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!

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!

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....

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.........

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. :-)

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!)

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"??? ;-)

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??

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. :-)

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!)

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!

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

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. :-)

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.....

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....

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!

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..... ;-)

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!

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!

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!