my soft spot

Carbon Fast, Day 2

2011-03-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

I looked around for ideas on what to do this Lent--what to give up or what to add. Meaningful choices in the past were giving up meat (not so bad), alcohol (pretty easy), or sugar (incredibly, massively hard). I also wanted it to be something we could do as a family.

The UCC emails talked about a carbon fast, but in such nebulous terms that I couldn't grasp it (carbon is in everything alive; we're certainly not giving up food, nor giving up breathing out carbon dioxide). Then a friend sent me a link to a series of small steps one could take this Lent.

I skipped the first step--I love my light, although I'm thinking of replacing a bulb with a CF (which I current don't much care for--I'm clumsy, and breaking these means spilling a tiny amount of mercury, the safe level of which has never been established). But I did go home at lunch yesterday, and came back on my bike. And when we went to the Ash Wednesday service at my church, we walked instead of driving. Win!

This morning, I got us out of the house in time to walk to school, getting DS there 5 minutes before the bell. Took the dogs with us. Several wins: kid to school on time, kid gets morning exercise, car doesn't get driven, dogs get exercise, I get exercise, dog poop in a trash can instead of our yard, and I get back home in time to be able to bike to work.

I love any incentive to make a change that improves our life, and the world.

One Fewer Thing Each Day--Day 3

2011-03-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

On Day 1, I got rid of my Borders Rewards card from my keychain (our store closed), and two charger cords from my car.

On Day 2, I chose two skeins of sock yarn that I just did NOT love for the swap we'll do at Spinning Night next.

Day 3... well, I did find a box of things in the basement that I keep moving out of my way, moving moving moving, but not getting rid of. Think I'll bag up those items for a lovely Salvation Army dropoff.

Am loving this.

Ashland wish lists

2010-12-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

Anna

4GB PSP Memory Card (Used just fine—available on Amazon.com for around $10)

Subscription to Shonen Jump (https://secure2.palmcoastd.com/pub/shnj/newSHPTT.asp)

Bleach #18 and up (Bleach is a Japanese graphic novel series)

Gift cards:

· Kohl’s

· Macy’s

· Gamestop

· Barnes & Noble

Anna also has a wish list posted on Knit Picks.

Jack

iTunes Gift Cards

Xbox 360 controllers. Need two altogether. Wireless preferred, but will accept wired. Used absolutely OK! New, I think the wireless are $40 each and the wired are $20. Used should be about half that much.

On Jack’s list, but pretty ignorable due to price:

· Halo:Reach (game) $60

· Rock Band 2 (game) $100

· Cry Baby Wah Pedal for an electric guitar $100

Zippered Hooded Sweatshirt Jacket (double lined or extra warm, somehow) in a dark color

Woven boxers (they have some cute ones at Old Navy!) He is a size 34.

Maura

I have a Knit Picks Wish List.

I’d like a gift certificate to Webs for a large folding blocking mat

3 Wicker storage boxes from Ikea: Branas 32x35x32 cm (13x14x13”) item number 774.392.12

Bamboo wooden spoons—regular wooden spoon size, not the big (wide) ones (easier to fit in the drawer!)

Baggallini small zip out shopping bags in black or orange.(around $20) Sold at Travel Essentials in Ashland!

Baggallini Zip Out Shopping Bag Small

Folds up into itself
Perfect for a trip to the market
Water resistant

A durable and stylish small shopping bag that zips and folds down into its own compact front pocket when not in use, the Baggallini Zip Out Shopping Bag Small is perfect for a trip to the beach, the grocery store, or the trip home from France with your unforeseen treasures. Measuring 15 x 18 x 6 inches when fully expanded, the Baggallini Zip Out Shopping Bag Small folds down to an 7 x 7 x 1 inch pouch and weighs only 8 ounces. Made of lightweight, durable water-resistant rip-stop nylon lined with PVC for added durability.

Wish list, December 2010

2010-11-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

New: Sony DVD player with WiFi

~~Costco has an Indian food cookbook for $9.99 that looked great; they also have the Sudoku Page-a-day calendar for maybe $8.~~

Any of the dark rovings by WildHare

Drawer handles and cabinet knobs

Some more BE makeup

New subscription to Interweave Knits

Beginner's Lockpick kit (yes, really: I've always wanted to know how to do this)

I love vanilla, lavender, and citrus scents (especially grapefruit)

Gift Certificate to Knit Picks, Elann, Webs, or Little Knits

Eddie Izzard on my TomTom GPS

stocking: cinnamon toothpaste or floss, knitting row counters or stitch markers

~~We'd both love a water polo ball to practice with (on sale now!)~~ (reserved)

Graham/Charlie:

~~DS games--Spongebob: Truth or Square; Shrek Forever After~~

Simpsons Page-a-Day Calendar
~~How To Train Your Dragon boxed set $39.99~~
~~The Argyle Sweater Page-a-Day Calendar (Costco; about $9)~~

stocking: wild berry floss

Letter to Barbara Boxer re: TSA pat-down searches

2010-11-16T14:28:00.001-08:00

Dear Senator Boxer,

I understand the TSA have approved pat-down searches for children. This, with the full-body scans on scanners that have the capability of storing and exporting scans, goes too far--and doesn't protect us.

With the flimsy hiring protocols for TSA scanners, offering constant views of passengers' nude bodies, including those of their children, nauseates me almost as much as the idea of my ten-year-old son enduring a pat-down search by a TSA employee with a questionable background.

We're giving up so much liberty to gain so very little. We need to instead look at the scanning and profiling techniques in use by Israel. Their techniques are vastly different and highly effective. They are also similar to those recommended by Gavin deBecker in his book, "The Gift of Fear." Theirs is a more sensible approach with better training of screeners, who would be hired with more exacting standards.

Let's move FORWARD rather than BACKWARD! Having a stranger grope my child in front of me is not moving forward. It's moving backward, to the age where one never talked about child molestation because it could embarrass the MOLESTER.

I am a constituent of yours who has supported you for a long while now. Please be worthy of that support. Thank you.

Take THAT, clutter!

2010-11-16T13:50:00.000-08:00

This post got me thinking.

I was wallowing in the clutter hell that my house and yard had become. I ignored it as much as I could, made a half-hearted effort to do some things, and that was about it.

Then, I had it. I sent a note out about the yard, offering $10 an hour for basic clean-up work. A friend asked me to hire her out-of-work husband and he's been getting things done.

And I looked forward on my calendar, and extrovert that I am, I want to have a goddamned Christmas party. (Ooh! Or after-Christmas White Elephant party!) So I divided my house into areas, and wrote out a list (it got lengthy) of what needed to be done, where.

And I've been working on it. Some things are so frustrating, but as the post says, perfect isn't really the goal; progress is. So when I find things all on the ground around the coat tree, I try not to blow my top, but remind my kid again that he needs to hang up his jacket and backpack. And I either put my jackets away or move them so they don't fall off.

Last weekend, I worked really hard on the undercounter spaces in my kitchen. One had lots of random dog crap in it (mostly dog toys, but some bowls and other things), and the other had 3 paper bags of things I'd been ignoring for a few years.

Now, one problem I have with cleaning and decluttering is follow-through. Does this ring true for anyone else? I start cleaning, go to put something away where it belongs, do a little reorganization there, and the first area is not only not clean, it's messier with the piles of things that go here and there. So this time, I really pushed myself to finish the job. I threw away the CD holders and took the old computer backup CDs to work to shred. I emptied the bags out completely and settled in to sort through the papers--recycle, shred, and keep (which was like 3 papers). I filed the papers I kept. I moved the recycle bin back to where it belonged. I put the shred bag back by the front door (my sister has a shredding service and invited me to bring a bag of shreddables rather than take the time at home).

I swept out both places, and found that my dog's dishes (on their boot tray, a trick I learned from other Lab owners to contain the drool as they drink and the food as they eat) fit in one of the knee holes, so they don't have to be out on the floor! I put my son's art bin back in the other knee hole, but it may find a home elsewhere. I'm starting to dislike things being on the floor when they don't need to.

That was one of maybe 45 things on the list, but I did it. And finished it.

And it feels great. Honestly, just great.

Walking trip in France

2010-10-20T12:11:00.001-07:00

I was doing some planning for a walking trip in France last night, and getting more and more excited. I looked at some hostels in various places, and they are located everywhere! One drawback is the lack of security; another one, at a well-located hostel in Paris, is overbooking and poor service. One gal was moved at 2:30AM to another bed! Talk about insupportable.

At least the reviews are online, so I can get an idea ahead of time. And at least with the reservation I made stateside, the deposit is so small that if we have to cancel, it's not a huge deal.

So far, I've decided we'll go for about 3 weeks. One week in Paris--so one week at a hostel or a nicer place with a kitchen that we'll share with my mom, if she wants to join us--and then 2 weeks in the countryside, mostly in Brittany.

I had G go through a touristy book on France and mark the pages he thought looked interesting. Many of the coastal photos got marked, which is why I'm concentrating on hikes/walks on the coast of Brittany for that part of our trip. I found a Grande Randonnée that goes right along the coast from Mont St. Michel toCancale and then St-Malo, and then one that goes south from there to a town called Dinan. Mom and I visited all of these when we were there before G appeared on the scene, and I'd love to show him these areas.

From Dinan, we'd take 3 trains (!) to Vannes (through Rennes, which seems like a good place to stop for a bit and tour), pick up another GR trail and walk to Quiberon, the "Presqu'ile" (nearly an island--a very narrow peninsula), and then take a ferry over to Belle Île, which was highly recommended by a former French coworker. Mom and I tried to visit Belle Île when we were there, but the ferry could take us but not our car, and we didn't want to tour on foot (Mom's knees were very painful at the time). We settled for a nice dinner in Quiberon. This trail goes through Carnac, which includes a lot of standing stones (in which G has expressed an interest), and another site said there's an enchanted forest that would be fun for kids.

From Belle Île, we'll return to Paris and then home.

What I'd love to also do is to visit the beaches at Normandy for the historical aspect, to show G the Dordogne area (he did mark a Dordogne photo), and to show him the Loire Valley that I was fortunate to see with my French teacher in 1981 on a class tour. Perhaps for a future visit.

So much sadness this week

2010-10-20T11:52:00.001-07:00

I Facebooked about our dog's trials this week, and how she is affecting our household. My son is upset by the things she's destroyed, and I'm affected by his sadness as well as her pacing. I ended up shutting her out of my bedroom night-before-last, as the mild tranquilizers the vet had suggested did not do enough. Thankfully, I got a good night's sleep last night; I guess her gut is finally comfortable.

(I did get gently woken by the sensation of a small dog burrowing into the covers at my back; our little Chug, Chester, had decided the front room just wasn't warm enough any more and had come to sleep with me. I was dreaming a Corgi was digging into the clothes at my back until I woke up enough to realize it was Chester. I smiled and went to sleep after he turned around and settled into the warmth.)

At church, I was still so down on Sunday that I nearly asked for a prayer. But prayers about one's pets, when others are dealing with cancer, unemployment, and health concerns, seem so secondary. So I prayed quietly.

After the service, I noticed a fellow choir member was really emotional. Her daughter has an ongoing vision loss, and the song we sang, "The Prayer," is apparently an anthem for the blind. "We pray we'll find your light...".

Then I noticed our minister talking to another member on the stairs, who was in tears. I felt like there was just so much sadness in our church that day. I just sent a note to our minister, thanking her for holding all of us up. It must be so hard, and she is so sweet and kind and thoughtful, and such a good listener.

I'm praying that things lighten up for us all, even on this day of Remembrance for those kids who thought that their only solution for being bullied for GLBT issues was suicide. Healing for all.

Kid makes another step toward organization

2010-04-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

My sister spotted this bookcase on sale at Target, and recognized that it compared favorably to the Expedit system at IKEA, especially at the sale price. With 7 cloth baskets, it all came to $90 with tax (even including the green monkey-faced one, which G discovered has an opening that closes with magnets. He's decided it will house fun things--things that you "monkey around" with).

We got it late Saturday, after a very successful Give Hockey A Try Day (lots of participants left saying they were going to sign up! Yeah!) and a trip to Mountain Mike's for pizza and socializing, another new thing this GHATD. Target closed at 11 and we arrived shortly after 10:30PM. Fortunately, I'd brought the ad and an employee was able to ~~direct~~ lead me right to it.

I left it in my car that night, as I'm still nursing a back injury (sooo close to being fine, but don't want to chance it), but had to take it out today to drive a friend's kids to a church event. I offered to G, earlier this evening, to either watch a movie together OR to put the organizer together. To my surprise, not only did he want to put it together (my kid, turn down a movie? Wow), but he insisted on doing the lion's share of the work. I only ended up directing the flow of the work (by reading the directions) and showing him how to use the wooden dowels so common in today's furniture. He did 99% of the screw-driving (I merely seated a few recalcitrant ones), and 99.5% of the hammering (the bookcase has black cardboard backing for 5 of the 9 openings, as is so common these days; and each one took 12 nails). I am so proud of him, doing all the work!

I got him started getting his things organized and in the bins--on which I put temporary labels for him to write on; we'll make more permanent-style labels when things settle into clear categories. He was working so hard that I looked up at the time after a while and whisked him away to a trip to the ice-cream store. So proud of my kid.

Hate and love

2010-03-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

Saturday before last, G was driving me SO insane that by the time my friend picked me up for our "spa day," I was ready to leave him in the house anyway. Thank God for babysitters.

But lately, he's been a delight. Last night, I left him alone as I went to my water polo class, with a list of instructions and a timer set to remind him to get ready for bed. As I arrived home, he was in bed, pajamas on, teeth brushed, and reading a book. So wonderful.

This morning, he asked me why oil makes a rainbow pattern when it's on top of water. I love explaining things like that to him. He asks me all the time who invented things--often things that are so remote, there is likely no named inventor.

I bought vinegar at Costco last night (I use it in my laundry--it helps un-stink my hockey gear), and we started talking about vinegar. He said he'd learned that if you put a leaf in vinegar, after a while, it turns brown. "And why is that?" I asked. "Because it's a weak acid," he replies. I hugged him right there in the Costco line.

I love my kid! (But ask me again tomorrow.)

Stitches West report

2010-03-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

My sweet friend Rabbitch got me into Stitches West for free, having written me down as a "vendor." The only problem is that I'm a hard sell--people would walk into the booth and I'd practically accost them, shoving yarn in their faces and pushing them hard to buy anything they showed interest in. Ah, well, good thing I'm not in sales!

She sent me home with massive amounts of her yarn, Oh! so gorgeous.

Here's one:

and here's the sock today. Still loving it. This is lovely yarn to knit with--smooth and bright and gorgeous in its depth of color. I am so happy with my choice for the pattern, and how the yarn is not pooling but kind of doing a subtle striping.

And that's Lucy in the background, not having been successful in her quest to kill herself yet. I do wonder where the Tibetan Yak Milk chewie went, the one I bought yesterday and left with her just for my hockey game. There is no sign of it.

More yarn pr0n later.

So proud of my kid

2010-02-22T07:12:00.000-08:00

Last week, G told me matter-of-factly that he needed to write a two-page paper on "someone in the Olympics, and I have to draw a picture, too." Instant panic. When is it due? "I'm not sure. But the Olympics are on Channel 3, Mom."

Uh... we don't have cable hooked up to our TVs, and the one that has a digital antenna, between the signal and the digital antenna dying, I've found the Olympics to be unwatchable. I asked online and folks pointed to streaming Olympics coverage. OK.

Nudged him about it yesterday, and he looked panicked. Said it was due Tuesday, to his P.E. teacher. I sat him down at my computer with some video footage of Shaun White (he'd said he was interested in snowboarding, and Shaun White popped up first). G really got down to business--I was impressed! He asked to read some information on Shaun, so I found an informational page. He took notes and wrote a first draft, then asked for help in typing it in. He worked independently for a while, then asked me to review his paper. There were only 3 errors that I saw... but when printed out, it was only 1 page. I made a note at the bottom that it had been two pages written out and that he had typed it in himself.

Then he settled in and drew, freehand, a picture of Shaun from the informational page. It's really good! And now, he's all done; it's in his (new, indestructible) Take-Home Folder, ready a day early.

How far he's come!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T21:42:00.001-08:00

I had a super busy New Year's Eve day, working on some deadlines at work. I did well, only 2 outstanding bugs plus one doozie of a conundrum that needs to be solved Monday. It was nice to blast through some totally doable bugs, including one I'd looked at before, not solved (but found the source of the problem), and then looked at with fresh eyes and was able to solve pretty quickly.

I left at 3 to pick G up from Winter Wonderland camp, as it didn't have aftercare that day. G really enjoyed the camp, including the field trip to Chabot Space & Science Center on Wednesday. He implored me to stop by home and we picked up his DS and let the dogs out to pee. He played DS while I finished up my bugs.

We went home to feed the dogs and let them out again, and then went to a drop-in NYE party I'd just been invited to on Tuesday. I grabbed a jar of peach jam for a hostess gift, didn't look for their address, and set out. I knew which street it was, but not sure which block, and was hoping I'd recognize it from our previous Freecycle exchanges. Turns out, big surprise, I didn't! G and I walked around for a bit and then saw some people chatting on a porch. I asked if it was S's house, and lo and behold!, it was.

What a great party! I met a really nice lesbian couple, one of whom is part of S's homeschooling group (with her 4 kids to match S's). The partner is one of Alameda's Finest and we had a really great conversation about policework, guns, and lots of other topics. I really enjoyed talking to each of them. It was a great group of people, quite varied, and the house was great for kid play, too. G got to play with his friend T, and they were upstairs, downstairs, and out front, playing with all sorts of things. S invited us to eat "a lot," and I definitely did my share. Thinking we'd leave at 8, we ended up leaving at 10, pretty dead tired.

When we got home, though, G wanted to watch a movie, with me thinking, "OK, part of a movie." At 12:08, Dodgeball was over, and I said "Happy New Year" and practically immediately went to sleep.

Had a lovely morning on New Year's Day, quite easy but productive, too. I cleared off half the dining room table and set out two knitting projects that needed some sewing to finish. I never did locate my sewing machine, though, so that didn't get done.

But the highlight of the day was going to a movie at our "new" movie theater. I decided to walk to more places, and had found that downtown is just 1 mile away, so I made plans for us to leave our house by 10:30 for an 11:35 movie. We left on time, walked down in about 35 minutes, and got matinee tickets to "The Blind Side," despite G's plaintive requests to see the latest Chipmunks movie ("the Squeakwel")--um, no way.

We went in to the theater and had our pick of seats. G with his book and me with my knitting, we settled in and waited patiently for the start.

I think we both enjoyed the movie, but I thought it would have more football in it. In retrospect: it's not about the football. It's about kids with potential who fall through the cracks, and the people who step up and save one. I got choked up about 4 times. Afterward, G asked why they called it "The Blind Side," so I went through a complex display on the sidewalk with the line of scrimmage, an invisible center, me as the guard (?), and he as quarterback, so he could see that when he turned to throw the ball, he was blind to my side. "But I can see you!" he says, pointing to the plate-glass windows. Agh!

That evening, we went to my friend Jean's Burning Bowl celebration. In it, we made 3 lists; what we're happy to say Good-bye to from 2009, what we look forward to in 2010, and what we are grateful for (the longest list, for most). We burned the "Good-bye" list and had some black-eyed peas and rice... and then G grew short on patience (tired, I think) and we left.

Saturday, we had a lovely sleep-in and then got ready pretty quickly, stuffing poppyseed muffins in our faces for a quick breakfast, to head out to a local school for blood donation. When we got there, a woman game blustering up to us, insisting that G stay in a specific corner that was already set up with crayons and coloring sheets. Points for the crayons and coloring sheets; but points off for being so weird about it... and for the guy who hovered at the snack bar/refreshment center who told people when they "could leave"... um, guy, I'm leaving when I damn well please. I did break my donating record, though--last time, I got it done in 6 minutes; this time, 5! Woo!

After that, we went to the library and had our usual lovely visit, with my getting out "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in French and English, to give it another try. I also got "Tunnels," wanting to read over parts of it after we listened to it on our drive back from Thanksgiving and up and back at Christmas (unabridged, something like 13 hours). G had fallen asleep in parts, and wanted to read those parts, too. GREAT story.

On our way home, we just had to drop by Salvation Army, luckily on another 50%-off-everything day. I found some molds for juice pops, a pretty necklace, and a few books. I found a super-soft XL lambswool men's sweater that I almost bought, but then remembered I had 4 sweaters to unravel back at home. Came home to finish spinning the blue-faced Leicester a friend had given me, and plied it all up--more yarn than I've ever spun before, and it's SO soft!

It's a new year and I'm loving it already.

What we did today

2009-12-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

Something I read quickly just now put a thought into my head of using Blogger as a diary of sorts for our family. So, here goes.

Today was Day 2 of Winter Wonderland daycamp for Graham. He made yet more art projects and really seemed to relish them--his snowman photo holder had come with two googly eyes but he lost one somehow, and decided to simply make it a cyclops, one googly eye centered in the forehead. When I went to get him at noon, he pulled me over to the table of drying crafts to show me. He also pointed out that he didn't want to write on it, so he cleverly wrote his name on a piece of paper, and shoved the paper into the photo-holding hands of the snowclops.

I put him in the car and drove to Park St., where we were meeting my high school BFF. We were a bit early (what a nice change!), and I glanced around the restaurant and thought we'd arrived first. Then there she was, waving like crazy. She is still slim and sincere and funny and likeable and we jabbered any time our mouths weren't full of food. Her husband stood back and let us catch up gracefully, helping with their now-5-year-old (I thought she'd be 3!) needed attention. We only had an hour, but we really caught up (oops, I needed to ask about her mom and sister!) and I just relished the time together. We'll meet up again when she's here in February.

I took Graham back to camp and returned to work, where I'd been struggling with a logical conundrum. I bounced it off a few coworkers, thought I'd discovered the sticking point, and called my "I'm on vacation, but don't wait for answers, just call me on my cell" boss. She called back within the hour and we hashed out a quite liveable solution. I was dismayed to review the day and find I'd only worked on that issue the entire day. The deadline's Thursday! I have lots to do.

I left work, picked up Graham, and we headed home to have dinner and feed and water the dogs. Dinner was just Campbell's Chicken Noodle (my stepmom can no longer tolerate MSG in any form, so we totally scored the Chicken Noodle soup!) and toast. Then we packed up my spinning stuff and books to return and headed to the library for a Spinning Night. I adore our spinning nights, and one regular brought a friend from the Peninsula who is actually attempting the Master Spinner program, and brought her binder of samples to show (bits of different types of wool, then tiny skeins of it spun up and tiny swatches of it knitted). Very cool.

My friend Maia came, too (but she knitted rather than spun, as transporting her wheel was too much). It was so good to see her! I'd forgotten that she'd offered to teach me how to spin Long Draw (I'd probably blocked it from memory, as the last time I was taught, I just could. not. do. it). Maia's a wonderful teacher and it really clicked this time. And she gave me homework! She brought 8 oz of BFL for me to spin up by next Spinning Night (next Tuesday!), and if I get it done, she'll dye it for me (yummy deep Madder or ooh, maybe Concord Grape?). This is going to take some work!

Stefani also came and brought her son for Graham to play with. Apparently, they were both very much looking forward to seeing each other again. I hope to borrow T for playdates some time soon. Stefani invited us to an open house on Thursday evening, which works out great, since we have nothing planned, as it happens.

We dashed from the library to Border's Books at South Shore, as Graham has gift cards burning a hole in his pocket. There, we ran into Jessie and her son, who I'd invited over for games Thursday. Turns out they're going out of town, which frees us up for the open house (and early bedtime! No way I'm making it to midnight this year). It was great to see them, though. I enjoy both of them very much.

Tomorrow, Graham goes to Chabot Space & Science Center on a field trip with his Winter Wonderland friends. He's very much looking forward to it, but is not willing to bring his brand-new copy of "The Last Olympian," for fear of losing it. I think that's wise, but can't believe he's willing to be away from it!

He asked me to wake him up when I get up so he gets more reading time in the morning. He is such a cutie.

Saluting the Sun

2009-12-16T17:09:00.001-08:00

A link from a friend's blog sent me to a site that describes yoga poses, often with accompanying photographs. Perusing the website brought me to a step-by-step description and guide to doing the Sun Salutation. Which brought back a memory...

In 1990, I went to Vancouver, B.C. for the Gay Games. I was playing soccer at the time and my team was, as I like to call it, the dysfunctional Lesbian soccer team. Someone scored a place with plenty of bedroom space and a kitchen, right on English Bay. I ended up there with C, whom I didn't know very well. She taught me how to do the Sun Salutation, and we did it together. I loved it. I'd never done any yoga before and its flow appealed to me. It was a very special time, a good bonding moment between us.

Sweet C would eventually date, move in with, and then marry my ex, N. That trip was the beginning of a warm and sweet friendship between us that continues to this day.

Aaaand... she's back

2009-12-15T11:09:00.000-08:00

I have a renewed desire to blog.

FB and tweeting are lovely, but not what I need, sometimes. So, here's an update...

Let's see. G took an airplane by himself up to Portland. He didn't take it well when I first introduced the idea--very upset. Finally, tearfully tells me I'll have to write down the steps to checking in, finding the baggage area, collecting bags.... I use two plates (airports), three spoons (me, him, my mom), and a big serving spoon (airplane) to show him how I'll take him right to the gate, he'll be on the plane alone, but Memah (my mom) will meet him right at the gate in Portland. He is relieved, and starts to get excited about the flight.

Fast-forward to the morning of. I wake at 5:30AM and answer the phone shortly thereafter. It's my sister; my mom has been trying to reach me since 4:15AM. (Sending up prayers of thanks for the bedside phone not working.)

There's been a big windstorm--gusts over 50MPH, one website says--and Mom's power is out. She points out that one time, the power was out for 4 days. Maybe G shouldn't come.

Huh?

I say, "Well, what do you do when the power's out? You heat your home with the wood stove, cook on it, and read by candlelight or lantern light. Sounds like an adventure to me!" I also point out that even though the power was out once in the past 10 yrs for 4 days, it likely won't be out for 4 days this time.

By now, we need to load up the car and leave for the airport. Southwest's website said to be there 2 hours before flight time, which puts us there at 7AM, ugh. I compromise by planning to leave for the airport at 7 (it's about a 15 min drive). I would have been there by 7:15AM if I hadn't missed the turn for short-term parking, necessitating another trip round.

I check him in, with the paper that lists my info, Mom's info, and the secondary pickup person's info (my sister's ex-SIL and our family friend, E). G gets a big blue plastic neck-hanger thingy for his info and boarding pass, which he likes. We get in line for security--it's short, thank God--and as we get up to the x-ray machine and send things through, a security guy asks G if the blue backpack is his. Yep. Well, it has a sealed bottle of water in it, leftover from Snack Time at school this past week. He thought it'd be handy for the trip, and I hadn't thought to coach him on acceptable things to bring. The guy has to keep it. G is bereft. The guy offers for us to exit security, drink it, and pass back on through. I smile and decline.

My cell rings. It's my mom. She can't actually get off the Peninsula (it's a 2.5 hr drive, so she's already trying to get on the road)--trees are down, blocking the road. She's panicking, wondering again if we should cancel. A guy at the blockage thought the road would be blocked for 2 hours. I point out that it's just a guy, not a road-service crew. I encourage her to call the Washington version of CalTrans, to see if there's an official estimate.

I call Southwest, to see if I can get G on a later flight. The only later flight is at 12:45, there is one seat, and it'll cost me more than twice what I paid for his flight to get G on it. Ridiculous.

I call Erin, hating that I'm calling anyone at 7:30AM on a Sunday morning. Thankfully, she is up and ready for action. We talk about the specifics (flight time) and possibilities (what if Mom can't pick him up until tomorrow? She has a super-early Monday meeting... maybe her mom, G's third grandmother, can take him). She says she'll pop into the shower and get ready to head out to the airport. I call back to let her know the flight is due in 15 mins later than I'd thought, which gives her a bit more wiggle room.

We've exited security (and retrieved the water bottle from Mr. Nice Security Guy, to drink while outside) during all this, so now have to get back in line. Predictably, the line is WAY longer than it had been. We get through without incident, but by the time we get to the gate, they're actually preboarding his flight, 30 minutes early, wow. I talk to the gate agent about G being an Unaccompanied Minor, and point out that I need to get some breakfast for him. She suggests that she board him and then bring his Burger King breakfast to him. I ask if we couldn't go to get the breakfast together and THEN board him. She relents. We RUN to BK and the guy gets the order out in lightspeed time (seriously, I have no idea how they did it that fast). We run back. I separate our breakfasts so he has his own bag. He bursts into tears. The reality has hit him. I'm doing my best to have an encouraging, loving face and hide my tears. We hug and hug and hug once more. The gate agent takes him down herself. My poor lamb is openly wailing now.

When she returns, she lets me know that by the time she got him seated, he was talking a bit and the tears just dribbling down his face. I move to a window where I can see the plane, and wave just in case he can see me. I wait and wait and wait for it to board, close up, and pull back from the gate. I cry and watch and cry and watch. Finally, it pulls back, I wave once more, and then it's out of sight.

I sit in the airport for a bit, gathering myself. I call my sister, my support. She listens and is kind.

I head home and wait for the flight to arrive. I consider going to church but can't bring myself to, knowing that with the offering of support and love, that I'd be a blubbering mass.

Finally, my cell rings. It isn't E--it's G himself! "Hi, Mom." I find out later that E arrived just as the plane pulls up, and they get to the baggage carousel just as G spots his bags going around. I'm glad E didn't have to wait forever. It is such a huge favor she's doing me.

I'm very glad of my sister's suggestion--I tell G that "Auntie E" has Playstation, Wii, and an air hockey table. He is instantly reassured: "I'm so glad you told me that, Mom." He chats with them and is at ease until 1PM, when my mom arrives to collect him, not even stopping for a cup of coffee with E, as I'd predicted. ("She didn't even want to sit down for a second!" Yep, that's my mom.)

They get the electricity back on that evening, and have a good 4 days together. But on Wednesday, as we're supposed to be leaving my sister's house in her van with 4 humans and 3 dogs, he calls, asking "Are you close?", having not realized that he's calling Ashland, OR, a 7.5-hour drive away. And unfortunately, due to awful traffic north of Eugene, the trip takes about 10.5 hours.

It is great to arrive, though.

Another Idiot Tax payment

2009-10-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

I was sick last weekend--maybe flu; who knows?--and I wanted something sweet to eat. I spied our container of cinnamon graham crackers from TJ's, but knew they were stale.

So I loaded up our toaster oven with them, and set them to toast. Next thing I knew, I was looking across at the toaster oven that had a lovely little fire going in it. Not huge, but not small. I unplugged it and left it closed, but it just had too much fuel, and kept burning. I opened it and tried to blow out the flames; no dice.

The 'handles' on the sides of the oven were way too hot to pick up, so I finally grabbed a dishtowel and used it as two potholders (taking care not to drape it over the top of the oven.) Took it outside to the back (concrete) porch and stared at it dumbly. Finally went and got the kitchen fire extinguisher. Pulled the tab, looked at it again, and realized there was a small piece left after pulling the tab (perhaps it needs replacing earlier), pulled that out, and then opened the door and let fly.

Did you know that stuff is a powder? I think I got a lungful. Great.

But it put out the fire instantly. I mean, like magic.

(and it JUST NOW occurs to me that I could have then used my spray bottle to put the fire out, now that it was outside and on a draining surface. Sheesh. As I said, Idiot Tax.)

But the fire had burned long enough to totally warp the door, so buh-bye toaster oven.

And now, welcome new toaster oven. One that actually DINGS (I still can't believe this is optional on any toaster oven!) when the toast is done.

Full weekend

2009-07-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Much wildness last weekend. Very, very busy but we really enjoyed it.

Friday
We had been all set to go to the Starlight Movie in the Park, and then I found out that our Faithful Families group from church (parents with kids on the younger side, as in, not in Youth Group) were planning to go. (Not sure how I missed that before.) So I RSVPd to bring a side salad and dessert. Then I was chatting with a friend who has done lots of care for G through the church, and she was going to have a crazy end-of-week preparing for out-of-town houseguests. So I offered to take her son to the movie. Very enthused.

Then the evening approaches and we get home in time to let the dog out and pack up quickly, and there's a message on my answering machine, shifting the event to our church instead. It had been a chilly, breezy day, and was getting chillier and breezier. I thought it was a great idea, but had forgotten about the transition thing that G sometimes gets caught in: he was bereft. Insisted we had to go to the outdoor one (they do do fun activities for the kids before the events), didn't care that it was all set up to go to the church, sad sad sad.

Fortunately, he adjusted quickly enough, we picked up N and made our way to the church. The nice thing was that since we were setting our own timetable, we could (and did) start the movie at 7 instead of the 8:15PM that the outdoor movie has to stick to (and it's barely dark enough to see the movie at that time), so it worked out better especially for the younger kids. There was plenty of pizza, and my side salad (thanks to Papa Murphy's) and cookies (thanks to frozen cookie dough!) were well accepted.

A friend from my Single Mothers by Choice group had also responded to my broadcast of the movie, and was able to join us with her son. Next time, I'll make an effort to get her into the pot luck loop so they don't have to bring their own food.

After the movie, we went back to our house and G and N played Wii for about an hour, until N asked to go home, about 10PM.

Saturday
We were well on our way to having a lazy Saturday, when I noticed an Evite from a friend in the South Bay. She had inadvertantly left me off of the original invitation to a BBQ at their house, and the party was that day. I had pretty much decided we couldn't go, but mentioned it to G in case he was interested, as I like this friend and knew several other hockey players on the invite list. G was enthusiastic, and the invitation was open-house style, and also encouraged folks to bring something for the potluck that they hadn't tried before. I went through my saved recipes and found one for a pasta salad that (a) I hadn't tried before, and (b) I had most of the ingredients (and could sub the ones I didn't have). It called for multicolor rotini and I had regular and whole-wheat, so used those (but slightly undercooked the WW ones, darnit); it called for bacon and I remembered that I'd bought some red-pepper-and-corn Aldell's at Costco recently (smoky enough); and it called for chopped scallions, for which I subbed chopped sweet white onion, sauteed in butter. I also added sliced black olives, because, well, yum. It worked out well in the end. It was a recipe from "Death By Chocolate," as I recall, a book-club book that was OK but whose recipes sounded great.

The party was fun, and it was great to see my friends. G did really well with Val, but not well with a younger child who was a bit overzealous but still 4ish. He honestly doesn't seem to have a concept that younger kids will act their age, and tends to call them "babies" and say other nasty things. I call him on it, but am still baffled as to why he tends to go there. He can be a kind person elsewhere; why so unkind to a certain few? We ended up leaving after yet another unkind eruption, but it was time to leave anyway. Urgh.

Sunday
I really wanted to go to church, so I managed to get us both up and dressed and to church only a little late. I finished the shawl I'd been working on while at the beach, and took it to church, weaving the ends in while in the service. I got lots of warm fuzzies from my knitting friends over it. It really is lovely. Sadly, G thinks it's neat, too, but wants to play with it all the time, which makes me nuts, as his play starts off gentle and quickly accelerates to rough. Which makes me nuts, as I've been working on it since 2006 and the yarn alone cost about $60. Agh. It was a pretty challenging weekend behavior-wise, so much so that I kept looking for possible links. His behavior lately has been SO great. Was it candy/sugar? I think I'll eliminate candy and sugar next time his behavior peaks in an ugly way.

After church, we went home and futzed around until there was barely time to go to the Alameda Art & Wine Faire for just an hour before a friend's surprise birthday party. We actually both enjoyed it, after I pointed out to G that there would be things he'd want to see that I wouldn't, so he needed to stop dragging me away from things I was looking at. We ended up buying nearly nothing (G, four flavored honey sticks; me, scented salt crystals for the car and home), except for a local bookstore I'd seen but not visited. We'll be going back there for sure! We ended up selecting 4 VHS videos for under $2 each from their sidewalk display, including MIB and ID4, as we are both fans of Will Smith. (The other two were "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing," which I'd just been thinking about, and "Flubber.")

G looked at the climbing wall, but decided against spending $5 of his allowance on it ($5, folks, really? That seems really spendy). We made it back to the pickup corner just moments before a wheeled Trolley car showed up to take us back to Grand St. We made it to the birthday party just a few minutes late (close enough to the allotted time as to be on time; they'd left a 45-minute window)--and then found out the birthday girl had been told! Her father is in poor health and they had to make sure she would actually be in town for her own party. It was a full party, with several friends from church but many more whom I hadn't met; quite a varied group! G grazed for a bit, then claimed one of the chairs on the front porch and read his book to the end while I chatted happily inside. We left three times, returning for forgotten items... but it was a good day.

Then I showed M.I.B. to G and scared the pants off him, poor thing, till he finally asked me to stop the movie. Then crawled into my bed at midnight, from nightmares, and couldn't fall asleep until I put my arm around him, poor lamb. He can be so brave about movies that I never really know which ones will scare him. (Now I do.)

Well, overall it was a good weekend.

Beach vacation: one week later

2009-07-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

Monday

I am not sure what we did, but probably, it was the first day we went to Marsh's Free Museum. I know we didn't go to the library yet, as it wasn't open until the next day. Mom didn't go with us to the "museum," as she'd rather do pretty much anything than go. G looked around at the shells for a long time, trying to decide what to buy with his money (which was more like banked money, as I never did pay him his allowance in cash, which afforded me the ability, this vacation, to refuse to buy him various things I deemed unsuitable). He settled on a small menagerie of shells, which were packed carefully into a cotton-lined box, and were given with a generous helping of their free shells (small shells glued onto cards, given with every purchase), as G asked, "Do you still give those free shells?" That's my boy.

We noticed that the bag had all the "exhibits" listed on it, so made sure to make the rounds of the "museum" to see the two-headed calf, the eight-legged lamb, and various other stuffed entities in various conditions. Then I opted to buy 3/4 of a pound of salt water taffy, whose flavors we tried in vain to remember during the ensuing days. I did remember which ones were cranberry, and ironically (given that the Peninsula is a huge producer of cranberries, largely for Ocean Spray), they were the least flavorful!

Tuesday

I think this was the day I insisted on unwrapping Mom's new printer, as I'd wanted to make a copy of a page from a book I'd found at the library. She'd gotten the same AOI I'd gotten from her, my dad and stepmom, and my sister, but had never set it up. We cleared out her old HP and cleared even more room for the AOI--it needing a place where the cover could be lifted in order to place items to be copied on the platen. Amusingly enough, she taught me that you can actually put a stack of paper in a lower drawer of the printer from which to print--I had not yet noticed it in mine! I guess I should go back to reading manuals cover to cover.

We had made it to the library that day--they had a summer reading program, so G signed up for his fourth (so far) and got a bag of materials, which included a bookmark, suggested reading list, and a form on which to fill out his books. He read several that visit in the library, and we got out the fourth Lemony Snicket book, he being perilously close to finishing the third, which we'd brought along from our library. (He has already, as of this writing, finished the fourth as well.) I managed to find a copy of Alice Starmore's Fair Isle Knitting, which I carefully and breathlessly brought up to the librarian's desk, nearly insisting they keep it as a reference book and never, ever lend it out. (It is worth $100-300 on eBay, and I hear copies get stolen all the time for this value alone.)

Earlier that day, Mom's spinning group met at the house. It was so fun having a houseful of spinners, chatting and making yarn, of all sorts of levels and experiences, including another Jennie, who had just bought her wheel the day before!

Wednesday

We returned to the library at 10 the next morning for a "Wacky Art" project (rubbings of various interesting items, including several coins glued to one of the cards), followed by a magic show in a side room. G sat in front and was a little obnoxious (shouting "That's not funny!" at times), ugh, but other kids were doing similar things... the magician increased the pace and really got the kids interested, and even asked G to help him with a very funny and avowedly disgusting card trick (the card ended up folded up in the magician's mouth--he offered the card to G and G happily declined).

Thursday

This was Mom's birthday! I stayed up late the night before, finishing the tea cozy I'd started last fall and that my sister had encouraged me to give to Mom for her birthday. My mom's teapot, unlike the usual ones, has an arching bamboo handle over the top and I was sure glad I'd made the steeks accidentally high. I cut them down and sewed them open, and attached the buttons I'd bought Wednesday at the local yarn store in order to secure the flaps to each other. She was very pleased with it, the nightlight we'd found for her at the local has-everything store, Jack's Country Store, within her specifications: not LED nor fluorescent (not bright enough), not automatic (didn't want it to go off at dawn), and with an on-off switch. Bingo! I had also remembered some Sharpie pens (always a hit with Mom) and a steno notebook (ditto). I did realize later that I'd totally forgotten the English toffee I'd gotten for her at Disneyland, and the penuche fudge I'd gotten in Monterey. I did get some replacement fudge later in Long Beach at a candy store.

I asked her what she wanted us to do on her birthday, and we ended up newspapering and then mulching her entire side walkway, not a small feat, especially as the mulch had been dumped next to her driveway a year ago, and the trees had put out copious roots to soak up the nutrients in the piles. G also took the loppers (!) and cleared out tons of elderberry and blackberry that was hanging over her driveway. I cut up the blackberry so it could fit in her trashcan (she doesn't have greens pickup and doesn't want this stuff in her compost pile, and I don't blame her). The walkway looks great. G also insisted on showing me his "secret path," on the Bay side of Mom's house, which was indeed secret looking, but what I hadn't guessed was how steep it would be: we both ended up crawling up and down it, unable to walk it. Afterward, I showed him how to pick huckleberries, and we picked some ripe raspberries from Mom's raspberry canes (and both decided we didn't really care that much for berries with so many seeds, although they do taste wonderful, which is more than one can say for the ample bushes of salmonberries, which are a lovely peachy yellow but taste, honestly, like nothing at all. Good in a pinch, like if you were braving the wilds, we always say).

That evening, we went to an inn in Seaview where folks gather on Thursday nights at 5 to spin. There was an "art walk" in a nearby city, but I really wanted to spin with the spinning folks again (having packed an extra suitcase with nothing but my spinning wheel and a bunch of padding). We did manage to leave the house in time to visit the heritage museum in nearby Ilwaco, where they had a really fun train exhibit that included tracks running through the cities as they used to exist (including one that doesn't exist at all any more), which would start for a quarter. There was also a Lewis and Clark exhibit (of course; this is L&C country) that included simulated (or real!) elk poop, plus a map of the Graveyard of the Pacific, the mouth of the Columbia, where many ships have been lost, due to its many and shifting sand bars.

From the inn, we went back to Ilwaco to dinner at a lovely restaurant owned by people Mom knew (of course!) and really had a delicious meal. (I happened to notice a mom & boy who were dining there, and spotted them at a cafe near Mom's house 2 days later; small country out there!) I had the duck salad (pretty amazing), followed by the halibut, which was even more terrific. They were able to make some tasty buttered, cheesy noodles for G, and added some corn and green beans by my insistance. Mom had the salad also and the salmon. It really was a great dinner, and great to finally be here to celebrate her birthday with her, which I haven't been able to do in years.

Friday

No idea what we did Friday.

Saturday

We went to the Ilwaco market on Saturday, mostly wondering what it would be like. Mom decided to bring her wonderful fox-red Lab, Jesse. We all thought he might've done better with a long walk ahead of time--there were tons of dogs also there, on leash but still somewhat-to-quite aggressive. We walked all the way to one end, stopping at a wildlife booth where a man did very well to keep kids and adults alike fascinated by his talk of the various skulls he had brought along. I found out that G knows the terms omnivore, herbivore, and carnivore already. I was proud of him for what he contributed, but dismayed when he kept calling the interactive talk "boring" and wanting to leave--even after he'd happily participated. I know the distraction was partly the candy booth we'd passed. We walked down to the other end and I bought a beautiful pair of mother-of-pearl earrings that I just couldn't leave behind. Then we went into a bookstore and I bought G a Star Trek novel for $1 (I like!) but didn't find anything for me except a set of refills for my portable notebook. Then I held Jesse while Mom browsed. (I did point out the "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" book on the front table. Pretty funny.)

Sunday

There was another Market on Sunday, this time in Astoria, but the weather was much worse--pretty cold and drizzly--and by the time we got there, we were all out of sorts due to hunger. In retrospect, I wish we'd sat down at the near end and just gotten lunch, as the choices were much more varied, including Greek, Indian, and other interesting food. As it was, we got some hot dogs at a booth at the far end and walked back to the front to use the tables. G had said he wanted some scrambled eggs (one booth proclaimed "farm fresh eggs" but they were, as I'd feared, just selling raw eggs in the shell), so I asked at a stall that had an "Astoria omelette." The man said Yes, it was an omelette, and proceeded to ignore me for several minutes, enough so that I walked away. "Aren't you interested in the omelette?" he called after me. Uh, no, not if you're rude, buddy. Sheesh.

I can't remember buying anything but food, except for half a loaf of wheat bread the gal had been cutting samples off of. She offered it to me for less than half price, and since G and I had really enjoyed the samples, I readily accepted.

What was funny was that we hadn't realized how many booths in Astoria would be the same vendors we'd seen the previous day. Maybe half of them were new--too bad!

Vacation, post 1

2009-07-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

It's already Friday, and I'd hoped to journal at least every day while we were here. So here goes...

Saturday

I had set up a ride to the airport from our local limo service, who unfortunately overslept. No matter, as I'd left plenty of time, really, to get there. She arrived 5 mins after my phone call and was adjusting her hijab as she hurried across the street to get the luggage. I'd just remembered to pull G's booster out for the trip and most things were ready to be loaded. G was fascinated by her hijab and kept asking if she was a nun or related to nuns. I said to the gal, "I guess my son has never seen a hijab before!" She seemed a little abashed and muttered that she didn't even have it tied on right, not that either of us would ever know. When we got to the airport, I finally asked her if she was from Iran. I'd gotten the impression, somehow, that the people at the company were from the Middle East. Totally wrong: she said she was from India. I wish I'd asked her in the car, because I'd read a book about conflicting religions in northern India and the creation of Pakistan, and then I wondered if her family had emigrated for religious reasons. Such a tumultuous time.

Check-in was fine but security is always a bit tumultuous with a kid--G started talking about how/why people want to bring things on planes to blow them up, so we had the "never say 'bomb' or 'blow up' in the security line" talk. Then he sat right down in the pathway to put his shoes back on, both of us having worn lace-up shoes, natch. They put my backpack full of all sorts of things, including my small, metal double-pointed knitting needles, through quickly, but examined my shoes in the x-ray for a bit. Sheesh.

The flight was fine and touched down in Portland at least 10 minutes early, which didn't really help us, as I'd told my friend we were getting in at 2 instead of noon, so we weren't expected for a while. We visited a few of the shops on the concourse, enjoyed the sculptures of fish and bridges and the inlaid design of the Columbia from source to sea, and finally wandered through security to get to a place for lunch... whereupon G discovered he was missing his small brown leather bota bag, a prized possession found new at a Salvation Army store for one dollar.

Grief continued through lunch, checking with the outer Powell's books who confirmed that the concourse Powell's didn't find it, and finally wandering down to Baggage Claim to file a claim, being told that they'd swept the plane and hadn't found it, despite my insisting that as it was hung by its thin red cord on the inner arm rest, it would be easily overlooked. We haven't heard, so it is presumably lost, and G has largely recovered now.

The grief did continue all the way until we were in our rental car, when the rental agent said he thought REI sold them and that it could be easily replaced. (I did manage to find one, a bit larger, at Fred Meyer the next day, but by then G wasn't interested in buying a new one.) A friend called me then, hoping to meet up at a yarn store, but having found that the one I'd emailed her about was closed that day. Unfortunate, as I hadn't marked down the one that I had found was open that day. She Googled as I waited, and we found the Naked Sheep together. I set off with my tattered Portland map, and arrived about an hour later than I'd hoped. My friend Duffy was there and greeted me with a huge hug, and showed off her enormous Queen Anne's Lace shawl, which was truly amazing. My Googling friend (from our own Island City, transported to the City of Roses with her husband's work) was also there, and we had a really nice visit, culminating with buying a skein of yarn for a square for a love blanket for the recently widowed spouse of a mutual friend and two others in colors I could not leave there. This got me 3 entries to a raffle they were having (which I assume I didn't win, as I haven't gotten a phone call!), which was kind. I gave one to G, which he liked.

After the visit, I got a message from my host friend that we were not to hurry; that our trip down to the Willamette shores was not for hours, so she helped me figure out how to get to Powell's City of Books, which is something I always like to visit when in Portland. G and I spent a blissful hour and a half there, collecting a number of interesting finds and unwillingly leaving several others.

We finally arrived at my friend's house largely by feel (I think this street looks right), and were greeted so warmly--what a gift! Their dog, who is normally not terribly friendly to others, was initially stand-offish, but later became my fast friend, even casually climbing into my lap in one of the outdoor Adirondack chairs, so slowly as if I wouldn't notice (it's a Lab; I noticed). It's nice to get my dog-fix when I'm away from our sweet Lucy.

Our group packed a somewhat impromptu picnic and headed down for the river, parking not far away (but having been warned by Mimi that we still would not get out right away, as the crush after the fireworks is significant). We settled onto some blankets and chairs and the fireworks finally began. Amazing and seemingly endless, the last cinders dropped into the river, still clearly burning, much later.

Sunday

I cooked breakfast for at least 10 the next morning, friends of Mimi's triplets having stayed over in various and nearly random places in the house. I made French toast and bacon and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Mimi lets me cook for her and always completely appreciates it, so it works out well. We scurried out of there after 11 to try to meet Mom at the airport at 12, and actually made good time but were cutting it close when she called to say she'd hit a lot of traffic and would be about 15 mins late. It worked out fine.

More later!

Sometimes fun is hard work

2009-06-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

My body is so tired from tonight's game (4-1 win, yeah!) that it's almost as tired as it was last week when I played 2 Red games in a row (two wins, yeah yeah!).

I do like the fun games. I did call someone a nasty name, but Mal totally deserved it for swooshing in and grabbing the puck. Besides, she tried to spook me by rapping her stick on the ice behind me--WTF? I knew it was her and thought she was just being a goof. She said she wasn't close to me but was trying to make it seem like she was, hah.

Tonight was another installment of "If you go for it, even if she's faster or more skilled, you will sometimes win the puck anyway, so try!" It's a tough lesson, really, as I'm playing against women who are talented from the get-go, plus my teammates from Green division who are, suddenly or not, getting so good/fast/strong!

I did try to throw Jami off by yelling out "Squirrel!" (see below) at opportune moments, but her promise of falling on her ass laughing did not come to pass. Beeyotch.

In any case, I did lots of right things: pinching in, taking shots from the blue line, covering the pass, and trying to change direction behind the net (this last one, an utter failure--there she was, still on my tail!--but I shall keep trying). The game felt good and if I had any big oopses, I've completely forgotten them by now, and it's still not yet Wine O'clock over here.

We've had a full weekend:

Friday
Friday night, we did Coupon Night: we went to Borders with G's filled-out Summer Reading Program list of 8 books read. G spend lots of time (big surprise) trying to decide which book to get for $4.99 (50% or more off list price). Instead of stick around and be mad, I rearranged the knitting books (they are always horribly out of order) instead. He finally decided on a compilation of Star Wars 1-3 novelizations. I encouraged him to choose this because they're written by Patricia Wrede, she of "Dealing With Dragons" et al. fame. She is a terrific, creative writer, so these stories are sure to be excellent.

Then we headed to the cash register, G having convinced me to offer my extra 40% off coupon for the other item he wanted to get, and Indiana Jones-themed novel. I'm proud to say that he did buy both of these items with his own money. I was going to use the coupon to get a set of Moleskine notebooks with the graph-paper backgrounds, but they did have a sort of Moleskine knock-off in the discount section for $3.99, and the cashier couldn't think of any way in which they differed except that the knockoff perhaps had stiffer covers (which seems like a plus to me).

From there, we ventured to Beverly's for me to use my 40% off coupon on a snail refill for the cardmaking I do, stopping at See's for 2 bordeau candies (oh yumminess) for the freezer, for which we got two free samples as well, yay.

Then we headed back to Park Street, for a free coffee for me from Peet's (in return for my having sent a complaint about a super long wait during a street fair--I was surprised that they weren't overstaffed on a day like that), and a free ice cream for G at Tucker's, one of his prizes for reading several hours' worth, from our local library.

Saturday
On a day that would have been lovely to sleep in, we ventured to Berkeley for an Ecclesiastical Council, one of the more unusual ones, but still interesting and highly worthwhile, for a friend of mine from the Bay Association board. I had never seen him so nervous, but this was a required and serious part of our Association's evaluating him for fitness for ordination (he passed).

As we left Berkeley, I realized we were passing Berkeley Bowl and just had to stop in for some bulk-bin purchases and some lovely fruit. Yum.

When we finally got home, we had about an hour to laze around before heading out to see my ex, Nancy, playing drums in a music thing up in the Laurel District of Oakland. I was so glad we went! Her friend, whom she's raved about before, really is amazing and charming and talented. I had to laugh at the women around me, though, focusing their cameras in on Nancy, and kidded her afterward that she was the eye candy. She loves ego strokes and did appreciate it--but also had showed her immense talent during the set. Great stuff!

From there, we headed back to Alameda to be late for a birthday party for a sweet baby from church, for whom I made a baby blanket a few months ago, much appreciated by her parents (truly knitworthy people). We dropped right into enjoying the outdoor party, and I got a good long time to chat with my friend A, whom I haven't seen in a while and haven't had a chat with for months now. I made a new resolve to head out to Benicia to visit, and soon.

A needed to visit a restroom before heading back home, and asked if she could use ours. I hurriedly scrubbed the toilet moments before she arrived, and seeing our place with a visitor's eyes, made a new resolve to catch up on housekeeping things I've let go by the wayside. This week, I'm going to get our vacuum hose fixed, so I can vacuum again. I'm also going to call about getting the dishwasher fixed. But I did get the mountain of dishes washed and the stove clean, and all the counters wiped down, and boy does it feel good. I love the FlyLady's "walk around your house like you're a realtor" idea. I want our house to be comfortable, uncluttered, and clean enough to have people over at the drop of a hat.

That evening, we went to the movie "Up" and met my friend Jami there, who protested but did not win the argument that we were treating her (with prepaid vouchers through the Entertainment book, natch). LOVED it. G was just fine with the sad part I'd been warned about, and the scary dogs. So much fun.

Sunday
Sunday morning is a prime time to sleep in and take it easy--which I did until about 9:10, having realized we were both on the Slow Track that day and that we hadn't even eaten breakfast! We got fed and out the door in time for church and the Sunday-School-teacher gratitude day, which was very nice. I taught that day, too, speaking about the scene where Jesus calms the waters. I just had G and two others and it was a thoughtful, worthwhile, fun class. I like those classes.

After church, we headed home to relax a bit (and finish the dishes--me, and clean G's room more--him), and I made G write a thank-you to my mom for funding the pricey special camp he goes to for 3 weeks in the summer. It helped SO much last year for his social skills, and I'm carpooling with 2 (maybe 3) other families this time, so it'll be so much easier! The only tricky part will be transferring his booster seat around. Compared to last year, when I had no carpool for one week and felt like I spent the week driving, it'll be a breeze!

Then I took G for a long playdate with his friend R who is only here during summers, and went to hockey, and you know how that ended up. Night!

OK, OK, I'm a bad mom, I get it

2009-06-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many Bad Mom dreams I can take.

In this one, we were at Disneyland...ish. My sister was there, too, but not her kids (?). G and I went to take a tram to a different part of the park (there were several, of all sorts of colors, depending on where you wanted to go). He got on one and I somehow didn't get in the seat, and ended up hanging onto the back until the next station. I was really relatively calm about this--looked down at the seat and realized that if I tried to climb over while it was moving, I'd more likely fall, and hanging on wasn't tiring for some reason, so I just did that. We made it to the station uneventfully and no one yelled at me for riding it unsafely.

From that station, we were going to get on the Red line and G ended up on a car by himself. He looked back as it left and I shouted, "Stay on that one. It'll bring you back."

And then I leaned on something and switched a switch. It seemed important, so I told a Cast Member, who didn't seem very impressed. Not sure what he did.

And then I left. I told him I'd be there, and I went somewhere else! It was a hotel-lobby-like area, and there was a table of small preprinted sheets of paper with gold seals and different line colors on it, including Red. They had something to do with return trips, and people casually set them down on that table until they needed them, and then picked them back up and used them. It seemed like there was an Honor System about not taking one if it wasn't yours.

I don't know what I did next, but I did finally return to the other Red station, and he was there with a Cast Member, and crying and furious, understandably so. I hadn't, this time, written my cell number on the inside of his arm, and I also hadn't grabbed anyone at the Red station and said, "Hey, my kid just left on the Red train by himself, he's blond and about 4' high; can someone grab him and send him back here?" Why didn't I do that?

Ugh. I woke up moaning.

I can't hear you

2009-06-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was my church's Conference's Annual Meeting. I got a call last week asking if I would be a "scribe" for a meeting that was to be held there. I agreed, and gladly. I love being part of the process and what happens in the smaller meetings is interesting and enlightening.

It wasn't until the meeting actually started, in a section of the large meeting hall, that I realized what a challenge it would be. I don't mind typing fast, or paraphrasing, or even interacting in a meeting. I do have problems hearing.

This meeting really underlined my continuing hearing problems. Everyone who spoke quietly was nearly silent for me. SO frustrating, as I was supposed to be writing down not only the thoughts expressed but also the names of the speakers and their churches.

I had a similar experience in a later discussion group for which I wasn't a scribe. A woman at the end of our kidney-bean shaped group was speaking and I considered asking her (and everyone who would speak) to speak up, but was caught between embarrassment and an urge not to interrupt. I cupped my hand around my ~~good~~ better ear and listened as well as I could. (I also, I realized years ago, use lipreading extensively in low hearing situations.)

Not hearing makes me feel frustrated but also a bit panicked. I hate missing out. I hate seeming different, too (with the hand up around the ear, or asking, "I'm sorry?" or "What?" over and over). sigh

It's time to face the devil, as a friend says. I'm going to visit the Costco audiologist this month and see what s/he says about which aids would work for me. And bulk up my "cafeteria" pre-tax medical costs plan for next year, when I'll buy a hearing aid or two.

As my friend Mike says, Growing old is not for wimps.

Very busy weekend

2009-05-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

...but at least G didn't wake up sobbing like the last 3 Mondays ("I need one more day!").

Friday
Nothing planned for Friday, so I plopped G into the tub for a well-needed scrub and I watched "Made of Honor," which was almost really good. The commentary was really interesting--they actually used a computer program to erase Patrick Dempsey's wrinkles for the "college days" segment. Fascinating!

Saturday
I had bid on, and won, a "hike and picnic for 4 kids" at my son's school's auction. He only wanted to take one friend, so I sent a note home to the friend's parents on Monday. Well, Saturday at 10AM, we were at the school on time, but no W. Waited a while, tried her home phone ("not in service"??), I finally drove over to their house; no one home.

The teachers kindly invited me to come along, but I had been looking forward to my child-free time! I sent a somewhat despondent G off with them, a little worried that he'd be unhappy and/or act up. The dropped off an elated G hours later, having climbed a steep peak in Tilden Park and spotted 14 turtles! I, meanwhile, set to work at our horrid quackgrass in the back and worked at it until the string in my string trimmer gave out. I then washed enormous numbers of dishes (this is getting old and I think I'll call my appliance repair guy soon for the dishwasher) and settled in to watch a DVD. The time went way faster than I'd thought, and I wished I'd gotten off my heinie and made an appointment to use up my 1/2-hour massage gift certificate I had never used.

Just before G came back, his friend D called and basically invited himself over for a playdate. He is a great kid, so I said yes. Turns out he was at the Spring Festival with his dad at the time, so I greeted him at the door and turned around and went back to the Festival. He and G went in the bounce house and had a terrific time, and we walked around the booths to see what was there. I brought Lucy with us, to work on her social skills, and after 2 blocks, I ducked into our local pet-supply shop to pick up a new Halti, Lucy's having disappeared during our ibuprofen episode. Turns out they had 2 left, both 75% off. The sizes were 0 and 4, so we took a Mastiff-sized one and cinched it down and it honestly worked pretty darn well.

Then the kids discovered the Kashi booth and the promise of a "free" tote bag, in exchange for jumping through hoops (visiting 3 booths, then answering some questions). We got to sample 3 Kashi cereals and some cereal bars, and then there were more samples in the bag. Happy kids.

We headed back to our house, where they started to play Wii, but G got really nasty and I think was tired, so I ended the playdate. I've seen it before and it just never ends well. Done!

I put him to bed early, as I knew he'd need to get up and be off and running in the morning.

Sunday
...because I had to be at church at 9:15AM on Sunday. We were to play a handbell song that day and after Thursday, we all knew it needed more work. The first runthrough was disturbing--just sounded awful. We had one guy who stepped in to play on set of bells because the usual player's son is in hospice. :( The guy who stepped in to sightread and play that morning did better than anyone, of course! And it turned out he knew the words to the song we were playing (several of us didn't even know it had words!).

By the last runthrough, we really sounded good, but I just wanted to stop! It's a very lively song and I have to play all 6 of my bells. What's funny is that it's a lovely, relaxed piece... but my part isn't relaxed at all! I had to play 4 bells in a row several times, which is tough and I sometimes end up tossing them or clanking them together.

The good news is that when we played it in the service, it totally came together and sounded wonderful, and ended with a sigh of delight from the congregation. High praise. (Also, one of our Chancel Choir members said she was watching me and noticed how much I had to juggle bells. It's so nice to be appreciated!)

After church, we had a small snack (which was good, as I was starving; G wanted to serve me breakfast in bed, but was undecided as to what that would be until Sunday morning, so I ended up with a small bowl of cereal and milk), and then took off for Kincaid's in Jack London Square. I had contacted some of my SMC friends to see if anyone wanted to meet for breakfast, and one responded that she was interested. I had called Horatio's in the San Leandro Marina and they were a tad incredulous that I would expect, on Friday before Mother's Day, to get a reservation for lunchtime. I tried OpenTable.com next, and was incredulous myself to get the 12:30 reservation I'd wanted. But when we arrived on Sunday, yep, there it was, our reservation for 4. We even got the window table I'd requested--and the meal ended with small champagne bottles for each of us, with two recipes attached and a gauze bag of fancy chocolates! Lovely.

After that, we headed to the Lawrence Hall of Science, where we spent most of the time in the Grossology exhibit (much of which was truly gross--fact about tapeworms deleted). G had fun but started getting crabby and suddenly wanted to leave, which was all the prompting I needed. We said our good-byes and then he had second thoughts; um, no, we're not suddenly now staying. We paused in the gift shop, where he couldn't find anything he wanted for the $4 he had, and left.

By this time, I started worrying about the SMC I'd set up a meeting-time with. I had neglected A) to bring her phone number or any info, and B) to watch the time. We'd emailed about meeting up after 4, and when we got to the car, I realized that it was 4 right then! We headed back to Alameda and I checked my email. Got one that said "After 5 is good; my son just went down for a late nap" and called her before I read the next one that said, "I'm going to have a nap, too" and woke the poor woman!

It worked out well, in the end; we went back to the Festival for G to have another crack at the jump house and to go down the long inflatable slide twice, and then set out for the woman's place. She was getting rid of a bunch of clothes and shoes in my size and I was happy to pick them up. She was lovely and her son terribly cute. G was great at carrying 2 of the 5 bags to the car and we got home just in time...

....to meet my babysitter, so I could go out on a brief date! I had gotten a message from a guy on O.K.Cup.id.com, and found his profile interesting. So we met at a restaurant on the Estuary for a beer. It was really very fun--he's a hockey player (big points!!) and a parent who is not interest in having more kids. 2 or 3 years younger, very sweet and engaging. I hope we get to meet up again.

Came home to G and babysitter having played Wii practically nonstop while I was gone. G got me to play a few more games (a funny cow-riding game, pool, and a shooting-baloons game) before bed.

An absolutely packed weekend, but a very good one. (Clothes-trying-on is tonight!)

Sorry, dude

2009-05-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

This morning, on my way from dropping G off at school, I stopped to let a woman back out of a church parking lot. I noticed the woman in the opposite lane waiting with her blinker on, so I waved her to go ahead and turn after this person had cleared the driveway. She acknowledged my wave and started to pull forward as I started rolling a bit, ready to move when she was past.

Suddenly, she stopped and motioned for me to wait, too. Another car emerged from the driveway that I hadn't been able to see. I stopped quickly, and looked in my rear-view to see the car behind me stop abruptly.

The other car went on its way, the turner turned and went into the parking lot, and my lane moved on. At the next light, where I can turn left or go forward one block and turn left, the car in front of me was turning, so I decided to turn.

I heard a loud grunt of dismay and frustration, and checked my mirrors to see Guy Behind Me ranting in his car as he squealed around me. I looked down and realized then that I hadn't been signaling a left turn. Oops.

Sorry, dude, for clearly ruining your morning. I have been that driver, frustrated by others' actions. Today, it was me. Sorry.

On getting older and acknowledging body issues

2009-05-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

My family (well, my dad's side) gets together every year in Ashland, Oregon, ostensibly to see some Oregon Shakespeare Festival plays (which are, with very few exceptions, fantastically good).

This year, my sister missed which weekend we were gathering and got us tickets to the wrong weekend. On switching them back to the correct weekend, we ended up with seats that are scattered all over the theater. I just realized today that I will therefore not have anyone to whisper to, "What did he just say?" and so forth. My hearing is getting worse and worse--my right ear is so bad that if I plug that ear, I don't detect any change in hearing, but if I plug the left, it's as if I've descended down a very long tube. I'll have to ramp up my 125-plan medical savings next year to buy my first hearing aid.

For now, though, I thought I should look into those assistive hearing devices they sometimes offer. The OSF website says they're available, so I wrote to ask whether they'll be at all performances, and whether they sometimes run out (we are a perpetually late family).

The start of my email was "I am hard of hearing...". Ouch. Hard to admit that, out loud, to a total stranger.

I guess it's time, though. There are times in the car when I simply cannot make out what G is saying to me, and at parties or in other loud-background-noise places where I'm desperately relying on lipreading and still sometimes smile and nod and give up on asking "What?" over and over.

Getting old--it's not for wimps.

Well, I thought it was a good weekend...

2009-05-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

G woke up this morning, wailing that he hadn't had enough of a weekend. This continued until I cajoled and threatened him to get dressed, eat breakfast, get his backpack on, get out of the car, and get to school. I was tired when I woke up, and am now exhausted.

I had a great weekend!

Friday
We picked up Lucy from the vet (I'll blog about her ibuprofen ingestion and subsequent $2k in vet bills another time) after her having received a liter of fluid under the skin to continue to flush out the ibuprofen remainders. She was in good spirits and we were given handfuls of meds to continue giving her.

We had a nice dinner and I loaded our spare crate into the back of the car and put her in it, and we set out for the Friends of the Library's biannual book sale, on their "preview" night. I had written ahead of time whether we could join that evening and get in 'free.' I'd been thinking of joining FOL for a while now, and since admission was $5 apiece and membership was $10 (or $5 for students, bless my Peralta Colleges ID), joining was a fait accompli. I had thought that, since it was free to attend the other 2 days, this night would be a bit sparse.

More the fool I. It was packed! It seemed divided between book lovers (and likely FOL members) and book resellers. The latter were crabby and unpersonable, unapologetically grabbing books and scanning them with small, handheld digital scanners and putting them back. I'm not sure if the scanners were preset to show "BUY IT" or if they went back and uploaded the data, to return the next day with a list of books to grab.

The book lovers were interested, engaged, and delightful. A woman and I met up at the foreign-language table. I asked what language she was interested in, as we were on opposite sides of a big table, and she said pretty much anything! I found a Jean Anouilh play that looked interesting, a detective novel with an English glossary in the back, and a small, hardbound French-English dictionary that would be perfect to keep in the fanny pack for our next trip.

G found a stack of Goosebumps books, and also selected a few Lemony Snicket hardbacks. I wasn't sure the latter were his style of reading/humor, so encouraged him to put them back and get the first few books from the library to see if they were something he'd enjoy. (His teacher told me today she thought they were right up his alley. There will be more LS books to be had, I'm sure.)

He also found a book on Star Wars droids that he thought his friend W would enjoy. His friend D talks about Star Wars machines nonstop, so I suggested he give it to him instead. He'll choose this week, I think. I love that he thinks of others in this way.

Lucy did fine in her crate in the back of the car, even though we were gone 1.5 hours instead of the 1 hr I had hoped.

Saturday
This day was set aside to clean our church to to bottom. I love that a woman at our church spearheaded this project and was happy to participate. I had to call that morning, though, to let her know we'd be there, but late, as Lucy had one more vet visit that weekend for more fluids and a brief checkup. She emerged looking a bit like a linebacker, but sans the annoying E-collar that she'd rammed into our shins countless times. Yay.

We arrived at church and were given the job of dusting two large ficus benjamina silk plants. I set to work on the upper leaves and G started on the lower ones, but was quickly bored. I sent him off to the organizer to get a new job--he was given the job of washing down a found high-chair, which he apparently did with relish (and making a pool in the tiled hallway at the same time). I giggled to overhear him being told that he'd done a great job and to go get a bunch of paper towels to wipe up all the water.

I spent more than an hour on the two plants, but it was well worth it: they really looked great when I was done, and they set off that stairway landing (open to the below) well. I even found a treasure-hunt note under one: "David, you've done well! Now hunt around in the leaves of the plant 10 ft away to find your next clue." Too funny. (David?!?)

We sat down to a pizza lunch from Bowser's Pizza, which I was told is a fun place to bring kids. I'll put that on our list of places to visit. We had the exact right amount of pizza, with my splitting one of the last slices of cheese with another, and G getting the last bit of my pizza, as he was still a tiny bit hungry.

We then set out to wash down the ends of the carved wooden pews in our sanctuary, a slow job that took work but didn't seem to change the look of it much, to me. G got a little bored again, and was given the task of washing the windows of the doors into the sanctuary. The lower parts are pebbled yellow glass and the upper parts are lovely arched panes of clear glass. He set out to clean the lower panels with a vengeance, and after I was done with the pews, I set out to clean the upper panes, as I'd noticed some fingerprints on them. I'd forgotten what a pain it is to clean two sides of clear glass! You rub and rub, and then finally realize that smear is on the other side. And half the time, it was on the side you'd been working on. Agh! We did finish, though, and it was well worthwhile, as those doors are seen by everyone walking into and out of the sanctuary every Sunday. Yay us!

We finished the workday by moving things into and out of a storeroom behind our kitchen that was much larger than I'd ever remembered. Some folks had cleaned it out and cleared off a workbench that couldn't be worked on because of the massive amount of stuff stored on it. They also made a dedicated work area for our wonderful volunteer flower arrangers. I laughed when I picked up things to move, as I had a huge armful of florist foam, which weighed about 2 oz total. Yeah, that's me working hard!

We headed home and watched some videos and knitted, with me taking an hour's nap, probably to catch up on my missed sleep from the ibuprofen event. I ended the evening by finishing spinning up some wool/tencel blend fiber that was dyed in a series of colors. I'll ply it and make... wristwarmers? Something like that. I was happy to finish, although I'd like to get out of the habit of spinning for 2 hrs, 2 weeks apart. It doesn't seem good for my body.

Sunday
We got to church on time on Sunday, which was good, as it was a packed morning. I rehearsed with the choir on a song I hadn't sung before, but which was lovely. As we finished, I looked over the bulletin and realized we had a conflict: I was teaching Sunday School, and it was Communion Sunday, where the kids are out at the beginning of the service, rather than leaving in the middle (usually after the anthem). The choir director encouraged me to find someone to watch the elementary-school kids, and the preschool teacher said sure, she could keep an eye on them while I sang. I found an usher to come get me at the right time, and settled down to read the Sunday-School notes for the day.

It was an interesting lesson: about a parable about sheep and shepherds. Another one of those stories that seems more like an interesting story but one that has no relevance to people and how they interact. We talked about shepherds and good shepherds and the passage where Jesus says the shepherds who climb over the fences are thieves, and I related that to his criticism of the temple hierarchy of the day. We talked about being rabble-rousers and how that can be a good thing. It was an easier class than usual, as the boys who are silly and have a hard time paying attention were gone that day. I dashed out, sang the anthem, came back, and we finished the lesson right as communion was about to start. G didn't want to go for communion at first, so we ended up being some of the very last, G taking a huge hunk of bread as usual, something that always makes me smile--have a huge hunk of forgiveness and love, why not?

He didn't want to stay for coffee hour, so we said some good-byes, and left. (Oh, man, I think we forgot our umbrellas! Shoot.) We went home for some lunch and lazed around for a while. Then the weather cleared up, and I decided we needed to try out some golf. (I'd won a set of clubs at a raffle the previous weekend, and G got some clubs at Christmas and has expressed interest in golf for a while now.)

I looked up the hours and prices (greatly reduced prices for Junior golfers, yay!) and we loaded up the clubs and set off. My golf shoes (Reeboks that are like tennis shoes with spikes) were still comfy but at this stage, a little tight, durnit. I paid the 1/2 price (Junior rate!) for a medium bucket of balls, and we headed down the row for 2 adjacent tees on the driving range.

G did great. He listened to my advice and swung his clubs really well, controlling the bounce in his knees after a few tries (it is instinctive to crouch down in the middle of your swing, and hard to resist!). He tried all 3 of his clubs (a wood, a 5/6 iron, and a 9/sand wedge iron) several times and did well with all of them. I emphasized making the club do the work so that the wedge would give him a lofty shot and the wood a long drive, and he seemed to get it. He kept lining up with his left foot back and so shot left pretty consistently. I encouraged him to line his feet up straight, and it really worked.

I hadn't golfed since before he was born, I think, but it felt pretty comfortable and I only topped the ball a few times and bounced my clubs off the mat a few times. I was getting some good yardage (maybe 100 yds) at the end with some of my clubs. I do think I'll keep the new raffle set of clubs--it has one more wood and one fewer iron than my current set, and a nicer putter. I do like me some nice, fancy putters. My original one was just a sort of brass clubfoot, so I had splurged on a used one with a weird, blobby head and more putt-lining-up lines. The one in the new set is even fancier. G's has three blue bubbles to line up his shot and once he got it, he really putted well. (I have to say, I love that putting practice is 'free' at golf courses.)

The Pitch & Putt course at the local golf course was clearly out of use, but they said at the pro shop that it'll be back pretty soon, hopefully in time for us to go out. We'll get the large bucket of balls next time, though! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When we got back, G expressed interest in staying home instead of going to my hockey game. I'd been taking him to save some $$, especially now that he's so responsible for himself (plus, there are always friends milling about the rinks that can keep an eye on him). I was fine with him staying home, so gave a quick call to my male high-school babysitter, who soon called me back with approval of his parents to do the gig. He arrived early, bless his heart, and played Wii the whole time, with short breaks for putting the pizza in the oven and for getting it out again and consuming the entire thing (as usual--I think I need to buy larger frozen pizzas! There are never leftovers after these two are through with them).

The game was really tough--I was just thinking, "Whoah, they have really strong forwards over there; we're going to really have to challenge them if we want to win" when our coach said, "OK, you guys, this team has very good defenders, so we're going to have to really try to carry the puck and shoot a lot to win." Ha! Turns out we were both right, and they managed to catch the right rebounds and put the puck in three times, always on my shift (dang it). I had some good plays and it was a good, clean, if tough, game. I came home exhausted.

Got G to bed and barely made it to 10:30 to give Lucy her 11PM pill a little early. I thought it was a good weekend. :)

Listening to that gut instinct

2009-04-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

A few Saturdays, a friend of G's invited him to go to the Family Swim time at the Oakland Y with his dad. There was some miscommunication over whether I'd drop G off at D's house, D and his dad would pick G up, and finally we settled on my bringing G to the YMCA and meeting them there, and D's dad would bring him home.

We got there right on time and D and his dad arrived quite soon. I paid for G (that part was unclear, too) and D's dad said he needed to add money to the meter. Odd, because they'd just arrived. When he returned, he reiterated that he'd bring G home... and his breath smelled weird. He's been having hard times lately, I know, so it's possible he's relying on alcohol for comfort.

I left, feeling very mixed.

Family Swim was 2 hours, which initially seemed like a lovely span of time in which to do things. In reality, I went home and did hardly anything, and then finally decided I'd pick G up. I thought of leaving a sign on the front door in case I missed them, saying I'd be there soon, but totally forgot in my agitation. I waited in the lobby of the YMCA for about 20 minutes, knitting nervously, and they finally emerged. D's dad was completely comfortable with it, which is good, because I didn't want to have to say, "I'm concerned that you have alcohol in your car" or something.

And in the end? I'm really glad I listened to my gut. I wish I'd thought fast enough to say at the drop-off that I'd just be back to pick him up, but am so glad it worked out well.

And the other side of the coin...

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet up with an out-of-town friend and some others for drinks at a nice pub in Berkeley. I asked some friends, one of whom is a recovering alcoholic, to watch G. I ended up having 3 drinks over the visit (maybe 3 hours), which is too much for me. I called the friends to say I was on my way back, and felt very much in that middle area between "I'm fine" and "I have to concentrate to maintain." The friend, when I arrived, made a big pretense of wanting to make us all Italian coffees with her new espresso machine. I stayed and drank my latte and chatted, and when we left, I was definitely fine to drive. It wasn't really until later that I realized what the friend had done: make time for me to sober up completely so that my son was safe. Thanks, R, for that kindness. I remember that lesson to this day.

A couple of very full weekends

2009-02-20T17:10:00.000-08:00

Weekend of Feb. 6

Friday
This was the first of two Social Skills nights at the Berkeley YMCA. The Y hosts these for free (!!) to any families who have kids who need social skills support. What was interesting this time was that G's school was showing Madagascar that night, and when given the choice, G opted for the Y, hands down.

We grab some suits and a snack and head over. This time, I've removed my cargo box from the roof of the car, having remembered that last time, we couldn't even park in there--we were summarily shunned because of being too high (they wouldn't even let me park in the main level, which has nice, high ceilings). As we're pulling into our spot, I mention that I cannot swim this time, due to my stitches. G says something about wanting to swim with his friend M--who pulls into the space next to us. M's easy-going, easy-on-the-eyes dad is with him and everyone enthusiastically decides to swim together.

We head inside and upstairs to the room where we do Check-In and have pizza. The gal who runs this part is really personable and interested. At this point, I'm feeling a little nuts in general about not having much of a break from G, and I mention to her privately that I was rebuffed from the local Regional Center when I asked about respite care (they basically said the only Asperger's kids they take have IQs under 100). She encourages me to apply anyway, which really lifts my spirits. (When I email to ask for an application, the woman again tries to discourage me, but says she'll send me the app anyway. Thanks.)

G is the only kid squirming around under his chair rather than sitting on it. From this, and his sneaking under the table to grab the pizza boxes, I gather he's starving for attention, or maybe just likes attention from this group. There is invariably a kid who asks me, "Why is he on the floor?" I have to answer that I don't know.

We have our pizza and move into the gym. They've finished working on the Family Gym and we have it all to ourselves! The Y person sets up a soccer game and sets it into motion. (I happily participate when it's floor hockey, of course.) I chat with a few of the other parents and realize it's really a great support group for parents. It's even kind of nice to see some kid give in to his impulse and disobey his parent--ah, yes, that's in our house, too.

G plays hard enough to get quite pink, climbs up on top of the giant pile of mats against my express permission (and earns himself a Mark for that day), and we head downstairs to Art.

G loves the Art area. I tolerate it but love the woman who runs it. She's easy-going and generous with the art supplies, and never loses it when a kid makes a huge pool of glue in the middle of the table. This night, she had punch-out, put-together wooden models. As G and M and M's dad headed off for the pool, I stayed and completely put together M's train model, hoping the whole time that it would be okay to do it. I adore models and had such a fun time with it. Finally went down to wait for them outside the men's locker room and chatted with another boy's mom for a while. I really like her son. Where M is sincere and friendly, P is engaging and articulate. We compared notes on our kids, who are more alike than not.

When G came out, he was very unhappy about being in the locker room without me, and told me so. The Y has explicit notes on the room doors that kids over age 6 are to go in the sex- (gender-?) specific locker room, period. But they do offer one or two Family/Gender-Alternative (not sure exactly how they phrased it) changing rooms, with showers I think; we'll use that next time.

Saturday
Saturday was a very full day for us. I had the responsibility of copying three candidates' papers and bringing them to the Ecclesiastical Council for that day, so I printed them out and set out at 7AM to get them copied. After living in Berkeley for 4 or 5 years, I was astonished to go to Kinko's in Alameda and find that it wouldn't open until 10 AM that day! I headed to my office to copy and staple them there instead.

(Note: this is where this post stopped on 2/20. I'll be filling in what I remember, 2.5 months later!)

We get to the meeting on time, parking in the lot behind the church (such a rarity and gift in Berkeley!), and I get G up to the childcare room. The woman there is welcoming and understated. Things really get rocking when two other kids, known to us, arrive. When I peek in later, LEGOs are strewn far and wide and some kind of battle/game is going on, with all three kids fully engaged. The two small kids who've since arrived are looking on, fascinated.

The Ecclesiastical Councils went well that day--I jotted down several inspiring quotes. There are hard parts to ECs, including when you're not quite sure someone is a good choice for ordination (or literally, approval for ordination pending call, meaning they are good to go once they get an invitation from a church or other circumstance to be ordained). But there are wonderful, good parts, too: meeting with people outside our church and getting to know them; new food for thought on religion, God, Jesus, evil, and community; and seeing the polity of our church in action.

At the lunch break, the parents of the two other older kids and G and I went out to lunch together, the two of them wanting to escape the giant crowd for a while. Unfortunately, even though the restaurant we chose was very close by, we had such slow service that we were late getting back. Frustrating!

That evening, we had a scrimmage set up against the Buck-Toothed Angry Dolphins. The ice rink is a nice one near Palo Alto. I would have been on time, but muffed the directions thoroughly, getting off and going through East Palo Alto instead of staying on the main road till very close to the freeway. Argh. We made it and I dragged my gear UP THE STAIRS (a locker room up stairs in a hockey rink?!?). G ended up staying in the room the entire time. There's an old eMac hooked up with a camera so he could see the ice the entire time. He didn't watch. :) He had his DS, the room was warm, it was fine!

The scrimmage was fun, but as I recall, we got our butts kicked. They had some superfast forwards. I was completely put off by being put at wing at first (a big change from D with this team) but had some good plays IIRC. Totally thrown by the team box (there's another word for this) being higher than the ice, so getting on/off the ice is really awkward.

This was a practice before going to the Vacaville tournament the following weekend.

Sunday
My calendar says G was an acolyte and that I had a 4:15 Fremont game. I remember nothing.

Weekend of Feb. 14
Friday
This was the day I got my new haircut (not that any of the 30 or so hockey players I saw at Vacaville noticed, lol!). I just HAD to get my hair cut, and my regular gal wasn't cutting that day, so I took a chance. I liked her so much, I wrote a Yelp! review on her. (Good thing, because someone else had gone to see her, for the same haircut even, and was not happy!) That afternoon, I went in to have my armpit stitches removed. The gal was efficient and talkative, but dang! it still hurt.

Saturday
This was the first day of the Vacaville tournament. Folks from SJ had gotten hotel rooms, but as it was maybe an hour's drive for us, I opted to drive each day. We made good time and got there with time to spare. I was pleased to see that an autism research group was to get the profits from the tournament. They also had several nice raffle prizes, and had set it up so that you could put your tickets into specific boxes, rather than possibly winning, say, a Ralph Lauren purse. (But that's the subject of another post.)

I can't give any game stats because I don't remember much. I do remember having a lot of fun, and meeting up with my friend K for lunch (she didn't stay for hockey, which startled me at first--lots of fun women's hockey to watch!--but then I realized the aggression/violence might not be her cup of tea). That evening, G's friend had a birthday party, so I was able to drive to W's house, drop G off, and go home and relax. Suhweet.

Oh, I also remembered that G played DS pretty much nonstop for the tournament, but was also kind of antsy. This led to him falling backwards off the bleachers (onto rubber flooring, thank God) and having the wind knocked out of him. My wonderful Buck-Toothed Angry Dolphin friends got him up and asked him if he wanted to hang out in their locker room for a bit. He tearfully accepted. So good to have friends around.

Sunday
An even earlier game than Saturday, but we made it fine, again. There was a playoff game but I do remember we weren't in it. I had considered playing my regular season game that afternoon, but realized I wouldn't make it in time anyway.

It was a fun, hockey-filled weekend, and G got to go in a jump house and play some games for tickets, which he could exchange for small plastic crap. So it was good for him, too.

Saturday, the 21st
I might as well keep going. The next Saturday was GHATD, our league's biannual Give Hockey A Try Day, run by yours truly (who deeply appreciates the league dues discount she'll receive this fall). Overall, it ran quite well, but only because of the massive help from all my wonderful volunteers. We ended up with 6 coaches, I think, which was one or two too many, and 3 goalies trying it out. Everyone had a massively good time, as expected, and people were so appreciative! One gal had just come because she was in from out of town and a friend of a GHATD player, so just for fun, and left saying, "I'm going to find a local league at home!" Awesome.

Gratitude

2009-01-26T15:18:00.000-08:00

This weekend was quite the weekend. So many parts were uplifting, humbling, both.

During one of the games, I remembered with a smile Lucinda telling me, in Green, that she was going to make it her mission to get me into Red that season. (She did.) I was so touched by this. I did work hard, and listen, and was so happy to get into Red. I know that the skills and thought processes she taught me helped me be a better player last weekend as well. Thanks, Lucinda.

And last Fall, Liz asked me to Burninate Los Angeles. I backed out after realizing how bad my tennis elbow was, wanting to heal it completely before restarting hockey. I'm sure part of my reticence was being cowed by having seen the Burninators in action and knowing I'd be more of a dead weight than a help. She asked me again for Las Vegas, holding the spot for Cheddah first (which made sense, my cheesy friend being an original Burninator) and then offering it to me. As we went into the weekend, I was a little surprised at my feelings of lightness, really having internalized that my best is the best I can do. I'm sure the tremendous team spirit helped this, and the warm welcome I got as a player this time (having gone with this team to Vegas last year as a child-watcher). Viv (or someone else!) officially welcomed me by hiding a Love-a-Lot CareBear in my hockey bag during the first game. But as I skated out to receive my Tournament Championship trophy, I knew I'd earned it with hard work on the ice. Thanks for the faith in me, Liz.

And the tournament revved me up so much that I turned into the Endless Talker and Questioner. I know I periodically drove Liz and Andrea batshit with my comments and questions. Thanks for not killing me.

When I picked G up, he triumphantly said he didn't miss me once during the weekend. He was quite happy to have some snuggle time before bed, but he certainly didn't seem worse for wear. I don't think the Aunties nor my friend J read this blog, but if you do, thanks for taking such awesome care of my kid. He also commented that the breakfasts and dinners were "terrific."

And finally, I'm grateful to God/the powers that Be for my good health, good friends, wonderful family, currently healthy work environment. Thanks Be.

Great weekend

2009-01-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

I do love birthday celebrations that start early and last.

I got a box at Christmas from my dad and stepmom that said "Happy Birthday!" that I haven't opened yet. (But I won't be able to resist for long.)

My sister already emailed me about a gift that is coming. Well, she already asked me what I wanted and emailed a link to ask if it would work (3-in-1 networkable printer, woo hoo!).

And a friend with whom I was going to do a Girls' Night Out on Saturday said, "I'm going to take you out for your birthday." Her DH watched G and we went to Kincaid's (you are not surprised) and it was perfect. We talked and laughed and ate and ate. It was SO good. I'm having the leftovers today.

Friday night, G and I went to the Social Skills group at the Berkeley Y. It's free and they bring pizza (for a donation). I am usually the only adult who has any (but I always wait till the kids have theirs) and we always donate about $5. G was totally wiggly at the check-in time (we go around the circle)--didn't want to stay in his chair but sat upside-down in it for a while and then crawled under mine. I think it was a combination of feeling uncomfortable in that group and maybe wanting some attention (which he got from some of the kids). I wavered between feeling annoyed that he just. couldn't. sit. in. his. chair and feeling like, Hey, this is how he is, and if anyone here doesn't understand that, we're in the wrong group. We finished our evening with a swim in the shallow Warm Pool, which was way overchlorinated. I played a keep-away game with G that turned out to be pretty fun, and then he threw the diving toys around the pool as I hid my eyes and had me find them. He dressed and showered in the boys' locker room for the first time and did fine. He had come with me to the girls' locker room last time, but the signs do say boys over 5 should be in the other one, and he noticed them this time. I was glad he did find--found a locker OK and washed his body and hair in the shower afterward just fine.

Saturday morning, we grabbed Oakland Zoo passes and walked around to two houses in Alameda. Wow, Gmap Pedometer says we walked almost 3 miles! It took us an hour (including a stop at a garage sale) and G was "so" tired when we got home. We had 15 mins to pack lunches and get out the door again to get to the Zoo on time. We made it, and instead of the 3 families from our church that I'd expected, we had seven! The zoo was very busy. I asked a Zoo worker, and she pointed out that it was the first warm weekend day in a while. We slowly made our way up to the elephants, down to the Meerkats, and back toward the front. Some folks wanted to buy some food at the cafe, and we all ended up there. I looked at all the deep-fried possibilities and went healthy (for once) and got a fruit/juice bar and a fruit salad.

We went to the rides next:

And then had a while till my dinner out... waiting for the Cable Guy. Literally.

He came at about 5 (in his 4-6PM window, Thanks, Comcast, for a reasonable time window!) and got his stuff done by 6, which meant I couldn't really change until then, but I put out my clothes and got started on my makeup while waiting for him to be done. He had to do some work at my modem with his box-that-tested-speed and then was on the phone with a friend, it sounded like (WTF), and then was finally done. I don't know what they did but it all still works, so good.

Sunday, we just could not get out of bed, so we missed church entirely. I was in my pjs until like 2PM, but getting stuff done at the house: got my hockey gear washed and set out in the sun to dry (finished drying in the dryer, first on low, then on Air Dry) and packed to go to the rink. Cleaned out my hockey bag, fixed my garter belt (I keep losing one of the dangly rubber bits), and sewed up like 7 rips in my pants. Retaped both of my sticks, which felt good: and then set them on the floor and they got all dog-hairy, dangit.

Got a call from Andrea asking me to sub in the game before mine, a nice compliment! And woot, my sitter could, after all, show up 1.5 hrs early! I got all my gear loaded in the car, came back up the back stairs to hear G talking to someone. My sitter was there early--and surprised himself. He said he'd missed the first bus. Well, that works anyway.

The games were way fun; I played D line with Andrea for the first time, I think ever. It felt very smooth; nice to play with someone who's so clear and LOUD about changes. Both teams were faster at changes this time; my team was so. slow. at changes last game that it was making me NUTS. Several gals get on the top of the boards and pause. ARGH!

The first game was 3-0 (or 4-0?) and still a tough game. I got to skate up against my team captain, which was really very fun. She's tricky and fast, and got very annoyed with me when I messed up a play she was setting up. Lots of backtalk and taunting, yay! Then, in our game, I looked at their bench and thought, Wow, they have a lot of speed and strength. And yet, we held them, and we were scoreless at the end. In the sudden death, our wing managed to pop it in the goal in the first 15 seconds, which was nice, as it was my second game and I was getting a little pooped. Fun, fun game with good goalies. Great.

I came home and got G in bed on time, just barely, and worked some more on my pajama top. I'm on step 10 of 17, and it's coming along nicely. It seems a little big, but that's better than the alternative. He's at "art camp" today for the day off, and will spend a few hours at my office after camp is over. Maybe we'll wash the dog tonight. Always fun at our house!

Scrimmage against BTDs 2-4; Puck Bunnies vs. Puck Ewes 1-1

2009-01-11T23:30:00.000-08:00

We had a scrimmage set up with Burninators vs. Buck-Toothed Dolphins on Saturday at 4. It was add the ever-so-odd Ice Oasis, which is replete with stairs (stairs?!?) from the entrance to the locker rooms. I panicked off the Dumbarton bridge and took the first exit, which was University, rather than the last, which would have been Marsh Road and would have put me there right on time. Since we had an adventure instead, I got there with maybe 10 minutes to change. I did manage to get on the ice before the game started, but just barely.

Before this game, I was very nervous about playing with the Burninators and about playing in Vegas. Afterward, although I definitely felt like I was the least skilled player on the team, I still felt like I would measure up OK. There was a breakaway where I tried to chase the player down and failed miserably, and it made me think of Andrea's saying "I was -1 in the first period," which I hadn't really thought of before. I whacked my stick on the in annoyance and Lucinda skated by and said to shake it off, which was right (although once I'd whacked the stick, I really was past it). I skated as fast as *I* can, and that was it, all I could do. (Although next time, I'm going to make sure I keep skating to do the back-check if I can. I think I did and she just shot fast, but if not, I need to change that.)

It is a fun team of great players; it's going to be a blast!

Tonight's game was at Belmont against a very strong team. I think we could have dominated if we'd rushed the puck more and made better passes; as it was, we did make a lot of panicked passes-to-empty-space and not enough rebounds. Very fun and clean game, though; only one penalty, and it was on their side. They scored first, but we answered pretty quickly, and we held each other till the end. We got through the whole 5 mins of sudden death without any more pucks in the net, but not for lack of trying. I am really liking my team but am also wanting to be a captain and be able to say things like, "Forwards, you need to skate to the puck more and everyone needs to leave her stick on the ice." That would be Bossy Me. Time for that later, I guess.

For now, I need to wash my gear (pew!) and re-tape my stick (it's been like, hm, maybe forever). One more game here, next Sunday, and then it's off to Vegas!

Lightening up my life

2009-01-09T14:32:00.001-08:00

I've started decluttering and clearing out unwanted stuff in my life. It's already making a huge difference in my mood.

But since the details of the decluttering and cleaning may not be staggeringly interesting, I'll be posting them over on the decluttering blog my friend Wen started. If you're interested, check there for updates.

Until then, want any Lesbian-themed books? I seem to have an entire box of them. :)

Cleaning house

2009-01-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

I've been making a lot of changes at home in a slow effort to emerge from the chaos I've built up over the last few months/years.

I've also made changes online: I'm weaning myself off my mac.com account, which has been hideously undependable, even more so now that Apple is changing it to "MobileMe," a concept that doesn't work for my life in SO many ways. So I've been moving list subscriptions over to otherinbox.com, which is like a junk mail sorter. I love clicking its DeleteAll button and seeing all that stuff go away! It's been great for store mailings to which I never reply but want to see. I've also slowly sent out the "please change my address in your e-mail address book" notes, but I hate the "send the note to everyone you have ever come in contact with" method, so I have shied away from sending too many bulk emails. (If you don't have my current Gmail address, drop me a comment and I'll make sure you get it.)

I've also gone through my office and found things that have been in limbo--in the case of some cowboy boots, in limbo for about 14 months now. I ordered them, they sorta fit, I wore them around the office to see, put 'em on a shelf, wore them on the carpet again... finally decided my calves just don't work for them. Sierra Trading Post's return policy is like Lands End's--any time for a full refund. Yay!

I also returned a Land's End swimsuit I bought last January, with 2 others I ordered recently, to a Sears. Seamless! And it'll be nice to have a fat credit on my credit-card statement, too. Plus, having people stop asking me why there are cowboy boots on my bookshelf in my office? Priceless.

I've started getting together regularly with old friends, too--a group from Cal Band. We've had dinner together 3 out of the past 4 months and it's been so nice to spend time with them again. Another friend and I started having lunch together every few weeks or so, and invited another friend to join us. That hasn't worked out (although she and I have had lunch), but it will soon. It is great to get these people I know and love, but rarely saw, back in my life.

At home, I finally replaced the dog door flap that was hanging on by 1" of rubber. As I replaced it, memories of the last replacement flooded back. Yep, it was just as much of a PITA and there was lots of cussing. But I got it done and now the chilly air isn't flooding into the room like it was.

I also cleared an entire shelf off my bookcase and filled it with board games, which G and I have really been getting into. It's nice to make room for things that give me such pleasure.

I hope to make many more changes of this sort in my life so that I can actually enjoy my space!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't do as much yesterday as I had planned, but I'm happy with what I did get done.

I had hoped to make and freeze 2 soups--I did make and freeze one, an Italian country bean soup. The recipe called for a can of tomatoes (pressed through a sieve) but I couldn't find one anywhere. I went with chicken broth, lots of onions, garlic, carrots and celery (the recipe called for 1 of each), and a small pile of Italian spices. Turned out yummy. I used regular chicken broth and it didn't need any more salt.

I had hoped to make my flannel pj's. I'd forgotten how much prep work is involved in sewing. It took plenty of my time to unfold and iron the flannel (preshrunk, so that's good), unfold and iron and then cut out the pattern pieces, find the layout for my size, and start laying out the pattern pieces on the cloth. I pinned out three pieces but didn't cut them out. Yes, that's all. Oh, I also measured my current pj's to get a better idea of which size to make (answer: L on the bottom and M on top). This is a pattern I've made before, for G, so I know once the pieces are cut out, they'll turn out great. I took G's pj's out at Christmas to show my stepmom--she and my dad got me the sewing machine a few years ago. G had picked out a bright Po.kemon fabric and I thought it would be awful, but once sewn into pj's, it was very cute.

I had hoped to do a hike--and we did! I told my mom (in town, staying with her brother) that we were going, and she expressed interest, so she went along. I asked my aunt if she wanted to come and she said, "No thanks," but her eyes said, "Are you out of your MIND?" I picked a pretty easy hike I've done with G a bunch of times. It was brisk, but with walking, we stayed warm. After the hike, G wanted to go to the playground that was near the parking lot. Mom was willing, so we went. As we were getting ready to leave, she started up a conversation with someone about weaving. I know she loves weaving, but this conversation ended up making all of us cold and G go back to the play structure I'd just worked to get him off of. Oy.

We went back to my uncle's house and G and I were invited to stay for a while. I lasted maybe 15 minutes before I realized all the things I'd wanted to do at home (see above) were not getting done and I was massively bored. I gathered up G, the 2 dogs, and the Chex Mix my aunt had bagged up for us and headed home.

I'd also wanted to get some knitting done, so G and I watched Shanghai Noon together while I ripped and reknit the heel of a sock I'm doing for my mom. And once again, I messed it up. sigh One of those learning experiences, I guess.

Well, I have a heel pattern picked out, pattern pieces to cut out, 4 servings of soup frozen, and a hike under our belts. It was a good New Year's Day. I hope yours was good, too!

Foggy Morning

2008-12-31T22:30:00.000-08:00

When I was first making plans to move to Alameda, a gal on my soccer team said, "You must like fog, then." I thought that was odd--I'd never heard about Alameda being a particularly foggy place, nor seen that. Take the Sunset district in San Francisco, though--reputation for being foggy and well earned, IME. Foggy as hell. Which is unfortunate, it being the Sunset district and all.

In all the years I've lived in Alameda (coming up on 20, I think), it is very rarely foggy. But the past two mornings have been like pea soup, sometimes less than 2 blocks' visibility. It's something. Interesting and scary and ooh, goosebumps, all at the same time.

This has been a good week, after a great Christmas visit. As I told everyone at work, we had mostly dry but sometimes damp pavement on the way up (sometimes with plenty of snow on the shoulder), then snow every day were were there, except Saturday night, when it rained almost all night, melting all the snow so we got home easily. Even missed the usual returning-from-vacation traffic!

G had such a good time in the snow, I finally found myself second-guessing my decision not to move up there a few years ago. He made snowballs, threw them at various things that were not OK (and was told so) and finally threw snowball after snowball at my sister's garage roof, aiming, with my encouragement, to get one over the roof peak. He loved it. My ex-BIL took him and his two cousins out on Friday to a new sledding hill. G had claimed he would just play in the snow, not sled, but when they returned, he'd sledded up a storm and had a great time doing it. My sister, mom, and I bought a Papa Murphy's pizza for the kids and went out to a lovely dinner in town (lame--their website is "coming soon"). It is an upscale Italian restaurant that normally serves 4-course meals, but there's a "local special" where you pay something like $13 for 3 of the 4 courses, and of course it's more than enough food. We talked and laughed and had a great, great time.

Mom came down on Christmas day. She was supposed to drive down the same day we drove up, Tuesday 23rd, but the roads into Portland were either closed or chains-only, and she wisely pointed out that it would significantly extend an already long (7.5 hrs) trip. On Christmas, the roads were only slightly better, but she ventured down the OR coast a bit until she could cut inland and take 5 the rest of the way. It still took her about 10 hours and she was exhausted, but we sat her down with wine and cheese and unloaded her car for her.

We had a great Christmas, not the .least because it was a White Christmas--we had a lovely dusting of snow Christmas eve night. Beautiful. G had a hard time waiting to open presents (he pointed out, rightly enough, that he had waited all through Christmas Eve night, and said he'd show everyone what he'd gotten; and wasn't that good enough?) Just as I was out of answers, my sister stepped in with some murmured words of patience that did the trick. We did our usual youngest-as-elf, everyone-with-a-present, opening-in-turn until several of us didn't have any more presents, and then watched others open and continued to Ooh and Aah.

I got many things I'd wanted and one I had never expected: a new camera. My mom had gotten the latest Panasonic Lumix at Costco for me. I had wanted a Lumix like she and my sister have. The only problem was that the new one was kind of huge--nearly twice as thick and larger in the other dimensions too. My intuitive mom saw that and offered to trade hers for this one. Done! I now have a camera I can carry around in my fanny pack and maybe on a belt holster once I find one. It is easy to use and the photos are crystal clear and very easy to upload on my Mac. I can only hope that the battery lasts till my mom gets home and mails me the charger!

It's a little mundane, but maybe so am I

2008-12-22T16:53:00.000-08:00

Which creature of the night are you? Your Result: Werewolf You are a vicious fighter and a vicious lover, absolutely dedicated to your pack. You are pushed to anger by disloyalty and injustice and have a tendency toward sudden, periodic bursts of wild behavior.
Vampire
Ghost
Cthulu Spawn
Demon
Sorceror
Incubus/Succubus
Which creature of the night are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

My Day Without A Gay

2008-12-22T09:58:00.000-08:00

Recently, some activists suggested that folks disappear en masse from their jobs on one day, so as to make clear the effect that queer people have on society. I'm guessing it's sort of a follow-on to Harvey Milk's speech, in which he says he wishes that the next day, everyone gay would wake up colored blue. It would be obvious who they are and how darn many there are of gay people.

Well, I did consider it briefly, but realized that my workplace doesn't need this sort of waking up. On the contrary, I've always felt completely welcomed as my whole self here. I've dated men and women while working here and no one raised an eyebrow. Similarly with becoming a single mother by choice. Nothing but love and support for my whole self.

So I decided that what I needed to do was to tell them that. I approached the president and asked to talk to him in his office (as it seemed a little too serious for an office hallway conversation). I told him flat-out that I knew it was that day*, and I was here at work, because I did feel valued as a whole person here. Then I went to the General Manager, the president's wife, and said the same thing. (We had hugs. She and I are like that.)

*ah, here's the irony: it wasn't. It was the day before. I really do need to keep a better calendar.

I do feel lucky to have a good job, at a thriving company, where I can be myself. And wear jeans every day if I want to. (Or dress up to freak them out if I want to, too.)

Plus, I never did think Robin Tyler's "Calling in Gay" thing was all that funny.

Christmas Questionnaire

2008-12-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

Like the last one, from my friend FiberQat.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love the ease and speed of gift bags. And they have handles! But it does seem like cheating sometimes. Plus, I'm a sucker for giftwrap sales and always get a roll or two.

2. Real tree or artificial? I love the smell of a real tree. But we are so often gone on the day, and even if we aren't, it's yet another thing for me to remember to maintain. We've had a fake tree for 4-5 years now and I adore it. I also hate the idea of taking the tree down before we go away for Christmas, and with a fake tree, I can leave it up, no problems.

3. When do you put up a tree? Whenever I feel like it. Early or late.

4. When do you take the tree down? This would definitely be late.

5. Do you like eggnog? Only the storebought kind. I'm not big on brandy in my egg nog. I love that I can have Lite eggnog guilt-free. I also love eggnog ice cream and eggnog lattes.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I think it would be the Mousetrap game. I loved that game.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Ugh, my dad. Years and years of Old Spice and/or socks. Last year, I thought I was so smart, knitting him a Cal Colors reversible hat and beautiful stranded mittens for my stepmom... and then they announced they'd really love a group gift of a GPS. headdesk

8. Easiest person to buy for? Well, me! I always find something at Christmastime that I'd love. After that, my mom. She's good about saying what she wants, early, and where it might be found.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yep. Started one from a kid's magazine a few years ago. I think we still need a few folks, but I know we have two sheep, a cow, and a few shepherds. I think we also have a baby Jesus, but I'm not sure. (Yes, yes, he's fairly essential, but the sheep were easy.)

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. When/if I get to it.

11. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received? Oh, my lord. I got a plaid poncho one year when I was a kid, green/orange on one side, reversing to solid vomit orange on the other. My sister got a huge, heavy, unattractive leather purse that year. They were from our dear neighbor who was so sweet, it wasn't worth being annoyed about it. But I never, ever wore it.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? There are so many good ones, but I'm always a sucker for the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas. "Fah who for-aze..."

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? All year long, if I spot something. The trick is to remember I bought something... and where it is stashed.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Only a few times. Got caught once (oops!).

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas. Just about anything pepperminty.

16. Lights on the tree? Yes, the fancy multicolored ones that do all the racing, fading, flashing stuff. Love them. Bought new ones this year because the old ones had faded so. The new ones do twice as many things. Crazy.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Ave Maria, sung by Joan Baez. That means Christmas to me.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Travel more than not. I've done Christmas at home a couple of times since G came, but he loves to go to my sister's, and they sometimes have snow.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I don't think I could name three.

20. Open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? One Christmas Eve, the rest Christmas morning. An uneasy stalemate between my parents' traditions.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. Ugh.

22. Favorite ornament or color? All of them. They all have special meaning to me.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year? A new (small) camera, but I don't think I'll get it. Which is fine; a sweet friend has offered me her old one.

24. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel now, holding a "candle" that is actually a light. We never had either while I was growing up, just this weird peacock kind of bird that was wired to the top.

25. Favorite Christmas dinner? Hm, turkey most likely. I love 'em all. Ham, roast beef, even cracked crab.

If you celebrate it, a very merry Christmas to you.

If you don't, bear with us. I know it gets annoying. :)

100 Things I May Have Done

2008-12-15T16:50:00.001-08:00

From my friend FiberQat's blog.

I have done the things in italics. And for my twist on it: The ones in bold, I want to do. The ones I will never, ever do, are in ~~strikeout text~~.

1. Started my own blog 1
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band 2
4. Visited Hawaii 3
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
~~9. Held a praying mantis~~ 4
10. Sung a solo
~~11. Bungee jumped~~
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch 5
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
~~27. Run a marathon~~
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
~~31. Hit a home run~~
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language 6
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
~~39. Gone rock climbing~~
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 7
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (I think Camp Fire candy counts on this one.)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
~~65. Gone sky diving~~
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar 8
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone 9
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury 10
91. Met someone famous 11
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one 12
94. Had a baby 13
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit 14
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

1. This very blog you're reading.
2. The Cal Band. I suspect you've heard of them. Well, also the Screamin', Hypin', Take Us To Hawaii, We're Not Cheap But We're Easy band. You may not have heard of them.
3. Three times, the last time when I was 12. Such a waste.
4. Ew. Just ew.
5. I'm guessing drop spindling counts.
6. I bought a book on Russian and got about halfway through it. Tough language. Interesting, though. Oh, I think HTML fits here, too.
7. Walked up. Had forgotten my fear of heights amidst a desire to avoid a long line and higher fare. Walking down was... interesting.
8. Fishy-tasting little bubbles that burst in an icky way. Lovely.
9. My orbit. Yes, really. With a head. In soccer. (Don't follow the link if you're squeamish!)
10. Was the presiding juror (translation: jury foreman), in fact. Knit an entire sweater, just about. Grand theft--bank robbery. Guilty.
11. Anthony Hopkins, after a play in Los Angeles. He has huge hands and was very gracious to my babbling.
12. Rest in peace, Uncle Babe, Uncle Carl, Granny Vi, Grandma Van.
13. Still have him, in fact. No longer a baby, but a big 8.5-year-old.
14. Worker's comp is a lawsuit, right? Yuck.

I could come up with some other things, I think... fun.

We made it through, and it was good!

2008-12-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

Friday
I had a game scheduled for Friday night, and the whole day, I kept making other plans in my head as to what we'd do that night--go see a movie? Put up the tree? Strange. I guess I'm still nervous about starting back into hockey, and with a new team, etc. And then there was the deal with the hockey sticks. I'd left mine at Belmont, remembered in time to call Liz & Andrea while they were still at IHOP, and they were kind enough to stop by on their way home and grab them. I wasn't sure how to coordinate getting them, and we tried to set up dinner, but my babysitter wasn't free early enough, so that wouldn't work. Finally, Andrea was asked to sub for us (yay!) and ended up bringing them herself--in a new stick bag for me! And not some plain ol' black one: a pink camo stick bag. It is crazy! And perfect. And easily findable in a sea of boring ones. Thanks, Andrea & Liz!

I carpooled to my game for the first time--Yosh, who lives just up the way, is now on my team! We tossed/shoved our bags into the back of my car and headed to the rink. Because I'd had my sitter get to my house earlier (back when I was thinking we could meet for dinner), we had plenty of time and got to the rink almost an hour before the game. Nice to have time to get ready, and be ready to go on the ice when it opens up, rather than rush!

The game was fast and fun, but didn't count--no refs showed up. (ugh!) I think we lost 2-3. I played wing, which was a big change from last time, where I played D and felt good but I still have quite a bit to learn. I had totally forgotten where D stands for face-offs!

After the game, we went to Wing Stop for wings. Tasty! I got home about 1/2 hour after I'd said I would, so when my sitter called his parents, they weren't home. Turned out they were already on their way!

I tried to go to bed, but felt jittery, so I started a knitting project (of course!). Finally turned the lights off after 1AM.

Saturday
In the morning, G got up and crawled into my bed for snuggles--but stopped short with an astonished look. "Do you REEK?" he asked. Um, I might. Got myself up and into a shower, and crawled back into bed with him. Better.

We lounged around for a few hours, and then got dressed to go get his friend from school with whom we had a playdate. G and he spent the first hour in a pillow fight, which ended abruptly with G taking his clothes off (the ultimate weapon?). The friend exited the room, I spoke with G, and he reclothed. They played a few board games and then it was time for us to take him home again. We'll do it again next weekend if possible, for a longer playdate.

Then we got ready to go down to the south bay. I was getting more and more irritated with G, who was acting up, when I finally realized: if we were late meeting up with Andrea, it was ok. The rest of the day/evening was really not a rushrushrush time. So I got together what we'd need, got us ready, and we got into the car, about 15 mins late.

Thankfully, Andrea messaged me just as we turned onto 101S and asked how close we were--that Val was playing with some toys at the eye doctor's and was getting into it. We met up about 15 mins later than we'd planned, at the Cupertino Daiso store. I'd wanted to go to a Daiso for ages (and of course, once I started looking for the Cupertino one, found one just down in Union City), as I'd heard they had cheap knitting needles. I'd like to teach G's class to knit, and through Freecycle, I'd gottten 10 pairs, but needed about 10 more.

And--yay!--they did have cheap knitting needles. Not the $1/pair I'd hoped, but $1.50/pair is not bad, either. I managed to get all 10 with a mixture of bamboo and plastic. The plastic ones seem a lot like the Crystal Palace Daisy needles, which I've knit with with no problems at all. We picked up a couple other things and started looking for Andrea and Val. Completely toured the store without finding her. (It would have been more convenient for her to be a 6' tall African-American man, but that couldn't be helped.) G encouraged me to call out for her, so I called her name twice, but nothing. I checked my phone and realized Liz's Xmas concert was about to start--so assumed Andrea had left to be on time for that. Quickly checked out and went to our car--and got a message from her wondering where we were--she was still in the baking section. Ha! We decided to meet up at the concert.

The community center where the concert was held is a beautiful place. It has a fountain that perhaps only runs in the summer but is very dramatic even without water. G and Val enjoyed running around until Andrea and I got too cold :) so we went back inside. The concert was really great--I can't believe they are that high quality without auditions. I'm guessing G only remembers the cookies. :)

I managed to finish seaming my sweater while we sat in the lobby (only trusting our kids to be quiet enough for a few songs), and wore it to the Sharks game that night (and also today!). After the concert, we set out for downtown SJ and got parking in the garage right across from the Old Spaghetti Factory. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones crafty enough to get there early and park and go to dinner. The group ahead of us were quoted 1 1/2 hours wait for dinner, and with just the 2 of us, we still got quoted 45 mins. By this time, G was famished, so we passed on old spaghetti and went down the street a bit to Peggy Sue's. Much better.

There were tables available, and not only did they have coffee shakes, but they offered cheap beer! And Liz knows I'm all about the cheap beer. We settled in to wait for our food, and once G's cheeseburger showed up, I realized I'd completely forgotten, in my excitement about coffee shakes and cheap beer, to actually order my patty melt. Duh! They got it in right away, and wouldn't let me pay for it (wow!). G and I settled in and watched the end, then the beginning, of The Dark Knight, which I hadn't seen before. G kept asking me questions--"Who's that? Why is his face that way?" which I answered the best I could without the benefit of subtitles nor having seen it before. We had a leisurely time and then packed up to drop things off at the car and get bundled up for the game. I was glad I'd packed so many warm things--my body was fine but my legs were chilly, so I ended up draping my scarf across my lap for most of the game. G, of course, took things off as the game went on and was still fine.

The game was really exciting, with the Sharks making some dumb moves and a lot of great ones. The Blues were fast, aggressive, accurate... it didn't look good for a while there. We did get up and cheer each time the Sharks scored... and in the end, got up 5 times (which meant Round Table Personal pizzas for every ticketholder in the building!). The Blues put it in the net often, but in the end, only 4 times to the Sharks' 5. *Phew*. G asked, when it looked dire, whether we could demand a refund (ha! since we were given the tickets...?!?) if the Sharks didn't win. Um, they only promise you a *game*, not a win!

I got tired at the end and was willing to leave early, but G wanted to stay to the end, so we did. It really was great fun (thanks, Heather!) to see a 'real' game. I was glad they still had the shark's head that they skate out of at the beginning--G really enjoyed that.

I questioned one of the ushers on the way out, and he didn't know if Round Tables up our way would honor the tickets, so he gave us directions to the one near Santa Clara University, and we got them there, to go. As we waited, G noticed the stockings on the wall with names, especially the one that said "Aliens." Huh? I pronounced it in Spanish aloud, to see if it made sense as a name. Well, kind of... and then I heard a RT employee behind me calling out to another, as Aliens but with a Spanish accent. He was there that night! Really good-natured about his name, too.

We got our pizzas and headed home. Just after I told G we'd be getting home about midnight, I looked in the rear-view and saw him nodded off. Thankfully, I was able to wake him enough to get him to walk inside and fall into bed.

Sunday
We both slept in on Sunday, and even though I was up in time, I still didn't get my butt to church that morning. It was good to stay home and relax. We love those lazy mornings, which we didn't get before now, as he always had martial arts at 10 on Saturdays and I was always needing to be at church on Sunday by 9:30 or 10 for Sunday School, handbells, or singing.

We finally got up and dressed by noonish and got out by 2 to pick up some things at Trader Joe's and drop off the Prosecco from there at the church fridge. This way, I didn't have to worry about chilling it or remembering it. Done!

We got back to church at 5, met up with my sitter (genius idea of mine) there for him to hang with G for the 1 hour of rehearsals and 1 hour of concert. This freed me up to sing with the choir as well as play the handbells, and then flute for the last piece. It all went really well... well, except for the last handbell piece, which we played the worst we ever had. I actually did well until one of the last, fast parts, where I borrow a bell from my neighbor... and she was still holding it! Ah, well. We finished "Trepak" (from The Nutcracker) with a bang and the audience seemed to still love it. The previous piece, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," which is done with mallets and a distinctive Jamaican sort of theme, has lots of backup percussion with cowbell, ratchet, cabasa, and wood block. Fun.

We had some tasty stuff downstairs, cleaned up, and went home to read a bit before bed. The end.

Unsolicited product endorsement

2008-11-20T13:21:00.001-08:00

I like to use tablecloths. My table does not do well with spills, etc., and with a cloth, you can change the look quite a bit. I've bought a few tablecloths, but with the Spilly Family, they got stained really fast. Finally, I splurged on an Origins microfiber tablecloth. Thought I'd give it a try. (Plus, with all those 20% off coupons around, it seemed like a good idea.)

Well, I used one for a recent dinner, and the next morning, I happened to see a little bit of wine still spilled on the tablecloth. Still beaded up. I thought I was seeing things, so swiped at it with a napkin. Nope, it was still liquid and wiped up with no stain at all.

And now, we have 3 more. Joe Bob sez check it out.

B(.Y.)B squishing

2008-11-20T13:16:00.000-08:00

When I had my annual pap, the doc looked it up and I was due for a mammo. It's not my favorite thing to do in the morning, but the gal at our local Kaiser is really great--personable, kind, and firm and clear when she needs to be. So, off I went.

As I walked in, she asked if I was wearing perfume (nope), powder (nope), or antiperspirant (oops). "No problem," she says, and hands me two paper towels and a foil-wrapped packet. I burst into laughter as I looked down at it.

It was a Mammo-Wipe. I kid you not.

See? I am so not making this up.

A pretty good day

2008-11-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

High points of today:

--Getting a 0%/12 months/no transfer fee credit-card offer, which I really need for my credit-card balances.

--Finding whole-wheat pastry flour in the freezer, since I threw out my last batch because it smelled bad ("woo!", I know!)

--Taking my car to the mechanic and getting out for $118 total

--Finding out my program does, in fact work, given good input.

--Lunch with a friend that was yummy, not too long, not too short, fun, and a good heart-to-heart.

Oh, and WOO for getting back into the hockey league!

I'm not even going to mention the low points. They are meaningless after the above.

The Weekend

2008-11-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

Friday
We got home from school, grabbed a bag and our suits (and knitting for me), and jetted off to Berkeley. We were late (again) for the meeting but managed to make most of it. This is a Social Skills group at the Berkeley YMCA that is twice a month, and free. The woman who runs it provides pizza and we all chip in some cash to cover that. There is a check-in time and she sometimes brings a book (like More Parts, about idioms, which can be hard for kids on the autistic spectrum to get) or just asks questions. This time, she asked about Halloween costumes.

After that time, we move to the gym and the kids (and sometimes the adults) play some kind of game. Last time, it was soccer; this time, to my delight, hockey. Plastic sticks and a puck-shaped rolling thing. G ate it up but didn't pass well (so of course I forced him to). Fun.

From there, we go down to the art area where they have clay, which delights G (even though we cannot fire the things, so they are brittle). Last time, we didn't know about the swimming, so hadn't brought swimsuits. This time, we didn't know the ins & outs of the pools. Turns out you have to get a little piece of paper with a time slot to go to a particular pool. We initially get passes for the warm pool, which I find dull, as it's shallow and small. We end up giving those away and go back for passes for the deeper pool, in about 15 minutes.

The deeper pool goes down to 7.5 feet, and there is a floating rope (is there another word for that?) close to the shallow end. Turns out there is a swim test required to be able to go into the deeper area. G, having passed three swim tests last summer, is sure he can pass this one. But the lifeguard requires him to have his face in the water all the time except for lifting it to breathe. He just can't do it. It's really not a big deal. His friend who wants to swim with him is only in the shallow area, and there really is enough room to have fun. But he gets caught up in it and frets and wails for a bit. Finally, he settles down enough (I point out that he can choose to have fun or to be sad). He spots some toys on the wall; turns out they belong to his friend. He borrows a sponge frisbee and we play until the time is up. (It really is so fun that I am considering buying one for us!)

After drying off and dressing, we head upstairs to play in the Kindergym for just a few minutes. We manage to create a slope that ended in the ball pit. (FYI: falling in a ball pit can hurt! I got one right in the back. Maybe it was too shallow. Plus, they smell like pee.)

As we were leaving, he kept messing around. This cost him his clay creations. That was one of those "Did I do it because I wanted to throw out the clay, or because it was a good and effective consequence?" situations. Ugh.

Saturday
We headed out of the house at 9:20, a little later than I had hoped. As we approached IKEA, I realized that the reason I'd wanted to leave by 9 was that it opens at 9:30 and his martial arts starts at 10 sharp. I decide we'll go to martial arts a little late and he'll do 10:30-11:30. But once we get there, I'm having such a good day with him that I decide to forgo the entire thing. I let him know and his face crumples. "I feel guilty," he says. I think it's about missing martial arts until he explains that he thinks it's his fault that we were running late. This has been very true lately and I think I can handle it better (let him have a little less free rein). But today, it was my overt choice, and I tell him so. The cloud lifts.

As for IKEA: someone there is one smart cookie. Rather than spend tons on advertising, they sent out simple flyers saying that breakfast there was free on Saturday (maybe for Fri through Mon; not sure). I've never seen the restaurant so full. It was a nice breakfast, and coffee (including decaf) was included. It is normally only 99 cents, even! G angled for, and got, a cinnamon roll, which was good (but not great, so I just had one bite). They have tables for two that are connected, 4 in a row. So we ate kind of with others, and it had a community atmosphere. I ended up chatting with the couple next to us, the woman next to me having been a teacher. It was really nice.

So after that, we wandered around the store for 3.5 more hours. Wow. Time really gets away from you. As we left, I glanced at the receipt for the time, and nearly took off running. It was 1:19 and I was supposed to drive a coworker from our office to BART at 1:40! We got to the car and took off, getting to work at 1:38. She was in the building and we got her suitcase loaded up and set off by 1:40. She called from BART and said that she'd made the next train by 4 minutes and was right on time. It is so great that BART goes all the way to SFO now. Brilliant.

After that, we had nothing planned, and as I chatted with my sister, I realized I wanted to get in and do some cleaning. I washed some dishes and turned to my room. I worked really hard, getting things organized and moved around... and I can't believe how much happier I am. I look around the room and don't see the piles and leftover suitcase and random crap, and it is so much nicer! I still need to move the air conditioner downstairs, but I have to make arrangements for setting it down every 10 steps or so. That thing is so freakin heavy. (But I'm soooo glad I have it.) I changed the sheets on my bed... I don't know what it is about clean sheets, but there is something exquisite about slipping into fresh sheets that delights me. It actually feels more comfortable.

I got about 4 loads of laundry done, including a dog-bed-cover load. I threw our bathroom rug into that load and it came out all splotchy. It's kind of velour-ish, so I thought maybe it was wet in spots. After I took it out, still damp, from the dryer, it was still splotchy. It's drying now but I think it's going into the garbage. Argh. (Of course, the IKEA label says "hand wash." Right. Hand wash a 6-foot rug. Sheesh.)

It felt so good to get so much laundry done. It's been piling up and piling up. I felt bad for G, as he came to me a few times for clean underpants. This kid has tons of underpants. (He now has tons of them again, phew.)

We watched some VeggieTales together, including the hairbrush song and the one in Spanish about the cucumber who can dance and the tomato who can't. OMG, that one is so freakin' funny.

Sunday
I had hoped to walk to church, but big surprise, we were too late. We did get there in time for me to practice with the choir, and I knew the song so felt comfortable singing. I also was signed up to teach Sunday School (almost wrote "I had to"), which is good because I feel like I'm helping my church, but ugh it can be hard. Last time was crazy, but this time, even with a smaller group, was about as crazy. There is one boy in that class who just has a heck of a time controlling his body. Cannot stop talking. I hate picking on him, but it is disruptive to the other kids. I have to wonder how he does in school and at home. We did make it through (big sigh) and after coffee hour, went home to have a quick lunch and head out to the zoo.

Two hours later, we headed out. I gave a call to the woman who was going to give me some hockey gear (through Freecycle), to let her know I wasn't flaking on picking up the gear but running late, and she was fine with it. When we got there, though, I had written down a street address that didn't exist! Another time I wish I had my cell phone (still lost). We walked around the short block for a bit, and then a garage door opened. One of them knew the woman and directed me across the street. Phew. I still have to try the pants on to see if they fit. But my pants are slashed and deteriorating. Ugh.

The zoo was good; we started off by taking the Sky Chair. It goes up high enough to make me very nervous but G said I could hug him, which did help. And you get a perspective on the tiger, giraffe, elephant, and lion enclosures that you just can't get from the ground. Also, there is a herd of bison and a herd of reindeer up the hill that you simply can't see from the ground. There were remnants of pumpkins on the hill, too. I am just tickled to see the leftover pumpkins being fed to the animals each year, and most animals get a leftover Christmas tree, too, to eat or just rub up against. After the Sky Chair, we went down the hill to the Children's Zoo, which was completely renovated four years ago. We spotted two of the alligators (it's amazing how hard they can be to spot in the grass, and how fake they can look underwater--I keep thinking there's a fake one down there to make the others feel like they're in a community, except that it moves), and looked at the stick insects in the Insect House. They are freakish, and I hear they reproduce like crazy when you keep them for pets. shudder And Black Widow Spiders? Man, they just look evil. Cool.

They also have a small display on the Hayward Fault in the Children's zoo, with a sign about it, near a rock that is clearly split in two by fault activity. They have a metal pole with two horizontal pipes mounted on it. You can sight through the pipes across the whole Children's Zoo to two reflectors mounted on a post, along the Hayward Fault. Too cool.

We also visited the sheep/goat enclosure. They have bounders on one side that the animals can climb up on, and on which humans are not allowed. The sheep are nearly always there. But one was down and I went to brush it (they provide brushes) and check it out. It had a fascinating coat--black with beige, prickly guard hairs. It would have been an awful fleece to try to spin, with all the work removing the guard hairs. But the black was gorgeous. Unfortunately s/he wasn't terribly interested in being brushed--I'd brush, and then it would let out an unpleasant "baaah!" Finally, one of the volunteers said it wanted to go inside to eat, and was nervous at the group (of volunteers) standing in the doorway. Hm, I think they should train the volunteers better to know how to be around the animals!

I was amused at the rabbit enclosure, at the zoo workers trying to track down some bunnies that needed to go inside for the night. There was a black-and-white one, and a black-and-grey one that would scamper around and refuse to be caught. The b&w one was finally caught and seemed calm, but the g&w one seemed so happy to zip around, just out of reach. I finally saw a bunny in the worker's arms at last--but it was black! I guess it hid well while the others raced around. I hear they chew everything in sight, or I'd consider one for a pet.

We headed home and I did more laundry and cleaning, which just made my little heart happy. G went to sleep crying for "just one more day." I get it, kid.

Perhaps someone else can explain it

2008-10-29T10:43:00.001-07:00

I hadn't seen my iPod in about 6 weeks. I had some idea I'd put it in a Good Hiding Place, but after I looked behind all the books in my bookcase, I had no other brainstorms. Mystified. But thinking it'll turn up eventually.

Today, I was starving at work. My Greek yogurt and applesauce clearly did not do the trick. So I looked around what I had and finally in my file drawer. Spotted the box of instant oatmeal. "Ah," I said. "That will be perfect." Reached in the box for a packet, and... voila. There was my iPod.

Great place to hide it, at least from me.

Now if only my cell phone will reappear...

Weekend update

2008-10-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

Friday
Friday was a little rushed at first, marred by a little sadness, ended with mild panic, but overall very good.

Some friends (well, two exes and a former roommate) and their spouses and I had decided to make a recurring dinner date recently. I offered to host the October date (well, my first gf nominated me, as she is wont to do), and we set it for the 24th. I pointed out that I was only going to bake a frozen lasagna, so it wouldn't be anything fancy, really.

But as the day got closer, I decided to serve on my china. I don't get it out that often and I'm very fond of it. I got a phone call as I was getting things out, and rather than wait until the phone call was over, I continued to pull plates and bowls out of the cupboard. The plates came out ok, but the bowls were a little slippery due to my using coffee-basket filters between each to prevent scratching, and I dropped a stack of them, breaking three in a row. My caller, a senior lady from church, said, "Oh dear, that's my fault," and when I insisted I'm just clumsy, she demurred, "Oh no, dear, I'm sure not." Well, she's wrong, but I was still so sad to have broken three bowls in all. I sifted through the wreckage and saved pieces to one that can be glued. Ugh.

But I had managed to get off work a little early, turn the oven on and throw the lasagna in (115-125 minutes baking time, wow!), pick up G, get his cape on him ("Halloween dress-up night" at the Parents Night Out that nght), and get him to the PNO fairly well on time. Raced back home, arriving just 15 minutes before friends were to arrive, with a sink full of dirty dishes (I am hoping to have the dishwasher fixed this week), and the floors not swept. Well, the dishes got done but the floors not, and the "7 sharp" start of the dinner slipped a little, but it all went just fine. We had a good time and I got them out the door at 10 so that I could get going to pick up G by 10:30, no problem. Got in my car, turned the key, and...

Problem. Car didn't turn over. And as I tried again and again, the lights on the display got dimmer and dimmer. I leapt out of my car and waved at my friend--who waved back as she drove off. AGH! You are not supposed to be late for PNO, $1 per minute late, etc.

I went back inside, thought and thought, and called my boss who lives about 1 mile away. He was up, willing, and showed up in his Exp!orer with his delightful, funny wife along for the ride. I was waiting with the booster so we didn't have to install/reinstall a carseat. We rushed off and were only 10 minutes late, and the kind program directors, having been notified ahead of time, didn't charge me for being late. Phew.

My boss said he was busy in the morning but that he'd show up at 9 to take me to buy a new battery. I kept wondering if it was the battery after all. But I went to bed instead of dealing with it then. Too tired.

Saturday
I got up at 7 and called my insurance company's Roadside Assistance right away, thinking they'd be less busy first thing in the morning. The guy showed up less than the predicted 20 minutes later, carried a little handheld battery-with-gauge over, and jumped my car, no problem. Showed me on the gauge that it definitely was the battery and not the starter or other problem. I locked the car with my extra key and left it running till G woke up. I explained what I was going to do and he was comfortable with my leaving him for the time it took to buy and install a battery. I brought rubber gloves and my ratchet set and ended up borrowing a crescent wrench, but was quite pleased to manage to install the battery myself. The woman at Kragen was mildly surprised, saying that most women buy a battery and take it away to be installed. (One benefit to installing it in their parking lot is how easy it is to take the spent battery back for your $10 refund, and not have to worry about disposing of it elsewhere.) Started it up with a little trepidation, and zoom. No problems. Even the weird off-tempo turn signals started clicking in good rhythm.

I got back home and called my boss. Left a message, hanging up as the doorbell rang. It was my boss, a little earlier than he had thought. He seemed a little disappointed that I'd been able to completely handle it!

G and I had some breakfast and headed out to my office to print out bid sheets for the silent auction at our church's Halloween party that night. After being a little later than I thought, I showed up at church to lay out the auction items and distribute the sheets. I was told in confidence that my senior ladies of the Auction Committee were a little nervous that I wasn't there. (I had figured they'd start laying things out without me, as I'd called ahead to let them know.) We got everything laid out and arranged in about an hour, and I was quite pleased. We ended up making about $1500 on the auction items. (My knit things were both bid on, but didn't even make the amount of the cost of the yarn. I think I'm done knitting for that auction. I'll make $25 pumpkin breads next year. Sigh.)

Went home to curl my hair, which I'd dyed "Cinnaberry" Red on Thursday night, in preparation for my role as Mrs. Weasley, which a full third of the people had not even heard of. One person did guess it right away, which was very cool. I used the rest of the can of spray orange hair color on G and made him a wand that had flickering sparks coming out of the end (he tired of that in about 15 minutes). He did make a cute Ron Weasley.

We had a great time at the Halloween party, even with losing his friend W for about 15 minutes (he was dueling with another boy in the hallway). I won two great things (a beautiful framed mirror and a set of lamps) for hardly anything, and my methods for getting folks' auction items paid for and out the door went smoothly, despite my inability to add under pressure (must bring a calculator next year).

We were home by 10, even with cleaning up.

Sunday
In a disturbing culmination of events, I had early handbell-choir practice at church, was teaching Sunday School, and G was an acolyte that morning. Fortunately, we were actually early and remembered everything we needed, including G's cross that he's supposed to wear as an acolyte. The practice was good; long enough to actually get the music together, and the performance went well because of it. I was very lax about the Sunday-school lesson this time, but we had some good discussions (the answer to "what do you love about our church/what would you change" largely revolved around the food, so I pointed out that everyone could encourage his/her parent(s) to sign up for Fellowship hour to get good food there).

We went home, and relaxed while we watched Spongebob until it was time to leave for our church's Bay Association meeting. Our minister bailed that afternoon, as her partner wasn't well and she felt she should stay home with their baby. We carpooled with the other delegate from our church, getting lost no fewer than 7 times on the way to the dinner. We were slightly later than I'd hoped (5:15 instead of 5), but the dinner was later (some folks got served at 7; G was a grouchy monster by the time he finally got his food). Fortunately, our moderator started the business meeting before all the food was served so we could get that out of the way.

It turned out that our Association is looking for a new corresponding secretary. I had been thinking, through the meeting, that I'd love to have a larger role in the Association, especially after finding out how much fun it is to have responsibility as the Auction Coordinator at the Halloween party. Fortunately for me, the ex-corresponding secretary is a good friend (Hi R!) and was very excited at my interest in the position. It looks like it'll turn out well.

We headed out after the dessert, and not a minute too soon for my little one: I had to get him up early on Monday to drop him off at Y-Kids so I could go to a workshop in Pleasanton on School Safety. The workshop was so-so, but spending a day with his teacher (and some others from his school) was great. I adore her.

A very good weekend.

Turning it around

2008-10-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

At G's special camp this summer, they had lots of catch phrases, including "Turn it around." This meant taking a negative attitude and turning it positive--if you're annoyed or crabby, finding a cheerful, optimistic attitude and putting it on. It really seemed to work for these kids, including G.

This morning, I was given a program written by the big boss. The program had a problem: it was crashing on Windows but not on Linux. The error message was really unusual ("stack overflow" on entering a function, for you programming types). I tried a bunch of things, feeling more and more desperate and random, and my thoughts turned to my latest friend who was laid off recently. Her family is very concerned and it was quite a shock to hear that she was laid off. She seemed like such a capable, powerful, and important part of that company. They offered to transfer her across the nation, and when she turned it down, it was buh-bye. Ugh. Awful.

So as I'm working on my problem, I started thinking that maybe it was a test. Maybe we were looking at downsizing (for the second time in the company's 32-year history) and this was a little "Let's see if she knows her stuff" kind of test. The bug was a nasty one, crashing our memory profiling program. I finally made some overall changes and it works, and my boss approved that (phew).

Then, this afternoon, he shouldered me with a new set of responsibilities (read: problems) and started off with, "Because you're good at this..." which usually means, Look out!, but this time, I really needed to hear this. And no pink slips at this point. Oy.

Well, being good at 'this' is always good to hear. I'm keeping my looking-for-work friends in my thoughts, too. Best of luck, friends.

10 Things I Hate About My Memory

2008-10-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

Honestly, if I rent this movie one more time, thinking "Oh, I haven't seen that yet," someone's gonna die. How do I not remember I've seen it three times now? I mean, it's good the first time...

We had a pretty good weekend. Finally one that was long enough for me; it was G who fell asleep sobbing, "Is it Sunday? I need one more day! Can I stay home from school tomorrow?"

Friday
I had a bunch of folks over from the 'moms' list, to meet a lister from out of town. I worked really hard to get the house semipresentable (but neglected to deal with the pile of junk on the porch; oops), and my friend Supee showed up early/on time and did some more well-appreciated straightening. I pondered adding the second leaf to the table, but you have to use the legs to support them, and I just could not deal. We had only enough chairs for the adult butts that were coming, but it worked out OK in the end. It was great to see everyone, and folks at work are very appreciative of the leftover dessert today.

Saturday
I got us off to martial arts/the dog park nearly on time, and Lucy had another great day at the dog park. It was Great Dane Day, which seems to come once a month, so I got to get my big-dog fix from all these graceful giants. I hadn't realized they "only" get up to about 140-150 pounds on average. I thought they were closer to Mastiff weight (180-200, I think). The owners were all crazy about their dogs. If I'm ever willing to deal with the short lifespan, I'd be so happy to own one.

Lucy got some good running in, mostly chasing a GR named Jake, who was chasing a ball when he wasn't distracted by Lucy. She did some growly but appropriate dog play and got thoroughly tuckered out, including some swimming (complete with the splashing as she did the first time! She did get better, though).

There were several dogs in supporting roller thingies that day. I hadn't seen that many ever but I saw three, I think, including a male pug who has a tumor in his spine. He dragged his feet and had little dog shoes, probably because of the abrasion. Poor lamb, but he seemed quite content to be there and moving around.

After I picked up G from martial arts, we went to this Fall's Color, where I was surprised not to be so tempted. I was sure I'd be stricken with the urge to buy tons of spinning fiber. (I was also surprised to see lots of yarn... somehow, I'd envisioned it to be just for spinning fiber.) I picked up some black/silver wool/silk that I hope I don't mess up, but that's it.

At home, I made some Halloween cards, mostly as invitations to G's friends to our church's Halloween party this Saturday night. Last year, they came to our house and we walked to the church together. This year, I'm in charge of the silent auction (just found out Sunday; I'd signed up to be on the committee, and was away the last 2 Sundays, so she put me in charge, ha!), but I'll delegate last-minute things to my committee. I knit two things and made a fabric book for it and am considering making some kind of candy (English toffee, maybe?).

G played a lot of Nintendo DS. I'm going to institute a new policy where he has to take a break every hour. This was too much.

Sunday
Got to church too late to sing, dagnabit. I'm going to work harder on this next Sunday, as I really do want to sing there. But we were early, so it was nice to settle in (and find out I was leading the Auction team!).

After church, we gathered up the invitations, the stamps (borrowed from a friend to make the cards), and movies to go back to the video store, and headed out. We delivered one invitation to his best school friend, then went to the Friends of the Library book sale. Drove around for easily half an hour trying to find the Officers Club on the naval base... I had been sure it was out on the edge, with a beautiful view of the bay. Not so. It's nestled almost in the middle of the base. Lovely benches and woodwork, but no view at all. G and I gathered more and more books, with him lugging around a bagful and me trying to cope with my ever-growing armful. In the end, we managed to pack them all into a box and paid just $5 for the box. (And we'll be weeding out 1 book per book purchased to make room for them.) G got a wacky book about How To Be A Space Alien, where they quiz you on what you would choose on Earth to look 'normal.' He read it for the rest of the day.

I did the first big load of dishes from Friday (I have to call the dishwasher repair guy; I'm sick of handwashing dishes) and was hoping to get some cooking done, but didn't get there. Didn't even get menus written out, which I'm hoping will help us (esp. me) eat more healthfully. I did manage to achieve my goal of two veggies at dinner (edamame and green beans), and G forgot that he doesn't like fish and ate the baked sole I made him and had seconds and thirds. All of this was from the freezer, as part of my attempt to use the food we already have on hand.

Last night, I watched Wings of Desire, which I'd found on the 99cent shelf at our video store (the selection changes every week). It's been a while since I've watched an art film, or one in another language (the last one was Pan's Labyrinth). This one is both, and took a fair amount of concentration. I did like it in the end, but wasn't crazy about it. Peter Falk (!) really was great. The director did interesting things with color for the film. 4 out of 5 stars.

Onward and upward!

The Frantic Weekend that Worked

2008-10-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a day doomed to failure. Initially, I had blocked out time to attend a CPR review at our local pool, as mine is out of date. That was about 10-1. I have no idea what G was going to do during that time. Read?

After that ended ("1 or 1:30"), we were going to jet out to Rockridge BART and take a bus up to Cal to attend the end of the Lair of the Bear barbecue/reunion. That ended at 2:30, and we would grab the bus again, and be late to a "Faithful Families" barbecue at our minister's house, which was to be the first get-together of the season for a families-with-young-kids group that would meet monthly. Then, at 7PM, meet up with a friend from out of town and others from an email list I'm on.

Are you out of breath yet?

Here's how it really went down: I never did call to reserve space in the CPR class, so I gave up on that and took G to his regular martial arts class at 10. We were late, but I dropped him off and went to Trader Joe's to do some refrigeration-unnecessary shopping (cereal and crackers) and headed back to do a little more knitting while he finished his workout. From there, we drove to North Berkeley BART (we were early enough not to worry about the parking lot being full, plus Saturday parking is free, yay!) and BARTed up to Berkeley. We moseyed up through campus, G amusing me by holding his free "Cal" sign up high and chanting, "Go Bears! We hate Stanford!" all the way.

We arrived at the barbecue just as it started, and lo and behold! they had plastic cups of a particular frosty beverage I know and love, but which is usually not seen on this "alcohol-free" campus. Ah, Budw!eser, how do I love thee? A cold beer on a hot day is a thing of beauty. We got some burgers and settled down to enjoy them. G enjoyed a bean-bag toss game while I wandered around and talked to people I recognized. We also gathered some outdated Lair-wear that they were selling for "whatever you want to donate." I'm sleeping in a nightshirt for the first time in forever. (It says "Bear Naked," which is amusing, since when you're wearing it, you're not.)

We waited until the end to see if my dad would show up and say hi ("we might be able to get over there," he says on the phone; um, don't kill yourself for an opportunity to see your grandchild, dad), but no dad, and no call on my cell. Whatever. G begs to be able to go in Strawberry Creek, which is disturbingly opaque. Fine, but just for a few minutes. We meander back down the campus (didja all know Cal is sloped downhill?), talking about anything and everything, pausing to rub the Bear's nose for luck once again. (Must have worked; they beat Colorado State!)

We spend a bit of time in Games of Berkeley, a great shop, and I pick up "Set" for my niece. (I find out later that they own it--so why do I have a note on my fridge to buy it for her for Christmas? Dang it.) G picks up another Klutz book, this one on knots. Seems useful to me, so I spring for it.

We head back to Alameda and, despite leaving the barbecue at 2:30, don't arrive till 4PM. (I think we meander and shop quite slowly.)

The barbecue is lowkey but we get some good planning done for the year. I agree to set up a Yahoo! Group for it, so we can have emails and a calendar. G does surprisingly well playing with the age-diverse group of kids, all girls. We help clean up and head over to the restaurant.

We were not terribly hungry by the time we arrived there, but it was so great to see my friend from New York and lots of other local friends. G plays with the two young kids (again, surprisingly well). I wonder at their choice of "Hide and Go Seek" in a restaurant, but they enjoy it while we all get to talk.

After heading back from the parking lot for G's knots book that he left in the front of the restaurant, we go home to collapse.

We sleep well but wake up late, rushing to get to church by 9:30AM for bell choir rehearsal. After rehearsal, I make copies and plans for teaching Sunday School and get G ready to be an acolyte for the service. (When it rains...!) Everything goes off without a hitch, except for G going back into the service to "carry the light of God out into the world," when they light their flame-thingies and extinguish the candles, but that's not my responsibility, so oh, well.

There were several options for things to go to that afternoon, but we nixed all of them and hung out, except for a few errands, ending with some Jamba Juices for each of us at our new JJ joint.

At the end of the weekend, I kinda wanted yet one more day. But when don't I want that?

Even stumblers can change the world

2008-10-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

Just got off the phone with our PTA president. I'm counting fundraiser money at lunchtime today. She asked if I was coming to the meeting tonight. Meeting? Turns out it's already time for another PTA meeting. G had such a good time last time, he said he definitely wants to come to every one of these.

She also mentioned that they were going to provide pizza at the meeting. "I need to call Domino's; they're providing free pizza for us about every other month."

Domino's?

I stammered through an explanation of why using Domino's is a bad idea, second-guessing myself the whole while--I know this gal's environmentally aware, as that has come up before, but am not sure at all if she's politically in line with me. "Um, they're anti-choice!" Is that even a word? I think I made it up. Then I went on to say that they are majorly funding the Proposition 8 campaign. She didn't even know about Proposition 8. Huh? I guess I've just been surrounded by it and it never occurred to me that folks wouldn't know about it. So I stumbled and stammered through an explanation of Prop 8 and what it would mean, and I'm so happy to say she totally backpedaled and decided never to use Domino's again. Phew!

I pointed out that Little Caesar's always has pepperoni pizzas for $5 a pop, and offered to pick some up, on me. She demurred, pointing out that the PTA has money, and folks to pick pizzas up. Please don't tell me LC has bad politics, too!

Well, at least we won't be patronizing Domino's at our school. Phew!

From the mouths of babes

2008-10-01T09:03:00.001-07:00

G caught a little bit of Desperate Housewives (Season 1) last night, esp. the scene where Bree's son is talking to the priest about his being gay. Bree (and her church) are of the opinion that being gay is a sin, and that Andrew will not go to heaven.

So G asked me what was going on. I explained that some churches think men who are gay won't go to heaven.

G says slowly, "How could loving someone be a bad thing?"

You said it, babe.

(Then he went on to say that he thinks he's gay, with a tiny grin, since he is so very fond of his friend William. I said maybe, but he has plenty of time to figure that out.)

10 Simple Things I Love

2008-09-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

From Vicki's blog, which I hadn't seen before, linked by Zeneedle. Will you join me?

1. Flannel pajamas, warm from the dryer.

2. Diving into the pool and finding the water is the perfect temp.

3. Good strawberries.

4. Nibbling on cilantro.

5. Being served dinner... rather than making it.

6. A great pen.

7. Waking up at exactly the right time--not early nor late. Without the alarm.

8. The ring of a beautiful hymn, hanging in the air.

9. Baby smell. You know what I mean.

10. The kindness of a friend.

A weekend of intentions

2008-09-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

What we planned to do, and what we did, turned out quite differently this weekend. But it was still a good one overall.

Friday
I worked through lunch Friday and left work early, on my bike (Yes, finally commuted on my bike while the weather's still good!). Picked up G in my car and went to a local yarn store to exchange my Ashford drop spindle that I'd bought during their two-hour, 8-10AM-only, Labor Day sale (25% off!). Turned out that the drop spindle had a snag on the shaft. The owner exchanged it with no problems (yay) and I looked at more of the roving available, buying nothing in the end. She had a basket of a nice tweedy yarn by the front door at only about $3 a ball, but I managed to resist, as I have enough yarn at home to drown a fully grown man in. Not that I have. Yet. But I could.

After that, we went home and had something easy for dinner, I arranged a sitter for the next night, and we watched Over the Hedge again. Just picked it up at Costco and it sure is a fun movie.

Saturday
Usually, G goes to martial arts on Saturday mornings, but that Saturday, he just could not bring himself to. I'd stayed up late, working on a knitting project, so I didn't have the energy to get him to go, so we skipped it. Stayed home and lazed around for a bit, till I got up, had a shower and made G get in after me (after I had hugged him and his arm felt sticky), and then set about making Thank-You cards for his current school fundraiser. He used a piece of patterned paper, and I picked up the scrap and had a whole new idea for a card, and ran with it. We had quite a nice time, working on cards and sharing strategies, and finishing with 8 cards done, addressed, filled out with a thank-you message, and sealed. I was going to make more to have on hand, but by the time we finished, I was just too darned tired. I did manage to clean the entire table up right after we finished, so that was a good feeling. I still tend to make a mess as I work on something and then not clean it all up and it just kind of grates on me.

After that, we went out to run some errands: a friend who is on Freecycle chose me as the recipient of her medium-sized dog crate for our impending Rescue Pug (whose name shall be Chester), so we picked that up first, and greeted her dogs and saw her totally redone kitchen (thanks to insurance $$ after the pipes in the wall burst and flooded the kitchen).

Then we headed off to a local toy store, while G shopped around with his allowance money. After that, we went to Costco to pick up a pie for the church picnic Sunday, an unbaked fresh pizza for dinner that night, and a few other things that turned into several other things. I had hoped to be home by 5PM to be able to primp for an hour before going out; we got home at 5:45, so no primp was to be had. The sitter arrived at 6, and I managed to leave by about 6:20, after warning them twice that the baked pizza was sitting on the counter. Turns out Lucy ate about half of it before they managed to get in there to rescue it (I doubt they'll risk it again). She seemed none the worse for wear, and was fine the next day, although I did forget to feed her breakfast, and I don't really think she needed it.

I went off to a fun No on 8 fundraising dinner, arranged by a friend who had assured me there would be plenty of single women there. There sure were--fulled up the right half of the restaurant and spilled over to the left! There were about 7 courses, punctuated by a fantastic belly dancer, a hilarious tap dancer whose mouth moved about as fast as her feet, a Russian singer who I'd heard about but never before heard, and an impassioned plea for No on 8 phone banking, as well as periodic checks to bid on various auction items, one of which I won (a massage in Alameda!!). The email yesterday morning says the function, after expenses, raised about $6800 in all--more than they had even expected!

Late in the evening, I overheard someone say that it was nearly 11, and my mouth dropped open. I'd been having such a great time and it just didn't feel that late! I called my sitter and he confirmed that everything was fine, G was fine, Oops no, he wasn't in bed yet (this was only the 2nd time with this sitter and I'd neglected to go over bedtimes before I left). I got home in less than 1/2 an hour and sent G to bed and waited up with the sitter till his mom came. Stayed up a little bit later watching TV and knitting, big surprise there.

Sunday
Woke up about 8:30 and was moving quickly from then on, trying to get to church in time for choir rehearsal. I managed to get us there only a few minutes late and with clothing on. The song we were singing was familiar and yet, not quite. I finally realized after we finished rehearsing, with me desperately trying to pick the Alto notes out, that I knew the song but not the parts because the last time we performed it, I was playing the flute accompaniment (which is hauntingly beautiful but more of a lilting countermelody than a harmony, so I had a hard time coming in at the right times, etc., which is maybe why the director didn't ask me to play this time). It went well in the end, and we finished up church quickly and headed out to our annual church picnic.

I dragged my pop-up canopy to the site and easily found 3 others to help me erect it. (It is SO much easier with 4.) We got it up and shaded the second food table, and set out to eat many delicious things and talk and relax. The youth headed off with the little ones after a while and played some kind of games that involved tossing marshmallows around and required me to sit on my heinie and do nothing--in short, the best kind of kid games. My choir director brought a croquet set, which would presume a fairly mundane, quiet, respectful game, and was anything but. She waved her mallet back and forth as another player aimed her ball that way. Balls were knocked away left and right, taunts were thrown, and it was fun just to watch it happen! I do want a (good lawn and a) croquet set someday. That would be fun.

Things wrapped up around 3PM, and as I was packing up my canopy, our minister approached me about bringing it this weekend for our Faithful Families BBQ. I pointed out that we were going to get there late anyway, and ended up just loading the collapsed canopy into her car. Easy peasy!

We headed home to lounge around and watch more movies (I chose Lord of the Rings 1 and 2), in between which I insisted we do some cleaning. I rediscovered the floor of my room and G folded and put away his clean clothes. Then I had a sneezing fit because I am allergic to dust. Cleaning tends to do that. I need to clean more regularly and tame the dust monster. It is nice to have my floor back; that's for sure.

We stopped LOTR 2 early for G to read a bit (from Butt Wars, naturally) and then I sent him off to bed. I settled in with The Life of David Gale and my knitting, vowing to stop at 10 and get up early and tackle the dishes; predictably, I looked at the clock and it was nearly 11 already. The movie is fascinating and of course, Kevin Spacey is terrific. I love Laura Linney, too, but Kate Winslet, not so much. She was pretty good in this, ~~which made me remember her in Moonlight, where she seemed to be acting so hard so much of the time, big eyes and all.~~ Wait--that was Sophia Myles! Wow, separated at birth, or what?

Well, I finished my minister's baby blanket (finally!), although it needs to be washed and laid flat, and started my stranded project and am quite pleased with it.

This week
Tuesday, I meet at 7:30AM with G's teacher and several other folks at his school to plan out the assessments they'll do in preparation for writing an IEP. I'm nervous about that, so if you can keep us in your thoughts, I'd appreciate it. To butter them up, I've bought a dozen croissants and a pan of Danish, as well as a bag of bananas from, you guessed it, Costco. I really hope it goes well and the assessments show... well, something useful.

Not much else going on except that I'm hoping to get back on the Reclaiming Your Home bandwagon and get my house back on track. Have a good week, ya'll.

And we're back to that personal responsibility thing.

2008-09-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

McCain is quoted on the radio today as saying that the fundamentals of our economy are at risk (a bit of a change from yesterday or the day before, when he said the fundamentals of our economy are sound, um, huh?). He blamed the troubles on the greed of Wall Street.

OK, yes, that was a problem, but what about the people who signed for mortgages with Stated Income, mortgages they didn't have a prayer of paying back? Having been through the system twice, I know you are handed a sheet of Facts about your mortgage that tell you what the rate is, and when it will change, and how high it can get. It's written right there in front of you.

What about that? That, and the unethical mortgage brokers who arranged the mortgages for these folks? And the investment brokers who arranged the "tranches" idea of bundling some good-quality loans with less and less and finally complete-crap-quality loans into a big chunk, and selling slices of that to investors? What about them?

I blame all of them.

And here's McCain campaigning for less regulation. Yeah, that's really served us well as of late.

It would be rude

2008-09-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

to do a dance in front of my house as my neighbor's piece of crap, moved twice in as many years van gets towed away by Auto Auction.

So I'll do it here. {happy dance}

More street parking! Giant ugly behemoth gone! It's a good day.

Baseball is still boring (sorry, Cheddah)

2008-09-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

I was musing on my weekend this morning, and thought, "Yeah, that was a boring game yesterday." But then again, I didn't really go for the baseball. In fact, I only bought tickets for the Stitch & Pitch game when I heard there were going to be goodie bags instead of hats. I realized that no, I went to the event to be with knitters en masse and to sit, knit, and chat. And I did!

I got to sit next to the owner of a local yarn store in Lafayette whose company I really like. It was so fun to look around and see all the different knitting going on. I even evangelized--I'd picked up a "learn to knit" kit, unopened, at Salvation Army for a song (maybe $1) and brought it just in case. A gal in the row behind us wasn't knitting and I asked if she wanted to learn. Upon hearing her 'yes,' I passed the kit back, and by the end of the game, she'd knit about 3 rows!

It was also fun to manage to take the bus and BART to/from the game. I knew I'd wanted to because I was looking forward to the giant beers I remembered from days of old at sports games in general--beers so big that they're totally warm by the time you get to the bottom. (How this is a fond memory, I do not know.) As we started walking around the Coliseum, there were signs for Bud Light everywhere. So why, then, was it so darn hard to find a Bud Light on draft? I asked at several places, and finally gave up at the last place, and had her pour me a Miller Lite (I know, what's the difference? Quite subtle). THEN, after it's poured, the guy behind her says, "Hey, I found a place, just down that way, they have it on draft." I groan. The woman who pours it says, "Hey, no problem, I'm not going to charge you for this." So I got my $7.75 Bud Light! And I was a happy camper. It wasn't huge, but it was big and cold and tasty.

Since I'm not a fan of baseball, there was a lot I didn't know. Did you know that if the home team is ahead, they don't play the ~~bottom~~ ~~top~~ last part of the ninth inning? I did not. And did you know that there are signs saying that balls and bats may leave the field; please be careful? Bats? Now that would hurt. Several balls did leave the field and were expertly caught by very happy fans.

I made another fan very happy: as we entered the Coliseum, we were both handed plastic bags containing black A's jerseys with "Ellis" across the back. He was being honored that day for winning the Alberto Clemens (?) award. G put his on later because he was cold, but I just mashed mine into my backpack and wondered what the heck I'd ever do with a black polyester baseball jersey. Later, I ran into a knitting/spinning friend from Alameda who was sitting with a woman wearing a signed A's cap, an A's jersey, and and a green-and-yellow beaded necklace. She asked despondently whether we'd gotten there very early to get the jerseys (G was still wearing his). I said no, that we'd gotten there just a bit before the game started. "Oh, you must not have come in from the BART side." Nope, we had. Finally, I woke up and offered her the jersey. I now have a new friend. She was so excited to get one, and I was so happy to give away something I was sure I'd never wear.

It was fun, and I'd go again. I could take or leave the baseball, but joining a huge group of knitters (and crocheters)? Priceless.

Weekend sum-up

2008-08-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Friday
I was supposed to go to a sweet invitation-only Knit Night in Berkeley, but couldn't get a sitter. So I called up Alameda Park & Rec and made a reservation for 2 at the outdoor movie that night, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. I really think we just saw this like 4 months ago. Anyway, G had a ball with all the pre-movie festivities (they start letting you in at 6:30PM but don't start the movie till 8:15 because it is only barely dark enough then), which included several of his counselors at "World of Wonder" that past week. The high point was seeing one of the guys take this big, somewhat sqooshy "Earth Ball" and throw it up over G, and see it just whap him into the ground. (He was just fine. Hush.) They also had some competitions before the movie, done by the guys who put the movie on (from a little laptop projecting on a big screen supported by big blow-up columns and connected to powerful speakers), but G wasn't interested and kept doing the other things, which included balloon animals made by his WOW director. (Which popped as he got back to his seat. Of course.)

We ate our dinner and cuddled up in the blankets I brought, then G predictably wanted to sit on my lap. I just couldn't stay warm and after maybe 1/2 hour, we left. We have enjoyed the movies in the past but that was one night to just leave.

Saturday
Saturdays are always a bit slow till 9:15, when I realize we have 15 minutes before we have to leave for his martial arts class, so we run around like screaming meemies getting everything ready, which for me included snipping Lucy's duck treats into small pieces and packing them in a baggie. Dropped G off at the studio and went on to the local bayside dog park, which I'd visited on the spur of the moment the previous week and loved it, well, Lucy and me both! Lucy swam again--so impressed with her courage; I would have bet last week that she'd never swum before! She did less splashing of herself in the face, so didn't get into the vicious cycle of holding her head higher which made her paws higher which made her splash more.... I did realize she's been biting her paws more this past week, so tried to get in to the dog wash queue for after, but they were booked. There wasn't the Great Dane group this week (that was fun last week--blue Merle Great Danes are gorgeous! And lazy!), but there was a pug group, so that was fun, with a blonde French Bulldog pretending to be a pug, running around with them.

Lucy again did great, none of the gruff menacing stuff she periodically does on leash. I did notice that she is as socially inept as Max was--running on the periphery of playing dogs but not knowing how to join the play herself. I don't know how to teach that. She did have fun chasing (but not retrieving) balls in the water and on land. And I got to see lots of breeds of dogs and ask about them. There was a sleek, feathered, tall white dog near the water stop before the bridge. I asked the guy what her name was, and he repeated it for me: Luka. "Luka the Saluki?" I smirked. Um, no, she was a Borzoi. Well, my way was funnier.

Went to pick G up after class and found out the studio will do a demo at the Solano Stroll, breaking boards among other things. Sounded way fun to me, but G just could not get interested, and since they require some meetings beforehand, we passed. Too bad! But I hope we can manage to catch them at some point there.

For the afternoon, G had had a pool playdate with a friend from his special camp earlier in the summer, but the mom had to cancel because of a funeral for a friend (a mother of small ones, dead at 50). We tried to reschedule with another friend, but she wasn't interested. So we pretty much lay around the house till about 4:30, when I decided we should just go anyway. We got there and I realized we didn't have sunscreen (agh) so we borrowed a bottle that was in the lost & found (and will probably be thrown away). We stayed till the pool closed at 5:30, not because we had to leave (I could stay on as a keyholder), but because I was getting cold. Showers for both (these have been great, as the pool has no baths and G is so much faster and more willing to wash his hair in the pool showers!) and home for us.

For dinner, I got out a bag of fresh Chow Mein noodles I'd bought at Berkeley Bowl... and then realized I had no idea what to do with them. I tasted one and decided they weren't cooked yet, so I boiled them in some broth I had left over and some water (to cover them). They got huge (whoops!), but I dumped all of them in my skillet with some tofu and some broccoli flowerets, and some oyster sauce. It tasted good when we ate it, but I have to agree with G, it sucks as leftovers. Too bad.

Oh, and on Saturday I tried to register for fall hockey, after berating myself for missing the Friday-night deadline of discounted early registration. I got caught up by this beauty in the signup regs:

4. Ready to Play?
All players must be ready to play before they register. You cannot sign up if you are injured.

Crud. I was hoping to sign up and join maybe 1 game into the season. My elbow is getting better, but it is certainly still injured (and I've even noticed my arm is weaker). Stupid freaking tendons! OK, more icing.

Sunday
About 9AM, we got a call from the woman who coordinates the Sunday School teachers, apologizing for not calling earlier to remind me that I was teaching. I'm sure she was relieved and a little surprised that I had not only remembered, but was running right on time (I don't do any prep during the week, so I try to get there early to read the lesson plan and gather materials). We walked to church, G reading his new Indiana Jones book he got at Border's last week with my 30% off coupon and keeping up with my pace. He also helped me cut out paper hearts for the kids to write on and decorate. The lesson was the story of baby Moses being pulled from the rushes and his sister slyly offering to the Egyptian princess to offer to find "a woman" (Moses' mother) to take care of the baby. It spoke of Courageous Women (and emphasized that one should de-emphasize the Pharoah-killing-babies part with younger kids). The hearts were used to write "God" on (the biggest heart) and then the names of courageous people who love you on (the smaller hearts). This pretty much became the names of people who love you, period.

We had a mixed class, preteens down to maybe 4 yr olds, so the older kids helped the younger, and the younger kids did a good job listening to the story as read by the older kids. And one of the older kids came up with the idea of stapling together corners of pieces of paper to make open boxes to hold the strings of glitter-glue-glopped hearts for each kid. Fun.

After church, the church sexton pointed out that they had a volunteer dill bush that was hosting 9 Monarch butterfly caterpillars and that we could consider taking one home to raise. We couldn't do it that day, as we were walking home and then doing errands, but I hope to go by there on Friday to get one. They are fat and colorful and loading up on the dill weed!

After church, we walked by the local Episcopal church, which was having the last day of their rummage sale, at $2 a paper bag. They were smart as anything: You buy the bag for $2 (which I did after we had a few things picked out that we for-sure wanted), and then you fill it, and walk away. G found 3 t-shirts he liked, and a piece of smooth knit material he wanted to use for a "shawl" like I use my knitted ones. Hey, fine with me. We added a few books on our way out, walking past the book tables, but didn't get many, which was good. We have so many books.

I'd also looked at the dresses they had for sale, since it was just after 12 and we had to leave by 2 for my friends' wedding in Lafayette. I didn't find anything that worked, so just went home and looked through my closet. I found my "wedding dress" that I'd worn to my uncle's wedding, which I could pair with the scarf/shawl and shoes I'd worn--done! That gave me enough time to use my steam curlers on my hair and get some makeup on. We left at 2:05 and got there on time (yessssss). G was bored in the ceremony, but read his book (which I was glad he'd brought) and then really danced after the dinner, having a great time. We both did. It was a beautiful wedding of two friends who have been together 22 years. The setting was lovely and it cooled off after a bit. We ended up closing down the party, and taking home a lovely table decoration (flowers and greenery, and artichokes, I kid you not). Fun.

Now that was a pretty good weekend.

My boy, sick-ish

2008-08-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Dropped my boy off at his arty daycamp today, even though he has a cough. He has asthma, so when he gets a cough, he has it for like 2 weeks. So I don't tend to pull him from everything for a cough (and I told him he needs to cover his cough with his elbow each time).

But yesterday morning, he woke up with a cough. He told me with the downcast eyes that I usually get on a school day. But this is Art-camp week! I pointed out that if I kept him home, he'd miss a day of artcamp. He was fine with it, which told me he really was sick.

So he did lots of asthma treatments (a friend just called it "smokin' the peace pipe," which it really looks like, as the nebulizer makes a mist of the medicine), stayed in bed most of the day (and put on socks, with protests, when he was out of bed), and watched an endless train of movies.

He ate well (he rarely has problems with food), and asked me to make blueberry muffins. How could I decline? The Cook's Illustrated recipe called for sour cream, so I had to go to the corner store to buy some. He didn't even argue when I told him, and wasn't concerned while I was gone (with my cell, doors all locked, phone by him with instructions on how to call me). Cool.

The mini-muffins I made were so good, we ate way too many and both ended up with stomach aches. (Work finished off the rest today, thank God.)

I got him to bed early, as I had planned, and he had a solid night's sleep and woke up with still a cough, but a productive one and very chipper, so he is at artcamp right now. After he went to bed, I got a bee in my bonnet about making the Creamy Broccoli Soup from a book my sister recommended, Volumetrics, and damn if it wasn't good! And good for you! (no cream and just nonfat milk) Tasty!

I'm glad he went today, but I did enjoy Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade with him. "We named the dog Indiana!" Too funny.

Y'all go on without me

2008-08-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

Friends all around me who have had committed relationships, with or without a commitment ceremony in the recent or distant past, are getting married in droves. Overall, it's been a sweet experience to see so many affirming what's always been true, but is now really, honestly, legally recognized by the Golden State.

I don't begrudge them a thing, honestly. But the whole marriage-equality thing has been hypothetical for me always. Folks would get up in arms, red in the face, furious, and yeah, I get it, but I don't get it, you know? It doesn't really mean anything in my life except for some future possibility.

So this morning, a coworker who has had a tough time romantically but recently met a woman through friends told me they're getting married. And she's pregnant (congrats to them both). And then it really hit me, how lonely I am feeling these days. Some good friends from college days are getting married on Sunday, and I realized yesterday that I so wish I had a date for the wedding, or better yet, a girlfriend. I love weddings and get all teary and emotional, and I'd love to share that depth of emotion with someone. And on the flipside, I worry that I'll get too tipsy and say something stupid. It has happened, in the distant past, but it is seared into my memory (I wonder if anyone else remembers that stupid wedding toast, ah me). And this all makes me not want to go... but I have to. I love these two friends dearly and wish they could turn up pregnant like my friend's girlfriend did. They have never had kids because they think it is too hard on the kids to have two moms (this, in Gay Mecca). So I do just feel like saying, Y'all go on without me. I'll catch up later.

Yep, this fifth wheel thing is getting old.

Life in a small town

2008-08-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

After our garage sale, my elbow was smarting, so after we foisted our 6' banquet table off on my neighbor who was continuing his garage sale on Sunday, I didn't want to move our 5' table back into the garage. G is barely able to lift his end anyway.

I left it out overnight. Figured it'd probably be there in the morning.

Guy rings the doorbell Sunday morning. "Are you giving that table away?" Nope, just haven't moved it inside yet.

And I'm thinking, heck, if I were still in my old neighborhood in Oakland, it wouldn't have lasted the afternoon.

There ya go.

Paying for a DS Lite with pennies

2008-08-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

G has been wanting a Nintendo DS Lite for about a year now. I looked at them last Christmas and was just turned off by the price. $130 for something small enough to be broken or lost is just intolerable to me. So he was stuck with his GameBoy Advance SP that I got him second-hand (and, it turns out, is cannibalized: it has a silver screen-half and a black base, and our local Play N Trade says they were never made like that).

So he saved up his birthday money and allowances, and enthusiastically helped me clean out the basement of sellable items (recycling discarded paper and throwing away tons of unsaleable stuff) to prepare for last Saturday's garage sale.

Things learned:
1. 9am-3pm is TOO LONG. 9am-2pm next time, and that will be a long day, too.
2. Pack sandwiches. We got really hungry and you can't easily leave your garage sale to eat.
3. Create shade. It got really hot in the afternoon.
4. My method of pricing things at a reasonable price, for which we'd take half of that posted price, worked well.
5. Good attitude is good for me, too. Saying "Have a good day!" to folks who browsed and walked away kept both of us from thinking resentful thoughts. And there were plenty of browsers.
6. Lots of tables is good--people like to look at things at that height. Boxes of toys on the ground are good, too, for kids who can't easily see onto the tables.
7. Giving stuff away feels good, too--we had bought a "PomPom Animals"-making set from Costco. G had made one animal and then was done. I gave it away to a sweet little girl who admired it and she was really appreciative. (And one more thing gone.)
8. Furniture is a great thing to sell. Put it out by the curb and, next time, I'll ask that the buyer (who didn't have her car with her the first time she came) leave it till later--even as a sold item, it would have brought people in who might have bought more things.
9. Most people, surprisingly, paid the price shown. Bargaining is a lost art. (Except for the guy who wanted to pay $4 for a remote-control Hummer H3 that I was only asking $8 for. Puhleaze. I wish I knew how to say "It's a good price" in Spanish. I did get lots of practice for my Spanish and remembered more than I thought I could.)
10. Wow, you can really make some bucks. We made over $140, and quickly boxed up the rest and dropped it at Salvation Army (and the library, for leftover books)--everything gone!

Anyway, G took his $150 in dollars and coins to the Play N Trade to buy his precious DS Lite... only to find that he hadn't listened carefully enough on the phone. The $130 price wasn't for a package deal, as he'd thought, but it was as part of a package: you had to buy an accessory and a game with it to get that price. So the total was about $162, of which I fronted $12. The guy said he'd never had anyone pay with exact change for a DS Lite before (piles of quarters, dimes, pennies...). That made me kind of sad, honestly. No kid has come into the store before with his pile of hard-earned money to get a DS Lite? I do hope some of those parents who charged it had taken the cash and pulled out the credit card for simplicity.

And G is so damned proud of himself for earning it. And deservedly so.

(And I'm tired. Glad we didn't do two days!)

My new kid

2008-08-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

G and I took food over to my minister's house on Wednesday, to make dinner for her family. They have an 8-month-old boy, and I know it's hard just to feed yourself when your kid is that young. Plus, this dinner is dead easy (Trader Joe's: organic extra-firm tofu, Red* Curry Sauce, half a bag of frozen broccoli, light coconut milk that you at right at the end).

*or Yellow; that one's good too, but I had Red on hand

After G went into the living room to play with their son, they both remarked on how different he seems. H is doing so much better with social stuff. On the way there, in the car, he started to talk about the levels in a video game he plays, and then stopped himself, saying, "But you're not really interested in that, are you, Mom?" Wow! I complimented him on his sensitivity, and no, I'm really not interested. He mused that his friend W would be interested in talking about that game, and that he'd do that next time they were together.

My minister and her partner pointed out that he seems much happier--and he does. It is really good.

Last night, I took him to Kincaid's for dinner. They see fit to send me $20 gift cards about yearly, and I love getting an entire dinner for two for $15 plus tip. I prepped G for it a bit, since he can be squirmy at nice restaurants, but once we emerged from the parking garage, he blurted out, "I love this place! I remember this!" and we did have a great time, going over to B&N afterwards and scoring some Klutz books, a new family favorite.

And did I mention I had the best catfish I've ever had, that night? And the best mashed potatoes, too, with G's burger.

We came home too late to price things for Saturday's garage sale, but it was a very pleasant evening anyway.

On depression*

2008-07-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was thinking, "I'm depressed." I've had that thought before, but therapy has taught me to stop and metaphorically roll it over in my hands. It did seem odd--I am getting my life together in so many ways; why would I be sad?

Then I realized that I was in a lot of pain yesterday due to my ongoing (expletive here) tennis elbow. And that got in the way of exercising, which I'd been hoping to ramp up in preparation for playing in the Coors Cup this coming Labor Day weekend.

What that did, though, was make things a lot brighter, really. I thought, "Well, I could be a drama queen about this, or I could do what I need to make it heal and exercise in a way that doesn't stress it, like walk." So yesterday, I iced and iced it, took it easy last night, and today, I iced it again, and walked the dog at noon. (Good for both of us--she just loves walks, that girl.)

And I declined on Friday's game, after I was done sulking. ("It's OK to sulk, as long as you know that's what you're doing," my therapist would say. Or more often, she'd say something like, "OK, time to get off your pity pot!") And I canceled the sitter for the hockey class tomorrow.

I have a physical therapy appointment next Tuesday morning, and several paper cups half-full of frozen water in the work freezer for some lovely ice massage. I know you're jealous; I can see it from here.

*I'm not talking clinical depression, of course. Just the big pile o'sads kind.

Finally growing up, at age 44.5

2008-07-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

We went to a street fair last weekend, one that happens every year and was bigger than ever. Toward the end of browsing the booths, I happened upon one where the guy cuts wood mats to go inside frames with names, sport names, sayings ("Me and my dad"), etc. As I am wont to do, I search for my son's name, certain I won't find it. I do. Knock me over with a feather. I buy it, he slaps it in a frame with glass, shows it to me, is about to put it in a bag. I realize the frame is much darker than the wood mat and doesn't look good.

Here's the difference: not long ago, I would have let it pass. It would have bothered me till I threw it away. It didn't look good.

But somehow, I'm more assertive these days. I think a lot of it comes from practicing in moments like these. If I end up feeling pushy or obnoxious, honestly, who cares? I'll probably never see the guy again.

I speak up, "Oh, actually, could you find a lighter frame for that? I think it would look better." Guy starts casting around, says something about being on his last box of frames ("Good for you," I interject), scrounges one up. Swaps it, shows me... relief. Now it looks good. I take it, walk away.

It's these little things I would have shied away from a year ago that I'm stepping up to the plate (still with some degree of butterflies in my stomach) and doing.

Lately, I've decided to eat and move more healthfully. I bought a workbook/kit from Kaiser that is very good. Knowing I needed more than that, I asked an email list I'm on whether folks would be interested in a sublist. Knock me over with a feather because sixteen of them are signed up. I wrote two conversation-stimulating questions, others posted their own, and we're off. (Me! Starting and owning an email list!)

I also have finally felt the tremendous need to declutter in a big way. A few months ago, I made a huge effort to declutter the very back of my basement, near the washing machine. It went fine, but was a drop in the bucket. Then my kid gets the idea to raise money for a stupid overpriced handheld video game console by selling his old, unwanted toys (many of them pristine from lack of use). So now we're cleaning out the basement at a tremendous rate. I hope to get enough cleaned out to make room for a hockey-shot practice area (I'll tape off or paint a hockey goal outline on the inside of the garage doors). I started by moving things around in the carport area and finally, after more than a year, sweeping it out. What a difference!

(this para added later) Oh, I also decided that I wanted to take July to sit down and finish many of the knitting projects I'd started--recently or years ago. Started a group at the online knitting website Ravelry.com, and 15 other knitters joined me. We've probably finished 30 projects or more among the group of us.

I really feel like these changes are part of growing up, fully being me, living in my life. Scary at times, disappointing when things don't work the way I expect, but good overall. I likes it.

Another M@stercard commercial

2008-07-14T10:15:00.001-07:00

Dinner with Liz & Val, Friday night, on the way to camping: About $10, on Mastercard

Towing to repair shop for car with blown radiator hose: covered by car insurance (phew)

Rental car at airport: $38--no wait, add the taxes and airport fee, $56, on Mastercard

Radiator hose finally repaired and tested: $127, on Mastercard

Lunch with Liz, Andrea, and Val at A&W, with frosty mugs of root beer: About $12, on Mastercard

Support of friends in a crisis: priceless

Also priceless: enjoying handmade matzo ball soup as a first course at campsite, remarking to each other how good it tastes

And priceless again: Playing a card game with my kid and having him be a graceful loser, for once

Thanks, Liz & Andrea, for saving my doomed weekend!

One lost, one saved

2008-07-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

A few Saturdays ago, I was in Lafayette. I was heading back to the freeway when I saw a little fluffy dog, like a Shi-Tzu, running through a parking lot. "Oh no," I thought. Then I saw a woman running along the sidewalk, jogging in flip-flops. I figured it had to be the owner. I called out to her, "Are you looking for a dog?" and she didn't react at first. Then she was past me and looking at the cars behind me, and the light changed. If I'd reacted faster, I would have leaned over, thrown the door open, and had her jump in, so I could turn into the parking lot, get to the other end, and head off the dog.

I didn't. I drove onto the freeway, fretting and fuming about my lack of action. I hope she got her dog back.

Today, I was in my boss's office, finishing talking about something, and a dog trotted by the window. I waited for an owner with a leash to casually walk by, and nothing. I raced to the back door, but the dog had gotten past it already. I went through to the street behind our building and spotted him. He was sniffing a tree and peed on it. I said soothing words and approached him, and he slowly and warily headed across the street. Now, this isn't a main street, but people do use it as a shortcut and sometimes drive fast. I looked both ways and ran ahead of the dog. He stopped and eyed me warily. He let me touch him and seemed OK until I reached for his dog tags to see where he lived. Then he snapped at me. I considered letting him go and calling Animal Control. I reacted the way I would with my own dog, telling him "No!" sternly and grabbing and closing his muzzle. He relented. I looked at the tags again, he snapped again, "No" stopped him. The tags were from Lake Tahoe! Argh, people need to put current numbers on their dogs' tags.

I decided to lead him back to my office and call out for my dog-owning coworkers to find a leash, as I didn't want to get bitten. Taking the collar into my hand to lead him got me bitten. He didn't break the flesh and did lay off after that. Then an SUV pulled up and the driver said he had the owners within. They said the dog was 12, deaf, and a little blind. I was a little sulky about being bitten but happy the dog was going to be safe. They were visiting from Lake Tahoe and had been on the Marina when the dog took off.

I have a small swelling on the back of my hand, but my heart is happy another loose dog will be safe. It coulda been Lucy (who was corralled by neighbors the last time she got out, bless them).

Hug your dogs, and make sure their tags are up to date!

"...Ovaltine?"

2008-06-12T12:51:00.001-07:00

I just 'won' a bra on eBay, a model I've bought there several times, but this time it was lavender and more expensive. I decided I would like that, bid on it, and won.

After I won, the seller approached me that she had matching panties, which I knew as she had 2 auctions, one for bra & one for bra + panties for about $20 more. I said, yes, I knew about them, but I buy my panties at the outlet and those are too pricey for me. Then she wrote and said she had another of these bras in my size and would I like it. No, thank you, just the one, I wrote back firmly.

Just found an invoice from PayPal for the panties with a brusque "Size, please" note attached.

It reminds me of the scene in Young Frankenstein where Cloris Leachman's character just doesn't want to leave Dr. Frankenstein's (new) bedroom (turns out she was the lover of the late Dr. Frankenstein). She offers beverage after beverage, and finally leans back with a parting offer: "Ovaltine?"

Um, no thanks, just the bra, please.

1-0: A good game, and my first real Red penalty

2008-06-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

We had a tough game on Sunday. They have many capable players, but they bunched a lot, so much so that when they pulled their goalie in the last minute or so, it didn't help them at all. And we went for the puck a lot, to our benefit.

Steph scored our one goal, a pretty, hard shot that bounced up Nora's stick and dribbled over her shoulder into the goal. Nora seemed pretty mad after that one; understandably so, perhaps. She was pretty damned solid for the rest of the game.

Including when I had a breakaway and she came WAY out (it seemed like she was past the face-off dots toward me. A little unnerving when a goalie who is 6'3" without skates is lumbering toward you, looking larger than life in all that gear. I have no idea what I did, but I didn't get far. I think I took a lousy shot right at her. Of course--why didn't I even try to deke and get around her? Next time. (Good for her for coming out; it was the right thing to do!)

And as for my penalty: We were behind the net, fighting crazily for the puck. I took a good swipe at it, didn't get it, but took out their D's feet completely. She went flying over my stick. There was no whistle, so I thought somehow I'd gotten away with it, but as soon as the puck emerged, there was a whistle and I heard, "93, trip!" Oops. At least my team (go team!) stayed tough and left them scoreless in their power play.

It's funny to have such a low scoring game, but the scoresheet for us (and perhaps them) did show very few shots in total. It sure was fun, though; that is a great, fun team to play.

Next, she'll take care of that Iraq-war thingy

2008-05-13T21:42:00.000-07:00

On the radio yesterday: Sprint lost one million customers in the last month alone.

A few months ago, my sister's Sprint contract was almost up and the Sprint representative misstated some part of her contract that resulted in her paying more than she had expected. She said she wanted to cancel the contract completely, and asked for the payoff amount. It was more than outrageous. She was furious but still threatened to cancel.

The woman she talked to next was from Customer Retention, which was laughable since M says she was rude and absolutely WRONG about some of the charges.

So my sister kept that phone for the 3 remaining months of the contract but changed her voicemail message to one that extolled the phenomenally lousy service she'd received at Sprint--"and here's my new Verizon cell phone number!"

And now they've lost a million customers in just one month.

I called her up and asked her to find a way to end the Iraq war, if she's that damned powerful. It's the least she can do. (She'll get right on it.)

5-4: A hard won victory

2008-05-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Our game yesterday was a tough one. Andrea said something at the beginning that made me think we didn't really have a chance but should try hard anyway. And when the other team scored a slider in the first 20 seconds (I swear I could feel all our disbelieving eyes watching the puck slide into the goal), I felt more dejected than resolute.

But we did fight hard, and we did lots of good stuff, and we did score 5 to their 4.

I don't actually think a lot while on the ice, so I can't write down great plays from the game, but it was really fun. And several folks said, "Nice shift!" to me after some of my shifts, which was very sweet to hear. I do feel like I'm getting better, and now I charge the defender with the puck as much as I want, since our coach has given me carte blanche to do that. It does seem to force them to make panicky passes, so I know I'm doing some good. Now to keep my legs moving after they give up the puck, and win it back. Oh, and take the puck down to the net past defenders.

And skate faster, and bend my knees, and do backwards crossovers...

Looks like I still have some work to do. But I'll take my one assist, and gladly!

I knew it would work

2008-05-12T14:53:00.001-07:00

So y'all may remember that I signed up for water polo class not to learn/excel at/be great at water polo, but to improve my conditioning, provided that I didn't die.

Well, I'm not dead yet, and even though I'm still the slowest swimmer in the class, I am getting better at this thing.

And today, when I made up a missed class in the coach's regular swim class, I got a clear message that my conditioning is definitely better. We did a timed 500-yd swim and she happened to have my times from the last timed swim (must have been another make-up class).

Previous time: 13:56

New time: 12:10

Wow! So it is worth it to nearly drown and die of exhaustion twice a week. Who knew?

Denial is an unpleasant place to leave

2008-05-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the official evaluation for G for whatever it is that might be sparking his behavior problems. We have one appointment tonight and one next Monday night.

What I keep doing, though, is forgetting about this appointment. Then I remember with a start. I am really concerned that I'll gasp at 7:10, "Oh shit!" and go screaming off to make part of the appointment... argh.

I know what it's about, that I don't want this to be our reality even as a possibility, but that still doesn't make it pleasant to have these horrid wake-up calls. Perhaps after tonight it will seem easier.

And largely, it has been easier. Whatever has been happening, G has been much more calm and mostly sweet. He had a rough day yesterday, breaking down in tears a few times, but that has been very rare. (The last episode was over a guy at the next table over in the restaurant joking with G who had just picked up the guy's keys, having thought they were mine. The guy said, "You can't drive my car" and G just crumpled, embarrassed and feeling chastised, I think. The guy felt SO bad, but how could he know? G doesn't know how people might joke in that sort of situation.)

Anyway, I'm off to set a bunch of alarms and leave myself a phone message. If anyone wants to call me at 6:20PM, you're welcome to.

Why

2008-05-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

does this shirt make me think of Liz?

How to teach the dispassionate to be compassionate

2008-04-28T14:24:00.001-07:00

Now that it seems like the Asperger's diagnosis is more possible, I've been reflecting on what it may mean. This kid needs some compassion, some social awareness, a way to interact with his peers without anxiety and with caring.

It reminds me just too much of Dexter, which I've been watching lately. His father works so hard to teach him how to act like the rest of society--including, in a recent episode, to smile in photographs. It definitely feels like that when I have to teach G to say, "Excuse me; I'd like to read now" when I talk to him as he's reading, rather than "Stop talking!" or something even ruder. And when I have to teach him to look at people when he says "Thank you" or "Hello" or even "You're welcome."

The feeling is not one of "fake it till you make it" but rather, "Do it this way even though it'll always feel alien to you." And that right there is just crushingly sad.

Appointments to evaluate whether to make appointments

2008-04-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

Today was G's appointment to be evaluated by the psychologist. After he sat with G for about a half hour, he called me in without him. He certainly was on the same page I was--I'd read the diagnosis for Asperger's Syndrome (turns out I was pronouncing it wrong; it's a hard 'g') and he might qualify.

The trouble with these appointments is that they're so damned brief, it feels like nothing gets done. Met with the first guy on the first day, Yes, he said, there could be something there. Met with the second guy, Oh yes, he says, that could be something. Let me have you meet with our Asperger's guy. Met with him, Oh certainly, he says, let's set up appointments so I can evaluate him for that.

But at the end of today's appointment, he says schools don't usually do IEPs for kids who aren't failing. Mama Bear really came out then. I said that my concern was him getting suspended or expelled from school for his behavior! Yes, he says; let's make the diagnostic appointments and get him an IEP. Phew.

A nice thing is that the appointments are at 7PM, so no juggling school or work to make them. And he's squeezing us in before he goes on three months paternity leave to be with his wife and brand-new twins. Sounds like a good guy, eh?

Goodbye, Hairy Potter

2008-04-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Last week, I looked into the guinea pig cage and saw our longhaired guinea pig, Hairy Potter, lying still on her back. Oh, boy. That moment I'd been waiting for had come.

When we got our two, Hairy Potter and Molly (the shorthaired orangey one), the woman who gave them to us said they were 3-5 years old. Some websites say they live to 3-5 years, so I thought we had a tiny commitment. That was probaby 5 years ago. I am not kidding.

Other websites (actually, this is a different page from the SAME website!) say 6-8 years. When I heard that from G's Kindergarten teacher, my jaw dropped. Eight years? I'm not sure I would have agreed to this, had I known that.

Last fall, I brought the piggies in to work while we were going to be on vacation, and a coworker picked up Molly and said that either she was pregnant or she was really fat. Well, since Hairy had failed to knock her up for the previous whatever years, I was guessing fat. And I did take a microsecond to consider worrying about her food intake. And then I realized that a guinea pig who was too fat from carrots is really not one of my top-10 concerns.

But I did have a soft spot for Hairy. Goodbye, H.P.

More hockey! On my TV!

2008-04-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Just in case there are other poor slobs too cheap to pay for cable TV and jonesing for some live (or tapeable) hockey on broadcast TV, here is the upcoming schedule:

(All on NBC-11)
Saturday, April 26, 12-3PM (3PM EST)
Sunday, April 27, 11-2 (2PM EST)
Saturday, May 3, 10-1 (1PM EST) (maybe; depends on earlier results)
Sunday, May 4, 11-2 (2PM EST) (ditto)

You cannot believe what I've gone through just to find the above list of information. It's like they want to make it hard to find. Sheesh.

Don't look back

2008-04-21T09:59:00.001-07:00

I tape my sessions with my therapist (she insists on it, actually). I have a small Olympia digital recorder that I absolutely adore. Works great, easy to use, has the inputs/outputs I want, doesn't eat batteries like a Wii remote. Got it from Costco, so I can return it any time it decides it doesn't like to, for example, record.

I was listening to my oldest sessions, which went back to November. I noticed I sounded really happy. This felt like a real contrast to now. So much so that I was really woken up by how sad I'm feeling these days. It is really hard to be parenting G lately. I'm feeling incompetent way too often.

But after the recent funeral I went to, I'm trying to think of ways of living my life to its fullest. Keep my house clean (as it makes me much more serene), not put off trips to here or there that I've "always" wanted to do (we are going to camp at Castle Crags this summer!), make plans to get out and follow through.

G did have a great birthday party. On Saturday, his two friends came over and had some Wii time (his friend gave him Mario Galaxy for his birthday, after we got him a 2nd-hand PS2 Spongebob Game, wow), then pizza, then a little Uno Attack silliness (they just hit the button till it was empty), then more Wii, then ice cream cake (from Baskin-Robbins; next time, I'm just going to make it! $38 is crazy for a tiny cake), then huge pillow fight in his room, then finally to sleep at 11. (Not to say that G had great behavior the whole time--I periodically pulled him out of the fray to do a chore as a consequence for being unkind while playing Wii, ugh--but overall, it really went very well.)

They woke up before 7 (I told G that he needs to find some friends who sleep), had pancakes, finished our 4-person Wii game (Mario Party 8; all 4 of us thanks to a loan from a friend [thanks R!] of 2 additional remotes), and they went home with parents. And I wanted another night to sleep.

Rectangular aluminum keys?

2008-04-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

I had a dream that involved the Cal Band... and my boss.

I did something (can't remember) pretty intense for the Band, and when I'd finished it, it was time to go into the stadium with them. But, as I pointed out to my boss (not IRL in the Band), I didn't have my 'horn' (I think I've called my piccolo that maybe twice in my life, even though it's the standard terminology in the Band) and needed to go home.

To come back, I'd need keys, so he hands me this huge wire loop (somewhat similar to the loop that my water polo teacher uses for the water polo caps, come to think of it) with maybe 25 aluminum rectangles on it. Each rectangle is much like the others, with subtle differences in the stick-figure diagram on it. Apparently, I need the whole keyring.

I go home and get my picc and music, and come back and park close to the stadium. (Now you know it's a dream!!) I think I had to place one of the appropriate triangles into a recession to get in.

Dreams are so weird.

Sadness

2008-04-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

I was listening to my therapy sessions the past few days (she requires that I tape them; I used to write notes, but she pointed out that it distracted me a lot, which was true), and I noticed that I sounded a lot happier in December/January than I was feeling this week.

"Hm, what's going on?" I thought. Well, first, G had another 'episode' on Saturday, where he absolutely refused to cooperate for the photo-taking at our church for the directory (so much so that I thought, "Geez, has he got ADHD now?" could. not. stand. still!), and then turned over every chair in the next room as I tried to choose a photo of us to use, and then scram.

Much later, he said to me that he hates to smile for people he doesn't know. This explains his less-than-stellar school photos lately. I kept sending him back for retakes, as he has had great photos in the past--so photogenic! sigh

Then, also, I realized that although I had made plans to go to a memorial service for a wonderful man from our church who died suddenly Saturday night, I'd kind of forgotten that it was a memorial service. For someone who'd died. Suddenly. Way too soon. And such a great guy!

Somehow, it helps to remember that I have a good reason to be sad when I'm sad.

Disneyland recap

2008-04-04T15:11:00.001-07:00

About a week and a half before we left, my sister called me up and moaned, "I don't think we'll ever make it on Priceline." So, with her on the phone, I put in Sun through Thurs, $44, and tried it. Rejected. Added a non-3*-containing area (it is so tricky, this Priceline stuff), bid $46--and won! And when we added our Friday night (the one folks were saying was taking our bids) with their "Add a night" button, we got that, too!

So instead of paying about $100/night for a Best Western with free internet and parking, we got the Hilton (newly renovated), but had to pay for Internet (one day, but they credited it b/c the system was flaky) and parking ($15/day but we split it). Same distance to Disneyland. And woo, pretty nice! I could have stood for the rooms to be bigger, and the maid service was a little spotty, but overall, bliss. And having adjoining rooms, great! Several times, G watched cartoons in one room while I watched episode after episode of Law & Order. (Aaah, cable.)

We got there Sunday, checked in, opted for bellhop service for our eleventy-seven bags, and got settled in with our ice chest and plug-in fridge, and some of us went off to the local Trader Joe's to stock up on food for the week. On the way, we buzzed by Target for my sister to buy a bra (? I know!) and something else, but it was closed. For Easter. And there was this self-important security guard there all day (we passed by later), just to tell people it was closed.

Monday morning, we were up by 5:30AM (my sister's schedule, which includes getting to the gates by 7:30AM) and everything went smoothly. By Day 2, we had abandoned the idea of bringing my big ice chest full of food for lunch & dinner and just went back to the hotel for one or the other. We did find the picnic area, which I decided was like the Weasley's camping tent. You can't even see it if you aren't looking for it! This area also has larger lockers than the main area, so we rented a huge one and stuffed our ice chest and extra jackets into it.

We headed toward the new Nemo submarine ride, but had apparently missed all the folks in Main Street calling out for us to go toward FantasyLand to get to the line. The line for this ride was long all week. G started to whine and ask how much longer and I told him if he whined once more, we'd be getting out of line. My sister whipped out her cell phone, brought up a Breakout-type game and taught him how to do it. Thank goodness, as we still had quite a lot of time left to wait. (The ride is good--fun, creative--but worth a 40+-minute wait? I don't think so.)

I never did make it onto the Matterhorn Bobsled rides that week, but no loss. By Friday, G was done with Disneyland (5 days is too many), so I set out with my niece, my nephew wanting more sleep and my sister working. Every time I asked, "What do you want to do now?" she didn't know, so it was the Jennie Show All The Time. We went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Jungle Boat Cruise, Astro Blasters (where I could blast away at will, unlike riding with G, who would crumple when he saw my score top his, oy), and others I've apparently forgotten. By now, my sister & nephew were ready to come, so I needed to get back to the hotel to be with G. I couldn't stay for long, so I got him to get dressed and come with me for a short visit (one last trip to Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, which turned out to be his favorite ride, on FastPasses). I had done the math and decided that if we came back for 3 days before March 24, 2009, it would be worth it to get Annual Passes with the credit from our 5-Day Park Hopper Passes.

So I got him into the Annual Pass Shop and got our photos taken (with me finger-combing our hair to make us somewhat presentable), and we had a lovely evening, really, ending with dinner at Rancho del Zocalo (with 10% off for our Annual Passes!). We got a table right next to BTMR, but the sad thing was that it broke down right as we sat down, so instead of seeing car after car whiz by with screaming passengers, we just got to see folks walk off down the exit ramps.

Overall, we really had a great time. Getting up super early was the right thing to do, especially for Spring Break Week for so many people, as we were rarely in the park in the early afternoon, when it gets so busy. Plus, we collected FastPasses like crazy and tried to use them all up every day. And finally, being there early meant we could go on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, have a great time, and run around to the end of the line to go on it again! That was the ride G asked to go on by himself. The operator asked him, "How old are you?" I saw him answer her, she leaned toward him, and he leaned toward her and said something. With a wry grin, she let his car go ahead. I cracked, "I'm 44," and she said, "When he said 'seven and three-quarters,' it threw me a little!"

Dang, that's my son. He lost his first tooth while we were there and will be eight years old in less than two weeks. Holy cow!

Doing the right thing, even when it's painful

2008-03-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

G is on a new regimen. He gets a gold star on a specific calendar at home when he has a day where he doesn't hit or hurt anyone. He got gold stars Monday through Wednesday, and was allowed to pick out a magnet from a set of zoo magnets I bought as rewards.

When he does hit or hurt anyone, he loses reading--specifically, his current book in the Redwall series. He is loving these books. He loses the book for 24 hours from when I hear of the incident.

I thought long & hard about this punishment. How can I take away reading? Reading is so basic, so essential. Then I ran into his K teacher and we talked about his behavior and I brought up that he had lost Wii privileges for 13 days straight and it had no effect. "The only thing he loves more is reading! How can I take away reading?" I asked. "You can take away reading," she assured me. So when he loses reading, he loses his book but can read whatever he needs to read at school.

Last night, I walked over from church to pick him up from his aftercare. We walked out the back door and were in the parking lot a few steps later. A car went into reverse and I warned him that he had to close his book now for safety's sake. He wanted to finish the sentence. I closed the book and took it from him. He hit me, and I told him he'd now lost reading for 24 hours.

He fell apart. Just lost it. Said "But I need it!" about 15 times. It was so sad to see him lose it so thoroughly.

But at the same time, it felt... right. He stopped hitting me, he was profoundly affected by it, it just seemed to have the right effect. When he got it together a bit, he tried negotiating: "How about 24 minutes?" (Nice try, bud.)

We walked on, and when we got to the car, I opened it to put the book in while we went inside for dinner. After I closed the door, he kicked the car. I looked down, saw that the car wasn't dented in any way, and didn't stop him. He kicked the car 10 more times and then seemed to lose steam. I told him that kicking the car was a fine way to express his anger. We talked a bit more ("What time will I get my book back?") and went inside to dinner.

He was squirmy and unsettled at dinner and I seriously considered leaving a few times. I had made the soup for everyone, but I figured if we left that I would just get my pot back whenever. But I didn't feel like making dinner twice. Who knows? Maybe it would have been better.

I did enjoy it, though, after we got through the prayer (which the minister did twice, as about 10 people arrived late). G started mouthing off during the second prayer, so I took him out of the room and then served him soup first. I realized later that he was so hungry, and he has a hard time self-regulating when he gets hungry. So giving him a bowl of soup early was a good idea.

In the long run, the punishment and the system itself did feel right. It was so nice to feel in control in the face of G's flying apart. I feel like we're on the right road.

This is me, getting more mature

2008-03-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

I really wanted new PJs for Disneyland for next week. The last time we went for a while, I found cute Disney PJs on sale at their website and bought each of us a set. I just made G new Pokemon flannel pjs a bit ago, and recently bought some flannel to make PJs for me (not Pokemon).

The old me would stay up late every night finishing them.

The new me says, "Nope, not worth it; I won't have time and I'd rather have plenty of sleep before our trip." Plus, I have super comfy "lounge pants" from Costco to wear instead.

Slowly but surely...

Whatever gets you going, you know?

2008-03-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

My gorgeous new sink and faucet are being installed tonight or tomorrow night, so after the guy came through today and acknowledged that he can do the job, I looked around with a critical eye and decided that now would be a good time to do a thorough cleaning job.

I think I didn't realize it would take most of my lunch hour, but I swept and mopped the floor, sprayed and wiped the whole base of the toilet, sprayed and cleaned the tops of the baseboards, spot-cleaned places on the floor I couldn't reach with the mop, sprayed and scrubbed the toilet lid, spot-cleaned the walls (where do those marks come from???), and cleaned the toothpaste out of the sink, again. I have to admit, a sparkling bathroom is a thing of beauty. And that I need to drastically thin my magazine stand.

Yesterday was the M-Z Red Tryouts/Conditioning slot, and the five Green hopefuls really looked very good! They had good attitudes, too. We have a good turnout of Reds, about 3 per hopeful player. That also made for a nice bench for the scrimmage at the end, with our bench having 10 and the other bench 10 or 11. People were way too polite, which made setting up lines hard--"Where do you want to play?" "Oh, anywhere...". I chose to play D, since I haven't done that in a while, and found myself following the puck into the offensive zone without really thinking about it. It was super fun, and the hopefuls held their own pretty darned well, I thought.

I asked one on our team how many were trying out, and she thought a total of 9. Seemed kind of low, and she confirmed: there are several "old" players in Green who are just staying because it's comfortable. Yep, I get that.

Because the ice slot was so late (7PM), I was able to get to my Alameda Library knitting group that afternoon. Some groups, we have 2 or 3; this one had around 9! Including one woman who brought her beautiful spinning wheel and spun rather than knit ("I can spin and talk, but not knit and talk!"). I continue to be amused that this group meets around my hockey schedule. Hey, no one else arranged the groups, so... and besides, hockey does trump knitting. (but just barely)

G continues to have problems in the behavior department. His April 1 counseling date seems so far away, but I have now made contact with several people at my church who have experience as teachers to kids who have similar challenges, two of whom insisted I call them this week. I swear, this, to me, is God in action. Hallelujah!

I did set up two new things: for any day in which he hits/hurts anyone, he loses reading for 24 hours. (I know! Reading!) I did say that if he had a bad day on Sunday, his precious book from the Redwall series would get returned to the library. (He had a good day.) The other thing I set up is a calendar for good behavior. We bought a set of gold-star stickers and some rare-earth magnets shaped like farm animals. He gets a gold star for every day of no-hitting/no-hurting. After a week of stars, he gets a magnet (although I may surprise him by giving him one after 3 days). We also bought a pattern he'd spotted on Ravelry, and I will start the bear after a week of gold stars. I had planned to unravel it if he had a bad day after I'd started, but one of the teachers at the church said that the usual plan of action is not to take back something that's been given for good behavior.

Our church is having a Maundy Thursday supper Thursday night, and I've volunteered to make a lentil sausage soup. I've decided to prep tonight and have it ready to make tomorrow night. I love cooking with mise en place, where you have everything in little glass bowls, ready to dump in and go. I don't do it like on the cooking shows, where each ingredient is in its own bowl, but I tend to put things together that will be added together. It makes everything go super fast.

It's going to be a wild week, but I think it'll be a good one.

Our weekend

2008-03-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Friday, we had our usual early day so that I could take off at 3:15 to take G to his LHS class. I take a mini-break at noon to go home and let Lucy out to pee and also pick up snacks or whatever for the drive up the hill. I ended up running into our new gardener, which was good as I was able to hand her a check (rather than mail it whenever I remembered) and talk about future plans. It is so cool to finally have a gardener. She rediscovered this whole corner on the left-hand side of our steps! She also pointed out all the grass seed in it, so I have placed an order for WOW! Supreme that I'll spread there before mulching so that the freakin grass doesn't come back with a vengeance.

G's class went well; he managed to do the tasks this week (they investigated pistons and hydraulic presses), so he wasn't as frustrated as last week, when he just. could. not. figure out the gear boxes they were supposed to build. I, as usual, knat for nearly an hour. I'm getting close to being done with the fronts on my Must Have Cardigan... but that is a matter for another blog.

Saturday, I knew we had an easy morning, so I didn't set an alarm. It was great getting plenty of sleep. I had planned to cut out my pjs that I want to make for our Disneyland trip, but didn't get to it. I did manage to do some needed cleaning, including getting the kitchen counters cleared off, yeah!

Took G to his martial arts and watched for a bit (as he asked) before taking off to run to Longs for some things (holy cow, it is way too easy to spend $75 there). Went back and watched some more, then home for lunch before tennis. (Saturdays are going to be packed for a while.) He grumpily got ready for tennis, which he really enjoyed once he got there. He didn't much appreciate the warm water in the bottle he took; I pointed out he could pack his own chilled water, something of which he's quite capable.

While he was at tennis, I did some more work around the house and knat some more. After tennis, he and his friend W begged to have a playdate at W's house, so we zoomed home for a quick pee (so nice to be past the wetting-the-pants stage) and I dropped him off. It was one of those Great To Have The House To Myself/Missing The Kid things. I went back to pick him up at the 3-hour mark, and W's mother insisted on sending him home with a "piece" (which turned out to be half of it) of "pizza," which is some mystery flat thing that G has decided he loves. He gave me a tiny taste and it was yummy but absolutely mysterious.

We did some more errands, including a run to ~~Albertson's~~ Lucky for the ingredients for dumplings, which I ended up just winging. I found a won ton wrapper package with a recipe for spring rolls and just grabbed ingredients based on it and my memory of the recipe that G had brought home: napa cabbage, bean sprouts (which I forgot to use, which was probably good), green onion, ground pork. From home, we added shredded carrot and fresh ginger. They only had square wrappers, so I slapped them in my pot-sticker press and went at it. I steamed the first set, then, after consulting with Andrea, boiled the next. I decided the boiled ones weren't as good and steamed the rest. G and I ate a lot, but there were like 48 wrappers, so I just kept going and finished all of them. I still had filling left! I put it in a ziploc and froze it.

I thought they were good--as long as there was enough soy sauce. Which maybe means they weren't that tasty. Not bad for a first try, I think. Maybe add garlic next time.

Sunday, I set the alarm for 8:30 after moving all the clocks forward, so that we'd get maximum rest but still be on time to church at 10AM, since my bell choir was playing. We got there at 10:03 :( but it went well anyway. I got a chance to talk to a guy who's interested in our open Software Developer position (if he gets it, I get $500!), and he seemed really enthusiastic and capable.

After church, we headed home and I called a friend to see if our dogs could meet, since I hope she can watch Lucy while we're at DL. She called back and we decided to get together after hockey.

Hockey went well--we tied at 2-2 and it was a very good game. Clean but tough and I really liked playing with Jeannie and Kim. I managed to snag a few loose pucks and move them up the ice, but I tend to move right to the center and then panic when faced with a D--I pop it past her, and, since I'm never faster, I lose it (or have to fight for it in the corner). Well, at least I'm grabbing loose pucks and moving with them. It's all good.

I did get a chance to shoot off of Jeannie's rebound once. I whacked it, it hit Charlotte's stick, I whacked it again, hit the stick, and then she reached down and covered it. If I'd had a minute to think, I would have tried to lift it, maybe after pulling it back. If I'd had a second, I probably would have reached down and thrown it into the net with my glove. That would've been a smooth move. But it's not like I actually think while I'm on the ice.

It's been a great season. Thanks, cap'n! Thanks, Coach!

Fabulous Mondegreen

2008-03-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

I was reading some post somewhere and the user said something like "It couldn't do X, little own Y" and it took me a while to get it... let alone.

I guess when you hear "little own" for a while, it seems normal to write it that way.

Maybe it doesn't live up to the original intent of Mondegreen, but I like it anyway.

It's hopeless

2008-02-29T10:29:00.001-08:00

Trying not to snort at work.

Salt of the earth

2008-02-29T09:29:00.000-08:00

My church does meals every month for a local women's shelter. We have a signup sheet posted (and it occurred to me last night: hey, in this modern age, why not do this online?) for folks to sign up for main dish, drinks, etc. I signed up for "bread" for tonight's meal.

I had intended to bake rolls Wednesday night. For whatever reason, Wednesday, which has no plans from week to week, never is actually productive. I think I wallow in the time and suddenly, it's 7:30 and G needs to get ready for bed, it's 8:30 and his light needs to be off, it's 10:00 and I need to turn the lights off, and--wait, what was I going to get done tonight? Rats.

So I realize as I'm turning the lights off Wednesday night that I can set up the bread machine for dough in the morning, and turn it on as I'm flying through before choir practice on Thursday. I measure out everything but leave the water in a measuring cup. I pour it in at 6PM, turn it on, and leave.

We come back to beautiful, high dough all ready for shaping and the last rise. I cut it with a sharp knife, assemble it in a greased 13x9" pan, and put it on the stove (with the oven on) for its last rise. They rise up wonderfully, looking delicious.

As I'm putting them in the oven, it occurs to me, Hm, did I put salt in this batch? I keep salt in a spice jar and it's been empty (I buy sea salt by the pound at the local bulk foods store). I don't remember raiding the salt shaker or anything. crap.

I bake them anyway--why not?--and start a new load of dough in the breadmaker. Then I call my sister and blame her, because she made bread without salt and told me how beautifully it rose and baked. Clearly, it's her fault. She's right, too: you have to eat it with salted butter and additional salt over the top. Bread without salt tastes like nothing.

Fortunately, I fall asleep very easily in general, so I set an alarm to wake up when the dough's done to cut and shape it as before, another alarm to put the risen rolls in the oven, and a last alarm to take them out. I was a little afraid I'd miss the last one and wake up to smoke in the house or seriously burnt rolls in the morning. Np, as Liz says; I woke up and set them out to cool, remembering to turn the oven off, even.

Delivered the rolls this morning. I hope they enjoy them. I do love me some baking.

remember the salt...

Hidden advantage

2008-02-27T17:26:00.000-08:00

I was just perusing the posted "sample schedule" for Lair of the Bear, getting excited about going this summer (Oski Week 3! she pipes up in her best sorority voice), and noticed the notation about the staffer/camper inner-tube Water Polo match.

I played in this last year, subbing in as someone got tired, thinking, "Why not? I'm competitive and you don't have to actually float." I did OK, calling for passes, swimming with my hands and feet to make a run forward, and (because I am competitive and a bad person) doing my best to up-end a staffer's inner tube.

But this year? This year, I can actually pass, catch, and shoot a water polo ball. Yet another advantage of powering through this cheap ($15 per semester, plus 50 cents/class parking cost) class that is also building muscle. (Tuesday, my legs were all wobbly as I left the pool. I love that.)

Dude, we are so going to win this year.

He did it

2008-02-27T16:38:00.001-08:00

I got back to the martial arts studio last night just in time to see my kid get presented with his white belt. He earned it!

This, after one teacher told him he had 9 holds and just needed to learn one more. Then he gets all obsessive about it, so I promise to find out what he needs to do to test for the belt. (I'd seen one sheet on the bulletin board that said to earn a white sash, you need to present the Pendekker* with a rose with thorns, pay a $25 fee, and some other things. I thought it was not the same as a white belt, but wasn't sure.)

*like a sensei

I called and was talking right to the Pendekker, who really stressed that I needed to communicate to G that this is a journey, etc. Sure, I can do that, but he's already obsessed. Apparently, we all did a great job, because two classes went by with no belt. Then, at Tuesday's class, he got it! He had learned 12 holds by then.

He got shown how to put it on and the rules about it (never wash it, don't let anyone else touch it without asking first, and you can always say 'no'), and couldn't stop talking about how proud he was of himself.

Then he says, "I want to make this a holiday, Mom. February 26." So there you have it. February 26, G Gets His White Belt Day. We're working on the name, obviously.

Our lives these days

2008-02-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

G is doing martial arts now (I keep misspelling it as "marital"--um, no, not that). I took him to a local studio for a Parents Night Out thing--win-win: I get the night off, he gets a taste of their flavor of martial arts. He loved it. The office person emailed right away and said, "If he wants to do a free class, just call me and I'll set it up." So I had them set it up for the next Saturday's class, a mixed adult/kid thing for all levels, and he loved it. I ran an errand and came back to see him doing amazing things with an adult and a slightly older kid. Part of it was personal safety--yelling "NO! I DON'T KNOW YOU!" and part was breaking the hold the other kid had on him and turning it to his advantage. Amazingly cool stuff.

So he's signed up and has a gi and everything. It's not far from IKEA and JoAnne and Trader Joe's, so I can do errands while he's there. In a pinch, I can even jet back home and walk the dog or something. I do wish it were in town, though. That would be convenient.

As he starts on a new sport, I've been playing water polo for a few weeks now. It is amazing exercise. The classes are pretty sparse, but our teacher appealed to the department that it is a sports support class (or something), as Laney has a women's Water Polo team in the fall. We have as few as 3 or as many as 7, so we've never had a full scrimmage. I do remember scrimmaging against the team last fall in my lap swim class. That was fun (but of course humiliating, as they actually knew what they were doing). I figured at the beginning of the class that if it didn't kill me, I'd be in amazing shape. I do think it's helping a lot. I love that my legs ache when I get out of the pool. Great exercise.

G spent the day with my uncle and aunt last Saturday while I went to a knitting/crochet show and conference down in Santa Clara. I was a little nervous about spending too much money at the market on yarn I didn't really need, so when a free class came up, I jumped on it. I spent the class being Rita someone, but it was really interesting and geeky. Geeky knitting, what fun. And I pretty well stayed to my budget for the rest of the time there. My aunt apologized that they didn't get out and do more, but the weather was so crummy... hey, G got to play GameBoy the entire day. He was in heaven. (He conveniently "forgot" his GameBoy/Wii timer, on which he only had 3 hours left. My uncle said he played for more like 7 hours.) We were invited to beef-stew dinner and happily accepted.

Sunday, we pretty much putzed around after church until it was time for me to go to hockey. I made a bean soup and I thought of offering my friend Allison some of it... she called me yesterday to offer me some of hers! We laughed and decided to keep our own to make things simple.

Hockey was way fun, one of those games where everything feels good but we just don't manage to get the little lump of rubber in the nylon netting. I had some fun skirmishes for the puck and caught some nice passes and made some good crosses. Hm, I can't remember shooting more than once. I did catch a sweet pass from the face-off and sent it toward the net right away, but it was too wide. Dammit. We had 3 wing pairs for our game but it felt like we sat a lot. Then I came off once and Susan pointed out that I'd had two long shifts for my last two. Oops. I do have a hard time keeping track. I look for my wing pair usually, but I apparently need to be bonked on the head and told to scram. Dang, I thought I was getting better about taking short shifts!

I thought it was our last game but, yippee, we have two left! And both Sundays, so childcare is easier.

We're heading into March and I'm really looking forward to it. New hockey season, and a week off at Disneyland. What's not to like?

A new rhythm

2008-02-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

Like Friday, we got up early today and got out of the house shortly after 7. This was so that I could leave work at 4 when I went to pick G up from his art-camp and not return. This early thing is new to us and it works well. It does leave me exhausted by evening time, though. I had to decline to go to my hockey game on Friday, having realized the previous Friday that I am toast by 8PM, much less ready to play a vigorous game by 9PM. This will end in late March (unless we sign up for another class!).

It is a little unreal to be up at 5:30 in the morning, and my early-bird boss is still a little tripped by me being at work at 7, but being done with work by 4 (today) or 3:15 (Fridays) is absolutely priceless. (Being tired by 8, not so much.)

Tonight, he'll go to a second martial arts class, this time in his new gi. He went to the regular (mixed age) class on Saturday and not only did he love it, but when I returned from picking up dog-allergy meds, I saw him doing great personal-safety stuff with an instructor and a slightly older student--"No! I don't know you!" and hold-breaks etc. Too. Cool. Makes me kinda want to sign myself up, too. The studio is run by Louise Rafkin, whose name I recognized from her Street Smarts book. I signed up for a first-month, unlimited classes, plus gi for $99. It's also in the area of IKEA, JoAnne, and Michael's, so I'm not complaining.

Saturday afternoon, after the class, I headed home to drop him off at a playdate. Close to the freeway, the car gave that sickening, all-too-familiar shudder. The 'gas' light had been lit for a few days, but I drive so little that I hadn't really thought about it. Crap. We were near 7th Street in West Oakland, which is very high on my list of places where I feel unsafe. Crap. I turned onto 7th, not knowing of a gas station on 5th, which was where the freeway would have put us, and drove along, coasting when I could and driving only when necessary. Just after the West Oakland BART station, a little mom-and-pop station showed up. I pulled in and hopped out to pump the gas. An older Asian man walked out and started to pump it for me. I panicked a bit and re-checked the sign to make sure I hadn't pulled into a Full Serve pump (when was the last time you saw Full Serve?). I hadn't. OK.

I asked him for 5 gallons and waited while he pumped it to go inside with him to pay. As I left the little office, I made a guess, and said "Gung hay fat choy" to the man. His head whipped up, smiling, and he wished me a happy new year, too. Then he called something to his wife, and she came out, broom in hand, and wished me a happy new year herself. I love it when I guess right. That was fun.

We made it home only 30 mins late for G's playdate, and I went off to Broadway Plaza to get a bunch of shopping done. I had a knitting book to exchange (Christmas gift from my stepmom, but I already have it) and a $50 Macys gift certificate to spend. I also wanted to poke my head into Pottery Barn, and as I drove in, I noticed the huge Cost Plus in the area.

I decided to exchange the book first, and after I'd finally found a place to park in the parking garage (which was free, at least), headed over. It seemed odd to exchange a book without checking in with the register right as I entered, so I walked over. The woman confirmed that it had been bought at a B&N (how do they do this?), but also said that if I didn't exchange it today, they'd have to, get this, mail me a store credit. That would be WTF? number 1.

WTF? number two was the absolute disarray in the knitting-book section. No rhyme or reason (by author? by knitting topic?), and lots of quilting and crochet books mixed in. There were a lot of books, which meant browsing was actually a total PITA. Great.

I grabbed one book I'd been interested in, and for balance, headed back downstairs to grab some knitting magazines to leaf through. There were a bunch of people looking at magazines in the Starbucks cafe upstairs, so that seemed like a good idea to me.

WTF? number three was that even though there's a huge sign that says "Starbucks," I could not, in fact, use my Starbucks card to pay for my iced latte (no decaf Frappuccinos today--annoying, but not a WTF?, quite). "No, we're a cafe serving Starbucks. If you have an account with us, you can use it, though." An account? Geesh.

I selected one magazine and the book, and headed downstairs after I finished my iced latte. Waited in the longest line in the world, and when I finally got to the front, oh my! was the cashier irritated. I explained that I was exchanging the one book and getting the other, and even that didn't seem to sit well. Then she went on to explain the new return policy that B&N will be using starting mid-March:

No returns without a receipt, and all returns must be done within 14 days of purchase.

How completely unreasonable. (WTF? number four, if you hadn't guessed). This means you cannot buy a Christmas gift before December 12, and even then, your recipient only has Boxing Day to return the stupid thing.

I expressed my annoyance, and the cashier said that some people treat the bookstore like a library. "There can't be enough abuse to warrant this kind of return policy," I protested. "You'd be surprised," she said. Bull.

I finally said that Cody's had changed their return policy to something completely unreasonable, too, and I've never shopped there since. (Theirs was 24 hours. Yes, really. If you bought a book at 7PM Tuesday, you couldn't return it at 7:01PM Wednesday. That's like having no return policy at all.) I asked her to relay my disapproval to those who made those sorts of decisions.

Then lovely Ms. Cashier got totally snippy with me. "We don't even talk to them; they're in New York." (which I believe has phones and email and even is open for a few hours while we are open, last I checked.) Oh, for Pete's sake.

It's not like I was a big B&N fan before. This did not help.

But I did get a book I wanted.

Next, well, let's just say that a giftcard to Macys was not the best choice. I'm just not a Macys shopper these days. I finally found a down comforter for $69.99. I'd brought in my Macys card and a printed coupon for 15% off almost anything if I used said card. I figured that even if I was charging the leftover $10 of a purchase that that would count. The very kind older woman who helped me jumped through hoops, I jumped through hoops, and she jumped through hoops again trying to reactivate my long-unused Macys card. I can't believe the information I had to give up (I do not like to use my SSN as identification; I think it's unsafe as ID and practically illegal for them to ask for as ID). And then, after it must have been 30 minutes of trying to do this deal, they finally said they couldn't charge it. A measly $14. Sheesh.

Kind Woman let me charge it on my MasterCard and still gave me the 15% off, bless her heart. (And the comforter is really great, so that's good.)

I didn't get to Pottery Barn (just wanted OUT of there by that point), but I did stop at Cost Plus to get more of the hobnail glasses I had bought and liked. A great afternoon off, courtesy of G's friend, and when I offered to take the friend for the evening and return the favor, she waved it off, as they were heading out to see Spiderwick with some friends. We had a casual evening of a little Wii and a little movie watching.

I like casual weekends.

I mean it!

2008-02-14T15:32:00.001-08:00

Our last front-office person walked out the door just now, leaving me in charge, she says. I threatened to fire everyone and/or hold a fire drill, and she was OK with that. I don't think she believed me. Nobody takes me seriously!

You're all fired!

Kitchen Endeavors

2008-02-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

It struck me tonight like Viv, I can certainly document my cooking triumphs and challenges here, too. Maybe even convert a few of you to the beauty that is pressure cooking.

Beef Stew
Case in point? Last week, I made a beef stew in 9 minutes. And that was actually one minute too long. Yep, preparing the stuff to go in it took longer than actually cooking the thing. I got the recipe from the Presto cookbook that came with the cooker, but modified it a bit, because I didn't have white potatoes on hand (I used sweet instead), and left out the cup of chopped tomatoes (because, tomatoes? In a beef stew? sounded odd to me; and I didn't have any anyway).

So the recipe was pretty much 1 pound beef stew meat, a couple of chopped potatoes, a cup of green beans (seemed odd to me, but tasted just fine), maybe 2 cups of baby carrots (hey ma, no chopping!), and some onion. Brown the meat in a little olive oil (in the cooker), then remove it; cook the onion a bit, add the rest and the meat, a cup of water, put the lid on and set the fire so it rocks gently for 8 minutes. I used 2 pounds of meat and very generous amounts of veggies, so I cooked it for 9 minutes. (Oops.) Quick-cool under a faucet, done.

Then I removed everything with a slotted spoon, whisked some flour into some water, heated the broth, and made delicious gravy. So yummy.

Risotto
Tonight, I made a sweet-potato risotto. The recipe came in my giant box o'sweet potatoes that I got at Costco. (Of which I managed to eat all, I must say, without having any go bad. Excellent.)

I somehow doubt they'd dislike me reproducing it here, as it promotes the eating of sweet potatoes...

Roasted Sweet Potato Risotto
2 med sweet potatoes
1/4 c olive oil
4 c hot vegetable stock
1/2 c finely diced onion
1 t minced garlic
1.5 c Arborio rice (12 oz pkg)
3/4 c white wine
1 T rosemary
1 1/2 t thyme leaves
3 T butter
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 t salt
3/4 t black pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Peel sweet potatoes and cut in half. Cut half of the sweet potatoes into 1/4" dice and set aside. The commentary starts already. What was the point, again, of cutting the sweet potatoes in half? If you're using two, why not just 1/4" dice one and continue with the other? Cut the remaining sweet potatoes into 1" chunks. Toss with olive oil and roast until soft, about 30 minutes. Note: I believe they mean for you to toss them with the 1/4 c olive oil and then drain off the olive oil into your large pan. That's what I did. Took a smidge over 30 minutes. Next time, I'll cut into 1/2" chunks. Puree in a food processor with chicken stock. Huh? No chicken stock listed. I used 1/2 c of the hot, well, chicken stock because I didn't have veg. stock handy. Also, note that prep of all the other stuff can be done while the sweet potatoes roast. Reserve.

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and sauté onion and small-diced sweet potatoes over medium high heat. Cook about 3 minutes until softened but not browned. Add garlic and Arborio rice and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in wine. Cook, stirring until completely absorbed. In the same manner, add hot stock 1/2 c at a time, stirring until each addition is completely absorbed and stock is used up. Note from Jennie: do not get distracted lest ye rice stick to the bottom of the pan and mad cursing ensues. Add sweet potato purée, rosemary, thyme, butter and Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy. I didn't add the salt/pepper; tastes great anyway.

Hockey (not a recipe)
Great game tonight. We were outshot but not outscored! 2-1 and an exciting game. And at one point, I kept the puck away from both Bridget and Nora, a big ego boost for me. And later in the game, Carolyn didn't quite have the angle on the puck at the blue line, and I did, so I grabbed it and ran. She was great, staying behind me and telling me she was there all the way in. And I lifted the puck! I was skating in, and thought, "If I have a chance in hell of getting this in, I have to lift it"--and I did! It didn't go in, and my rebound didn't bounce to Carolyn, positioned beautifully in front of the goal... it kinda bobbled off my skate. Well, others put the puck in and we all can celebrate. Aaah.

Um, is it?

2008-02-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Today after our water polo class, one of the better students said to me, "It's amazing you're sticking with us." Not "great," "amazing." I tossed off some comment about wanting to have more stamina and said good-bye.

Then I thought, Amazing because you're all guys? Because it's an aggressive class? Because it's hard? (all true, except for the one day we had one other woman)

Then, when I got to my car, I thought, Ooh, maybe he thinks it's amazing because I'm old. I don't usually think of myself as old, but in the context of the class, I've been the oldest in the pool except for the first day (there was a guy who was about65 maybe) and today (a guy my age who swims like a shark and is in amazing shape). I'm about the slowest swimmer and am still getting my head around that egg-beater thing, as well as how to throw the ball (not intuitive in the least).

But... amazing?

Vegas, Fourth and Final

2008-01-29T17:22:00.001-08:00

Up again a little too early, sort of starting to pack my things to be able to come back & go to the airport. Headed out for the game, everyone a bit jittery, I think. The team was playing on a different rink at the same place as most of their games, in the farthest room from the doors, and I had to go past the benches (read: not as much protection from flying pucks) to get to it with Val (which just made me damned nervous). (Val likes to see her moms before the game.)

I saw much of this game, which was a good thing, as it really was a good game. I did have to miss some important parts to take Val to the changing table. Once we got there, she helpfully pointed out that the poop I thought I'd smelled was "gas." Dang, good thing they're cute!

She was cold this game, unlike the others, so I snuggled her as best I could to warm her up. Burninators skated and skated and scored some and gave some up. Hooey, it was tense. I started the benches thumping and chanting "Bur-ni-NATE!" a few times, but we noticed each time we did this, the puck ended up in our zone, so we were a bit discouraged. We kept yelling, but only joined in when the Burninators themselves thumped away.

Sadly, the game ended before the Burninators were able to dominate. There was a nice trophy ceremony at the end, where they handed out first- and second-place trophies to all the participants, as well as All Tournament trophies to the standouts (on both teams and one on another team entirely). Just after I said to a friend, "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if someone skated up and took out the entire trophy table, Ellen skated up and wiped out completely. Didn't take out the trophy table, but it was pretty funny. Even funnier when others skated up and exaggerated being careful in the spot (another skater pointed out with her skate that that area was actually very uneven). Ellen took it well, and ended up with one of the All Tournament trophies, so that wasn't all bad.

TROGDOR the Burninator was still revered even after the defeat (I was somewhat ready for the team to shred him into yarny bits, to vent their--dare I say it?--spleens).

insert flight late turbulence no spilled beer lost luggage here

Vegas, Part 3

2008-01-29T17:08:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning was the first of two early-morning games. Well, early for getting up and to a hockey game, at least. 9AM isn't so early for, say, getting to work. For some. :)

Poor Val was so bleary. Lots of people (half of whom I didn't know) kept coming up to her and saying "hi" and expecting... something. Poor thing hardly reacted. I just told everyone it was very early for her.

This was a wild game. The opposing team was WHOA Arizona, and I'd seen them before, before or after one of our earlier games. There was a classic Hockey Mom there, saying to her daughter, "You tell (other daughter's name) to just push through it. I don't want to see her slacking off." Man, serious much? I had chatted with her a little and went off after Val, who was probably looking for "Cousin" to boss her around (nice to get a little break there).

Well, that mom was there for the morning's game, and when I said something smart-mouthy about apologizing for beating their team in the next game, she didn't even crack a smile. Yikes.

I do believe it was her two daughters that swooped down the ice again and again to shoot. Thankfully, Cara was able to stop enough goals that the Burninators not only won, but ended up with enough of a goal differential to avoid playing the semifinal game that night. They were pretty happy. That much intense hockey is tough, I could see.

I got dropped off near Treasure Island, and met Amy there. This is my friend who I've known for eight years online but never before met face to face. She was exactly what I'd expected, except even more petite. She is sharp, funny, and a great parent. We agree on a ton of parenting topics, and have agreed to disagree on some political and religious ones. I know we both value our friendship very highly. It was so great to meet her and to meet her husband, who was so cute. I was glad for Amy that she got such a great guy. He was really sweet about letting us gab on and on, even though I knew it was taking away from her time with him without their three kids. We had lunch and gambled a bit--her winning $60 and me winning $25, and then parted, with them going off to a show for which they'd gotten "free" tickets (with a one-$10-drink minumum).

I wandered around a bit on the Strip, which was fun, except for realizing that the guys (and women) holding out small cards were advertising prostitutes. Right there on the sidewalk. Yuck. But I did stop to see what various vendors were selling, and overhear a really hard-sell on a timeshare... Vegas is like nowhere else. I headed back for our hotel, and once I'd left the Strip, called Liz. They were on their way to her other-team game, and offered to pick me up. I found an enormous steak-dinner sign and waited under that.

We went off to the game, which was a tough one, and I wandered over to the Dreyer's at one point. Walked in, looked up, and saw Cal women's basketball being slaughtered by Stanford. I exclaimed, and who was right there to hassle me but Jenny B, who shows up at most hockey games with a big red Stanford sweatshirt? Timing is everything. Roomie was there with me, so we explained some aspects of the rivalry--just as they put The Play on the TV. Fun to remember that I was there on the field (at the other end, not in the way of the players).

Buffet and bed, to be ready for the final 9AM game.

Vegas, Part 2: Thursday/Friday

2008-01-29T16:24:00.001-08:00

The other part of Thursday night's game is that, despite the team being chipper, both Val and I were yawning almost the entire time. I was making jokes that I didn't know which one was going to hold out the longest, and Flirty Mary said her money was on Val. (the nerve!)

Friday morning, I woke up pretty early, and got antsy, so I went out for a Power Walk before we left for breakfast. I walked around the whole hotel area, which had lots of lovely paths and green lawns. I did one set of stairs by the casino and decided "That's enough of THAT," and circled back. I found a lap pool that was open (the main pool was closed), and figured out you have to enter and exit through the fitness center, which was pretty good-sized but a teeny bit shabby. Made a vow to go to Target and get a swimsuit (didn't happen).

We went to Terrible's for breakfast buffet, but were caught by our arrival time between breakfast buffet (already closed) and lunch buffet (not open yet). We had table service instead, and I had tasty Eggs Benedict, always a favorite. Roomie and I both ordered coffee and got our own full carafes right on the table. Suhweet. Not so suhweet was the offer of non-dairy liquid creamer in half-and-half-looking little tubs. Eew. This was true everywhere in Vegas, for some reason.

As we walked down the stairs after breakfast, we spotted a TV screen that had an image of a hotel burning. It took us a while to wake up and realize the screen said "in Las Vegas." Wow! I never did see it burning, but one of the teams in the game before the Burninators' had been staying in the Monte Carlo, and they went into their game not even knowing if their stuff was burnt to a crisp. Luckily, no one was harmed and they got moved to the Luxor without trouble.

This one was a squeaker: 2-2 until the end, when a late goal won the game for the Burninators. I believe this was the Rebound Game: their goalie stopped every first shot, and the only chance for scoring was off the rebounds. Very exciting.

After that game, I called my friend who happened to be in town to see when we should get together. She was planning on dinner and a show ("O" from Cirque du Soleil) and thought we should meet for drinks at 10, or when they got out of the show. "I can push on through,"I thought. But we were both relieved when we canceled, especially when she realized 10PM in Vegas is 1AM in Georgia. We rescheduled for lunch the next day.

So, footloose and fancy free, I transferred to the graffiti'd van to go with many others to The Gun Store. All of the others were there to shoot machine guns, which you apparently can't do around here, but I just wanted to shoot a gun to see if I could. I asked for a gun that would fit my hand (as others told me that some guns are just too big for most women's hands) without a lot of kick that I could shoot accurately.

I was given a Glock 9mm. You can see how I did here. The guy who told me how to stand etc. was completely humorless, but when he retrieved my paper target, told me that it would qualify me for such-and-such certificate--which is a little scary, given that I had never shot a real gun before that day. I do admit to being proud of my shooting (that hole in the center of the heart? my first shot), but the percussive sound of my shots and everyone else's in the gallery made me jump every. single. time. I really just wanted to know I could do it, and I came away with that knowledge as well as the knowledge that it was a damned good thing I never signed up for the military, as I would have been a quivering ball in the corner in any gun exercise. I did get to watch Viv shoot one of the machine guns, and see actual fire coming out of the sides of the nozzle. Whoah.

That night was the team dinner, which I'd thought I'd be missing to have dinner with my friend. I was happy to be able to make it, but felt sad that Liz had to miss it to play with another team. The Wynn buffet was $40, which is pricey for me, so when they said they could only seat us together in a side room, and only with an 18% gratuity slapped on, I hesitated. Andrea gave the nod, and when I realized it was only $6, I was happy to pay it. That was a great choice. We had a nice room, easy seating, and the food was (Liz, don't read this) absolutely amazing. I think there was one thing that wasn't actually superb. I had a good time getting six desserts, splitting them all down the middle, and selling the extras to my neighbors. They even had veg sushi for folks like me. Really nice. I mean, really awful, I swear, Liz.

Vegas, Part 1: Arrival

2008-01-29T15:42:00.001-08:00

Background: Liz & Andrea go to Vegas every year on my birthday weekend. (I know, their priorities are way messed up.) Every year, they invite me to come along--"It'll be so fun! Hanging with your hockey pals!" And every year, I've just invited them to my birthday bash, which they can't attend.

Well, this year, my sister and I were going to take our kids to Disneyland that weekend, for a long weekend. It was going to be a little rushed, so we decided to go over Spring Break instead. I mentioned offhand that I could actually go to Vegas this year, and L&A jumped at the chance--they needed someone to watch beautiful, funny Val (oh man, you should see her when she scrunches her nose up!). They even offered to cover my airfare!

Let's see: free airfare, cheap (relatively) hotel, fun hockey pals, Vegas, and this mystery called Sonic about which they rave each year. OK!

I flew out Thursday afternoon, after working just a couple of hours and getting the house in order so it wasn't a shambles when I returned. I didn't run into any other hockey people (which seemed odd), but I did run into our church's music director! She is wonderful and we were able to have lunch together (in which I walked away from the register before paying--I get so caught up when I'm chatting! They caught up with me). The flight was uneventful, except for maybe spotting a blogging friend of mine in the Southwest magazine, and after I snagged my suitcase, I managed to get picked up promptly by the Lizvan. I didn't drive all weekend, and man, that alone was worth the price of admission. Plus, Andrea got lost on the Strip once so I got plenty of eye candy from that (ooh, aah, neon).

Met my roommate, who turned out to be a very cool gal (HS friend of Liz's), and went off to the first game. Didn't see much of it, but they did Burninate and win. (Val was very active and not too interested in sitting and watching hockey. Although she never did complain about my yelling encouragement to the team, inches from her ear.)

Slept.