A - Kid

My Big Girl got an "A" on her math test! Now this is across the board exciting however, in light of the fact that she was pulling a "C" in Math class and has been attending Math enrichment after-school tutoring it is freaking AWESOME. (She got an "A" on her science test too.) My big Baby-Girl rocks!

Way to make it just that much worse

So, you know what you do when you're already tired and stressed and trying to "wrap up" a million things because you can't think of a better way to spend your basically zombie-like struggle to make it until you get to go back to bed stagger through the day...? Manage you 401 K account. Or rather try to get funds transfered from your old (stupid) 401K into your new (rapidly dwindling in it's own right) Roth IRA. To do this correctly you must spend a bunch of time digging the original "sign away your life" paperwork out from all the accumulated stacks fo paperwork, then you need to figure out what your current accounts numbers are (typically unavailable of every actual printed and on-line piece of documentation which in and of itself necessitates a visit to the always sort of intimidating/depressing "tax-stuff" folder) figure out which areas to fill in on which form then try to deduce whether or not accidentally writing in the other sections then crossing it out once the actual instructions are made a bit more clear upon re-re-re-reading makes the entire thing null and void before finally just giving the h*** up, stuffing the whole thing in an envelope and hoping for the best. Not just big fun but soothing as well......

Out of the frying pan...

That means nothing really, I just wanted to apply the second half of that to my newly not-quite-so-sick Baby Girl who is no longer burning up with the fever. Having written it out and considered it carefully, however, I realize that phrase has NOTHING to do with the situation so... never mind.

I did just find out though, from a pal o mine, that a good way to lower a high fever is to soak some socks in vinegar and put them on the feverish person in question's feet. I'm not sure if it's the vinegar, the feet or the shock of having someone treat you so meanly when you're trying to be sick but whatev... she swears it works. She's also a commie-vegan-young person type who I'm trying to trick into working on my and Mistah Lovah-lovah's newest project so any advice should prolly be taken with a largish grain of hand-processed sea salt.

In other news, we're getting the Big Girl back today! Whoo Hoo! Those of you who were lucky enough to not have to deal with me during this time may not be breating a sigh of relief but rest assured, I bet the Wife is happy!

oop. it would appear that Barney has just come on the telly meaning I am now faced with the perrenial parental decision -- do i change it to something less mind-numbing for me or suck it up because *i* have not just spent the last two days lying around being hot and achey and miserable so really it's not my decision..... I'll let you know what i decide. :-)

C'mon now...

I like the new president as much as the next guy but seriously... doesn't it take the Pope to canonize someone???

AND...

Happy Birthday! to my beloved Sweetie-Heart who makes my life even more great every day she's in it and who deserves all the awesome-est awesomeness the world has to offer ALWAYS!

eh, hem.... yes. well. then. to re-cap. Week-end was lovely if a triffle tiring. Got to hang with some quality peeps and play some extreme S-Bingo (seriously, who knew folks could get so bloodthirsty/competitive over such an "old-lady" game! I was going to suggest Canasta for our next adventure but now I'm not so sure...!) Finally, got rid of the car -- Gave it to my good pals J-Dawg and Crafty-Kitten -- more power to you crazy kids. Good luck with the Suzie-Q, I trust you'll use her well... B-day blowout Sat. eve then Sundee got some quality hang out time with one of my pretty new Sisters and her beautiful baby-Big-girl so that was nice.

{sigh} Still sort of bummed that my Little girl is out in the world beyond my reach (and out of cell phone range), and, I do have to admit to feeling just a squeach under the weather but I spose I'm more happy + content + feeling the love than grouchy + stressed + sick so.... all-in-all doing well. Hope other folk's Mondays are going fab as well. :-)

I'm not sad...

Just because my Big girl left on some thousand year overnight trip with her 6th grade class and I will not see her again until Friday afternoon. I have things to do to fill up my time. I have a life filled with things needing my attention, fer chrissakes! {sniff} Day 1 and counting.... :-(

Oh. Mi. God!

I am going to flippin' kill somebody!

k. {breathe} it's Friday. I'm going home soon.... {breathe....}

FIRED!

Sad but true. The boy formerly known as A-in-the-Tex-A** has been, regretfully, let go. "Why" you may ask? Why, put such a devoted companion out to pasture? Well, mostly because 1) He was in town on biz-ness and did not tell me he was going to be here (which, typically, i would let slide except that he made this HUGE freaking stink about how he misses me and wants to meet the fam, etc., etc.)and 2) the way i found out he was here on biz-ness is because we ran into him and his little entourage at the Mall and his friend said "Hey, A, isn't that your Girl?" as they passed (or something along those lines) causing moi to glance back to see if, in fact, it was my dear friend but which occasioned not even a short look back from the party-in-question.

So, there you have it. There is currently an opening in my life for one Latin, Gay male; should be funny, insightful and able to hold his liquor. Married to a sweet, tall Texan would be nice but not necessary. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Thanks.

Happy Valentine's Day!

You know what says "You're the best wife on the planet and I'll love you forever" on Valentine's Day???

A brand new set of socket-wrenches, that's what! {sigh} Me=happy.... :-)

THE only reason...

I can see, that justifies TV....

<a href="http://www.logoonline.com/video" target="_blank">More Logo Video</a>
More Gay & Lesbian Video

First i would like to thank Mistah Lovah-Lovah...

and his lovely Missus for seeing fit to provide the world (and me especially) with even more amazingness via that time-tested process loosely referred to as "The Pregnancy/Delivery of a Bouncing Baby Newborn!" I am delighted by this news. Yay!

other than that nothing much going on other than me being annoyed by the fact that i keep messing up people's days. Even more annoyed by the fact that I'm not entirely sure what it is I'm doing exactly that's having such disastrous effect but still, before they chatted with me they were fine, after -- life sucks. You do the math. :-(

What does your Amazon "suggested pick" list say about you...?

My suggested picks for today is as follows:

Auto-ethnography as method
Bible Illuminated (The Book - Old testament)
Bratz Magic Hair Funky Fashion Make-over torso
Funhouse (Pink)
Mama Mia (DVD)

"Grad-student, bibliophile studying cosmetology on the side (just in case this who Sociology thing doesn't work out) looking for a fun time!"

Seriously, why isn't there a field of study that looks into analyzing this stuff????

So, the other day I was all annoyed at my Littlest girl -- meaning I was throwing around the mom-voice, making pronouncements like "UN-acceptable!" and "No more!" stomping through the house and finally out the door -- in fact slamming aforementioned door closed behind me only to discover once i got out on the pavement that I'd forgotten to change out of my slippers and into a pair of real shoes. Talk about a mood-kill.

In other news, my buddy IHOEL of the famed Bee Clan is going to come work with me and be my boss! Yay! He's awesome. I can't wait.

In still Other other news, the Big Big girl got an "A-" on her latest math test!!!!! This up form the "D"s she was getting at the start of the year, but she's been going to math enrichment and has been really trying and (no thanks AT ALL to her slouchy parent who kind of got lost right around Third-Grade Fractions) she's becoming a Math Whiz!

K. Hm. I think that's it for now. Me=happy and content. things seem to be arranging themselves in some lovely and interesting patterns. me and Mistah Lovah-Lovah are going to start a business making stuff for sloucher folks like us who are "too busy" to handle their bid-ness so that should be fun.... eh. I should be working. k. signing off, Gracie. Good-bye, Gracie.

Yay, me!

I have the best group of friends and family ever! Yesterday (the birthday, proper) was soooo nice! Lots of love from work peeps, taken out to a (sushi, WT...????) lunch, slight annoyance during the afternoon from Big Baby Copywriter Guy then hilarious drive home with best big girl in the world followed by dinner from Becky's, visits/cute chatty conversations with my nearest and dearest and really extraordinarily yummy baked goods to round out the eve. Again, Yay! I love my life....

Fortieth year about to be over -- what the hell was I doing with my time??

Things accomplished:
1) Started off with a bang (snicker) when newly mine Duck-Girl took me to Vegas to celebrate the age and watch the amazing-ness that is "O"
2) Returned the favor (sort of) by proposing on her superhero B-Day in Feb.
3) Found two new jobs -- took the more lucrative one, decided that maybe wasn't such a fantastic idea and backpedalled right smack into the other (soooooo MUCH better)
4) Escaped from Mills, College grad school with an EdD in Educational Policy and Implementation
5) Experienced the Little Big Girl "graduation-from-pre-school" extravaganza
6) Got legally married at City Hall
7) Got the Little Big Girl started at "Big Kid" school and stood helplessly by as the Big Big Girl wandered into the twin worlds of Middle School/Warcraft
8) Got Married, again, "for reals" this time/Celebrated all the cool kids' birthdays
9) Mexican Honeymoon with the kids, Baby!
10)Back to celebrate the holidays in the new house/marital situation
11)Watched the country install it's first Mixed-Ethnicity President (and, co-incidentally enough, the first one in recent memory that seemed to share my own personal views about anything!)

All-in-all, I guess I have to say 40 = NOT the Year-of-the-Slacker. Now 41, however...! There's a year for which I have BIG plans! ;-)

So, yesterday....

Right. Mixed-Race, urban educated but still having roots in single-parent, lower socio-economic-class upbringing gentleman FINALLY occupies the White House. Check.

I'm torn. on the one hand i feel like this is a HUGE occassion and a cuase for some massive celebrating and yet, on the other... I dunno. I think it's cool and everything. I'm happy and all. But I dunno. I still sort of know that the country is as close to the brink of extermination as it has probably ever been, the the amoutn of canvasing and/or fundraisign for this campaign was unprecedented aAND that the exiting government is counting it's popularity points in the tens -- all this and the "Black" man STILL only makee it into office by a narrow (albeit significant) margin (meaning the vast majority of those red states still voted red.) and I can't help but think... Really??? Still? The flip-side being Damn Skippy. Let's have a look at where we were sixty years ago, a hundred years ago, hell, forty years ago and then re-consider where we just got yesterday. Nice. It's all good. I guess i'm just a little impatient for folks to stop acting like humans and more like, I dunno, "folks."

Not sure why

K. So I'm making "mix tapes" for the girls and I'm listening to all these new(ish) CDs we've gotten over the last little bit and I came across this lyric:

"The good ones all have wedding rings and the young ones are just too dumb, besides I don't think i have any more room, under my thumb... is it guilty in here or is it just me?" {giggle} Not sure why but I kind of LOVE it!

Gorgeous!

Wedding Pics courtesy of Mistah L-L arrived last night. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I. am. in. awe. of that man's photographical skills!

Fill in the blank...

I was "tutoring" at the Scoot's school for Math period this morning which really means I was standing around holding onto the "answer key" the teacher had given me like it was the long lost 5th book of Genesis not yet translated from the original Cyrillic, when it occurred to me that possibly the world might make better sense overall if I re-framed everything in a more standardized way. Say, as a word problem.

Fill in the blank.

"Yeah, so I guess my chances at getting a promotion are better if I'm ________"
a) more on top of my game
b) actually conversant in the PRIMARY language
c) married

or even

"A 30 year old Slacker/Skater-Boy moves to Japan to live with his girl;friend of three months. Not knowing the Japanese language AT ALL, he soon lands a job teaching English for which he is 10% qualified. His girlfriend thinks he should 'be moving up the ladder' -- a concept which has a -13% chance of occurring unless he is 'X' where 'X' equals a variable of indeterminate value but which is closely tied to 'Z' which is his inordinate luck in not having been kicked out of the country in the first place. All fates being relatively constant what are the odds that the S-Boy will survive the next twist with his position, dignity and visa intact?"

Before I even answer the above, can I just say, there is nothing more heartwarming than the sweet and simple trust shimmering in the eyes of a sixth grader as she shows you the Fractal Word Problem she has created from scratch (per the insane instruction) and asks you if it is "right." I'm telling you, it was worth every single second of faked understanding as I stared at the words swimming across the page and declared that "Yes! Yes it was!" (no idea.)

Eh, hem, anyway. The big news then for today. The one, the only, The Ace in the pocket for our U.S. Diplomatic team in Japan, Mr. DBT is getting MARRIED! You heard it here first folks. (Well, second, if you were on Angels first-contact sheet this morning but still...!) Congratulations, hon! I wish you every conceivable happiness and hope to god her parent-sans know what their little girl is getting into!

In other news, and speaking of weddings, at long last (not really so long last but I'm the impatient type!) we're going to get to see the official pics from the wedding! Our wedding. I am so excited I CANNOT stand it! K. nuff of that.

Last and I suppose least, today I got to say for the first time those immortal parental words to my Little One who informed me that tomorrow she needed to bring Chicken strips to school for lunch because Child A only liked chicken strips....: "Ah, but I am not making lunch for A. I am making lunch for YOU." Felt good somehow. Like i was coming full circle.

Easier doesn't necessarily mean "better"

That's my mantra these days. Let's see if repeating it over and over in my head helps even a little bit. ;-)

So, yesterday was fun. Lots of quality time spent with quality people trying to get quality stuff accomplished. Firstly, let me just say CONGRATULATIONS to the newly wed (and appropriately glow-ey) Crafty-Kitten/Wedding Planner to the Stars/Rock-Star's Mom who wed her adorable partner in crime in New Yawk over the New Year's/X-mas holiday. Me and the kids spent some time at their house yesterday going through pics of the event and just generally swapping some stories and I am just so happy for them and theirs! Yay!

Then, immediately following this little sojourn, we scooped up another pal o' the Scoot's and made our way to the J for some quality swimtime. Also, loads of fun mostly because a certain Sparkley someone actually conducted herself throughout the entire venture in a way that involved no tears/screaming/throwing oneself to the slippery ground! We were impressed and happy. Interesting note vis a vis that though (and possibly cautionary tale for whomever tries to date my Sparklefly later in life) so... I have this badge I wear at work. It has my picture on it and it also has a green heart sticker that SOMEONE (Spark) put on it and which is very pretty and nice. i was wearing my badge in the pool yesterday because I used it to get into my office then forgot to take it off. No worries. It's waterproof. Well, the Spark noticed I had it on and was very concerned that the sticker was getting wet. she thought it was going to fall off. I was not so concerned as it seemed to be fine. now here's the thing. Not only did she think it was going to fall off, she actually got sad about it's missing state. Like actual sad face + teary eyes + warbley lip "Now you don't have your sticker I gave you anymore....{sniff}" -- Except i did. I showed it to her. "See, it's right here. It's fine."

Now, this didn't just happen once. It happened over and over. Until finally, (right around the third time I showed her that there it was! the sticker. Still on my badge...) she actually got a little annoyed. That's right folks, my little girl got mad because reality was not cooperating with her need to be distressed over my having failed her by not taking appropriate care of her sticker. So, she sort of shooed it away and we started playing something else. then later in the car, after food and friend drop-off, ect. right before she sort of drifted into semi-nap time, she asked one more time -- kind of hopefully "Is the sticker there?" to which I replied, "yup." To which she sort of "growl-snorted" before turning to look out the window/falling asleep. I ask you. I further ask you why, in all of this I sort of felt like I was letting her down by not being a little more careless. Like I really considered for a minute, taking off the sticker so she could actually get upset in a way that made sense to me...! sheesh. Good luck, is all I have to say. I mean, she's gorgeous, and she's smart and funny and charming as hell so I'm not worried about her future partnering prospects or anything, I just feel like I should have some sort of disclaimer printed up...

*spoiler alert*I'm about to be a big ole Baby!*/end spoiler alert*

OW!!!!! I totally jacked up my foot and i do not know how. Seriously. It's not swollen (well, it's a little swollen) but it's all stiff around the arch/big toe area and hurts like hell to move. I think it's some random nerve pinch thing from wearing weird (albeit cool) shoes all week but honestly, I have no idea. Just know that it HURTS!!!!

K. nuff of that. Onward and upward to more glorious posting. The highlights:

Heard from the English Teacher -- He's doing great over there in the hinterlands. Girl is good. classes are going well, he's feeling all "normal and settled" he says which I have to say is HILARIOUS because he's living in a country where he resembles noone, does not speak the language and could get his temp-work visa revoked at any time! Cute though. I'm happy for him.

The puppy is at the vet right this second having his possibly still existing and/or having re-occurred ear infection investigated (seriously, if I didn't have a Wife who has -- grudgingly -- succumbed to his charms/thinks animals should be actually "cared for", that dog would be up a creek. Really.)

I'm trying to give the Hyundai to my pal the RockStar's mom. Her car died and I never drive this one so I thought, why the heck not? Besides, Who, I ask you, is in a better position to appreciate some truly quality tribal decalling????? My point exactly...!

Pretty Boy is still happily dating as is Miss Tail which also makes me happy. Always nice when my friends have things a little more sewn up in other areas of their lives so they can better pay attention to ME!

Today, I think, is all about getting some outstanding stuff done! I have all these really cool opportunities throwing themselves in my way that I can't actually start doing until I finish the other stuff so..... I have a very short list for today then tackling The Final Edit Next week-end and hopefully I'll be free and clear to advance the life starting in my Beautiful Wife's month of birth -- Feb. Maybe. We'll see. I've gotten pretty good at the procrastination part of my life so.....

Happy New Year!

All manner of happy wishes to each and every one of you my sweethearts! I hope the new year brings health and happiness and rest and that each and every day is a continuation of your infinitely successful little lives.

K. now then. My day was fab! spent the eve at a dinner party hosted by the ever-hot BBQ who manufactured THE BEST spaghetti meat sauce i've had in years as well as some quality time spent over at the CP's house celebrating her 40ieth B-day with her missus, the shared kid and assorted friends. Then today wandered over to the Bee house for some quality hanging out, good food great company and ended up getting the Big Bee girl for a sleep-over so... all in all a fairly successful outting if I say so mee-self!

A moment of silence please....

The Queen is dead.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Happy fourth day of Hanukkah, Good Tidings to one and all, etc., etc.

Alrighty then. Now that that's out of the way. The last few days have been... FUN! Filled with tons of stuff, naturally but lots of parties and lots of friends and getting to finally meet/get jealous about the Wife's co-workers.... Tiring, yes. but cute. and nice and I'm glad it's (for the most part) done. :-)

I've got the little one here at work with me but she's at the JCC camp so I get to happen upon her and her little group as they wander around the building. A-DOR-rable!

and now... as promised: some Pics of the wedding!!!! (There will be more as more film becomes more developed but I just got a disk from my Baby Bro with these so I couldn't resist!)

Are you kidding me??

Will Smith and Rosario Dawson in a PG-13 movie together???? Seriously, It's like I already know I'm buying it the second it come out on video and I have NO idea what it's actually about! :-)

GOD!

I. am. tired.

The Spark was up all night being congestioney so we spent some time popping up suddenly in bed and being fussy segueing into kicky squirmy, brief interlude to sitting in bathroom and getting "steamed" then back to aforementioned child's room for some quality curl-up-on-tiny-bed time then viola! awake and out the door so as to not make the big Girl late for school (AGAIN). I'm so tired right now I think I am hallucinating..... oh, no wait, there really are 45 work e-mail messages begging for attention. blah......

Or not...!

Heh. I was just browsing about on Facebook (you know, for research purposes!) and I got a suggestion that I add my Wife's Ex to my friends because, you know, we both live in Oakland! Stupid randomized matching program....

Married to the Lunch Lady!

Can i just begin by saying that it is incredibly cute that my lovely wife is volunteering at the Spark's school in a way that requires her to don an hairnet! What is not cute, however is her propensity (that's right, i said "propensity"!) to have dreams wherein she is no longer with me. Really. Not liking it. At all. Heads up all my "eyes on the outside" if anyone sees her out and about with any police offier looking ladies, shoot me and e-mail, K?

Let's see, what else.... Been having some conversations with the most recent(ish) Ex who's now living on the East Coast about marriage and personal growth and all of that. Interesting/weird but that's what you get when you try to "reach out" to folks. Actually this has been a pretty good week for me and the "formerly slept with." My Pants-wearing Pal in Inchiro is checking in on a regular basis (in a way that's not annoying me) so that's nice. Sounds like his life is pretty posh right about now so I'm going to go ahead and issue a moratorium on him complaining to me about anything ever again! Same goes for Pretty Boy who I will be meeting for dinner at some point soon so he can fill me in on his latest trip to the wilds of Greece/go on and on (and on) about his latest "love-interest"/new promotion at google. Really, how is it that i'm continually surrounded by such effortlessly upwardly mobile peeps? Although I guess "effortless" is the wrong word since most of them do actually work for it. More like some effort combined with case-loads of luck/tons of the smarty-smarts! K. so I was all enthusiastic about writing about the past life but now I'm tired. Me and the Little Woman are going out tonight (Thanks Bees for kid-coverage!) to some party wherein her High School pals will be attending so hopefully that'll provide more grist for the mill. If not, I'll just revert to going on and on (and on) about nothing much in particular. :-)

Welcome back, BTW!

And did I mention that Travelin' Man is back from the other side of the world? We are pleased....

Kawaii Love Eyes!

I Heart my BBQ! She's just so awesome. And, no, I'm not JUST saying that because she called me specifically to assure me beyond any shadow of any doubt that I rock it sooooo much harder than any ole Ex-of-the-Wife ever will! Me=likey my friend.

When the cat's away...

This is what I do when The Wife is out on some pseudo-date with her Ex

1) Wander around the house feeling as if I should be "relishing my time alone"
2) Realize I'm not alone (the Spark is here) and even if I was I'd still prolly be doing the same thing which is nothing except feeling annoyed/jealous that The Wife is out on some pseudo-Date with a person who has seen her nekkid
3) Call my friends so they can reassure me I'm cuter than the Ex.

Me:Hey!
Friend#1:Christ...! What time is it???!
Me:Sorry.
Friend#1:Sh*t! Do you know what time it is??!
Me:[annoyed] I said sorry....
Friend#1:F***.
Me:Look are you awake or not?
Friend#1:Yeah. Whatever. What the hell?? [sound of fumbling, murmered conversaton]
Me:[snotty tone]Who's that? The wife?
Friend#1:[equally snotty tone]That's right! Where's yours?
Me:Shut up! Besides, I looked it up, it's like Noon over there right now!
Friend#1:We're in [mumble]Pants
Me:What??!
Friend#1:FRANCE! We're in France!
Me:Oh! Wow! Why?
Friend#1:Can we talk about this later?
Me:Oh, uh, sure. Um sorry.
Friend#1:How come you're calling? Are you o.k.?
Me:Uh, yeah. I... uh... I just wanted you to tell me I'm still cute.
Friend#1:............... [click]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Me:Hi!
Friend#2:Hi!
Me:How was the trip?
Friend#2:Oh, man, it was awesome!
Me:Yeah?
Friend#2:Amazing! We went through the Antipottes [that's what it sounded like anyway....]
Me:Wow! That sounds cool.
Friend#2:Yeah.
Me:Well, did you miss me?
Friend#2:Heh. Sure. Man, seriously, you know who's hot?
Me:Who?
Friend#2:Greek Girls.
Friend#2:Seriously. Hot.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Me:Hey....
Friend#3:Hi! What's up?
Me:I'm still cute right?
Friend#3:Of course you are! Why?
Me:Oh, I dunno. The Wife is out with her Ex and -
Friend#3:Oh.....
Me:What?
Friend#3:Wow.
Me:What??
Friend#3:That's weird. Does that make you feel weird?
Me:Uh, not really... I mean, it's not like I think they're doing anything....
Friend#3:hmmmmm
Me:WHAT??!
Friend#3:Nothing! I just think it's wierd. It's great that you're not threatened. I totally would be. But that's cool. That just means you're a bigger Girl than the rest of us!
Me:Hrrrmm....!
Friend#3:I mean, it's just a couple of old pals hanging out right?
Me:uh....
Friend#3:Nothing weird about that!
Me:uh. yeah. Hey, I gotta go.
Friend#3:Oh! O.K. well, hang in there. She'll come back. She married you after all, right!

4) Step away from the phone and make a whole bunch of comfort food.

Blah.

Use the force, Luke

So, This may not be news to anyone but me but I figure you're basically a captive audience so what the heck...!

I ordered "a thing" off Amazon.com and the Thing I ordered never came. Now this was maybe three weeks to a month ago. I wrote to the vendor and didn't get any kind of reply. I called but still, nothing. I had pretty much decided to just let it go -- sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, when you're dealing with the World Wild West etc., etc. but then I got one of those automated "would you like to rate this vendor?" e-mails which I typically ignore but then I thought, what the heck and actually clicked the link. Well! imagine my surprise when I found that Amazon has an "A to Z" guarantee and if you use this feature to contact the vendor and if the vendor fails to resolve the claim, Amazon will reimburse you! K. so, I fired off yet another note, this time using the A-Z interface and literally FIVE MINUTES later i got a call from the vendor saying basically "Oops! Our bad, we just got the package back some mix-up in the post. I'll re-send. Can you rescind the complaint, please?" So, there you have it. Weird that there are actually "controls" in place that seem to work so well. Especially during the bush-era! ;-)

Anyway, moving on....

In other news, our puppy has an ear infection. Very sad combined with lots of head-shaking. Initially, we thought it was ear mites and were treating it accordingly but it didn't seem to be clearing up so The Wife took him to the vet and ta-da! Ear infection. Sad. But good, since we got a whole different regime of ear-administered medicines that will hopefully have him back to his normally ship-no-head-shaking-shape in no time!

Juice!

O.K. so I'm not sure why this is seeming like such a huge deal but yesterday my Big Girl brought me juice. She rides the bus to my work from her school a couple of days a week but since the bus drops her off a few blocks away, she walks up to my office. Well, yesterday she decided completely of her own accord to stop in at the cafe across the street where she purchased and delivered to me a fresh squeezed Orange juice! Again, I'm not sure why this is so very delightful to me, but gosh, it just is.... :-)

New careers for all my friends!

o.K. so much as I'd LIKE to begin with MYSELF and what I accomplished this week-end -- I feel obliged to first give major shoutouts to a few folks in the fold who've managed, yet again to surprise me with their ability to not just float but to actively persuade society to "buoy" what it is they're selling! Ha!.... er.... eh. sorry.

First up, we have the ever popular CP (as in Scoot co-parent) who just got herself a "significant" grant to fund the development and staging of an as yet un-written theatre production! Whoo hoo! You grow, Girl! (Seriously, who is still getting paid to "create" in this economy????)

Next up, we have Mr.DB Watanabe who has just secured a position -- wait for it -- TEACHING ENGLISH in the sadly under-reported (at least on this blog) prefecture of Ibaraki, Japan! I believe congratulations are in order (as well as my heartfelt condolences which go out to the people of that newly-unfortunate city-state. May god be with each and every English-learning one of you!)

Now then, having dispensed with the blah, blah, blah, back to me and my various talents! So, remember how I had that truck? And remember how people kept thinking it was a really cool idea to keep backing into it/breaking various head/taillights...? Well, I've been driving around for a while now inches away from incarceration because up until this week-end those lights were still broken/out and I'd already been pulled over TWICE by (some very nice, actually) police officer types who (justifiably) wondered when, if ever I was planning on obeying the law vis a vis all of that, plus i just got a notice in the mail saying that if I didn't step the hell up by Dec. 12, and start fixin' those fix-it ticks I'd owe roughly 800.00 bucks to Da Man -- so, I did what any wanna-be tough girl butch-lite chick with a beat-up truck does, i calculated how much freaking money/wasted time/inconvenience it would be to take the truck to the dealer and instead elected to fix her myself. And, I did! This week-end. Pretty cool, huh? (See all this truck-fixing goodness and still I can't manage to keep the wife happy! Ha! Just kidding. I will admit that it is possible any me-centered annoyance is entirely due to my truck-fixing when I should prolly be house-tidying, bill-paying, dog-walker corresponding, dish washing, attention-paying but whatev. Now that I officially own half her stuff I can't imagine she's gonna choose to leave me any time soon!)

Kareshi-kun!

Guess whose "not coming back" from Japan because he's got a full-on Kanojo-san! That's right, our until very recently Texan-by-way-of-New-Mexican Toastest with the mostest, DB!!!!!

(k. so I realized that i never write anymore because I tell the wife everything first so even though she just walked in and is being all ADORABLE and everything, I am not speaking in full sentences to her until AFTER I finish writing! See! See how much I love you people!!!) Eh, hem, now then.....

First, this actually happened a billion years ago but I have to mention it. Who got a call from their former place of employ wondering if perhaps she might like to come back on board? Moi, that's who! Weird. Nice in a sort of "Ha! I KNEW it wasn't me!" kind of way since the first thing the nice recruiter lady (who came to my going away drinks-fest, BTW) was "Oh, and A-hole-who-got-you-fired? He's gone now." Sigh. so nice to hear. They moved offices as well (to Sunnyvale which is not much better but still.....) and the company seems to be doing well (there's always room in the world for the possibility of random-hookups with folks who lie on their profiles!) -- I mean, don't get me wrong, getting thrown out of that place was the one of the best things that ever happened to me, still.... It felt good that they asked me to come back.

In other news, I've disowned (and since re-owned) the twenty-somethings I work with since they let me know that they found a certain Ex someone of MY WIFE attractive. To be fair the word-age used was "Well, she was rocking that suit!" plus, they had no idea at the time of the telling who she was but still.... I felt it my duty to inform them that under NO circumstances were they allowed to find her in any way attractive and that we were no longer friends. They, being sensitive, ultimately misguided twenty-somethings who, above all, valued my friendship (and occasional rides to work) promptly rescinded their expressed opinion even going so far as to "hate on her" should they ever see her again. I, of course, let them know that they shouldn't feel they needed to go to that extreme but that they should watch it in the future. Then we all went out for edamami and teriyaki chicken (although they had actual sushi) and the world was once again good. :-)

K. Lastly, the reason i know you've all read this far, breaking news as of 45 minutes ago. DB is not coming home. He is in love with a spiky-haired Japanese grrl and is staying on that island so as to be closer to her and her gender-neutral politics. Oh, and her body. I'm pretty sure he's staying because he likes the s-e-x as well! More power to you, Hon. I wish you and your angry little GalPal all the best!

You know who I love?

Besides my wife and kids, I mean.... I love Jerry Brown. I loved him when he was mayor of Oakland, I love him now that he is California's attorney general. I love that he (like me) believes that people, by and large are fundamentally stupid. Not mean, just ignorant and easily swayed by emotional appeals. Some of you may or may not remember this but a few months ago when this whole Prop 8 thing was really gearing up for it's wave of polarizing silliness, Jerry Brown changed the title of the proposition to explicitly state that it is about taking away the rights of a minority group. Now, while at the time, this was posited as a "clarification" it is now a fundamental action point in the lawsuit that has been recently introduced to the CA Supreme court by the ACLU and Lambda group inso much as you can't actually just decide by a simple majority to 1) make fundamental changes to the constitution (that takes a 2/3 vote by the legislature first before it ever goes to "the people") and 2)You can't actually discriminate at a constitutional level against a legally defined and thereby protected minority group. In the previous Supreme court ruling the question was whether or not sexual identity qualifies as a "protected class" in the same way that race and gender do" and the answer was (an admittedly gray-area) "yes" meaning that marriage between two adults in this particular protected class was allowed. Proposition 8 tried to skirt this whole sexual identity thing by acting as though sexual identity had nothing to do with it, instead it was simply saying that across the board, same-gendered partners regardless of sexual identity shouldn't be allowed to get legally hitched which, of course is ridiculous but at the same time is exactly the sort of crazy legal-loopholeness that people like Jerry Brown anticipated and, to the extent that they could, engineered a pretty compelling Plan B around waaaaaay before our fundamentally ignorant electorant got their grubby paws on their ballots. And please don't think I'm excluding myself from the teeming mass of knee-jerk voters! I voted for at least two Props and one person based on little more than they sounded good (and in one case because the argument against included the words "protecting against {sic} the illegals accessing the system" which not only offended my sense grammatical exactitude but just plain pissed me off!) I'm just glad that there are folks in positions of policy-crafting and sheparding power who are also sort of looking out for and planning around those guaranteed-to-be-needed Plan B, C and Ds....

Sleepless night....

Last night. I was having this really action-packed dream wherein some group of bad guys (headed by one very bad guy) wanted the Scoot so I had no choice but to hunt them down and kill them. I dispatched one of them, by hitting him repeatedly on the forehead with a brick. Seriously. They totally deserved it but I'm still a little concerned vis a vis WTH is going on in with my psyche...?

In other news, spent the week-end being very chill if a little under the weather. I got some gardening done though and spent a bunch of time out front hacking up the enormous side-walk overhanging bush things lining our front yard. I can't say they actually look better but they are definitely thinner! Also got to see HSM 3 (cute, although I feel as if they might have overstepped just a tad in their desire to position one of the leads as a more "serious" -- albeit still Disney-shiny -- actor/not just tween hearthrob thereby potentially risking alienating their "fan-base" plus I really am not a fan of the new nose on Sharpay but whatev....) Additionally, I also got to see my good friend and ex-wedding planner, Ms. RSM which was AWESOME because 1) I {heart} her and 2) it was really very nice getting to talk about stuff that wasn't related to my getting married/stress-inducing! So, yeah, aside from the bits where I was bludgeoning and and/or eviscerating bad guys trying to get my kid, a pretty good week-end was had, overall.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a very cute pic of my beloved having some cake at some event she attended a few weeks ago...

O.K. so what exactly does the rationalization for this look like...?

K. so, i went to a very cute kids party this past week-end and there was this guy there, the dad, actually of the birthday kid, and there was this lady there, a friend of the birthday kid's mom (Note: dad and mom were/are no longer an "item") flirting up a storm with aforementioned dad. So, here's the thing. I know that Dad has already shown that he can father babies at a somewhat alarming rate. Case in point, the current child spinning around like a little princess in front of us. Second case in point being the 1 year old Dad fathered with yet another lady he met at aforementioned kid's LAST birthday party .. Now, I'm not overly familiar with any of the players in this little scene but as I am familiar with this history I'm assuming an actual close-type FRIEND of the Mom would be even MORE familiar with the love-em-and-presumably-leave-em (preggers, it would seem) type of "dating" this Dad is into so.... I'm watching Flirty lady be all FLIRTY and I'm thinking, What in the name of dear sweet Jesus must she be thinking?? Seriously, did the frozen sperm get to be a little too expensive? Does she (seriously) think she's any "different"? And why (again dear sweet lord) at the kid's birthday party? Could she at least wait until the next major holiday so as to seem a tiny bit more original when she "mysteriously" finds herself with child/without boyfriend. K. sorry. I realize it's technically none of my business. Plus I'm probably being mean. Still. Why are girls so flipping weird?

Forty is the new WTF???

****** spoiler alert **********
This post is alot more "essay-ey" than I've been waxing of late, mostly onna counta there's finally room in my brain to think about things other than cutting out and gluing really pretty shapes onto thousands of wedding programs but also because I was re-reading some of my older stuff and I realized i used to actually talk about what was going on in my head as opposed to in my life a lot more. Not sure if it's going to continue in this vein but for now, there it is.....
****** /spoiler alert **********

O.K. so i was chatting with a friend of mine today and I found myself uttering the following statement: "Come to Japan to check out your show? Sure! That'd be awesome!" Thing is, I don't think it would be "awesome"... what it would be is impossible. Impossible because I am JUST back from my honeymoon trip to Mexico which used up all the vacation time (and then some) I'd managed to amass in the (relatively) short time I've spent at my brand-new job; impossible because I have TWO kids and a Wife who, granted, were included in the initial offer of tickets but whom I'm relatively sure would rather not get bundled back onto a plane and flown half-way across the world to a place where NONE of us speaks the local language (Oy vey, i'm sitting here imagining The Wife trying to get a handle on ordering those "cheesburgers, plain" en Japonese -- seriously, I have no doubt that she could do it, just not so sure she'd think her on-going relationship with me was particularly worth the effort) just to watch some grungy types pummel things with their skateboards. Impossible because, I actually don't want to do stuff like that anymore. I like where i am and what I'm doing. I think I'm just having a little identity crisis is all.

"What???" I hear your collective gasp. "Our little Chick? Arguably one of the happiest, most self-actualized, stable human beings on the planet? Having some sort of crisis? Pass the peanuts, this should be good." Because, here's the thing, saying something like that in response to an offer like that is something I would have wanted to do (albeit, possibly not actually followed through on) a bunch of years ago, pre-kids, pre-wife, in another incarnation of myself.

"So, then," I now hear you murmuring, "Tell us again, how this any different than your standard run-of-the-mill, mid-life crisis?" Well, I think it's different because I'm not actually running away. From anything or to anything. I'm content here. I'm taking my responsibilities and commitments and loves-of-my-life very seriously. I'm extraordinarily happy. I'm just finding myself acting and feeling and in some ways looking completely different from how I've sort of been for the last decade and i'm wondering what's up with that.

Part of me thinks it's this whole marriage thing. I mean, there was a pretty significant sea-change popping up pretty much out of nowhere and while I feel extra-lucky that everything worked to make such a permanent locking down of the Missus a reality, there was also a fair amount of seismic shift from one extreme to the other that went into fully embracing the concept.

Kind of like deciding at age 29 that having a baby was a really. good. idea. versus my earlier "Are you frickin' kidding me??!" stance vis a vis me and my up until then anti-child-rearing or even child-be-nearing stance... In fact, it feels just like that. Major decision arrived at. Attitudes adjusted accordingly then total and complete loss as to what exactly that looks like in actual practice. I mean, who am I now that I'm a grown-up, college-educated, wife and mother of two with a house in a "nice neighborhood", a dog and (theoretically) half a mortgage. I have the "advanced" degree, the white-collar job, the close circle of "a few good friends"; I worry about getting folks to school, whether or not the truck is going to die, when The Wife will get fed up with my choosing sleep over sex (which does actually happen occasionally and is inexplicable even to ME as, seriously, The Wife is HOT!) and leave me for her secretary or admin ass or whatever.... all stuff that everyone of a certain age, in a certain bracket/frame of mind thinks about, I'm sure just...

Again, please don't misunderstand. I LIKE it here. The weather is great and the perks are awesome. I'm just not sure how I ended up here with the rest of the crowd and, more importantly what I'm supposed to be doing now that I'm "one of them".

Anyone?

[Note: Any and all suggestions will be duly considered in the order in which they are received. Thank you for your attention.]

Well, that was fun...!

O.K. let's start with an IM conversation from half way across the globe:

DB:Hey.
Me:Hey.
DB:So.... How'd it go?
Me:How'd what go?
DB:Everything.
Me:Everything? You mean the bachelorette party, the family's arrival, the wedding, the honeymoon and the return to work?
DB:Yeah.
Me:Good.
DB:Cool.
DB:k. just checking
Me:K. Bye.
DB:Bye.

gotta love a man of few words..... ;-)

Now then, to expand on a few key concepts -

Lead up to the wedding was grand. Stressful but in an entirely good way. Lots of my favorite peeps in one place with practically no fighting so that was kind of awesome. I LOVE my peeps. Just plain across the board love. them. Period.

Wedding, itself, was awesome! Again with the lots of lovely people in one place looking all fancy-pants and having some chocolate. Three of the sweetest toasts in the world were delivered by The Wife's Big Sis, my Big Bro and one of my VBFsF, Mizz Tail. It was a tiny bit sad that as I was the one in the dress, i had to stay locked away in a room while everyone was assembling but that actually just made it more delightful to get to see who showed up making their way down the receiving line. Once again, I feel compelled to ask: "How is it possible that we know so many completely adorable people???????" Seriously. I'll be posting pics as soon as they become available so folks can see exactly what I'm talking about but for now. Trust me. I know ALL the pretty people.

After-wedding-drive-down-the-coast was sweet. We didn't bother changing and so got some applause upon our arrival at the tasty steak house where we had some sup. The room The Wife booked was gorgeous and the bed was one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in EVER.

Honeymoon went well. Extremely well, IMHO, although there may be one or two others who experienced it as a bit more on the stress-inducing side,I found it to be delightful. I loved our cabana. I loved the fact that we got to hang out as a family of persons without TV, work, school, radio, phones, errands/scheduled engagements competing for our time. I love my kids and I love my Wife and I really, really liked that we were able to co-exist in a (mostly) enthusiastic, symbiotic, happy way in a strange new place for days on end. Gives me hope for when the apocalypse comes and we're the only ones left standing!

Return to work, also relatively seamless (due in large part to the excellent coverage provided by the always amazing IHOEL) -- everyone was very happy (or at least seemed happy) to get me back which made me feel nice, plus I THINK while I was away my 6 month "trial" period ended so I am now officially part of the union/they can't fire me even if they wanted to unless I do something horrific like steal all the computers in the building and sell them on the black market in Fukuoka... which, brings us nicely back around to my second IM conversation with a certain ex-patriot who apparently has befriended a (I'm sure) delicate flower of a Japanese Lass who also happens to be some sort of "gender-activist":

DB:Hey.
Me:Hey. [Anyone but me interested in figuring out why ALL IM conversations start this way??]
DB:My friend K wants me to ask you if you're "done being a girl" yet?
Me:??
Me:Sorry?
Me:You have a friend?
DB:[Presumably Rhetorical Question plus expletive deleted]
DB:She lives here. I met her at a show.
Me:"Kay"?
DB:Kaoru
Me:Ah...
DB:Like Bubbles.
Me:Sorry...?
DB:Or Buttertop....
Me:Wha?
DB:The little girls on TV
Me:Are you on some sort of muscle relaxant?
DB:LOL
Me:Seriously
DB:She wants to know "if you're done being a girl?"
Me:Done like "done, done"??
Me:Why? Does she need to use it?
Me:Ha! Get it? Does she need to... never mind.
DB:You know with the hair and the wedding and stuff
Me:Excuse me??
DB:We were talking about you and she's got a theory that you weren't comfortable with having your hair short because that's masculine so you needed to present yourself as more feminine when you did something traditional like getting married for your family and everyone.
Me:...
Me:Did you tell her I married a girl?
DB:...
Me:You're an idiot.

Back to happy

Not that I'm ever all that far away from it! So, of course, countdown to the wedding and these last few days have been a little intense but totally in a good way. I am lucky enough to be Jewish by association so i have Rosh Hashanna off (yesterday and today) which is sooooo nice because it means I got a chance to actually (gasp) try on my wedding dress for like the second time since i got it. Also to sort out the various undergarments that would be accompanying it, try on the shoes, hate the shoes, try on better shoes, feel better about the shod-i-ness of it all (heh! get it....? eh hem. Sorry), finalize some/most/sort of the program situation, make a HUGE list of stuff that still needs to be done, stare at my wedding ring which is in a box in my desk because, yes, folks, I am a BIG OLE GIRL like that! etc., etc., etc. {sigh} I have to say, it's all good but it's also a lot, knawhattamean???

One other thing though,

quick shoutout to my homies who came out for some bachelorette P-tey giging. I had a wonderful time as did the GalPal -- seriously, truly delicious pizza, bevvies, cookies aside, you guys are great and I am sooooo glad you're my friends! No, really, I mean that.... :-)

T-8 and counting...

No idea if that reference is correct but whatev. So, things here at work are a little stressful. Nothing serious just everyone kind of on-edge. Happy though because the fabulous IHOEL will be covering for me while I'm out which makes me feel MUCH better in addition to making a situation where he can demonstrate his perfectness to the organization at large and subsequently so that the aforementioned OAL can then get off it's collective rear and just hire him already! (I've also passed along the contact info of our former GV Sr. Designer/my Ex-crush -- who's, like myself, newly married so no conflicts of interest there! -- so we may just end up with a little GV-specific re-union up in these here parts!)

{sigh} I just want to be away from here. Everyone is such a freaking stress-case right now and I've got all these things I think I'm supposed to be doing (don't know for sure as I've not had time to breathe/make an actual list) that have nothing to do with work but that are happening TOMORROW..... It's fine. I'm fine. It's just a lot is all. :-)

On a completely unrelated note though, I had the tastiest tiny sandwich thing at a meeting today. There were preserves involved. Really quite yummy.

In terms of wedding planning and task accomplishment though

Things are actually coming along nicely (thanks in no small part to my pose of extraordinarily talented friends) -- we have pretty much everything we need either almost done or done-done and the final touches don't seem too impossible to complete within the next few weeks.

Also, huge massive kudos to the GF/Wife on her focus since I am still, technically, trying to finish and submit my dissertation and she is being all proactive and sweet about reminding me how nice it would be to actually have something to show for all those years of hard work/$80,000 even if it is just a piece of paper that probably won't even get framed until next year..... :-)

Also having lunch with my pal Abby-Tail

Which I am VERY much looking forward to! I only wish it were today.....

My friend IHOEL....

Experienced a loss this week-end about which I am very sad. I hope the trip back East to be with his family helps him find some emotional and physical peace and that he (and all the Bees, actually) remember that they are very special to me and that I am always on hand to do whatever I can to assist should needs arise......

Aging Out

I'm having lunch today with a Pal of mine who "has to talk to me" about something. Now, It's not like I'm not available to this person via phone, text and/or e-mail (all preferable modes of communication where this individual is concerned to be perfectly honest) but, no. This "talk" has to be face-to-face. Which is fine, i guess. Although I can't escape the feeling that it could possibly have something to do with the fact that I may or may not have repeated to him a comment our mutual pal made about him "aging out" of my "corral of young studs" I'm currently interested in paying attention too but that may just be me finding the hilarity in the situation. It is equally possible that this Pal of mine is just missing our little tete a tetes and/or wants a peek at the long hair... Either that or he's angling for an invite to the Bachelorette party now that he knows the wedding list is officially closed! ;-)

Delightful!

K. i forgot to blog about this the other day but My Big Girl is now officially Street-smart and has been riding the (public transit) bus from her school to my work where she has her after-school camp thing and it's been a little bit of a learning experience (for both of us). This is mainly due to the fact that she's NEVER done anything even close to this before so there have been the occasionally missteps -- getting on buses going the wrong direction, getting on the bus going the right direction but having it choose to stop and kick everybody off mid-way to the stop she's supposed to get off on, getting off on the right stop but then forgetting which way you're supposed to walk up the hill (especially since your stop is sort of in a valley so there are two "up" directions) but she is a trooper and has totally got the drill down. So, Friday she calls me from stop one to announce that she's on her way to stop two and I decide, what the heck! I'll head on down to meet her. Can I just say, the look of sheer delight on her face as she gets off the big ole smelly bus and sees me waiting there at the cafe across the street with a magazine, some tea and a cup of hot chocolate for her..... priceless! Anyhoo, she comes trotting up with this huge grin on her face and says "Wow. I didn't expect to see you here! How delightful!" Seriously, I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is moments like these that are THE reason you have kids.

Freaking out

K. So, i took my big girl to her first drum lesson yesterday and I'm siting there waiting for her to get out and I'm looking at my scheduling book and I suddenly realize that we are 21 DAYS AWAY FROM OUR WEDDING! What the freakin' hell?????? I know I've been doing pretty much nothing but getting ready for this for the last several months and yes, I also realize I've been yakking about it non-stop for like weeks but STILL! I do have to say, this is kind of like that thing where you're going along minding your own business and playing with your kids and feeding them and stuff and then you look away for maybe 3 seconds and when you look back they're basically ready for COLLEGE! {sigh} I simply am not prepared to deal.

A life lived scattered...

O.K. so I am officially completely and totally exhausted. I was up all night (well technically every two hours) giving puffs to a pretty little asthmatic princess so we could avoid what I've come to regard as the "gold standard" of unpleasant circumstances elicited by this condition -- the Emergency Room and subsequent admission to the hospital visit. She seems to be doing better -- the Wife is at home with her right now so I'll p'raps get an update soon-ish but I (skating so close as is my wont to the edge of exhaustion anyway) am completely wiped. Because of this lack of an ability to put thoughts and sentences together I am going to depart fro our typical, lengthy summary post and instead do a bunch of mini-posts remarking on things pretty much as they occur to me (which, some of you may remember was how all of this nonsense started in the first place!)

Tired...

Tired, tired, tired. Plus, we have no water right now. A pipe under our house burst (finally!) Apparently, according to three different plumbers, the pipes were in horrible, leaky condition -- a fact which we just starting figuring out a few months ago when we noticed that the water bills were astronomically high but which Slacker-I did nothing about until yesterday morning when my eldest noticed a "running water" sound as well as a pool of water flowing up and out from under the house down the driveway...... All of which spurred me to action (the kind of action where you ask your New Wife to pretty please take care of it but action nonetheless!) and which resulted in no running water for us last night and today. Cute in a "let's pretend we're camping!" kind of way. Annoying when you realize you have to choose between basically throwing away the gallons of water it takes to flush a toilet and having water on hand to cook your kids some supper/make coffee in the morning. Suffice to say, we opted for java-buzz but, fair warning now, I wouldn't advise any "impromptu visits" to the Chick Homestead until we get this figured out. ;-)

And, scene!

My goodness. Where to begin??? The week-end was lovely. The CP married her GalPal of many years, the ever-fabulous Mimsy and they were both radiant and beautiful plus there were cupcakes! Also, dancing (Vogue, the Charleston, I'll leave it at that....)!! Add in the special bonus of getting to see Mistah Lovah-Lovah all "hard at work" and professional looking with his little cameras strung around his neck and the beautiful Mizz Tail who just got back from a trip back east (I swear -- what is it with The East that all my nearest and dearest feel they must go there all the time???) Good friends, beautiful weather, etc. Just a really sweet event all the way round. Hanging with the kiddies and the Woman for such a concentrated time was nice too although I think we all ended up a little more worn that expected so it was nice to have the extra day to chill-lax. Back to work yesterday where I was greeted by all the e-mails in the world demanding things but (strangely) I was able to get most the requests done so I'm feeling fine and in line today. ;-)

Melissa Etheridge = dreamy...

Seriously, how fun is it to get impromptu invites to really kick-a** stage performances featuring cutie, amazing lesbo singers?? Very is how. (and YES, Virginia, that IS a back stage pass!!!)





Yay!

{Squeal} Melissa Etheridge!

and ME, tonight! Yeah, Baby!

Lovin' the Boys right now!

I'm sorry but I really have GOT to take a moment to say, I am so delighted with the quality of boy-action I have going on in my life right now! Today, alone, I was fortunate enough to score some mano y mano time with the fantaubulous Mistah Lovah-Lovah wherein he presented me with some snaps/contact sheets of pics he'd taken of us at the chapel/reception location and which are AWESOME! Then I heard from the ever elusive Pretty Boy (mostly because I wrote to him demanding to know why he was being a big ole slacker-loser about RSVPing! but still, I'll take what i can get these days!) who I miss but forget I miss until I hear from him {sniff} and who is doing "cute" if not particularly well (Although, I do have to say, what with sailing trips to tiny French islands scheduled for late-November, I have to say i think he's doing jest fine...!) Added to the mix being the always amazing Daddy Bee who I know I JUST saw this week-end and yet whom it still feels like I "never see"/can never really get enough of and, well, I'm just up to my ears in sweet, entertaining, good-looking boy peeps is all and damn it, I like it!

Hair today.....

So I'm long and lovely again. I like the hair better this time around mostly because the actual putting in process wasn't so freakishly public and because while it's still uber-fancy pants with the blondes and the reds, they're all on the under-side so I still look like me (sorta -- if I lived in 1812... anyways....)instead of some blonde bimbo hair-girl. Brown-haired Bimbo, I'm cool with! ;-)

So, besides THE HAIR which I'm really only writing about because it's weighing on my mind (HA!! Bah Dum bum) all sorts of other wonderfully cool things are happening as well.

BOTH of the baby-girls are at school now. The Little Big Girl proving to be an ACE at the Kindergarten which, we knew, of course she would be but still, it's always nice to see your certainties confeermed like that! and the Big Big Girl also showing some natural talent at finessing the Sixth grade like it was standing still. In fact, what with them being rock-stars about the whole transitions thing and the Wife TOTALLY stepping up with managing the complicated drop-pick-dress-lunch two schools with two start/end times schedule, I think I may be the only one who still needs to step it up a bit!

One other cool thing this weekend, went to the Wedding Planner to the Stars house to see THE DRESS which is being adjusted slightly and once again realized how FLIPPIN' gorgeous it is. Really. This is a dress that could pretty much stand on it's own up there in terms of sheer cool-chic-sexy-bride-ness so.... once again I'm left thinking I sort of need to kickstart my "game" as it were or else the powers that be may not even let me remain a part of this whole thing!

Then actually, really sort of lastly there's the fact that the best BBQ in the whole entire world of a planet hooked me up with a lady who knew a lady who is helping me with the APA formatting on my paper (for a significant chunk of change but you know what, done is done and I'm willing to pay for it!) so It looks as though I may actually be about to turn that silly thing in at some point this century....

Whew. K. I'm actually not as crazy super busy as I was last week but I still prolly need to be doing something productive so I'm gonna go. More later though as there are huge milestones in the CP, SK marriage to report as well as updates on the brochure/book designs.... (Seriously, who am I that I get to have such a lovely fun life????)

Let's see...

Where was I...... Ah, yes. The life. The life is trundling along. Things are a squeach INSANE at work but mostly because there's just one whole hell of a lot to do to support the various departments and only one little me to do it so..... I'm sort of always behind on something major but the rest of the package (great co-workers, on-site Big Girl after-school care, flexible hours, fabulous building/location, etc. etc.) is still so nice I think it'll balance out.

I'm also behind on finalizing my dissertation so i can turn the damn thing in and be done with it but I'm hoping/trying to take care of that this month. [fingers crossed]

In happier news: my BBQ is back from her million-year rip around the world. I swear, I don't see her all that often but gosh darn it, I sure do like having her close!

The Girls are starting school in little over A WEEK which is impossibly exciting to me and I think to them as well so that's fun.

The WIFE continues to be great despite my growing crankiness as the competing needs re: the rest of the world continue to mount up which I'm sure is making me a little insufferable and certainly a lot more tired -- regardless, she's adorable and sweet and I love her, plus now she can't leave without risking half her CDs so that's kind of cool as well!

And lastly, I know this hasn't had much play here on the blog but the CP is ALSO getting married, At the end of this month, in fact to a delightful woman who I think very highly of so that's kind of cool to. In fact, I'm kind of thinking that the balance of things right this second is definitely skewing toward basically sweet/nice/good so.... Yay!

That's Mrs. Doctor to you!

{sigh} Our Paper Wedding happened today. We're not really treating this one as "the real wedding" onna counta that's still coming in Oct. but today we trotted down to Ciy Hall to make a (valiant if ultimately futile) attempt at filling out the paperwork correctly (missed by only a very little bit -- but SOOOO close!) and getting our hitch on and I have to say.... it was really sweet. We got married by a very nice lady judge in the rotunda with family and friends looking on and being supportive and wonderful (and CUTE. Damn, how do I know so many good-looking people????) and I'm just so happy and glowey about the way the life continues to be turning out! I love my new wife. Granted, I'm exhausted beyond any reasonable measure but gosh, sooooo happy and contented and thinking things are just duckie! :-)

oh!

And my Big Big Girl is back so me=pretty extraordinarily happy! More yay! :-)

Who's perfectly bilingual?

Um, that would be my Little Big Girl, Spark!!! The Missus and her just got through with their intro to Kindergarten assessment and she scored exactly the same in both English en Espanol! She's at Intermediate level - so more testing at the start of next year and the next just to make sure she's "catching up" in English (why do I find that kind of funny?)which I find just ducky/fab as that is what I hear from most of the other 'Rents I know who are trying to raise the bilinguals.... Cool though that it sounded like they had a grand time. Also cool that the nice testing lady gave rave reviews to our baby's new school! Yay!

In other news, The INVITATIONS to the wedding are being sent out in approximately three minutes!! I KNOW. {pause} I don't know why this is striking me as such a freaking HUGE deal but it feels that way. Like now all of a sudden it's "official" or something... :-)

My week....

Monday/Tuesday in the hospital with the Spark dealing with doctors who were attempting to deal with her asthma. (In all fairness, they really were trying but jeeze, Louise, how many gallons of steroids do you have to pump into a tiny person before you start accepting that maybe, just possibly, she might constructed in a way that sounds "wheezy on the right side...!" Wednesday: back in the office dealing with all the crazy-ness that can transpire the second one turns ones back on "bread-earning" -- pick up the Scoot for an extra eve in Oakland (yay!) becase we lose her on Friday for a million year (5 days) vacay with the other parent (boo!), Thursday = Wednesday re-dub, Friday lose the Big Girl to the lovely state of Oregon for the beter part of the next month. {sad.} Oh sure, there was some good stuff. The Little Big Girl, Big Little Girl and GalPal to the Stars were all big ole troopers during the Spark-in-the-Hosp. episode. Also very nice/grateful/swet to hear from the Bees offering support and various ears so I could kevetch. (Similar shout out the the A-Tail for allowing me to go on (and on). I really do love my friends...) There was a lunch in there with the Mr. of the Bees that was also lovely/long overdue; hanging out with the Rock-Star and her mom whilst wedding DJ stuff was sorted out... The Little Big Girl had her annual show/graduation which. was. a-DOR-able! and we also got to spend some fun quality time looking at potential bridesmaid dresses with the lovely sister of the lovely lady who still (for whatever inexplicable reason, still purports to love cranky-tired-missing-my-big-girl ole me) so, I guess the week wasn't a complete and total wash but still. I'm kind of glad to see the tail end of this one.

Oh, then this morning we ushered in the new week by participating in the AIDS walk which was lovely and felt nice even though I ended it even more pitifully weak (in mind and body) than before. Ah well... I'm attempting to have high hopes for the coming 6 days so we shall see what we shall see...

Doggie Daycare = CUTE!

So, the little Missus has been spearheading a "get our pooch into camp!" campaign which looks as though it has finally paid off. Our little trooper had his first day of "managed care" today and initial reports are that he is doing well and looks to have befriended a terrier who was also new to the program. I'm just so proud of him! {sniff} Dogs. They grow up so fast! (Wow. So i think that officially means that every single person/animal in the house has an actual schedule of daily/weekly events. I wonder if we're going to have to start organizing around Biscie playdates as well!)

Whoo Hoo!

My "Paper Wedding" dress came today! It is beautiful! I LOVE it!!!!!!!! Eh, hem.. carry on.....

Conversation with my five year old who is being dropped off at school this morning

FYOWIBDOASTM:[upon being told she will have to give back the glittery shoes which she has "borrowed" from one of her little friends] Can I get pink shiny shoes?
Me: Um. Yes. Sure. We'll go to the store on Sabado (Saturday)
FYOWIBDOASTM:Can I get a princess clock (watch) too?
Me:No. Just one thing. You only get one special thing from the store.
FYOWIBDOASTM: {quiet for a moment}There are two shoes.
Me: {quiet} Well.... yes. That is correct. You do get two shoes.
Me: But they're the same thing so it counts as one.
FYOWIBDOASTM: Then can I get two clocks instead?

why...? Why did I get the smart kids....?????

First and Foremost.....

yet another belated Happy Birthday wish (this one was on the 8th) going out to my Beautiful, Smart, Fabulous in pretty much every way imaginable, All grown up Niece, Ness! Sheesh! On the one hand I cannot believe you are 18 already and on the other... well, no. really there's just the one hand.... I {heart} you, I am proud of you and I cannot wait for your newfound 18/independent of parental ties-ness to translate into you moving out to live with us in sunny Cal so, jest you let me know when you're ready to pull up stakes and I'll clear out some space for ya!!! :-)

Next up, we have my cold sore. A huge, monstrous thing which is not only incredibly attractive but which also itches and is annoying in that it means I cannot smooch on my nearest and dearest until the d*** thing goes away. {sigh} Whatev. Prolly just the equivalent of a stickey note from my body telling me to maybe think about relaxing a little already! Or not. It's also possible that just sitting next to the Spore-Master (DB) reminded my inner virus that it hadn't been all that active lately... Thanks again, DB, for every little thing you've ever shared with me!

Blah!

Eeerrrgggg! And now I think i'm gettign a cold sore! Ugh. O.k. I need to eat now....

Yay!

My good friend Dirty Boy just told me he got promo'ed to full-time at ye ole art store so I guess the 'Stache' is finally paying off!

Then, in other news, I recently heard from my old Croatian buddy, V. which is always nice (good to know that folks who you've not thought of in years can still contact you out of the blue... FUN!) Anyways, I've not called him back because i suck but he sounded like he was doing well...

{sigh} I'm in a weird mood right now. Not super sure why..... There's been a lot going on in the life (Fourth of July week-end was grand, BTW! Lots of hanging out with really cool people and their really cool kids) then getting to "chat with" the Gal Pal which is always really very nice (psssst, that's code for "get busy"!!) plus getting to see the invitations for the wedding nearing completion.... all in all really nice but still. I don't know if I'm tired or if I just need some time off or what. Possibly I just need food. I'll try taking care of that part then see if any of The Petite Malaise clears away...

Sad...

Sad day at work today. My beautiful boss-lady is leaving -- today's her last day -- and we're doing a big ole last day fest thing for her but it's also sad. I mean, I don't know her very well, but she's THE reason I got the great position I currently occupy and she was soooo persistent/sweet about not taking my "no" as an answer and doing what she could to get the pay range closer to what I actually need to live even after I totally turned them down/blew them off.... {sniff} She's just awesome and I'm gonna miss seeing her around. Although my loss is UC Berkeley's gain so any of you who are over at the Berkeley campus, keep an eye out for the lovely lady in the gorgeous clothes working her a** off in the Alumni office.....

Happy Belated-by-one-day B-Day, BBQ!

To my Sparkley-Toothed Bestest Buddy Quin: You are awesome and wonderful and I am delighted you're finally joining me in that super-sunny land we call "Middle-Age"!!!

(Man, Has anyone else ever noticed that July is lousy with the Birthdays.... I feel like i should just wish everyone well now so as to not forget anyone...! No worries though, I have the GP who is keeping me on my toes so I just may be able to handle this "Regards" thing with some sort of aplomb!)

In other news, I am exhausted (nothing new) but happy. I finished a big project last night (again with the help of my Really-not-sure-what-I-did-to-get-her-to-LIKE-like-me-but please-dear-God-let-it-continue GalPal/Fiancee) so I am breathing a sigh of relief as we head into this long Holiday week-end. Plus, I might get actual sleep tonight. I'm not counting on it or anything but it has suggested itself as a possibility -- a prospect about which, I'm a little too excited!

Happy Pride!

Happy being out and loud and whatever else it is folks are being right now. I, myself, feel like I've been pretty strident in a whole bunch of other ways for the past several months so I'm not really feeling all that compelled to go add myself to the throng but more power to those who do. The GF is out at the filmfest which I suppose is close and she might be hanging out at the march after so, I figure I can support by proxy!

So, can I just say, this week has been kicking my butt. I signed on to do this website for this hair lady who is once again teaming up with Redkin to promote a particular kind of hair extension method (those of you who are near and dear to me may remember my summer of long hair circa 2006 when I was actually *in* the show -- I'm still getting the extensions as part of the deal but this time around I don't have to sit in front of a crowd of people getting poked and stared at while they put them in, PLUS my name goes in the Redkin show brochure so I could get some actual extra work out of it!) All around a win-win sitch except it sort of also means I've been staying up nights trying to finish the website for her at the same time i'm trying to focus on completing the "wedding homework" steps our lovely planner RSM has set out for us AND just trying to deal with work and sick kids and lovely girlfriends who are also trying to deal but who have a lot going on as well which sometime necessitates unexpected extra dealing.... {sigh}... I guess what i'm trying to say is I'm a little tired i think. Not of any one thing since it's all good, it's just alot of balls to keep in the proverbial air....

In other news, though, I also just attended a "block party" planning meeting wherein some of my neighbors and I sat around discussing ways to put on the apparently annual event -- all of which felt very neighborhoody and inclusive and whatnot so that was fun!

K. i'm just about to head out for a playdate with the little G-daughter of our exLand-Peeps (although, Spark, for whatever reason thinks it's her playdate!) after which I get to see the fantabulousness that is my Bee clan, who I love and who I've sorely missed so, again, have to say, it is a lot but a lot of it is good!

Um...

Who's going to TULUM for their Honeymoon with their Sweetie and two of the most amazing children on the planet...??? That would be US!Yay! Plans finalized last night. Tickets purchased. Me = dying!

Good-bye to the Wil-ster

The GP's beloved cat, who she lived with for more than a decade, passed on yesterday and it was sad. She's sad and we'll miss his fuzzy grey adorableness. Good luck where ever your travels take you next, Mister Willie-Boy. Thanks for being here with us for a little while along the way...

Multiple Choice!

Conversation had this morning with Fantastically "Aware" Individual:

Fantastically Aware Individual:So, we had the {air quotes} "final" discussion yesterday
Me:Really??
FAI:Yeah. I just told her that I didn't really see us as friends anymore and that I didn't think that was going to change.
Me:What did she say?
FAI:She said she didn't know why. And that we used to be friends and hang out all the time and that I was being different.
Me:Hmmmm. How'd that make you feel?
FAI:[shrug] Well, I don't know. I mean, I am different. That's the point. Plus she's got all her people always hanging around her telling her how great she is. I sort of feel bad but I also sort of feel like she's just using this to try to make me like them.
Me:Yeah.
FAI:It'll be fine. I'm not gonna see her anymore after this year anyway so... she'll make new friends.
Me:yeah. {pause} man. You're smart.

K. so, quick question: Who was I having this enormously insightful, succinct, well-thought out conversation with?

A) Any of my growing number of increasingly self-reflective gal-pals about to hit the big 4-0 and electing to weed out some of the more problematic elements in their otherwise full and rewarding lives....

B) Any of my 20 something Pals who are finding they just cannot continue carrying the expectations of some of their Crush-Buddies who are growing increasingly grumbly about the continuing lack of reciprocal affection emanating from my Buddies' cool-mustachioed selves.....

or

C) My ten year old.

Answer = "C" -- Seriously. I don't know where she gets this from but I sure as heck do know it isn't genetic!

A man is only as good...

as his Mustache! [cue me posting a pic taken just today of the Man, the Myth, Mr. DB with his new lip foliage! But, alas, I can't get it out of my phone so... until I figure this out, the world will never know...]

In other news,

week-end was FABULOUS! Dinner at the Ms. JW (aka wedding caterer extraordinaire!) which was amazing plus awfully fun getting to hang out with the grown up types. Then Sundee was all about e kid types combined with some quality gardening. Today I had off as it is Shavuot which is a Jewish Holiday and which I now get off onna counta I'm working at an Jewish-centric organization. (Sweet!) So I got to not only pal around with my Honey , I also got to have some lunchey lunch with my dear friend, A-Tail as well as a chance to swing by Pearl's to pick up some paper/witness the effect a quality mustache can have on the average customer. (None that I could immediately ascertain but maybe I'm just not looking in the right way -- or laughing too hard, that could be it as well!) After which we were also able to harass/give a ride to the unbelievably fantastic BBQ so all in all I'd have to say, quite the successful stretch of time was had!

Last but certainly not least, let me close by saying, My GF is really really HOT!

Last night...

Last night TWO dresses arrived at my house. Two gorgeous dresses that I now have to choose between in order to figure out which one I want to wear for my wedding! The Big Girl was, as always a huge help.

Me: Whoa!
BG: Yeah!
Me: These are gorgeous!
BG: I know! Wow!
Me: [worried] Now how am I going to pick between them?
BG: [shrug, not at all worried] Just pick the one that feels most right.
Me: But how do I know?
BG: You always know.

We also made our appointment to go get paper-hitched at the Hall of Cities in San Fran. Monday, August 4th at 12:30, Baby! Signed, sealed and delivered! (Uh, everyone should prolly keep that date open as we're going to require at least one witness and me and the GP while not being nearly as fabulous as we're going to be at the REAL wedding are STILL going to be looking awfully cute! IHOEL, Bee-Mama, Mistah Lovah-Lovah, this means you.....!)

Officially crossed over

to Sappy! K. you've been warned now check this out! www.mywedding.com/cynthialovesshari

all-staff meeting happening in about 3 minutes...

During which I will be introduced to everyone as the new webmaster. I was just getting up to go to this thing when i looked down and noticed this HUGE spill of yogurt down the front of my shirt. {sigh} serves me right for trying to "eat healthy"... :-)

Um....

How cute is this????? k. sorry, just had to get that out of my system. Stay tuned for updates to that page/site as my 10 year old and her soon-to-be-Step-in-name-only-mommy continue to surpass any actual site design knowledge I might possess and continue to get down wit their bad selves!

In other news, thanks to the glorious pals o mine who planned/hosted/cooked for/attended my little "So glad you're FINALLY graduated so you'll (please) stop with the whining!" party this past week-end. I was soooooo delighted to see you all in the one place and I am realizing afresh how VERY much in love I am with each and every one of you!

hmmmmmm. I sort of want to put in a little something here about the massively fun "relations" I've been having lately with the girl but since this is a family blog (ha! I know.... since when.....????) I think i will refrain. suffice to say I am still STUPID in love with that girl and I am thrilled beyond belief that we were able to usher in the official first year marker of our glorious relationship this past week-end with some delicious boot-knocking as well as some quality hanging out OUT in the world (again, thanks to some quality kid-watchage by the handsome Mr. B.!) Plus, she got me a really cool bag so, pretty much bonus all round!

Women of a certain age...

So I was staring intently at myself in the mirror this morning as is my want {snicker - yeah, right!} and I noticed I have quite a few grey/white hairs on my head! Now I happen to find this incredibly cool since, as we are all (mind-numbingly) aware it is my fervent desire to look like I'm at least capable of having thoughts befitting a 40-year-old but the thing is there are a lot of them and they're long-ish (as long-ish as the rest of the hairs on my head anyway) so I'm just sort of wondering why I haven't seen them before?????

Anyways, in more interesting news, we're getting my Big Baby-Girl back from her million-day, overnight camping extravaganza she embarked upon with her 5th grade class earlier this week which just makes me happy beyond belief. (I don't know what it is, I just can't seem to buy into the whole "push" part of parenting. I'm more a advocate of the "pull/smother/beg-them-not-to-leave-you" camp...) I realize it's technically only been about two and a half days but STILL! eh hem. So anyways, she's coming back today which is nice. Then there's the other little love of my life who is all grown-up and flitty with her lovely long locks, and who has begun calling the GF "Mom" in a very calculated, consciously thought out way which I think is awesome/adorable and which I believe is well-received by my wife-to-be so that's nice....

Not alot more, really, to report other than looking forward to a visit by the San Jose G-Ma tomorrow morn then a fantabulous Grad Party fete thrown by my nearest/dearest to celebrate my acquiring massive student loan debt...er...ah I mean my doctorate! So, I guess I'll finish with that. life is good. the Gal is great and I'm really ridiculously happy. Hope everyone else is too......!

Included in a recent letter...

from my 93-year old grandma:

"In keeping up with the news, I'm aware that California's Supreme Court has favored same sex marriages, making it legal. What the court cannot do is reprogram the minds of us past 90 generation! However, who are we to be self-righteous about our loved ones embracing this life style? So, I wish you and S. well when you make your commitments and hope that all goes well for you and your children.

With Loving Thoughts,
Grandma K."

{heart!}

Possibly the Happiest Day of My Life!

Yesterday, my little brother called to tell me he'd finally learned why accessorizing a Taupe suit with a cornflower blue shirt is the height of cutting-edge chic. We then went on to discuss square-toed, shiny, shoes, matching skinny belts and the single turn cuff. I'm so proud of him. I may cry!

(Oh, he also congratulated me on that whole graduating thing. That was fun too!)

Is there a doctor in the house?

Why, yes... Yes there is!

Man. best part of strokes received following Dissertation Defense this afternoon = having one of the committee members, who has *not* been activey involved in trying to help me succeed at this for the last five years (*unlike* my beautiful Professor who I still love more than all the rest!) say: "well, this is just so exciting! Now we have something to show other grad students who are interested in writing a non-traditional dissertation using narrative. It's so interesting to be first. Now we'll get to keep saying 'Yes, but aren't we realy talking about modeling it after the Magnet dissertation of 2008?'" {blush/swoon}

K. So. 2008 is turning out to be one of the best years ever. Witness the results for the first half...

1) great new fiancee (who it looks like I can now legally marry)
2) great new job
3) great new house
4) great new age/decade (40 rocks!)
5) great new finish to a (seems like) million year stint as a grad student
6) same amazing friends and famiy.

Gosh. I think I'm officially THE luckiest human being on the planet!

Two things....

1) I have my dissertation defense in two hours. I'm skeered.
2) What is up with the skin breakouts at 40 thing??? I mean seriously, hwven't we all been through enough pain...?

Did i mention I'm graduating?

Yeah. in about a week. I have my mom flying out. My oral defense of my dissertation is next Thursday.

Yup.

Graduating.

Now what am i gonna do?

Happy Birthday Pretty Boy!!!!

Happy 16th or whatever it is for you! Hope you have years and years of happiness to come!

k. So, week-end was lovely. First part of Sat. was a tiny bit challenging due to my succumbing to a "me" moment and dragging the entire family off to the middle of nowhere (alright, the Golden Gate Park) to celebrate the Pretty Boy B-Day. At some point I'm sure I will realize that they are not actually physical extensions of myself and that while I may think it just delightful to get to see the old gang and indulge in some quality catching up, they (being non-extensions) might possibly be bored out of their sweet little minds! Ah well. c'est la vie. We live, we learn. Following the non-party party however we got to engage in some quality swimming time which was stellar! then yesterday, when the littlest one and I were not fighting with each other, the fantabulous GF and I managed to clear all the laundry (stacks of clean sitting nestled and unwashed with the worn and grimy) out of the various corners of the house and into washing machines/dryers/drawers and closets! I know! Weird how little it actually takes to make me feel accomplished.....

Weird

Wow. So because I am a young(ish) hip, urban professional in IT; I, of course, belong to a series of networking sites which means that every so often I'll get an e-mail completely out of the blue from an old friend along these lines:

"Hello there! I realize you haven't heard from me in the last bazillion years but just wanted to check in and let you know I'm in Boston getting my Masters in Clinical Social Work, married to a wonderful lady who is getting her Masters in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and doing fabulously. The kid is completely grown up, happy, healthy and living with his dad in Louisiana. In addition to all of that, I just had a project proposal approved by some hugely important thinktank so I'll be quitting work soon so I can concentrate on developing it. How're you ?"

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but still. Way to throw a person for a loop.