Weniki's Blog-O-Matic

Wow it's been a while....

2008-07-15T09:18:00.001-07:00

Well, my my, how things change in... what, almost 18 months?

I was successful in losing 55 pounds in 2007...

And then I got pregnant! We're due August 13th, 2008, and I currently feel like I'll deliver any day now. My daughter and my husband are both over the moon excited. When I have some energy, I'll post some pregnant photos. I'm very short, so the baby sticks out front so much that a) I can't see my feet and b) random strangers are asking if I'm having twins. (Thanks, HUGE ego boost).

Anyway, once the baby is home, I promise to post more, and I promise to post baby pics, too.

Hope you're all doing well, and welcome back!

Masive update

2007-02-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true! I've had Bronchitis for 5 straight weeks. It's been unbelievably miserable, culminating in an ER visit while on vacation last week. I've tried my best to keep up with my crazy schedule, but I've had to cut back on the amount of time and the intensity of my workouts.

With that said, I still had an amazing first month. I work out at the gym 4-6 times per week, for an hour to an hour and a half each visit. I train with my personal trainer three times per week, and that is the only strength training I am currently doing. All the rest of it is pure cardio.

I lost:

13 pounds

7 inches in my chest

3 inches in my waist

4 inches in my hips

Wow! I was very happy with those results. It's a lot of work, and so far it is paying off. It is why I am so irritated to be sick, I'm not able to push out those high intensity workouts. My doctor asked me to keep my heart rate at a moderate level, for purposes of avoiding my asthma attacks. I am using an albuterol inhaler immediately before my cardio sessions.

So, next month's results will be directly proportional to how hard I work at the gym. I am, however, still doing Weight Watchers at home, and sticking to it should help progress continue.

In other news, we celebrated Valentine's Day with a nice dinner at one of our favorite local Mom n Pop Italian restaurants. I allotted my WW points for the day, and was even able to have a slice of Cheesecake for dessert!

Anyway, here is a photo from Valentine's Day:

We did manage to go to Los Angeles last weekend, here are some photos:

Graumann's Chinese Theatre (with the handprints out front)

The El Cap, where we saw the newly restored Peter Pan

Your trusty writer accepting her first Academy Award. Yes, they really do feel heavy!

I got a free hug! I love Hollywood Blvd, it is full of the absolute craziest of the crazy. This is also where the celebrity impersonators hang out.

And last but not least, my favorite, Winnie the Pooh has his own Star on the Walk of Fame!

Sick House

2007-01-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

Somehow, within mere hours of uttering the phrase, "I haven't caught a cold yet this year!" I came down with, you guessed it, my first cold of the season.

I've now passed it on to my little one, who got to try a cough drop as her first ever piece of hard candy (have I now scarred her for life, thinking all hard candy tastes like mentholyptus?)

Despite being sick, I'm still working out every day, just not as hard as I was last week. I'm still doing my hour to hour and a half, but I'm not pushing msyelf so hard that I pass out. I don't have a fever, so as long as that is true, I'll keep exercising. I imagine while I'm cycling that I'm pushing all the toxins out of my body, that every drop of sweat is a bead of cold virus.

I know, don't you totally want to go to my gym and use the machines after me? :-) I noticed the gym is out of hand sanitizer, everyone is so afraid of catching germs.

Last week I burned over 3,100 calories during my workouts at the gym (my handy dandy heart rate monitor tracks it for me!) I know I am taking it easier this week because today I burned only 470 calories instead of my usual 570 calories in the same amount of time.

Thank you all for your good wishes!!! So far, so good.

It's time for an update

2007-01-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

OK folks, here goes with an update...

Most of you appear to be scared of my "Before" photo, and trust me, since I've seen it, I am, too.

However, here's how things stand. 6 Pounds lost in 1 week, jeans that would not fit two weeks ago now fit, I'm up to working out an hour and a half in one session. I also notice some changes in my body. My husband says my face looks thinner, and I notice it in my tush (from the elliptical machine) I will give updated weight results after my weigh-in day, which is on Thursdays.

My husband bought me this really awesome Polar heart rate monitor (in Pink, no less!) and according to my trusty HRM, I've burned over 2,500 calories at the gym this week alone. I worked out with my trainer Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I did at least an hour of cardio on my own at the gym Tuesday and Thursday, and I will be doing an hour on my treadmill at home today.

Also helping me along my journey is Weight Watchers online. I attended meetings two years ago and lost 30 pounds in 3 months, so I know WW works for me when I put effort into it.

In case you're wondering, I'm doing the Flex plan, because I'm a math geek and anything with numbers is really fun for me. Don't forget, all of that activity I'm doing earns me activity points, so I get to eat more calories than I would if I weren't exercising.

If all of this sounds like a lot of work, it is! All of a sudden my life is very, very busy. I'm focused right now and on track, so it feels great. I feel good, my energy level is higher, my mood is better, and I'm even sleeping better at night.

Another added bonus I'm enjoying- I'm at the gym SO MUCH right now, I'm actually making friends at the gym!!!

So, get out there, and move!!! See you at the gym!!!

Ow ow ow ow

2007-01-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually one of those people who make New Year's Resolutions. I gave up on them many years ago. I hated making the same resolution year after year. I thought if I needed to make the same one next year, I haven't succeeded, and it made me feel like my past year was a failure.

With that aside, something propelled my lazy butt into a gym on Monday.

Yes, a gym.

I won't name names, but I absolutely LOVE this gym. I last belonged to a gym that is, oh, fairly popular in Southern California due to their low prices and shuffle-the-crowds-through mentality. I hated having to wait for equipment, and my out-of-shape self never felt I belonged in that particular establishment.

This gym? This gym is fantastic for several reasons. It's CLEAN. Spotless. They're always cleaning it, and for a germophobe like me, well, that's worth every extra penny. It's not so crowded, and the crowd that is there is really nice! People have said hello and struck up conversations with me, not something that happened all that often in my last gym. As out of shape as I am, I don't feel like I'm completely out of place in this gym. I had one woman come up to me and say, "Good for you! Getting out here so early in the morning isn't easy, good for you for getting started!" And folks, THAT was awesome.

But it gets better.

I hired a personal trainer.

I'm under a contract, too, so I can't fanagle my way out of it. (Ditto on the gym- I paid up front for 2 years- no more excuses!) Three times a week I will meet with my trainer, and two to three days per week I will do cardio.

It's Friday afternoon and I've so far survived working out 5 days IN A ROW.

I'm sore as can be and when I walk I'm saying, "Ow, ow, ow" and I'm sure I'm making funny faces.

But I'm there, I'm doing the work, and it's hard, I won't lie to you.

I promise I'll let you know how this turns out. Aw heck, in the spirit of National De-Lurking Week, if I get 100 comments I will post my "BEFORE" photo here. If I get 200 comments, I will post my "BEFORE" measurements. So post away! I'm sure you wanna know.

A new year, a new blog

2007-01-05T23:43:00.000-08:00

I've had a lot of fun posting here, but as you can plainly see, I just haven't been giving it the love and attention it deserves. I will do my best to pump some love into this site this year, but most of my blogging love is going to go to my new blogging venture. Please visit me over at

http://sandiegopadresmom.mlblogs.com/

If you even remotely love baseball, love the Padres, or have a family, I hope you'll visit me on my new site. If you see me at Petco Park, please stop and say hello.

I hope to be adding some cool features (read: columns!) to the new blog, especially focusing on the family viewpoint of Padres baseball.

To celebrate the new year, my family went on a tour of Petco Park.

That's me, looking very happy to be inside the Padres dugout, with my Dad, who I think thought it was pretty cool, too.

Happy New Year 2007 to everyone! I hope this year is fantastic for all of you. Thank you again for your continued readership.

Merry merry

2006-12-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

Hope you are enjoying your holiday season! I love this look of joy on my daughter's face... Remember that feeling? I hope so. Beauty.

That present she's opening? It's a hamster cage. We'll be adding a hamster or two to our lovely little zoo.

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T23:16:00.000-08:00

We've had a fairly busy but wonderful Christmas Eve.

My daughter performed what has to be one of the most mature acts she's ever showed- she voluntarily gave up some beloved toys on Christmas Eve to donate to Goodwill.

We all filled the van with things we hoped others could use joyfully, but one particular toy was tough for her to give up. Her Barbie Cruise Ship, still in as good a condition as the day she received it. I was very, very proud of her today. I think this will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.

After that, we went as a family to play miniature golf, and then played games at the arcade. There, also, my little one tried new things, and had a great time.

I baked the rest of the afternoon for the family Christmas meal tomorrow- and lost all track of time until I realized we needed to get ready to go to services! We went to church to hear a friend of ours sing in the choir, and it was a candlelight Christmas service, my absolute favorite.

I came home to more baking, and now my daughter said she better go to sleep, so Santa will come by our house. She really enjoyed the internet Santa tracker, a pretty cool addition to our culture, yes?

For a Christmas tear-jerker, and a wonderful family tradition, see this story here.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

*Photo of the Hotel Del Coronado Christmas Tree 2005

Signs of the Holidays

2006-12-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas from 3,000 miles away... BFF Kendall

Christmas Tree 2006

Gingerbread House

Hanukkah Menorah, 8th night of Hanukkah 2006

Xbox Widow

2006-12-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

In case you've been wondering where I've been, well, let's just say it started with a bout of Strep Throat for my little one over the Thanksgiving holiday. Now that I finally feel I have Chrismakkah under way in my household, I can breathe a sigh of relief, sit back, and enjoy the festivities!

We begin our festivities with a Christmas celebration with the folks. They flew back east for the holidays (to see family), and we celebrated early with them before their flight.

They got my husband an XBox 360.

*sigh*

It's true. It's a bribe, I guess, so he'll stay married to me.

I got him "Gears of War", so he'll have something to play until Santa shows up with the rest of his gifts.

It's made me an XBox Widow.

I always said I never wanted to be a widow to sports. I never thought I'd become a widow to a gamer.

Last night I went out for 3 hours. When I got home, he hadn't even realized how much time had passed. It's like being married to a teenager (not *really*, come on people, he's 41). I can't even play the old version of XBox (too many buttons and thingys on the controller), and this new version has even MORE thingys on the controller. I haven't tried to play yet, I need a game for it that even a 6-year-old could play, and I somehow don't attribute that to "Gears of War".

On my wishlist is the Lego Star Wars game. I think that I might be able to play, and have fun with it.

In the meantime, he can sleep easier now knowing that he'll be able to play Halo 3 in the fall.

And I'll need a new hobby when that gets released.

The real frog

2006-11-29T11:42:00.000-08:00

My daughter had a pink and blue rubber frog.

You've probably seen these in toy stores, they're shiny and goopy and come in all sorts of shapes- frogs, lizards, bugs. They're stretchy and fun to mush up.

This frog made an appearance last night. It's probably been many months since she's played with this frog.

She brought it out to me and announced that her frog was real.

"What's her name?" I asked.

"She's real, Mom."

"Yes, but what's her name?"

She had to think about it for a minute. She even turned her over to see if she had a name written on her.

"Clara."

"That's a very nice name."

"Be careful, Mom. She hops."

"OK," I said. "Ribbit," I said to the frog.

"Mom, she's not hopping because she likes to play dead."

Thanksgiving Palm Trees

2006-11-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

* Photo copyright wendymacblogs.blogspot.com

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I hope you and your families were able to enjoy a similarly delicious meal as to the one we consumed over several hours today.

This year, I said I didn't want to cook. My daughter was going to be in Philadelphia over the holiday with her father's family. We got tickets to a fancy buffet.

Then I started thinking about all of the traditional foods and was worrying we wouldn't get them.

I decided to make some of the side dishes, and then decided to heck with it, and it become a full blown meal. We ate this big turkey dinner last night. We made a 3-lb turkey breast on the grill using a recipe from the Food Network, more sides than you can shake a stick at, and one particularly delicious pumpkin pie.

Last night. So I spent over 4 hours cooking a meal, and it was worth it. I love the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking, and many things just taste so much better homemade.

Today, we went and stuffed ourselves silly again. They had shrimp, crab legs, lox, pate, baked brie, a huge cheese and fruit platter, turkey, prime rib, lobster ravioli, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salmon, veggies, cranberry sauce, and a dessert buffet that would've made your pants burst just looking at it.

They had so much food, I didn't even have room for one bite of each dish. That's a lot of food.

It was unusually warm today, too. It hit 74 at one point. We sat on the deck by the beach. On one side of the deck, you could see vacationers swimming in the pool. On the other side of the deck, you could see people ice skating. On the beach. Yes, really.

After dinner, we also enjoyed a spectacular sunset.

The only thing missing today was my little one. I miss her so much, she made it to Philadelphia and then got sick. I hope it is just a cold, but what a huge temperature change- last week it was 93 degrees here, and it was 41 in Philly today. As cold as that sounds, I do find it weird to celebrate Thanskgiving on a day when I could wear shorts outside.

And I'll never get used to seeing Christmas lights on Palm Trees! They lit up the hotel grounds today in the official start of the Christmas season. The huge Christmas tree was on display, and ornaments were for sale in the gift shop.

Now we're sitting back at home, and football is on the TV. I can't believe the shopping frenzy that is about to take place- several stores are opening at midnight tonight, and I hear one store is even opening at 9pm to try to catch shoppers.

If you're one of the 137 million shoppers expected, here's hoping you find a parking space.

*Photo courtesy of http://www.hoteldel.com/gallery/phototour.asp#

Happy Feet

2006-11-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

We went to see "Happy Feet". Hubby, daughter, and myself. My daughter is 8, and it was this or "Santa Clause 3". I jumped at the chance for an out.

I had laughed uproariously at the previews for "Happy Feet".

Unfortunately, the first half of the movie, the only laughs are directly from the trailers. The first half was INSUFFERABLY horrible. From the get-go, when Nicole Kidman's character Norma Jean begins singing, I'm thinking "Oh, crap."

But then, something amazing happens. In the middle of the movie, when I think I can barely tolerate any more- it becomes a frickin' FANTASTIC movie.

This movie is a kid's movie with something incredibly important to say. No, it's not the "flu facts" from the commercials you've probably seen.

Who knew?! I sure didn't. I've gotten so fed up with spoilers in movie reviews that if it's a movie I know I'm going to see, I skip the reviews until after I've seen it.

So I won't spoil anything here except for this- there is a cameo by Steve Irwin, and I missed it because I didn't know it was coming. It was only when the credits were rolling that my husband told me about it.

If you go see it, if you feel like you're going to pull a Joel Seigel and storm out- don't. Give it a chance. I was really, really impressed.

As for the kid's point of view, there were several moments where my 8-year-old got so scared she buried her head in my arm and didn't come up for air. There were parts she didn't understand, and probably the movie's message is lost on her. But it doesn't matter- she loved the movie, she laughed out loud many times, and was extremely happy that we took her.

If you can believe it, and I can- this flick beat out James Bond this weekend. You go, Mumble.

Movie website here
*Photo is a download from the movie website as referenced above. Lovelace, my favorite Penguin- in real life and on screen- a Rockhopper.

Homework

2006-11-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

I was helping the teacher in my child's classroom the other day.

It was the end of the school day. They had about 20 minutes left. It was time to go to "gym"- which was just playing on the playground, apparently.

The kids were very excited to be done with their assignments, and began packing up their backpacks.

Then my daughter's voice piped up.

"Mrs. Smith! Mrs. Smith! You haven't given us our homework yet."

Groan.

You could hear the class collectively.

"Ra-a-a-a-chel!"

"We almost got out of here with no homework!"

"Thanks a lot!"

And then Rachel pipes back in.

"What? I want to be smart! If you don't want to be smart, that's your problem!"

Sigh.

If I ever had any doubts she wasn't my child, they're certainly gone now....

First Wedding Anniversary

2006-11-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

Wendy and Shawn

Safety Sense

2006-11-15T12:51:00.001-08:00

This week I started working on a new badge project for the Girl Scouts. Their topic is Safety, and the badge includes everything from street safety to fire safety to first aid. It's a huge job, and I'm admittedly under-educated in this arena. I was actually shocked when I started going through all of the information for the different sections of the badge, to find how much I didn't know.

I've slowly started putting together some child-friendly kits for them to work on, we're going to have the girls build their own first aid kits, and I'm looking to take the girls to a fire station or a police station for a tour. Our troop first-aider will do a presentation on first aid.

The aim is to help the girls, even at this age, become better prepared with dealing with life's emergencies.

Then I ran across this article... which talks about a 9-year-old boy who saved his family's life, through some very quick thinking and lots of maturity.

To say I was impressed is an understatement. I think back to when I was 9. Yes, I was a scout, and I was still playing with Barbie dolls, and my biggest memories of being 9 are of getting glasses, going to Sea World on my birthday, and well, that's about it. I can't imagine being 9 and doing what this boy has done.

A true hero, what a good kid. I only hope my lessons for my scouts can give them a good start in learning safety sense.

*Thanks to http://www.bloggingbaby.com/ and Roger Sinasohn for linking to the article.

Veteran's Day

2006-11-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

In years past, even though my grandfather and many of my relatives were veterans of wars, I never observed Veteran's Day. I never lived in a place with a significant military population, I hadn't yet worked on a military base where it is hard to ignore the realities of war.

This weekend for Veteran's Day, we drove out to Point Loma. We drove past the military cemetery where my great uncle and my great aunt (my namesake, even) are buried. There was a parade, but it was not heavily advertised and I didn't even know about it until I saw it on TV.

We went to the Lighthouse on the very tip of Point Loma, which is a national park- Cabrillo National Monument. The Old Point Loma Lighthouse hasn't been used in over a century, but it is still beautiful to behold. The New Point Loma Lighthouse is like many in the country- automated, no one is needed to man the lighthouse. It's an interesting piece of American history, and there's also military history there as well. It's the gateway into the western United States. If you ever have the chance, I strongly urge that you visit.

Even though I am a local, I find I meet people from all over the world at this park. Not only is the lighthouse beautiful, but it offers unparalleled views of the Pacific Ocean, San Diego Bay, the downtown San Diego skyline, Coronado, and on a clear day, Mexico.

*Old Point Loma Lighthouse. Photo copyright wendymacblogs.blogspot.com

2006-11-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

Good People

2006-11-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

Rachel at Sea World

2006-11-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

Birthday Cupcakes

2006-11-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

Rachel's 8th Birthday

Happy 8th Birthday

2006-11-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

To my sweet 8-year-old,

I cannot believe how fast time has gone by... you are getting so tall, so smart, so sweet. Every time I look at you, I'm overwhelmed with pride. You are my daughter, and I am proud to be your mother.

This year has been quite a year. You've seen both your parents get re-married, so you were a flower girl twice this year. You went to Philadelphia and to Idyllwild- twice! You went to Sea World and Disneyland this year, too. You're a better traveller than most adults I know. You love to see new places and to meet new people. You do love to try new things, and are amazingly open to trying new foods. Some of your favorite foods this year have been pasta (a long-term staple), sushi (you started eating the raw fish this year!), and of course, chocolate anything.

You began playing soccer this year. Every week you get stronger and better, and braver. I'm so proud of you for keeping things going even when they are tough. You might cry, but you've always pushed to the other side. Last week you even saved the game by blocking the opponents' goal!

You kept up with your piano this year, and became very good. You practice without being asked! I love listening to your music.

You went swimming with the dolphins at Sea World this year- wow! What an amazing experience that was. Next time I'll squeeze into a wetsuit and get into the water with you. It was a joy watching you- with your friends, on an adventure of a lifetime.

You saw snow this year for the first time you can remember- the last time you were just a baby. While you found it awfully cold (it was April, we weren't exactly prepared to see snow), you had so much fun playing in the snow, making snowballs, watching the dog run in the snow like a bunny rabbit.

We still are in Girl Scouts together. You are such a good Girl Scout, a sister to all of your other scouts, you learn quickly and love to earn badges. Your Girl Scout vest is full already, and no matter where we go, you're quick to make new friends.

You went to Day Camp at Girl Scouts this year, learning to cook. You also went on field trips with them, even though you didn't know anyone, you made friends within minutes. You went to Girl Scout overnight camp for the first time, and you didn't even need my help. In the dark of night, you took my flashlight and explored the campgrounds with the camp counselors, and loved every moment of it.

You wore a poodle skirt in the holiday parade this year- you looked so beautiful, and you've always enjoyed being in the parade.

We got our puppy Kiki this year, you had fun with your little girl puppy.

You continued with ballet this year, and performed in a recital in the spring. You've lost your fear of being on a public stage, and I think you are very happy when you are performing. You went to drama camp this summer, and were so in love with the experience.

You've also enjoyed art, and hiking, and Padres games.

You started third grade this year, and even though the beginning of the school year was a tough transition, you're doing wonderfully as a third grader. It's so much more work, but you work awfully hard! I'm proud of you for the hard work you do- you sit down at the table, you focus on your work, you push yourself through the tough questions.

You're still a big reader- you'd read for many, many hours each night- which you do, most of the time. You read at least an hour a day, every day. You're on to chapter books this year, you've gone from Junie B. Jones to Ramona.

You've got a lot of friends and family who love you very much. You've kept your friends at your old school, and made many new friends at your new school. I'm impressed by how well you've adapted, even when we joined a new Girl Scout Troop.

You went on your first sleepovers this past year. I thought for sure you would call me, wanting to come home- but you loved the adventures, the chatting with friends, the late-nights. You are definitely a night owl like your mother!

I'm so enjoying watching you grow up. You're growing up into such an impressive young lady. Happy 8th Birthday, I love you!

Love,
Mommy

2006-11-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)

Happy Halloween!!!

2006-10-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

My daughter asked me last night why the holiday is called Halloween.

I told her it's shorthand for "All Hollow's Eve". Well, duh, Mom, what does that mean? Tomorrow, November 1st, is All Saint's Day, or All Hollow's Day.

Wikipedia has a great entry about the history of Halloween. Believe it or not, Ireland is listed there as being the country where Halloween is the most popular. Given what we spend in America, I'd be curious to know just HOW it's more popular over there than over here. It does say that Ireland gives their kids a whole week off of school for "Halloween Break", so the kids never have school on Halloween (like our kids do today- right now! In school, surely not concentrating when all of that candy is waiting for them tonight!)

Yahoo! returned over 198 MILLION matches on the searchword "Halloween".

It's become big business, too. Wikipedia says that Halloween is the sixth most profitable holiday for retailers in the USA. Disneyland has had so much success with this year's Halloween Time promotion that you can bet they'll be poring more money into it next year. Our local party store? I couldn't even shove my way close to the costumes at 2pm on a weekday. Dog costumes are flying off the shelf this year (costumes... for your dog!)

OK, I'll admit, I almost bought the Yoda costume for my dog, the one we call Yoda because her ears stick out like, well, Yoda's.

But I didn't. Instead, I spent way too much on a costume for my daughter that she'll get to wear twice (once to the school carnival, once tonight for trick or treating). And I bought a costume for my daughter to wear to her birthday party this weekend (themed appropriately), also expensive.

Plus, every year I add a Halloween decoration to our ever-growing holiday collection.

How do you celebrate? How much do you spend on Halloween? Tell me about it in the comments...

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!!!

* photo courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Haze at Sunset

2006-10-26T22:23:00.001-07:00

The sun was a shocking bright red sun this evening, with some murky smoke high in the air.

Because of this And I'm about 75 miles away from there.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the area. Please be safe, and please evacuate if you are requested to do so.

I associate late October not just with Halloween, but with the height of fire season.

Oddly, this is the three year anniversary of the Cedar Fire. The Cedar Fire, according to Wikipedia, was the second largest wildfire in the history of the USA. Damage totals- over 700,000 acres burned, over 3,600 homes lost, and 14 people lost their lives.

It was devastating, and I can tell you anyone who lived here three years ago (or worse, suffered loss from the fires), well, we're all scared right now. It could happen here again.

There are still families that are awaiting assistance, that are still homeless three years later. The stories pop up in the papers every now and again, and I wish the community was doing more for the victims. They still need our help.

I haven't forgotten them. It pains me to think of all of the hurdles and troubles they've had to go through, just to rebuild.

For some photos of the Cedar Fire in 2003, click here.

Be safe, everyone.

2006-10-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

The Evolution Of Beauty

Disney's Halloweentime Celebration

2006-10-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland this past Wednesday. Last year, we also went to Disneyland for Fall Break, and it was a nightmare of crowds. We tried to time it better this year. Despite some annoying lines (15 minutes to pay the ticket taker at the parking garage, an hour to meet some princesses for 2 minutes), most of the rides had lines that were either reasonable or nonexistent. We were able to ride most everything we wanted that day, the weather was pleasant, and the halloween decorations were very cute.

If you have the chance to go in October, you should go- the Haunted Mansion is worth the price of admission alone. It's all re-decorated inside and out with "Nightmare Before Christmas", so it's like a completely different ride. If you're unfamiliar with the film, it meshes Christmas and Halloween together.

Also, a ride that's probably not suitable for the little ones- a little scary, even with the Christmas/Halloween decorations.

Be prepared for high ticket prices- Disney recently raised prices again. We paid $40 for the four of us to eat hamburgers/hot dogs at lunch, for instance. Parking is $11 now. A single day Park Hopper ticket (adult) is $84, but we got ours for $78 at the Disney Store.

Below are some photos of things around the parks...

Town Square, Main Street. At night, the yellow sections of the pumpkin are lit up.

Jack Skellington graces a Pumpkin

Minnie Mouse

The castle

The Matterhorn, as seen from Alice in Wonderland

The hit ride of the trip, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters

Entrance to California Adventure

Souvenir Shop

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Vacation... in October

2006-10-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

My daughter has one of these new fangled things called a Fall Break.

I first had one of those in college, a long weekend for Columbus Day, which was really just an excuse to study hard for mid-terms.

Now, my daughter's school is on a "modified year-round" calendar. She's got 2 weeks off from school!

I was more excited about this time off than she was- it was less homework, less driving, and no more alarm at 7am.

She finds it weird that a lot of her friends do not have this break, and are in school and hence cannot play.

While she doesn't have homework per se, she has things to work on, like her times tables.

I have a list of errands to complete, too, and some fun things up my sleeve.

Her birthday, though, is in a few weeks, so I've got lots of planning to do!

The weather has turned cooler, too, which is fantastic. I love Fall, it is my favorite season.

Do your children have a Fall Break? If so, what do you do to keep them entertained?

A taser, a dog, and a possum

2006-09-26T23:41:00.000-07:00

That was the headline on tonight's 11 o'clock news.

I mean, you've gotta tune in for that one, right? Your imagination runs wild, what could that possible be?

Well, the true story is not that fascinating (see here), but man, you better believe they got some viewers tonight. (Ok, yes, I feel badly about the dog, poor thing)

For some reason, the critters love San Diego. My old neighborhood was overrun by skunks and occasionally coyotes, even though we lived near downtown. I never thought they would go urban, but I guess when you've got urban expansion, they've got no choice but to go urban.

My old house, we were in the front yard one year watching the Fourth of July fireworks- from one direction you could see them over the bay, from the other direction you could see them over the Pacific. On our return inside the house, my daughter said there was a mouse in the tree.

I laughed, oh, how I laughed! Mice don't live in trees, silly!

I turn around, and there is this GIGANTIC possum. It looked like a rat on steroids. A really ugly rat.

And that, my friends, that is how my daughter learned her first swear word.

*No possums were harmed in the making of this blogpost, nor ever. We went on our merry way, and so did the possum.

Then and now

2006-09-24T23:55:00.000-07:00

Then:
Playing dress up
Playing Barbies
Playing Snooper Troopers- on the nice color monitor!
Watching Friday Night Videos
Playing at the playground across the street
Eating Beef Jerky and Po Boys from Butera's
School carnivals- smashing confetti eggs
Indian Princesses with Dad
Girl Scouts with Mom
Playing with the kittens
Roommates at Camp- more than once
Talking about boys
Taking road trips to see boys
Getting grounded because we went to see boys

Now:
Work
Men (oy!)
Bills (double oy)
Take airplane flights to see each other
Play Barbies with someone much younger than us
Troop Leader with the kids
Play video games that make the 80s blush
Work some more
Worry
Get older, and worry some more
Watch things change, and feel helpless

Photo Copyright San Diego Wedding Candids 2005

Autumn.... with a twist of Santa Ana

2006-09-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

One of the things I miss the most about living in Southern California is experiencing the Fall season. You have to drive a good hour or more east of this area to experience Fall weather, and even then it is NOTHING like being on the East Coast, or even better, New England, during the Fall season.

We've had a rough week here, temperature-wise it felt like summer as we had a Santa Ana all week.

It finally broke today, and it's actually somewhat cooler and pleasant- and dare I say, fall-like? Is this the way we'll celebrate the autumnal equinox, with some real Fall weather?

All it's doing is making me miss my times in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. And yes, when you live way over here, Illinois does feel like the East Coast! :-) Even my years in Texas had more of a Fall season than this deceptively desert-like area.

Which brings me to my best find of the fall season. I know I'm behind, and there are many, MANY of you who have discovered this before me. But I had a meeting at Starbucks (many telecommuters work at local coffee shops, and this particular store is my favorite- although I have a love-hate relationship with the other store location near me).

A week ago everyone in front of me ordered the Pumpkin Spice Latte or Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino. I ordered my usual Mocha, hold the whipped cream, can you please make it with skim milk? This is the same drink I've been buying from Starbucks, hot or cold, for forever.

Yesterday? I decided to be bold, and ordered the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino.

I took one sip and just about jumped out of my chair, and I'm sure other customers were staring at me like the freak-sometimes customer who doesn't understand the proper etiquette of enjoying Starbucks. Rule one- don't squeal in delight when you taste the coffee. At least, not in front of the other customers. I'm sure my Barista was saying to her staff, "And that is how it's done."

It is like drinking a pumpkin pie.

Read that again.

DRINKING a pumpkin PIE.

Oh my heavens, this thing is so good. Go out and buy one right now.

Unless you hate pumpkin pie, and then definitely order the mocha. If you hate sweet things, also not for you- incredibly sweet. I adore this thing.

I'm not the only one who loves this drink...

Ditto Hungry Girl

Sorry so long gone...

2006-09-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I had no idea it had been so long since I last posted!!! I seriously do not know where the time goes.

OK, I do know where the time goes. I'm way too busy. I'm so busy right now that when it's time to go to sleep, I can't actually sleep because I'm thinking of all of the things I *should* be doing!

One of the things on my to-do list (and trust me, I'm making a new list each and every day) involves my daughter's upcoming 8th birthday.

I'm trying to be super-organized this year, so I don't freak out when it gets closer. Another way I'm keeping it calmer this year is by inviting fewer children.

This is a near impossible task, as when I told her she could invite 7 friends, she immediately listed 20. I don't want anyone to feel slighted, but my house just CANNOT hold more than that. I'm not even sure it can hold that many!

Next issue with the birthday planning- the presents. I've started a list of the things she's wishing for, and how we usually do it is I buy her a big present for her birthday that I'm absolutely sure no one else will get her. Whatever else is on her list, we check it off if she gets those presents from her friends, otherwise those items immediately go on her Santa wish list.

*sigh*

OK, so here goes. Last year her school went on lockdown.

For those of you unfamiliar with lockdown (although in the post-Columbine area, most of you are familiar with the policy), lockdown means the school is in an immediate emergency danger that requires locking down the school, they lock the classrooms, the office, they close the window shades, and the children climb under their desks a la 1950.

When her school went on lockdown, the school did not notify the parents for over 4 hours.

Granted, they were only on lockdown 20 minutes, but some of the children were scared.

Apparently, the school didn't call because they didn't want parents taking their children out of school "unnecessarily".

Now her birthday present includes the following:

A cellphone.

Yes, a cellphone for an 8-year-old. She's not getting it for 6 more weeks, and I'm already going over the rules and guidelines for proper cell phone use, and using it during school is a major no-no unless there is an emergency.

I'm planning on getting her the Firefly Cell Phone because it is not only kid-friendly, but it has many fantastic safety features.

Children 8 years old should not be text messaging, IMHO- so this phone does not have any of those fancy bells and whistles we are used to for cell phones.

The Firefly has a locking feature so the only phone calls it can receive are from phones already in the phonebook. It can only call phone numbers that are stored in the phonebook.

I like that very much. I like that my daughter will have the ability to call me in emergency situations, and at 25 cents a minutes, you really don't want your child using the phone for much else. The phone can tell you how many minutes you have left, and you can purchase extra pay-as-you-go minutes from their website.

Careful though, the minutes expire after 90 days, and I believe there are some minimums you must meet to keep the phone active.

However, you can get a cellphone contract for this phone with a SIM card from the major carriers (like Cingular and T-Mobile). I'd much rather do that than the pay-as-you-go option.

I know it sounds shocking to some people for a child to have a cell phone. I think it is an excellent chance to teach her about personal responsibility, and it makes me feel better knowing she can get in touch with me should she need me.

We live in a much scarier world nowadays, and we could all use a little extra safety net sometimes.

If your child has a cellphone and is 12 or younger, please leave me some comments about your experiences, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

Camping for Wussies

2006-09-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went camping.

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a terrible camper.

First of all, I'm a germophobe. Huge germophobe. Can't stand germs, freak out from germs, run screaming into the forest kind of germophobe.

That means bugs, reptiles, whatever- really gross me out when I have to sleep with them.

Second of all, I do somewhat well with the outdoors when I have a place I can escape from nature.

We assumed (erroneously) that we'd be in a nice cabin with electricity and running water.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! Excuse the maniacal laughter.

What we got was a glorified tent.

I've been tent camping exactly one time in my life. A tent would have been better than what we got, because what we got was dust, pollen, and mice (and who knows what all else). I was told in some of the cabins the mice were living INSIDE the "mattresses", which shall forever after be referred to as "mice habitats".

The grand total was a major allergy attack that sent my body almost immediately into a severe sinus infection. This made it even more difficult to deal with camping.

Even more humiliating was knowing that all of the children were doing so much better than I was with the camp. My own daughter is a camper, she's got it in her blood now, and I'm not entirely sure where that comes from. The first words out of her mouth as we were pulling away to go home (yay, happy dance, joy joy!) were "When can I come back?"

Next time, I'm making sure I've got all of the correct camping provisions. I will no longer believe the "packing list" they provide as our guidelines. I will create "Wendy's packing list for camping" which will include everything from a lantern to a huge box of Claritin.

And a clean suit.

The General Busy-ness of the American Family

2006-08-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, the first week back at school this seems like an oddly appropriate title. I'm proud of my daughter and all of her accomplishments. I'm proud of her for trying new things, making new friends. But I worry about her being overscheduled.

My line of thinking has been as long as she enjoys it, it's OK. At the first sign of her NOT enjoying it, I pay attention and evaluate. There comes a point where you have to say this is not working for my child.

I have gone in to soccer with an open mind, but worried that she'll hate it. So far, she loves it. The day after her first practice she said, "Can we go to soccer today?" Watching her play, she shows signs of her mother's obsessive perfectionism, wanting to perfectly get the ball down the field. With carefully placed kicks, and gentle nudging, she gets there eventually. She's definitely a lot more gentle than the others, who are none too shy to kick the ball hard. She even got hit in the hand with the ball and I *know* that hurts- she didn't even cry, like she would've last year, the year before. She's tough now, brave.

However, if there comes a day when she hates going to soccer, when she gets like me and ditches practice because she'd rather chat with her best friend, I won't force her to go. She has enough activities to fill all our days, all our free time. There comes a time when you have to let children just BE children, and play. It's good to see her play, I *love* watching her play on the playground, or play with her toys. I love the little stories and games she creates. I love her artwork, watching her create something she dreamed about last night.

We recently took her out of dance. Not because she didn't enjoy it, because she certainly did, but we had to draw the line somewhere. She can't do *everything*. I was sad to take her out of dance, but we had to make room for soccer. She has to prioritize her activities, or rather, we do. I asked her what she liked better, soccer or dance, and she said, "Definitely soccer". We'll see what her answer is after a few games have been played... She wants to add on art lessons. We just don't have the time. We keep a list of her "wishes", and someday hopefully there will be time for art lessons. Just not now.

She came home last night with her first homework of the school year. A math book so large it looked like a book I carried in college. The weight of it dragged her shoulders down. A foreshadowing of the years of school ahead. I remind you she is only in third grade.

This new school schedule and activity schedule is going to take all of us a little while to get adjusted. We're all making new friends, trying new things. We're supporting her, volunteering in our community, and hopefully making a difference.

But just in case, when she becomes tired, stressed, worried- we pull back. It's all about her happiness, her well-being.

For more on what others say about children today being over-scheduled:

Let Kids Be Kids
Overscheduled Kids
Hyper-parenting

Last day of summer

2006-08-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

Summer has come to a close.

The end of sunscreened noses, sticky popsicles, and wet puppies in the yard.

Of sizzling sand, shrieking kids, and cool movies on a hot day.

Of chlorine in the hair, lemonade stands, and juicy hot dogs.

Until next year... for now, the school bell will ring, books will be opened minty fresh. Fresh pencils, paper, backpacks, lunchboxes, and especially new teachers. Tales of summer past. Camp stories, not-for-grownup stories. Crisp new clothes, new shoes, and perhaps a little bit taller than three months ago.

This turned into a third grader

2006-08-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, the photo quality is horrible. It's a scan of a photo, few that I have taken of me while pregnant. This photo is taken mere days before she is born... flash forward 7.75 years, and she is beginning third grade on Monday! Wow...

Most overused business phrase

2006-08-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

I admit I am a huge fan of Dilbert.

Mostly because Scott Adams gets it so right, laugh-out-loud funny because it's true. Scott Adams takes a lot of his material from his fans, who write in with "You won't believe what Alice did today..." Granted, I no longer am a gopher in cubicle-land, but I was, and I was a cynic even back then.

I especially enjoyed the "motivational" conference the 5,000+ person company held, where the CEO smashed a watermelon a la Gallagher, to quash the "beast of low morale".

If that's not a Dilbert moment, I don't know what is.

Along with what business folk do, it can be equally funny what they actually say.

For me? My least popular phrase is "at the end of the day". I have found people who say it, use it often. What's funny to me is there is someone out there who agrees with me:

The most overused business phrase...

Also enjoyable are the user-submitted comments for their least favorite business phrase.

Leave me a comment with your least favorite!

Vacation=Sickness

2006-08-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, that really seems to hold true for my family. I know I've written about it here before, but we just like to prove it every once in a while. This time, it was a trip to Disneyland that got scrapped, due to the child vomiting in that projectile-manner that children just love to do! Before that, we got a few days of r&r on top of the mountain, where I did my best attempt to break my leg on the trail (but, fortunately, just the pain of a sprain, which has faded into a dull discomfort).

So, it's always exciting with our family.

It's back home, back to work, and back to school- my little one is a third grader as of Monday! How did that happen so quickly? I really can't believe it.

If you're wondering how come she is starting school so early, well, it's because we're on a modified year-round calendar. We'll have a nice break in the Fall, when everyone else is still in classes. Personally, I love that, as I always need a break from driving around everywhere. This school year looks to be busier than ever!

Quick, enjoy the last days of summer... Hope you guys like the re-design. Next time I need to hire someone to do a re-design for me.

Pardon my Re-design...

2006-08-09T22:51:00.000-07:00

Working to make this page more aesthetically pleasing... Please be patient. HTML and CSS programmers PLEASE leave me a comment if you're interested in helping me with a nicer re-design than one I can come up with on my own.

I can afford to give you cookies more than money... Thanks!

Six the hard way... belatedly

2006-08-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, I know you are wondering where I've been all this time! Well, maybe you're wondering. Maybe you're saying, "I don't give a flying fig where you've been", which is perfectly fine, too.

My husband suffered through 2 weeks of pneumonia, got better, and then promptly ended up in the hospital anyway. He spent what must have been a horrible 24 hours for him in the ICU, and is now expected to come home on Friday. I'm terribly exhausted, as I haven't slept much at all in the last few days, and it's catching up to me. No amount of coffee can save me from my sleepiness- believe me, I'm trying to give Starbucks their annual profit in one week.

Before he got sick, I had a birthday. My 33rd, in fact. We had a very nice day together, and I'm glad that he waited until after my birthday to get sick (kidding! I'm kidding.) He got me a very nice set for serving sushi and Japanese tea:

Beautiful, isn't it? I couldn't believe he remembered I asked for these so many months ago, and I was genuinely surprised. I had to use them as soon as possible, so I made this:

Yes, it's heart-shaped Philadelphia Rolls! My daughter scarfed this whole plate down. We went to the Japanese market, and fortunately for us it was free sample day. We ate our way through the market, then brought home a bunch of fresh fish and Chocolate soymilk (my daughter also scarfed that down! It's all gone already). However, my first batch of sushi rice came out like rice pudding, and was just awful. I had to try again. This meant it took me 6 hours to make sushi. It was worth it in the end.

My husband also bought himself a new toy, before he went in the hospital. He got a beautiful new Jeep, which is huge and I have to learn how to drive it. Fortunately, it's an Automatic- his last car was a stick shift (yes, I should've learned how to drive it, but didn't). The ridiculous thing is his last car was so tiny and this one is so big and the car payment is almost the same and the insurance is almost the same. Gasoline- so NOT the same...

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your summer without melting in the heat wave. Be safe and have fun out there.

Of sickness and of travel

2006-07-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

So sorry, dear readers, that I didn't post much last week. My husband decided to catch the plague at Comic-Con and it has turned into this ugly pneumonia type thing that I have been desperately trying to ward off of my house using the eveil eye. I think I shall just follow him around with a bottle of Lysol forever. And burn my sheets.

I did manage to go see my folks in the OC for a few days, so I swear I will post more as soon as I can. In the meantime, I got this cool new shirt, you can get one yerself over at Fussy

San Diego Comic Con 2006

2006-07-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

I finally went to my first con this weekend. Followed up by a trip to Losa Angeles to hear Kevin Smith's Q&A after a viewing of "Clerks II" at the Arclight in Hollywood.

I will try to recap as much as possible, but I am exhausted...

We took the trolley downtown- we weren't willing to pay $25 for parking (when $10 would give us our tickets on the trolley) and I wasn't game for the traffic nightmare. We got downtown in 30 minutes, and despite earlier predictions aced right in the front door pretty fast.

We hit the exhibit floor, but there was way more to see than I had time to see. We planned on returning later to the exhibit floor, but due to circumstances beyond my control, we never got the chance. Therefore, I highly recommend going more than one day- one day is just not enough time! Next year, I am going to buy my four day pass.

Still, the exhibit floor was awesome. We headed right over to The View Askew booth, where I picked up a t-shirt and the exclusive comic-con "Tales From Clerks II" comic book.

Next, we hit "The Simpsons" booth. That was pretty cool, we picked up a few comics there.

Then we hit Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network Studios booths, picking up some freebies for my daughter.

We managed to hit Sony, Lionsgate, IFC, Sci-Fi Channel, Mattel, Hasbro, Warner Brothers, Universal, and saw a lot of promotion for upcoming movies. We saw Henry Rollins while we were walking around. We probably only saw about 15-20% of the exhibit floor though.

We went to get in line for Matt Groening ("The Simpsons"). I waited in line an hour and while the line moved (the show began at noon), by 12:20 I bolted from the line to go get in line for Kevin Smith in the main hall (Hall H). At 12:30, my husband called to say he got in. I was bummed.

But, I got in Hall H in record time and got a seat to see Rosario Dawson, Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Rodriguez. In the meantime, my husband tried to procure a lottery ticket to get in line to meet Matt Groening, and was not able to get one. He also tried to get a t-shirt, and they ran out. He tried meeting John Kricfalusi (Ren and Stimpy) and the line got cut off right in front of him. He was very frustrated and disappointed.

I, too, ended up frustrated and disappointed, but that quickly dissapated. After Quentin's panel, Kevin Smith did not show up. He was stuck in traffic (the same traffic I would sit in the next day). I waited his entire hour and a half panel just in case he showed up. He didn't, and they rescheduled him for 5 and a half hours later. The last 15 minutes of his panel Rosario Dawson came out to entertain us, and boy, did I fall in love with her! She was so sweet and endearing, she also sang to us! She called Kevin on her cell phone and let us chat with him for a moment that way.

Afterwards I don't even remember what the panel was, I was so tired by that point. My husband came to join me, and we decided that given the big names coming later in the day, we better not leave Hall H for fear of losing our seats.

I did wait 45 minutes in the special "Hall H" line for a crappy hot dog, but at least I got food. They were running out of everything, seeming completely unprepared for what they knew was going to be a large crowd. Hall H holds 6,500 people, and it was full just about the rest of the night. That line made me miss part of the "Narnia" panel, but I did get to see the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 panel. They showed the CGI effects of Davey Jones, AND they showed us a special clip from POTC 3! Looks awesome, and I loved seeing the unfinished shots.

Afterwards was the "Sony Presents" section. The first part was "Ghost Rider" the new movie with Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes. They were both so cute and looked so Hollywood. Nicolas Cage was a total crack-up, really enjoyed him. The movie looks scary but cool.

Then came Sam Raimi (director of Spiderman 1, 2, and 3 and the Evil Dead movies) presenting clips from Spiderman 3. Well, he did one better than that- he brought along Kirsten Dunst, Bryce Dallas Howard, Thomas Hayden Church, Topher Grace, and Tobey Maguire! It was so amazing, I screamed myself hoarse. I had no idea they were going to be there, and I just love all of them. It was very cool. The Spiderman 3 clips were incredible- it really does look like the best one yet. Venom (played by Topher Grace) looks just fantastic, I was so impressed! The hall went crazy for this panel, seriously.

They followed that up with a 45 minute Question and Answer session with Kevin Smith, who brought along Jason Mewes. His original panel was supposed to be an hour and a half, so I was disappointed it got cut down so much. But never fear- I got to see Kevin again the next day!

By the time we got out of there, it was 7:30 and the exhibit hall was closed. Looking at the schedule, we missed a TON of stuff- but what can you do? You can't be in two places at once. Seriously, I need to go every single day next year, so I can catch more stuff, although I can't imagine the energy you would need to do that. I was exhausted after one day!

Oh, almost forgot to mention the costumes. Some were pretty amazing, but you have to realize- San Diego had record breaking triple digit heat (my house was 111 on Saturday- no joke). Can you imagine walking around downtown in that heat in full costume and make-up??

So, Sunday, I had procured weeks ago tickets to a Kevin Smith Q&A for a smaller crowd- a movie theater, post-viewing of Clerks II.

The traffic that screwed up Kevin's panel on Saturday we had the pleasure of enjoying on Sunday. We had Los Angeles type traffic in San Diego (horrendous!) took us from 1:20 pm until 3pm to get to San Onofre. After that? We got to the Jay and Silent Bob Secret Stash (comic books and memorabilia store) at 4:15! It's located next to UCLA so parking was nightmarish, but I can only imagine what it is like when school is in session.

J&SBSS is an homage to the View Askew movies. They had several movie props there, including the wings Ben Affleck wore in "Dogma" and the Mooby with the computer from Clerks II. They had a slew of "Inaction" figures from the movies, several were even autographed by Kevin Smith. They did have memorabilia from other movies too, notably a section of "Sin City".

I loved the store, although they were out of some of what I wanted. I found a talking Simpsons Magic 8 Ball (that now that we're home doesn't work- it's supposed to "talk" instead of having a floating indicator like the classic) and a Chasing Amy t-shirt for Shawn, and I got a Clerks 2 t-shirt and Chasing Amy DVD for myself. I came home and placed a big on-line order to catch all the items I missed. I'm sure they've been quite busy because of the recent publicity (from the opening of Clerks II).

Just in case I had the chance, I put the DVD in my purse afterwards, butI was unable to procure Kevin's autograph- this weekend, with the movie premiering, he's just too busy. Next time, I hope.

After that we drove over to the Arclight in Hollywood and had dinner at the Arclight Cafe. Very nice, good food, and not as expensive as I thought it would be. I had the sweet corn tamale and grilled skirt steak. Yum! Fancy. The restaurant was full when we left, and they also had a nice gift shop. An incredible place to see a flick, for sure.

The arclight was cool, neat to see where the hollywood premieres are. Plus, we drove down Sunset Blvd and saw Hollywood High School and the Laugh Factory and the House of Blues. They all looked much smaller than I imagined, I'm sure none of those places hold very many people! The Arclight is a few blocks from the Pantages theater which is always showing the broadway style shows. We did see them filming a movie on Sunset Blvd but of course did not get a glance "behind the curtain". It's amazing how people in Hollywood don't even blink when they see a movie filming. Me? Total fangirl.

I wish we had had more time to explore the area, but alas, we didn't.

The arclight dome is where the premieres are, we weren't able to be in there even though the official red carpet premiere of Clerks 2 was shown in there. Regardless, our theater was very plush. I wish all movie theaters were like this. Nice bathrooms, they keep them clean; big comfy seats with stadium seating; and reserved seats! Awesome. We were in row O exact center.

The movie was incredible, really enjoyed it. Laughed a lot and even teared up at the end. I will most likely be going to see it again, when Kevin's iPod commentary comes out (genius marketing, I tell you!) The 10,000 MySpace names went by way too fast for me to see my name. And yes, there is a donkey show ("inter-species erotica") and had moments where I had to look away. Hysterically funny though.

Kevin came out after the credits stopped rolling, looking so tired. His first few questions he seemed kind of out of it, but the whole time I was trying to get a decent picture (don't think I did, way too dark in there- he just stood in the front of the theater and chatted with us). Then, he really livened up. Gave a great show. I got to ask him a question, and had a little mini-conversation with him from across the theater. That made the whole thing definitely worthwhile for me :-) Really awesome.

An amazing weekend. I'm so starstruck. It was really fun for me, but I am completely exhausted today. Can't wait for next year!

Secrets

2006-07-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

I found out someone's secret tonight.

It didn't feel good, it didn't feel like "tee-hee, I know something you don't know." It wasn't gossip.

I just feel sad. Sad for this person. Sad for their spouse. Extra sad for their kids.

And mad that I didn't know. Mad at myself for not catching the signs. And wondering what, if anything, I could have done. What I can do. Is it too late?

Wondering why no one else told me, why my other friends felt they had to keep it from me. Did it affect me? Did it affect my daughter?

It shatters my perception of people. A picture perfect family. A family I envied, respected, looked up to, really strived to be like. The nicest people you ever could meet. And now, now I try to imagine the hell they are going through, and I can't. I just can't imagine.

Now I feel like no one is immune. Everyone has a dirty little secret. What's mine? What's yours?

Post Secret

Las Vegas Gets It Wrong

2006-07-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas has made it illegal to feed the homeless in city parks.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/9550232/detail.html

Instead of spending tax dollars enforcing such a ridiculous law, why not spend those tax dollars on FEEDING these people who need help??

I'm just shaking my head. Whoever thought that was a good idea has just got it wrong. So terribly wrong.

The Finale

2006-07-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the grand finale of theater camp.

I can't call it "drama camp" anymore, because my daughter sighs, rolls her eyes, and says, "Mo-om, it's not *drama* camp, it's THEATER camp", in all of her best dramatics.

Saturday all of the students got to show off what they've learned.

I was completely blown away by how much they learned in 3 weeks! My daughter was dancing, singing, and had lines memorized.

Of course, her true self really shined when she got to boss around the boys on stage for not remembering their cue :-)

Now she's watching the video of her show over and over again, and wants to watch it alone, unencumbered by adults, full of her own thoughts and her own dreams.

She's spent the days since drawing, writing, and even composing music. I'm watching my little budding artist and wondering what her interests will be in a year, 5 years, 15 years. Our girl scout meeting on sunday focused on "Careers". A year ago if you asked her what careers she was interested in, she listed "Teacher" and "Scientist" at the top of that list. Now she's got "Movie Star" in that list, along with "Art Teacher", and "Scientist" didn't make her final cut. "Chef" has also dropped off her wishlist, too.

I remember those days, when I could dream of what lay ahead, when anything was possible. I try to remember what was on that list, and over the years "Writer" and "Teacher" and eventually "Journalist" made it on that list. Pretty sure the word "Statistician" was not even in my vocabulary. I remember the mimeograph paper and how good it smelled. I remember setting up my "classroom" and creating math tests for my dolls to take. I've been a teacher, and I've been a journalist for my high school paper. At what point does money take precedence over dreams? I've always thought people were crazy for chunking a high-paying position and following their dreams, of acting, of writing, of teaching... but deep down inside I've always admired their courage, and wished I had that same confidence.

I will always look at my daughter and her activities and wonder if that's the thing she'll love to do forever, if that's what she'll do for a living when she is older. I can sit right along next to her as she explores her world, and dream, too.

Good people in the world

2006-07-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Ah, yes, my faith in humanity was restored on Friday.

I went to pick up my daughter from camp friday afternoon, and soon after getting on the freeway to go home, I saw a big metal ladder in the very middle of the lane. I had two choices- hitting it or a car next to me.

I decided to try to go over the ladder, centering it in the middle of my car- and guess what?

It got stuck on the bottom of my car.

I had to pull over (the shoulder on the fast lane side, too- ugh), and tried to get the ladder out.

Mind you, this is friday afternoon rush hour in SAN DIEGO, and I had my daughter in the car.

As soon as I noticed the ladder wasn't budging, I started to panic.

I opted to try flagging down a passing motorist, because waiting for the police would mean sitting on the edge there for way too long. I was begging and pleading for just a few minutes when a white BMW pulled over.

A nice gentleman got out as I blubbered my story to him. I think every other phrase was "Please help" to which he must have translated as "Please help this crazy lady".

He came to study the situation and he also couldn't get the ladder off.

Me in all my crazy genius decided if I stepped on the gas pedal while he pulled on the ladder, maybe it would come free.

And it did!!!

I've never been so happy. I was so grateful. Again, all he could say was "Goodbye, Crazy lady", but actually he was very, very nice.

So thank you nice gentleman who took the time to help the crazy lady in the extremely dirty minvan.

And to the police officer that was 3 cars ahead of me in the lane, and did NOT stop to do anything about the ladder? Thanks for creating a scary afternoon for me. Appreciate that.

I took the car in to get checked out ($50 for that), but apparently no permanent damage resulted.

Through the whole thing my daughter never batted an eyelash. She told my husband later, "Mommy was crying." Heck, yeah, I was- it was scary being that close to cars going 80 miles per hour. No thanks.

Be careful out there, folks! You never know what's out there. But at least, sometimes, there are still some good people in the world.

A most ridiculously unneccessary product

2006-07-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Pre-packaged ice cubes.

That's right! The ultimate tool of laziness, and as Slashfood points out, a ridiculous waste of packaging.

But then again, there was a time when everyone made fun of bottled water. Who's laughing now?

I understand the company's point about food safety and hygiene, but really, couldn't the same result be achieved by using a bottle of water and freezing it into cubes? Why not just market those little itty bitty ice trays?

Why are people wasting research dollars on stuff like this?

Photo courtesy of http://www.icerocks.com

Idol Mania

2006-07-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, the Season 5 Top 10 American Idol's have begun their nationwide tour. They aren't coming to my town until the end of August, but I've got my tickets, baby!

My cousin also became an Idol fan. She called me two nights ago and asked me to buy some souvenirs for her at the concert, because tickets sold out where she lived. We had spoken before about her disappointment, and even after they added a 2nd show, she was still unable to get a ticket.

She called me last night, laughing- her paper had run an article about the concert in Hershey, PA last night, complete with a phone number for tickets. She said she was so MAD, why, oh WHY would they taunt her like that, knowing they were sold out of tickets?

She was so mad, in fact, that she called the number to complain, only to find out there were some AWESOME seats available! After doling out a small fortune, she procured 3 tickets to last night's show, with only a few hours notice.

She and her husband and her grandson made the trek out to Hershey and had seats eye level with the stage, on the very corner of the stage by the stairs the artists use to get up to the stage! Talk about awesome seats. She said Taylor Hicks was so close she could reach out and touch him, practically.

She was disappointed Katherine McPhee had still not re-joined the tour (no idea when she is expected to return), but that they did show photos of her.

As you may also know, the band Live is from York, PA near Hershey, and apparently they were in attendance (they were there to see Chris perform). Chris gave them a big shout-out.

She said the show was really fun, but she was unable to get through the lines to buy souvenirs. I told her we'll look on-line when the tour is over, as I expect those same long lines at the show here.

Anyway, it was just so cute to hear her so excited about the show, giving me a sneak peek. I'll call her after my show, but it seems so far away right now. I wish my cousins didn't live so far away (or rather, that I didn't live so far away!) as I wish my daughter could see them more often (and me, too).

For those of you with tickets to an AI show near you, enjoy the show, and let me know how it went! Still a Taylor fan here...

Hero of the day

2006-07-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Here is an incredible story... a woman in Albion, Michigan who is pregnant with twins due ANY DAY NOW rescued her neighbor from a fire...

It's a great story, take a peek:

Mom Pregnant with Twins Rescues Woman From Fire

The Annual Cleaning of the Room

2006-07-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true. I finally snapped. I had it with all the clutter in my daughter's bedroom. Saturday night I dragged buckets of toys out into the hallway, with the instructions that they were not to be returned to her room until her room had been cleaned, and all of the toys sorted.

In the end, I threw out three large trashbags of trash, and filled three cardboard boxes of toys that were worthy of donating. I can finally see the floor of her room, and there is finally enough space to add a *gasp!* chair to her desk. I also cleaned out her books, pulling out any books that were way below her age level (and boy, was I shocked to see how many we had!) She still has 2 full bookshelves of age-appropriate books- both picture books and chapter books.

Now taking bets on how long this lasts...

The floor! Can you see it?? And look how neatly her books are organized!

I still have not found a good way to store this beautiful American Girl doll bed.

The toys! They fit... IN THE CLOSET!!! You would be amazed, if you only knew, how many Barbies and Polly Pockets and Build a Bear Workshop and Littlest Pet Shop can fit in there.

Yes, I know, she has a lot of stuff. But now? NOW it is in the closet!!!

Floor, beautiful floor.

Look, I can see the floor!!! Now, just maybe, I can walk in to kiss her goodnight without breaking a toe on a barbie.

Summer camp

2006-07-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

My daughter has been in summer camp the last couple of weeks. Not stay-away-from-home camp, but day camp. They have so many cool activities for camp now that they just didn't have when I was a kid. Like, "Learn to be a motocross racer while dissecting a squid with your toes!" and really, who doesn't want to learn how to do that.

There were so many options for camp this summer, and I wanted her to do them all- until I saw how much they all cost. So we had to scale back, but still, she is doing some cool stuff this summer and is having a total ball.

Here's what I recall of summer activities- warning, nerd alert!

* I remember going to vacation bible school at the Presbyterian church. We got to make a little plaque out of clay, and they took all of our plaques and made them into a giant cross by the side of the church. I thought that was pretty cool. Even when I had "switched" to the Episcopal church, I remember going by that cross every once in a while to find my name.

* I remember going to the local swimming pool, and my swimming teacher used to give us snacks. To this very day, a community swimming pool immediately makes me think of soggy animal crackers (I can almost taste them).

* I remember going to Episcopal overnight camp twice. Once in 4th/5th grade when I was terrified of the priest who was missing a hand, I threw up in the middle of the night and demanded to go home early. (Did I? I don't even remember, but I remember being horribly shy and homesick). I went the second time as a teenager (16? 17?) where I got a (gasp!) boyfriend out of one of the other counselors (not one of my counselors, mind you- he was a counselor for the young 'uns). That time I had an absolute blast and did not want it to ever end. I was there with my two best girlfriends, we shared a cabin together (a nice cabin! With running water and electricity! and air conditioning in the counselor's lounge!). I recall this camp as being one of the best experiences of my teenage years.

* Ok, Internet, here comes the big confession. I went to COMPUTER camp for 2 weeks (overnight camp!) and absolutely loved it. I learned to program my first PASCAL code there, and even won a programming contest for my animation program. This was back when Macs were brand new (I'm sure that was a big selling point in the brochure!) This camp I am SURE is entirely at fault for creating a computer career for me that has now spawned over a decade.

* And in case you weren't entirely convinced of my nerdiness yet, let me tell you that I went (voluntarily!) to summer school from sixth through twelfth grade at Rice University. I loved being the little nerdy kid among all the college kids and academic types. My favorite spot was the library. I remember riding my bicycle to campus, and I also remember being so happy when I had my driver's license so I could drive over there. The best part was school was only part of the day (instead of a full day like in the regular school year), so most summers I had season passes to Six Flags. My afternoons were full of begging my parents to drop me and my friends off at Six Flags, hanging out there, and going to concerts at the amphitheatre. With a season pass, standing room tickets for most concerts were FIVE DOLLARS. I have a slew of ticket stubs from those concerts- Depeche Mode, UB40, Mister Mister, Erasure- all the 80's greats :-)

What about you? What are some of your favorite summer activities from your childhood?

Musings of the Fourth

2006-07-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

I decided that since we didn't have anything we absolutely *had* to get done on July 4th, I would do my best to do as little as possible. I succeeded! My daughter didn't wake me up until 9:45 (yes!), and then after turning on the electronic babysitter ("Madagascar"), I was able to climb back in bed until almost 11:45. As my daughter would say, it was "Fantastical!"
_____

My daughter is taking piano lessons. She recently "graduated" out of the primer level into level one. This book includes a "teacher's duet" at the bottom of the page- so I am glad to say my near 12 years of lessons paid off in the best duet of all time- a mother/daughter duet that was just one of those moments that make parenting the best job in the whole wide world. I also noticed she is able to very, very quickly memorize songs, a skill I never really had or developed.
_____

In honor of the Nathan's hot dog eating competition yesterday at Coney Island, we ate Nathan's hot dogs yesterday. My daughter flat out refused a hot dog (wha??)- but she eventually confessed it was because the hot dog at the party spilled ketchup and mustard on her swimsuit, and she is now forever afraid that hot dogs will up and spill ketchup and mustard on her.
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I did venture out of the house ONCE yesterday. I went to the gas station to fill up for the week (daughter is at camp, I'm going through a VERY EXPENSIVE tank of gas each week). Instantly saw weird lady standing next to me and smiling. Weird lady says, "Excuse me, do you have a light?", which you know, I don't because I don't smoke. Instead, I'm thinking, we're at a gas station, idiot, don't smoke here. So I said, "No, I won't give you a light at a gas station, you can't smoke here."

She smiled and said, "Thank you", but continued to stand there staring at me. Of course, the pump wouldn't print my receipt, so I locked my car and went inside. By the time I came outside, the woman found a bigger idiot who DID hand her his lighter, and she lit up, right there next to the gas pump.

I wasn't eager to see that kind of fireworks, so I was glad to be leaving.
______

I did manage to work out on the treadmill yesterday. You know, feeling guilty for not leaving the house and for eating too many hot dogs this weekend. My daughter decided she wanted to try, so I let her try the treadmill at the lowest setting. She thought it was pretty neat but said it felt "weird". About 5 hours later she says, "I feel like I'm still on the treadmill."
______

While we were inside all day, my daughter never left the house the entire day. She thought this was very cool. I didn't even make her get dressed until lunchtime! Today I was fun mom! She played with her new barbies she got with her allowance/tooth fairy money (yes, she lost 2 teeth last week!) and she played on her leap pad computer for quite a long time. Today, it is back to camp, and back to work for me and hubby. Hubby also said he thought his 4 day weekend went by much too fast. But really, think about it- it's July 5th now, this year seems to be going awfully fast. The summer seems to be going fast, too- could it be because we are so blasted busy??
______

We watched, "A Capitol Fourth", together on PBS last night. Other than being sugary sweet, my daughter most enjoyed the appearance by Elmo, in which she was simply in awe that he could ride a tricycle with no help at all. It stumped her.

When the fireworks started (which, by the way, were lame and the New York firework show was much more impressive), we could hear the fireworks from our own town outside from all sorts of places but couldn't see any. She kept asking me how fireworks, well, work, and I didn't really know. She also wanted to know where the fireworks went when the lights stopped. I told her about ash, and she seemed satisfied.

A few minutes later, she said, "Momma, I see the ass."

Pause.

"Honey, it's ASH."

*Photo courtesy of Weniki's Daddy-O-Matic

Happy Fourth!

2006-07-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the fourth of july yesterday, on the second of july- as we did last year, we had a barbecue and pool party. Perhaps it was the experience of doing it last year, but this year's party went much smoother, and it seemed more fun for me. I had more time to get in the pool (although still not as much as I would have liked), and I had somewhat more time to chat with friends. My husband still got stuck on the BBQ grill, but not for 8 straight hours like last year.

Above is a photo of the little one with her balloon bouquet. She seemed to have the best time of all, she was so excited. She never got out of the pool except for when she begged me to let her show her friends some toys in her room. Now, the day after, we are all exhausted.

So, on the actual fourth of july, we are planning on resting and doing nothing. I will watch fireworks on TV, read, and sleep! Oh, and eat the gazillion hot dogs we have left over.

Hope you and yours have a great holiday!

Petco Park

2006-06-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night, my husband and I went to see the San Diego Padres vs. the Oakland A's at Petco Park. I still call it "the new park" even though I realized they are in their third season playing at that park!

Anyway, I brought my camera, which I know made me look like a tourist, but so what. I took on looking EXTRA-nerdy, just for you, my dear readers.

Here's the run down:

First inning, Padres get the bases loaded, but it ends with 3 men out and 1 run.

That was seriously the most exciting inning. The new Padres pitcher, Chris Young, is 6 feet 10 inches tall (yes, really!) and the A's seemed to be having a REALLY difficult time. Pop-up after pop-up.

The game ended with the Padres winning 3-0, and one of those runs was on a balk.

The best part of any ball game is, of course, the people. I was sitting next to a couple who have been season ticket holders for 20 years. They believed the entire section should be sold to season ticket holders only as they were offended anyone in the section could possibly be rooting for the other team.

Behind us were the "first date" couple, with the really loud, annoying girl ("I was like, you know, like, WHATEVER!"). Last year we had those same seats, and also got a first date couple behind us, who talked through EVERY SECOND of the game, letting everyone around them hear their intimate conversation.

Next to my husband was a woman who must have been 95, decked out in full Padres gear, who would scream as loud as she could, "Go! Charge!", only a small fly could scream louder than she could. I couldn't even hear her cries of, "Go! Padres!" until my husband left his seat to go get food. With every pop-up she would hold out her hands to catch the ball, only I prayed it wouldn't come near as a baseball would break her tiny, fragile hands.

So next time you go to the ballpark, and you see a dork with a camera- be careful, they could be blogging you :-)

Enjoy my photos of Petco Park- beyond the outfield is the "park at the park", and you can also see the small beach area for the kiddies to play. It was HOT, record breaking hot on Tuesday, which I think kept the crowds down. The Padres also beat the A's again last night.

The Western Metal building in Left Field.

The view from our (awesome!) seats.

The Park at the Park (beyond the outfield) and the beach area, right hand side of the outfield fence.

A decent sized crowd for a Tuesday night.

Camp

2006-06-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

Sweet camp... I remember (almost all of) my camp days fondly, the friends I made there, the laughs I shared. I went to computer camp when I was 10 (is it any wonder I'm a programmer for a living?), but my daughter has chosen drama camp for her experience this summer.

She has written her very first play! Here it is, folks:

USNS Sacagawea

2006-06-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was the launch of the USNS Sacagawea, a new Naval T-AKE ship. I had the honor of attending the event:

Walking in with the crowds to the shipyard- there was quite a long line to get in!

We had good seats up on the platform where we could watch all of the guests of honor give their speeches.

Descendents of Sacagawea christen the ship.

Ribbons marked the launch of the ship from dry dock into San Diego Bay. The ship moved fast! In a matter of seconds, the ship became a speck in the distance.

For more on the story, read here.

Summer="I'm Bored"

2006-06-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

My daughter has been on summer vacation since last Friday at 3pm.

Which means, she's barely been on vacation for a week.

"Mommmmy, I'm boooooo-oRED!" complete with pouty face and stomping feet. Oy.

Since school has ended, she has gone to Balboa Park, gone to see "Cars", to a birthday party, swimming playdates, trip to the playground, trip to the COUNTY FAIR, and by goodness, was she ever bored today. Or I should say, "Is bored today", because she is sitting on the floor of my office playing disney video games on the laptop while I work.

She wanted me to call all of her friends and see if ANYONE would please, please, please come play today. This after going to the fair all day yesterday! Two of her closest friends are leaving on vacation (how dare they!) and won't be availble for playdates for (gasp!) over a week.

Thank goodness camp begins Monday, or I might start pulling my hair out.

The Benadryl Hangover

2006-06-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

I woke up yesterday with one heck of a migraine headache.

I get these occasionally, usually because I am on my computer most of my life. My eye doctor once told me his prescription for my migraines was that I should spend more time outdoors in the sunlight.

So I took a book outside and read outside.

I don't think that is what he meant.

Anyway, yesterday I tried the Mega-Tylenol and chug some caffeine route. A few hours later it became clear to me this was a SINUS headache, the migraine headache of doom! Doom!

I ventured into my medicine cabinet, which was so empty I could hear the sound of crickets. I did find some Benadryl (no other cold medicine) and I read the directions (yes I did!) and decided it should relieve some of the pressure on my head.

Which it did do.

But then I fell asleep. For FOUR hours.

And I woke up still tired, but made myself stay up until midnight. I set the alarm for 8 am, and woke up just fine.

I woke up, though, with a wee bit of a hangover, a Benadryl Hangover, complete with no more sinus pain but the unfortunate side effect of being still tired. My typing today is even off.

Which brings me to my next point. I am reading a book I am enjoying so thoroughly I will share it with you. You may be familiar with Augusten Burroughs from his book "Running With Scissors", which is coming out later this year as a film. His latest book is called "Possible Side Effects" and it is laugh out loud funny. I have read all of his books and this is my favorite 2nd only to "Running With Scissors", which I want to read again before the movie is released.

Wishing you all Benadryl dreams...

Happy Father's Day!

2006-06-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

To all the father's out there, hope you have a wonderful day with your families.

To my own pop, happy father's day and thank you for everything- we love you very, very much and can't wait to see you later this week!

To my husband, thank you for being such a great step-father to my pride and joy. We love you, love you, love you!

To celebrate, here is a picture of my little girl, drawn by a caricaturist at the birthday party we went to yesterday. I wasn't able to scan the entire picture, but most of it is here.

Rachel's List

2006-06-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

My child and I went to Hallmark yesterday. She was enthralled and wanted to buy everything in the store (Hallmark has a new lifetime loyal customer, I'm telling ya). She even managed to get M&M's out of the deal, which apparently are now being cross-marketed by Pirates of the Caribbean (I heard pirate jokes all the way home in the car).

We came home and she immediately set up shop. She created her own "card business", and left little notes taped all over the house for us to find. Hence, she named her business, "The Sneaky Card Shop".

This is one of the notes I found for me ("Mom, notice anything different about your blue candle? Huh? Huh?"), a To-Do-List for Mom.

Corgi!Corgi!

2006-06-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

Our puppy, Kiki, was spayed last week. The above photo is pre-spay.

She came home that night and was so tired, she would stand in one place for 15 minutes at a time without moving any part of her body. I got no sleep that night from staying up with her making sure she was allright.

The next day she woke up as if nothing was wrong. Seriously. I couldn't believe it. The vet called, and she couldn't believe it either- honestly, this dog was not acting like she had major surgery the day before, nor was she acting like she had stitches in her stomach! She jumps around, rolls around- and I've had a C-section, I can't imagine doing that the day after surgery.

The doctor emphasized that I was to keep her subdued as much as possible. We've been having to crate her again to keep her calmed down.

We came home friday night and she had her doggie head cone thing down around her waist. The dog has so trashed this poor dog collar that my husband had to put DUCT TAPE on it to hold it together.

And we have one more week of this until her stitches can come out. Keep your fingers crossed for us that the stitches will heal nicely so this torture device can come off her :-)

The end of an era

2006-06-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have been a girl scout leader for 3 years. The very first day of Kindergarten way back when, I turned around and introduced myself to the woman who became my co-leader. I told her that very first day that I wanted to start a girl scout troop. And so it began!

Tonight is my last meeting with the group of girls and parents who have become like family to me. We have moved recently, and we are joining a troop out here that was in danger of extinction. As Girl Scouts say, "Make new friends, but keep the old".

I'm not sure if I'll realize tonight that I won't get to see these kids every 2 weeks- my daughter sure is sad about missing her friends- but I know one thing is for certain- I will never forget my time with them, and I am especially grateful to Co-Leader for being such a terrific friend.

Will I be sad tonight that there will be no more "Thank you, Miss Wendy", "I made this for you, Miss Wendy", "Guess what I did today, Miss Wendy", a sweet hug from a sweet little girl, or will I just be rejoicing that summer vacation means a few months of no Girl Scout planning, reservations, reminding, shopping, organizing, pleading, reminding again, and being on the receiving end of complaints?

I'm not sure yet. But, here's to you, Girl Scouts, everywhere.

* Photo courtesy of http://www.girlscouts.org

Consumer Protection

2006-06-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

My daughter's school recently completed a fundraiser. One of the items you could purchase was a Domino's pizza card.

This fundraiser card cost me $10 (apiece!) an offer of “Buy a large pizza at regular menu price and receive a medium one topping pizza free” up to 30 times before August 31, 2007. There is a copy of the card at the bottom of this post, along with the letter that sold the cards, nowhere on that letter did it state “Valid at participating Domino’s Pizza locations only” like it does on the actual card that got sent home with my child.

Long story short, I called our Domino's store and they said they would not accept the card. I went to the fundraiser's website (which I should have done the day the order form got sent home) and noticed not a SINGLE STORE in the entire san diego area is on the list of stores that accept the cards, except a store in Chula Vista which is a 30 minute freeway drive from my house.

Here is a list of stores that accept the cards:
http://www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com/DominosStores.aspx#California

I'm not sure who at our school PTA thought this fundraiser was a good idea, I only hope that the school got most of the $10 to keep for themselves (the fundraiser website says the school gets "Up to 90%").

Just be careful when you participate in these kinds of fundraisers! In this case I got screwed, and I only hope the school didn't.

Summer=Heat=Crowds

2006-06-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, I guess Summer *does* own a calendar. My thermometer read 90 degrees today, and I see much of the desert areas are in the triple digits. My new best friends are my air conditioner and the pool.

We're busily wrapping up the last few weeks of school (then I'll be Momma of a THIRD grader) and making plans for the summer. We have 5 weeks of camp and 4 weeks of nuthin. A good balance, only achieved when I realized how frickin' expensive summer camps are.

The San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon is upon us once again. For those of who neither run it nor watch it, we plan our day around not being anywhere remotely in the vicinity.

However, if you ARE running in it or are going to brave the crowds and the heat to watch it, click here to get all of the details. It's quite an amazing thing, really- a 26.2 mile run with live bands lined up along the route. Really, it's genius. Besides, you get to see some of the best views of San Diego and that's a bonus for a visitor to our lovely hamlet. I have many friends who have run it and say it is their favorite marathon every year.

Still- I'm in the crowd of locals that just can't get used to living where people want to vacation. When I used to live on the coast, one year I had forgotten about the marathon. I tried to leave and every road out was blocked off! I eventually turned around and went home to sulk. My daughter even commented, "Mommy, why are all those people running?" After that I never tried to venture out of my coast town until about 2 or 3pm when the day's festivities were over.

I did find it interesting that San Diego has stated the traffic is likened to having the Super Bowl in town, if that helps put it in perspective.

My point, and I swear I have one, is that tomorrow is not only my kittie cat's 3rd birthday, it's my parent's 39th wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary to Mom and Pop! So glad we'll get to celebrate it together.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Table manners

2006-05-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a great story at SFGate.com about a family on mother's day who had their restaurant reservations stolen (the nerve!) and the terrible treatment they received by the manager. The only shame in this story is that they did not publish the name of the restaurant.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=26&entry_id=5547

Oh, the humanity!

2006-05-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today I have a giant pimple on my chin. Well, I shouldn't say today, it's been there for days, my hormones out of whack. It just looks particularly, well, overwhelming today.

My daughter's friend came over today. She is staring at me and says, her voice trembling with fear, "What is that on your face?"

"A pimple."

Pause.

"A what?"

"A pimple. It's something that happens to your skin around the time you turn 13."

Pause.

Quiet voice, "I never want to be 13."

Thanks, kid.

I love L.A.

2006-05-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, do I ever owe you a big update! Wow, time flies when you are busy. Work busy, yes, and then I went out of town for the weekend to see my folks. I went into Los Angeles which is something I hardly ever do, mostly, I think, because I can’t stand the traffic and the 405 is enough to make me want to pull my hair out. Or just try the imaginary brake while my Dad is driving.

On Saturday I face the memorial day weekend traffic and gas prices (I swear I don’t even look at the pump anymore, I just swipe my card, close my eyes, and pray) and drove up to Orange County. We went to Anaheim’s The Block at Orange to see The Da Vinci Code Now, as anyone who regularly reads my blog knows, I am a huge Dan Brown fan. Religious flack aside, I really enjoy his novels (no, they are not all religious based novels). I’m a fan of puzzles and all of his books are page-turners. I have lost a lot of sleep reading his books!

Anyway, I was disappointed when I first heard Tom Hanks was cast as Robert Langdon. Have no fear, Tom Hanks was AMAZING. He was just fantastic as a Harvard Symbology Professor. In fact, the whole cast was terrific, the story was riveting, and the theatre was packed despite playing every hour all day long. The 2 hour 29 minute run time was needed to pack in as many details from the book as possible. I did notice a few minor changes from the book, but overall I enjoyed seeing this book come to life.

I went to the Getty Museum on Sunday, which was fantastic! I had never been before, although I have driven past on the 405 a few times. They were concluding a special Degas exhibit (ends June 11th), and the place was absolutely teeming with tourists. The crowds eventually really got to me, but what a bargain this place is- $7 to park your car, and no tickets needed- a real deal for big families. They even have parking for electric vehicles where you can charge your car while you browse! The gardens are beautiful, the views awe-inspiring.

While flash-photography is not permitted inside the museum, I saw two different people use their flash on their camera, only one was scolded by a guard. The guards were everywhere, given the crowds, and I got scolded myself for leaning over a plastic case, not even realizing I was touching it.

Next time, I would like to go see the Getty Villa, reservations are required in advance.

From there, we trekked over to Santa Monica where I got to see my parents’ first apartment (back from 1967), and the hospital where my mom used to work (which is considerably larger than it was back then!) We headed over to the Santa Monica pier, where we sloshed around trying not to bump into other tourists, and got to see the wild and the weird of Los Angeles. Not only did I see the exhibit of crosses in memoriam to the soldiers who died in Iraq, but I also got to see real hookers. Wow, what a mix of craziness in LA, for sure.

We also walked the third street promenade, but my feet were just too tired to go on. I slept well that night!
Of course, I forgot my camera on my adventures through Los Angeles. So sorry. A beautiful day, beautiful sunset, all memories for me to treasure.

Now that I am back in San Diego, I did get to go to the Old Globe to see The Violet Hour last night with my girlfriend. We had a great time, and while I really enjoyed the show, there were several seats empty after intermission (including the folks next to me, who I guess either really hated it or were offended by the “N” word). This is the 3rd production I have seen at the Old Globe, so now we’re considering subscribing to their full season.

Yes, some of the reviewers did not like this show. Yes, the show is more talking than showing, but that’s part of its appeal. You have to really listen and pay attention to get the full grasp of what it is about, and I must say I was thrilled I did not read any reviews before going to see it. Then everything was a total surprise! Which, coincidentally, is kind of what the play ended up being about. If you want to read a review of the New York version with Robert Sean Leonard (of Dead Poet’s Society fame), go here:

http://www.curtainup.com/violethour.html

Up next at the Old Globe is the summer Shakespeare Festival at their outdoor theatre, along with The Sisters Rosensweig . Matthew Broderick is coming to the Old Globe in the next season. He is the lead in “The Starry Messenger”, which should be a sell-out so get your tickets early if you are interested.

*Photo courtesy of http://www.santamonica.com/

Quote of the day

2006-05-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

When I drop off my daughter at school, she often climbs in the front seat and we chat for a few minutes before she goes inside, or we sing along to "Radio Disney".

But today, she said to me,

"Mom, we have to stop, I don't want anyone to see me or else I'm going to be embarassed."

*sigh*

I know I'm too old

2006-05-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been blogging about American Idol, siding with McPhee or with Taylor Soul Patrol. With all of the flaring of emotions, I am not one to sit on the sidelines and not pipe up.

Especially since I used to teach statistics for freshmen at the state college.

And I used to use American Idol as my model for why volunteer phone-in polls do not work, scientifically. This was a perfect example for my class, textbook, as it were.

Why is it now, after AI being in it's 5th season, that people are finally starting to complain (loudly) about the phone-in system for voting??

There are people in the blogosphere who are saying there is no way the Kat-Taylor-Elliot vote could have been so close (in the 10th of a percent close).

I totally believe it.

So while you might be like me, and sit there and hit re-dial for hours on end, basically the fans are max-ing out the phone banks and it will come down to being this close next week also.

But for the record?

Taylor is my man, and he has been ever since I saw his audition. I have rooted for him every step of the way. They should pay me for my instinct :-)

I also got my tickets for the AI concert. I know, totally, like, how old am I? But hey, I'm taking my daughter. She's so excited, it's adorable. But we have to wait 3 months.

I promise I will post a full concert review. After attending my last concert several years ago (after discovering I was just way too old and way too poor to keep going to big name concerts), I just decided this was a perfect first-concert for a kid.

And all this from someone who never watched AI until this season.

(Oh, and hey Kat fans- my daughter is voting for Kat, and I am voting for Taylor)

Photo credit: www.jossip.com

Kona got a boo-boo

2006-05-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was on the phone with my sister when I noticed blood on my kitchen floor.

Maybe most people would freak out. Normally, I would freak out. But you see, when we have a new puppy in the house, I figure anything is possible. It wasn't a lot of blood, just a couple of drops. I figured she lost a tooth, or she cut herself, or the dogs were just playing too hard together. They both were running around and happy, so I didn't give it a second thought.

Until I was on the couch falling asleep. You know that terrific moment after a long day when you can drift off to sleep? You don't have anything else you need to do right then other than relax? Yeah, that's when Kona jumped on my lap.

And had an actively bleeding toenail.

After much fussing, we determined the bleeding had been going for a long time and would not stop, plus it was finally grossing me out.

We took Kona to the emergency vet, where I braced myself for the worst. Even after they said it was a minor wound, I was preparing for the worst- a long night, a huge bill, and thanking goodness for the pet insurance policy we just took out on the pets a few weeks ago. Even when they said they had 3 major emergencies come in, I was prepared to be in their for the long haul.

Amazingly, an hour and a half later and only $84, Kona was ready to go home. His little doggy bandage made him limp, but by the time the bandage came off, he was much better. The nail is significantly short (it's barely there, it nipped the quick of the nail), but otherwise doing well.

And the puppy? This morning I woke up to find she had escaped from her confinement (where she is kept in the kitchen when she is not being supervised) and had gotten into the cat litter and there was a combination of cat poop and dog poop all over the house.

I still did not freak out. Amazing.

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

2006-05-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

My husband got me something I've always wanted! One of those delicious giant cookies from Mrs. Field's. They sit in their display window beckoning, I always thought it would be so cool to get one. I even cried when he gave it to me.

We had a nice Mother's Day, my daughter gave me a card that was just so cute. Her teacher typed up a letter to be placed inside the card. Well, take a look!

Also this weekend our Girl Scout troop went on their adventure as their reward for a successful cookie season. This year the girls decided they wanted to do the Dolphin Interaction Program at Sea World San Diego. I at first was shocked by the price ($150 per person, adults and children same price), but after seeing the experience I can't wait to go do it myself someday! It was really incredible and definitely something the kids will always remember.

Maki Zushi

2006-05-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend the supplies I ordered for sushi-making finally arrived. I swear within a half hour of us opening the package, we were on our way out the door to the Japanese Market.

I realize I don't speak or read any Japanese (although I wish I did), so I was admittedly a little nervous going into the store. I was very grateful for some of the english labels (not everything had labels) and some of the items were at least recognizable for me. (My concern over the labels comes from the fact I am severely allergic to shellfish and any oils from shellfish- I have to be so careful what I eat sometimes, especially when it comes to sushi).

It was also a Saturday afternoon so the place was packed, which made me feel awkward lingering over products when other people were trying to get to them.

I have to say this was a very fun field trip. It was so neat seeing all of the cool products, they had japanese music on, and a television showing Japanese programming. They had a big movie section, and a nice selection of sushi-grade fish. I picked up some beautiful tuna (which was $30 for a pound) and some salmon. I thought I would keep my first sushi experience simple, and plus I am not even sure making shellfish rolls for my friends would be a good idea or a bad idea. Also, I saw the a population so diverse in the store like I have never seen in San Diego, which I appreciated.

Everyone I spoke to in the store seemed very nice and friendly, even accomodating when I had to speak to them in English. It made me want to learn some basic Japanese so next time I can speak to them in their own language and not feel like such a dork.

I did pick up 12 pounds of sushi rice, so I'm set for a while. Next time I would like to pick up some Shiitake mushrooms and make a nice vegetable roll. I also should have picked up some japanese cucumber, but didn't think of it. When I go back, I need to bring in the japanese terms for some of the food I was looking for but couldn't find.

At home, I had been soaking the sushi rice I already had in stock. I don't have a rice cooker and managed to do a decent job making the rice on my stovetop. A good rice cooker will cost over $100 most of the time, and I wasn't sure I was ready to invest in one. Next time I need to remember to add some Sake to the rice. I did remember the "dashi kombu", which is dried seaweed. My teacher instructed us to add a 3-inch square of dashi kombu to the 4 cups of uncooked rice, but the absence of sake was noticeable in the final product.

I made "Tekka Maki", which is a tuna roll, and I also made Philadelphia Rolls, which are my daughter's favorite. Lessons learned from this experience: cut the tuna slices in half, put less wasabi inside the rolls, and add less cream cheese to the Philadelphia Roll, which was also missing something- was it cucumber? I had a great time making the sushi, which remarkably came together quite nicely. I only spent about $15 on the fish, and look how much it made! We got 2 meals out of all of this sushi. While you are making the sushi, it is key to have a bowl of vinegar water so you can dampen your hands and dampen your knife as you slice the rolls.

Here are the photos... it was delicious!

Tekka Maki

Philadelphia Roll

Shawn enjoying his bounty

From my little gardener

2006-05-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

"Happy early mother's day, mama!" - Rachel, age 7 1/2

Only I could catch a cold in May

2006-05-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, dear readers, I have been under the weather this week. It's just my punishment for thinking the other day, "Yay, we made it through the cold season!" and I swear the very next day my daughter woke up going, "Cough, cough, COUGH." Argh!

But in all of my husband's cuteness, I woke up one morning to see this note:

Madness!

2006-04-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

Kiki, age 3.5 months

So our house has descended into utter chaos of late.

We got a new puppy. I know, I know, I should have told you guys sooner. We had to keep it a secret at first, she was an Easter surprise for my daughter. We now have 2 corgis, a boy and a girl:

Fortunately for us, Kona and Kiki adore each other. They are just so cute together. Rachel says, "I hope they fall in love!" Ummm, I would explain the concept of neutering and spaying, but I haven't done so yet :-) Anyway, they keep each other busy, which is what I was hoping for. Kiki is frickin' adorable, and loves to cuddle with humans (and try to lick your face off).

I've also continued to be busy with work, school, my daughter's activities, and Girl Scouts. Somehow I decided it would be a good idea to invite a few school friends over for pizza. The last time I had people over I cooked a very intricate dinner, and they were late, and food was burned, and Momma was NOT a happy camper. Therefore, I thought pizza would be MUCH simpler, and hey, I'm entertaining kids here.

Therefore, I went crazy with cleaning the house here (by going "crazy", my husband will tell you I actually cleaned the house for a change). I knew I had descended into madness when I figured out that Duct Tape will pull up the dog hair off of the bedspread.

Do you know how long it takes to clean a room of dog hair, using only duct tape? I can tell you the duct tape has stronger sticky-ness than the "pet hair pick-up" tools they sell, which are utter crap, so while it may seem silly, it actually does work.

Still, my husband was shaking his head at my technique. Whatever, I had no idea how much dog hair was in this house that is NOT on the dogs.

And remember, I also have 2 cats. Just call us a zoo.

I promise to post photos after the party, promise!

My husband loves me

2006-04-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

My husband has the green thumb in the family. I certainly do not- I mean, even DESERT plants die under my care, I have no idea how I do it. It's an art, I guess.

I've always loved roses, especially because they remind me of my grandparent's home in LA. They always had the most beautiful roses in their front yard. I was sad when the new owners of that house tore out the rose bushes- we have decades of family photos taken in front of those roses!

Dear Hubby has all sorts of fantastic ideas for making the backyard an idyllic spot. After all, we do live in Southern California, and our little postage stamp of a lot has more yard than house. We figure if we can live in the backyard half the year it'll be worth it. To make the backyard perfect requires cleaning up a lot of overgrowth, even though I like some of what is out there some of it will go (apparently, my artistic talent includes thinking weeds are pretty).

He has been on this amazing clean-up-the-backyard streak, which began with chopping down a dead palm tree and hauling it away. My dog has finally let us have flowers again (well, for now), so my husband planted two small rose bushes to see how they would do.

He even picked my favorite colors- pink and lavender!

He also was trying to create more room for new plants by trimming the trees in the backyard. When he got out there yesterday, he made it through a few branches before a wire from the power lines fell on him- he's lucky he didn't get electrocuted- but it turned out to be an old communications line (a "dead line" not a "live line") so they telecom folks came out today to clear the old wire. It looked like the line had been cut years ago but never taken down. I asked telecom company if they would trim the tree away from the wires (it is not our tree, but belongs on the property of condos behind us), and they just laughed at me. Yea, right, lady. Trim it yourself!

Still, the wire falling put the scare right in my hubby! Add that to the burst pipe in our backyard last Friday, and we've had one exciting homeowner's week. Let's hope that's it.

More on Carissa

2006-04-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm a little behind with normal things like reading the paper. I finally had a few moments to read yesterday's paper during my daughter's piano class today, and found a nice article on Carissa Seward from the Next Food Network Star. A gourmet food and tea shop? Carissa, I am so there. Best of luck!

Congrats, Guy!

2006-04-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Guy Fieri for winning "The Next Food Network Star" this evening!

Runner-up Reggie Southerland was also a fantastic contestant, I thoroughly enjoyed watching both of them and I would watch either of them on TV. In the end, though, America voted for Guy. Reggie, America did love you, too, and I'll speak for everyone when I say that I would love to see a cookbook from you!

Guy's recipes are certainly different, though, and as someone who loves hot and spicy (come on, one of his restaurants is called Tex Wasabi's, could that be any more of the perfect fusion for this Texas gal who loves sushi?) I look forward to trying out his recipes. Hopefully he will add a little bit of spark and some real spice to the Food Network. I see they have a lot of new shows coming out this summer, I can't wait! My recipe repertoire needs to be kicked up a notch, as someone we know would say.

Carissa, if you're reading, I am also interested to see what you do in the culinary world in San Diego- we need you here, so let us know what you're up to! Your food was yummy, too, and you'll definitely grab an audience down here.

Guy will be on the CBS Early Show in the morning, although I can't say I'll be awake that early to watch it :-)

Pretty in Pink

2006-04-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Last night my husband totally humored me by not throwing the remote at my head when I insisted on watching the last 20 minutes of "Pretty in Pink". You see, I consider myself a child of the 80's. While I was born in the early 70's, I take no credit (or fault) for any outfit I wore in the 70's, as those outfits were purely my parents fault.

But my pink hair, pink eye glasses, pink tie, and Madonna style lace headband were all totally my fault. And yes, even my bedroom was pink (and I say thank goodness pink is finally back in style :-)

I was 12 going on 13 when "Pretty in Pink" came out. I had my first "real" boyfriend (ha ha ha! How I can laugh now at my naivete), and Pretty in Pink was my first DATE movie ever. Yes, Jon Cryer had a movie career 20 years before his next big hit with "Two and a Half Men", a show I do watch and love. Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald, not quite so lucky in the hit department.

Anyway, the movie will forever hold a special place in my heart. I will also admit to you, oh dear internet, that I still have all of the lines memorized. I used to listen to the sountrack incessantly too. It can instantly take me back to a simpler time, and 1986 still seems like the end all, be all of teen years for me. I even cried as the credits rolled, not because the ending was sad (yes, in the book she does end up with Duckie and not Blane). I cried because 20 years has passed in a flash, and I thought, "What the hell happened?" How on earth could 20 years go by so fast?

I know, I know, I am sounding old. But yes, Pretty in Pink is 20 years old this year, I'm wondering if they will or have already released a special commemorative DVD. I might, um, have to buy it. It will be next to "Say Anything" and "She's Having a Baby" on my shelf. Because really, don't we all want reminders around of ourselves when we were that young?

Sure, my daughter will tell me I'm a dork and "Mom, you are EMBARASSING me", but you know, perhaps she will like them too and can get a sense of what the world was like back then. I just made her watch "Ghostbusters" and I was pleased to find she actually did like it.

On the other hand, I did finally see "The Constant Gardener" which was excellent but totally depressing. Which I guess is why I digress this evening back to Pretty in Pink...

Poster courtesy of http://www.impawards.com/1986/pretty_in_pink.html

Sea World Adventure

2006-04-19T23:37:00.000-07:00

We went to Sea World recently, and braved quite a large crowd. Yes, it is indeed tourist season in San Diego, evident from the lost drivers on the freeways.

We went to the Shamu show (for only the 2nd time in all my years living here). It was a hot day, but I had this to contend with:

Yes, oh clueless parent, your child stood up on the bench the entire show, blocking my view and my daughter's view. Despite repeated pleas for your child to please, please sit down, the child would sit down until you weren't looking and then stand up again.

Thanks for that.

Easter bunnies (SPOILER ALERT Not Safe for Children)

2006-04-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice Easter weekend, just the three of us. I was up early on Sunday (well, early for me) and began cooking by 9am, and we ate at 12:15! It was an Easter miracle! I don't ever recall eating a holiday meal that early, but then again it was only dinner for 3 and I didn't over-indulge the meal. We had ham, gravy and mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, white wine, and sugar cookies for dessert. After resting up and getting some dishes done, the easter bunny left some eggs in the backyard and the sun came out so Rachel could go egg hunting.

On saturday at the mall we passed the Easter Bunny in the portrait studio. Rachel said very loudly, "It's just a guy in a Bunny costume!" to which I scolded her to be quiet so she wouldn't ruin it for the other children. Yet there was this part of her which really, really wanted to believe. She said, "He's not the real Easter Bunny. The real Easter Bunny is a real rabbit."

So we talked about it, as we got through Christmas without any of these comments. I told her the Easter Bunny was whatever she wanted to believe he was, and you could see how desperately she wanted him to come to her house that night.

I don't think she was disappointed the next morning!

I insisted on all of the traditions we had in my house growing up. We did dye easter eggs, even though most years I now make a Happy Passover egg too (dye it blue with a white star of david). Rachel even wanted to watch some of the "Ten Commandments", which I didn't have time to watch.

Age appropriate? I think not.

2006-04-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend I took my daughter to the movies to see Ice Age 2. The movie has been doing well recently, and it being a holiday weekend, the theater was PACKED.

We were wondering why the movie started late, and then the R rated previews came on. The Poseidon (which concerned my daughter, "Did this really happen?" etc), The Fast and The Furious, X-Men 3.... all previews totally inappropriate before a G rated movie- my daughter was easily, at age 7, among the oldest children in the theater.

And then the movie came on.

And it wasn't Ice Age 2.

It was "V for Vendetta", which immediately begins as a gory mess before the title credits run.

We're all looking at each other as it slowly dawns on us this is NOT a preview, but rather a horrible, terrible mistake.

I grab my daughter, after covering her eyes, and pull her out of the movie theater. There's an angry mob forming around some poor young guy with a walkie talkie, calmly asking them to turn off the movie.

At this point, little children are screaming and crying, and parents are screaming that they want to talk to a manager.

Fortunately for me, my daughter was rather calm and didn't understand why I got so upset. We returned to the theater once "V" was turned off, but only about half of the crowd returned to see the movie.

I'm going to guess that half received a refund, but what about those of us that stayed? It would have been nice for the theater to come in and apologize to us. I didn't want my money back, I just wanted an apology. TO THE KIDS! not to me.

This is the first time this has ever happened to me, but in my opinion, this was a major Oops!

And before I forget, the actual Ice Age 2 movie was very cute, I loved listening to the children laughing, I never get tired of my daughter's smile and laugh! I was glad, in the end, we were able to see the movie we came to see.

Images copyright http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com/ and http://www.iceagemovie.com/

Family genes- can they be absorbed?

2006-04-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

People have commented that my sushi-making post made them crave sushi (ok, one person. Thanks, Dad!) and then I started craving sushi, too.

Kiddo is on spring break, so today she asked if we could have sushi for lunch. I, of course, could not say no. How cute is it to see a 7-year-old eat sushi? She's gotten much better, will even eat the raw fish, but still won't let the nori (seaweed) cross her lips.

Hubby came along, and for the first time ever, someone commented (loudly! exclamation point!), "Oh my Goodness! She looks just like you! Just like you!" referring to how much Rachel looks like Shawn. This was so funny to us for two reasons: Shawn is not her biological father but rather her stepfather, and Rachel actually DOES look like Shawn!

We were laughing so hard, her next comment was, "Do you get that a lot?" to which Shawn just smiled and said, "Yes".

Family etiquette

2006-04-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

My ex-husband got re-married over the weekend, which is why my daughter was out of town. My daughter and I had a fabulous reunion yesterday, it was so good to see her after a whole week away!

But, it brought up this question- do I get the happy couple a gift, and if so, what? Please understand this is what should be described as the "good divorce" and the 4 of us (ex, his new wife, my new husband, and myself) all work very hard to make sure the daughter is put first. We all get along, and I am grateful that new wife is so good to my daughter. We say she is so lucky to have 4 parents who love her very much.

I spoke with many people about the gift thing, to get their opinion. I heard, "Did they get you anything?" along with "You don't need to get them a gift. Maybe a card." but all I knew was that the etiquette police told me that since I was happy for the newly marrieds, I should get them something.

Yes, I grew up in Texas, and southern women, well, we're a breed of our own. I believe in hand writing thank you notes (although if I am late with the thank you note I feel terrible!), and I am one of the few that still hand address my christmas/hanukkah cards every December (although I am sure the post office wishes I would either improve my handwriting or use a printer!)

I finally opted for a card and some cold, hard cash, as I know it was so greatly appreciated at my wedding- HUGELY appreciated, you have no idea.

If you have a "blended family" like ours, I'd love to hear from you. We've done a good job so far at sharing holidays, splitting weekends, school days, celebrations. My daughter is one happy kid.

Rachel, age 6.

Photo copyright Kat Miner Photography

I am the next Food Network Star... I wish

2006-04-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Since I am hold with the insurance company yet again, I thought I would take this down time as a chance to finally post about my recent cooking school experiences.

I have taken up cooking again in recent months because I love to cook and our bottom line in our checkbook was screaming at us to never, ever eat out again unless someone else was paying for it. Or we have a coupon.

The problem is, my cooking expertise is fairly limited. My daughter loves to cook, and while she is only 7, her favorite channel is The Food Network and I figure someday she will discover all of my delicious cooking techinques are right up Sandra Lee (of Semi Homemade). While I am totally OK with being Semi Homemade (yes, I am also a fan of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals- I don't believe in spending a lot of time preparing a meal, who has that kind of time?), I feel like my repertoire of meals needed expanding.

First off, aren't you always impressed watching professional chefs with a knife? For me, the most time in the kitchen is spent on prep work. If I could shorten my prep time, I'd be a happy camper. So, the first class I took was a basic knife skills class. Now that I am back in my own kitchen, I am trying to practice the technique, which includes not chopping off any of your fingers. For some reason, my non-cutting hand does not want to follow instructions of hiding all of its appendages, and that has been the hardest part for me. Otherwise? I have cut in half (pun intended) the amount of time it takes for me to dice an onion, and therefore the class was worth every penny!

Secondly, my favorite food is sushi. I love to go out for sushi, I'm always so impressed by a good sushi chef. I took a sushi class this weekend, and I learned a lot. Did you know the word "sushi" does not refer to the fish but rather it refers to the rice? It refers to vinegared rice, and yes, my japanese teacher added Sake to her rice recipe. I learned just how important good sushi rice is in the whole process. I'd love to invest in a terrific foreign rice cooker, but they are terribly expensive (a good one will run you about $200). I learned about washing and soaking rice, which is something I have never done before.

I also learned a trick the japanese use in preparing their rice- they add seaweed to the pot to add flavor to the rice, called "Konbu". Also, never use long grain rice! I thought the short grain rice had more flavor than the medium grain, but either would work. My teacher has a vegetarian sushi class and she uses brown rice in one of her recipes, but in Japan the white rice is a symbol of wealth, and therefore they ALWAYS use white rice. Definitely not Jasmine and probably not Basmati unless you were doing fusion cuisine. Cooking technique is important here, or else you could end up with Risotto instead of sushi rice, we obviously spent a long time on the rice- again, I had no idea how important it was, but she was right, the sushi won't taste like sushi unless you have the rice down pat! Ha ha ha.

Once we had the rice part down, we moved on to the preparation of sushi. First, we prepapred Inari sushi, which is made using deep fried tofu and the specially prepared sushi rice. These are made by boiling the aburaage (deep fried tofu) and adding sugar and soy sauce and vinegar. Then you lightly squeeze dry and stuff with sushi rice. These are delicious and sweet, and look like this:

The best part of this class was eating what we made! Inari sushi was yummy, but then it was time to move on to the fish. The teacher first taught us how to use our sushi rolling mat, which was very cool and handy. The technique for making maki sushi (sushi rolls) involves laying out a piece of seaweed called "Nori" (use a nice, dark color), filling it with the vinegared rice and whatever else you desire, and using your sushi mat to roll into the appropriate shape.

First we made Kappa Maki, which was just filling the roll with cucumber. Very good, and I lived on these when I was pregnant since I avoided fish during the pregnancy. Then we moved on to my absolute favorite, Tekka Maki (which is Tuna).

The trick here was slicing the tuna into the appropriate shapes for the roll. Slice off against the grain a rectangular piece of the fish. Slice that piece in half. An 8 inch roll requires about 3 of these pieces, laid end to end.

Our final roll was the California Roll, which is usually used to introduce newcomers to the world of sushi. This has no raw fish, just cooked fish. We also made this one our inside-out roll, which means the rice is on the outside of the roll (see photos below). You place the rice on your Nori as usual (except snap the Nori down to 2/3 size), then you flip it upside down before adding the filling: for a california roll, you add avocado and crab (or imitation crab), then roll it up as usual. It is quite common to add toasted sesame seeds to the rice before flipping it over.

Here is a photo of Tekka Maki (on the left) and California Roll (on the right):

The tricks I learned during the day- it is easiest to put the sushi rice where you want it if you wet your hand in a bowl of vinegared water first (so the rice doesn't stick to you), and it is easy to manipulate the rice if you use just one hand. Also, the knife they gave me wasn't very sharp, and it made slicing my rolls into individiual pieces very difficult. I also recommend wetting the knife before every slice, to keep it from sticking to the Nori.

I had a really good time, and I loved all of my food- I ate just about everything, and was totally stuffed. The class even came with a glass of beer or wine! Really fun, I had a good time chatting with everyone at my table. I highly recommend these classes, they are not that expensive, and who knows, you could learn something new! My biggest problem now is deciding which class to take next.

Photos credit of Japan Guide

It's time to observe your religion!

2006-04-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

Next week, with Palm Sunday, Passover, Good Friday, Easter, and everything in between all occurring within days of each other, people will dust off their fancy outfits and head to their respective houses of worship.

All of these crowds at services will lead to crammed seats and people having unpure thoughts, dreams, nay wishes, that this device existed:

Pew Ejector

Just kidding, everyone. Hope you all have a nice holiday, whatever it is you're celebrating.

In my house, we celebrate 'em all. We're equal opportunity worshippers. Even though I am not a member of the UCC, I liked their message in this commercial (which was NOT about ejecting people from a church- if that's all you got out of it, go back and watch it again).

When did 7 mean "I don't need my mom"?

2006-04-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

So today I dropped my daughter off, and because she is going on vacation with her Dad, I walked her in to the classroom where I usually just drop her off and let her go in by herself.

She was horrified at this change of events, and even when I told her I really wanted to go in to give a proper goodbye since I won't see her for a week, she balked.

When she saw another student, she immediately began walking 3 feet in front of me, as if she didn't even know me. I was laughing but my feelings were also hurt- I mean, I expected this of a teenager, but since when did 7 become a pre-teenager??? She gave me a curt goodbye, making it clear I was, like, TOTALLY embarassing her.

So back to my trip. It was so beautiful and relaxing. We rented a cabin with my folks, and we had about foot of snow still on the ground in some places, and we even got to see some snowfall on saturday. I was disappointed we couldn't go hiking (you needed some very good snow gear to do that), but we did get to go play in the snow for a while. We also spent a great deal of time walking around the downtown area and browsing the shops (and, er, shopping).

We had some fantastic meals. I suggest reservations everywhere they are accepted.

The best:

Restaurant Gastrognome was by far our fanciest and most expensive meal of the trip. I will eat there every single time I go up in the mountains, it is always delicious! I had the smoked salmon pasta, and the portion size was enough to take home and eat a second meal. Everyone in our party had a fantastic meal, and most of us also shared in delicious desserts.

Cafe Aroma was the most unique dining experience, and was so delightful and unexpected! If you love garlic, this place is a must. I even had garlic bisque for my appetizer, and they served garlic and olive oil with their bread. We had live music to go with our meal, pretty artwork to look at, the bathroom was my favorite I've ever visited- why on earth would I say that? It's called the "Restrumi" and the place is is covered in poetry to keep you busy in there for hours. Plus, the sign next to the toilet stating, "Please seat yourself" was a gem that had us all laughing (no, we didn't ALL go in to the bathroom together). I will definitely put this on my list for next time.

Earth N Fire Yes, I know this is not a restaurant. I'm just trying to let you know that if you are visiting, this is a MUST on your activity list. Eddie, better known as "The Pottery Dude" is so friendly and gives you great tips at creating works of art, even if you are not an artist (I'm a case in point). His staff of artists will help you put the fine touches on your art work as well. Below are some photos of our creations:

Yes, folks, I painted that! The glazing and firing really makes it beautiful. I got really tired by the time I got to the letters in "Tortillas", so next time I will remember to either take a break in the middle or to make sure I eat breakfast before I go.

All in all, a really fantastic trip. Mom even says she wants to make it an annual trip! Sign me up.

Returning back to earth

2006-04-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

So we went out of town for a weekend vacation to the mountains.

We thought, erroneously, that APRIL would mean SPRING.

Apparently, in the mountains in the mile high city, it means SNOW.

Which, for a southern californian, is big news. It was my daughter's first time to see snow.

I will post more pictures later, but for now, enjoy my daughter's drawings of our beautiful snowy weekend.

Our cabin.

The totem pole in the center of downtown Idyllwild.

Tahquitz Rock

The Office

2006-03-30T22:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, it is ironic that I work from home yet I love both versions of "The Office". I did work in various offices for 10 years (including another telecommuting stint) and that is why I find the show(s) so darn funny. Of course, it is why I love Dilbert also.

I have been a fan of the US version of The Office for a while. I admit I even pay to download episodes I missed (available on iTunes- someday I will have TiVo). I realize I am outing myself as a huge nerd, but hey internet, I *am* a huge nerd. Let out your inner nerd and switch on this show, at 9:30/8:30 Central on Thursday nights.

Now, I realize this is a type of comedy that a lot of Americans aren't used to- you have to pay attention to it because the humor of this show is not always spoken, it can be carried in a glance or an awkward moment of silence. Once I "got" the humor, I was hooked. Now I can't wait to find out what's up with the office crush of Pam and Jim, will Pam really get married, what is the office boss Michael screwing up now, how will Jim mess with Dwight this week, what's going on with the perfect match of Dwight and Angela, and oh my goodness I need to get my own life. But you see, this half hour is the funniest half hour of television all week. You will laugh because you know someone like that guy or you know exactly how that girl feels. It's even funnier if you've ever actually been to Scranton, PA.

I may have created my obsession backwards, because I finally rented the DVD for the UK's version of The Office (Season I) and found it to be as enjoyable as the US version. Part of the fun for me was exploring the history behind every character. Yes, the UK version came first. (Is Season 2 available yet on DVD? Must rent.)

For those of you who didn't get tonight's "The More You Know" commercials starring The Office cast, Happy April Fool's Day, silly. You can find them on the website under "Videos", although you might have to sort through some commercials to get to the good stuff.

And if you ever find your stapler immersed in Jell-O, perhaps you should tune in to "The Office" to find out why!

* Photo credit: NBC, www.nbc.com

Cooking up a storm

2006-03-29T10:07:00.000-08:00

So today I am venturing out into the unknown- I'm going to my very first ever cooking class. I will let you know how it goes. I've only signed up for 2 classes in case I don't like it. It should be interesting!

I have been cooking more and more since I have been fortunate enough to be working from home. Yesterday's meal- my version of chili:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 large sweet onion (Vidalia is best!), diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 can red kidney beans, drained
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes, undrained
4 tablespoons chili powder
Red pepper and hot sauce to taste

Brown the ground beef in a skillet and drain the fat. Put meat in the crockpot. Then saute the onion and red pepper until the onion is translucent. Add to crockpot. Add remaining ingredients in crockpot, stir. Cook on Low for 6-8 hours or High for 3-4 hours. Top with cheese to taste, serve with bread for dippin'. If you want to make this the true texas way, omit the beans and add another pound of ground beef, double the onion and tomatoes.

Enjoy, y'all!

"Stick this on your blog and shove it"

2006-03-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

I am not a morning person.

After over five years of being together, my husband should KNOW this about me.

This morning, he decided it would be a good idea to come snuggle with me, and then while I had my arm raised over my head, he was tempted to pick at a pimple in my armpit.

My armpit, people.

I reacted as any normal person would- I'm ticklish, after all- and jerked my arm down in defense.

My elbow made solid contact with his NOSE.

Ouch.

It is not broken, but I am quite sure that hurt like hell.

His only response?

"Stick this on your blog and shove it."

Weekend thoughts

2006-03-26T22:37:00.000-08:00

As the weekend draws to a close (and because Grey's Anatomy is a repeat! A repeat), it affords me some time here to relay my weekend to you, oh dear Internet.

1) Making crank calls to my house at 2:30 and 3:00 in the morning with the intent to make me feel miserable the next day- hey, you succeeded. Congratulations.

2) Went to the beach expecting some of that fantastic California sunshine (hey, I do pay a sunshine tax to live here, after all)- nope, I was freezing my tucchus off, so we turned around and left.

3) Went to the mall where I am now the proud owner of my first pair of designer jeans in well over a decade (since the last century, you could say!) Doubtful I will model them here, so sorry to disappoint. You seriously have no idea how long it has been since I bought new clothes. I'm quite sure I have clothes from middle school hiding in my closet (that is, sadly, not a joke).

4) Am now hooked on The Next Food Network Star. Darn it. As if I needed more to add to my viewing schedule. I need TiVo!

5) Finally concluded the Kill Bill series (and did I hear the Encore channel bleep out part of the movie? I've never had a cable movie channel bleep a word before. Now I'm curious to find out what it was).

6) Saw The Ice Harvest -while I am a huge John Cusack fan, and I enjoyed him in this film, I didn't care for the movie, it was a little too dark for my tastes. I have to admit I was disappointed, I was hoping it would be more in the vein of Grosse Pointe Blank.

7) Had a fabulous meal at Trattoria Tiramisu. While we did not have reservations, next time I will definitely make some- I think we just got lucky. I've never had a bad meal there. I purposely saved half of my entree so I could get dessert, but then had to choose between my 2 favorites- Tiramisu (yes, it lives up to their name) and Creme Brulee. I chose the Tiramisu, and the portion was so large that I could not even finish it. A +, 5 stars, however you want to rank it. Fantastic!

8) Also had a fabulous meal at Point Loma Seafoods, but after appearing on Rachael Ray's "$40 a day" on the Food Network, it looked like a lot of people had the same idea we had. I have never seen it so crowded, and after a half hour of waiting gave up on getting a table (short of tackling someone, I chose to sit on a bench). If you are ever in town and are jonesing for seafood, this is the place to go. A caveat- they are only open until 6:30pm each night. I had the fish sandwich, delish! Oh, and despite the "Please do not feed the birds" signs, a pushy seagull managed to get away with some of my fries.

That was pretty much it. A nice relaxing weekend. Sometimes it's nice to be a tourist in your own town.

The blogger. A photo essay of thesis hell.

2006-03-23T23:12:00.001-08:00

I wish I could sleep like this

2006-03-23T23:12:00.000-08:00

Insurance... is it working? And dog park etiquette.

2006-03-23T11:38:00.000-08:00

My insurance company must read my blog. They corrected two of the problems I complained about in an earlier post. I'm so happy! They have my name right! They have the accounting right! It's a miracle!

I'm also happy because we're 6 school days away from a much-needed 2 week school break. Not for the kidlet, for me. Whew. I could use a rest! I'm sure before long my daughter and I will be sleeping in past our usual 7am routine, and staying up entirely too late watching movies. I can't wait!

A question for you about dog park etiquette- there was a dog at the dog park yesterday who kept picking on my cute little corgi (see below!). He kept jumping on his back and trying to bite his neck, occasionally he would actually bite (given the yelps my dog would make!). The owner said, "Oh, he's only 8 months old, he doesn't know the word No yet".

I thought this was ridiculous- my dog was trained early on to learn what "NO" meant, just like how you would raise a child. He is well-behaved and I would never let him act that way torwards another dog- if he ever did, I would correct him, and I will put him in "time-out" to separate him from his friends.

The owner never tried to correct her dog, saying they were just playing. I say this was beyond just playing and should not have been permitted. When I felt it had crossed the line, I pulled my dog over to me and tried to keep the other dog away. Eventually, distraction worked, and throwing balls back and forth kept the dogs competing in another way- who could get the ball first? And the biting and jumping stopped.

What do you think? What should I have done? Did I over-react? I had just never seen a dog act this way towards my dog, and I'd never seen my dog "play" that way. I got the feeling the dog was not trained at all, given how impressed the owner was by my dog's actions as a result of my commands. Not that my dog is all amazingly trained, but the basics are definitely there.

Let me know your comments please. Thank you!

Wait for it...

2006-03-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Kona waits ever so patiently for his blue ball to float to the side of the pool for retrieval.

Said blue ball ended up in the pool due to my lack of ability to throw a ball at my intended target.

Kona has learned exactly where the ball will end up. He looks at me as if to say, "Stupid human, why MUST you throw it in the pool? Tsk, tsk. Oh well, I shall go take my place and wait for my bounty to come to me."

The School Project

2006-03-22T18:46:00.000-08:00

My daughter had her first school project due today. She chose to do an art project about a farm, the rule being we could only use things we already had at home.

The play-doh worked out ok, but shrunk and cracked as it dried (I'd never purposely dried play-doh before!). She worked very hard on it, but got bored when she realized she would have to do most of the work herself. The wagon wheel on the upper part is made of perler beads, which I ironed for her.

Nonetheless, I think she did a great job! Put it in perspective, this is 2nd grade.

It was fun today looking at everyone's different projects. Everyone interpreted the assignment differently. Some people did collages, some dioramas.

It has reminded me of how much I loved oral presentations in elementary school. I remember the fun things I would make to go along with my presentation, once I made a filmstrip, a book (my grandmother sewed it together for me, and even put a library check out card on the inner cover), and I loved making dioramas. I especially enjoy being able to share a few of these things now with my daughter, and it's fun to read what I wrote when I was her age.

I know as the years go by the projects will change and become harder, but I so enjoyed watching her make this one, her first!

An homage to my hometown

2006-03-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Houston, Texas. I haven't been back since 1992, but my folks are there right now. I've been trying to conjure up memories of my favorite things about Houston.

* I remember a flood when I was in preschool, and my parents were out of town. I remember the babysitter picking me up. I remember thinking how cool it would be to go play in the street (a pool! In my front yard!) and being mad when I was told it wasn't safe to go outside.

* I remember our Magnolia tree in our front yard, and our fig tree in our backyard. Smelling either takes me right back. So does the sound of cicadas.

* I remember how much I loved going to the Rodeo, it was a perfectly normal thing to go do. I always looked forward to it because in school we always entered the contests (art contest, writing contest)

* I remember thinking, "Fantastic! It's 104 degrees, we can get any tennis court we want now!" and going out and playing tennis in said heat and humidity. I also remember playing in the sprinklers in the front yard. To this day when I see a sprinkler in the summertime I want to run through it.

* I remember cockroaches as big as my foot.

* Galveston was like heaven on earth. I thought getting covered in tar when you were in the ocean, and having to wash with turpentine before being allowed back in the beachhouse, was a perfectly normal beach experience. I loved eating clam chowder and fried shrimp on the pier. I loved Dickens on the Strand and anything having to do with the Strand or the Galveston Seawall. I remember pushing my then-boyfriend's broken down car from the beach back to his parents' beach house. I remember playing hooky (only once!) in high school to drive to Galveston, and the first place I drove with my brand new driver's license was Galveston. I remember driving down to Galveston and buying shrimp from the fisherman in their boats, and going home to my best friend's house and grilling them up.

* I remember when the Hard Rock Cafe opened, so close to my house we could almost walk there. I remember going there all dressed up with my friends before formal dances.

* Goode Company Barbeque and Ninfa's restaurants- two places that have set an awfully high bar for me, the two restaurants I would visit within hours of returning to Houston. I'm sure these two places top my parents list, too, because they visited both while they have been out there! Goode Company Barbeque is so good that I've never had a barbeque meal that was satisfactory since. Ninfa's has simply the best fajitas you will find anywhere!

* Rice University holds many fond memories for me. Not only did my Dad work there, but I went to (voluntarily!) summer school for many summers, taking fun classes and occasional high school credit (yes, I've always been an overachiever). My friends and I spent most of our summer days between classes at Rice, playing racquetball (yes, I finally figured out it's like indoor tennis with air-conditioning, important in the summer!), hanging out at the library, and going to Astroworld (Six Flags). Those were awesome summers. I loved going over to my Dad's office, too. The only reason I didn't go to Rice for college was I felt like I had already gone there, since I began going to summer school there in 6th grade. I even learned how to drive in the Rice Stadium parking lot. I went to more basketball and football games than I can count, and to this day I still prefer a college game over a pro-game. There's just something in the air that's different about a college game, a level of fun and excitement that is missing for me in a pro-game.

* I remember how I loved all of the museums in Houston. I loved the Planetarium, and in high school they did the laser show of Pink Floyd at night. I loved Hermann park and the Miller Outdoor Theatre. I loved the train around the zoo. I even remember the Jean Michel-Jarre fireworks and laser light show "Rendezvous Houston" which turned used the downtown buildings for a backdrop, and later turned downtown Houston into a giant parking lot with all 1.3 million of us trying to leave after the show.

* I remember when the Transco Waterwall (now called the Williams Waterwall) was built. I remember it was the place to hang out in high school, especially if you had a limo and were dressed up after prom.

* I always loved going to Space Center Houston. Like most kids in Houston, I wanted to work for NASA- only I didn't want to be an astronaut, I wanted to be in Mission Control. Growing up in Houston, we were very fortunate that we got to meet so many Astronauts and hear their stories.

* I looked forward every year to doing the March of Dimes WalkAmerica. I loved exploring Houston's bayou that way.

* I loved going to the Astrodome. I especially loved going to Astros games with my Dad. Of course, the Astros no longer play there (they are now at Minute Maid Park). I also was lucky enough to see an All-Star game played there once, in 1986.

* I remember going on a dinner cruise down the Houston ship channel with my folks. My scrapbook is full of photos I took.

* I loved going to the Houston Symphony and the Houston Ballet in Jones Hall (now the Ballet performs at the Wortham), and seeing plays at the Alley Theatre. I always thought it was so much fun to dress up and go to see a show.

* I remember high school graduation at the Convention Center. My graduating class of over 700 was so large, with my last name beginning with a "T" I didn't walk across the stage until after 10 p.m.

* Anything at the Galleria. I remember ice skating there with my Girl Scout troop, I remember working at a yogurt shop overlooking the ice rink, I remember visiting boys I liked who worked in the mall. Shopping, eating, hanging out- the Galleria was always the place to be. If the Marble Slab is still there, stop and get some ice cream and watch the ice skaters.

These are just some of my favorite memories from Houston. I hope if you're ever there, you'll have a chance to explore the city I loved so much growing up.

*Photo source:http://www.uh.edu/~marnold/profiles/ortegasprofile.html

Vampire Dog

2006-03-20T10:22:00.000-08:00