...got one.
And kind of on a whim. Last weekend John and had the chance to play on our friends' console and we became hooked on the Wii. We decided we needed to add one to our household. Now. For Christmas...at least for End of Year Bonus Time. Good enough reason to spend money, right?
Of course, it is only a week to Christmas and we were getting in on the hottest game in town. John spent last week looking for deals and getting to know the delivery schedules of the closest Wii dealers. Target looked good...Costco had a package deal..and there was the game store right around the corner...the breakdown went like this:
Costco gets them in at various times but only puts them out in the morning because of the pandemonium they cause.
Target gets a regular shipment Sunday morning.
Game Stop has a delivery on Friday between 10 AM and 1 PM.
Disadvantages?
Costco bundle is $500 and still has only one controller. Not such a great deal, plus you have to call everyday to see of they might put some out the next morning.
Game Stop wait time is hard on jobs and babies. More on that later.
Target is an early-rise job. And "everyone" knows when they get their shipment. So it can get crazy in line.
Friday I went to Game Stop after John told me they might have gotten their shipment in. I was in the store about 10:30 and a small group had gathered. Numbers were passed around. I was took the #5 spot form a man who was believed to have left the store. The other folks in the store knew what the delivery woman looked like. They had been here before. Apparently this store only gets a handful of units at a time...and they always instantly sell out. I had the Bee with me so I wasn't going to wait past 11 AM. We had a park date to get to. Just as I was getting ready to go, word arrived that the delivery woman was on her way. The store became more and more excited...one woman groaned that she was going to lose her job (she was on a loong lunch) but she couldn't leave--not this close to success. Another woman shared the fact that she had been trying for a Wii since November and still hadn't been able to secure one. She was #1 in line this time and wasn't going anywhere.
The Wii's were counted. Six units. I actually got a bit excited. I was five, after all, and this was our FIRST attempt to get a Wii. John's sussing out of the situation had payed off.
Then, sadness. The original #5 came back into the store. He hadn't really left--he had been pacing in front of the building. I was bumped to #7 and out of the running.
Oh well.
The Costco "deal" wasn't much of one, so John and I decided to skip that madness.
That left Target and Sunday, this, morning. John set the coffee pot last night and the alarm for 5:45 AM. He was up and out and in line by 6:10. He ended up with the #13 spot for a double holiday shipment of Wii's totaling 90! Woo-hoo! Wii-ness had been secured...along with extra controllers and nunchucks and games. Many games. In fact we returned later on in the day and purchased another game.
Check out his experience in line waiting
here.
Live blogging from the iPhone. Aren't we cool? And when I say "we" I mean "John".
So we have a new time sink addiction. And it is fun. But we did manage to get other grown-up things done today as well so we still have balance in our lives. And I might gain more as I learn to use that wii controller...
Showing posts with label general notes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label general notes. Show all posts
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Bless You!
Yesterday I was changing Maia and had one of my ever-present sneezing fits. When I finished sneezing I glanced down at Maia who looked up at me and said, "Bless you".
Moments like that make a heart melt.
Moments like that make a heart melt.
Friday, November 30, 2007
The End of the Grand Experiment
Hats off to all of you who made it through the grand experiment of NaBloPoMo.
While I will, after this post, have the "required" 30 posts for the month of November...sadly...I did not manage to post every day. I don't think multiple posts count for NaBloPoMo.
I did enjoy the exercise. I miss writing. Even if it's just simple journaling for myself. I also discovered I am much more of a "mommy blogger" than I intended to be. But right now, I am using this space to save everyday stories...and Maia is my everyday story. I will be fun one day to print (perhaps, if we still do that sort of thing) and Bind (how retro) these Maia memories and give them to her. I love to hear stories about myself from back before I can remember. I hope she will too.
I also hope to keep some of this writing momentum going. I realized I don't have to write a novel for each post. I don't even have to have something interesting to say. I just need to be able to find the one point from my day that the rest of my day turned on. The quick distillation of gathered daylight hours. A story to remember a day by.
Because there might be a time when these days are the ones "before I can remember" and I think that would be a great loss.
Keep writing.
While I will, after this post, have the "required" 30 posts for the month of November...sadly...I did not manage to post every day. I don't think multiple posts count for NaBloPoMo.
I did enjoy the exercise. I miss writing. Even if it's just simple journaling for myself. I also discovered I am much more of a "mommy blogger" than I intended to be. But right now, I am using this space to save everyday stories...and Maia is my everyday story. I will be fun one day to print (perhaps, if we still do that sort of thing) and Bind (how retro) these Maia memories and give them to her. I love to hear stories about myself from back before I can remember. I hope she will too.
I also hope to keep some of this writing momentum going. I realized I don't have to write a novel for each post. I don't even have to have something interesting to say. I just need to be able to find the one point from my day that the rest of my day turned on. The quick distillation of gathered daylight hours. A story to remember a day by.
Because there might be a time when these days are the ones "before I can remember" and I think that would be a great loss.
Keep writing.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The World May Never Know...
The guys/gals at John's office didn't save me a piece! Boo. I'll never know how that chocolate-ginger combination worked.
In other news:
I've just about completed my Christmas Excel spreadsheet. With this powerful tool in hand I will be able to shop until I drop and get 'er done within the next week or so. In case you were wondering how crazy I got with the spreadsheet. Well. Columns with the name of the recipient, followed by gift, where to purchase, if it has been purchased, budget/price. If only I were as organized about everything else.
I'm also planning Christmas treats in the form of baked goods, candy and jelly. Another spreadsheet waiting to be be created.
Tomorrow Maia and I, along with her friends Miss A and Master D, are going for Christmas pictures. We've not had professional pictures of all three kids done, so I'm very excited about the prospect...and nervous to see how Maia takes to it.
As Master D's mom said when I asked about lunch afterward: "Lunch? Yes. We're going to need a drink after this!" Wish us all the best of luck. Especially the photographer.
In other news:
I've just about completed my Christmas Excel spreadsheet. With this powerful tool in hand I will be able to shop until I drop and get 'er done within the next week or so. In case you were wondering how crazy I got with the spreadsheet. Well. Columns with the name of the recipient, followed by gift, where to purchase, if it has been purchased, budget/price. If only I were as organized about everything else.
I'm also planning Christmas treats in the form of baked goods, candy and jelly. Another spreadsheet waiting to be be created.
Tomorrow Maia and I, along with her friends Miss A and Master D, are going for Christmas pictures. We've not had professional pictures of all three kids done, so I'm very excited about the prospect...and nervous to see how Maia takes to it.
As Master D's mom said when I asked about lunch afterward: "Lunch? Yes. We're going to need a drink after this!" Wish us all the best of luck. Especially the photographer.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Back to Basics
I am a lover of cakes. Not so much eating them, although I do enjoy that, but baking them. I'd rather bake you a fantastic cake for some wonderful reason than just make one for myself. This is why I loved being a pastry grunt. I got to bake fantastic cakes for lots of "you" for many wonderful occasions.
And I didn't have to eat them. Although that part is OK too.
For this cake decorating class I've been looking at all kinds of fun cake recipes because it gives me a chance to do what I love. Today is kind of rushed. I need a cake this evening. One that is frosted and ready to decorate. I didn't bake last night. I still have to buy ingredients to make my frosting. I have a daughter who has her music class later on this morning. I needed to bake a cake fast.
All the "fun" recipes I've been wanting to do take too much time to get done in just under an hour. Some include ingredients I don't have on hand after being away for a week. Feeling frustrated, I looked back into my pastry past and pulled out a great chocolate cake recipe. The batter comes together in just over five minutes--about the time it takes to boil the water for the first step--bakes up in about 25-30 minutes and goes great with anything frosting wise. It also freezes well and can be baked into sheets to be cut for tiny cakes. Simple, versatile, and delicious.
The originator of the recipe is lost to me. I picked it up from my second pastry chef and I have since passed it along to the bakery I worked for. I've used it for all kinds of fun cakes and today I added crystallized ginger chips for an exotic flair. I'll frost with cream cheese and decorate with roses tonight.
And I'm going to share the "home cook" version with you. The ingredients are given in weights, because I had to scale the amounts down from an industrial-sized recipe. So bust out your kitchen scale and get baking next time company calls...
Midnight Cake
Makes two 8" round cakes.
Ingredients
10 1/4 oz. Sugar
2 oz Cocoa Powder (NOT Dutch Process)
1 1/2 cups Boiling Water
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
2 large Eggs
9 1/2 oz. AP Flour
1/4 oz. Baking Soda
Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8" round cake pans. Begin water boiling while measuring out the rest of the ingredients. Note: I usually prep the oil and eggs together in a measuring cup, and whisk the flour and baking soda together in a small bowl. This makes it really easy to put the batter together.
In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and cocoa powder. Pour hot water over mixture and blend. Whisk in the oil and eggs. Sift the flour and baking soda over the wet mixture, then whisk. Batter will be very wet and look lumpy. That's OK.
Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes until cake is set, puffy and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out of pan and let cool completely before filling, frosting, or otherwise finishing off the cake.
Enjoy!
And I didn't have to eat them. Although that part is OK too.
For this cake decorating class I've been looking at all kinds of fun cake recipes because it gives me a chance to do what I love. Today is kind of rushed. I need a cake this evening. One that is frosted and ready to decorate. I didn't bake last night. I still have to buy ingredients to make my frosting. I have a daughter who has her music class later on this morning. I needed to bake a cake fast.
All the "fun" recipes I've been wanting to do take too much time to get done in just under an hour. Some include ingredients I don't have on hand after being away for a week. Feeling frustrated, I looked back into my pastry past and pulled out a great chocolate cake recipe. The batter comes together in just over five minutes--about the time it takes to boil the water for the first step--bakes up in about 25-30 minutes and goes great with anything frosting wise. It also freezes well and can be baked into sheets to be cut for tiny cakes. Simple, versatile, and delicious.
The originator of the recipe is lost to me. I picked it up from my second pastry chef and I have since passed it along to the bakery I worked for. I've used it for all kinds of fun cakes and today I added crystallized ginger chips for an exotic flair. I'll frost with cream cheese and decorate with roses tonight.
And I'm going to share the "home cook" version with you. The ingredients are given in weights, because I had to scale the amounts down from an industrial-sized recipe. So bust out your kitchen scale and get baking next time company calls...
Midnight Cake
Makes two 8" round cakes.
Ingredients
10 1/4 oz. Sugar
2 oz Cocoa Powder (NOT Dutch Process)
1 1/2 cups Boiling Water
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
2 large Eggs
9 1/2 oz. AP Flour
1/4 oz. Baking Soda
Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8" round cake pans. Begin water boiling while measuring out the rest of the ingredients. Note: I usually prep the oil and eggs together in a measuring cup, and whisk the flour and baking soda together in a small bowl. This makes it really easy to put the batter together.
In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and cocoa powder. Pour hot water over mixture and blend. Whisk in the oil and eggs. Sift the flour and baking soda over the wet mixture, then whisk. Batter will be very wet and look lumpy. That's OK.
Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes until cake is set, puffy and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out of pan and let cool completely before filling, frosting, or otherwise finishing off the cake.
Enjoy!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Ah Well, Blew this Month Off
I tried.
I really, really, tried.
But there should be some forgiveness for me because slow Internet is physically painful for me.
The thought of the dial tone. The choppy connection. Typing on a computer that wasn't mine. All of these things lead to very serious barriers to entry when one thinks about blogging. Especially after a long day of cooking, laughing, shopping, eating, reading and playing with the baby.
Mea culpa. I'll do better next year.
But I'll bravely post forward for the few remaining days of NaBloPoMo November.
We're back home safe and sound and well, well, maybe not so well, rested (there are many reasons to NOT sleep in the same room, let alone bed, as your child that I am painfully reminded of whenever we travel with her). Had lovely pizza for dinner with our cat-sitting neighbors. I now need to check up on e-mails and plan Christmas presents.
Let the madness begin!
I really, really, tried.
But there should be some forgiveness for me because slow Internet is physically painful for me.
The thought of the dial tone. The choppy connection. Typing on a computer that wasn't mine. All of these things lead to very serious barriers to entry when one thinks about blogging. Especially after a long day of cooking, laughing, shopping, eating, reading and playing with the baby.
Mea culpa. I'll do better next year.
But I'll bravely post forward for the few remaining days of NaBloPoMo November.
We're back home safe and sound and well, well, maybe not so well, rested (there are many reasons to NOT sleep in the same room, let alone bed, as your child that I am painfully reminded of whenever we travel with her). Had lovely pizza for dinner with our cat-sitting neighbors. I now need to check up on e-mails and plan Christmas presents.
Let the madness begin!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
And We're Off...At Some Point
Thanksgiving is being spent with John's family this year. We have an every-other winter holiday every-other year schedule going on. This schedule was started before John and I had our own family and it mainly concerns splitting time in the airplane. John's co-owner and he worked out a year to year schedule that covers who gets the plane when. It's almost as elaborate as a custody agreement.
This year is our year to have the plane for Thanksgiving...
I began this post first thing this morning in my living room. I am now at the kitchen counter of my in-laws house in Idaho.
Going by small plane has a special set of restrictions. Most often weather related. Sometimes weight related. But, usually it's the weather. We don't go as high as a commercial flight, so clouds and wind are very real stopping factors for us. Add in the seasonal joys of ice and rain and you have to be flexible with your travel plans. I packed yesterday. I packed for a week. All three of us in our large suitcase. I was planning on being able to go whenever we could. The flight is about 3.5 hours...the drive? 14. We really wanted to be able to take the plane.
Yesterday, John and sister Ari-belle replaced a wonky generator in the airplane. It took about 5 good hours of work. Then and oil change needed to be done. John didn't have a filter...so there was some more work that needed to be completed before we could away. But in checking the weather last night, it looked as though a fairly bad front was on the move over the mountain ranges we would have to cross. It didn't look like we would be able to get going until Tuesday.
We woke up this morning and looked at the weather again. Nope. Didn't look like good flying weather. We were fogged in on our end with rain over here and nice cold, icy, clouds in between.
So we did what any normal kids would do. We talked about driving and then headed to breakfast. As we were finishing up pancakes and omelets at our favorite breakfast joint, John whips out the iPhone (ed. note: I love the iPhone. I want one someday. But for now I am content to bask in the glory of my husband's.) and again checks the weather. And what do you know? A nice six hour window of smooth, albeit windy, flying has opened up for us. We scramble for the house, gather up the last of our things and hit the road to the airport. John finishes up the work on the plane, all looks good and we strap in.
The flight was better than John had expected. Fairly smooth until the last 40 minutes or so. Maia did great, we have a couple of cute pictures of her "flying" the plane that I'll post later on. She played a bit and mostly napped. She hated her headphones so I let her keep them off, but she had her ear plugs in and her headband on, so she was still protected from the engine noise.
All in all: Wheels up to wheels down took us 2 hours and 55 minutes. In the car we would have barely left California in that amount of time.
So we are here and ready to relax. It'll be nice to have a week to spend with John's folks. We don't get up here enough. If we had more flying days like today...we would get out more often. We had a very lucky break, and I for one am very glad for it.
Posts will most likely be kind of slim...surprise surprise...while here. The folks are kind of in the boondocks and only have *gasp* DIAL UP INTERNET. With a wire and everything. I will continue to NaBloPoMo.
And I'll tell you all about my pie. Well, my future Thanksgiving pie, that is.
This year is our year to have the plane for Thanksgiving...
I began this post first thing this morning in my living room. I am now at the kitchen counter of my in-laws house in Idaho.
Going by small plane has a special set of restrictions. Most often weather related. Sometimes weight related. But, usually it's the weather. We don't go as high as a commercial flight, so clouds and wind are very real stopping factors for us. Add in the seasonal joys of ice and rain and you have to be flexible with your travel plans. I packed yesterday. I packed for a week. All three of us in our large suitcase. I was planning on being able to go whenever we could. The flight is about 3.5 hours...the drive? 14. We really wanted to be able to take the plane.
Yesterday, John and sister Ari-belle replaced a wonky generator in the airplane. It took about 5 good hours of work. Then and oil change needed to be done. John didn't have a filter...so there was some more work that needed to be completed before we could away. But in checking the weather last night, it looked as though a fairly bad front was on the move over the mountain ranges we would have to cross. It didn't look like we would be able to get going until Tuesday.
We woke up this morning and looked at the weather again. Nope. Didn't look like good flying weather. We were fogged in on our end with rain over here and nice cold, icy, clouds in between.
So we did what any normal kids would do. We talked about driving and then headed to breakfast. As we were finishing up pancakes and omelets at our favorite breakfast joint, John whips out the iPhone (ed. note: I love the iPhone. I want one someday. But for now I am content to bask in the glory of my husband's.) and again checks the weather. And what do you know? A nice six hour window of smooth, albeit windy, flying has opened up for us. We scramble for the house, gather up the last of our things and hit the road to the airport. John finishes up the work on the plane, all looks good and we strap in.
The flight was better than John had expected. Fairly smooth until the last 40 minutes or so. Maia did great, we have a couple of cute pictures of her "flying" the plane that I'll post later on. She played a bit and mostly napped. She hated her headphones so I let her keep them off, but she had her ear plugs in and her headband on, so she was still protected from the engine noise.
All in all: Wheels up to wheels down took us 2 hours and 55 minutes. In the car we would have barely left California in that amount of time.
So we are here and ready to relax. It'll be nice to have a week to spend with John's folks. We don't get up here enough. If we had more flying days like today...we would get out more often. We had a very lucky break, and I for one am very glad for it.
Posts will most likely be kind of slim...surprise surprise...while here. The folks are kind of in the boondocks and only have *gasp* DIAL UP INTERNET. With a wire and everything. I will continue to NaBloPoMo.
And I'll tell you all about my pie. Well, my future Thanksgiving pie, that is.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Sick Again?
I think all this blogging is taking it's toll. I am sick once again. This time the cold has settled firmly in the throat and upper chest. Hack. Hack. Sore throat.
No fair.
John comes home tonight to a sick wife and a baby who is becoming feverish. What a fun weekend we'll have!
No fair.
John comes home tonight to a sick wife and a baby who is becoming feverish. What a fun weekend we'll have!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
BUSTED!
Aii-yah. I fell asleep on the couch last night and woke up after midnight. So now I have missed a day of NaBloPoMo-ing.
I plead lots of things: A baby day---always busy. Waiting to see if my drop-ship food order was going to arrive in time for me to pick it up. Nope. Running off to Oakland to help my sister with her car, then wait with my dad's wife while he was in surgery. Long wait. But he's just fine. Catch dinner with said sister. Go home. Put very tired baby to sleep and pass out on the couch.
I'm tired. Like I usually am. And my cold is back. Whaa-whaa whaaa.
So maybe if I post twice today, you'll forgive me. Maybe I'll post a picture of my incredible daughter (who just woke up) and you'll forget all about missing a day.
She is just that cute.
I plead lots of things: A baby day---always busy. Waiting to see if my drop-ship food order was going to arrive in time for me to pick it up. Nope. Running off to Oakland to help my sister with her car, then wait with my dad's wife while he was in surgery. Long wait. But he's just fine. Catch dinner with said sister. Go home. Put very tired baby to sleep and pass out on the couch.
I'm tired. Like I usually am. And my cold is back. Whaa-whaa whaaa.
So maybe if I post twice today, you'll forgive me. Maybe I'll post a picture of my incredible daughter (who just woke up) and you'll forget all about missing a day.
She is just that cute.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
30 Minutes to Midnight
Whew! Almost missed a day...couldn't let that happen now could we?
Our day:
Woke up. Hung out. Folded diapers (finally). Fed the Maia, napped the Maia. Planned a cake. Bought missing ingredients for said cake. Will frost and decorate cake tomorrow in class and post pictures. Read my book.
Decided to make the men stop staring at computer screens.
Jumped in the car and drove to San Francisco. Stopped at In'N'Out. Felt slightly guilty about feeding Maia fast food while she was strapped into her car seat. Now she is truly an American.
Went on walk about in Aquatic Park. Saw oil-covered birds. Felt bad about said birds. Checked out the ships at Hyde Pier. Loved the steam ferry.
Took Maia to the slightly inappropriate Buena Vista Cafe to celebrate 55 years of Irish Coffee. We were joined by a family with a six-year-old in tow who used the excuse "We're Irish!" to cover for the fact that they were essentially taking a child to a bar. As were we. As we have before. Hey, if they serve food, and they do, it's legal. Regardless of whether or not we buy any. Our response to them was "Hey, he's not the youngest here!" So they joined us and the adults had more Irish Coffees and the kids sipped milk.
As an aside...Maia has been to several places just this side of inappropriate. All over Europe. Smokey cafes while sleeping in the stroller. Momma having a beer with lunch. And Alaska. Juneau was the best. Saw dust. Fire retardant. Two rounds of beer. A story for another time.
Dinner after drinks. Tried a touristy place that turned out to be nice. Good food. Nice wine. Jazz trio that Maia enjoyed.
Ghirardelli square for ice cream sundae dessert.
Home again!
Lunch with my mom tomorrow. Seeing John off for the week. I'll be batchin' it. So that means I will be posting for sure...so John can keep up with the news.
Our day:
Woke up. Hung out. Folded diapers (finally). Fed the Maia, napped the Maia. Planned a cake. Bought missing ingredients for said cake. Will frost and decorate cake tomorrow in class and post pictures. Read my book.
Decided to make the men stop staring at computer screens.
Jumped in the car and drove to San Francisco. Stopped at In'N'Out. Felt slightly guilty about feeding Maia fast food while she was strapped into her car seat. Now she is truly an American.
Went on walk about in Aquatic Park. Saw oil-covered birds. Felt bad about said birds. Checked out the ships at Hyde Pier. Loved the steam ferry.
Took Maia to the slightly inappropriate Buena Vista Cafe to celebrate 55 years of Irish Coffee. We were joined by a family with a six-year-old in tow who used the excuse "We're Irish!" to cover for the fact that they were essentially taking a child to a bar. As were we. As we have before. Hey, if they serve food, and they do, it's legal. Regardless of whether or not we buy any. Our response to them was "Hey, he's not the youngest here!" So they joined us and the adults had more Irish Coffees and the kids sipped milk.
As an aside...Maia has been to several places just this side of inappropriate. All over Europe. Smokey cafes while sleeping in the stroller. Momma having a beer with lunch. And Alaska. Juneau was the best. Saw dust. Fire retardant. Two rounds of beer. A story for another time.
Dinner after drinks. Tried a touristy place that turned out to be nice. Good food. Nice wine. Jazz trio that Maia enjoyed.
Ghirardelli square for ice cream sundae dessert.
Home again!
Lunch with my mom tomorrow. Seeing John off for the week. I'll be batchin' it. So that means I will be posting for sure...so John can keep up with the news.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Lazy Day...Scratchy Throat
Worst night of sleep in a long time. I hate the drippy nose just getting a cold feeling. I woke up just about every hour just feeling bad. Hot. Then cold. Then dry and scratchy. Plus, I had weirdly intense dreams. Not a good night for sleep.
So we took it easy today. Nice and easy. John's dad is in town for a visit so we began the day with a breakfast trip to The Cats for Southern Lovin'. Then the boys geeked out at the Apple store and I bought Christmas pj's for Maia (not at the Apple store...but down the street). So cute! And on sale!
The guys took me and the little Miss home where the girls had lunch and then napped for a couple of hours. The boys went off to do more boy stuff.
Got up. Puttered around. Built a block fortress for Maia to knock down. It's funny. When I was little, I HATED for my brother to come and knock my block towers down. I used to get so mad at him. Now I build towers for maximum knock-down-age. She makes this really funny "squee" when she knocks things down. Somehow, it's the best sound in the world.
Out for dinner. And now, as a group of adults, we are all sitting in the living room with a laptop apiece not speaking. Very valley.
John is going to update me to "Leopard" so I think I will have some tea for my scratchy throat and actually read a book. Maybe under the covers in some yummy pj's. Listen to the patter of rain and go to sleep early. A nice way to cap of a nice lazy day.
So we took it easy today. Nice and easy. John's dad is in town for a visit so we began the day with a breakfast trip to The Cats for Southern Lovin'. Then the boys geeked out at the Apple store and I bought Christmas pj's for Maia (not at the Apple store...but down the street). So cute! And on sale!
The guys took me and the little Miss home where the girls had lunch and then napped for a couple of hours. The boys went off to do more boy stuff.
Got up. Puttered around. Built a block fortress for Maia to knock down. It's funny. When I was little, I HATED for my brother to come and knock my block towers down. I used to get so mad at him. Now I build towers for maximum knock-down-age. She makes this really funny "squee" when she knocks things down. Somehow, it's the best sound in the world.
Out for dinner. And now, as a group of adults, we are all sitting in the living room with a laptop apiece not speaking. Very valley.
John is going to update me to "Leopard" so I think I will have some tea for my scratchy throat and actually read a book. Maybe under the covers in some yummy pj's. Listen to the patter of rain and go to sleep early. A nice way to cap of a nice lazy day.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Well, That was Awkward
Well, as Tori Amos would say: "Caught a Light Sneeze"...I suppose that's one of the pitfalls of motherhood. Maia has a snotty nose, and I have the cold as well. Yuck. So that's my excuse for a short post.
Let me share a story of my day with you:
I went and did errands. That's what I do. You know, grocery store and the like. I stopped by Walgreen's Drugstore ti pick up some pregnancy tests. And No. I am not pregnant as my Aunt Flow made very clear with her arrival later on in my day. But, I am trying to get pregnant...and I get kind of obsessive about having pregnancy tests around. I was out. So I needed to get some. Because if my dear auntie hadn't shown up, well. This would have been the weekend to test.
I have Maia in hand. I pop in to the store and find my isle. Ever buy a pregnancy test? They have a kind of weird isle of "Sex" in every drugstore. You'll find "feminine products" next to the condoms and the "personal lubricant". If you're in a big drugstore it will be called the "Family Planning" isle.
I don't care. I just need the tests. I wander down the usually empty isle and there is a man standing right where I need to be. I'm not sure if he's buying condoms or personal lubricant...but he stops dead when he sees me.
We kind of pretend that the other doesn't exist. He just stands there as I decide if I need two tests or three. I decide on two...and take leave of the isle. As I turn to go, I hear my shopping companion begin to breathe again. And that was that.
Let me share a story of my day with you:
I went and did errands. That's what I do. You know, grocery store and the like. I stopped by Walgreen's Drugstore ti pick up some pregnancy tests. And No. I am not pregnant as my Aunt Flow made very clear with her arrival later on in my day. But, I am trying to get pregnant...and I get kind of obsessive about having pregnancy tests around. I was out. So I needed to get some. Because if my dear auntie hadn't shown up, well. This would have been the weekend to test.
I have Maia in hand. I pop in to the store and find my isle. Ever buy a pregnancy test? They have a kind of weird isle of "Sex" in every drugstore. You'll find "feminine products" next to the condoms and the "personal lubricant". If you're in a big drugstore it will be called the "Family Planning" isle.
I don't care. I just need the tests. I wander down the usually empty isle and there is a man standing right where I need to be. I'm not sure if he's buying condoms or personal lubricant...but he stops dead when he sees me.
We kind of pretend that the other doesn't exist. He just stands there as I decide if I need two tests or three. I decide on two...and take leave of the isle. As I turn to go, I hear my shopping companion begin to breathe again. And that was that.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
A Shout-Out to my (blog) Friend
If you think simply putting a few lines on your blog every day this month is a challenge, like I do, then you really need to check out one of my favorite bloggers to see what "crazy" means. Or should I say "Manic"?
That's right Manic Mommy is interviewing various bloggers this month. Her questions are telling, thought provoking (if puke and boobs are what you like to think about), and very, very funny. Bonus YouTube videos included!
Leave a comment and you might be next. Just say "Domestic Valerie" sent me. ;)
That's right Manic Mommy is interviewing various bloggers this month. Her questions are telling, thought provoking (if puke and boobs are what you like to think about), and very, very funny. Bonus YouTube videos included!
Leave a comment and you might be next. Just say "Domestic Valerie" sent me. ;)
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Word of the Day : Ball!
Maia is adding new words every day. This morning she woke up and her first word was "ball"...not her more usual "kitty" or "Hi". All day it was "Ball, ball, ball" broken only by the occasional "baby".
She has enough to talk about, we have four different balls to play with, and that only counts the larger ones.
I only wonder what tomorrow will bring.
She has enough to talk about, we have four different balls to play with, and that only counts the larger ones.
I only wonder what tomorrow will bring.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Four Weeks...Three Cakes
A mommy friend of mine teaches the cake decorating classes at Michaels and my other mommy friend and I have decided to give it a whirl.
For all my "skills" behind the stove and in the oven, I am seriously lacking in the "make it pretty" department. I can not *gasp* make a frosting rose to save my life. I know many of you are rolling eyeballs in my general direction, but really, when you tell people you were in the pastry business they expect certain things. Like frosting roses.
Never mind the pie crust as light as air. The delicate scent of rosemary married in a perfect shortbread crusted lemon bar. The homemade cakes towering and covered in real sugared fruit. Cute cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (I can pipe...I'm not hopeless). No it's all about the frosting bling, in some circles.
Plus, I like pretty. What girl doesn't?
I also like excuses to buy new pastry equipment. And I might be able to pull off some pretty fantastic birthday cakes in the near future.
I'm pretty excited. I love piping bags. And my teacher friend is so much fun. It's been a long time since I took a class simply for pleasure.
I'll post pictures of my efforts here, so you can see what I'm up to. We do get to bake the cakes, so expect something more than a box from me. After all, as my husband would say, I have a reputation to uphold. ;) And he'll be eating the majority of my efforts.
For all my "skills" behind the stove and in the oven, I am seriously lacking in the "make it pretty" department. I can not *gasp* make a frosting rose to save my life. I know many of you are rolling eyeballs in my general direction, but really, when you tell people you were in the pastry business they expect certain things. Like frosting roses.
Never mind the pie crust as light as air. The delicate scent of rosemary married in a perfect shortbread crusted lemon bar. The homemade cakes towering and covered in real sugared fruit. Cute cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (I can pipe...I'm not hopeless). No it's all about the frosting bling, in some circles.
Plus, I like pretty. What girl doesn't?
I also like excuses to buy new pastry equipment. And I might be able to pull off some pretty fantastic birthday cakes in the near future.
I'm pretty excited. I love piping bags. And my teacher friend is so much fun. It's been a long time since I took a class simply for pleasure.
I'll post pictures of my efforts here, so you can see what I'm up to. We do get to bake the cakes, so expect something more than a box from me. After all, as my husband would say, I have a reputation to uphold. ;) And he'll be eating the majority of my efforts.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Dibs!
I've found other bloggers I regularly read participating in this monster called National Blog Posting Month aka NaBloPoMo. The difference between others and myself, other than talent, is their ability to post real posts. I have resorted to two sentences and it's only November 4th.
Lord help us when I'm in Idaho for Thanksgiving. I'll have to deal with *shudder* DIAL UP INTERNET. I think that's the worst part about a visit to the northern climes for this girl from the heart of the Silly-Con Valley.
I thought I would take this "extra hour" (really, it's the same hour we lost in the spring) allotted to us by the political machinations of WWI and maybe write a complete story/thought. I'll try at least.
I mentioned that I had a busy day yesterday. In the morning John and I delivered a table and chairs to my sister Natalie, bought a safe from a "unique" woman, and had breakfast. I then went to a baby shower for a friend of mine who is due with her first in December. Then it was back to sister Natalie's apartment for her birthday party. This was the first she had hosted a birthday for herself in her own home...so it was a big deal. That also required a quick trip to buy a present because my original plans fell through.
It was also a "work" day for John. I was fast asleep when he was finally able to come to bed last night. It's been that kind of week(s) for him.
My immediate family was all in attendance last night, so we naturally fell into conversation about the holidays. Who is going to be where for what. My parents are divorced. My dad just remarried to the lovely woman he's been dating for about 5 years. She is also a divorcee with two almost grown children with other family obligations and, of course, my siblings all have different places to be on holidays. Holidays around here are carefully orchestrated productions. I have to keep a running tab years in advance of where my little family needs to be for Thanksgiving/Christmas. It's enough to make one a little less cheerful about the upcoming celebrations of friends and family. Bah-humbug, Holiday Season. I'm tired already, just working out the logistics.
I have, of course, already planned out where John, Maia and I need to be. We're in Idaho with his parents for Thanksgiving. We'll be home for Christmas and I am hosting a Christmas Day Open House. All my family and perhaps assorted friends can drop by anytime during that day and stay for a snack, a meal, and a movie. We'll be playing Christmas classics all day long. I'll have a nice spread. There will be presents under the tree. There will be joy all around. There will be no formal where-the-heck-will-everyone-sit dinner like the last time I tried to host Christmas. I'm looking forward to it.
So the festivities for this year have been sorted. Kind of. At least I know where I'll be.
I leave the party around 8:30 and my brother, Rick, offers to help Maia and I to the car. He says he'd like to speak to me about something. Alright. He has decided that he wants Halloween. Specifically, he wants Maia for Halloween. He wants that to be their special holiday. He loves Halloween and he was musing about how he missed Trick-or-Treating and dressing up. He would love to show Maia the ropes of going door to door and creating a special bond for the two of them over costumes and candy. I am blown away by this. A very sentimental gesture on the part of my usualy stoic brother. How could I resist? I'm loving dressing her up and parading her around...but I really like the handing out the candy part of the evening as well. I'm thinking about how cool a tradition it would be to go out with Uncle Rick on Halloween. I hope we do make it a tradition.
My hour is up. Maia is stirring in her bed and I'm thinking about making breakfast at home. Muffins sound good. I have to check the cupboard, though. Then it's shopping and dinner at dad's to look at honeymoon pictures and play with the wedding gifts. Family stuff. But now I have next Halloween to look forward to.
Have a good day, fellow NaBloPoMo'ers. Check you later.
Lord help us when I'm in Idaho for Thanksgiving. I'll have to deal with *shudder* DIAL UP INTERNET. I think that's the worst part about a visit to the northern climes for this girl from the heart of the Silly-Con Valley.
I thought I would take this "extra hour" (really, it's the same hour we lost in the spring) allotted to us by the political machinations of WWI and maybe write a complete story/thought. I'll try at least.
I mentioned that I had a busy day yesterday. In the morning John and I delivered a table and chairs to my sister Natalie, bought a safe from a "unique" woman, and had breakfast. I then went to a baby shower for a friend of mine who is due with her first in December. Then it was back to sister Natalie's apartment for her birthday party. This was the first she had hosted a birthday for herself in her own home...so it was a big deal. That also required a quick trip to buy a present because my original plans fell through.
It was also a "work" day for John. I was fast asleep when he was finally able to come to bed last night. It's been that kind of week(s) for him.
My immediate family was all in attendance last night, so we naturally fell into conversation about the holidays. Who is going to be where for what. My parents are divorced. My dad just remarried to the lovely woman he's been dating for about 5 years. She is also a divorcee with two almost grown children with other family obligations and, of course, my siblings all have different places to be on holidays. Holidays around here are carefully orchestrated productions. I have to keep a running tab years in advance of where my little family needs to be for Thanksgiving/Christmas. It's enough to make one a little less cheerful about the upcoming celebrations of friends and family. Bah-humbug, Holiday Season. I'm tired already, just working out the logistics.
I have, of course, already planned out where John, Maia and I need to be. We're in Idaho with his parents for Thanksgiving. We'll be home for Christmas and I am hosting a Christmas Day Open House. All my family and perhaps assorted friends can drop by anytime during that day and stay for a snack, a meal, and a movie. We'll be playing Christmas classics all day long. I'll have a nice spread. There will be presents under the tree. There will be joy all around. There will be no formal where-the-heck-will-everyone-sit dinner like the last time I tried to host Christmas. I'm looking forward to it.
So the festivities for this year have been sorted. Kind of. At least I know where I'll be.
I leave the party around 8:30 and my brother, Rick, offers to help Maia and I to the car. He says he'd like to speak to me about something. Alright. He has decided that he wants Halloween. Specifically, he wants Maia for Halloween. He wants that to be their special holiday. He loves Halloween and he was musing about how he missed Trick-or-Treating and dressing up. He would love to show Maia the ropes of going door to door and creating a special bond for the two of them over costumes and candy. I am blown away by this. A very sentimental gesture on the part of my usualy stoic brother. How could I resist? I'm loving dressing her up and parading her around...but I really like the handing out the candy part of the evening as well. I'm thinking about how cool a tradition it would be to go out with Uncle Rick on Halloween. I hope we do make it a tradition.
My hour is up. Maia is stirring in her bed and I'm thinking about making breakfast at home. Muffins sound good. I have to check the cupboard, though. Then it's shopping and dinner at dad's to look at honeymoon pictures and play with the wedding gifts. Family stuff. But now I have next Halloween to look forward to.
Have a good day, fellow NaBloPoMo'ers. Check you later.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Cheating!
OK...so today has been really busy and I am really tired. But to honor my month-long commitment I will post a cheatin' post.
Check out our fun Halloween! John has posted a video he edited for everyones pleasure and pictures of Maia in her Grandma made costume. I made the hair clips.
Here's the link:Halloween
We're hosting the video...have a cup of coffee while it downloads. And enjoy!
Recaps of the madness tomorrow!
Check out our fun Halloween! John has posted a video he edited for everyones pleasure and pictures of Maia in her Grandma made costume. I made the hair clips.
Here's the link:Halloween
We're hosting the video...have a cup of coffee while it downloads. And enjoy!
Recaps of the madness tomorrow!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Quick Tip #2:
Hair dye DOES NOT (especially after sitting all day) clean off easily from my crappy plastic counter tops. Comet (the real abrasive powder in a can) usually does the trick.
Quick Tip:
Hair dye cleans off of tile bathroom floors so much easier than it cleans off of linoleum floors. Just to let you know.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Blueberries
Some quick notes about Maia, because these things should be written down and I am tragicly bad at journaling. No baby book here. Well, maybe someday, but I still need to remember these things.
So:
Maia loves blueberries. They are, hands down, her favorite food. She started eating them around 14 months...right about the time I was getting seriously desperate over her lack of desire to eat any kind of solid food. At least on a semi-regular basis. She ate an entire pint over the course of two meals. I should have slowed her down, but hey. It was something she'd eat.
Over the next few days she consumed a few more pints. And developed a raging diaper rash. Ooops. We slowed the blueberry consumption way down after that. Now, she gets some with breakfast, maybe more with lunch or dinner. We know she's not feeling well if she won't eat blueberries. If she gets a fruit salad, she'll pick the blueberries out first. It's very cute.
She started walking backwards yesterday. Because she can.
Maia has about 15 signs she uses, and 7-9 that she uses on a regular basis. She started signing "please" when she wants something. Or she'll sign "more" if she wants to do something she's done before. Today I asked her if she wanted some blueberries. She signed "please" as her answer.
She doesn't use very many verbal words. I'm not worried. She communicates with us and babbles in sentence patterns. She doesn't like to try new things, unless she's fairly sure she can do it right. I think she'll begin talking a bit later than many of her peers, but she'll begin with sentences. And it will come all at once. Like most things she does.
Maia likes to read books. She'll sit with a book, babble the words and turn the page and babble some more. I need to get a video of her doing that.
Maia started riding her birthday rocking horse. She does it all herself..except for mounting up. She can dismount when she's done riding. That's another activity I need to record.
About two weeks ago she started shape sorting. She loves to sort her wooden blocks that have a clever sorted lid. She'll be occupied for long (for a toddler) stretches of time sorting. Yesterday we got out her sorting box and she was able to sort the more difficult shapes, the star and triangle, with ease.
She's had a runny nose for the past week. Ick. She hates to have have her snot "snortled" with the bulb nose clearer so I've been attacking her with tissues which she only tolerates. This morning she took the tissue and blew her own nose. Right at this moment, she came walking up with a baby wipe and blew her nose all on her own. Baby wipes don't tear like tissues do. That's a good thing.
Maia is beginning to "help" when we get dressed and undressed. She likes to pull her shirts over her head. I'm waiting for her to discover that she can do that particular trick all on her own. Shirtless in the winter. Just what we need.
A quick tooth report: She has her two back bottom molars and is working on the two back top molars. No bottom eye teeth yet, just a cute gap between the four front teeth and the molars. That's 10 in and working on 12. Woo-hoo!
Next up: Weaning from the Bottle. We'll begin that trick next week. Wish me luck and an minimum of hard to get to sleep nights.
So:
Maia loves blueberries. They are, hands down, her favorite food. She started eating them around 14 months...right about the time I was getting seriously desperate over her lack of desire to eat any kind of solid food. At least on a semi-regular basis. She ate an entire pint over the course of two meals. I should have slowed her down, but hey. It was something she'd eat.
Over the next few days she consumed a few more pints. And developed a raging diaper rash. Ooops. We slowed the blueberry consumption way down after that. Now, she gets some with breakfast, maybe more with lunch or dinner. We know she's not feeling well if she won't eat blueberries. If she gets a fruit salad, she'll pick the blueberries out first. It's very cute.
She started walking backwards yesterday. Because she can.
Maia has about 15 signs she uses, and 7-9 that she uses on a regular basis. She started signing "please" when she wants something. Or she'll sign "more" if she wants to do something she's done before. Today I asked her if she wanted some blueberries. She signed "please" as her answer.
She doesn't use very many verbal words. I'm not worried. She communicates with us and babbles in sentence patterns. She doesn't like to try new things, unless she's fairly sure she can do it right. I think she'll begin talking a bit later than many of her peers, but she'll begin with sentences. And it will come all at once. Like most things she does.
Maia likes to read books. She'll sit with a book, babble the words and turn the page and babble some more. I need to get a video of her doing that.
Maia started riding her birthday rocking horse. She does it all herself..except for mounting up. She can dismount when she's done riding. That's another activity I need to record.
About two weeks ago she started shape sorting. She loves to sort her wooden blocks that have a clever sorted lid. She'll be occupied for long (for a toddler) stretches of time sorting. Yesterday we got out her sorting box and she was able to sort the more difficult shapes, the star and triangle, with ease.
She's had a runny nose for the past week. Ick. She hates to have have her snot "snortled" with the bulb nose clearer so I've been attacking her with tissues which she only tolerates. This morning she took the tissue and blew her own nose. Right at this moment, she came walking up with a baby wipe and blew her nose all on her own. Baby wipes don't tear like tissues do. That's a good thing.
Maia is beginning to "help" when we get dressed and undressed. She likes to pull her shirts over her head. I'm waiting for her to discover that she can do that particular trick all on her own. Shirtless in the winter. Just what we need.
A quick tooth report: She has her two back bottom molars and is working on the two back top molars. No bottom eye teeth yet, just a cute gap between the four front teeth and the molars. That's 10 in and working on 12. Woo-hoo!
Next up: Weaning from the Bottle. We'll begin that trick next week. Wish me luck and an minimum of hard to get to sleep nights.
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