Lucky Seven

Here's the half-eaten pancake face and the overly elaborate school treats. Rice Krispie pops with chocolate and sprinkles, people! They looked magnificent. I got a little flak from some other moms on the way into school, but I am at peace with it. Because they were not any more work than cupcakes (less, probably). No counting the trip to Michael's for the floral foam ring. Whatever.

So, yeah, she is seven now. The book was a big hit. She also loved the book light, as I knew she would. We had the dinner she picked, which was "chicken burgers," a.k.a. chicken patties. Pretty tough to construct that gastronomical delight! Not like I had a bag of those from Costco in my freezer or anything. Happy Birthday, girl!

Birthday Eve!

I am sleepy and have to get up early to make rice krispie pops and pancakes. But I want to confess that in the span of about eight minutes, I was entirely convinced that I had gone WAY overboard with birthday presents, and then just as entirely convinced that we had nothing but boring, practical presents that simply would not do for a still little kid. But I just saw the presents all lined up on the piano, and they look like exactly the right number. Can't speak to whether they are too...pragmatic. A seven year old needs a book light, right?

Why Was it Snowing Today?

I don't really want a meteorologist to answer that question for me, but I have to say, what is going on with the weather? Sleeting, hailing, snowing, sticking, and then, sunshine? It was weird.

We ate breakfast at the French Bakery, or New French Bakery, some French Bakery outside the local mall. They have unimpeachable ham and cheese croissants. Also, the chocolate ones are good. And the coffee! Yum.

Then, a record short church. Grilled cheese sandwiches. And then... Shrinky Dinks.

I haven't done these little "crafts" in something like seventy years, so I forgot how they do their thing. And I misread the documentation, shameful traitor to my people that I am. As a result, I was messing up the shrinking part but good. We were all freaking out a little bit. But Jim went to the troubleshooting section of the shrinky dink website, and all our problems were solved. Just bake it longer! We did. The dinks were all shrinky! And Naomi was able to complete her fairy diorama. I may post a picture of that, because my freakout about wrecking the darn things made me love them and their little diorama collective in a way that I would not likely have done otherwise.

Yep, that's the whole posts. Shrinky Dinks! G'night!

This is How We Roll

Today was Naomi's 7th birthday party at the roller rink. She loves to skate. She is almost seven. And in most of the photos, her tongue is out. Which believe it or not makes her look even more tough cookie than she does in this picture, but in the knowledge that she will see all of this someday, it's this one.



It was a fun party. Then I took Muriel to another one. Now I am exhausted and must go drink tea and eat an ill-advised ice cream treat. See you tomorrow!

All the News

OK, I am starting to get a numb shoulder from sitting on our overly soft couch with the laptop each and every night. First World Problem!

The news. We celebrated Jim's birthday with a trip to a Chinese restaurant. That by itself wouldn't really be news, but the restaurant is in the weirdly swanky enclave of downtown our town, and the restaurant is a... chain, I guess? So even though they have what looks like a real Chinese restaurant menu (laminated, many pages, photos of each and every dish), accompanied by a pretty authentic looking photocopied paper menu where they check off the choices you make, they also have high ceilings, modern light fixtures, stylish tall frosted glass and cherry wood room dividers, and white wait staff. I am just going to lay my race cards right out on the table: we never ever eat at Chinese restaurants where the wait staff is white. I swear it is not on purpose. We have nothing against white wait staff! It is just the way it is.

Also: this restaurant has a specialty, which is the yummy little dumplings that have soup in them in addition to pork filling. Remember the "Freshen Up" gum of the dumpling world from my Singapore trip report? These are they! So when you enter the restaurant, there is a big window that looks into the kitchen, so that you can watch this staggering number of specialty dumplings being made before your very eyes. By...a bunch of Hispanic guys! Nary a Chinese person on the other side of the window.

Ultimately, these Guatemalans or El Salvadoreans have a deft touch for the soup dumplings. Our kids ate around six each. The rest of the food was pretty good too, though I have no guesses as to the ethnic identity of the cook. Nor do I care! Fried noodles is fried noodles, am I right?

Today was Muriel's half birthday checkup. I completely spaced taking her after she turned 4 (see: my recent admission that I forgot she is due to start attending Kindergarten this fall). So she went in today and got all her shots for Kindergarten. Three of them! She was a trooper, and although her eyes misted up, she didn't actually cry. I was proud of her. According to her lovely doctor, she doesn't have to get any more shots until sixth grade. And she got a sparkly sticker with a rainbow AND a dolphin.

What was the other news item...? Oh! The book came in the mail today, the one we made for Naomi. I was worried it wouldn't come in time, but it did, and it is pretty great. I will take a picture of it! And the bongos! And the Cow Popper! And someday I will get on the other computer where the pictures live and start adding those to this thing again. Adieu!

The Random Present

Bongos!

The Birthday Season

Jim's birthday is imminent, and Naomi's is next week. I am too fried now to do a decent job of explaining how all the birthdays are making me feel (because it is all about ME!), but I will take a crack at it. I am brimming over, a little bit, with love for my kid, and admiration. I think about her all the time, and things she said, and I laugh and get choked up. She is so darn smart, and thinks about things for days before coming up with some unexpected insight. At the same time, she makes me listen to the one Selena G. song I have downloaded for her, really, a lot of times, singing the whole thing with conviction. She can be so competitive with her sister, but she can also be so solicitous of her.

Anyway, sometimes their birthdays come and I am conscious of what a big deal I should be feeling, but this time I'm really feeling it. It's weird. But good. Also: I finally remembered to go to the world's shabbiest skating rink to put a deposit down for her party. Oh, and I have bought the world's most random birthday gift for Jim. More on that after the bestowing!

What the Neighbors Sent Over

When me made the practice Rice Krispie pops on Sunday, we had kind of a big passel of pops that were not going to be eaten. So I sent the girls to the next door neighbors house with a handful of pops (plain, undecorated pops- gotta work out some decoration!), and they came back immediately with a shopping bag full of books. The bag has a black marker "N and M" on it, so it was clear that it has been sitting over there waiting to come to our house.

Most of the books were about dinosaurs. There were one or two that we already have (but Little Bear's Visit is so cute, I will be happy to send our second copy to a new home somewhere). There were one or two of those science books. Anyway, one of the books (also about...dinosaurs?) was called When Dinosaurs Die, and it talked in a very straightforward way about shuffling off this mortal coil. It was not about mass extinction, just regular, everyday extinction. They wanted me to read it, and I read it. I kept my cool, even when it talked about Grandmas and Grandpas dying (yikes!).

After we read it, including the page about cremation, I thought it would be a good time to disclose that Luna's cremains were right up there in that box on the piano. They wanted to hold the box, and Muriel insisted for a minute or two that I open it up (which even if I were willing to, which I am not, would require a screwdriver). I told them I considered bringing it along to Minnesota when we eventually get back there for a visit, and spreading the ashes in the Mississippi River, where she first swam and had her best, most epic swims. Girl loved a swim! Naomi countered that we should spread some and keep the rest. So, there's some sentiment in there.

Speaking of pooches, the girls FINALLY like 101 Dalmations. Naomi used to forbid me from playing that movie, because the part where the puppies are struggling through the freezing snow was way too disturbing for her. And of course the whole thing scared Muriel. But somehow after a recent screening, they made peace with everything, or remembered that it all comes out OK in the end, or something. And the way they relish the scene where the farm animals wail on the bad guy brothers is hilarious, because I remember having that same reaction to seeing unequivocal bad guys vanquished in the movies of my childhood. Know any bad guys that should be kicked hard by a cartoon horse?

Insert Title Here

OK, so first off, all of a sudden Muriel can do math and is very close to reading. She kept asking us to make her some math problems to do, this evening, and then she kept writing down the answers. And then she would beam and exclaim how fun math is. Woo! Good thing I finally picked up her Kindergarten registration package.

Second, the two of them played together for hours this weekend, which you know I love. I LOVE! They went through three of four different card games together, in their room, playing according to some rules or other. Laughing, harmonious. So sweet!

Third, birthday parties, birthdays parties. OK, only two. But today's was at the frozen yogurt place, so we basically ate frozen yogurt for lunch. Mmmm.

Oh, and I tried making granola today. It seems OK, although I think I overdid it on the nuts for the nut version. The non-nut version tastes pretty great. I am thinking I can get away with less oil and less sugar/maple syrup. I'll try again.

We also did a practice run on our birthday treat for Naomi's birthday. We're making rice krispie pops. It worked out great- they are cute and tasty and easy to get put together if you spray your hands with Pam. But I have got to figure out some kind of nice decoration. They need to be cuter! I'm looking for ideas, people!

And now, an overly large estate in post-Great War England is having a Christmas special, and they need me. See you tomorrow!

End Petlessness

We spent the last New Years Eve (and surrounding weekend) in Portland. It was fun- we rode the light rail, visited the children's museum, saw the OMSI, went to Powells, and had a number of free drinks at the manager's reception at our hotel.

Just as an aside, I am watching a Pink Panther movie on the crappy old movie channel (does anyone else get this channel? It's the second digital channel of...ABC? CBS?), and Patsy from Ab Fab is playing a newscaster. As an aside from my aside, the commercials that air on this channel are targeted toward two groups, old people, and jobless people who either need vocational training or need to collect some lawsuit money. Lots of "I've fallen and I can't get up" type commercials, prostate health supplements, lawyers with very specific case pitches, and cooking schools.

Anyway, while we were in Portland, I noticed several awesome billboards from the Oregon Humane Society sporting the "End Petlessness" slogans. And this is the year that we end our petlessness. The problem is, our neighbors are still working away on their home renovation project, and we are still without a fence. I have this idea that a fence is a prerequisite for bringing home a pooch. So, we wait.

But! Today when I picked up Naomi, she told me she had an important secret. She is, wait for it, next week's star student! Every week some kid is the star student, and they bring in their favorite book and toy, and ten favorite photos, and fill out a questionnaire about themselves. One of the questions is: "For a pet I have..." There was a minute or two where we all reflected on the inappropriateness of mentioning Luna, but in a jokey way (really). I guess we're all better. And there was some clamor that we would need to acquire a pet before the star student week kicked off (we have an extra week thanks to some newfangled invention called "winter break"). But as committed as I am to ending petlessness, I think I'm going to have to hold out for a fence.

Cultural Night!

I am so sleepy I can barely hold my head up, so please do not hold me to my usual extremely low standard. Tonight was cultural night at Naomi's school, and it was so fantastic. There was a show! Last year I was a bit grumpy that our local school was a school that wasn't going to put on a show every year (talent show doesn't count), and then this year, lo and behold- a show. There was a narrative frame about traveling around the world by way of the universal language. (Hint: it's music.) The entire student body, wearing white shirts and blue jeans (or if you are my kid, jeggings, because heaven forfend that you would ever wear a non-legging pant in your entire first grade year) and additional costumey props, was up at the front of the gymnateria, singing songs from around the world. Long, beautiful songs, accompanied by complex, fun to watch dance moves. Naomi and her peeps sang first, with the Kindergartners as well. It was an African welcome song. The kids danced and sang so well. I was practically in tears the whole time (which was a little embarrassing). Not just for my kid's song, I hasten to add.

I should add that Muriel was wearing a new set of Chinesey clothes (shirt and pants) and she looked like a million dollars. I should also take this opportunity to confess that I completely spaced the part where I have to REGISTER HER FOR KINDERGARTEN. Here is how badly I spaced it. Every day for a week or two I walked right through a door at school to pick up Naomi from her after school program, and saw a flier for Kindergarten registration night, and EVERY time I thought to myself, aw, cute! New little Kindergarteners! And not once did I think, I have one of those! This should reassure any doubters that two is the right number of kids for us. If I had any more I would be leaving them here and there.

Hearts and Flowers

I missed two days, noooooooo! Here is what happened Sunday that I should have posted on quickly and knocked one out. After church we went to the conveyor belt sushi place for lunch. It's kind of a thing. So much so in fact that the kids that used to plead and wheedle for that place are all bored and aggravated when we suggest (announce) eating there. On the way we stopped for a months-overdue car wash. The kids really like going through the car wash. You'd think we would go more often. Huh.

Anyway, 0ne of the many fine features of the conveyor belt sushi place is 80s Sundays, by which I mean the overly loud muzak mix skews heavily 80s. Time After Time! But this past Sunday, to our surprise, it was all 70s, and the second song they played was, wait for it, "At the Car Wash," or whatever that song is called. You know the one. Where they say, "Working at the car wash!" over and over. Naomi heard it and was amazed. "We were just at the car wash! And now here is a song about it! It's like one of Jesus' miracles!"

So, Monday's post would have maybe said that I ran my first meeting as the new me at my job, and it was only so so. Whatever, I'll figure it out. Short post!

And now, Tuesday. Lovely Valentiney Tuesday. Red Velvet Pancake Mix from Cost Plus World Market is a buy. Buy, Buy, Buy! We had them (clumsy, heart-shaped) with strawberries and Reddi Wip. The girls opened their little Valentine gifts, the crocheted heart scarves (which I finished yesterday) were revealed, many handmade Valentines were exchanged. Rover the (toy) dog ate cake made from beads and lentils with his animal homies. (Valentine's Day is his birthday.) Tonight after gymnastics we ate heart-shaped pizza and an overly sweet strawberry shortcake that no one could finish. It's the kind of dessert that makes you anxious to get your teeth brushed.

So I am putting my sweet beloveds to bed, and Naomi says, is Eff You See Kay a bad word? I say, why yes it is. She says, but what does it mean? And I say, huh, well, and she says, does it mean like (and she leans way in so she can whisper in my ear) Stupid? I told her I need to think about how to explain what it means. She suggests that I Google it.

So, um, Happy Valentine's Day!

I Wanna Dance with Somebody

I have no time to post- too sleepy and so forth, and have the last third of a movie to watch and the last fifth of a scarf to crochet. But I will say that I remember SO fondly that video of Whitney in her gray jersey knit dress wanting to dance with somebody. She wanted to feel the heat with somebody. Somebody who loved her! I was officially a Talking Heads fan, and a Clash fan, but I totally loved her. That's probably not the way she meant. Anyway, R.I.P. Whitney.

Ballet Friday

Today was the ballet field trip. I worked at home for a little bit, then rushed to the local Korean market to ask if they have an ATM. The cashier took his earbuds out, heard my question, and the very generously didn't laugh as he reminded me that there was a BANK OF AMERICA sharing the same parking lot. Duh. So, ATM for my chaperone admission fee. Wait, ATMs only give twenties, and the fee is ten. So to the ATM, and then inside to get the nice Bank of America teller to change my twenty for two tens.

And then of course I thought of this SNL skit.

So, the bus. Our class got a bus all to ourselves. There are three first grade classes. Two fifth grade classes were going as well. You don't want to split up class groups, with the teacher-organized delicately balanced chaperone/student formations. So our class got a bus. Sweet. The driver, Irene, was super worst-case scenario, and briefed all the moms on the location of the fire extinguisher and the Bodily Fluid Cleanup Kit. We got to the Seattle Center, walked up our twelve flights of stairs, fit ourselves into the allotted rows, and watched us some ballet.

The company wisely shortened the production, down to an hour. Even though there was a guy explaining what was happening, it was hard for me to follow the plot. I loved the dancing toreadors, though- there were lots of them, and except for the main one, they all had pink capes. During the anti-intermission, they showed how they move the scenery around to make an outside scene into an inside one. They demonstrated differences in lighting. They demonstrated some percussion instruments, then a violin and a French horn.

My favorite parts were when they tossed Sancho Panza into the air repeatedly, and every time the lights went down, because that would cause the three thousand kids in the audience to scream like mad. I wonder if the performers enjoy the kids' matinee. I enjoyed it!

I'm Your Puppet

For one of the plot points in the book project that we are rapidly running out of time on, the dog main character goes to the library in search of his cat friend and encounters... a monster. Remember recently when all the toy stores had sweet and not especially scary monsters for sale? They were the size of medium size teddy bears and had one eye or three eyes and were strange colors. They were overpriced, because they were so amazingly creative or whatever. The point is, they were everywhere. So of course I thought I would encounter one, one of these days. Or, when I called around to all the toy stores in the area, that one of them would say, sure, we have a couple of those. But no! No Monsters!

So today at lunch I rolled the dice and hustled on over to Goodwill. At Goodwill, they have an aisle of toys, and half of the aisle, on one side, on four or five shelves, is filled with stuffed toys. I felt a crackle of excitement. This is a locally famous Goodwill. They get a lot of good stuff at this Goodwill. So I had to think that they would have a handful of sweet, amazingly creative one-eyed blue monsters in the assortment. I began to search. Hurriedly. Start at this end of the top shelf, work to the other end. Down a level. So. Many. Stuffed toys. And while many of the toys were in fact monstrous (I'm looking at you, lifelike gorilla wearing a leprechaun suit), none of them were monsters.

I was down to the very bottom shelf, working across, wondering if I could swing some kind of DIY custom job to turn this extremely ugly orange bulldog into a convincing monster. The Goodwill soundtrack, I swear this is true, was playing a song I do not know from the seventies (judging by its adjacents) in which the chorus proclaimed, "I'm your puppet..." And then, I saw him. Green. Googly eyes. Horrible teeth. Worn out fur. Not amazingly creative. Not soft, cuddly blue microfiber, vintage 2010. Not even a little bit cute. And yes, a puppet. This is like a sign from the universe that we have to complete our creative project. The universe, or the seventies.

Highs and Lows

I am elated, no exaggeration, because I had this little swirl of yarn left, and had to get all the way around the scarf with my cheesy scallop border in order to finish up Muriel's pink scarf. I can't believe it made it. It made it!

I am also glum, a bit, because the pink scarf (very light pink) with the kind of red velvet color border around it just does not look that nice. And Naomi's is going to be the same dark red color, but with the light pink around it. I thoroughly enjoy crocheting, but how I wish I were better at the color choosing. It's not my strong suit!

And, I'm tired. It is past my bed time. That was a lot of yarn work. Also: will I ever get less rusty at this? I can't believe how out of practice I am. Oh! Before I forget, I set up an after school program at Naomi's school- a science class that runs once a week for six weeks. Today was the first one, and it was mobbed with little future science nerds. Woo hoo! Ok, g'night.

Like Weeds!

This morning Jim had the girls stand up against the wood side of the oven cabinet thing, where he measures them. I'm not sure how this got started, but there are progressive notches all up the side. You can't see the marks unless you get very close.

Anyway, the point is, it has not just been our imagination. The kids are sprouting! Both of them have grown an inch since December.

Today I ran out at lunch to the Cost Plus, where in the extremely well-stocked candy department I had previously run across those candy buttons on long strips of paper that we used to get at Farrell's ice cream parlor, way back in the mists of time. I was hoping to find them again, since Naomi and I were planning to make these valentines this year. They were not hanging where I saw them last. But upon frantically summoning a sales associate, I immediately stumbled back upon them. Happens every time.

So...gotta get to work on those valentines! I should have bought some for Muriel- her teacher mentioned something about no candy, and the candy buttons are definitely candy. Hmm. In the meantime, Happy Tuesday!

Monday Again?

I should tell you first that Jim has taken a number of photos for the kid's book, and they are Cute. I can't wait to finish up and put the book together. He has also acquired some kind of keyboard thing that hooks up to the computer, and that you can sing into and record. It is a creativity explosion up in here.

I should tell you second that I just read an article that someone just linked to about the five regrets of the dying. Of course one of them was, "I wish I hadn't worked so much." Sigh.

So now I will tell you that I have a new role at work. Same project, same product, same team, new release, and new role. I am excited about the change, kind of. I admit that I am worried that I am inviting extra stress into my life. And I am almost sure that I am inviting extra work into my life. But it's a good change, and will be interesting and challenging. Wish me luck.

We are reading another Boxcar Children mystery, and I love the way the girls surprise me every night with their attention and comprehension. Also, we found the half-finished James and the Giant Peach behind the bed. We can solve our own mysteries, thank you very much. Though we would have fewer if we tidied up more often.

3D Real

Another weekend over already? And I have about ten minutes to post, because I have to crochet and watch Downton Abbey. And take my damn Geritol.

Today while Jim went to Home Depot, the girls and I went to eat frozen yogurt and watch Beauty and the Beast in 3D. The kids got "commemorative" take home 3D glasses, and Muriel managed to absorb the name of the 3D brand (is that right? Can 3D be branded?), except she got it flipped around, so she called it 3D Real. Which is squarely in the broad category of "why correct?"

"Beauty and the Beast" shows its age a mite, I'm not going to lie. There are bits of it that are so goofy, old-school animation (mostly the chummy violent bits that involve townspeople and Gaston). And I cringe a bit at the cultural elite angle in the opening song. Read a book, for heaven's sake, people! Heh. But I still loved it. Muriel sniffled in the appropriate spots (that girl), and was terrified most of the rest of the time. Still a fun outing, and we got back just in time to see Madonna's half-time show. Super.

Storyboard!

What should I be doing right now? What will I be doing, when I stop doing this? Actually, a couple of things. I should be finishing the border on the cheesy valentine scarves that I am crocheting for the girls. I should be enjoying some green tea. I should be scrounging for some dessert food that I know is not in my house. I should be sleeping. But the real thing I need to do- storyboarding!

Oh, look. Jim just brought me the tea. Perhaps I can outsource the dessert scrounging as well?

Anyway, we are planning a birthday present for Naomi- a book starring her two favorite stuffed toys. Can you believe she will be SEVEN month? Wow! But tomorrow I have the kids away in the afternoon, and Jim has agreed to shoot as many of the pictures as he can for the book. So I have to get the scenes put together tonight, while scrounging for dessert and watching some dreck on the watch it now. Hmm. Should be quite a Saturday!

Donkey Ho-tay

This is going to be short, as I am headed out for a raucous night of chip eating and margarita drinking. But let me announce, with great pride, that my name was chosen from the hat, and I get to accompany the first graders to a BALLET! Which until this evening, Naomi thought was about a donkey. Hee Haw!

Privacy

I just got home from a PTA meeting. It was OK- more interesting to me than the last one. I was starving, so the free pizza was extra delicious. I was flummoxed as usual by how they all seem to know all the rules you have to follow in order to do anything. I have a lot to learn.

One of my roles at the PTA is that I am a "rep" to the local foundation that raises money to plug "funding gaps" for the school district. Ah, air quotes, going from air back to actual printed words. Anyway, I actually prepared for once and blathered on to the other attendees about all the good work that the foundation does. Plugging gaps!

Anyway, they (the foundation) have a FB page. Our PTA has a FB page. One other organization that came and blathered a lot more than I did has a FB page. When I got home I tried to explain to Jim why some part of me wants to get an alter ego FB account, because then I would feel more comfortable engaging with all these other FB entities, without having to expose my own real life to a bunch of people I don't know well. He said, what are you posting to FB?!

But that isn't it. I just want to be able to learn and connect and all that, without thinking twice about posting photos of my kids napping on the Ikea showbed. And yet, someone who played saxophone in the band who I barely knew and never speak to, virtually or otherwise, needs to see those photos, while the nice moms of the PTA get my as yet nonexistent secondary slightly fake self? I need to think about this one a little more. Or read up on the privacy settings.

Seven Months and Change

Well, it's February, and this must mean it's time for daily posts. I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, what? This is still a living, breathing site? Can that be true? And you are reading this months after I post it, because you really gave up ever coming here and only stumbled upon it quite by accident when you clicked the wrong link. I don't hold a grudge. I was overly absent. It's on me.

So anyway, it seems like I should be able to pull off daily posts, because after all, I haven't told you guys anything that's been going on for like, EVER. But for tonight, we'll stick with tonight. Tonight was Skating Night at the local rink, sponsored by the PTA and for our elementary school only. Ironically, they spelled the name of the school wrong on the sign. Sigh. We skated in circles, listened to pop music, reveled in black lights, hokey pokied. Naomi is very, very keen on skating. It is so fun to watch her. The first few times we went, she looked like a little marching robot. Now she has gotten the hang of it, and glides around pretty convincingly. I still look wobbly. Skating is new when you haven't done it in, mmm, 25 years or something? It doesn't say anything good about me that I seemed to get better when they played the Bee Gees.

See you tomorrow!