I Get to Know This Week...

... If I"m having a girl or a boy. The ultrasound lady said last time that it's probably a girl. Or a boy with an erection. So, on Wednesday, I finally get to know. It's funny this time, but I am sort of lazily hoping I'm having a girl so my life can officially become one long slumber party with my gals. I'm not so comfortable with sports and jockiness and boy scouts and all the attendant boy crap. So, I'd rather have a girl. Or a gay boy, I guess. I would be fine with that, too.

Can you believe it? I'm already 18 weeks pregnant! I've got a mere 21 or 22 weeks left til I meet my little early Christmas present.

Anyhow, it was pretty much the same old, same old this weekend. Farmer's market, clean and cook a bunch of stuff (stuffed curried eggplants, red snapper with a verde roasted garlic salsa and black beans with rice, lemon madeleines). Oh, and did I forget the laundry? I kid of course- I will NEVER forget laundry.

Peanut is having a rough weekend- I think she's having trouble with her molar coming in... Ack. She's currently walking around our block, with her daddy trying to tire her out. I really, really, really hope it works. I am so tired. It is unbelievable that a pregnant lady is tired after chasing her toddler around. Somebody page CNN. That's gotta be news, right?

Things That I Am Thinking About and Other Stuff...

I need to work on titles, clearly.

I just began reading SouleMama's blog and stumbled onto her shop, where she sells this stuff which looks like stuff I can make myself. But she actually appears to sell it. Which, of course, I have never done. Hmm... (Not to underestimate her obvious creativity and skill, of course).

I made this dress this past weekend, after seeing some cute things on Etsy.



I also saw this on Etsy which I thought was a cool idea. Maybe I'll make something like that but with oilcloth, so you can wipe it clean.

I thought I took a picture of Peanut wearing the skirts I made her, but my camera is being weird, so I guess not. I will post it soon. But here's another one of her seventies pillowcase dress...

Books and I Made Some Stuff...

Yay! R got me a membership to Paperspine, which is like a pay-library where it works like Netflix with paperback books. Which is SOOO up my alley. If you try it out, tell 'em I sent you by entering referral code RD3309. So fun and such a good idea for those of us who either spend too much money at the bookstore or rack up ridiculous fines at the library.

AND- I made some stuff. I made two skirts with the Angry Chicken pattern. I'll post pics tomorrow. Woo hoo.

AHHHHH!!!!! BOUCHON IN BEVERLY HILLS!!!

I am a big foodie dork. And I just read in the L.A. Times that Thomas Keller is coming back- he's bringing Bouchon to Beverly Hills! I am way too excited. R and I have joked for a while that our first really expensive meal, should we hit the lotto, would be the French Laundry (in like, 8 years when we could get reservations). Check out today's tasting menu. I mean, come on. Isn't it like a beautiful French poem?

Yay! Bouchon!

Isn't It Funny?

I was listening to the podcast of This American Life today on my lunch, and one of the topics was those under-examined beliefs we hold- such as the word "XING" not actually being a word that you would say "Zing", and how one girl thought that unicorns were real and wasn't disabused of this notion until one fateful cocktail party conversation concerning endangered species exposed her ignorance (can you imagine!). I of course brought it up at work and we talked about our own areas of non-expertise.


One such gem- as a kid, one of my co-workers thought that the hospital was called "Cedars-Cyanide", which he figured was either some medical term, or was just ok because cyanide was probably scientific somehow.

Another, mentioned by a wandering coworker, was as a child he kept wondering why people kept going to that town called gunpoint if they kept getting robbed there. I loved that one. It's so obvious, isn't it? I mean, why would anyone go there, right?

My own ignorance was related to the human body. My aunt had diabetes, and there was constant talk of her possibly needing a kidney transplant. I had no concept of any sort of inside to my body, and I knew from what everyone said you had two kidneys, so I figured, what do I have two of that doesn't have a name? So of course I figured that a kidney was a butt cheek. I also considered the problem of sitting with only one butt cheek and I came up with the idea that you would just need a fake butt cheek, maybe made out of foam, or pillows or something. Eventually, and I can't remember when but I'm sure I was embarrassed, knowing my family, I learned the truth.

It is nice to know I'm not the only one, sometimes.

Oh Belly...

Why you gotta be like this? I treated you so nice this weekend, going to Clifton's and then Bono's for lunch... And you repay me with work vomiting. Awesome. I busted so many little blood vessels in my eyelids they look like a Swiss Dot fabric, only with red spots. I am a vury purty leddy today. And my belly STILL hurts. Stupid stupidness. (By the way can I trademark that? Or would that be lame?)

Also, I heard from my friend that the hippo stood up to one whole washing so far. Not bad yet!

I Want to Make Stuff....

I got some fusible interfacing and made animal shapes out of crazy patterns to stick on clothes. Boo- if you read this, e-mail me with kids/colors/animals/sizes so I can make them shirts. I am so into this stuff. I'll post a picture soon. I already made my girlfriend's little boy a navy blue ringer t with an olive green polka dot hippo. It came out pretty cute. In the works are an olive green polka dot electric guitar -I love that Amy Butler fabric, a pink "M" for Peanut, and a pink elephant out of a pink brocade style pattern cotton. I have to see how well these stand up to washing, but they look really cute at first.

I also have an Amy Butler skirt pattern pending, too. I just ordered some yardage of the Amy Butler sea green coriander fabric to make it with. So pretty.

AND Angry Chicken keeps making me want to make stuff, so I may have to try her "Five Minute Skirt" even though I have no serger. I am wondering if maybe I just need to make more of my own clothes and that will keep me busy.

Although I often demonstrate that my ideas far outdo any natural ability by at least 120%, I seem to keep thinking I can do this kind of thing anyhow. Why do you think that is? Do you think that I keep thinking I will somehow get better at some point? Or am I just deluded?

Lunch At Clifton's

How can you not love Clifton's Cafteria?
Click here to check out the moose.

We used to go to the Clifton's in Lakewood when I was a kid. Alas, it is no more...

It's nice to know that the Clifton's in LA is still chugging along. I know cafeterias aren't all that popular anymore, but there is something about having your choice of jello that is sort of appealing to the school kid in me.

Haikus and Dancing...

Well, this are from my work buddy, BZ:

Screen dulls eyes keyboard
Dulls touch, ergonomic makes
Your soul atrophy

Here's mine:

my life, lived in
beige. Cubicle prison that
holds me captive here.

Um, yeah, it was a great week. Anyhow, Miss Peanut has been jumping around and dancing to a song about a potato on Sesame Street. It is just way too cute.

We're off to somewhere in LA to see some friends for lunch, I have no idea where we're gonna go. Fun! Fun! Hot! Yippee!

Molars are a Bunch of Bitches

Peanut's teething again. And molars? Hell, no, those babies do not come easy into this dark night.

But besides teething, what am I up to?

I could bore you about how I am trying to figure out if I can get my kid into swim lessons this weekend. But I know you don't really care that much.

Um, I guess I could add that: I am weirdly addicted to Deadliest Catch. I mean, yeah, I grew up playing house under my dad's boat trailer, and I spent more than my share of Saturdays scraping barnacles off the hull of our soling in the Long Beach Marina Shipyard, and tagging along on yacht races, but I don't think that really explains why I obsess about this show like I'm a house frau who's desperately into General Hospital. I mean, really. It's almost a little embarrassing how into this show I am. I got into it during my last maternity leave and now I am a sucker for it.

And of course, the incomparable Anthony Bourdain, whose snarkiness I adore. He's the travel host that actually is interested in food and culture- and he would have definitely been smoking behind the gym during P.E. in high school. He's not a joiner, which is I think why he's so fun to watch- he is like the friend you wish you were cool enough to hang with. I guess I know deep down I am not, since I will probably never eat the still-beating heart of a cobra. But I can still tune in and watch him do it.

I guess the two shows I am into are really just me living vicariously through other people, when you really start to think about it. Wow, that's just so sad, huh?

More soon, about more than just t.v., I hope. Maybe about swim lessons, if we're lucky.

Reminder- I don't have to be nice to you.

You know how when you are young, you have to be nice to your elders because your parents make you? Well f*ck that when you have grown up.

Tonight I went to my mom's house to say good bye to a friend of my sister's who is going away to be a missionary in a remote jungle place that I won't mention here. I am not kidding, to convert the natives. Christianity is just so repetitive, you know?

In any case, after said person left in after I had been there five minutes(!), her mother, who was there apparently waiting to see her too, said to me (note- I last saw her when I was in high school) "Wow, you are a good mother. I wouldn't have guessed that."

Ok, so I didn't say anything. But now that I've had a couple hours to think of some witty replies (thanks, internet) here you go:

"I wouldn't have guessed you'd get so fat"

"Wow, I didn't know you were such a c*nt"

Ok, so they aren't so witty. I didn't even hit her, although that did cross my mind. I just thought people who loved jebus were supposed to be nice.

Oh, right.
.
.
.
Never mind.

Also, I dreamt that my lovely grandmother who died a few years ago died again. So I had to go through her second funeral and it made me think of how much I still miss her all the time and how I miss that crackly sound of her smoker laugh and I actually woke myself up crying from the dream. I should have known that was an omen to stay home.

Before I go, the dream about my grandmother made me remember a line from the movie "American Beauty"- something about the "way my grandmother's hands felt like paper"....

Madeleines

So I FINALLY got two Madeleine pans last week from Crate and Barrel. Despite the warm weather, I had to try some out. After reading this and this about the mysterious and appealing little cookie-cake, I dove in. I made the Barefoot Contessa's lovely Coconut Madeleine recipe. While they did come out good (well, let's be honest, the ones that I didn't burn did), I learned that in buttering the pan I needed to make sure, since my pans are sort of non-stick, that there was no visible butter left before I floured the pan. The pans, by the way were great- nothing stuck and I got a nice golden color on the shell side of the cookies.

I actually made two batches, one with the coconut and on the second batch, I left out the coconut and added the zest from one lemon. Yummmm...... I think that I actually like the lemon ones a little better, just because they are a little more of a sophisticated flavor.

I also made the Barefoot Contessa's potato chips, from her "Barefoot in Paris" book. (Which is one of my favorite cookbooks of all time). I really love Ina Garten's food. One of my favorite recipes of all time is hers- her roast chicken over croutons from the Paris book. Soooo good, crispy golden skin, tender meat.... Lemony goodness.

Stupid Stupidness.

Oh hell.

The husband left out a pineapple rind. Hence? Twenty thousand fruit flies in the kitchen.

Solution! Suburban Turmoil mentioned this way to catch/kill them, which has so far caught seven flies.

I have get back to scrubbing our kitchen to get rid of the germs, oh the germs.

Yuck.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream...

I only seem to dream while I am pregnant, for some reason. Last night I dreamt that my co-worker had a pet giraffe. In the third story of his parents' house. Then it died, but he was not that sad, because he had these special orange spiders that had giraffe babies, so it would be okay. Um, yeah.

Anyhow, my little kid got to play at her gramma's today. Gramma got her a baby pool and TWO new swimsuits. She's not spoiled at all. She even took an actual two hour nap after all the excitement. It was a big couple of days for Ms. Peanut. First time on a carousel:

First time seeing a goat:

First time peeing on a potty. Yeah, sorry, no pics of that one. Well, actually there are. And trust me, they are super-cute. However, I don't want to make her hate me when she's 16, so those aren't making their way on to the internet.

She's A Big Girl!!!

Well, almost. So I got the big girl potty (well, two of them, actually- IKEA, $3.99) today and a certain little one made a little bit of pee-pee in the potty. Oh, yeah. You read that correctly- the FIRST TIME she sat on the big girl potty she made a pee-pee because mommy asked her to.

Hot damn in the hot tub, this kid is so cool.

Also, since when is it 100 degrees in Long Beach in JUNE? Although, may I take a moment to recommend the Crystal Court mall (the little bit of mall across from South Coast Plaza) as a place to cool off? Free underground parking, a $1 carousel ride and a cheap day out. (Except for the H&M, of course).

World's Quickest Post

Ok, I really need to get the Peanut out of bed so I need to do this oh so fast.

Last night I dreamed that I was married to Alec Baldwin's character from "30 Rock". (Which I love, by the way).

We filed our taxes and found that we earned $649,599. Which means, with his magical rich people math, we got $30,000 back on our taxes. Hooray America!

Can you believe I dreamed a tax joke? I need to get out more.

Did You Know.....

That in 2007 the exact same number of people named their female kids "America" as did people who named their male children Mohamed? That's right, there were 462 people that named their kids one of those two names. Isn't that just a little weird? (Note that Mohammed, which I thought was the correct spelling, was number 692).

Well, the name that R keeps trying to convince me we should use?


Petunia Dangerfeet Drew.


Yep. Ponder that, why doncha.

The Sanctity of Biogtry

I am so utterly tired of hearing about the "sanctity" of marriage. What is exactly is that supposed to mean, anyhow? "Sanctity" means, basically, something that is sacred. Sacred means, according to Dictionary.com:

1. devoted or dedicated to a deity or to some religious purpose; consecrated.
2. entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with divinity or divine things; holy.
3. pertaining to or connected with religion (opposed to secular or profane): sacred music; sacred books.
4. reverently dedicated to some person, purpose, or object: a morning hour sacred to study.
5. regarded with reverence: the sacred memory of a dead hero.
6. secured against violation, infringement, etc., as by reverence or sense of right: sacred oaths; sacred rights.
7. properly immune from violence, interference, etc., as a person or office.

There's a huge assumption here, with all this "sanctity" talk. What exactly, about the 50% of hetero-marriages that will actually last is about religion? I mean, I get that people who believe in a deity think that said deity somehow cares or is involved in their lives might think they are "led" to certain choices in their lives. But what about marriage is supposed to be sacred? Is it the ability to jointly file taxes? Is it the ability to sign up for your spouse's healthcare plan? Becoming beneficiary of your spouse's IRA?

I have been married for coming up on six years. I have a kid. I am an atheist. I have such a hard time figuring this one out- why would someone else's marriage threaten your own? I really don't understand it. It has always seemed to me just an excuse for spreading hatred and division. I don't campaign against Christians getting married even if I think they are deluded. It seems ... I don't know...petty and nonsensical and full of pathetic, wrong-headed self righteousness.

I got married in a French restaurant, by our communal best friend. We promised in our super-short ceremony, only to be good. We figured that covered everything. There were no promises to a church or a god or any recitation of pre-determined cookie-cutter vows. Just a promise to one another, to be good.

So far, so good.

In any case, for all those reading out there in internet-land? If you and your partner (regardless of the gender identity of parties involved) got married in California this week- I wish you much happiness. Marriage is complicated and strange and wonderful, and I wish you years and years of happiness, with hard times few and far between.

There should be less sadness in the world- go and share your happiness this week.

My Baby's Daddy is a Big Fat Liar....

It cracks me up to hear him tell Peanut crazy stories during her bath time. "You don't even know what the penalties were for laughing when I was a kid" and "We didn't even have baths when I was your age."

She thinks he's pretty funny, too. He just told her to pull the plug and she did. I know, she is a super genius, huh? She also tricked us into going into the children's bookstore, Once Upon a Story at the end of our block and buying her a book this weekend. She needed "Olivia" so she made her daddy get it for her.

Also, I had my first ultrasound this week. The technician said that she is fairly certain that it's a girl. Or a boy with an erection. Um, OK. I guess we'll really find out during the next ultrasound. We did get to see the little Zippy leaping around in there, looking a lot (to me) like a tiny dancing skeleton, like from El Dia De Los Muertos.

When Did This Happen...

I am almost incapable of staying up past 10 PM. I used to go to sleep only when the sun cracked the eastern sky. I have been a ridiculously neurotic insomniac since I can remember. And now? I am nodding off before the end of primetime. It's just a few minutes after 10 and I am SO sleepy.

I have this generally beige-colored life most of the time now, with a regular bed-time, daycare, naps, and sippy cups. A friend pointed out that I once snorted vodka off the bottom of a champagne glass, just to try it. Now...

It's just a bit of change, that's all.

I was once chased by a homeless man brandishing an iron (yes, a clothes iron, cord flailing) several blocks down Hollywood Boulevard in the middle of the night. I used to do things. I used to create my own adventures. Now... not so much.

I think I am due for a change. Maybe there is something in the wind.

Oh Dear...

I want to be like Angry Chicken when I grow up. Oh, deary me these are so cute. I need to remember to make these for Peanut when she's a little bigger and a little less, um destructive. Paper is for tearing into tiny pieces, not for stories, at least right now.

Oh how I want to be more creative.... Also, I want to make cake in jars, too. Like Not Martha and Angry Chicken. Oh baking how I miss thee.

Blargh.

So...

I am pregnant. Again. It's a good thing. But, maternity clothes right now? Not a good thing. I need a couple light weight work-appropriate tops (I was mostly big-preggers during the winter last time) and this time I have already "popped" and I don't have any light weight things to wear. Last time, I relied heavily on the maternity clearance at Old Navy and the Gap, but this time? SOOO ugly. Click here to see what I mean. Um, it looks like a cross between a bathing suit coverup and something my mom wore in 1982. YUCK.

What's a chubby pregnant mom on a budget to do? I think I am just about ready to wear the same dress over and over until October. To quote Liz Lemon from 30 Rock, "Blargh."

Fun Fun Fun....

.... in the LBC, yo. We went to the Long Beach Aquarium today with our friends who have kids the same age (very nearly) as Peanut. They got to see fish and lorikeets and seals and otters... It was very fun.



I also got an apocalyptic sunburn which is making me now feel both hot and weirdly dizzy. So that is awesome. But it really was a beautiful day and I just (as I do at least once a year) forgot that I am an albino freak that belongs in a circus in Siberia where people can come and gawk at my strange coloring. Oh how I wish I could tan....

One of Those Weeks...

Well the "cold" turned into an ear infection for Peanut. (Mine disappeared into nothingness). So that is awesome. Oh, did I mention the vomiting? Because there has been a lot of vomiting. Oh and snot. And coughing. Not a lot of sleep, though.

In fact, I am currently trying to wait out the kid while she babbles to herself in her crib. Mommy just needs you to take a nap. I mean Mommy REALLY NEEDS YOU TO NAP FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

It has truly been one of those weeks that I wish was already over. Today I have laid the sleepy girl down THREE TIMES only to have the following wake her up:

1) The girl cat vomiting. Because I haven't cleaned up enough vomit this week.

2) The boy cat trying to pop open my bedroom door, no doubt so that he could vomit on my bed.

3) What sounded like a nail gun from next door (the house next door is about 11 feet away from her window, so that rocks that the new owners are gonna do some improvements.

I am not kidding at all- our street has been HGTV-home-improvement-village since I went out on maternity leave. One of our direct neighbors tore up their lawn to put in a Japanese style dirt garden. Which I am sure consumes a lot less water, but does attract a large number of cats who see it as a very large litter area. This involved many many trucks and an enormous dumpster parked in front of my house for about a month.

THEN across the street our older neighbor died and a woman who I think is his sister inherited his 1915 bungalow. A very nice place, that just needed a little bit of TLC. So, of course, she tore it down and built what appears to be exactly the same thing, except without the craftsmanship and attention to detail. Oh, and a complete lack of taste, too. Also, she actually had the temerity to ask me to move my car (as I was strapping in the baby into the car seat- TO LEAVE IN LIKE, A MINUTE) so that a workman's truck could park there. If I hadn't really had to go, I would have gotten Peanut out, flipped the bird and walked back inside. The woman hasn't even EVER introduced herself or even made any sort of apology for the dirt that lands on my car and runs into the storm drains every day, or the noise from the construction that has woken my baby up about five hundred million times (they have their workmen working 6 days a week, so even on Saturday we get woken up AT SEVEN AM).

Then, the Persian palace across the street is being worked on AGAIN, so Mr. Persia himself has to come out and SCREAM at the workers for not working hard enough for him. That guy is crazy. There is a story that I heard about him from another neighbor that may or may not be true about how when his youngest boy was a baby, he thought his wife wasn't paying enough attention to him so he HID THE BABY IN A CLOSET AND THEN ACTED LIKE THE BABY HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED. His wife called the police and then they found out that he hid the baby to teach his wife a lesson. Um, yeah, it's a fun street.

Anyhow, my mom is graduating this week with her doctorate in something. I actually don't know what it is in, because it is from a certain Christian university that (I kid you not) teaches that the world is 6000 years old in their "science" classes. So I do take that "doctorate" with a grain of salt, even though I am sure she has been working very hard even if is less academic than another college. I guess I'll be able to call her "Dr. Mom" after Friday.

Also, my grandpa from Tennessee will be in town this weekend for my mom's graduation, so he will get to see my daughter for the first time. That should be fun!

Well, I feel better now that I have vented a bit. Peanut hasn't peeped in a while, but there is now (this is, sadly, not a joke) an electric saw, two elementary school age neighbor boys, and hammering echoing down the street. I hope she's in a deep sleep. Mommy needs a nap.

It's Summertime, and the Living Ain't Easy...

Peanut and I have colds, just in time to coincide with the 90 degree heat. So we didn't get to go to the Dodger game (which was actually in the middle of the day today instead of a night game-YUCK) and I have been sneezed on, coughed on, and generally been cried upon today. So now Peanut is a diaper, howling as she drags her toy from room to room. I still like her, somehow.

I have been thinking about writing something, sewing something, doing something, making anything. But I am in the thralls of this terrible feeling of ennui and stillness. All I can do is think, I cannot do. I feel as if I am waiting for some indefinable moment to be able to break my own stillness. It is a strange feeling.

I hope the heat breaks, the moment comes. So I can just do something.

Pic-a-palooza.

Safety first.


A Little Bit of Nature.


Staplers Have Feelings, Too.


This is the sign posted next to the door in the one room bathroom at the Tustin Pinkberry. It is a small room with four walls, no mirror, simply a toilet and a sink and a door. Which is clearly labeled:

Oakley Hall

The one and only Oakley Hall passed away. My wonderful writing teacher, known as Rebel Girl wrote this about him. She also quoted him, from his novel "Warlock" which I was lucky enough to hear him speak about:

"But those I love more do not sleep, and see no hope, and suffer for those brave ones who will fall in hopeless effort for us all, whose only gift to us will be that we will grieve for them a little while; those who see, as I have come to see, that life is only event and violence without reason or cause, and that there is no end but the corruption and the mock of courage and hope."

What a beautiful and heartbreaking sentence. The world is a lesser place today.

Interesting Things Afoot...

Well, I guess. Boo is funny.

And I wrote a haiku about work:

Payment was rejected;
The address was invalid,
Call for assistance.

Yes, I wrote a crap haiku about my super boring job. But really? That TOTALLY IS WHAT I DO ALL DAY. Oh yes, I am completely fulfilled. Perhaps some people love and are made complete by their jobs. I mean, I don't know them, but I am sure they exist. But I bet they don't do what I do. Or they have been doing Salvia. I just heard about that. People will just smoke anything, huh? I love that one of the "side effects" listed on Wikipedia is "uncontrolled giggling". Um, ok.

I'll be back sooner rather than later. I hope.

Another Crazy Weekend....

Grocery Shopping! Target! Bed Bath AND Beyond!

Last night we were supposed to play board games with our neighbor and his boyfriend (who we LOVE) but I fell asleep at like, 9:15 PM. So R went over alone and I slept until 8:30 AM!!! AND SO DID PEANUT!!! (I have to admit that she did wake up for about 20 minutes at 3 AM, but still. Let's take those victories where we can, shall we?

Today Peanut took five whole steps by herself. Granted, she then sat down, with no apparent interest in walking alone. She likes to push stuff and to walk holding R or my hand, but she hasn't really gotten to the point of wanting to walk alone. Soon, I guess. I kind of like that I don't have to really chase her on foot yet.

There's a tour of Long Beach homes coming up, spotlighted in The Press Telegram. I wondered what it would be like if someone wrote a similar piece about our house...

"Open the glass paned door, missing the bottom left hand panel and you will find yourself surrounded with the past two years of Fisher Price catalog, perhaps you will also trip on a stroller... Edge your way into the kitchen (if you can squeeze by the high chair crusted with last night's meal) and your senses will come alive! Is that a stray piece of onion you're stepping on? What is that stain on the countertop? And who can live with that many dishes in the sink? Is that LEAD PAINT peeling in the cabinets?"

Ok, so maybe it isn't quite that bad. I mean, I did mop today.

This is going to be SHORT

I am so tired, and I really want to post about this very clever thing that Uma Thurman said during an interview with NPR's Terry Gross, but I am too tired to find the receipt I wrote down the quote on. So instead, for now, here's a picture of the virgin mary inside a giant cement egg on my mom's neighbor's lawn. It's just so Mork and Mindy. Nah-Nuu Nah-Nuu.

A Lovely Day at UCLA

Well, we just got back from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, one of the few events that make me feel like there really are good, worthy people in Los Angeles. I got to see Jane Smiley interview Gore Vidal, and it was very entertaining. She introduced him, saying, "He is reviled in all the places that decent people want to be reviled." He was very erudite, and it made me feel like yelling "Yes! Why isn't he more places saying these funny and important things!" Why is Paris Hilton everywhere I turn and Gore Vidal is not! But he was there today, and if I saw him face to face I wouldn't bother him with questions, I would just say, "Thank you". Because that is really what I mean.

Mr. Vidal answered Jane Smiley's questions and came back with clever and interesting answers. He mentioned Ayn Rand, saying, "Oh, you can't talk to Ayn Rand...." as if to say that she simply cannot listen. The other moment that sticks in my head is when he was asked if he thought that Truman Capote died as a result of publishing "Answered Prayers" he answered in a buttoned down, ironically cheeky way: "Are you implying that there is a god?"

I also saw one of my favorite people today, my former writing teacher, Lisa. We sat in the shade a talked for a little bit while her little boy kindly shared his toys with my daughter. It was really really nice.

Peanut is passed out from all the excitement. Kids! And Books! It's all so amazing!

Happy Earth Day!

So here is my darling little contribution to Earth Day... (Since I kind of forgot to bring IN my reusable, homemade bags to the grocery store today- I had a very hungry little kid and was sort of in a rush).

Here are some suggestions on reducing your junk mail (I know you recycle it, but still):

Sustainable Dave, a guy from LA that is trying his gosh darnedest to not throw anything away this year, has some great ideas on reducing your junk mail.

In SoCal, call 800-313-6880 to get rid of Red Plum, a marketing pile of paper each week.

To get rid of the Pennysaver, call 800-422-4116 or mail them at:

Circulation
C/O Pennysaver
2830 Orbiter Street
Brea, CA 92821

Another happy earth day idea- a repurposed pillow case from Martha Stewart. Or make a bag out of an old t-shirt. I made one, and we use it all the time!

Have fun!

Festival of Books!

Yay! It's that time of year again! The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is this weekend. 

I got tickets to the Gore Vidal interview, so that should be interesting. Sherman Alexie is going to be speaking on one of the children's stages, too, so we may make our way over there, also.

I am a little sad that we are going to miss out on the one and only Mo Willems, author of the Knufflebunny and "Pidgeon" books for young kids. I have a couple really good voices for the Pigeon and the duckling from "The Pidgeon Finds A Hot Dog". I do wonder about the wisdom of a story that involves ANYONE "finding" a HOT DOG AND JUST EATING IT but it is fun to read to Peanut. I mean, where did this hot dog come from? Was it on the ground? It concerns me. 

Happy Earth Day, one day early. Recycle, use a reusable bag, go nuts. 

Actually, I have to link to this idea, because I think it is so clever: a reusable bag you can make from a t-shirt, from Martha Stewart. Super clever- reuse an old t-shirt into something you can use all the time. Make a couple, keep them in the car. Neat! 

Go forth and reuse, recycle, and repurpose!
 

Isn't It Sad When Things Don't Work?

I got a new mobile phone this week, since mine has been baby-assaulted enough to make the plastic back finally give up the ghost. I got a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone, and so far I like it. I am pretty annoyed though, that on the Sony Ericsson website they say that you can photo blog from your phone. How cool, right? Except that it doesn't work on my phone. So that is lame.
SIgh. I mean, I CAN upload the pics from my phone using Bluetooth, then upload them to Photobucket, then post the link in a blog post (like this):



I mean, how often do you see a person on a unicycle on your way home?

It Smells Like Burning...

....In my daughter's room. Edamame and the amount of milk she has taken to drinking make her poop smell like something is literally on fire in her room. I mean, wow. Really? Or maybe there's a house on fire in our neighborhood. Maybe, right? A little girl's poop can't actually smell this bad, right? This is through the normally impenetrable Diaper Champ that I also put a baking soda disk into. I normally smell NO POOP in our house.

I have been back in touch with an old friend this week and have had some lovely e-mailed conversations.
Golly I miss you, philosophermom!

I am pretty excited that it is finally the weekend. Although, truth be told, I have been dreading it a bit, too. You see (written in a whisper) I have not actually filed my taxes yet. Shhh. Yep, that is my dirty little secret. I am not sure if we will be getting something back this year, as I took some of California's WONDERFUL Paid Family Leave in addition to my maternity disability leave. As a result, I have a wee bit of untaxed income to declare. I have absolutely no idea whether this will mean that we owe money or not, since we also have a Peanut to claim. I think we should hopefully come out even, at least.

I have been jotting notes to myself to remind of what I wanted to write about this week. Here is the weekly ephemera:

I love Fresh and Easy Market. USA Today thinks they aren't doing so well.I say everyone should shop there because I really liked it. How I love thee and thine own peeled, cubed, butternut squash. That cooks in it's own bag!* Hurray! And you can check yourself out. And it isn't stupid like the Ralph's self check out, which always takes me WAY too long.

*Side note: I made a really yummy baby recipe this week- all by myself! I took Acini de Pepe pasta, cooked it, then took the butternut squash from Fresh and Easy, steamed it in my steamer rack (I sort of didn't read that you could steam it in the MICROWAVE IN THE BAG. Um, duh.) I then smashed the squash with my potato smasher and then added some heated, previously frozen peas. Yummy for my Peanut! And easy for me! Woo!

Funniest thing I saw in the news this week- "Clothes on sale included Abadia's underpants, the quickest items to sell after his capture half-naked by Brazilian police in August 2007." From BBC News. Don't you just hate getting arrested while naked? I do.

Also in the food realm:
I grew up and fell in love with cauliflower, thanks to a work friend. Apparently I am not the only one. NPR and I like the same things! Yay!
From the story:
"My favorite approach is to find an organic, healthy-looking head and, after washing, to cut it into smallish pieces and coat with olive oil and salt. I then roast it until easily pierced with a fork, and when it's alternately soft and crispy with good blackened bits along the sides of the pan, I pick at it gingerly with a spoon while hovering nearby and waiting for it to cool. A roasted cauliflower is nothing less than transcendent."

I wouldn't quite say transcendent , but tasty. A nice way to shake up that recipe? Toss it with a little bit of red pepper flakes! Cauliflower is also very, very tasty in many Indian recipes.

Last but not least, I really want to go to The Spy Museum in D.C.It looks WAY too fun.

100 Posts! And a 1 Year Old!

Well, I have been somewhat sporatic in my blogging, but I finally hit 100 posts! Wow! And my kid will officially be 1 in a couple more hours. Crazy, huh?

So, I was reading about a website called Ponoko on Wired magazine's website, where you can design your own item and they will manufacture it for you. Crazy. Boo- there's your idea. Go forth and make loads of cash while working from home. There are some neato goodies there. Check it out.

The almighty Peanut, in her infinite wisdom, has allowed the loyal subjects of Peanutdom a brief respite, so I shall go make use of it and get some rest.

Good night, sleep tight, and wake happy.

A Little Bit of Nothing to Read and a Little Bit of Something to Eat.

Well, another weekend has sidled past me. I can't believe it is already Monday. I am currently spending my lunch here at the Starbuck's by work, listening to “Zip-e-do-dah” on their sound system with hardly even a tiny bit of irony. Peanut's birthday is Thursday and I can hardly believe that she is going to be actually one year old. It is truly amazing. Can I say this? It is weird writing with so many people trying to look over your shoulder to see what you are up to. Oh, internet, can you believe how nosy people are? (I know!).

I think I need to get myself a novel to read. I am quite bereft. Has anyone read Ann Patchett's new novel, "Run"? I am not sure if I should get it or if I should get the newish Jhumpa Lahiri ( I may have spelled that wrong). Anyone read anything good lately?

My little one found a new friend at Toysrus this weekend. R took her down the stuffed animal aisle and her eyes went buggy and she said “oh” quietly as her little eyes tried to take in all the stuffed animals. R handed her a little stuffed kitty, colored to look like a Siamese and she took it and SNUGGLED as hard as she could. She looked up at R and said “Cat” very distinctly. I am just so proud. Oh yeah, she also says “Mamamamama” for me and “Hi Dah” to R. She can also say “No” and “Butch” (our boy Siamese's name), which is apparently what her stuffed kitty is named. Right after we left, in the car, R asked her what her kitty's name was and she answered very firmly, “Butch”. AWWWW.

Granted, “Butch” sometimes sounds like “Batch”, but really, Butch should be flattered- “Mama” is much less clear. But I am not a kitty, so there is that.

We hit the farmer's market at the marina yesterday, and got a bevy of lovely produce. Today alone I have eaten an apple, an orange, and a banana. Hooray produce! Yesterday I made a modified Shepherd's Pie with some of our bounty:


2 cloves garlic, minced
2 chopped onions
3 chopped carrots
1 lb ground turkey
1 c. peas
1 tblsp. tomato paste
2 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. rolled oats
Salt and pepper to taste
2 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped (enough so they cook relatively quickly)
2 tblsp. butter (unsalted, always)
1/2 c. milk

Cook the onion and garlic in a 6 qt. saucepan until translucent. Add the turkey and carrots and cook until the turkey is cooked through. Add the peas and tomato paste, oats, and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, boil water and then add the potatoes and smidge of kosher salt. Cook potatoes and then drain, returning to the cooking pot. Mash, adding the butter and milk slowly. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the meat/veg mixture into a largish baking dish or individual ramekins. Place ramekins or baking dish onto a cookie sheet and spoon mashed potatoes to cover completely. Cook at about 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes (until the points of the mashed potatoes begin to brown slightly. Allow to cool slightly then serve. Enjoy! I suck at portions but I ended up with a largish casserole and 8 ramekins filled well.

Peanut seemed to like it. I am so over baby food, and so is she... Hooray real food! Tonight we're probably having a rutabega/parsnip soup or Peanut's favorite Wagon Wheel Cheesy Pasta with Vegetables, based on a recipe we got from a kid's cookbook. Although it has been very helpful at getting ideas, I am beginning to feel like there isn't actually a lot of variation in the food in that cookbook- it is all vegetables slathered with cheese. Or fried foods. Of course some kids are pickier than others, but I hate the idea of only serving vegetables with cheese as a sauce. Oh, yes. Peanut's other favorite is Orzo with Mixed Veg and Cheese- I cooked some orzo with chopped zuchinni, yellow squash, onions, carrots, broccoli and peas, and tossed it with salt and pepper and a little bit of Parmesan Reggianno cheese. She thought that was super.

I am actually having a lot of fun coming up with new things to make using vegetables for her. She also really liked steamed Edamame and carrots, too. If anyone actually reads this and has any ideas, I would love suggestions on healthy and simple vegetable recipes. Also, how do you incorporate meat or bean/lentil protein in your child's diet? Thanks for the suggestions, if you have some.

I am very sleepy and must put myself to sleep, now that Peanut has fallen asleep almost on her own with her kitty stuffed toy- Butch. Awww.

I have been thinking of changing the name of my blog from “Musings and Meanderings” to “I Have No Idea Where I Am Going With This”, any thoughts?

Happy César Chávez Day, btw.

Listen...

A short addition... I like Elizabeth Mitchell's children's music. Go have a listen.

Night-Night....

The Epic Saga of The Toy Kitchen....

Easter was a success.



Peanut was a happy kid, had an absolute blast with the eggs and toys and stuff. You can tell she's going to be funny:


Her birthday is this week, so we are all in a tizzy, trying to prepare for her party. Oh, and did I happen to mention a plastic toy kitchen? I was reading Suburban Turmoil a couple days ago and Lindsay brought up classic kid toys. One of the items she mentioned was a toy kitchen. I remember coveting a toy kitchen (I never had one) and a play house in the back yard.

Peanut is a bit small for a play house (hello next year!), but I thought that this year she would be able to appreciate a play kitchen. I originally thought that I would easily be able to find one on Craigslist, but it was simply not to be. In researching the ones available, I found that most of them are WAY too expensive - click here for a toy kitchen that WAY outdoes MY kitchen. Most of them seem overly complex- where's the room for imagination? Target has one that is made of wood, but after a year of scraping various bodily fluids off of toys and walls and the world in general? I want a plastic toy kitchen. So, I broke down and bought one directly from the Little Tike's website- check it out by clicking here. It is the "Cookin' Sounds Gourmet Kitchen".

I liked it because even with shipping and tax it was cheaper than any of the other toy kitchens I found, except a Chicco one that I didn't like. And I know that I can probably sell it on Craigslist after our kid (and future kids) are done with it.
We decided that this was the one for us after visiting a Target, two ToysRUs stores and a Walmart (they didn't even have ANY toy kitchens). I mean I actually set foot in a WALMART. (The universe was obviously chastising me for even thinking of visiting a Walmart. Remind me to blog about the telescope/Walmart-ruined-Christmas-and-then-their-customer-service-hung-up-on-me-debacle sometime).

In any case, I will take some pics of the Peanut party (this Saturday- I am SO excited!). I am trying to be a little more crafty. I made a polka-dot garland to hang on my grandpa's patio. I used a one-inch craft punch (Martha Stewart's craft punch, from Michael's) to cut out a bunch of different colored paper dots, which I then stuck together on thread, to use as a garland. Check out the Martha Stewart dot garland. MS's garland is for Christmas, but you get the idea.

Oh dear it is getting late and I have a cold, so I need to get my rest. Farmer's market tomorrow, yay! Broccoli! Squash! Leeks! Apples! Yippee!

Oh, I am so very old. I am spending my Saturday night blogging about a toy kitchen and broccoli. Oh deary me.

I'm Back, Baby.

Just in time for Easter, my MacBook Pro has been resurrected. Thanks to the super team at the Brea Apple Store, who found the problem with my computer extremely quickly and pointed out (as the South Coast Apple Store had not) that it was due to a known issue. They promptly managed to send the computer off for repair (which Apple covered DESPITE my computer being well out of warranty) and saved EVERYTHING on my hard drive. WOW!!! I have loved Apple for a long time now and I think that I will now NEVER buy a PC after this great experience. It cost me a mere $50 to back up my information on my hard drive. It was truly amazing. I am so lucky. I really could have lost just about everything. So, thank you Matt at the Brea Apple store- you totally ROCK.

In any case, I am back! My poor blog has been suffering a large amount of inattention lately (R's “U” key sticks and I hate typing on it.) So I really am back. I have been trying to keep a running tally in my mind of things that I need to blog about, but I also have a thirty second attention span, so oh well.

M's 1st birthday is on April 3, and I can hardly believe it has been a year. More about that later....

I am just so stuck on looking at my computer- I really can't believe I have it back. I will try not to take it for granted in the future.

So, while I am still here:

I love my girl.

I wish I knew how to make Nutella Ice Cream, or was simply awesome and French. .

I will be posting a lot more now, as I have really felt the absence of this outlet. I missed you, internet!!!

Oh the badness...

Well I know it has been a long time since I posted last, but R's computer drives me crazy. My MacBook Pro is now late and highly lamented, so I am hoping that the kind folks at Apple will be able to replace it this weekend.

I haven't really been online that much in the past month as a result. (And R's computer's "U" key sticks which is just so MADDENING!)

I promise (hopefully truthfully) that I'll have a computer again soon and shall return.

Yep.

Linkedy-Link-Link

I heart you, FInslippy.

Oh, yes.

R is getting Her Royal Peanutness ready for bed, so this is a short post at best. I have to try and actually take a couple of pictures tomorrow- she's got 6! teeth in her mouth. It's all kinds o' crazy. We like to dance now! (Kinda). We like to pretend to share cheerios. We like to squeal! Craziness abounds, I tell ya.

Snot, snot, snot, and oh, some rain, too.

Peanut has a serious cold. Avec cough. She keeps shooting us with booger rockets. EWWWW. Being a mom is so stinking gross sometimes. Since she has such a terrible cold, she is having trouble sleeping in her bed. Last night I got about three hours sleep in 20-30 minute intervals. She slept best on top of me, in the best rocking chair in the world.

I've been reading through some of the blogs that were nominated for Bloggies. I think I have some new blogs to read. Oh, and I think that I need a new header thingy. Mine seems so... generic. So add that to the to-do list.

We made soup tonight. A veggie chicken soup, with loverly carrots, rutabagas, celery, onions, parsnips and even a tiny bit of chicken. I also made white cupcakes, although I didn't get to make frosting, since we didn't have any confectioner's sugar.

....

Woohoo! Friday Night!! Party!

Or not. Perhaps, instead, I am perusing blogs, attempting to find interesting new people to read. Blogs are about all the reading i have time for, lately. Although I did indulge in a newish Dick Francis novel, "Dead Heat". Oh, and a copy of the latest "Parents" magazine, and "Wondertime", another parenting magazine. I don't know why I buy those. I always think it is just something I should read, since I am a mom now, but gosh. I am not going to cut out hearts from Peanut's marshmalllows. It is just not going to happen.

Well, Peanut is huffing in her room with a stuffy nose and her penguin humidifier, so I had better attempt to get a little sleep, too. My hands are killing me and the internet keeps tricking me into staying up late.

Blargh.

Night-night.

Blargh.

Butch is Moonlighting....

Butch, our chubby Siamese cat, appears to be moonlighting as someone else's cat.

Jesus Don't Want Me For a Sunbeam

So I am an atheist. And a liberal. And a mom. And a feminist. And MARRIED. (Cue the maniacal mad scientist laughter).

There's some stuff I just don't get. If you do believe in some sort of god-figure... how can you be a Republican? Aren't you supposed to be kind to poor people so you please ol' masser god?

I figure that you get this one chance. You can choose to be kind and make the world better and nicer and more shiny and wonderful, taking the time to appreciate the people you love. Or you can choose to run Haliburton and shoot people in the face and invade countries and generally be a Dick. Even if you believe there's some kind of post-death reward system, what kind of reward do you get for that kind of life? (Besides, living one's life for a kind of cosmic equivalent of an elementary school magazine fundraising program, where you only have to sell 12,000 subscriptions to get a pencil case? Um, I don't think so).

A little side note- why hasn't there been a band that just since Nirvana that just shook the teeth right out of my head? I haven't heard anything so wild and unconstrained and raw and true since them. Every band I hear seems so polished and shiny.

As I grow older, the world seems so staid and tidy and nice. I mean that in the worst possible way.

John Edwards Needs You!

R and I have been discussing the Democratic cast of possibilities today.

We're annoyed.

I want to first state that I am incredibly proud that we have both a woman and an African American as potential nominees. Super. BUT. John Edwards would be the best president. I almost feel a little guilty wanting the white dude, you know? Before I knew he was going to run again, I was fantasizing about an Oprah/Obama ticket. Women of the United States rise up!

But poor, mistreated, ignored John Edwards. He gets accused of being a rich lawyer. Well, ok. Let's look at that a little bit. When was the last time a middle class person ran for president and won? Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, rich people run our country. Us poor people? We're busy doing things like working our asses off to get some money for, um food? And medical insurance, since we're one of the few industrialized countries without national healthcare? (We are lazy bastards, we poor folk. If only we would work harder and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, huh?)

So John Edwards, rich lawyer. Rich lawyer that got rich helping poor people. Oh, yeah, you read that right. He got rich HELPING OTHER PEOPLE. I just want to make sure that is clear. He made his money HELPING OTHER PEOPLE. You're probably thinking, what a commie, right? But I ask that you wait a second more- he made his money HELPING OTHER PEOPLE fight evil corporations that were taking advantage of poor people. I know that you're thinking, why would we want a president that CARES ABOUT PEOPLE?

So America- pay attention here- shut up and listen to John Edwards for a minute. You too, NPR- I have had just about enough of your snarky little comments after every Edwards' quote.

We are, despite our probable recession, a quite wealthy nation full of incredibly poor people who are purposefully kept poor by our nation's rich elite. Oh yes, America, the "man" is keeping you down. And John Edwards wants to change that.

Sleep Battles....

Today Peanut only took one nap from 11 am to 1 pm. She didn't sleep AT ALL until about 17 minutes ago. Tonight ought to be fun. When she's tired we have the crying, flailing, grunting and pushing wars. The only way we can convince her to actually go to sleep when she's like this is to wear her down with allowing her to cry. It is mentally and physically exhausting. I don't know how this will work when she's five and doesn't want to go to bed. I am so tired.

We went down to Second Street today to have lunch at Angelo's Italian Deli. It was ok. I think my salami experience has officially been ruined for salami that is just "ok". When we were in Seattle last Memorial Day, we found a grocery store ( Metropolitan Market that sold salami from Salumi. It was soooo good. You can buy it online through their website, although it appears that they are sold out until the end of January.

We walked around and window shopped a bit. I got Pinkberry. Wow, that was a pile of suck. The yogurt was good, but it took about 20 minutes to get the one cup. There was about 40 people crammed into a store that was built to hold maybe 20. With no air conditioning. And all of two employees. Way to go Pinkberry! I will so not be back!

I can't believe it is already time to go back to work. It all begins again.

Ok, So I Love Tina Fey...

So I was watching "30 Rock" last night and there was a very funny bit about Tina Fey's character, Liz Lemon being an exchange student.... Check it out. (The video quality blows, but whatever).



Wow, it is so fun to watch someone play a real dork on tv. (This coming from a COMPLETE dork. Make that a clumsy, computer nerd, glasses-wearing dork).

That joke in the clip just kept making me giggle all day long. "30 Rock" was a nice surprise for us this year, since we HATED the first couple of episodes. I mean, I love Tina Fey (we should totally hang out and um, do stuff), but the first two episodes featured bad acting and rather stilted writing. I suspect now, having seen more episodes, that it was just the fact of the series finding its feet- perhaps also finding the characters as they were written, too. So, thanks for keeping it on, NBC. Way to go. Seriously.

And Tina, if you read this? I listen to NPR and I too dress like a small town, liberal arts college lesbian. See, we could totally hang out.

Signs That Give One Pause... Or, On A Lighter Note

"Marge & Gina's Live Hair Shop"

Um, ok. "Live"? I get that it means not wigs, right?

"Scissor Hands"

This one was just confusing until I saw inside and determined it was a salon. Although still sort of creepy.

balance...

I need to remember this: you will not give yourself the chance to write something good if you don't write anything.

I have a story that I'm working on. Extremely slowly. I can write on my lunch and for a few minutes after Peanut goes to bed (like right now). That is, if I'm not completely bushed. Which is usually the case.

I am trying very hard to hear the characters whispering to me as my own self-doubt works overtime trying to shout them down. So I need to remember that all I can do it try to write. To let myself write.

I have been really thinking a lot lately of balance. Remembering long ago when I took gymnastics classes. Specifically, the balance beam. Four inches across. You learn at first just to walk across, Then you progress to walking and bending your knee so the foot not touching the beam dips below the surface of the beam, alternating as you walk, up and down, up and down. You grow slowly familiar. For the girls that got good at the balance beam, that four inches could seem like a lot more. Because really, you don't need more than that four inches to stand or jump or cartwheel or whatever. It's possible. Your mind just tells you that you need more. You just think you do.

The best balance beam couching I ever got was to imagine, as you stand on the beam, that you are being suspended from an invisible string that is attached to the top of your head. You can imagine that invisible string pulling you up so your head is lifted, your chest is held out and you cannot possibly wobble because of that connection, that balance you are maintaining.

I feel like my life is like that now, sometimes, except that on my grownup version of the balance beam I hold a number of fragile eggs in my hands. I hold R and the small universe that is our marriage, I hold Peanut and my responsibilities and commitments to her in my role as her mother and I hold my job and I hold our home and somewhere in this daily struggle, that fight I fight everyday to find that elusive balance? I hold the thing that is simply me.

Wine and a Mild Concussion...

So, I have to check WebMD. Do wine and concussions go well together? Like, say beer and chips?

Um. So I whacked my heat something fierce on the Peanut crib (R calls it Peanut Prison) while reaching down to pull out an errant sock from below it. OWWW! I blacked out a little and started crying. Yeah, Peanut fell down tonight and bonked her head and just kept playing. Mum does and just wails for a few minutes. Hmmm. Hopefully my brain won't leak out my ears when I go to bed.

I am quite pleased that Blogger has the autosave feature now. Safari just quit for about the four hundred thousandth time. I even installed the recent updates. Ack Ack Ack. Oh, Apple, you tease. You promise and seduce me with your gorgeousness and usability and then you stop calling me and stop providing timely patches and updates. I see how it is. You get all popular and suddenly you're out with the iPhone.

Rain, Rain...

Went away on its own. We're still here. We battened down the hatches and we're still here. It howled and blew and poured last night, but we're still here.

I went to breakfast with PA this morning, to the Starling Diner, over on Third St. I had the Broiled San Francisco Stuffed Toast. According to the menu:

"Have you ever tried French toast stuffed with creamy Mascarpone and Crème Fraiche? We love it. It’s French Toast like you’ve never had it before. Not only is it beautiful to view but your stomach will click its heels with glee. We broil instead of frying it-which gives the flavor a deeper dimension. You have your choice of custom tailored toppings:
Fresh Seasonal Berries and Whipped Cream or Caramelized Apples in Brandy Butter" YUMMMM! I was in a sugar induced haze while we walked back to my house and I showed her how to update her blog. So we'll see what happens there.

In the afternoon, we went over to Pioneer and shopped at the Farm Fresh market in Little India. They're at: 18551 Pioneer Blvd., Artesia, CA; 562-865-3191. No website, but a good selection of produce, spices, frozen Indian foods and some British items, like McVities digestives and Tango soda. Yeah. Good stuff.

We continued our world wide trip by visiting the Holland America Import Store in Bellflower located at 10343 Artesia Blvd, Bellflower, CA 90706, 562) 867-7589. I bought some Dutch goodies for my mom's birthday- stroopenwaffles, black licorice and a bag of Radenmaker Hopjes. (I may have purchased a bag for myself, too). I also got a yummy item I last had when I was about 8 years old- De Ruijter toast sprinkles! I can't wait to have toast!

Peanut was up almost all day, with only a couple of very short naps. This is going to be awesome. She's been asleep since 9, so she'll be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Argh. But I will have toast sprinkles! Yay!

R is making Chicken Tikka Masala in the kitchen and begging me to turn off the heater. I guess. I've been parked in front of the wall heater for a couple days now.

Well, my hands are aching, so I'll sign off for now. I will be making a better attempt to update here a little more often than once a month this year, so we'll see.

Happy New Year and Stuff

So that's nice. Oh, is it 2008? Ah. Well, you see... yours truly conked out just before midnight while feeding the baby. R woke me up and midnight and I drug myself off to bed. My normal sleep schedule is bed at 11, wake with the baby at 12:30, sleep, wake with the baby at 3, sleep, wake up for work and feed the baby at 5. So midnight was a little too late for me. Although we slept until 8! AM! on New Year's Day. HOORAY!!!

Peanut is into EVERYTHING now. So I spent New Year's Day trying to make our house just a little more childfriendly. There aren't Elmo posters on the wall, but I swept up most of the broken hypodermics and rat droppings. Our living room has basically devolved into the play room anyhow, but we managed to rearrange so R has somewhere to keep his computer other than the couch. Peanut enjoys smacking expensive electronics, vomitting on stuff, and eating leftover pine needles from the Christmas tree. Oh, and chasing kitties. (They LOVE that, by the way, and have developed these incredibly sad meows that seem to say, "But WHY mom, WHY? What did I do to deserve this!"- to which the reply is "Years of cleaning cat yarck off of EVERYTHING" But anyway....)

So I don't really have any major resolutions. I'm going to take one class online this semester to see how I manage. I'm also going to try to write more. Maybe next year I'll try to send stuff out again. I haven't been feeling super confident about writing lately. I have been thinking about a story recently though.

I want to just, I don't know, try harder this year. So we'll just see, I guess.

Flight of The Conchords..

Thanks....

for the car accident. So, R got rear-ended (I don't know if that is really a hyphen, but I am oh-so-tired) and we are getting up the courage to face our families for the annual family time. Oh joyous day. I think there are about 20 people due at my mom's. Blarghedy-blargh. Ack.

So, R is ok, and he was driving our old car, so no harm no foul. But he did tell off the lady, yelling that "I don't know what I would do to you if my daughter was in the car!" Awwww, it's so cute to see him be so overly protective of Peanut. I mean, she was about 11 miles away at the time. So, yeah....

We went to the LA Zoo a couple weeks ago.
It was pretty fun.

Peanut is a little rock star.

She loves her new Fisher Price toy.

She is growing sooo fast. It's just amazing...

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us!

Oh yum....

I made dinner, for once. The Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Chicken with Croutons, so yummy... And I even made her Vegetable Tian.

Anyhow, the time change is kicking my butt, so I really need to go to bed.

I really meant to write a little something about how cool it is that Peanut is growing up. And how I feel sad that she's really not going to stay small forever (someday she will actually drive! And stuff! Ack!). I will write again soon, and post a pic or two of her as Princess Leia for Halloween. I mean, Peanut Leia. R keeps calling her hardcore Peanut- P*NuT.

There was a kitty-cat related crash from the bedroom. Gotta run.

Acres of Books Is Under Attack

Acres of Books, that Long Beach landmark, is under attack by the City of Long Beach, which seeks to tear it down and redevelop that block. You can sign petitions here.

You can read more about it at The District, the newish LBC weekly paper.

F*ck redevelopment. That's bullshit.

Long live Acres of Books.

If Love is A Red Dress...

Why does it have to be so hard...and the world is on fire.

So, we have a new car seat. Peanut is a happy kid now; she has room to stretch and squirm happily. She used to cry EVERY time she was placed in her car seat. Now she cooes and makes happy raspberries. So, I hope the ridiculously expensive seat is really worth it, but so far it seems as if it is so.

I promised in my last post to discuss the child care debacle, so here goes. We interviewed for day care in July, because I had to go back to work in August. We met with the woman, I'll call her Ms. D___. She seemed mellow and nice. She'd been licensed for over 10 years and she seemed to really care about the kids. There was an unstructured feeling at her home, which we liked, since we wanted to have Peanut in a place that felt like a home, not an institution.

Then it began to go wrong.

Ms. D___ took Peanut with her to get fast food. She'd never mentioned taking our daughter anywhere in a car. She acted as if we were crazy for being unhappy about this.

Ms. D___ had people dropping in and out of her house all the time.

Ms. D___ put Peanut to sleep in a small pack-n-play on a pillow- on her tummy. That's how SIDS happens- at least it becomes more likely. When mentioned by us, she acted as if we were being silly and overprotective.

Finally, Ms. D___ gave me papers to tell me that the State of California had found her liable in being negligent in a child breaking his leg at her home while in her care. She then tried to cast aspersions on the child's mother, as if bad parenting caused the accident, somehow. The same papers stated that there were allegations that people were drinking at her house while children were in her care.

So we took Peanut out. We scrambled to find care for her. My sister, my step mother, friends, flexible scheduling at work... We managed to juggle it all for two weeks.

We finally ended up with two interviews. A chain of childcare providers that I'll call "KinderScare" and Mrs. H___, a grandma that takes care of a friend's child.

"KinderScare" was AWFUL. I've never been to a Romanian orphanage, but that is close to what I pictured. A three month old baby lay on the LINOLEUM floor crying while a staffer stood over her, chatting with another staffer. My husband said in the car that he was getting so stressed out that he nearly picked up that baby. Peanut didn't smile the entire time we were there. Neither of us could picture leaving her there- I'm sure that it is generally a safe place, but so completely clinical that I couldn't imagine it not impacting Peanut's social development. I would quit my job before leaving her in a place like that.

Then there was Mrs. H___. She wanted to cuddle Peanut right away. She had pictures of her grandchildren all over. She has a big backyard and a sweet chocolate lab. Her grandaughter and my friend's child were playing happily in the backyard with the dog keeping a watchful eye on them. It seemed just right.

And now we have Mrs. H___, who is a kind grandmother who has watched a friend's two children since their infancy. She always wants a last hug with Peanut everyday. And Peanut smiles at her in the way that she smiles at all of her grandmas. So all is well once more in Peanut-ville.

Except the part about half of Southern California being in flames. My throat is raw from all the smoke- and I was inside all day, except for when I was walking from buildings into my car. Our house smells like burning. We are miles from the fires, but the Santiago Canyon fire looked like hell when I drove south to work this morning. I was driving along, towards the bank of smoke obliterating the sunrise this morning and I just thought, why am I driving TOWARDS it? It is just such a nonsense thing to do, don't you think? You're supposed to flee, or something.... Right?

28 and a Quarter...

Inches long. M was 21 and a half inches long when she was born. So she has grown almost 7 inches in 6 months. She's tall for her age.

The fun part? Now we need a new car seat. Because hers is for babies up to 29 inches long. Yep, I thought we'd get to keep it for a year, but I was wrong.

So, a new car seat. I think I want this one:
The Britax Marathon Car Seat. Ok, so it is very expensive. But it should last us through a couple of kids and until about 65 lbs worth of kid. And I do have a coupon. And it's on sale. And....

And it is pretty cute.

It does cost a little more than half what my first car did, though. I could buy her a little more than half a 1981 VW Rabbit of her own for the price of this seat. Weird, huh?

Anyhow, we've been dealing with the aftermath of our flaky childcare lady and the resulting State of California investigation (which I will blog about soon, as it is so much trauma and drama), and now we finally have a replacement that was recommended to us by a friend and that costs HALF what the flaky lady did. So yay, we can swing the expensive seat.

And I am reading an excellent book (on my breaks at work- who knew that would be the only time I EVER have to read anymore?)- John Irving's "A Prayer For Owen Meany". I'm not through yet (at this rate I should be done around M's birthday).

I have also decided that I am just going to call M what we call her at home: Peanut. I am aware it is about the least original nickname, but I have never been a nickname gal. She's just our little Peanut, though.

Oh yes, friends who have e-mailed me- I will be writing you back this weekend- I promise! I will do it even if I have to sacrifice blankly staring at the wall while the baby naps!

My First Museum

So M is so very cultured. She went to her first museum, the Zimmer Museum, with our friend V and his four year old, F. M had sooo much fun, even though she's too little for everything. She squealed and blew constant raspberries at all the bright colors and the children. I think it was probably the most fun she's ever had in her life so far. Pretty cool. Here's M playing with the challah table.

Here's M and her Papa.


Here's V and M having fun together, too.

So many fun things at the Zimmer. M had a blast. She was so happy she cooed all the way home. I really think that was the best day ever for her.

Bleh

I feel so bleh. My back is killing me, I am still getting over the plague that my inlaws gave us (um, thanks), and the baby decided that the past three weeks (my first three weeks back at work) would be a great time to STOP sleeping through the night. Except on weekends, when I could potentially sleep in. Sigh.

So I am sitting here, waiting for the tylenol to kick. Woo. Party. Excitement. What else would I do on Friday night?

A Big Pile of Suck

Ok, so I'm going to preface this by stating that I do not advocate brunk dlogging. I mean, ha ha, drunk blogging.
But even so.
Teeth.
Not my teeth. They are, knock on wood, fine.
M's teeth. Or, to be more specific, her little gum nubbins where teeth shall someday be.
We did not make it to bed until 5:30 AM yesterday. We slept until 8 AM. Then we got up, so as to enjoy the 89 degree weather more completely. Oh, yes. 89 degrees AND teething.
Blargh.
Double blarcgh-blargh.
So, thanks to the Fisher Price Jumperoo (I wish they made them for grownups) and some Baby Orajel, we have a temporary detente between the teeth and M. It is a fragile truce.
The wine is making me warm.
I just read my friend's blog where I am linked below Alternadad. She makes me feel so much cooler than I am.
So here's my Alternadad-type moment for the week:

...a funny thing that R said to me today when the baby had a cat hair stuck to her face:

"oh, she's got a kitty pube on her cheek..."

I said, "Eww, it's just a cat hair..."

he said, "how do you know?"

Ack.

Sleep.....

Um. I'm still awake. As if I am waiting to hear the baby wake up. It was 91 degrees today. Right now it is supposed to be 73 degrees. Baby hates the heat. Baby can't sleep. Mama can't sleep.
Global warming sucks.
I blame the Bush administration. Everything else is their fault, so why not this? I live 1/4 of a mile from the ocean. 91 degrees just isn't right.
Well, at least the forecast for tomorrow is only 87 degrees. That's downright comfy.
Blech.
I have to go back to work next week. I'm going to be waking up at 4:30 AM to feed the baby and get ready for work. Baby thinks that we should stay up until midnight every day.
Did I mention that it was 91 degrees today? I want to move somewhere with reasonable weather.
I'm going to test the kid and try to go to bed...

Why English Class is Important...

I know everyone has the little things that bother them. I work at a credit union, so the phrase "checkings account" bugs the absolute hell out of me. IT IS NOT PLURAL!!!!! Ack. Anyhow, at my hubs job, there are a few Grammar Offenders that come up with some doozies.

So. You know the word "scapegoat"? Overheard: "You know, I hate it when my boyfriend tried to make like I'm his escape goat..." Can't you just picture it? A stealth goat that is used to escape dangerous situations? He'd probably need a goat sized mask. Maybe even a cape...

One gal thinks that the word "remind" means "to tell you something for the first time". As in, "I need to remind you that this is our new policy that you've never heard of before"- she thinks that is how you use it.

Another one- instead of condescending- condomsending. Uh, yeah. I'll leave it alone.

So Lame...

Ok, so Wired.com has an article about how geeks make the best lovers. So I have no real argument with the statement- it is so immaterial to me, anyhow, but the reasons they listed are so stupid. One of them is actually "Geeks understand multi-dimensional relationships". I mean, LAME. Geeks may be the best lovers but not because they "understand multi-dimensional relationships."

Ack. I need to get some sleep.

Randomness...

So... I just got some spam e-mail with the subject beginning, "Hope or Lightheadedness..." Doesn't that so completely sound like an album title or a novel title? Craziness.

Sigh....

Summertime...

And it is getting hot. I always seem to forget how quickly the pleasant May weather (mid 70's, nice ocean breezes) evolves into that back of the leg sweat kind of hot- you know the kind, when your jeans actually start to stick to your legs, or if you're wearing a skirt, the sweat just drips down the back of your legs....
Anyhow, this past weekend I went up to Highland Park to the Oilcloth International sale (next one is in November), and it was just HOT. I was sweating and carrying M around was so warm. It made me remember the weekend last year that I found out I was pregnant with M. I was in Highland Park, visiting my friend and her husband, who had recently found out that they were expecting. She teased me that I was probably preggers too, since I kept sucking down water and peeing constantly. I thought to myself, hmmm. I suppose I could be..., as I stood in their kitchen with sweat dripping down my legs and soaking the heels of my cork espadrilles.
So, the sale was relatively successful, though I thought the selection wasn't as good as last years'. I still managed to part with a few dollars.
The interesting part, though, was that as I was walking from the porch of my friends' bungalow into their living room, I got stung by a bee. Now, I suppose the more outdoorsy stypes are totally unimpressed by this, but I have somehow made it to my late twenties without being stung by anything. I felt like maybe my diaper bag's corner was stabbing me in the arm, so I looked down and there was a BEE on my arm. I have a serious phobia about flying inspects in general, although honey bees have actually never been on the list before. I was holding M in her carseat, so I finally managed to flick it off of my arm and get into the house. I closed the door, and asked my friends- what do you do to get the stinger out? I was never a girl scout, and I have never earned any sort of outdoorsy knowledge contest. I Google, therefore I am. I just know how to look things up online- so when I have no laptop in front of me, I become basically an idiot. I called R at work and asked him, since my friends didn't seem too sure. R was a boy scout, so he probably had earned a badge for something like this in his childhood. He told me it didn't matter how you get the stinger out- just to do it fast. I borrowed a pair of tweezers and pulled it out, then cleaned it with an alcohol swab. I watched it for an hour to see if I developed any kind of crazy reaction (just a dime sized welt and a red splotch on my arm around the area) and put on a Strawberry Shortcake bandaid on it.
I mean, I am running up on thirty- doesn't it seem possible that I should have been stung earlier- like when I was a kid running around playground in the spring time? Barefoot, for crying out loud? Not just walking into the house! That just seems lame.
Writing this down makes me somehow remember when I was in fourth grade, our house became home to a colony (is that the right word?) of carpenter bees. They made a nest (hive?) in the corner of our roof that met at an angle, and my mom had to pay some guy to trap them inside with a metal mesh thing. The trouble came when they found their way out through our attic into the only was out they could find- the small crack between the top of our kitchen ceiling fan and the actual ceiling. My friend, S, who I've mentioned just caught up with me via Google, and I were sitting at the kitchen table doing something together when a half dead carpenter bee fell onto the middle of table, writhing with I am sure the agony of being halfway torn apart in the act of pushing through the crack. It was completely terrifying. We screamed and ran, and I suspect my grandmother must have been the one to seal up the ceiling and dispose of the bee, because I don't remember anything else happening...
Odd, then, that my phobia of flying insects is restricted to moths, butterflies (they are really just fancy-colored moths), and grasshoppers. Yuck. Even typing the g-word gives me the willies.
Well, I have to run and get things done before M wakes up. I should probably peel off my Strawberry Shortcake bandaid and get moving.

A Funny Thing Happened to the FCC

I love Mark Morford.

Melty Melty Goes My Heart

So M can now make raspberries in response to my raspberries. Awwww. And she can suddenly hold her head up like, way high during tummy time. She's growing up so FAST! Next thing you know she'll be writing how much she hates me in her diary. Which will be on some sort of electronic gadget I'll be too dumb to understand. Sigh.

Ok, so Bobby Brown has problems. I don't really think that Osama is his main one, though...

I'm excited- I'm going to the oilcloth sale in Highland Park this weekend. Yay! Cheap stuff! I'm gonna get me some stuff, wholesale and even cheaper! Check out some of the stuff that this company makes for Land of Nod: splat mat, bibs, aprons...

Last summer at their last sale, I got a few bibs (all very cute- I gave away some as part of a shower gift) and a KitchenAid Mixer cover. So cute- it has strawberries on it, and it keeps the dust and schmutz off my mixer. This time I want to get a few cosmetic bags with zippers to use for Peanut's diaper bag- for her spare outfits and one for dirties. And I have small diaper packs in the stroller baskets, which I would like to put into oilcloth bags. Also one for my Hooter Hider would be handy. I also want to get a couple of splat mats, if they have any. If not, then I think I'll buy some yardage to make my own. We have crappy wood floors that don't need to get any more crappy, and the splat mats are cool for picnics and for crafts, too. I mean, once M can sit up on her own and eat solids. Eventually. :)
I am excited about the fun stuff they are gonna have, which is OMG so cheap. I need to resist the cute aprons- they almost got me last time. But I have a ton of aprons and the only one I ever actually use is the red Williams Sonoma one I got for my anniversary from my aunt- it is so thick and lovely and washes up so nice. Also good for baby bath time, actually. You can see what kind of stuff they make on their website, OIlcloth.com. Click the "Sewn Products" section to see pics of their goodies. Which reminds me, I want to get a couple of totes to add to my reusable grocery bags supply. It's funny, but at the healthy organic markets (like Trader Joe's) the baggers always smile at your reusable canvas bags. At Stater Brothers, they just look at you like you're annoying and should bag your own shit if you want to use hippy bags. Well, it's late (as always) and I think I need to make my way to bed.

Deep in the Heart of Texas....

Is a town called Bullard where we might end up moving if R's job ends up there. I could be a stay at home mom, which would be cool. BUT.....In FREAKING Texas. I am an atheist liberal nut job. I hate guns. I hate the President and all his nonsense. So.... Texas? Yeah, Texas.

Ack.

I gotta look into a pickup truck that'll fit a car seat, maybe.... Do they make decorative gun racks? You know, to hang your umbrella from or something?

Oh, yeah. I think Bullard, Texas is in a dry county. It just gets better and better.

R said I could get a pony, though. Hmmm...

I've Been Googled...

Well, my best friend from growing up has found me again. Via Google. I have been Googled. Huh.

I probably kept her up far past her bedtime, babbling on and on. She is the one friend that I can fall into an immediate rhythm with, no matter how long it has been since we've talked. (I think it has been at least three years). We were pregnant at the same time, which is weird. Even weirder is that she had her baby on Valentine's Day. She is the third person I know who had a baby on Valentine's Day 2007. That's weird. It was her fifth baby, and she says she's done now. On the phone, it sounded like barely controlled chaos- in a very fun way. It was neat to catch up with S.

S said that she found it difficult to picture me as a mom. I am considerably less willing to completely let go in front of people than she is- I am definitely the prissy one. So, I was telling her about my "mummy moments"- those moments I would never have imagined before M. For instance, once during a diaper change when M had her diaper off and sneezed- she shot little poop-bullets three feet out of her little butt. She almost hit the wall opposite her changing pad. Or, the first time I actually saw poop being squeezed out of her little butthole. I had never seen a human butt in action before. (Call me sheltered). Or when she farted on my finger as I was putting on some diaper rash cream. She vibrated my finger with her butt. In all cases- I didn't have a breakdown or cry. I just laughed.

Yes, I am officially a mother.

Method Baby Laundry Soap

Ok, so I've been to three different Targets looking for the Method Baby laundry soap and they're out, or they aren't carrying it anymore. The smell of that stuff is like crack to me. Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels this way. It is sort of an amazing scent, as that blogger wrote- very hormone inducing for some reason. Between that and the smell of Johnson & Johnson's All Over Baby Wash, I'd let R knock me up every summer. (Don't tell him that).
I hope that the people at Method aren't planning on discontinuing it. I haven't smelled anything like it before.

Reading My Old Posts....

I was just reading a little bit of a couple of my older posts, and I was smiling over my pre-M posts, where I was describing cooking French food in 80+ degree weather. It made me remember how gianormous my ankles were at that point (which continued until about 10 days after M was born). When the swelling went down I felt so much thinner right away, even though it had nothing to do with my own efforts at losing weight. I need to remember how big I was before M was born so I don't feel as yucky about how big I still am. I'm working on losing the baby weight now, and I need to remember exactly how big I was so I don't feel as big now. I know (logically) that I've lost a fair amount of weight, but it's hard to see myself in pics now (such as during our recent trip) and not feel bad.

I just had to get up and prevent my hubby from drinking cold coffee from the fridge at 1:35 am. He woke up (he has to work tomorrow at 8, so he has to be up at about 6:30 in the morning) and went to grab something to drink. He pulled out the glass pitcher of coffee that I chilled to make iced coffee with and began to pour. I asked him what he thought it was and he answered "brown juice". I'm not sure what juice would be brown, but I would think that soy milk or water would be more appealing, but whatever. I should have let him drink it. That would have been sort of funny when he woke up wired in an hour. But mean. So I didn't. I gave him a cup of o.j. and sent him back to bed. He's occasionally like a really big toddler. M seems to be staying asleep so I think I am going to risk going to bed.

An old friend e-mailed me today. Oddly, we have babies that are about a month apart in age. How weird is life, huh?

Sleepy-time and the vote for antichrist...

I'm up waiting to see if M is really going to sleep or if she is just messing with me. I find that if she sleeps for more than 30 minutes at night, she really means it. She literally just squeaked over the monitor as I typed this. Maybe she really loves Cuba Gooding Jr., who is making his entrance onto Late Night with Conan O'Brien right now. I really hope not. Is good taste genetic? I hope so.
Watching Conan makes me feel sort of nostalgic- I used to watch him when I first moved out on my own, when I worked swing. I'd get home at 11p, make dinner and watch Late Night. Then I got a day job, couldn't stay up as late. Andy Richter left, and it hasn't been the same since.
M decided to wake up again; I think she's beginning to teethe. She's suddenly drooly and obsessed with eating her own hands. Poor little Peanut. It's now 1:42 am. Hopefully this bed-time is for real.
Mark Morford over at the SF Chronicle explains why Lindsay Lohan might be the antichrist and why John Stewart isn't. Very funny. Although I would like to nominate the Justice Department for antichrist, if I may. Oooh, let's do that- kind of like voting for homecoming queen, except for antichrist being just a little more mean and less about being pretty and slutty, right?