 years ago.

I quit doing ecstasy 6 or 7 years ago.

You quit reading 12 lines ago.

I've been convincing myself that I don't love someone for almost 3 years.

I love green tea even though it makes me pee like mucho A LOT.

I'm a cancer, so I only SOUND like I'm desperate and unattractive, but I'm really neither. Jesus I'm hot. Okay I'm alright.

I want to evolve with someone emotionally more than anything in the world.

Evolving together spiritually and intellectually would be great too, and while we're at it, can I have some sex please? Okay maybe next time then.

I have a cat named Turkey and he's a fuckin' fatso. God Turkey, you're disgusting. I love you Turkey.

I just bought a king size bed and I feel so alone in it, even though it's super comfortable. And masterbation is sooo overrated. Too much info I know my bad.

Note to self: If this outreach effort doesn't go too well, go back inside your shell where it's warm and safe.

I could love someone with no aspirations, and that's something I never thought I could say, but I could love someone like no other.

I want to meet someone who will love me even if I turn out to be a total failure.

I think 98% of you would have stopped reading by now if you weren't trying to avoid doing those dishes.

I'm the author of "Shakespeare never wrote about us". Who? Wha? It's okay, nevermind.

I have the shocker sticker in my back window and people flip me the shocker every day, which I think rocks. My dad thinks it means rock n' roll because I just couldn't hear myself explaining that one. "Well, you see Dad..."

Is it impossible to meet a cute chick that's also sweet, preferably one that digs cancer men? For my sake, I fucking hope not, 'cuz it's a bit late to change signs.

I was born on July 7th, 1977 and I'm the 7th grandson. Freaky. I know. But do you see why my portrait is next to "rad" in the dictionary. C'mon people.

So I guess I'm meant to be here. Even on crappy days like today.

On a much lighter note, I have a burrito in the microwave so I have to wrap this up."

Seriously folks, am I the only one out there who thinks the boy must have once been kinda "worth the effort"??? ;-)

2009-08-28T11:24:00.001-07:00

Just because i can't think of anything else to worry about today

I was remembering when i was a kid up until I turned 12 I thought my mom was GOD. Literally, I believed the woman hung the moon and the stars. Then I turned 12 and something happened and now we're where we are now. polite. interested sometimes but really, no connection at all. My Big Big Girl is about to turn 12. I know i'm being an idiot but on some very real (albeit relatively tiny) level I'm kinda freaking out... Seriously. what is my problem??

2009-08-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

Fishey...

A long lost buddy of mine is a teacher in Hunter's Point (here in the Bay Area) -- her kids need a new aquarium for the class fish. Go here to donate a few bucks if anyone has some spare "scratch".... Heh. and don't think I don't get how deeply ironic it is that i'm trying to make the world safer for those fish while at the same time I'm basically decimating the tiny population of them living in my Big Big Girl's room! (I can't help it! Cycle of life and all of that!!!) I am trying to work on that part as well though. With the guided help of a certain BBQ I've acquired an trout; now with some gelatin, snake vitamins and "interestingly shaped" ice-cube trays, I'm ready to go to town with the mixing of the frozen reptile food for those of us to squeamish/empathetic to continue with the live feeding part of snake ownership. I'll let everyone know how it works out. :-)

2009-08-20T07:57:00.001-07:00

Just call me God-Auntie!

YAY! Welcome little K. L-L (henceforth referred to as K-Love.) Born 3:30am on Aug 20, 2009. 7lbs 3 ounces. Seriously one of the most beautiful babies I think I've ever seen. (And his poor sleepy momma is no slouch either!)

2009-08-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

The Mister and Mizzus L-Ls went into the horspital today to see if they can convince their baby to come out. no word yet. I've got hard money says it's a boy. The Wife thinks it's a girl. The Wife does not realize that in these matters I am never wrong. Except for that one time with the Big Big Girl who i was pretty sure was also going to be born boy... ah, well... here's sending happy healthy wishes for a not too stressful birth and successful (quick) recovery, as well as all my love to this overdue child's really quite spectacular parents!

2009-08-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

Lost!

I lost Boo's snake yesterday. I found it (thirty extraordinarily long, freakishly tense minutes later after carefully moving every single item lining three of the four walls in her room...) but still. There was a minute there where I totally knew I was disowned.

In quick other news, the Little Big One is watching Lawrence Welk. She just learned how to turn the TV on and that's what was on so she's watching it. Cute.

In still even more other quick news, got to watch the Wife play some tennis this afternoon and was once again impressed by a few things. 1) she's hot! (I mean, really) 2) She's really very good. I know she doesn't think she's good but I'm pretty amazed she's even out there after practicing for days on end in the 50-thousand degree heat actually returning balls (to the tune of other players calling out "nice shot!" and "good rally!" -- dunno what any of that means really but o.k.) 3) I heart her BFF, ERG so much! Like more than i sometimes think is seemly for an old married woman. Suffice to say Wife Masks were created so the entire cheering section could be more easily recognized and they. were. AWESOME! {sigh} so many quality people in the world. I'm delighted I get to hang out with such a comprehensive swath of them.

Anyways... snake = lost then found. Me = lucky. really, REALLY lucky... :-p

2009-08-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

No real "upshot" to vaccinations!

Alright, so sure I've heard all about how we're miraculously 85% free of all sorts of curable/preventable children's health issues due to the ever advancing technology that is the vaccination but still.... I took the Big Big Girl in today for a checkup and ended up signing off on THREE separate shots (one of which is ostensibly to prevent contracting a sexually transmitted disease that over 65% of our -- still seemingly fully functioning -- population has and which may or may not = some significant studies done but jury still basically out, lead to certain types of cervical cancer...) i dunno. It's just all so highly suspicious and given the deep mistrust I have believing every other claim that comes out of the drug creation and pushing industry it makes it very hard not to think I'm signing my kid up to be some sort of guinea pig a la thalidomide and those babies born without arms in the early 60s but at the same time I'm staring at a document that says she may not be allowed to go to school unless she has at least some of these shots (This time the Menegitis one) being proffered by a woman I trust so I sign and the Boo gets stuck.... feels weird and coerced but also sort of inevitable. Ah, well, at least i know who to sue should anything go horribly wrong.

In other news, these past few days have been fab. Tennis was played, baby albino snakes were procured, scary amounts of long hair was re-attached to my head, BFFs were supped with.... S'all good and lovely but also very tired-pants making. Look forward to a more in-depth recitation once I've had some actual sleep. Until then, I leave you with a quote:

"Learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think... being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to... how you construct meaning from experience."

I am reminded of this delightful musing by the one (the only) David Wallace Foster because I have only just unearthed an entire gaggle of friends who i've not spoken with/really thought about in fifty million years (high school) but who are proving so delightful to correspond with I can hardly even stand it! It is in repeatedly delivering the summation of the past 20 years of my life that I'm really coming to terms with (that's right I said "coming to terms" We Doctors can do that!) the idea that a whole bunch of stuff that seemed life-alteringly, crushingly, crucially important at the time, doesn't actually make it into the abridged version and that's o.k. Anyway. i'm tired and the wife is being all warm and attractive so... outtie for now. more when I think of it. :-)

2009-08-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

Great-grand-nephew #2 -- or whatever the relationship is is when you're amazing, cool-beyond-words niece brings her third bouncing baby child into this world! Damon Scott Hughes born at 8:23 am, 6lbs 2oz 19 inches. A literary star-to-be if ever there was one. Yay, yay, yay! i predict great things from this one.... (from the last two as well -- really, there's no branch of this big ole familial tree that doesn't just delight the hell out of me right now!)

Yay, also to my Big Big Girl who successfully completed her first summer at SB and who had her big show last night summarizing all the fabulousness that went on all summer. And thanks to the Bees for letting me take their kid with us to the big event as well. Sorry, I sort of forgot she was "on loaner" -- I'll be better about the whole "giving them back part" next time, I promise.....

2009-08-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

Still Mrs. Doctor to you!

Happy Paper Anniversary to us! I wonder when we get to the Rock, Scissors part...? Seriously though, I get that I'm stressed/crabby right now and that there's a higher than average likelihood that I may sustain serious bodily injury just existing this week but I'm still so very happy to be married to my Sweetheart. As we are all WELL aware, i wasn't so much into this whole hitched thing the vast majority of the life so having had it (not unlike my greatness) thrust upon me as it were, I'm just so delighted that it seems to be going well.

Also, kind of thrilled that the BBQ is finally coming home(in fact may already have arrived back on our sunny shores), and that this past weekend was so nice what with the tennis viewing, and the dance class watching and the hammock procurement.... Plus, i'm liking working with IHOEL especially alot right now -- feeling very "sorting things through" and "potentially productive" and whatnot.... You know what, I'm actually not sure I do have anything to be crabby about. Forget I said anything. Just happy, happy, joy, joy all the way round....

2009-07-24T20:06:00.001-07:00

Um, thanks...?

K. so this may be TMI but I went to go have a general physical + tetnus shot + mammogram today onna counta why the heck not (and my BBQ said she wasn't going to ever speak to me again if I didn't have some freaking bloodwork done already!) and it was all going along well and good until a moment right at the end of the actual mammogram procedure when the technician person looked at me and said with quite the proud glow in her voice "See how even and homogeneous your breast tissue is!" Now I know that clearly this was intended as some sort of compliment (I think) but I was still sort of puzzling it over when she (after scrutinizing the images for a minute)then busted out with "It's so great that you've had children -- your tissue is softer, more malleable" adding (no doubt upon seeing my expression) "women with firmer breasts are harder to read..." So.... the takeaway here, I guess, is that I may not be able to stop traffic/rock a tube top anymore but dammit, I sure am easy to search for lumps! Alrighty then! If that's what I get, I'll take it!

2009-07-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ah... {stretch}, that's better. Now...

Where were we? Right. K Chez. When last we talked i believe I was in route to the amazingness that is a basically impromtu kick-a** county extravaganza with the BFF and the Big Big Girl in tow. Suffice to say IT WAS AWESOME! Seats were great (really quite unexpectedly great! Nice pull BBQ!) Company was lovely, fronting bands were amazing (we right here, right now would like to state unequivocally for the record that we -- royal we -- LOVE Miranda Lambert and think she's a GOD. K. sorry. Just really liked her and her set and her attitude and her music sooooooo so much.) The entire event was a triffle on the long side but really, all-in-all sheer greatness all round.

Then Sundee, got to hang with the Rock Star and her parent as they/we/the Bees negotiated the yard sale of the century. Always lovely to see the peeps that matter! The rest of the week-end was nice as well. LOTS of getting all snuggley with the Little Woman so that kind of rocked (hard!) Plus me and the Big Big Girl have a new tradition of sitting out on the front porch and reading a chapter of a book in the dark before she goes to bed so that's kind of lovely/nice. Possibly hazardous for my eyesight but whatev. You only live the once right??

This morning got the duo lovely check-ins from the Tail who had not one but TWO great/cute sounding dates so I'm happy about that and DB who is continuing to live life large in ye olde Yapon whilst watching his lovely wife (yup! They snuck off and did the deed managing to piss off every single member of their now-shared family as well as most of their friends. Good thing she's knocked up already or they'd be royally skarewed vis a vis continued parental visitation!) get bigger. He sent me a very cute pic of the belly. I dunno Dude, she looks alot farther along than you said she should be. Um.... is there anything you two want to tell us??????

Even the ERG (whose new nom de blog is henceforth PRPQ, BTW) is in the chips (meaning she's successfully jumped the shark and is now batting for the other team. Yay! I say, you Grow Girl! Couldn't happen to a nicer set of people! Just remember, there's nothign wrong with being "safe" -- healthy relationships involve folks who CHOOSE when they want to start having babies..... ;-)

2009-07-15T10:55:00.001-07:00

Sexy tractors and Guilt in here? Hell yeah!

Yay! The ever-fabulous BBQ is coordinating the tix hook-up for this show and I cannot even stand how excited I am to go! Yay, Kenny, Yay, Miranda and Sugarland too??? Really? Like we even need that much excitement + fabulous entertainment all in one place! Seriously. This is going to be THE best concert experience ever! k. so. nuff about that. let's see.... what else is going on.... indulged in a little cyber-stalking earlier today. Just following up on an Ex's current (30ish, runs marathons, works at google, cute! nice smile.) in a way that is more about me continuing to feel O.K. about not actually calling him to find out if he's doing well but still reassuring myself that he must be doing fine because, look, he's dating someone with a nice smile who's close to his age and runs marathons! I know, weird but at least I'm trending toward less self-stupidly-booby-trapping behavior and more toward "not hurting anyone while still satisfying the curiosity part" type of antics. Eh. or maybe not. maybe it's the same kind of crazy just half-assed because i'm old. :-)

In other news, went to a very lovely wedding (the Wife's cousin -- who, of course, looked beautiful!) this past Friday which was out at the beach (Cliff house to be specific) and was the first wedding I've been to post my own so... interesting to note what seemed to be "working" in the context of someone who is not actually in the middle of everything. the Wife and I arrived separately so I had lots of time to wander around and wonder about all the various bits and pieces. Cute. I also got to meet the new bf of the Sis-in-law, J. He's nice. V. sweet. Nowhere near good enough for her but whaddaya gonna do.... ;-)

Other highlights from the week-end included getting to see the Wife's BFF, EG whom we have not seen for thirteen years mostly because I was/am a walking petri dish of flu-related effluvia and she (wisely) has chosen to stay the hell away lest she succumb to any of the more exotic strains of nasty currently working through my system. Regardless of this exercise in caution, however, the kids needs to see her and so she was produced and OF COURSE she is now sick/dying. I suck. but it was still fun hanging out. Also getting to see the little Miss Red-haired Emma for a post-ballet playdate. fun, fun, fun!

k. I'm going to wrap this up onna counta i'm tired/sick of waiting for my "10:30" to show up in the office so we can meet to discuss their project so... off to get more coffee! ta-ta-til-later!

2009-07-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Um....

Why is this the first I'm hearing of this group??

Seriously, this made me fall over vis a vis Da Giggles!

Thanks Max by way of Amy!

2009-07-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

If not now, when..?

Damn. I {heart} Missy Etheridge's voice/lyrics/music/aesthetic so much! No. Really.

K. moving on.... Happy belated fourth of July folks! I, myself, was "sick" all week-end which i'm putting in quotes because my sister-in-law actually underwent triple bypass surgery with a colonial-ectoloscopy thrown in for good measure (you know, since they had her spleen out anyway.... why not!) this week-end and was sent home with some gauze and a mimeographed instruction sheet on how to proceed should the elmo band-aid they'd affixed post-op become "loosened and/or lost" -- she's got "catastrophic coverage" so the hospital went with a "wait and see" approach to applying actual sutures and/or (costly) antibiotic ointment -- anyway, she's fine so I feel a little weird complaining about how i was "sort of hot" and "kind of had a sore throat. Sore-ish. At least before the ibuprofen kicked in." ANYWAY! All of this is just a big ole rambling lead up to the fact that i spent the entire week-end lounging around whilst The Wife handled the following duties:

1) Grocery shopping for the fam + expected guests
2) Laundry
3) Feeding, walking and generally paying attention to the dog
4) Taking the Little Big Girl to her (canceled -- oops!) Ballet class. [Note: I could have prolly prevented that but the note telling me about it was on my phone which was all the way across the room...!]
5) Feeding, minding and generally keeping safe the two children we actually have ownership rights to as well as the two we borrowed for the occasion
6) Driving to and from far off lands to acquire (and later to return) aforementioned loaner kids
7) tending to ME, her "ailing wife" who, as previously mentioned, was spending the week-end alternately lying around on the couch hogging all the good blankets and giggling with the Rockstar's mom who came over to show her how to work her newest (unnecessary) addition to the "machines that make cool-shaped, cut-out bits of paper and take up space on the kitchen table" collection.

Oh. and then, when everything sort of wound down a bit, keeping the kids quiet so I could finally have a little nap in my big soft bed fer chrissakes!

Yeah. there are lots of reasons why I think I'm a pretty lucky lady but sometimes it borders on the scary.

K. In other news, Fireworks = great! thanks to the ERG, we were tipped off to a great viewing area that was literally 12 minutes away from our house, had tons of space for playing children, a massive parking lot and views of both the Jack London Square display as well as tinier views of The City's works/pretty twinkling lights.

Finally, a last super big shout-out needs to go out to my BBQ who was "born" on Thursday but who was pretty much celebrating all week -- Happy B-day, Best Buddy Q. You are a G-dsend and a scholar and i am delighted to have managed to so thoroughly affix you to my life! Cheers, Mazel Tov and all my desires for you to have many, many more!

2009-06-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Almost forgot

Conversation with Little Big Girl as we walked to her Music, Art, Theater camp and she reminded me that they were having a show later in the day....

Spark:We have a show today at 1:00!
Me:Doh! I forgot to bring the camera!
Spark: That's o.k. You can watch me with your eyes!

Heh.

2009-06-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

GAH!

So, I back! Finally. Actually we got back on Monday but it's been a long strange road to regularity down in these here parts.

Quick though,

before i go into how fantabulous the trip/family/desert was, I want to make three highly specific shout-outs to friends and fam:

1) Mr. Lovah-Lovah and Auntie K - It was great seeing you two yesterday and being a part of what i hope are plenty of official "We CAN'T WAIT for you to get here!" parties for the baby. We love you guys and simply cannot be more thrilled that you are actively increasing the sheer number of quality people on this planet that we will have access to!

2) Happy half birthday to the Bee twins! You kids are great. Sorry, we had to miss it but I promise we'll make it up to you in spades/sleep-over popcorn-party-fests!

3) Sister J, I hope you know that we were all put on this planet to help and support you in whatever way you need (consciously or not) so PLEASE do not hesitate to use us during your convalescence (you could also use us during your regular life to but I wanted to specifically point out that we actually like being helpful to folks who are slated to undergo massive, invasive multiple-organ transplant scenarios like yourself. p.s. Whatever you do though, stay away from the really huge Ibuprofen they might try to give you after. Those things have never been kind to anybody and the addiction recovery path just isn't worth it!)

Now then, trip was loverly! I. love. love. love my brothers and was thrilled to get to see everyone in the sun and with their people. The weather was gorgeous (not too hot actually) the accommodations were amazing and the girls were fish. (Seriously, finally tally of the pools we splashed around in ended at 6 plus one really pretty Lake wherein both my beautiful Wife and my eldest daughter had a chance to show off their boat driving skillz! Even the mom was not so bad. There was one icky point there where my dad referred to my mom as his "Ex" which i thought I'd effectively blotted out forever but clearly the trauma remains (ew!) Also, saw the beginnings of what I will henceforth refer to as the "Golf-Widow" syndrome start it's sad, lonely descent into my life as the Wife took herself off to the range to learn putting with the pros (my dad, little brother, nephew and BB-Sis-in-Law) leaving me and my mom with nothing to do but shop, drink tea in the sun and partake of some really yummy fry bread. {sigh} I wonder if Tiger's wife feels this way.....

2009-06-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Vacation-ready

Me = vacation ready. Not in the sense that I'm all primed and gassed up and ready to go, more in that I'm sort of at the end of my proverbial rope/if I have to deal with. one. more. thing. I'm gonna explode ... {sigh} K. that actually just sounded alot like my mom so let me re-think that statement. I'm fine. Things are fine. I got to see Wicked this week-end which was awesome! The kidcare worked out in such a way as to allow the Little Little girl to spend the afternoon with a very good friend of hers (Red-E, we'll call her as opposed to her cousin, my niece-in-law, Brown-E who she ALSO got to see yesterday, in fact -- yay her!) I am liking very much getting to spend time with the fam. I've had a few incidents now wherein I am suddenly presented with a potential "problem" vis a vis kid care which are almost immediately sorted out for me by those wonderful angel-persons who watch over my every move/are probably a little at the ends of their proverbial ropes as well... [heh, get it. I said "proverbial"... which is funny because they're angels.... Anyone...? K. Sorry. moving on.] Case in point: the Big Girl who arrived here this morning with absolutely nothing to do has since been happily put to work laminating for/assisting her good friend/ex-afterschool counselor who just happens to be running the Specialty Camp program here at work and so is now feeling useful and interested and non-bored so that I, in turn, can work. Or yesterday when the Matriarch of the Bee clan totally stepped up to offer a supervised day of hang-outtage -- Seriously, the life is really just very nice and supportive, I'd hate for anyone out there to think otherwise. (Please don't!) Yet/Still, I'm tired. I'm so lucky that my life/seredipitious-ness is stepping into the breach created by my inability to deal but I wish I had a minute to reset. I'm tired of feeling weird and hurt and moody and tired all the time. i want to go away and play with my family (the larger one) and remember how kick-ass we as a concept are and come back refreshed and rested and happy dammit! And I want to do it NOW! {tiny voice}: Is that so wrong...??

2009-06-12T09:38:00.001-07:00

Wait for it...!

K. so, breaking news. Me and the Big Big girl are going to start making/posting podcasts. The episodes will be driven (ha!) by the hilarity that is our bi-weekly trips home in the truck (hence the name "The Truck Show") and will cover such far reaching subjects as "Why everything is funnier said in a faux New Yawk accent combined with insane amounts of repetition", "Why organic lollipops suck! [and yes, this segment is/was packed to the brim with genius puns dreamed up entirely by the BBG]" and "How everyone at school is all talking about drugs and stuff and how crack lying on the street with smashed up sunglasses can be really scary." *I* for one, CANNOT wait to get this up and running. Look for the first few episodes to post early to mid September. Thanks for listening and keep on truckin'!

p.s. We even have a theme song!!!!

2009-06-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

My Girl!

Boo: Hey mom....
Me: Hm?
Boo: So, if you ever need to get home from Atlanta and you're driving and you want to use a route that goes through all state capitals -- I'm your girl. (Does that chest patting thing rappers do.)
Me: Really? you know how to do that?
Boo: Yup.
Me: Cool.
[pause]
Boo: I could also tell you how much you'll spend on food.
Me: Good to know.

Yup. Pretty much sums up why I consider myself among the luckiest humans on the planet today.

in other news, my dear friend Mizz Tail got an award last night for being awesome/helping undersupported kids reach their fullest potential. Here's the write up from the last awards dinner. The group is called All Stars and was brought to the west coast about 8 years ago by a group called The Bay Area Center for Independent Culture (BACIC). It's been active on the East coast for about 25 years. I didn't know very much about the event going in but suffice to say, I came out at the end of the evening feeling ridiculously happy that there are such amazing people in the world doing such amazing work. the kids were insanely poised and accomplished as well. Plus it was nice getting to hang out with my A-Tail! All-in-all, a fantastic experience. I'm actually gonna try to hunt them down to see if I can help out in any way. gosh. Just so much kid-centric greatness in one place. Warms the heart.

2009-06-02T08:59:00.001-07:00

If a valid feeling is found...

the sentence is said to represent one person who feels that way.

That sentence comes from a great essay by Nell Boeschenstein that Miss tail just forwarded to me. It's ostensibly (I think) about permission to use pieces of information supplied by people about themselves in a context those people weren't aware of. I'm pretty sure Miss T. sent it to me though because we (she and I) have been having an on-going set of conversations about what happens when virtual people meet reality people - whether or not the (practically guaranteed) dissonance between the attachments a person is capable of forming on-line versus the attachments one is capable of forming in "the real world" creates more of a barrier than a bridge to an on-going relationship which is also explored in the piece. The thing is, I read the article and thought "Awesome. This is a well reasoned, insightful, interesting story that seems pretty in line with some things i think about 'all of that stuff'" BUT then I went to the website mentioned in the article and i have to say. i was surprised/amazed by how beautiful it is. I mean, yes, it's clearly an "experiment" but it's also such an absolutely captivating rendering of a nuanced idea, I'm sort of blown away. Sentiment used to service art. Not all that different than other "great" artists dragging their subjects out of context to present them to the public as "depictions" rather than living people. Now i'm re-reading the article because i'm not sure I agree anymore with what i think the author is saying. i'm re-reading it however because i'm a big ole girl and I want to "give the author a chance" to prove that it is I who missed something in the initial reading and that we are, in fact still on-the-same-page vis a vis me thinking she's brilliant/on to something. Honestly, I don't even know this person but I'm somehow worried I'll hurt her feelings if I change my mind about her extraordinary insight! Humans are weird.