Oh well, fiddle-dee-dee!

Cringe reflex

2008-04-02T23:27:00.004-04:00

Tommy took Oliver to the mall yesterday so he could play at the indoor playground (we have a surprisingly kid-friendly mall and O is a card-caring kidgit - kudos to the design team and their awesome little kidgit characters!). But I digress....he said later they were walking around and there was a woman and her dog walking nearby. Wanting to really get Oliver happy, they toddled towards the middle-aged woman and her medium-sized white dog (if only you were reading this, Lady I'm Talking About). As they approached, Tommy asked, "Is your dog nice?" Her response: "Yes, if she wasn't, I wouldn't have brought her to the mall." THEN SHE TURNED AROUND AND WALKED AWAY...away from OLIVER.

I get more and more furious every time I think about this woman. CLEARLY she wanted a little attention if she's going to go so far as to bring a DOG to a MALL and yet when said attention approached in all their insanely cute glory, she could only be rude. SURELY she's cringing right now for saying such a thing, right? RIGHT???? And yet, the line sounded so...rehearsed.

Tramp.

(I made up a joke similar to the "What do a lawyer and a catfish have in common? One's a parasite eating bottom dweller and the other is a fish"-joke but it reads rude. I'm sure you can come up with one since you know what a female dog is.)

Major Milestone: 1st Macaroni Art

2008-03-03T14:02:00.001-05:00

Major Milestone: 1st Macaroni Art
Originally uploaded by kaymaria

Have I mentioned how awesome Oliver's daycare lady is? Well, Miss Donna is AWESOME. I knew she was The One when she said, "If the bigger kids are going to fingerpaint, then so is Oliver." She's very crafty, appreciates input (we gave her the new They Might Be Giants cd/dvd, Here Come the ABCs for Valentines Day and though she hates that the songs get wedged in her head, she appreciates the new material), and is great with giving her own input. So of course I was thrilled when this came home with Oliver one day. His first macaroni art. I'm sure you can see how perfectly he captures the conflict of old and new ideas in post-Communist Germany while still bringing whimsy and fun to such a culture clash. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to my first macaroni bracelet.

You know I'm okay, right?

2008-02-20T10:40:00.002-05:00

Every now and then I go into a dark place. I've got one of THOSE brains that just circles and circles and sucks in problems and what-ifs like a cow in a tornado.

Sometimes, there's a lot of cows.

Jinx of the Blog?

2008-02-19T22:37:00.002-05:00

Invariably...or relatively so....if I gush about how great my husband is, the very next day we have a fight or a tiff or some other unpleasant nash. Well, apparently this jinx applies to moods as well because no sooner had I bored myself writing my previous post that I soon turned to mush.

I went downstairs to do the Big Wash of bottles, sippy cups, and other handwashables and I just plain ached. Why is it, if it's "just" an organ, do I ache in my heart? I guess it's more of an ache in my core (and not in the trendy muscular sense) but I associate it with my heart which doesn't help with the heart references. And yet, at times it helps to cry. A lot of times. Cleanses the soul, core, heart, whatever. And doing dishes is one of those commonplace chores that's kind of therapeutic in it's plain-ness where you can fit a crying jag in quite nicely. A crying jag and a chat with the God of My Choice over recent events, past bad decisions and the question of residual karmic consequences. I think He assures me I'm being too hard on myself. I hope I got it right when I heard a quiet voice saying everything will work out.

And as Luck, or something more bitter, would have it, this feeling went Pavlovian. Tonight when I went downstairs to do the handwashables, the tears came with me.

Didn't help that they didn't call today to book his MRA appointment. Didn't help that at a rather rough point at work, a woman I work with who I adore and whose birthday is a day after mine read our horoscope:
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Entertain everyone with your Leo charm and you will gain popularity today. Emotional issues with someone you love will escalate if you ignore his or her complaints. Put some time aside to take care of personal matters.

Didn't help that he threw a little tantrum because he was tired and was inconsolable a little too long for my tastes ("Could he be hurting himself? Is his blood pressure getting high? Do I just give him a cookie to calm him down? Are these emotions escalating? Am I ignoring viable complaints?").

And yet, it's what I signed up for. And it's all worked out so far. When I was pregnant, they saw fluid on his brain, that passed. When he was born, he couldn't shake the jaundice, that passed. When he had a questionably large head and we had to wait for a CAT scan, those results showed he just has a giant head, so that passed.

This too shall pass.

Better get to my loving husband who is a little worried about the current tear flow. Man he rocks.

I'm not afraid of you, Jinx...okay, well maybe a little.

This is going to be a bumpy ride.

Just checking in

2008-02-18T21:22:00.002-05:00

We had a good day today. Nothing super special because the weather SUCKED but we did go to the mall so Oliver could play at the indoor playground and hopefully learn to crawl.

He's 16 months old, isn't walking, but hasn't ever really crawled. He did the army crawl for a while then he learned to sit up on his own and that morphed into a scoot. Have you ever seen a dog drag its butt across the carpet? That is what O's scoot first looked like but he has since mastered it and he can really work up some speed on the hardwoods. And yet, suddenly, the woman that comes to analyze him feels that he needs to learn to crawl before he learns to walk (which is soon, Baby, SOON - he can walk along side you holding your pants leg for support). I think he needs to know how to crawl just for all the boy stuff he's going to do so a friend suggested tunnels. Her son learned to get on his knees that way. She loaned us the play tunnel she got at IKEA but it's long and thus intimidating so off to the mall we went cursing that we didn't bring any hand sanitizer but getting over it pretty quickly.

He did okay in the tunnels but had so much fun walking around, watching the kids, and just checking things out. When huddled in a little structure, a really cool boy named Nathan popped in. Turns out, he was born on the day Tommy and I were married. How cool is that?

Wow, I'm kind of boring myself. I guess the point of this tome is: we're doing really good. The near future is definitely looming but we're doing our best to have fun and if that means crawling around questionably sanitary play structures and spongy, bouncy carpet then Bring It On.

Did I tell you Oliver is starting to blow kisses. Dreamy.

The Remote

2008-02-17T22:47:00.003-05:00

Scene: Us in the living room, about to watch the second half of the first season of Weeds, one of the greatest shows EVER. Me standing, him reading Mental Floss next to the remote
Me: Will see what the weather is supposed to do.

Him: It's dark out.

Me: [laughing hysterically because well, it IS the best medicine]

Him: I hope you still think I'm funny in 50 years.

Me: I hope I know what day it is in 50 years.

The man wants to be married to me for 50 more years. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

El corazon

2008-02-16T23:10:00.003-05:00

I think the God of Your Choice is big into tests. And it's your job to do your best to pass said tests. Here's a catch-up on the current test I'm taking:

11/15/07
Yesterday, we took Oliver in to have a diaper rash looked at (I thought it was a little bit of a yeast infection, it was, ointment given) so while we were there I asked to get the confirmation that all went well with his echocardiogram that was done on October 17th (at his one-year check-up, his doctor heard a heart murmur that had been unheard of since birth). I thought it was going to be like the CAT scan he had where "no news is good news," well, it turns out, "no news is O's pediatrician isn't really on the ball." Turns out, the "ECHO noted elevated velocities in the arch and aortic narrowing suggestive of coarctation." We turn to webmd for understanding:

Coarctation of the aorta is a common heart defect present at birth. With this defect, a portion of the large blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body (aorta) is abnormally narrowed or pinched. Coarctation of the aorta reduces blood flow to the body, requiring the heart to pump harder to meet the body's demands, which over time can lead to high blood pressure, heart failure, or other complications.

The most obvious symptoms of coarctation of the aorta are signs of heart failure-such as difficulty breathing, poor weight gain, sweating, and being sleepy and fussy most of the time-and decreased pulses in the legs. This condition is usually detected in newborns during normal blood pressure checks and by listening to the heart. Further tests, such as echocardiography, may be done to confirm the diagnosis.

Coarctation of the aorta requires surgery. If the condition is not repaired, a person with coarctation of the aorta may not live past the age of 40 or 50.

And here's more.

We now have an appointment tomorrow at Yale Pediatric Med Ctr to meet with a doctor who will probably do another echo and if need be, he can do some sort of procedure where they blow up the aorta to check it out further. The wonderful, wonderful nurse knew exactly how to talk to me when I said, "What does this procedure entail or do I want to know just yet?" She responded, "You probably don't want to know just yet but it's better than surgery." And she stressed that surgery isn't always the only option and the fact that he's growing like crazy is a really good sign that this all could be relatively minor.

So we have an appointment tomorrow at 2:45. I'll let you know more when I do.

11/17/07
After an EKG, several blood pressure tests, and another echocardiogram (all of which O did splendidly except for the EKG because the woman wasn't all that pleasant),the doctor does not feel that it is a coarctation. He is a little concerned that the aorta may have a bit of a twist to it which could cause problems as he grows or could fix itself. Either way, he wants to repeat the process in 3 months and keep an eye on it somewhat regularly - fine by us!

Thanks so much for keeping us in your thoughts and thanks again for just being there (I'm here for you, you know that, right?),

Kay, Tommy, and the rockin' Oliver ("He's bigger than my 4 year old!" the doctor was quoted as saying. And after we talked about how much he's sleeping and confirmed it's because he's growing and not heart-related, he asked, "Wanna trade?")

2/14/07 – a day of hearts
We are off to Yale tomorrow for Oliver's follow-up heart testing. I'm not too worried about it and still remain oh-so thankful that The Big Dogs are keeping an eye on everything...but just in case, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. If you need something to focus on, here he is in all his Valentine's glory.

2/15/07 (the day after Valentine’s Day – heart, heart, heart)
We had another round of heart testing today which included another echocardiogram and EKG. What I thought was going to be a, "Okay, come back again in 6 months to so we can keep monitoring him" sadly was not. As of right now, it looks like Oliver's heart issue may be a coarctation after all (see below). The next step is to get an MRI to get a better look at what his heart is doing then there are two options for treatment. The first is the heart catheterization and the second is surgery (both mentioned in the link below). There are definitely pros and cons in both (the former would probably need another session in a couple of years and a stint years after that, the latter is heart surgery but would probably not need followups) and right now, our doctor, who is a specialist in the former feels surgery may be the better option judging by how much of the aorta/ventricle is involved.

Either way, Oliver's age is PERFECT for either decision. His insane but proportional growth (he is now 36 1/2" long and 35 pounds) is a good sign of good health. And our doctor and his colleague are pediatric cardiologist specialists at Yale.

So they will call me early next week to schedule the MRI which are usually done on Thursdays for pediatrics. Our doctor will meet with his colleague to get his take on things and we will talk in the middle of the week to discuss the MRI and the next steps.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and I will do my best to keep you updated.

Oliver is in great spirits (he HATED the EKG but forgave the woman soon enough). Tommy and I are hanging in there. I had a margarita at dinner and it was delicious. Tommy is up to something for tomorrow for my Valentine's Day present (the hints are: "no opened-toed shoes, wear something I wouldn't mind getting dirty, no jewelry, and we'll be gone for two hours counting the commute") so that's a nice distraction. And we both know that it'll all work out and this too shall pass - it's just getting to "it" and the "pass" that's the tricky part.

Correction: I kept saying MRI when really it's probably going to be an MRA.

2/18/07
Today was Tommy's Valentine surprise for me (not sure if that's what you had confused with "today") - he took me to the penguin contact program at the Mystic Aquarium - I got to pet a penguin and listen to her heartbeat (seriously, enough about hearts!). It was so cool!!!!!! And we got there early so we were able to look around the aquarium - there's currently a bat exhibit there and it's designed really well so you can see them really closely - I love me some cute little bats.

It was a really nice distraction...though I did get a teensy bit choked up when I first thought of the heartbeat coincidence....but no one saw. Then later I was at the commissary and that damn Dido song (Resting Here with Me) came on and it was all I could do to not break down in front of all the payday shoppers (seriously, you NEED two carts?). That song killed me when Tommy was out to sea and the sob saga continues.

I now hate not being around Oliver. He's at such a precious age right now. Really trying to walk on his own but can't let go of the one finger of mine or Tommy's. His little Frankenstein walk is just priceless.

I’m just saying, if anything bad ever happened, you can find me tagging Great White sharks for science while wearing a chum necklace.

Ginger Yuzu

2007-10-14T21:23:00.000-04:00

I feel really, really good about using my reusable plastic grocery bags and after I bought four plain green ones, I vowed to get a fun, mismatched set. And now Method products are making my plan that much better!

One year old

2007-10-14T17:06:00.001-04:00

One year old
Originally uploaded by kaymaria

10/6/07

Oliver turned a year old today.

Since Tommy is currently a little busy participating in the wilderness challenge (we figured it was the only year we could get away with truly celebrating O’s bday on another day other than his actual birthday), I decided to take Oliver into New York for the day so we could celebrate just a little.

Needless to say, it was a great day and we partook of the stereotypical melting pot that is New York. I loaded my flickr pics backwards so you could see the proper order of the day.

We spent the night at Judah’s house last night. I had made cupcakes so we had our first commemorative birthday cupcake and O was sung too while staring mesmerized at the candle (more pics to follow but they’re in Stace’s camera which is in Mexico for the next week). The next morning I awoke to a very wet and saturated baby and Pack & Play. After clean-up, we then took the train into Grand Central Station and decided to walk down to Union Square (rather than taking the subway) to meet Lynn & Nicole for lunch. On the way, I passed the Empire State Building so I elected the help of many tourists to take our picture to commemorate the day. In doing so, we met people from France, New Zealand, and Spain. Fortunately, I was able to return the photo favor by taking pics of the French couple. Tres bon!

As we approached Union Square, we passed a really big, very tall guy wearing a sandwich board touting a suit shop going out of business. As we passed, he looked into the stroller and commented, “Ay, que lindo!” [basically Spanish for: Oh, how cute!]

We had a great lunch at Rosa Mexicano and I was able to get to know Lynn’s girlfriend, Nicole a little better. SUCH a catch!

Afterwards, we walked to Books of Wonder, stopping at Cupcake Café for an adequate but commemorative birthday cupcake. Books of Wonder is a great bookstore for kids. Oliver is obssessed with the opposites books by Leslie Patricelli. When we first moved here, I bought him Big Little because I figured his baby-baby eyes would like the bold colors. After that, Yummy Yucky soon followed. When I couldn’t find Quiet Loud at the local bookstores, I ordered it online and O acted like his long lost baby brother was finally shipped to him. He truly studies the pages and now can turn them relatively well which is absolutely insanely precious. So yesterday, though I was hesitant to encourage “the plug” (what we call his pacifier) since he kind of hangs on to it a bit too much, I looked through Binky. The ending was great. Seriously, I think Mrs. Patricelli – who is from Seattle, of course – what’s not to like?, was equally hesitant with her kids so she wrote this book. So I bought it and a signed copy of #1 (one) I love, love, love this book! I want to get Ten next…and everything else thereafter.

Another Why I Like NY Moment occurred as we left Lynn and Nicole and headed uptown. I was walking (briskly, of course) and all of a sudden, the weight of my travel mug full of coffee snapped the snap of the little mesh cup holder of O’s stroller. Granted, it was probably too heavy to support the weight from the get-go, but thankfully it waited til after we left the restaurant, bookstore, etc. So, it dropped and the lid shot off spraying coffee all over the sidewalk. A second sooner, and it would have been all over the guy walking briskly next to me. And yet, said guy bent over and picked up the coffee-covered lid to said travel mug, handed it to me, and resumed his brisk walk. I didn’t even have time to offer him a baby wipe so his hand didn’t smell like that day’s Starbucks. THAT doesn’t happen everywhere.

So we slowly headed back to Grand Central. I pulled a Mom and said, “We’re going to pop into the MAC store for a couple of lipsticks, but after that, we’ll go swing in the park.” Like I needed to bribe when it dawned on me that MAC stores are filled with women, cool lighting, and mirrors – the swinging in Madison Square Park was bonus time.

I wanted to get a picture or something to commemorate O’s first birthday so when we got to Grand Central, I decided to push further past and head for MOMA where I knew there would be artists with booths set up. We found the perfect little abstract painting done by Martha Murphy. It even looks like there’s the number one in it. AND she was super nice and allowed me to take a picture of her holding Oliver.

A great way to end a great day.

Kya-ka

2007-10-03T10:06:00.001-04:00

Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by kaymaria

My sister has become cooler than me. Granted, I’ve lost quite a lot of cool in recent years...and haven't missed it too much now that I think about it... but still, she has surpassed my peak of coolness. Initially that intimidated me but she’s smart enough to pet my ego with lines like, “You’ve molded me into the woman I have become.” I may have watered the seed and nurtured the sprout, but the bloom is all her. [I was going to go with a "running with the ball" metaphor but it wasn't girly enough.]

In the immortal words of Alabama Whitman-Worley, "...three words went through my mind endlessly, repeating themselves like a broken record: you're so cool, you're so cool, you're so cool."

Happy Birthday Jessica! Man, I love you!

Should have posted this on 9/9/07

2007-09-21T00:28:00.000-04:00

I searched YouTube and MySpace and didn’t find anything on the person I met today and I’m truly shocked. So here’s a link to get you by.

We drove to Stamford today to see the exhibit The Motorcycle, Italian Style:
Riding the Curves with MV Agusta at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center. Nothing like walking through gorgeous farmland with turkeys and chickens skittering about underfoot only to walk into open land filled with gorgeous Italian motorcycles. Since the show just opened, today’s shindig featured even more gorgeous bikes and the presence of Roosevelt “Rosey” Lackey. He is the 2006 Bonneville land speed record holder. What does that mean, in a nutshell? He went really really fast on salt. If you haven’t seen The World’s Fastest Indian, rent it. Even though it’s about Burt Munro who broke the land speed record in 1967, it will give you a general idea what Rosey has done and where.

Those that know me know I like motorcycles but don’t really want one. Though there are a few I covet. The point of this tome is to praise Rosey. I associate the word “gentleman” with humility – this man has accomplished A LOT and still remains humble and will gladly pick up some crazy lady’s HUGE baby when she asks if she can take a picture of him holding said huge baby. (Like you need to guess who that crazy lady was.) I asked what he thought of The World’s Fastest Indian, he of course, loved it. Then after we chatted for a moment, I went in to see the exhibit and there was a gap where his Agusta motorcycle will be once it gets shipped to the museum. I met the guy who rode the bike that is going to be in a rather important museum exhibit. Needless to say, upon leaving the exhibit, I had to go back to Rosey’s table and acknowledge that I may have downplayed his accomplishment by gushing over the movie about someone else’s similar accomplishment (he of course has met Burt Munro but that’s beside the point). I soon gushed about how impressive that gap in the exhibit was. He in turn, as any humble man would do, downplayed the gap while saying how much he loved the movie. I did the best I could to push the movie aside and thanked him for being there today.

70. The man is 70 years old.

I made an observation today. (Me? Go figure.) I really like people that are quiet about their accomplishments. Quiet a.k.a. humble. Because you don’t need to be anything more. Let your work speak for itstelf. I see it in my friend Jeff. Granted, "The Movie People" may be kind of getting to him, but fortunately/hopefully he has enough friends that will keep him in line if he gets too big for his britches. And even in me I’ve seen this silence (there are some of you out there going, “You? Silent???” but give me a minute to explain…) I moved to New York to be a photographer and I liked quite a few of the pictures I took but I realized I could not schmooze them enough to be successful so that combined probably with my laziness, made me give up the idea of being a photographer as a profession. Still though, I remember standing before people like Bill Westheimer, Howard Schatz, and other big, big photographers. I had to show my work after this guy that took gorgeous portraits of these $1 a night Venezualan hookers (seriously, they were shockingly beautiful pictures) and before the guy that followed Nixon through his Presidency and Watergate and took the clencher pic of Monica Lewinsky hugging Bill Clinton at that press junket (moral of that story to all photographers: don’t delete your digital pictures unless you’re SURE you’re not going to use them) and I was clicking through my slides like I was on a game show. Hello? Such a crowd makes a girl NERVOUS. And yet, said crowd made me stop and start over. Schatz even traded one of my pictures for one of his. I knew those pictures I shower were good, and yet, I stayed quiet. And I’m happy about that.

Sometimes quiet is good.

And yet, something tells me I'm going to cringe later for bringing myself into this entry because that wasn't very quiet after all, was it?

Seriously though, it was really, really great to meet Rosey Lackey.

Nerves

2007-09-12T01:21:00.000-04:00

I am going to meet my new coworkers of my new part-time job today (we found all 3 seasons of The Office on DVD - this is not helping the job jitters even though it came with a free Dunder Mifflin lunch box).

I will drop off my son with the nanny for the first time today as well.

I just applied for a tax ID number for the small business I am dabbling in.

I am looking into trademarking the name.

Me. A nanny, a potential business, a trademark, and yet another new job.

I must go wash the dye off my hair even though I'm clearly giving myself more gray hairs.

Think happy, pink thoughts for me, would ya?

Noo

2007-08-27T23:59:00.000-04:00

We went back to the farm for cukes & peaches. Apparently, telling Oliver that cows say "Moo" and actually hearing a cow say "Moo" are two totally and emotionally different things.

He was not pleased to hear the live version.

Alice Acres Farm

2007-08-20T16:14:00.000-04:00

Turns out there's a farm nearby. Alice Acres Farm, home of Cows and Cones, their new icecream shop. Tommy, Oliver and I walked there last Friday for a cone. It's a nice-sized, gorgeous farm complete with cows, chickens, pigs, and produce. We told Annie we'd come see her this week and that's just what Oliver and I did. She was there along with Pete, the owner. Turns out, Pete's from Washington so we reminisced about you ask for "sockeye," "coho," and other yummy types of salmon there and here you just ask for "salmon." O & I picked up some tomatoes, cukes, and peaches and when I asked if she had any eggs today (I saw a sign), Annie said, "Let me see what the girls have," went off to the coop, and came back with 6 fresh eggs.

Connecticut isn't looking so bad today.

41

2007-08-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

Today is my birthday. It's been ridiculously hot so we broke down and put a window unit in our bedroom window and set up the Pack & Play for O to sleep in. This worked out great for said birthday because I was able to watch how Oliver wakes up. Normally we only get to hear him babble but this morning I saw how he talked with his bottle, his rattle bunny, the ceiling, etc. Then when I got up I got THE GREATEST smile from him and I teared up at how great of a birthday it was....and I hadn't even noticed yet the strategic placement of Lindt truffle hearts throughout the house (on the toilet paper roll, on the toothbrush holder, on this laptop, on the changing table, on the tray of Oliver's highchair - wherever I was going to be, there one was!). It was a leisurely day and after Tommy got off work, I was able to go to the gym then come home and take a long shower before going to dinner. We went to Paul's Pasta - this cute little place on the water. They make everything including the pasta on the premises. While waiting on our food, a woman came up to us and asked if we were O's parents and commented how adorable he was. We talked for a minute and she went back to her table and meal (he's cute enough to interrupt a meal!). The table next to us was equally enamoured but I think O was a bit too intimidated by the volume of the NY accent to really dazzle them with a smile. The food was great, the waitress was darling, and at the end of the meal she said something like, "There's this club where anonymous people by dinner for people and ask only that one day you do the same. Someone here who wants to remain anonymous thought you looked nice and happy and are buying your dinner and ask that you do the same for someone in the future." How cool is that?!? AND we came home to Cold Stone icecream cake.

SUCH a happy birthday it was.

I am so, so thankful.

Attempting to be unapologetic and yet....

2007-07-24T13:13:00.000-04:00

I know it's been ages, I know this is a scattered bit of prose, but it will have to do for now so I hope you enjoy.

July 21, 2007

Mom and I sat talking in her living room this morning before Oliver woke up. Dredging up not-so-pleasant and oh-so-pleasant memories along with the quest to be able to always remember said memories (the oh-so-pleasant ones to be more specific, if you hadn’t noticed: it ain’t hard to remember the not-so-pleasant ones). I brought up my blog (not that she has internet but enough of the rest of my family does so you won’t see much venting on this thing) as a way of documenting the memories but I also noted that I don’t write on it enough though my older brother commented not too long ago, “You know how to write!” so because a good memory came out of the visit to TX Oliver and I are flying back from, for example, one with said brother, I will document a bit. I don’t think I need to remind you, I digress and this tome is no exception.

There are examples of true motherhood that my mother has shared with me that I always want to remember and live up to: After my parents divorced, we moved to Corpus Christi, TX and my mom worked full-time then went to school at night for her Master’s. As I remember, she took 9 to 12 hours per semester. This had to KILL her and she admitted that there was many a night that she drove to school crying because she was cold and tired and school was the last place she wanted to go to after working full time for the Department of Human Resources counseling 17 year olds pregnant with their 5th child and they “just don’t know why.” And yet she drove on solely for her kids.

My mom had polio when she was five. The doctors apparently told my grandmother that she would be “a cripple” (apparently the p.c. term for the time) to which my grandmother basically said, “Not on my watch.” And every morning she drove my mom from the tiny little town of Benavides, TX (“blink and you’ll miss it”) to Corpus so mom could have some sort of 1936 physical therapy (I shudder to think what that consisted of) til my mom was able to walk. But that’s not all – my tiny, little grandmother CARRIED my five-year-old mother from the parking lot to the hospital each and every day. This makes this morning’s flight from San Antonio to Cincinnati sitting next to a HUGE bowhunter* (judging by his periodical of choice) with my 26+ pound nine-month old sitting in what little, cramped lap I had seem like a walk in the park eating icecream.

So to lighten things up a bit, Tommy, Oliver and I flew to TX for a week followed by Oliver and I continuing our journey onto San Antonio by a really great, really long Texas Backroads drive by the hand of my older brother (mentioned above).

*Okay, this morning’s flight was comical enough worthy of documentation. As I said, Oliver is 26+ pounds. The flight to TX, we lucked out and he got his own seat (apparently on most all airlines except Continental, if the seat next to you is vacant, your baby can sit there in his carseat). I figured since I was returning on another Saturday (the slowest travel day, FYI), I’d have reasonable good luck. My afternoon flight through that logic off and Mr. Bowhunter, Oliver and I were rowmates. Mr. Bowhunter’s wife and son sat in the row next to us and I was thisclose to asking if the son would be willing to sit next to us rather than Mr. B but I felt that Mr. B’s son was a little too young to comply so I refrained. Well, Mr. B wore a camoflaged hat that had orange trim and some sort of orange, pro-bow logo on it. Red is too bulls as orange is to Oliver. PLUS Mr. B was not in awe of the preciousness that is Oliver so that made O that much more cute and, shall we say, assertive. His precious, biscuit hand often grazed Mr. B’s army green t-shirt to no avail and no response. None. Mrs. Bowhunter fell victim to Oliver’s charms many-a-time through the flight and she was sitting across the aisle but Mr. B? Nope. And I don’t think he did it out of anger for sitting next to big ol’ me and big ol’ baby, I kind of got a weird “out of respect I’ll ignore them”/shy, gentle giant vibe. But still, EVERY PART of me was cramping up trying to contain the force that is Oliver Who Needs a Nap Very, Very Badly in my own personal Seat 8D space [please know, I realized before this fateful trip that this was the last time that Oliver wasn’t going to have his own ticket – it was the whole Saturday flight thing that made me risk it and to confirm that gamble, I sit here typing this in my own seat with precious, sleeping Oliver sitting next to me on the flight from Cincinnati to Hartford. (Soon I get to see my husband! Soon Oliver gets to see his Daddy! Joy, joy, JOY!!!)] And yet I digress in my own “whatever this ‘*’ thing is. called” At one point in my cramping while chanting, “This too shall pass/My Grandmother carried my mother to the hospital ever yday” over and over and over, the flight attendant came up and asked if Mr. Bowhunter and I were together, he said we weren’t and she then said there was an exit row, aisle seat (my pre-motherhood favorite seat of all time second only to First Class, of course) available and he said, “No thanks, I’m with them” and pointed to Mrs. & Jr. Bowhunter. I turned and looked out the window and forced myself not to cry. The flight attendant then proceeded to ask how old Oliver was, her son was only 11 days older and approximately half his size – at least Mr. B got to discover that O was still a card-carrying baby while feeling ever so slight kharmic ramifications while being sandwiched between two first time mothers both over 35. And the flight eventually ended, and I eventually was able to stretch and walk, and all is well. God has a funny sense of humor sometimes and I knew this was one of them.

Six Months Old

2007-04-06T13:57:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've written. A lot has happened between then and now. Oliver and I went to Texas for a week. I was SO nervous about flying alone with him. ("But what if I'm this upset because some part of me knows something bad is going to happen?!?" I said between sleep-deprived sobs to Tommy the night before.) But it turns out he did great (seriously, why would I even doubt he would - he's great everywhere [knock wood] so OF COURSE that would include the friendly skies). I'd like to thank EVERYONE at the Atlanta airport for being flawlessly nice and beam-y to my beautiful son AND they have a Chik-fi-la there, what's not to love! If it wasn't so hot there, I'd consider that a place to move to in 12/09. And thanks to everyone on all our flights for tolerating the precious little goblin when he wasn't so precious.

Oliver is now sitting up if you place him in a full and upright position (got flying on the brain). Granted, he doesn't stay upright forever but long enough to take some really cute Easter pics.

And the beast is now eating. We started him on rice cereal then three days later he had bananas then tomorrow he may try carrots. The first taste of each met with an unpleasant facial expression but by the second serving he was scarfing it up like a loud, grunting, big baby bird.

The house is coming along very slowly but surely. We now face new countertops and a building permit for our rockin' new shed for Tommy's dirtbikes and such (our garage is just too small to handle them) and every now and then I have time to unpack one of the many boxes that still decorate various corners of our house. And since O just fell asleep, maybe I better address another box....

Happy Valentine's Day! XOXO, Cupid

2007-02-13T23:41:00.000-05:00

A picture says a thousand words...click here for 10K more.

4 months old

2007-02-06T16:24:00.000-05:00

Oliver turned 4 months old today. He also had his 4-month Well-Baby check up so he's a bit moody since he's sporting 4, count 'em 4, bandaids on his juicy, delicious thighs.

What did his check up reveal? Well, not surprisingly, he's off the charts in height and in the 98% of weight. The boy is 28 1/2 inches long and 19 1/2 pounds! And I worried he was going to be scrawny!

He is so, so great.

[a la Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona]: Ah luhv him so mu-u--u-u-uch!!!

Blahg

2007-01-27T20:55:00.000-05:00

My new friend Natalie had never read a blog before this one.

My real estate agent has never shopped on amazon. "Is it like ebay?" she asked (?!?).

What the hell kinda town have we moved to?!?

And yet, I can't say much about the blog since I haven't had much to say in the blog...mainly out of fear of boring you to tears.

This SAHM-ing does not a riveting girl make. And yet, the fact that I'm present for just about every "ooh" and cackle O makes does tend to warm the cockles of my heart.

We just bought a lovely house and are paying far more than I would have liked especially with the current Stay At Home Mom title but said house has an addition that would be just perfect for an in-home daycare and after-school environment and if I could find one precious little, well-balanced toddler for the former and one or two myspace-illiterate, relatively stable tweens for the latter, Life would be financially peachy.

I just wonder if it's Enough. I want to be The Greatest Mother to help O become The Greatest Kid so what can I do to be the best I can be and not succumb to boredom during naptime?

I used to want to be this bigtime photographer, til I realized I did not have the drive to schmooze my work (or was I just plain scared and/or lazy?). I have (had?) a good eye so I now feel it best to at least shoot something/anything as a hobby and as a way to prevent the right side of my brain from turning to Betty Crocker spud. And so a goal is set. I'm not sure I can dooce it, and that was probably a bad, non-motivating thing to type, but at least I'm typing that I WILL be shooting more. (And to those friends that are reading this and probably once again thinking, "Finally!", I will gladly allow you to keep prodding and encouraging.)

I have a great opportunity to stay at home with a most captivating individual who cuts a mean look in dino jammies and I plan to do my best at making this job interesting for both parties, the rest is cake. (Mmmm, cake.*)

To help keep me interesting, I WILL BE SHOOTING MORE.

So I hope you enjoy this here jellyfish that I shot at the oh-so fun Mystic Aquarium. They have a ton of hand-on things there - I got to touch several aptly-named cownose rays, a baby alligator (croc?), a starfish, etc. and for a small (large?) fee during a future visit, I could touch one of the three beluga whales which would be awesome but until then, I was oh-so happy to just look at them. Oh, and I got to see a flounder - which doesn't sound all that exciting but for some reason, I couldn't figure out how they swam and survived with both eyes on one side of their head.

More Connecticut adventures to come.

*Next step is to work on these cravings that I associate with housewifery that are far from beneficial for the spreading midsection.

3 Months

2007-01-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

Oliver turned 3 months old today. Three months!!! I can honestly say it's been great. Sure, there have been moments, but overall, he's a really great kid. HOPEFULLY gushing about my son won't be like gushing about my husband where that night we invariably have a tiff or disagreement though something tells me, I'll get one of O's newfound headbutts so whatever, bring it on. Oliver ROCKS! Right now he's laying on the couch beside me gnawing on his thumb and kicking me every now and then and ever so often you can hear him say, "Oh." O says "Oh." Already he's a prodigy. Granted, it's 10:53 in the p.m. but he's yawning every now and then so hopefully we'll be asleep in the next hour or two [fingers crossed].

Do you recognize this little shirt our brilliant son is wearing? It's featured in my 5/2/06 entry and is what Karry gave us when we first found out "it" was a "he" that would soon become an "Oliver."

Oliver is pretty laid back (he's now propped against my left arm staring off as his little fingers appear to be working on some sort of chisenbop calculation). He has a smile that makes me melt and his laugh, albeit only two-syllables, is infectious. Sure, he can have a full-tilt MELTDOWN where he turns beet red and reaches a shocking volume level for such a little guy, but eventually the smiles come back and all becomes right in the world.

Tommy is (of course) great with him. Lately he serenades O with a composition he calls The Mullet Song because he's at a rather....awkward stage of hairstyle. The song is set to the Mickey Mouse Club theme and goes something like this:

S-U-P
E-R-M
U-L-L-E-T!
Super Mullet!
Super Mullet!
It comes with it's own cape!

And he also does an Steve Erwin-style Aussie accent as he becomes the Smile Hunter but the accent is too hard to type, just know it's REALLY cute and makes me beam with delight that I get to live with these two guys.

And now he's dozing in my lap so I'm going to try to put him to bed.

Happy Quarter of a Birthday Oliver!!!

And he somehow just spit up on the BACK of his neck

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

This is a closeup pic of our tree...though it doesn't quite look like this since it's in a box somewhere in some storage unit...but next year, just you wait! It will be set up in the living room of our future home...wherever that may be (please let us get a good home...and soon!).

This Christmas revealed that I may be growing up. We've been staying at our friends' house in Jersey and this morning we woke up, pulled O into the bed, and proceeded to watch him kick and coo and do his wookie impression and that was our present and I was happy. Me, happy to unwrap nothing. Crazy.

(Of course I do know that there is a package waiting for us at the post office from Tommy's folks and any present for O is a present for me plus Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I think I already know what I'm going to ask for so I can't be THAT practical of an adult...phew!)

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays to you and yours and may the God of your choice bless you!

(And as a fitting end to this post, I just looked out the window and there was the cutest little Christmas-red cardinal perched on the stoop.)

Santa and the Angry Elf

2006-12-19T23:34:00.000-05:00

Things have been going pretty good.

When we first hit the East Coast, we had a great weekend in Jersey then came to Groton. Stayed at the hotel on base for a couple of nights then upgraded…UPGRADED to the local Super 8. They had the nerve to charge for the lobby coffee where my trusty Super 8 GIVES theirs away all day long and they have free wi-fi and a free continental breakfast that includes yummy make-your-own Belgian waffles.

But I digress (though they are truly amazing waffles)…we've been looking at houses this week and last. Shocking range of crap to fab options and I think we are going to make an offer on a really cute one…now our WA house needs to sell because contingency offers don’t hold too much water.

Oliver had a sore throat last week (Tommy and I had one earlier and you could tell by O’s hoarse voice he caught it). Nothing was more heartbreaking than hearing his precious croaking pterodactyl voice and knowing there was little we could do aside from give him the tiniest of drops of Children’s Tylenol – can you imagine living off boob and formula then getting that crap introduced into the mix? Ick E.

And tonight he met Santa for the first time. He was asleep when we did the pass-off and awoke to His Jolliness but didn’t share in the jolly. Since the trusty Super 8 doesn’t include an in-room scanner, I took this picture of the picture we bought and more actual pictures are on my flickr page...as you can see, he's also learned to smile...A LOT and he has a violently precious two-syllable laugh that should hopefully grow. This is a good age.

NOW I’m getting in the Christmas spirit!!!

Fog

2006-12-10T14:47:00.000-05:00

December 7, 2006

Oliver turned two months old yesterday…and yet, it feels like he’s been around longer than that.

The other night during That Special Time that he and I share that usually falls in the 3:00 or 4:00a.m. timeframe and lasts for an hour or two, it dawned on me that I average about four hours of sleep a night compared to the desired eight. So basically, I’ve GAINED an additional four hours a day. Multiply that times the sixty or so days he’s been dazzling my life and you’ve got 240 hours or approximately ten days. So maybe that’s why I feel like he’s been around longer or perhaps it’s just because of this weird fog I’ve been in probably due to the lack of sleep. I say “weird” because I don’t feel like I’m in it til I look back on it. Seeing Kathi the other night, I remember thinking, “She looks really great” then because I think it, I get this weird assumptive feeling that I also tell her and it’s not til I download the pictures and see her that I realize I only thought it. You may think this is just average dinginess but it can get worse to some degree.

Before we began The Road Trip, I was talking to my brother Matt about our path and I told him how it would be great to just swing down and see him but him being in Boca Raton is “just a little” out of the way. He told me about Amtrak’s auto train, the only path it’s available is basically from Orlando, FL to Washington, D.C. (Sanford, FL to a little town in VA near D.C.). You literally drive onto the train (well, an Amtrak employee takes care of that part) and you pick what kind of “quarters” you want (family room for us, please) and you leave the rest to them. Suddenly seeing him & his lovely wife Theresa became feasible so I told him I’d look into it and off I ran with it….except I never actually told him I had ran with it so when I called him from the road to give him a general ETA, he responded, “You’re coming to Florida?” to which I heard a scream from Theresa in the background. Fortunately for my fog, their schedules allowed for it and we spent a blissful albeit ridiculously hot few days with them. Unfortunately for my fog, I didn’t take a single picture of either one of them holding Oliver. What the hell was I thinking?!? And now I regret that part immensely to the point that I’m thinking about printing a life-size pic of O and sending it to them so they can take pics of themselves with O’s representative.

If this trip has posed any questions it’s: Is the heat really a good reason to keep us from living anywhere? It hurt SO much to leave mine and Tommy’s families when we left TX and FL. These people NEED to be a part of O’s life but they all live in such hot places. Granted, we’re committed to CT for the next 3 years but after that we are going to have to do some figuring about where we should end up.

But I digress. Florida was wonderful even through the fog. Fortunately, Matt is still one of my best friends (and as an added bonus, he’s my brother thus making family holidays that much more pleasant) and he’s seen me at my worst (see Puberty – The Prince & Stevie Nicks years) so any sort of foggy demeanor rolls off his back (please oh please oh please let me be right about this). He and Theresa have a great house that is great mainly because of their own sweat and labor they’ve put into it. It was nice to just hang out there and was equally nice to take the water taxi around Lauderdale with them.

But as we left, I felt I didn’t spend near enough time with them…as I kind of do about all our stops along the way. Like we didn’t see any of Nashville aside from the Loveless Café & my cousin’s (though if and when I head back, the Loveless would still be my first stop) and we didn’t see more of Memphis aside from Graceland and the Cozy Corner (still two justifiably proper things to see, but still…hello? Sun Studios? The Peabody? The Grand Old Opry?). This speedy stop and go visits continued when we got to D.C. We went to the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural Hist

ory and Air & Space museums and saw the Washington Memorial from afar but that was it.

And yet, I don’t have many regrets. We’ve seen a lot and we’ve come to the last days of The Road Trip. As I type this, we’re headed to Teaneck, NJ to visit our friends Susan and Chris and finally get to meet their baby Dylan (and they can meet ours). As luck would have it, it’s Chris’s birthday and we hit a doozy of a $1.29 section at a truck stop so we were able to get a variety of delightfully crappy gifts.

So maybe the fog isn’t so foggy afterall.

Loveless Cafe

2006-12-03T12:46:00.000-05:00

Dear Mike,

You have competition.

Mind you, you still reign supreme in the Biscuits & Gravy category but we have found a competitor that is hot on your heels.

Thursday night we pulled into Nashville and stayed with my cousins Ann & Mark. They have a gorgeous house (GORGEOUS – like, This Is The Kind Of House I Could See Myself In With The Proper Income gorgeous) that’s still very comfortable and home-y. We visited over a delicious dinner of mahi-mahi, potatoes, and salad with a cherry pie that we picked up on the way into town from Loretta Lynn’s Country Kitchen. (Did she and Elvis have some sort of affair or something? Because there was A LOT of paraphenalia re both.)

In my travel notes, I had the Loveless Café highlighted since I heard wonderous things about it, specifically about its biscuits and gravy. Because of this, I wanted that one last brunch of your (& Alton’s) version that you so willingly/thankfully made for us…okay, maybe not because of the café but using research as an excuse to dine upon such artery clogging bliss makes me feel a little less guilty.

While heading to my cousins’ place, it dawned on me that their place was off of Hwy 100 - just like the Loveless Café, so I asked about it over our healthy dinner. Turns out, they go rather frequently and were up for going for breakfast on Friday.

The place is darling – warm and friendly with a strong country vibe that doesn’t feel too hokey (not that that’s a bad thing). We sat down, ordered the Family Breakfast #1, and awaited the delivery of four small but powerful biscuits and that came with three types of homemade jelly/preserves…and butter, of course.

Then the rest of our food came quickly and deliciously.

So basically your gravy trumps theirs hands down, I mean, theirs is good and all, really good if I hadn’t had yours, but you know I like a little gravy with my sausage whereas their gravy to sausage ratio is heavier on the former. The biscuits on the otherhand give yours a run for their money. They’re not as flaky and not as large, two big drawbacks, but the salted-buttered-tops are a very nice touch.

Still though, yours still win…though maybe you & Stef need to head east to make some in our future kitchen just to maintain your title.

Just a thought.

Much love,
Kay

Land of Grace

2006-12-02T06:01:00.000-05:00

After a leisurely morning at Dad’s and a yum drive-thru lunch at Chick-fi-la, we booked it to Memphis. Today we toured Graceland. I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have since I was watching the clock making sure we saw all we could see there and still have time to stop at Cozy Corner for some AWESOME ribs. Graceland had its moments, seeing E’s Lincoln Continental, white fur bed, and platinum cassette (who woulda thought they gave out more than just platinum albums?) was really great. After, like I said, we headed for Cozy Corner for some crazy-delicious ribs and wonderful hospitality.

May the God of your choice Bless You

2006-12-01T00:25:00.000-05:00

After a huge Thanksgiving dinner and before the dessert spread, Father Stegman, a neighbor of my mom’s, came over to bless Oliver. I grew up Catholic but don’t currently practice it. I feel there’s a religion out there for me, I just haven’t found the exact one and until I do, I am happy to accept any prayers, blessings, and well wishes from any one that wants to pass them along to my family or myself. Recently I’ve heard the expression (the second time was by Kinky Friedman on David Letterman, I can’t remember who said it the first time), “May the God of your choice bless you” and I really like that – kind of sums my take on things. I think as long as you’re not hurting anyone and are positive and good, then your God is the right God. People may follow different paths but it’s still the same God in my eyes.

Father Stegman was very sweet and I felt a good positive energy coming from the whole experience – it helped that we had heaps of family beaming at us as well. And now I bounce that energy back to Father S, poor dear just got diagnosed with bladder cancer. And for everyone else:

May the God of your choice bless you.

The rest of the trip sped by and we headed to Dallas stopping in Waco to have a great visit with Tommy's extended family. His 2nd cousin Matthew was there and is insanely adorable and a vision into my future since I have a feeling Oliver will be cut from the same cloth. It was so, so great to see Tommy's grandparents with Oliver much less with all his other relatives. As an added bonus, his cousin Brian even gave O a West Point t-shirt! Thanks to all for their wonderful company and hospitality!

Onto Dallas....

Dad has had a time health-wise as of late. Since I was at the tail end of the pregnancy and the beginning of the birth, I was a bit sheltered from his condition but have since caught up. I am so, so thankful he is bouncing back but I still catch glimpses of what could have been but I think holding Oliver will give him further motivation to get healthy and stay well for years to come.

We got to see Jeff, too and take pics of Oliver in his Nascar truck. As an added bonus, we got to see his rockin’ dad. Man, I love those guys!

Speaking of true, deep sisterly love, I would also like to thank Kathi, Stacey and Phillip for throwing a damn fine “Sip and See” shower so friends could get together and ogle at Oliver – pictures of the shindig and the rest of the TX trip are on my flickr page.

Something I learned: Costco hummus is tahini-licious!

The stars@ night are big & bright...

2006-11-30T02:52:00.000-05:00

We hit Texas but not before stopping in Deming, NM for a scorpion in lucite, a belt buckle with two rattle snake heads in profile (so maybe one head?) in lucite, a cactus egg (a little egg with a cactus seed in it that you water and hopefully get a cactus) for my sister, and a giant dice (di?) piggy bank for Oliver’s future nursery. Since everything is bigger in TX, we weren’t able to drive the whole way to San Antonio so we first stopped in Fort Stockton for dinner at Pizza Hut since everything else seemed even unhealthier.
Ever have one of those surreal “And then…and then…and then” experiences? Here’s my letter to Pizza Hut, I think it sums it up:

November 21, 2006

Pizza Hut
Fort Stockton, TX

To Whom It May Concern:

This evening my husband and I were driving through Ft. Stockton, TX on our way to San Antonio and chose to eat at Pizza Hut over other options. I thought it best to report to you the condition of this establishment.

When we walked in, all 22+ tables were dirty and only 5 still had customers at them. After a brief wait, a waitress cleaned off a table and we placed our order. I was disappointed to discover that the salad bar was also quite dirty – several containers were empty, the carrots were overly dry, and there was barely enough Ranch dressing to accommodate my salad.

We were pleasantly surprised with the quality and flavor of our pizza and how quickly we received it, but were shocked at the NINE napkins we received for the two of us. Then when my husband asked for silverware, we received SIX more napkins – a total of FIFTEEN large napkins for the two of us. Upon looking around at the dirty tables, all of which had yet to get bussed, I noticed that just about all of them also had an excessively wasteful number of napkins left unused.

By the end of our meal, only one table had been bussed and I noticed that its rather large stack of unused napkins went into the trash.

To add to this, my husband and I counted TEN employees working at this time. Only three were on the floor but none attempted to clean off a table unless someone came in to sit at one, preferring to sit and chat with customers or other staff members. The others seemed milled about behind the counter doing some work but overall just chatting with one another or yelling at the waiters on the floor to come back to the kitchen.

Pizza Hut seemed like the safest bet for our dinner on this road trip. As I said, we were pleased with the flavor and speed of our order but the lack of cleanliness worried us to some degree. I could only imagine how disgusting the restrooms were so neither of us approached that general direction.

Even though the pizza was good, I thought you should know that we are less likely to have a sit-down dinner at another Pizza Hut for quite some time due to the condition of this branch.

And now back to my blog, already in progress…..

After our dining experience (boy, was it!), we drove to Ozona, TX. I highly recommend the Super 8 Motel there even though there rates were higher than those posted in the Super 8 International Guide* and on the back of our room door. The room was the nicest we’ve been in of the chain and I’d even have a party in their indoor pool area because it’s so cool and jungle-like…if my travels ever took me (and a necessary quantity of friends for a party) back there. Not that it ever would, but I’m just sayin’…

*I hope I don’t sound too white trash or un-sophisticated with my name dropping of the Super 8 franchise but money is tight right now and I signed up for their Trip Rewards and they are everywhere hence the INTERNATIONAL Guide. So hopefully you know I’ve stayed at fancier or cooler places in the past and will do so in the future, too.

Anyhoo, that night we called Mom with an estimated ETA to San Antone (that’s what they call it) and asked her at what age do babies start smiling on there own – she thought it was older than Oliver is. Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s around 7 weeks when you’re about to meet Grandma. We pulled into her driveway, I unbuckled Oliver and handed him off and it was like a firework display of smiles directed at Mom. Not prior or since have I seen so much beaming…and I’m his mother!!!

Now, my mother and I have had our moments…in fact I feel we have about a 4-day visitation rule (my wise grandmother said, “Company is like fish, after a few days, it starts to stink”) but I’m hear to tell you that I started crying the day before we left about leaving and needless to say, I was a mess the day of. I remember thinking decades ago (seriously, decades) that I looked forward to bringing my child to show my mother mainly to show that I’m competent I guess but also to make her oh-so happy and let me just say, my mother was oh-so happy til the day we left, Oliver is just that wonderful… but I digress.

When we first got there, we hung out at her house and had H.E.B. brisket (yum!!!) sandwiches while she gushed over Oliver. Later we went to my cousin Anna’s house for my Aunt Tella’s DELICIOUS caldo (that’s “soup” to non-Spanish speakers) then apple pie and this shockingly good dessert my mom made that was basically like a really moist date bar called Dessert of the Gods or something like that. After that we played Texas Hold ‘Em (woo-hoo!).

The next day was Thanksgiving and I awoke to my older brother and family arriving at my mom’s. Anna, Aunt Tella, and Joey came over for The Feast of H.E.B. ham (yum!!!) and turkey (little too overly marinated/dry but still good), mashed potatoes, my Aunt’s rockin’ dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes…you get the drift. And since I haven’t blogged in the last couple of days, my fingers are tired from typing so this shall continue later.

AZ & NM

2006-11-21T06:58:00.000-05:00

Monday was spent mostly just driving. We did stop at a huge indoor outlet mall in Tempe, AZ. Note about outlet malls: if they are indoors, the bargains are not as abundant. Still though, Tommy bought some jeans & I bought a pleather purse that has a really cool sacred heart stitched onto it...not that I have much use for purses that are too small to hold the Diapees & Wipees pack, a changing pad, and a bottle (not to mention the formula, change of clothes, extra pair of socks, a small blanket and whatever else goes into our unisex Gap messenger bag that we use as a diaper bag that somehow ends up weighing 30+ pounds), but we're headed towards grandparents and the chance of possibly slipping off to a movie at an actual movie theatre as an actual couple so I may actually get to use my rockin' new purse that I only spent $17!!! on.

So far, the drive has been great. Tommy & I have "only" had one little blowout. I quote "only" because ANY size tiff tends to level me and since this one was mostly due to my frayed nerves due to the sleep deprivation mixed with my bossiness that I need to curb, a long discussion was had and this too did pass. The restaurant playing Love Hurts followed by I Can't Live (If Living is Without You) in the middle of said discussion was a nice touch though. Overall, I can't believe how hard marriage can turn over something little then it thankfully turns back to sweet wonderfulness where you appreciate each other even more...still though, tiffs suck. I don't see how so many couples have so many (we see a lot being in the Navy) and stay together.

Oliver too is a great travel companion. There were those that said there is no way we can drive cross-country with a baby but so far, we've proven them wrong. He is at his peak of portability and we are taking full advantage. As an added bonus, he's sleeping for longer stretches at night (and waking up seemingly a pound bigger and a couple inches longer - they're puppies, I tell ya!). Oh sure, it's 4:30 in the a.m. as I type this, but you just need to trust me on this.

And now I must go to the car and get a bottle of water that I forgot to restock in the previously mentioned corpulent diaper bag. Normally I'm not such a stickler but the tap water here tastes HORRIBLE.

Tomorrow we head to Texas after a brief stop at this nearby ghost town and any snake farm, tacky gift shop, and possible outlet mall along the way.

Truly Grand

2006-11-20T07:07:00.000-05:00

We saw the Grand Canyon today. It was truly amazing. I wish my pics captured it in all its red glory but at least you get the general idea.

I think I may be a bit scared of heights...or the infinite drops you can stand right next to are just plain mortalizing because when I would join Tommy "out there," my visits wouldn't last too long before my legs leaned towards safety. I'm telling myself it's because I have a baby not because I AM a baby.

San Francisco

2006-11-19T01:47:00.000-05:00

We left the Bay Area this morning after having a lovely, if not rather rushed time. After more crappy weather, we arrived in Berkeley Thursday night and were able to have a decent Indian meal with my nephew John. The next day we started the day at the Bread Workshop with a damn fine pumkin muffin for me, cream cheese apricot danish for Tommy, and fruit-yogurt-granola and delightfully strong Uncommon Grounds coffee for both. After bumming around Berkeley for a bit, John and Mike, the guy he works for, joined us and we went to the Golden Gate Bridge & Fisherman’s Wharf to go to Musee Mechanique.

Now, I would give out government secrets at the slightest threat of foot pain and the morning hinted in that general direction. So a visit to Walgreens for Cars tattoo bandaids (it’s the little things that get you by) and socks (that threw my outfit off making me look REALLY touristy but I thought would prevent further pain.

I thought wrong. The socks, though thin, pushed my feet into a different “level” of my so-called comfy pleather Mary Janes. What I learned: Sorry PETA but pleather makes for an uncomfortable walking shoe because if your foot disagrees with it, your foot suffers and the shoe continues on. And yet, it was too late and I hobbled around the Golden Gate Bridge chanting in my head the mantra my friend Brooke (RIP) taught me decades ago when he sold me a pair of really great black patent cowboy boots (cut me a break, it was the 80’s!): “Beauty knows no pain. Beauty knows no pain. Beauty knows no pain.”

The cowboy boots back then and the Mary Janes now were in cahoots and by the time we left Musee Mechanique, my dogs were barking, if not howling, and I practically cried with thanks as I snapped at my companions, “I’m going to that Payless and see if I can get some shoes! I’ll meet you at the restaurant!”

What I didn’t think about is I had a cranky-getting-crankier Oliver strapped onto me and only about a quarter of a bottle of formula on me…and yet, the dogs barked.

Now, I have a big foot. BIG. As in a size 12. Payless Shoes can be a benefit for the disposably trendy shoes but not all stores have a selection catering to My People. Fortunately, the shoe gods cut me a break and even though this store only offered a row of options, a pair of black Basic spin-offs and $20 would buy me some time to enjoy the rest of the evening.

It’s important to note that I was enjoying myself prior to this. The Bridge was gorgeous as usual and Musee Mechanique is always a great place to take people who’ve never been, but every now and then, the pain got to me and I was a little snappy in turn making Tommy snappy but I think we apologized enough to each other, understood and forgave. Praise little baby Jesus.

What makes this rambling story even worse was the condition of Mike who was born with cerebral palsy. Here I was practically leveled by probably an inch square total of skin and then there’s Mike putzing around hill and dale with a smile on his face with John taking care of him with the same smile like the superior human he has become. (“If John doesn’t get into Heaven for doing what he’s doing, then that’s a god I don’t want ti be a part of.” – weird all the religious references in this entry and yet, not so much.)

But once I got the new pair of shoes while doing my best to tame sporadic O fussing, the skies parted and I too perked up. They threatened to cloud over when I went to pay for the shoes and the guy at the register said he had to take the sensor off the left shoe before I could walk out with them – “How in the hell was I going to put it back on with O now full-tilt cranked and a bottle now empty?” I worried but the clouds stayed clear if not stellar and the register guy came around on his invisible white horse and got on his knee putting the shoe back on like a modern Prince Charming.

This friendliness and going the extra step was felt all day, when on the subway or bus, MANY people offered to let me sit because of the baby and bus drivers quickly jumped up to help Mike and his chair onto the many buses we took.

Even though I was beat from walking so much, I felt good from what we saw and the company we kept. “We made a day trip in half a day” Mike typed on the computer lap-thing he uses to communicate. Amen to that!

Power

2006-11-17T12:06:00.000-05:00

Remember when car lighters just lit cigarettes? Okay, so I never smoked much but I knew people...

Anyhoo, now cars don't even come with lighters but the adapters remain and my, how I have taken advantage! In the front seat adapter, we have the iPod and it's HUGE library mocking the lack of radio stations on the road. In the backseat, which I have deemed "my office," if my cell phone isn't charging, I've got the inverter (thanks for the suggestion Mike!) plugged in and the laptop plugged into that. I even pumped yesterday and Oliver was quite pleased with the hooch that was in that bottle!

Speaking of O, he's doing great. He's been sleeping a lot and wakes up alert and relatively pleasant.

We're in Berkeley now. About to go to Bread Workshop for breakfast then head to San Francisco with my nephew John. I'll update more later.

YESTERDAY'S LITTLE PERK: Homemade patty sausage at the Black Bear Diner in Mt. Shasta, CA.

I already miss you

2006-11-16T02:11:00.001-05:00

Today starts The Big Roadtrip (TBR). Goodbyes suck.

They started a couple of weeks ago when we went up to Sedro-Woolley to see Tommy’s relatives. I have so enjoyed getting to know these people especially his grandmother who just plain rocks. Needless to say, the tears started a’flowin’ before I left our house, continued when I got to theirs when I saw her, stopped clean shortly thereafter then recommenced when she told Tommy how amazing it’s been seeing him grow from a boy to a man and that his greatness was due in part to me.

As you probably know, there’s quite an age difference between Tommy and I and not once did I ever feel judged by any of Tommy’s family over this – and I’m older than a couple (few?) of Tommy’s uncles. For that and for getting to know all his great relatives, I am very thankful.

I also got a visit with Amy and with Stef & Mike. Good food was had at both. We ate at Pies and Pints with Amy – I sampled the spinach feta & the classic chicken and was chapped to discover they were sold out of the chocolate-peanut butter one. Oh well, next visit.

Mike once again made STELLAR biscuits and gravy. I hope this road trip guides us to some good plates of the stuff but I truly don’t think they will be able to compare to Mike’s. He was also OH-so helpful in tutoring me on our new macbook so I am now typing this entry with confidence as we drive south on Hwy 5 headed for Portland.

Thanks so much for being there, our Seattle friends! You will be missed but know you have a place to stay…once we find one.

Back on our side of the Sound, we've been staying at Linda’s house after the movers packed up our stuff. I should have taken a picture of our digs on the water and right next door to Rick, Karry, and the kids. I could think of know better place to end our stay in Washington then with them, our adopted family. And my heart aches knowing that I won’t be 10 minutes away from each other for quite some time.

As I finish typing this entry, we’re at a Super 8 in Roseberg, OR. The weather for today’s drive has SUCKED and we got a much later start than planned, but we got to stop in Portland to see my friend Alissa so it’s all worth it.

Tomorrow the adventure continues…..

TODAY’S LITTLE PERK: A pumpkin shake from Jack in the Box. I highly recommend them and my waistline in thankful they are seasonal.

One small step for baby......

2006-10-10T20:30:00.000-04:00

One small step for baby......
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

The THREE of us are home!

I should have been updating this blog far more effectively but oh well, fiddle-dee-dee! I will try better now since we’ve got this insanely precious creature occupying our house and some of you sound like you’d genuinely appreciate updates (thanks for the genuine part!).

Oliver is awesome. I realize “awesome” is one of those words that is WAY overused so let’s look at the definition again, shall we?:
Awesome: inspiring awe; showing or characterized by awe.
Don’t you hate those types of definitions? So let’s flip to the definition of awe:
Awe: 1. an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like; 2. A mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might.

So yeah, at 4am when I haven’t slept more than 2 hours in the last 24 (36?), there’s some fear, dread, etc. but overall our house is infested with grand, sublime, and great beauty.

Tommy is already an amazing father. Granted, I knew he would be, but DAMN! He’s so….THERE. My water broke Thursday night but I had put off the primping and cleaning up til the following day so before I woke him up and after the hospital said I could, I took a shower. When I got out, Tommy woke up and asked how I was doing - he did this pretty much every night during my many pee breaks – he didn’t remember doing it the next day but it was still very reassuring and comforting to know that he was THERE. Well, Thursday night, I had just gotten out of the shower and he asked how I was doing, I told him that I was fine and that it was time. He IMMEDIATELY jumped out of bed and exclaimed, “I am so stoked!” That drive continues.

Yesterday we talked about how you run out of lullabies FAST, Karry said she was big into singing Christmas carols and when those ran out, any song can turn into a lullaby – I relied on a “ballad version” of Dirty Deeds from AC/DC last night. Either way, when you have a newborn and all those songs you swear you know the words to disappear from your memory bank so clever, clever Tommy popped one ear of his iPod in and sung to Oliver for hours. I am pleased to report that Oliver is already a fan of Johnny Cash but the punk rock may take some getting used to.

Today’s “drama” (and I use that word VERY loosely since it’s far, far from dramatic): This morning he had his first doc appointment nd he has a rather high level of jaundice. My insurance ROCKS and a nurse was here by this afternoon hooking him up to his “light belt” (for lack of a better word). We’re basically stuck at home for the next few days but he has no problem with the belt that he has to wear the whole time - it kind of makes him look like he’s recharging. As an added bonus, the machine makes a PERFECT white noise so hopefully, fingers crossed / prayers said, I may get some sleep tonight.

Today’s bonus: My milk dropped. I can now start working on putting some weight on this boy. The poor thing has NO butt but there’s definitely room for one. Tommy says I’ll be one of those moms that years from now will be all, “My son had NO butt when he was born but now, it’s the cutest thing. Oliver, show everyone how cute your butt is!” He says it in a nice, Jewish accent and I grew up with a mom who often exclaimed how cute our butts were (but in Spanish – phonetically it sounds like, “Ay que chulo/chula nalgas!”) and with actual grabbing so I guess he may have the power to see into the future…or I’m just that transparent…and I’m SURE that couldn’t be it!

Today's buy: I'm awaiting the arrival of my Cure and Coldplay versions of these lullaby cds.

Now I must tend to many, many emails but then I plan to write more here so everyone can stay on top of things when they feel the need.

Slowly dipping my swollen feet in the shallow end of the blogosphere once again....

2006-09-06T17:28:00.000-04:00

A while back, Amy and I saw Devotchka at Neumo's. When we approached the stage, I saw a woman make a beeline for me. She immediately grabbed my belly and said, "Sorry, I have to do this!" and commented that she was impressed that it didn't stop me from coming to the show.

Yesterday at Costco, we crossed paths with an employee who stepped aside a bit, tapped my arm reassuringly and said, "Take care, Mama!"

I LOVE this kinda stuff! I've had friends that complained that total strangers would grab their bellies but I figure, if they're excited, bring that energy my way! Not that they can remotely compete with mine or Tommy's excitement.

Oliver will be here SOON.

Morford Moths

2006-05-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

I think I've raved about the stunning writing ability of Mark Morford of the SF Gate before but if not, consider this raving. Granted, often he waxes on about current political bruhaha to the point that I will read the topic of his column (you can get them emailed to you!) and delete it without giving him a chance but today's column, OH!, today's column hit a note. Here it is. You may want to read it before continuing here. Go ahead. I'll wait.

[insert elevator Muzak]

Done? Do you see what I mean? Granted, his girl sounds a bit kooky but I still felt the need to email him. Here's what I wrote:

While I was reading the early part of this (key words: the early part), I was thinking, "Oh, he's got one of my nutjob sisters - you don't flip out on something then go back to completely normal." But did it HAVE to be a moth?!? For the last 3 days we had The Most Stunning "Tommy [husband] Come Look At This" Moth living on the wall under our deck light. It was huge and bold and butterfly-winged but with this crazy huge furry body covered in strong white and brown stripes and two crazy furry antennae. I thought it came to die there because it was moving ever so slowly but the minute the sun went down it was manic for the light.

So I guess I too am a nutjob but only slightly comparitively (I'm sure she's a lovely girl) in that I would give Tommy updates: "Turns out, he's [I guess all the browns made me assume it was a he] not dying because he's downright scary at night - you can practically hear his wings" then yesterday, "The moth left. Why would he leave? We have a good light that's too small for him to get in so he wouldn't burn to death...." But Tommy knows me well enough to respond, "I'm sure he's living a long, happy [ALWAYS add "happy"] life somewhere."

Point of my rant: I liked your column.

Point of this blog entry: I was meaning to write about this damn stunning moth but it just seemed a bit, well, kooky. And yet, I did.

I love to get my way....but I do hope the moth comes back. He was so cool.

The Legend of Billie Jean

2006-05-10T16:15:00.001-04:00

I got a new car (Honda Pilot) but it doesn't have a cd changer like my old car (Honda Civic - viva la Honda!!!) and I don't really like those visor cd holders so changing cds is often tricky enough that I don't so I starve for good radio. Even though I work less than 10 minutes from home, that can be a looooooooooong 10 minutes. So in my exploring of the dial today I stumbled upon and yes, even listened to (call me what you will), Pat Benatar's Invincible from the motion picture The Legend of Billie Jean which I believe was Christian Slater's first film role. Granted, the movie lacked (to say the least) but I was in my first year of college growing up in Corpus Christi, TX where the movie was filmed for some reason, as was Brooke Shields' Tilt - for a moment Corpus Christi was thought to be a great locale and trust me, growing up there I had no idea why anyone would think such things - sure we had a beach but it had brown sand and was often marred by many an oil slick - but baby oil will get that off the soles of your feet lickity-split! But I digress....

As I was saying the movie was filmed there and there was supposed to be this pivotal, Joan of Arc scene where Billie Jean (played by Helen Slater) shaves her head sans the requisite (for the time) rat tail and so a whole bunch of girls in the town were to shave their heads to fight The Man or The Power or whatever oppression plagued poor BJ (heh, heh, I typed BJ) so there were all these people trying to convince you to shave your head and thus embrace immediate fame while being an extra in the movie. I knew NO ONE that did except for this one girl in my art history class (a class that sounds fun and interesting but turns looking at Art into some weird biology dissecting experiment - Mona Lisa Smile my class was not). But if you saw this girl, a girl actually interested in the class and perhaps the major and ensuing Master's, and as stereotypically broody as a girl could be taking an art history class at Corpus Christi's only community college, you would think she'd be the last person to succumb, and yet... she didn't, she shaved, she embraced no fame, and I think she ended up on the cutting room floor. I hope she's in a far better place right now.

So yeah, that's what launches into in my head when I hear Pat Benatar's Invincible.

We can't afford to be innocent
Stand up and face the enemy
It's a do or die situation
We will be INVINCIBLE!

Dramatic words for Miss Benatar, no? Now if only she would leave my head....go on now, SHOO! I'll stand up when I'm good and ready, now GO!

Oh boy!

2006-05-02T13:34:00.000-04:00

Oh boy!
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

So yesterday FINALLY came then 2pm putzed along slowly thereafter. I got to the office early thinking Tommy would be there (he HATES being late) but he wasn’t. So I waited as patiently as possible and flipped through an issue of Time from last month (look! CookingForEngineers got a little paragraph!) then they called me in.

I think I’ve mentioned this before but my friend Karry has attended all the sonograms with us or just me. Last year we called her “my temporary life partner” while Tommy was out to sea and she clearly stated that she still wanted to attend when he got back and to me it went without question. OF COURSE she had to be there. So when they called my name I supplied my posse’s names and went in.

The attendant – I wish I got her name, she rocked – had me lay down and pull down my skirt and raise up my shirt a bit and she warm lubed my belly (warm lube feels weird). Immediately after that I thought, “I should have grabbed my cell phone in case Tommy forgot where to go” then sure enough my phone rang and I apologized profusely and begged to answer it. She said that was fine and I awkwardly held the many towels protecting my clothes from the lube and kind of flung myself to my purse. Tommy was running late but was on his way.

Soon there was a knock at the door and Karry came in. The receptionist told her Tommy hadn’t arrived yet so she was going to wait for him but then couldn’t because she was so excited. (I wish I could express how much I ADORE this woman and how supportive she is and how wonderful it is to have someone just as excited about all this especially since she was such a trooper and such a rock last November during The Bad Ultrasounds. She will never truly know the full degree of how much I truly appreciate her and that just kills me.) So my Temporary Life Partner and I see the spine and the brain and the femur and those two bones below the knee and we’re both just in awe. Those bones are not more than an inch long but you know EXACTLY what they are just from elementary science class.

Shortly thereafter, before we got to the sex-defining-bits, Tommy burst in, took my hand and made room for Karry. The attendant is giving us the tour of Baby but Baby is acting very private. So the attendant jiggles the little wand to try to get movement and slowly but surely Baby moves a bit and we see the bladder (actually we see a black dot and the attendant says, “There’s the bladder” so we knew) and then she adds a little computer arrow and says, “Do you see THAT?” and we all lean a bit forward and say, “Yes?” as confidently as we can. And right over the arrow she types B-O-Y. And for what seemed like a solid minute, I rack my brain trying to think of what the hell that word spells, I know I’ve seen it before, but wait – BOY, it’s a BOY! During the first lima bean with a heartbeat ultrasound I remember thinking, “Look at him!” and Tommy has always felt a boy vibe so this confirmation was welcoming but still odd and so….confirming. We are having an Oliver.

So yeah, Oliver. My mom and older brother HATE the name but when I hear it from other people that adore it, it’s just so wonderful. Oliver. What’s kind of odd is a friend of mine is named Oliver and I have always thought, “I want a little boy just like him [minus the racism and homophobia]” and BOOM! I’m getting one.

[The picture is a closeup of what's on the shirt of these ridiculously precious jammies and a superior vintage of cigar that Karry gave us just after the ultrasound...while we were still in the exam room. I asked if she was that certain it was going to be a boy or if she had a girl present in her purse as well. "I may have a girl present in there somewhere," she grinned.]

The Wait

2006-04-27T17:45:00.000-04:00

So Monday I find out if I've got an Audrey or an Oliver in my belly. I feel like I'm waiting for Christmas and Summer Vacation all wrapped in one loooooooooong clock & calendar watch. I want to know NOW! I want to buy a crib set NOW! And yet, I wait.

To distract myself, I put together a Best Of list for my friend David of stuff that usually ends up in my basket when I go to Trader Joe's. New York FINALLY got a Trader Joe's and it's in Union Square. I can't imagine the non-stop stocking they must do and I also can't imagine what the prices must be like - SURELY Chuck's isn't two bucks! So here's my list - please feel free to comment with anything I may have missed or should try:

Kay's Best of Trader Joes (all TJ's brands unless otherwise specified) – things I buy pretty regularly:
Cilantro jalepeno hummus (great with their pita chips)
Lite shredded 3 cheese blend
Charles Shaw Wines ("Two-Buck Chucks" - but they're really more like $4)
Vitamins
Cheese & Green Chile tamales (frozen section - not the refrig section)
Beef tamales (frozen)
Any of the frozen potstickers (gyoza) are good
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sesame Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Vanilla extract (from Madagascar or someplace)
Roasted edamame (in the nuts section - I guess they're soy nuts but they're bigger)
Brown basmati rice
Ginger granola (if you like ginger - there's big hunks of crystalized ginger, great on yogurt & mango)
Pizza dough (in refrig section - I've tried all flavors and all are good - a cashier said that she knows someone that uses the plain dough for cinnamon rolls)
Truffettes (AMAZING and cheap truffles)
$1 greeting cards (there's usually a wall of them)

I just bought two of their salsas, the basic one and the double-smoked one and will be trying them with fajitas tonight along with their homemade flour tortillas and organic white corn tortilla chips. I’ll report back.

Speaking of TJ's: http://www.traderjoefan.com/

And speaking of David, we had a long drawn out conversation about babies and birthing and breastfeeding and nipples. It started with the 4/24 pic of PostHipChick* and ended like this:

K: Scroll to the 4/24 pic - I'm now nervous.

D: GOOD HEAVENS! I don't recall my sister ever being that big, and the woman in the photo appears to be slight, no? The one thing I could GOOD HEAVENS over my sister about is her nipples, at least with the third kid, they looked like big Coke bottles.

K: Oh I know, I just cringe about that! Mine are not very perky-tiny to begin with and even with the current growth, my baby is going to have to have a mouth like Mick Jagger or something.

D: I just So Giggled. Relax. My sister reported it really is one of the most amazing things she ever did, and Heck, she's been to the Grand Canyon!

K: I just SO full-tilt laughed. I love you so much. My friend Ashley "over-produced" and was in a dressing room once just about to try on a bathing suit, she heard a baby cry, her milk dropped, and she sprayed the mirror. I don't want that.

D: CHORTLE! I was throwing a BBQ at my sister's and Lactating Neighbor Linda saw a mother nursing and exploded like someone threw a water ballon at her. Do you want THAT?

K: I want beautiful boobies with perfectly portioned servings of hunger-quenching, soul-saving, karma-building, tartar-controlling milk gushing out for my baby and only my baby.

D: How 'bout "tastes closer to fresh squeezed?"

*I don't know PostHipChick but Lordy, her baby is GORGEOUS!!!

Little Miss Sunshine

2006-04-20T12:24:00.000-04:00

Tommy and I saw the preview to Little Miss Sunshine when we saw the GREAT movie Thank You For Smoking (starring new mother Katie Holmes – speaking of which, is there some sort of surreal Christian-Scientological Karmic Duel going on that Brooke and Katie both had girl babies on the same day? That makes me laugh…a slow and painful laugh - but I digress....). I cannot wait until LMS comes out!!!! In the trailer, Olive's (precious little girl with glasses) reaction to the answering machine message makes me weep happy, happy tears. (What can I say? I have come to embrace The Hormones).

It is Olive's giddy reaction that I felt when I received my PRESCRIPTION for MASSAGES today. I didn't know such a thing of bliss existed!!! I hate that I didn't look into it before the one I got on Monday that wasn't covered, but now, NOW I shall take full advantage! I especially like the part on my referral sheet where it says:

Frequency and Duration
PT to determine after evaluation:
1 2 3 4 5 times per week for 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 weeks.

My mouth is watering.

Me Rub You Long Time

2006-04-17T23:37:00.000-04:00

My friend Rick referred me to a masseuse who has experience with sports medicine. Since I have yet to sleep more than 4 hours at a time without my back catching on fire, I made an appointment to see her - they were able to fit me in around lunch time today and let me just say, she rocked. She was chatty, a trait I normally abhore in masseuses (masseusi?) but she was so knowledgeable and was able to get right to the problem that I couldn't care less. Since I can't lay down on my front, back or either side, she was very accomodating with her massage chair - I actually kind of prefer the chair because it keeps what usually aches me at the surface. While she rubbed and pulled, she explained that my muscle was still seriously bruised and I will feel that 3" circle for at least another week. This normally would have displeased me but she was able to rub out all the spindly little offshoots so now, at least for this moment, I'm completely tolerant of the little knot. She was so great at explaining what muscles were affected and what other muscles were just trying to protect the hurt ones that I totally understood what was going on - I was like my own science doll. Now let's see how long I sleep tonight.

The Knot usually wakes me anywhere from 1am to 4am. Not much is on TV during that time. So I tend to watch a lot of Discovery Health while icing The Knot, specifically all the birthing shows. Granted, I cried at card tricks before I got knocked up, and supposedly now that I'm entering the 2nd Trimester my emotions will even out, but until then I get positively weepy over all those deliveries. Even though the babies are covered in mucus and whatnot, they're still the most beautiful little creatures! It's like their wings were just ripped off and they were sent down to Earth! I hope Tommy and I do well in that situation. I want us both to be positive and upbeat but I know things can take a turn when one is trying to pass a 10lb "angel" through one's Lulu.

Another tearjerker that probably only brings tears to my eyes, is the trailer for Little Miss Sunshine. When Olive starts hopping up and down then screaming, I think it's truly one of the most precious things caught on film.

Tommy and I started watching Raising Arizona (The Greatest Movie Ever Made...unless you count True Romance and that's quite a battle for #1) the other night (he fell asleep so I stopped watching for fear he'd wake up and I'd be totally and completely weepy). When Holly Hunter launches into the, "Ah luv him so mu-u-u-u-u-uch!" I feel on the exact same plane (plain?) - but again, I felt that way long before my egg met its match.

Fertile Myrtle got a girdle

2006-04-14T20:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, so falling down when you're pregnant and almost forty SUCKS. I still hurt like it just happened and I've got a doozey of a bruise on my back that tells me it ain't letting up. So this morning (note: mornings SUCK because I have gotten sporadic, pained sleep that leaves me exhausted and hurt and weepy) Tommy said I should call the emergency room and see if they can recommend something then it dawned on me that I should call my mom (The Nurse) and see what she says but then I told Tommy that I didn't want to call her just yet because I knew I would cry when I started talking to her but then I couldn't decide if I should wait to call her after my shower- hoping my mood would lighten but what if it just made me weepy the whole day?!? Now mind you, I started full-tilt crying a tenth of the way into that sentence to him (it's sad that he's used to it) which then made me laugh about my blathering which then alleviated the crying and I was able to call her like the mature adult I pretend to be.

Mom said maybe I should get (note: Mom doesn't look her age AT ALL but at times she shows her age verbally...wait for it....) a girdle (shiver!) and that she wore one when she was pregnant with me when she worked as like the head RN in the emergency room (I think that much drive skips a generation). Earlier this week I thought those velcro waist cinchers you see UPS guys wear would feel really good with my current situation (they feel gooooood if you've never worn one) so I thought it was worth looking into getting a prenatal version.

So off I went to the nearby Home Health Store. Do you know how much those things cost? Because I sure didn't when I went in there. They start, START at $55. Fortunately the woman working in the former pharmacy (literally - they left the aqua and gold sign from the 40's on the back wall) was really helpful and she suggested I call my doctor and get a prescription for one. (What's weird is earlier that day a girl from work got a prescription for one of those ergonomic kneel-y chairs - who would have thought you could get a prescription for furniture and velcro!)
So I did and I did!

A couple of hours later I went back to the store to pick up my support band (for lack of a prettier term). Said nice woman working there said, "Come back here and I'll show you how to put it on." (Begga pardon?) I figured it was part of the prescription so I went to the back and got to really study the ancient aqua and gold pharmacy sign complete with the snake-y cross symbol thing. Now take a moment to truly experience the Loving Comfort Maternity Support (from the makers of the Breast Binder!). Sexy, no?

This kicky little number takes a bit of time to put on...didn't help that I was wearing jeans and a bulky sweater but Nice Salesperson didn't seem to mind. She hugged me from the back as she applied the Abdominal Support Pad (or ASP as we like to call it in the ortho biz); while back there, she attached the belt (no sassy initials for that one); then looped the upper strap over the whole shebang. Did I mention I was wearing a BLACK bulky sweater? Yeah, that's a good look.

But when you have scorching muscle spasms like I have been having, it doesn't matter what you look like as long as it feels good and the Loving Comfort Maternity Support is aptly named.

FORTUNATELY, Tommy has duty tonight so I'm safe from any ravaging that will no doubt ensue after he sees me in this little aphrodisiac.

Well, time for me to go strap myself in and hopefully get a decent night's sleep.

Nigh, nigh!

Fall down go boom

2006-04-10T15:41:00.000-04:00

I took a really bad fall yesterday. I must have been such a site when Tommy found me! I was cleaning out the pond in the "Zen Garden" (we had a racoon "redo" the place Friday night) and I was carrying a bucket full of dirty water, random sludge and leaves, and strawberry tops from a 2 lb box I just cleaned out to the compost bin. Was thinking about something else (how myspace can be a truly evil, gross site in the wrong hands) and not thinking the deck stairs get slippery after it rains then swoop! and slam! one of the steps "broke my fall" and Tommy was greeted by me covered in dirty water, random sludge and leaves, and strawberry tops (he tried to convince me I looked sexy what with the wet sweater and me on all fours). He put what he could in the compost while I tried to calm down and stand up. (As an aside, do you think the racoon came back for the strawberry tops he could have taken care of? No, the little bastard did not. Oh well, we'll eventually clean up the rest.)

I've read countless pg articles about how you shouldn't do anything where you may fall - a fact that has squelched my dirtbike career, at least for the time being (okay, so maybe I was looking for such an excuse but I do need to learn to ride one of those damn things especially since there's a really good chance "Jr.", whether a boy or girl, will be on one by age 4) - so needless to say, I was a nervous wreck. We went to the hospital, we listened to the fetal heartbeat to make sure all was well in there (it was - 150 beats a minute...though my pulse was almost as fast because I was so nervous) then we waited and waited til I could pee so they could make sure my kidney was okay (I have a huge long, thick bruise across my lower back on the right side). All was well, I just bruised the muscle really bad.

Last night was rough because I was in so much pain and could only take Tylenol (it's so hard for me to take anything during this pregnancy but since everyone assures me Tylenol is fine, I broke down and took some - but only when it was really bad, mind you!) but today is better so I'm sure I can go to work tomorrow.

I'd like to think I have a high tolerance for pain but I can't remember ever being in that much of it ever before so possibly I'm wrong. Needless to say, the whole incident, including my inability to get out of or into bed without biting a big hunk of comforter so as not to scream, has made me a firm believer of epidurals - I now plan to call ahead for one on The Big Day.

Boredom is a state of mind

2006-04-06T11:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was soooooooo bored. I had plenty to do in a variety of areas but none of them seemed worthwhile. So during the day I just surfed on various sites and sank lower and lower into boredom. When I got home I intended to go to the gym then the commissary but the boredom that ravaged me wouldn't allow it. Tommy was close to as bored as I was since his new toy sprung a leak so he set up the hammock and we rocked for a bit but then it got too cold. V for Vendetta was showing at the neaby AMC theatre which is a pretty crappy theatre but it's "free popcorn Wednesdays" with my Movie Watcher card so I figured it was a decent trade-off. So we went to Azteca for Happy Hour nachos. While there, the waiter forgot my order of beans and rice then later gave us change for a $.64 tab when really it was $10.64 (yay Happy Hour prices!) but since I've waited tables before I had to make sure he got what he deserved.....okay, just WRITING this is boring me.

Needless to say, over dinner I was too bored to go to the movies so we decided to rent one which is usually a fate worse than death for me because it's hard to settle on a movie. FORTUNATELY (I think I'm almost through writing so stick with me or don't, it is getting pretty dull) we both wanted to see Capote which turned out to be amazing but I was so drained by the end that I had to sit just there and cry. I should have known my hormones probably couldn't handle the heaviness and yet......

American Baby says, "As your body adjusts to its new hormone levels and the extra work it's doing, first-trimester symptoms start to subside. This may happen gradually, or as quickly as a light switch flicking off--suddenly, the nausea, fatigue, and constant need to urinate are gone. Your emotions also start to stabilize at this time. Suddenly this pregnancy thing doesn't seem so difficult anymore!" I am definitely not operating on the light-switch theory.

But the point of this long ramble and the little ray of sunshine that shot through my boring day at least for a moment (aside from the hammock swinging) was when we were at the rental place and I was struck motionless by my boredom combined with not knowing what to rent, Tommy came up to me and out-of-the-blue said, "You need a line of blow and an off-duty stripper!"

Man, I'm so glad I married that man AND I get to have his kid? What a bonus!

(Oh and "Boredom is a state of mind" is what my dad used to tell my hyper youngest brother. NOTHING could be more frustrating than to hear that in the throes of boredom.)

Seeing Red

2006-04-05T17:13:00.000-04:00

Just in case I hadn't mentioned it before, I pretty much live by What to Expect When You're Expecting and Your Pregnancy Week by Week (thanks Stacey for the latter recommendation). But in neither invaluable tome did I find anything on what apparently is a common occurrence: nosebleeds. Just out of the blue, my nose will start bleeding. Not gushing, mind you, but enough that I have to be careful.

According to BabyCenter: "Pregnancy can cause the blood vessels in your nose to expand, and your increased blood supply puts even more pressure on those delicate veins, causing them to rupture easily. You're especially likely to have a nosebleed when you have a cold or sinus infection or when the membranes inside your nose dry out, as they do in cold weather, air conditioned rooms, airline cabins, and other dry environments."

Last night, without even trying I dabbed my nose to reveal a perfect heart on my tissue. Tommy didn't think I could get anything on ebay for it though.

Gimme a beat!

2006-04-04T14:01:00.000-04:00

Last November I went in at my 11th week to get an ultrasound. What started with, "I don't see a heartbeat" quickly snowballed to High Hell. I had to go to the hospital for a second opinion. I give God my utmost thanks for supplying me with Karry - my "temporary life partner" while Tommy was out to sea and a really nice ultrasound technician (or whatever they're called) who was kind and supportive and encouraging for the future (though she really didn't have to ask, "Do you still want a picture of it anyway?" even though I know there are those that do) . I got through that day and thanks to a really nice Naval captain and the Red Cross, Tommy was able to hop a boat and a plane and was back in my thankful and lovin' arms 4 days later. And this too has passed.

So I'm sensitive to heartbeats - each sonogram I have had with this current pregnancy starts off with me holding my breath and not blinking as I desperately scan the screen for that little pulsing movement and yesterday we were rewarded with audio.

My doctor came in with this cute little box that turned out to be the Doppler thing that can pick up heartbeats. She stated, "It may be too early to pick this up, but if the baby's cooperating, we may get to hear the heartbeat." So I held my breath and stared unblinking at the ceiling for what seemed like hours as she oh-so-painfully slowly dragged the microphone (or whatever it's called) across my belly. "A little to the left!" I screamed in my head because I just knew he or she was just out of reach. You could hear my stomach gurgle a little then a lot of white noise then when she finally (finally!!!) scanned to the left: boom-boom-boom-boom. I can't even begin to type how fast this little beat was - supposedly it's around 130 beats per minute. I turned my head to look at Tommy - my eyes probably looked like saucers then I quietly giggled.

We heard our baby's heartbeat today.

Deception Dinner

2006-03-31T12:32:00.000-05:00

Deception Dinner
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

In honor of April Fool's Day (a little early), M&M came over last night for a Deception Dinner. I made lasagna cupcakes - the idea stolen from here but the recipe streamlined with sauce from Paul Newman. I also made cloverleaf roll cupcakes with American cheese icing and chive sprinkles. (I would have preferred mozzarella icing but I only had grated cheese on hand and I didn't think I could get a good "blanket.") They were RIDICULOUSLY fun to eat!

For dessert, I made "spaghetti." I piped cream cheese and marshmallow fluff (an insanely easy and delicious recipe I found here) and topped it with crushed strawberries. Tommy actually giggled as he ate it. Click on the picture and it will take you to a pic of the dessert.

Happy Birthday

2006-03-30T12:26:00.000-05:00

To my precious, precious brother Sean!!!

Teen Angst

2006-03-30T12:21:00.000-05:00

The big, main drawback to my pregnancy is that I re-entered puberty. The mood swings, OH the mood swings. Seriously, it feels just like puberty minus the endless repetitions of Prince’s Beautiful Ones or worse, Stevie Nicks’ Edge of Seventeen. (I would like to once again apologize to my poor brother and mother for dealing with me during that Trying Time and thank them for their tolerance of said repetitions – I can still picture them sitting in the living room, me holed up in my bedroom and just as the song ends they’re all, “Please no, please no, please no” as the needle starts at the beginning of the song one...more...time.)

Unfortunately, Tommy has sympathy mood swings. He can get really snippy.

Newsflash: if I’m currently growing someone else’s ears (I stole that expression from my awesome friend Laura), only I can be snippy.

And yet, I’m not snippy, I’m the other mutant dwarf Weepy. The other night I literally sobbed because I was so emotional. What’s worse was I was fine when Tommy went out to the freezer to get a “novelty” (we’re on an icecream novelty kick, currently we’re on Snickers cones) but I was full-tilt weepy when he came back. AND I was too messed up to get up and get a tissue so I was blotting and blowing with a paper towel – do you know what kind of damage a rough paper towel can do to the complexion of an almost-40 year old in the throes of prenatal emotion?!?

Speaking of complexions, I also have zits again. Oh sure, I used to have the occasional breakout but they were subtle. I now actually sport whiteheads.

I’m so right smack back in puberty.

I need to be left alone in my room with a turntable and a fresh copy of Purple Rain.

Behold...The Bean!

2006-03-29T17:27:00.000-05:00

Behold! The Bean! 3-27-06
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

Okay, so I've been a horrible blogger. It's just that I haven't felt like I had anything worthy of reading to write about- not that that's an issue with a whole lot of blogs I click upon (I promise to never...or just minimally write about any pets I may have), but still, I want to be worthy. So once again, I find myself pregnant - this time it feels like a good one. Upon the recent 1st Trimester Screening confirmation that so far all is well, I've decided on pursuing the momblog thing - granted that probably doesn't make any worthiness sense since there's so many momblogs out there, but I think I have something to contribute even if that something is simply tried and true indigestion cures.

Therefore, I introduce you to the bean! Which is actually the size of a lime but introducing you to the lime sounded weird and somehow too acidic (I'm telling ya, the heartburn is BAD). And even though it's still an early-early confirmation, I have already been eyeing a few things - the Hot Wheels onesies at La La Ling, Mary Jane socks at Uncommon Goods (and EVERYTHING else in their baby shower department), and this insanely cute Stef pointed out to me. (People please, I'm very vulnerable to such cute "necessities" right now!).

Emerald City Exploits

2006-01-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

I used to think I'd have TONS of stuff to write about in a blog, and yet.....

But instead of complaining, I'm going to write when I can and this time, I've got yet another "great day" review.

My friend Amy is in town for a shoot (I will try not to pine for the days when I was involved in these "shoots") so I met her Wednesday night for a slumber party. We were on a search for fish & chips but settled for pasties at Kells. After that, we went to SAM. They were open til midnight to "celebrate" the temporary closing for their huge remodel. I love walking around an art museum at night - not that there are windows or anything, you just know it's nighttime and thus for some reason, it's just more fun. We walked around the Tiffany glass exhibit - I expected boring, old-lady lamps but was in awe a big chunk of the time, we putzed around the 4th floor's permanent collection then headed down for a champagne toast at midnight. Very fun. Afterwards we headed back to her hotel and stayed up forever chatting about EVERYTHING. Just as a slumber party should be.

The next morning we had breakfast at Crave. I have been plotting breakfast here ever since my friend Mike started raving about their biscuits and gravy (so far Hi-Life has the best in my eyes). Turns out, Crave only serves the little legends on Saturdays and Sundays. Oh well, we shared a great crab omelette and a really great blue cheese, bacon and apple omellete. (Apple! Who'da thunk it?)

Afterwards we looked around a hot shop on 5th Ave and looked at all the amazing glass stuff then it dawned on us that we were right by Top Pot Doughnuts, another place I've been dying to try, so since the weather was crappy (it's SO hard trying to convince people that it doesn't rain all the time when it seems to be raining all the time), we went in for some dreaminess. We shared a pumpkin glazed (good), a bullseye (just okay), and The Best Apple Fritter I Have Ever Had (and I love me some apple fritters so I've tried A LOT).

Later we played around Tower Records. Tommy called to see if I wanted to meet him and the guys he went riding with (he had a good day, too!) at Applebee's to which I replied as politely as possible, "Applebees? Are you kidding me? No friggin' way! We're headed to a delightfully messy dinner at Crab Pot!" And it was delightful and messy AND I still was able to meet Tommy and friends at Applebees to watch them eat their brownie sundaes.

So very fun.

And tonight the slumber party continues but at my place. Woo-hoo!

Wooooooooo

2005-12-06T12:01:00.000-05:00

I try not to tell friends and strangers my dreams because usually they’re not that interesting to the listener (or reader) but this one might be…

This morning I dreamt I was dead and only Karry could see me. Well, other people could see me but if they could, they were clearly dead as well. My dog was there and she came to me for a minute but then went back to this nearby park area to play with other dead dogs. From a dead person’s perspective, there was no difference between the dead and the living, so it was kind of hard to figure out who was and who wasn’t. Karry came over and it was decided that I would have to tell her family I was dead but I didn’t want to scare her kids with my invisibility so in trying to figure out ways to tell them. I tried writing a note – which I couldn’t quite do – apparently your handwriting is even worse when you’re dead. Then I put a sheet over my head and could see through it into a mirror. It was so upsetting to have to see myself like that and have to consider letting the kids see me like this way that I started to cry big wailing sobs that ended up sounding much like the “wooooooo’s” you hear stereotypical ghosts make. So I had the dawning that maybe those ghosts in the sheets weren’t trying to scare you but were really just trying to make their presence known without scaring you too much.

Here’s what swoon has to say:

Death
If you dreamed of being dead yourself, it indicates an approaching release from all your worries and/or a recovery from illness. If you spoke with someone who is dead, you will soon hear very good news. To dream of a death frequently signifies news of a birth. To be aware of a dead person you cannot identify portends an inheritance which may not be personal but could be indirectly beneficial.

On a less weird note - check out this really cool Advent Calendar.

Viva la Pandora!!!

2005-11-30T18:09:00.000-05:00

Dreamy.

2005-10-28T14:44:00.000-04:00

I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve always had good friends.

Oh sure, I’ve had my fair share of psycho ones – the ones that I think I can “fix” then realized I cannot get away from their sucking lifeforce quick enough – there are a couple of suckers in my life right now, but they’re not sucking hard enough for the total blow-off, and they’re FAR from my point.

My point is, I Am So Thankful.

Saturday I got a BOUNTY of goodies from my friend Dave (someone I met through one of the Flaky People) as a belated birthday present – turns out, the “big” present just got back from the JEWELER and I should have that in a day or too. You should have seen this box, though! Dave and I know how to make each other happy – we both know that the other likes the little things so he horded various goodies from various events from work and I SCORED. Make Up Forever lipgloss, powder, eye & lipliners, and foundation; a cute toy taxi and various other NY mementos that got me almost homesick weepy; a great history of the pin-up book where he inscribed, “Why aren’t YOU in this book?”; and the list literally goes on and on. It’s SO nice to be appreciated.

Karry started out as my boss’s wife. Then I befriended their 3 year old (at the time) daughter then we became friends, and so on. She’s now become a vital part of my daily life. So a while back, I found out I was pregnant. I was scheduled for an ultrasound and since Tommy is out to sea, I asked if she would possibly consider maybe wanting to go in with me….and before I could get the request out she was all, “Yep, I’m there.” Yesterday the day finally arrived for the ultrasound. Karry rushed into my exam room and hugged me not even noticing that a paper sheet was all that covered me from the waist down. She and I jabbered like monkeys – she was just as nervous and excited as I was to see this little bean. The doctor came in, we got down to business (they use actual Trojan condoms for the ultrasound “tool” – I thought that was interesting), and Karry stood at my side holding my hand with one hand and stroking my arm with the other (okay, she may have been a little more nervous than I was). The ultrasound revealed the most precious heartbeat you ever did see and our hands clenched even tighter. Afterwards she said she wanted to come to every ultrasound from now on – whether Tommy was here or not. Tears come to my eyes as I type this – I am just so fucking lucky!!!

Because of my age, I have to consider whether or not I should get a CVS. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s best (and because of that, if you’re against them, DO NOT comment – do your best to bite your tongue and respect my decision). Karry informed her mom, Linda, another good friend that came out of my employment, and Linda volunteered to drive me saying we can take her comfy Lexus because “the seats are made for relaxing after a ‘procedure.’” When I talked to Karry today, she was all, “No, I’ll take you, one of us will take you, you are NOT going alone.” Granted, a mild battle of generational wills may ensue but I’m just so in awe that it is occurring over my behalf.

Then last night, my dear friend Stef, a girl I met and became friends with by commenting on her blog, and I went to dinner at Fare Start (I highly recommend you go there) – her treat because we were celebrating the heartbeat. She’s been amazing throughout this whole thing. I’m prone to nervousness (if you couldn’t tell) and she gave me a mantra that I’m sure she didn’t know was going to be so powerfully soothing to me:

Let it happen.

So Very Thankful.

And there are so many more – my friend Souson is pregnant (5 weeks ahead of me) and has been great to be with on this manic journey; Laura has BRILLIANT insights that keep me going (“When you're growing someone else's ears, you need to REST after a moderately invasive procedure”). Others I’ve mentioned in this blog before, others still quietly keep me strong (like my amazing mother-in-law, my siblings, etc.) and my love for them is boundless. All I can hope is I occupy the same role in their lives as they do in mine.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all my friends for the past, present, and future.

Bang!

2005-10-15T01:52:00.000-04:00

Please rent Crash right now.

I can't say anything more about it...aside from you may want to stop it because it's too heavy in parts, but for your own good, please keep watching.

Zeppelin

2005-10-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

Zeppelin 10.6.05
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

Behold! He that is Zeppelin! The Most Precious ball python you'd ever encounter!

I'm babysitting him while his owner is out to sea. I've always liked snakes and just can't get enough of this one. He's so sweet and slow and laid back.

Last night I bought the tree-thing he's laying on and the silk leaves. He LOVES it. You can tell his owner is a bachelor because all that was in the cage was that half-log thing and the water bowl. My next step is to replace the newspaper with something more jungle-looking.

I had to feed him today. NOT something I wanted to do but I also didn't want to be gushing over him but still be too baby-ish to feed him. So I went to the pet store, said I needed a small mouse, looked at is SUPER QUICK to make sure it was small enough (if it was too big I would then have to try to get it out of the cage and replace it with a smaller one - that was not going to happen), they put it in a bag, I drove home, and dropped it in the cage and left. When I checked on Zep later, it was gone. So that wasn't so bad and I won't have to deal with it for another 2 weeks.....but what if it was too small and thus not filling enough?

Sigh.

Now I remember

2005-09-29T13:32:00.000-04:00

Last night we met some friends at Our Place this ridiculously smoky bar/restaurant near our house. We had a blast playing really bad pool and decent (if I do say so myself) pinball and drinking beer - maybe too much since I broke my rule, AGAIN.

They have karaoke nights on Thursday and Saturday. This is one of those kinds of bars where people come by themselves to sing/perform. I cannot understand this since well, it's KARAOKE people! Anyhoo, one of our friends did a song so Tommy and I got curious about the selections in the Great Big Book of Karaoke.

Tommy performed Peaches by the Presidents of the United States and then he got hooked. He started looking for more songs but I forced him to abstain since it was already 2 hours later than I should have stayed in the first place.

And I, well, I thought it'd be a good idea to stir things up and throw caution to the wind. I've only sang karaoke twice - the first time was in NY where you rent a room and you're only surrounded by friends, the second was in Dallas at a bar my old roommate owns so I was also surrounded by friends. At the former I performed Bust a Move then discovered it's a very difficult karaoke song since there are SO many words crammed into one glorious song and you really only THINK you know they lyrics til you're up on "stage." So yeah, I should have learned my lesson but I thought I needed to cut the seriousness of some of the ballad-y selections being performed hence my need to stir and thus forget the No Rap Rule. And yet........

Fortunately I have a great husband that will hop on "stage" with me for back-up.

Tomato Pie

2005-09-28T13:54:00.000-04:00

I love a good Southern accent. It makes me feel comforted when I hear it. Therefore, I adore Paula Dean and her show on the Food Network. The fact that she's going to be in Elizabethtown makes me want to see it that much more.

Anyhoo, my point is I made her Tomato Pie last night and it is So Good. I used the blessed Pillsbury pie dough and didn't pre-bake and it came out perfect nonetheless. Next time I want to add crab or shrimp to it. My Lord, it was delicious.

Alberta!!!

2005-09-19T12:25:00.000-04:00

Another wonderful weekend has past mainly due to Saturday night.

Our friends, Morgan & Aaron, Tommy and I went to Pioneer Square. Aaron is a big blues fan and initially wanted to go to Highway 99 but the band that was scheduled to play looked pretty lame so I did some research (some call it meddling....) and I saw that Alberta Adams was playing at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant. We got there early to have a bite to eat. I wasn't sure what to order so I asked the table next to me if they've eaten there before - they had and recommended the catfish. Say no more! I love me some catfish. THEN it dawned on me that who I asked WAS Alberta Adams. Fortunately her and her friend were very nice.

NOCR makes a damn fine catfish with damn fine hushpuppies and red beans & rice. And Alberta Adams Rocked The House. Ohmigod, she was so amazing! She had to be helped up on stage and then had to sit through her act but her voice, oh, her voice didn't show an ounce of age. My kingdom to see her back in her Duke Ellington days!!!

Our $10 cover got us into a bunch of other clubs in Pioneer Square. I had heard good things about Fenix Underground but when we got to the front of the club, the music that was coming out of it was way too hard to follow after Alberta's bliss so we headed to Doc Maynard's for a beer and watched The Randy Oxford Band - another good Southern bluesy rock band. You don't see much trombone anymore and Randy knows how to play.

I tend to go out to see a lot of bands and most of the time I figure I'm one of the oldest people in the clubs, I just don't look it (unbiased people assure me). I couldn't get over how many "over 30" people there were out at these places. I was a bit uncomfortable about it. Isn't that weird? I'm not usually uncomfortable being around people my own age - but for the record, the people around my age I am around did not look like these Pioneer Square People. I can't explain it, either way, we went to Temple Billiards to play some pool and I was more comfortable around the mixed-age group.

Temple Billiards was a surprisingly comfortable pool hall. Tommy and I love Belltown Billiards and didn't think anything would compare but on a non-weekend night (or not too late on weekends), this would be a fun place to hang out. They've got a trance-y club going on in the basement and the bass is too loud downstairs to hear the good jukebox upstairs. I love a good jukebox - Tommy played a Scissor Sisters song for me and was still able to get some Creedence for him.

So after we played really long, bad games of pool (it's so nice to play with your equals), we headed home and I listened to the new Horrorpops (good, just not as good as there last one) while the rest of the car slept - which reminds me of my favorite line:

I want to die like my grandfather - peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming in terror like the rest of the people in the car.

Have a lovely week!

How DOES Google do it?

2005-09-15T19:16:00.000-04:00

Go to Google and type in "failure" (without the quotes) and then hit the "I feel lucky" button.

Sad, but true....

What I came home to - 9.11.05

2005-09-13T16:33:00.000-04:00

What I came home to - 9.11.05
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

After leaving Amy V, I headed for the other half of my Portland trip. Another friend is going through a rough period. Her and her husband are not doing too well so she's staying at a friend's. I wanted to see if I could help so I headed over. I knew there wasn't much I could do but I figured just plopping myself in front of her would at least give her a sounding board. Considering everything that's going on and to add to that, I drank like I was in high school or perhaps I just had too many cigs so I was puking my guts up most of Sunday morning - nice!, overall, we had a really good time.

But it sure makes a girl (of divorced parents) wonder about her marriage mortality. I already felt bad for leaving Tommy the whole weekend but he was SO supportive of the cause - so much so that I came home to this bouquet.

He is so great. He said he wanted me to come home to them since I did such a good thing for my friend. He didn't even think about it being Sept. 11th or that they were the exact type of flower I wore in my hair when we got married, he's just That Good. I cannot begin to tell you how truly thankful I am that he is in my life and I can only wish this for my friend in Portland then for everyone else. They Are Out There!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Mississippi Studios

2005-09-13T14:54:00.000-04:00

Mississippi Studios
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

This is a "creatively" blurry picture representing a lovely night. I met my rockin' friend Amy V in Portland Friday night. She works for American Spirit cigs and they were one of the sponsors of Music Fest NW.

It was so, so good seeing her, albeit briefly. We visited for a bit then headed for Mississippi Studios - this crazy-great and comfy bar/recording studio. We went there to see James Hall and since we got there early, we sat outside watching Buster Keaton silent movies - could this place get any better?!? Yes, it could:

While out there we heard people talking about the next act and how they hoped he did "Future's So Bright." Turns out the next act was Pat Macdonald, former singer of Timbuk 3 (TELL ME you remember that overplayed song!). The fest's calendar had him classified as "folk" so Amy and I planned to stay outside watching movies. But upon hearing the first few minutes of his dirty, electric guitar and harmonica, we went in and grabbed seats. This guy was so good!!! Bought a cd and everything. He sounds like dirtier Morphine - I swear!

To make the night better, James Hall went on next. He was just as excellent and entertained us with many, many encores including a Hall and Oates cover Amy V raved about. The night was filled with great and interesting company. Dreamy!

The next day, I picked up some damn fine coffee & a 2 disc cd of Portland bands at Stumptown (look how cool and comfy the place looks!). Then we headed to Nob Hill and ate at Mio - sushi is a tradition for Amy V and me. It was good - not raveable but good. Then we went to Whole Foods and we parted ways. Thanks Amy for a lovely visit! Come up and see me some time!

When necessary, I hope I am a sheepdog

2005-09-13T14:43:00.000-04:00

This guy gets a little carried away but overall, this is some brilliant writing.

Help is on the way

2005-09-08T16:34:00.000-04:00

To try to help the displaced hurricane victims, I just ordered a care package from drugstore.com. I looked over this site and came up with a wide variety of items I thought people would need and picked a place to send them to. If you haven't ordered from drugstore.com before (what?!?), you get free regular shipping with orders over $49 and free 3-day shipping for orders over $100. I hope this helps.

Not-too-much-Labor Day

2005-09-06T19:25:00.000-04:00

I got to bed at about 4am Sunday morning after a rather long flight. (Why are pilots so ridiculously honest lately? Do I really need to know that we're sitting on the tarmac FOREVER waiting to fix a faulty fuel valve?!? It's already virtually impossible to sleep in my cramped seat, I don't need visions of fireballs dancing in my head.) For the record, I DID share my cookies with the guy next to me (I told Mac I didn't like to share but I know that's wrong and I figured with the fuel valve issue, I should try to be as nice as I could in what could be my last hours). Turns out he hadn't had a cookie in a year and a half because he'd been living in China (they don't have cookies there?) and he was quite impressed with Mac's scotchies.

Anyhoo, went to bed at 4:00, Tommy got home from duty at 8:30. We watched crap on tv, he went and got Burger King breakfast, then we took a nap. We took one of those "I know I'd sleep a lot better if we weren't spooning but even though I was only gone for 48 hours, damn, I missed my husband" sleeps that's just so dreamy. After, I got up, worked in the garden for a bit (8 ripe tomatoes!!!), then took a much needed shower.

We headed to Tacoma to Sports Authority, dinner and a movie. We were initially going to eat at Chevy's but decided to try Famous Dave's BBQ. Yay! We've discovered good BBQ not too far from home!!!

Afterwards we saw 40 Year Old Virgin. If you haven't seen it yet, go.....NOW! Two thumbs way up. The waxing scene KILLED me and it turns out, it's real!

And now I'm starting to bore myself with all this wonderful weekend reporting so I am going to sign off. Not sure if I made it sound as amazing as it was but my, I am a thankful one.

Encounter Night

2005-09-06T19:19:00.000-04:00

Encounter Night
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

After we macheteed through tourists to get back to the car, we drove to this great spot near the airport to watch the planes take off and land. It's the ultimate date place, my sister pointed out, because it's right next to an In & Out Burger (oh! Jessica and I ate at In & Out Saturday - forgot to mention that). We stayed there for a bit then decided to go to Encounter - the former LAX control tower turned kitschy sci-fi restaurant. We had a drink and some apps at the bar. Oh sure, we should have had something blue and glowy but I opted for a gin & tonic instead. The place is pretty cool looking in a touristy, sticky way and it was great to chat with my sis and Mac for my last few minutes in L.A.

With cookies in hand, they dropped me off at my gate.

Thank you to everyone that made this SUCH a great visit!!!

L.A. Subway

2005-09-06T19:13:00.000-04:00

L.A. Subway
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

After the movie, we took the subway mostly just to say we did. As you can imagine, the L.A. subway is very film-y. Film reels COVER the entire ceiling of this stop. The train itself smelled just like NY subways - which is good (though some can smell quite bad).

We had lovely gelato across from Mann's Chinese Theater, I bought some really rockin' sunglasses (I have an appt to see if I'm cut out for the Accuvue for Astigmatism contacts and if not, these sunglasses are cool enough to get me back into my gas perms), and met up with Jessica's friend Mac who, get this, baked us cookies! Oatmeal Scotchies with plenty of scotchy chips! And, AND he's got The Coolest Scar across the back of his skull that I wish I took a picture of.

Hollywood Farmer's Market

2005-09-06T19:06:00.000-04:00

Hollywood
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

Sunday morning we got up (sleep is so overrated) and made said coffee cake. There is nothing like cooking for appreciative people. Alex actually sang that song, "We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing...." then proceeded to say he spoke to God during each bite (it really is a GOOD recipe). We visited with the casa for a while, and it did rise to it's chaotic potential when a couple arrived with their ridiculously gorgeous daughter (I didn't take a pic but trust me). Once she dawned butterfly wings, the chaos crescendoed in a way that could only make you laugh and shriek with them.

Then I had to say my goodbyes which sucked. I was quickly getting attached to the chaos.

Jessica and I headed to the Hollywood Farmer's Market to meet Michael and his sister (who was unable to go to dinner the night before). His sister (of course) rocks. They had to head for Malibu where he was drumming for some blues band so they left us to sample the market wares. We had delicious tamales, papusas, and lemonade.

We then headed to Amoeba Records then caught Hustle and Flow. LOVED both the record store and the movie.

L.A. Part 3

2005-09-06T18:25:00.000-04:00

I'm loopy-tired by the afternoon but I'm such a little kid that I didn't want to take a nap because I didn't want to miss anything. So after I debated and debated with myself, Jessica, Amber and I went and got mani-pedi combos. I got a rockin' platinum on all 20 nails, Jessica got a really cool coral (Chanel, no less), and Amber observed (she had gotten hers done a couple days prior). Amber is supa-cool. She and her rockin' boyfriend Hugo need to come visit me.

Later we went to Ross where I scored a green cord blazer, red top, and disco black sequined scarf.

Went back home and took showers to perk up (Jessica was tired, too). Went to a little party in the Hollywood hills (well, it was up in hills that I am assuming was in Hollywood), met more great people including the afore mentioned Hugo, and then headed to meet the second reason for my trip, our friend Michael at this great sushi place.

Katsu-ya on Ventura Blvd is a tiny place. Our reservation for 8 people made them laugh a slow and painful laugh - much like our wait. Fortunately, it gave me time to visit with Michael. Michael is this amazing guy I met decades ago when I waited tables at this crappy little frat place in Arlington, TX. He then met my sister through an ex of hers. He has since become a rather popular drummer drumming for everyone from Pleasure Club to Blind Boys of Alabama. I finally got to meet his wife who was accompanied by her sister and some other friends makeing for some great company.

After a long wait, we finally got to devour really good sushi - so good in fact, little Rachel Ray's Tasty Travels took her there recently. She (and we) ate their signature dish - Seared Tuna with Japanese Salsa. The picture of it in the first link does not do the avocado tower justice. It rocked but not nearly as much as the baked crab roll. Good Lord, that was almost as good as the company.

We headed home full and happy stopping at Ralph's grocery to pick up stuff for this:

Overnight Coffee Cake (more like Overnight Caramel Rolls)
(from Linda McClellan of Liberty, TX for the HEB Grocery Store Cookbook – Vol. 2)

14 frozen Parker House Rolls, frozen (the kind of rolls that rise)
½ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. Cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup brown sugar
1 3 5/8-ounce box butterscotch pudding mix (not instant)
1 stick butter or margarine, cut into pieces

Layer ingredients into oiled tube or bundt pan in the order listed. Do not stir. Cover with a clean, cry towel and leave at room temperature overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Uncover and bake 15 minutes. Cover pan with foil and bake 15 minutes more. Remove from over and invert onto serving plate. Serve hot or cold (it won’t make it to “cold”).

We assembled it, chatted with Alex for a bit, then went to bed and talked til the wee hours. What can I say, that's what we do.

Pensive Superman

2005-09-06T18:16:00.000-04:00

Pensive Superman
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

This is Milo. He's so dreamy. I don't believe he'll wear anything but these superman pajamas which is okay by me because being in super-hero mode 24/7 makes for a powerful 3 year old vocabulary, you fiendish fool!

grin

2005-09-06T18:14:00.000-04:00

Oh dear.
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

I am often awestruck by exactly how great a day can be - put that back to back with two more days and you have one awesome long weekend. That's how the last 3 days were.

It started off with me getting up at 2:30 am to go to the airport. I flew to L.A. to meet my sister. She now lives in Austin but was going to be there to pick up her stuff from her previous residence appropriately nicknamed, Casa de Chaos.

Alex & Milo picked us up and took us back to the casa. While there I was able to cuddle this lovely baby (see pic), Selke (sp?). Note to future mother self: do not wear black around babies - the make their own ricotta and it doesn't just wipe off. So yeah, Jessica held her for a while, passed her to me and BLEAH! But looking at this face, do you think I cared? Not in the slightest.

Casa de Chaos ROCKS. It's in Sherman Oaks, Spanish tile throughout most of the house. 2 dogs, several cats, a baby, a 3 year old, and 4 adults you'd want to be spend your Last Days with.

I am so thankful for the people I come across and these were no exception. I just love to be instantly comfortable in a group. Granted, my sis prepped them about me and me about them but I think even if we weren't prepped, it'd be just as comfortable.

My kingdom to nuzzle this baby's crazy hair once again (the pic does not do the hair volume justice).

Treats for a difference

2005-09-06T12:05:00.000-04:00

I'm all about donating to the Red Cross right now and now it's even better because you can get stuff in return. A ridiculous number of crafters have donated their wares and all proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund - buy! buy!

Ah luv Anderson

2005-09-02T14:20:00.000-04:00

Anderson Cooper rocks.

Chant with me: Jor-dis! Jor-dis! JORDIS!

2005-08-31T17:21:00.000-04:00

Do you watch Rockstar: INXS? HORRIBLY addictive. Last night's episode featured Jordis do a cover of Imagine. It was CRIPPLINGLY beautiful.

That girl's going places, I tell ya!

Who woulda thought - I like VANILLA yogurt

2005-08-30T12:18:00.000-04:00

An added benefit of working out is I tend to eat healthier (oh sure, I made icecream sandwiches with the new soft-baked Chips Ahoy, but I used Dreyers Light and I only had one....and I still need to LIVE, don't I?). My current favorite breakfast is baked oatmeal. My mom found the recipe in a Quaker Oats ad and I have since adapted it to the following gem of textural goodness (I'm telling ya, the textures ROCK):

BAKED OATMEAL

2-1/4 cups Quick Quaker® Oats or 2-3/4 cups Old Fashioned Quaker® Oats, uncooked
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup raisins, dried cranberries, shredded carrot, chopped apple, chopped nuts, or any combination in between
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (nutmeg, ginger, or whatever)
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3-1/3 cups skim milk
4 egg whites, lightly beaten or 1/2 cup egg substitute (Kay uses 2 eggs – doesn’t like to waste…though now that I have been turned onto Papetti Egg Whites, I may start using that instead)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
Fat-free milk or nonfat yogurt and fruit (optional) – my fave: Dannon Light & Fit vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, combine oats, sugar, raisins, cinnamon and salt; mix well. In medium bowl, combine milk, egg whites, oil and vanilla; mix well. Add to dry ingredients; mix until well blended. Pour into baking dish.
3. Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until center is set and firm to the touch. Cool slightly
4. Serve topped with milk or yogurt and fruit, if desired. Store leftover oatmeal tightly covered in refrigerator

Servings: 8 SERVINGS

Currently, I'm serving a carrot, raisin, cranberry version but I'm also partial to THE banana- almond combo.

This is one of those breakfasts that "sticks to the ribs" in a good way AND it's healthy AND it's delicious.

Bon appetit!

I want to look cool running

2005-08-30T11:32:00.000-04:00

My rockin' friend Amy V (who I can't wait to see weekend after next!) just started a blog and credited me so I thought I better update.

Big news (and that is a sad reflection of my current state that said news is considered "big"): Tommy and I have started going to the gym. I've wanted to do this forever. We lived on base for a year or so and didn't even go near the gym. Oh sure, I could go without him, and I did (every now and then) when he was out at sea, but it's far more motivating when he goes with me.

Turns out - he loves it. He's never been one for exercise - I think because it is always so forced on him what with the Navy and all - but now that he's doing it for the heck of it, he sees how good you can feel after. And the iPod Shuffle doesn't hurt. He discovered music and running are a delightful mix. And he looks hot doing it. I feel like each step is clumsy and painful and wrong when I run (I've got craptastic knees) but he just looks GOOD. Though I guess he looks good doing anything so I should have known.

So yeah, we got Shuffles. I was going to just get him one but Apple's superior marketing skills helped me decide that my iPod was just too cumbersome - look how little and light the Shuffle is - just the sound of the name sounds breezy - shuffle. And it is just totally precious.

I could not imagine doing anything aerobic without music - especially when it's contained in a device the size of a pack of gum....a thin pack at that! And the current selection definitely shows how manic I can be. My shuffle includes such great songs as [roll credits]:
Gap Band - Burn Rubber
Jem - Save Me
Cibo Matto - Spoon
Orgy - Blue Monday
A couple of those really long techno songs off the Trainspotting Soundtrack
Lenny Kravitz - Lady
Crystal Waters - 100% True Love
Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life (that's right, I said it)
Golden Earring - Twilight Zone
And many more!

I banish you high cholesterol and excessive jiggle!

Altered Images

2005-08-15T16:38:00.000-04:00

I guess because it was my birthday, I've had Altered Images' Happy Birthday song in my head (that's not true - I OFTEN have that song in my head with or without my birthday nearby) and I was deep into the B&N sale when I decided to see how cheap I could get it on cd. Behold! New Wave Hits of the 70's & 80's - a 3, count 'em, THREE disc collection for only $11.32 with your B&N card! SO very excited.

The Flying Lizards version of Money (That's What I Want) often caresses my brain so I bought Wedding Singer 2 as well for a mere $9.70 with said green card. It's got some gems on it as well - not as many, but still.

AND for a few more purchases, it's all being shipped to my door for FREE. Why go into the average-priced store when online is SO much cheaper?!?

Thanks, Barnes and Noble!

Hella Honda

2005-08-15T01:32:00.000-04:00

Hella Honda
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

I am such a baby.

When I was a kid, I was pretty much the last one picked for kickball, got my ass kicked at tetherball, and even though I towered over EVERYONE, I sucked at basketball. Such humiliation tends to stay permanently imprinted on one's brain.

And yet, I try to exorcise.

Tommy is BIG into dirtbikes so when he bought his Yamaha, the Honda became "mine." I want to be tough, really I do, but it is so hard adopting a hobby where you know you're going to fall down...probably while going at a decent speed. Oh and I have no idea how to drive a stickshift and apparently that hinders me as well.

And yet, I try. I've taken the bike out three times. The first was very basic, just back and forth once I got the beast kick started and moving (2 things I tend to have trouble with). The second time I gave myself quite the pep talk and told myself I was going to fall and it would hurt but it wouldn't kill me and it'd be fun overall. Sure enough, I fell, it hurt, but it didn't kill me and I had fun.

Well, time flies - 8 months to be exact, and we went out on Saturday for my third try. It was like it was my first but I got the hang of it after numerous starts and stalls and here are pics to document it. I didn't fall but I was way too hot and tired to push myself to even attempt to do anything that would warrant falling. (Excuses, excuses: I tried to give blood that morning and they rejected me because my hemoglobin count was so low - hence me being beat before I even got out there.) Plus I was just plain scared - which is so stupid. Carpe diem, dammit!

But check out this pic (and others on flickr - I've got the red bike, Tommy's got the blue). It really looks like I can ride, doesn't it?

I'm getting there. Next time I will not be such a baby.

I will not be such a baby.

I will not be such a baby.

Carpe diem, dammit!

Seattle skyline 8.12.05

2005-08-15T01:22:00.000-04:00

Seattle skyline 8.12.05
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

We had a lovely Friday date night. We took the ferry downtown, stopped at Schmancy to see the Plush You! show - I saw many cute stuffed animals and treats but damn, it was hot in that place and we had reservations for dinner at the Pink Door (amazon publishes menus now?!?). The rooftop deck is SO Just Right. Tomatoes and grapes are planted among other herbs and plants all the way around the perimeter in little window boxes. There are big Christmas lights hanging on the pergola overhead, and the plastic table cloths add to the comfortable ambience. I had the Lasagna Pink Door and Tommy had the rigatoni and meatballs. Both were good (mine was better) and the olive oil and bread to start you off was divine...and the house white they serve in Pilsner Urquell bottles didn't hurt either. If we weren't so full I would have wanted to stay for dessert and more wine. But we walked over to Roq la Rue to the Devil's Hobby Hut opening, stopped at Whiskey Bar to have a DOLLAR beer and look at the paintings, then headed back. Dreamy!

(As for the photo - apparently the ferry is bumpier than it feels - I'm not that wasted.)

Pink frosting

2005-08-11T11:27:00.000-04:00

A birthday filled with great company, delicious food, lovely gifts, and a whole lot of pink frosting to one of my favorite people to "pass notes" to, Stef!

Birthday cake!

2005-08-10T00:07:00.000-04:00

Birthday cake!
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

Dairy Queen has a great (and I use the term loosely) selection of cake designs. This is the "after" shot of my birthday cake. I think Tommy was getting even for the Tonka truck cake I got him for his b-day.

Today was great. Filled with The Loudest Singing Waitress at Red Robin, great emails and phone calls, GREAT salmon dinner, wonderful gifts, delicious Reese's Blizzard cake, and the dreamiest of friends.

Thank you, thank you!

3:10am update

2005-08-09T06:10:00.000-04:00

Pond After 2
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

I can see one fish swimming about. Hopefully the other two are safely hiding. Here's a picture of the pond before The Invasion shortly after I got the precious "shiny objects."

I must try to get some sleep - but I just taught myself how to add my flickr pics to this blog so I'm a bit wound up.

There's a varmint in that there cement pond!

2005-08-09T05:44:00.000-04:00

There's a varmint in that there cement pond!
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

We have a great house. It's SO Just Right. The Most Fabulous Detail is what we call The Zen Garden - a small, narrow fenced in area off the master bedroom. In it, there's a gorgeous rhododendron pruned to be tree-like, I planted some hosta and lilies, and various other plants. But the best part is the little pond. When we first moved here, there was a crack in it. I'm really proud of myself that was capable of fixing it and I've been slowly but surely adding plants to it and most recently, three cute little koi (or really large goldfish - not sure which).

Upon a couple of occasions I have come out to mild mayhem - a plant has overturned and made the water murky and the fish ticked - what could do this?

Well, I woke up about an hour ago to splashing.

Now, I started reading Coraline last night and my dreams got all a'fluster. FORTUNATELY I did not read it before bed last night or I would have really panicked. OF COURSE Tommy has duty, meaning he's on the boat and I'm alone so for about 5 minutes I laid in bed wondering what sort of ghost kid is playing in the pond. Eventually I got up enough nerve to tippy-toe into the bathroom (you can't see the pond from the sliding glass doors that lead out of the master bedroom but there's a tall, narrow window in the bathroom that overlooks it). It was too dark and creepy to make out what was a'splashin'. So I tippy-toed back and flipped on the outside light then tippy-toed back to the window. (I'm a raging dork, aren't I?)

Sure enough, there was a racoon IN my pond. I banged on the glass and it skittered away but came back a minute later. I watched it for a minute - he would drag his little front arms through the water in front of him then scoot a few steps then drag his arms through the water again then scoot some more. Now, the last time I had to clean out the pond, I couldn't catch the fish with a net (okay, it was a large strainer - but still) and I resorted to literally catching them with my hands and dropping them in a bucket of water - sure, this took a while but I still did it so I was sure this creature with his cute little mask and his pink little hands would succeed if I let him. So I banged on the glass again (but obviously not before I got my camera).

I remember reading that an effective racoon trap is to put something shiny in a hollowed out log, the racoon would stick his hand through a hole, grab the shiny thing, then get trapped because he can't pull his clenched fist back out through the hole - they're to stubborn to let the shiny object go. Well, that might not make sense but it is 2:44 in the a.m. and I am still feeling the effects of the Nyquil I swigged before going to bed a few hours ago so my point is, this racoon saw THREE shiny thing and did not want to let them go. Loud, hissy noises would scare him away, but he was back in no time. I finally had to fling the screen door and jump out there scaring him and myself a couple times.

I think he's gone now and the pond pump is only trickling (normally it slightly gushes) but I'm too scared to go out there, get on my knees, and forage through the muck to see what's wrong.

Today's my birthday - I'm another year older but you wouldn't be able to tell by my actions.

38 & 364/365ths

2005-08-08T16:12:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is my birthday. Since it's That Close and presents are pending, the age thing isn't bothering me so much. To add to said bliss, Karry, Lauren, and Ijee called this morning and sung in unison [in the style of Annie, as if you couldn't tell]:

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
Your birthday's tomorrow!
It's only a day a-way!

I am so thankful that I got the job that lead me to these amazing and wonderful friends. This is Lolo (nickname for Lauren) and Ijee (nickname for Elijah). They rock so hard.

Ah luv previews!

2005-08-05T14:17:00.000-04:00

I LOVE previews (though I guess "trailers" is the correct term). Some people don’t and I just don’t understand it.

My rather lax job affords me the time to surf the net EXCESSIVELY (when I should be doing my schoolwork at the kinda crappy school I go to online) and I stumbled upon this site thus feeding my preview-lovin’ veins. Here's a few of the things I'm excited about:

Walk the Line - good Lord! Joaquin as Johnny Cash and Reese as June Carter. SO exciting! I saw them (the really Johnny and June) live in Ft. Worth YEARS ago. A friend and I scored front row center tix (same day as the Superbowl - conflict of Texan interest). They were great - he was positively orange from all the cake makeup trawled on but it didn't matter - it was The Man in Black up close and personal. A harelip scar could only make the story that much sexier.

2046 - slick, slick, slick! Can't wait! I LOVED Fallen Angels and In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express (probably in that order) and 2046 looks like the Best Of all those with a bigger budget. EEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

King Kong - I loved the Jessica Lange version but I heard this one is going to be more true to the original (with a much bigger budget). I'm such a sucker for the Frankenstein/misunderstood monster story. I just get weepy thinking of that scene when Kong is about to get fully shot up and Jessica knows that if he's still holding her, they won't shoot so she's screaming, "Don't put me down, you big stupid ape!" So basically if I get weepy at that, stuff like The Green Mile is HORRIBLE for me (why I saw that movie, I'll never know - 3 movie theatre napkins do not cut that kind of weeping).

Revolver - Revolver, revolver, all hail Revolver!!! Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels is cinematic genius. Snatch was good but too star-studded or something. I'm a little worried about the dazzling cast of Revolver but not so much so that it would prevent me from being giddy with excitement while playing the preview over and over again.

And there's more - Brothers Grimm looks like it has potential, Corpse Bride - OF COURSE, Neil Gaiman's Mirromask has some Bowie/Labyrinth qualities, and many, many more!

Now I'm off to go have a picnic in the park by work - there'll be a magician and everything!

The Way I See It #36

2005-08-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

Today's coffee cup reads:
"Mother-love is not inevitable.
The good mother is a great artist ever creating beauty out of chaos."

It's kinda sappy but I like it especially since I continue reading the author info:
-- Alice Randall, Novelist, The Wind Done Gone and first black woman to write a No. 1 country song.

That looks good on a resume.

Huge Grant

2005-07-18T14:39:00.000-04:00

Apparently Sandra Bullock and Jesse James got married over the weekend. William Shatner, Jamie Lee Curtis, Keanu, Hugh Grant, and Metallica hottie James Hetfield were in attendance. THAT'S a wide range of attendees! I especially like that E-online spelled it Huge Grant. I wonder how much trouble you get into with typos like that.

And more importantly - I wonder what presents they got - ESPECIALLY from Shatner.

A "dam" fine weekend

2005-07-18T13:47:00.000-04:00

Such, SUCH a great weekend. A while back Tommy and I camped at (in? on?) the Oregon dunes with some friends to go dirtbike and ATV riding. Even though we stayed in this ridiculously small tent (probably 6x6 and we’re both 6’+ tall) that ended up getting soaked and we ended up sleeping in my Civic, we still enjoyed ourselves immensely. A tent, canopy, battery operated air mattress, and various other accoutrements were soon purchased and a plan was devised.

After much research then a big discovery that all the “good” places were booked because I waited so long to book one (what was I thinking?!?), we found a “primitive” site at Lake Alder which is considered a “Tacoma Power Park” (something like 70% of all the power comes from the nearby dam you can walk too – DAM!).

I love serendipity. This place was PERFECT. It was “primitive” but still really close to parking and a decent bathroom (I developed my trick where I took with me a disinfecting wipe in my left hand and a baby wipe in my right). We stayed at #224 if you want a visual. We were surrounded by ferns, blackberries, and tall evergreens. Our site came complete with a picnic bench and cooking/fire pit and a perfectly cut out area for our tent. We set up tent and wandered around the park for a while. The dam is cool just because you don’t see dams much and there’s so many things you can say (a la one of those Vacation movies) – “I sure hope there aren’t too many dam personnel milling about” “I wonder if there’s a dam giftshop” “Where’s the dam bathroom?” or the classic, “Dam!”

We walked around the swimming area and boat docks then headed back to get dinner ready. Tommy made a damn fine fire while I got the grill going (we got a cute little grill on sale from Rite Aid). Dinner totally rocked. I grilled corn on the cob (I go the super lazy way and don’t even remove the silks til after – just set the cobs in there undisturbed shucks on the grill and roll from time to time for about 20 minutes or so – I like to shuck mine and continue rolling them til they get a bit brown in places but you can skip that step if you want to) and Costco buffalo burgers. Buffalo can be tricky to find – Central Market carries a good brand, Trader Joe’s was shockingly disappointing – they tasted like school cafeteria burgers, and Costco’s are wonderful (and cheaper). I made double cheeseburgers with them which was a bit excessive (do I want to finish my corn or my burger?). After, we got our drink on by the fire. Bella Sera makes a damn fine, CHEAP Pinot Grigio. It's WAY too easy to drink, as my sister and I would say. Tommy opted for his tradmark Jack & Coke.

There is nothing like staring into a fire. I learned that from my Daddy probably during Indian Princesses. What’s even better is neither Tommy nor I feels obligated to talk all the time (shut up anyone that wants to comment that that’s a shock with my chatty nature!) so we sat there together and pondered. From time to time we’d talk but overall, we were just pleased with the company and the environment.

The night grew cold. Like REALLY cold. I checked the weather before leaving and the low was supposed to be 55 and apparently in a tent in the middle of nowhere, that translates to COLD. In the middle of the night, after having a weird “too real” dream, we both ended up getting up to put on socks and our hoodies. Next time, we’ll be more prepared with something to kind of keep the floor and thus the mattress warmer plus warmer less bulky jimmies.

So about this dream – in it I had come out of the tent to stand by the fire. Tommy was there (even though he went to bed before me in “real life”) and he was poking at the fire and chiding me to do something I forget but was unsafe or creepy or something but he wouldn’t let up so I said I was going back into the tent. “Fine!” he snapped. Except when I got back into the tent, he was there all cuddled up and said, “Finally” like he’d been waiting for me the whole time – like in “real life.” It creeped me out enough to wake up and realize how cold I was which lead me to think about how supposedly when ghosts are present, it gets really cold which lead me to getting spooked. The dreamy was only mildly –yet effectively - creepy and I started comparing Fire Tommy to Ethan in Lost – did you see the episodes he was in? Ethan was just this basic, nerdy looking guy but he kind of hovered and loomed really creepy….til he threatened to kill everyone on the island one by one….but before that. Needless to say, it took me forever to go back to sleep (I tend to go back into bad dreams only to find newer and more creepy versions of the same dream) but eventually I did. The last dream I had I swear my old dog Jasmine came to me. This sounds corny but I think she just wanted a visit – apparently angels don’t know how to rub her spot just right so I did. I woke up happy but then I started missing her and have been in an on & off funk ever since [I just stepped on a moth by accident and maimed it and that's upset me! RIP Moth]. I don’t want another dog, I want HER. Fortunately, Tommy is great about these things so he puts up with my corniness and makes me feel all better.

Moral of that paragraph is I’m smudging the next campsite we stay in.

I know telling others about your dreams is supposed to be boring and pointless except for those telling it and sometimes for those featured in it but I will use my “this is my blog, it’s a personal journal” card on this one.

We ended up getting up at dawn (we think – neither one of us brought a watch) and Tommy made a fire – this one to cook on (what me nervous?). I made scrambled Egg Beaters, Leavenworth sausage, and tortillas. Tommy wasn’t crazy about the eggs – I think they had a slight reaction to the iron skillet (I will be shopping the Amazon Friday sale this Friday for a good, cheap, nonstick pan). I thought they tasted fine noting the iron-y taste. (What can I say? An iron skillet just sounded camp-y!) We sat around and looked at the fire some more (not as fun as in the dark but nice nonetheless) and for some reason, I guess because it was so early, it was too chilly so we went back to take a long nap. We think we woke up several hours later because it was downright hot. We took down our camp, took a walk back to the dam then headed out.

That sounds like a great weekend, right? But wait! There’s more!

On the way back we stopped at Half Price Books where I found a copy of London Fields for Tommy’s dad, Bel Canto for his mom, and a few books for his sis. While there, I found a first edition hardback of the said Bel Canto, first ed hb of Coraline, and a paperback of The Chosen – possibly my next read. Tommy also found an Ann Rule book (he pretty much reads nothing but true crime – any recommendations would be much appreciated).

To stay on the fun roll, we ate dinner at Chevy’s. I can’t get enough of the shrimp and crab enchiladas and their corn tomalito stuff…but fortunately I have the foresight to ask for a to-go box at the beginning of the meal so I can box up half of it so there’s more room to enjoy their flawless chips and salsa.

Then we went home, unpacked, took MUCH NEEDED showers then went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (with two, count ‘em TWO previews to The Corpse Bride and a preview to Bad News Bears that made us want to see the movie). I LOVED the first half of the movie with the character development of all the kids especially Charlie – the house he lived in had so many great details. The look of the movie is great – I was in awe of Augustus Gloop’s complexion and the whole cast was perfect. I just thought the movie missed something. Hello? Tim Burton did it! I was dreading the boat seen that scared the hell out of me in the original but there was nothing to be scared about in this one. Plus I couldn't understand most of what the oompa-loompas were singing (sing-along subtitles would have been AWESOME here) in there sometimes overly-modernized-attempted songs. I wouldn’t say, “Don’t see it” just “Don’t be as as excited as I was to see it.” You know how when you get so excited to see a movie that you blow it out of proportion so when you do see it, it doesn't measure up? I think that's what I did.

Then we went home and went to bed. A weekend well spent.

The End

Punk & Polka

2005-07-11T11:39:00.000-04:00

We had a such a lovely weekend. I love me some contrast and this one had it!

Saturday we headed to George, WA (we even saw a Martha Inn) to see Warped Tour at the Gorge. Everything I heard about the Gorge was true - it's truly stunning. I often ended up staring at the canyon-y landscape rather than the bands.

I worried about the concert itself - I'm going to be thirty-friggin-nine exactly a month from the show date so I dreaded being around all the young punks. But it turned out to not be too bad. We ran into friends from Tommy's boat and hung out with them on and off. Overall though, Tommy and I are great companions - we have about the same tolerance for all sorts of things which works out great.

OF COURSE the only band I wanted to see - bought my ticket because of, in fact, didn't play til the very end BUT IT WAS SO WORTH IT! The Horrorpops ROCK! I have played the hell out of their Hell Yeah! cd and worried they weren't going to be as awesome live but they SO stood up to the plate. Any band that has a badass babe on stand up bass as a lead singer AND naughty back-up dancers is okay in my book - and the Horrorpops lead the pack! I even got a t-shirt. I can't wait for their next album!

I used to be big into rockabilly but slacked mainly because this area doesn't have much good local stuff but I've got the bug again, I can feel it!

Overall the show was great and the people were decent - though I was taken aback by the staggering amount of boy and girl booty crack I witnessed. Seriously, wear a belt! And apparently the latest girl trend is not to have your thong peeking out but bad granny panties - just say WOAH! Studded belts all around, please and thank you!

Sunday we went to Leavenworth. I was hoping to take part in Polka Rama but found out that it was only on Friday and Saturday (what the?!?). So we walked around the cutesy town and stopped in at some shops. I bought some GREAT yarn at Wooly Bully AND it was 40% off. If you're a knitter and go to Leavenworth, stop there! We also bought some great sausage at Willis Sausage Haus, got a brat at an outdoor stand, then watched the Chicken Dance being performed in the gazebo at the Town Square area. Ya gotta love the lederhosen!

Then we headed home stopping at IKEA for some stuff for our camping trip next weekend. We want to have a tub of stuff we just take camping so we don't have to take our "nice" kitchen stuff. They HAD a rockin cutting board with a knife built in that would have been ideal but they sold out of it and won't be restocking since it's a summer item (drat, drat, double drat) but we found plenty of other stuff to get us by.

And that's our weekend in a nutshell.....oh, and we bought cherries and tuna honey jerky at a roadside stand. I can recommend the former but not the latter.

Nice distraction

2005-07-07T14:34:00.000-04:00

Longmire Does Romance Novels some much needed comic relief. Continue to the reader covers. (discovered on Weird Babe)

Heartache

2005-07-07T11:50:00.000-04:00

Would everyone PLEASE stop getting cancer and/or bombing each other? My heart just can't take it.

Thank you.

The Proverbial Handbasket

2005-07-06T12:15:00.000-04:00

I hope you all had a lovely 4th. We discovered that $30 buys you a doozey of a "family pak" of fireworks. Thanks TNT! And though I should be feeling all proud to be an American and whatnot, there are two people that make me cringe a little that we share the same country: Britney and Tom. Well, now that I think about it, more than two people - pretty much any one that has a reality show that I watch like a crack addict (a.k.a. not enjoyable and yet I can't seem to pry myself away) or is just so bad my IQ can't take the abuse so I change the channel to the former or actually read* or something.

But the MAIN two people are Britney Spears-Federline with that God-awful 3-piece-sized wad of gum she smacks on and Tom Cruise.

First, Britney. Granted, she didn't sign up to be a role model but platinum records kind of force you there. I was influenced by music and movies when I was 13 - but who would have thought that Madonna and Def Leppard were actually SAFE? Whitney said it best when she sang, "I believe the children are our future..." and look where she is now! I fear for our future if the (most-recent) mother of Kevin's kids has as much influence as it would appear. I tried watching Chaotic and it hurt my brain. Then just seeing this picture Did Me In (I initially saw a worse/better version of the pic on eonline.com but it's not there anymore). And you KNOW she had a turbo chunk of gum in her mouth, too! I don't care that chewing gum MAY improve your memory and thus make you smarter. You know what else improves your memory and thus makes you smarter? Books*.

And now for Tom. I sing the gospel of SF's Mark Morford. If you don't subscribe to his column, do so. If you've never read his work and have a lot of time on your hands - scroll through his archive. It's like reading the equivalent of really good chocolate pudding. Okay, I'm not quite sure what that means exactly aside from: it's just really good. Today's column is all about the perplexing state of Tom Cruise. Morford reads my mind but types it out far better so I bow to his rant on the subject. Thank you, Mark Morford!

I'm through being bitter and jaded..........for now.

*I was supposed to be reading Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff (which is hilarious, by the way) for Satan's Bookclub but on the drive to Tommy's rockin' grandparents', his really rockin' mom gave me a copy of Secret Life of Bees. If you haven't read it, read the excerpt. It's cripplingly beautiful. I haven't rushed home to be with a book since Bel Canto.

Ticktickticktickticktickticktick

2005-06-29T18:13:00.000-04:00

Safeway has Buy 7 get 1 Free Starbucks drinks when you use your Safeway card. Stuff like that suckers me in Every Time. I earned my free one last week and have been trying to hold back. That ended today. I craved my new favorite. It even has shards of chocolate throughout - some are so delightfully big they get wedged in your straw. Apparently you can get any size you want for the free one so I upsized it to a grande. Not smart. My eyeballs are quivering.

Vancouver exploits

2005-06-28T16:20:00.000-04:00

A while back Tommy and I went to Vancouver - Tommy's second time (though he's not NEAR as researchy as I am so he & his friend were only able to find the "peelers" - but now that I think about it, that was all they were probably looking for in the first place) and my first.

I pricelined a 4-star hotel (the Hyatt near Robson St.) and got it for $75 a night. Our nice, comfy room had a balcony overlooking The Fairmount (something tells me priceline doesn't sell their rooms).

We started out at Granville Public Market. We bought some great bread at Terra Breads and some salami at one of the many meat stalls. Lee's Donuts had just pulled out fresh donut holes so we couldn't exactly pass that up either. I looked for Duso's Spices but couldn't find it. South China Seas Trading Co. did me just right, though. I bought some red Thai rice and some spices including those cute little star anise pods that look so great in the magnetic spice rack that my dear, a little too skinny friend Dave gave me.

The rest of the day was spent walking around window shopping and such.

Later that night we went to dinner at Memphis Blues BBQ House. It was WONDERFUL. Granted, it was kind of weird traveling all the way to Vancouver for BBQ but, like I've said before, it just doesn't exist in my neck o' the woods and we haven't tasted much in Seattle, either. Tommy and I split the Memphis platter which basically took up the whole table (it was a 2-top). The sides (cole slaw, potato salad, and beans) were just adequate which was fine because it left more room for the ridiculously good fries, brisket, 2 kinds of ribs, pulled pork, sausage, and chicken. It was a silly amount of food and we ended up making a homeless guy VERY happy with the leftovers.

I made Tommy go for a walk with me once we got back to the hotel (you could tell he wanted to just slink into his blissful meat coma) so we walked up and down way-too-congested Robson St.
Just in case our arteries weren't fully clogged, we stopped and got some decent fudge.

The next morning we met Uncle Jim (no relation) at Zin Restaurant. UJ and I each had the rockin' Huevos Rancheros. It came in a fried red flour tortilla bowl and had layers of hashbrowns, eggs, chorizo, ranchero sauce, and sour cream and had two cheddar crisps* garnishing it. Spectacular, spectacular! Tommy had the waffles (waffles are to Tommy as cheese is to me) but regretably they tasted frozen (gasp!).

Then we walked around some more - I dragged Tommy and Uncle Jim into the MAC store so I could buy a couple of lipsticks (NY Apple and Rocker). It came out to about the same price as in the states with my MAC card. I was hoping to get a refill for the Lightful Protective Foundation Powder compact I bought at the Sydney airport but apparently it's only sold in a couple of international airports and Japan (something about it having too much SPF to be approved by the FDA or something - the bastards!). I will try not to get too much sun (the shade I bought is a bit light) til the next time my Aussie friends come to visit and hopefully they can pick me up a refill or two.

Eventually we walked enough to make room for Mondo Gelato. So, so good.

Then we headed for Lynn Canyon Park to cross the suspension bridge. The Capilano Bridge is a bit more famous but why spend $22CAD when you can go to Lynn Canyon for free? The park and views were stunning and the bridge was Goldilocks scary. I HIGHLY (get it? suspension bridge humor!) recommend you visit if you get the opportunity.

On the way back we stopped at the Roots factory store - I can't normally fit into their clothes much less stuffed with all that we ate while in Vancouver - but I definitely want to go back if and when we have a baby (I was thisclose to buying a little onesie covered in monkeys - not sure why I'm so obsessed with monkeys and babies but if we have a boy, there's a deadstock crib set from Land of Nod covered in blue monkeys that I would have to buy off ebay or some place).

Then we headed out of town stopping at the last duty free shop to spend the rest of our Canadian money on booze, a box of big Kit-Kats with a bonus Kit-Kat radio for my sister, among other things. Note to self: if you get in the bus lane to get to the shop, you skip a big chunk of the line and save a ton of time because you get to "cut" to the front of the line by showing your shop receipt.

As you can see, it was a lovely, lovely trip.

*I'm a cheese freak and have been known, on many an occasion, to add grated cheese to a really hot nonstick pan to fry til golden - a.k.a. cheddar crisps! Horrible, I know.....horribly delicious that is!

Fake McRib

2005-06-27T17:10:00.000-04:00

I have the luxury of being able to go home for lunch. Today I had one of my favorites: a Gardenburger riblet (I even love the WORD "riblet"), coleslaw using that broccoli slaw stuff (broc, carrots, and cabbage) instead of just cabbage, and fresh spinach wrapped in a tortilla. That may sound odd but the textures rock and it's healthy and it eases my BBQ fix (there is No Good BBQ in the Bremerton area).

The BEST B&G

2005-06-27T11:07:00.000-04:00

Had a lovely weekend.

Saturday my sis-in-law and I met Stef & Mike at Hi-Life for brunch then went to Swanson's Nursery to take the copper trellis class.

First off, I'm a BIG brunch fan and Hi-Life was like the place Goldilocks would pick. I had The Best biscuits and gravy I think I have ever had - and I'm from The South. Normally I'd order a side of sausage because the sausage gravy falls short. Not here. They have the "would you like a little gravy with your sausage?" mentality that I truly appreciate. They're so confident they've cornered the biscuits and gravy market, they post the recipe! I'd make the gravy but I'm plenty happy with Pillsburys' frozen biscuits.

There's nothing like dining company that's willing to share so Stef and I split the B&G and the custard dipped Fancy French toast (ooh-la-la!) the espresso-mascarpone was INSANELY wonderful. Who woulda thunk it? Mike ventured into the lunch menu and chose the grilled serrano ham sandwich which was quite tasty but not as good as those damn biscuits and gravy!

AND Hi-Life has really good coffee. Two thumbs Way Up!

Then it was off to Swanson's. The class was really interesting - I learned to spot-weld! There's all manner of things you can do with a copper trellis. The one our lovely teacher Stacey made was similar to this one. Very Asian-y, bamboo-looking.

Afterwards, we explored the nursery. Ever since we bought our house, I am so into gardening (you should SEE the strawberries I just plucked from it!). Swanson had two plants I've been looking for that I will probably end up planting together: Persian Shield which has these AMAZING metallic purple tinged leaves and a purple angel's trumpet that's going to smell amazing. To add to what may be a HUGE pot, I bought some purple sage and the dark opal basil.

The nursery is gorgeous - I'm almost glad it's so far away.

Then sis-in-law and I headed back to Bremerton - stopping at Trader Joe's of course.

Sunday was a friend's 5th birthday (if you don't have at least one 5 year old friend, you're missing out). It was at this really cool indoor soccer field so I actually even got some exercise.

Then we came home, ate nachos and went to bed very early.

So how was your weekend?

Tommy is adequate?

2005-06-23T12:47:00.000-04:00

I remember a scene in Indochine where Catherine Deneuve sees a friend's or daughter's or someone's baby for the first time and says how ugly it is. She said this because she was outside and if she said the baby was beautiful, the Evil Spirits would want him or her (I haven't seen the movie in 13 years - the details are hazy but the point is there).

I bring this up because I swear if I gush about Tommy outside....and now apparently online....we have a fight shortly thereafter. It's like these friggin' Evil Spirits toy with me. "Oh, you think he's dreamy? What will you think he is when we throw this into the mix."

Granted "this" is petty nothingness, "just a tiff," but I don't tiff well and tend to get this "impending doom" feeling after so it takes a while to shake it off and move on.

But the point of this rambling is that I'll try harder to gush less about my husband online....and outside.

Silly, I know. Especially 'coz I've got plenty to gush about.

Media Blitz Bliss

2005-06-23T11:13:00.000-04:00

I have noticed quite the passion in recent media....okay, only two examples but they're GOOD examples.

First off, and this is a bit dated but I did just get a blog and all, the MTV Movie Awards Best Kiss went to Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Their tension-building reenactment onstage made my mouth water and got me to feeling all squishy inside. I saw The Notebook and it was fine but I do not remember seeing such chemistry. Said mojo had Lindsay Lohan squealing, "Ohmigod!" but this time it was justifiable. I really did feel like I was watching something VERY intimate. And now I'm (obviously) obsessed - during repeats I hover with the DVR remote and rewind and pause and rewind and pause. Mr. Gosling was obviously into it and that just made it worse....in a good way if you know what I'm sayin'.

Granted, I haven't watched the repeat in a week or so but it was still fresh in my mind (and is still saved all warm and cozy in my DVR - gosh, technology can sometimes be so Good) when we saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Sunday. Now, I am SO not a fan of Jennifer Aniston but I do hope if Brad and Angelina have become Brangelina (or Bradgina as I prefer), I hope it happened after and not because of the breakup because, that said, they are so very HOT together. Like if a bootleg sex tape comes out of them, I would so buy it (I felt guilty for buying the Pam and Tommy tape but at the same time I was so pleased to find they were so in love....at least for that moment) even though the whole paparrazzi thing has gotten way, way, way out of hand. Anyhoo, Brad and Angelina are stunning specimens on their own but together, they look so good their name should be Damn! Hmmmm, that is what I shall call them from now on: "I enjoyed the performances of Damn! in Mr. & Mrs. Smith."

Anyhoo, the movie is decent, worth seeing at the theatre, and there's a brief moment in the picture that shows that Angelina can act. Just a tiny growly thing similar to the spit bubble Patricia Arquette caterwauls into in the best movie ever. Needless to say, I was moved by the frustrated growl. And for some reason I felt kinda sexy afterwards - kinda lovey-dovey sexy. To the point that I think Tommy (husband not Lee - duh!) may have felt used, like I was pretending he was Brad or something, which I wasn't (I don't get that whole pretending you're someone else thing - kinda creeps me out), I just felt "in tune" or something maybe because of their hotness and all the guns and such.

I like me a good movie with love and gratuitous violence.

Tommy is dreamy.

2005-06-22T16:48:00.000-04:00

It has begun: I finally have a blog. I've wanted one for quite some time but worried I didn't have anything worthy to say....not that I have anything worthy to say right now, just thought I'd make my first posting. As for the title, THAT'S worthy because my husband IS dreamy.