Skills To Pay The Bills

I learned how to do this today:

It's called tufting. It involves lots of cotton and strings:

Ring My Bell

New doorbell at work :)

Favorite Girl

It's not about playing favorites. It's simply a matter of fact that USS Ronald Reagan is the best cat ever. Period. End of sentence.

(Elvis the Girl, you're not bad either.)

These are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Continuing from Part I: Happy, Happy Birthday Baby

After breakfast, we stopped by my folks' house where I got a nice warm birthday hug from my mom--as well as the most amazing pajama pants I've ever seen, which she and Samson had made for me.

After a quick stop at BevMo to get provisions for the evening, we were off to the super-indulgent portion of the day, featuring my favorite kind of indulgence: a long, relaxing message. But it wasn't just the massage that made it so perfectly indulgent, it was also the small details like two bite brownies in the pre-massage relaxation room and the very friendly spa manager bringing us birthday champagne. Delightful!

All of that luxuriating made us hungry, so we sampled the new sandwich place nearby. My all-time favorite food, the turkey sandwich, is sadly elusive in my current low-carb lifestyle, and it was a much appreciated treat and great to sit outside in the beautiful California sun. Global warming or not, I got to eat lunch in 75 degree weather and that is wonderful.

We were ready for some much needed down time, so I cuddled with Turkey Sandwich (yes, I named my dog after my favorite food) while Max picked the boy up from school. Then we were off to the bowling alley for a few games of family bowling and air hockey. Cocktails for the adults and a slurpee for the boy and we all found our happy places pretty quickly. Just in time for dinner!

Another favorite food, Thai red curry, was supplied by our go-to Thai restaurant, Coconut Bay. Another fancy cocktail and my guys had one happy birthday girl on their hands. A full of day of sun, fun, and pampering and I was on cloud nine. We topped it off with desert: a handful of Taffy Town taffy from the sweet shop across the street, yet another of my very favorite treats! Could this day get any better? Why, yes! Yes it can!

At home, Max presented me with a gift: tickets to see Fred Eaglesmith next month at a very local venue PLUS an oil painting by Fred himself! A beautiful, thoughtful, and wonderfully surprising gift that mere words could never describe.

I am one year older and ten thousand times happier and glowier and luckier than I ever could have hoped to be. Thank you, thank you, Max, Samson, and all of my family and friends who have loved and supported me for the last 38 years. May you all experience days like this and feel even half as loved as do right now.

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby

PART I

Yesterday, for the first time, I woke up as a 38 year old. And let me tell you folks, 38 is pretty freaking awesome. If we're friends on Facebook, chances are you got to watch the whole thing unfold as I updated my status in real time throughout the day. For everyone else, prepare to fall in love with my husband.

Here's how it went down. I woke up a few minutes before my alarm went off (thank you kitty cat wrestle mania). As I sat up to get out of bed, Max said nope, not going to work today--sleep in. "But...I...work..." It was dark and I was confused. Max gave me a kiss and told me that I would not be going to work today and that he had already cleared it with my boss. Readers, you have never seen a smile as big as the one on my face at 6:20 yesterday morning, and you probably never will.

We took the kiddo to school, which was such a treat. After taking him to kindergarten nearly every day last year--not to mention two years of pre-school--it's been strange not taking him to school at all this year. My job starts at 8am, so Max has been on drop off duty all year. It was neat to see old friends and such, a great way to start the day.

Best. Husband. Ever.

I've been reminiscing a ton lately about Ireland and the year we spent living there. Max made a great call with our next stop: Fiddler's Green in San Francisco, which is one of the only places in the Bay Area where the full Irish breakfast includes both white and black puddings (the only way to go, IMHO). This plate had it all: puddings, sausages, rasher, mushrooms...perfection. Best birthday breakfast ever.

Full Irish with brown bread and coffee.

Tomorrow in Part II: These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

MoneyGrabber

He started the day like this:

And ended it like this:

It went down like this: the boy lost his third tooth yesterday, and I--being the undisputed champion of mothers--I completely screwed up and FORGOT TO TRADE HIS TOOTH OUT FOR CASH. This is for sure the worst fuck up I've had in a while, and when my kid came to my bed at 4:36 this morning to plainly state, "Mommy, the tooth fairy did not come. She didn't trade out my tooth." well I just about lost it. In a stroke of luck, he decided to go potty so I jumped into action and lightning quick grabbed my wallet, pulled out a $5 bill and exchanged it with the tiny tooth under his pillow. I got back in bed, and 15 seconds later he ran into my room and excitedly reported that the tooth fairy had come!

And she brought him a $20 bill!

Palm, meet forehead.

Pop Music

Date: New Year's Eve, 2013
Time: Way too late for a six year old to be awake
Because: Why the hell not?

How many pop rocks can my boy hold in his mouth before he either chokes or spits them out all over the party host's dining room? Almost an entire package. Most impressive.

Bohemian Rhapsody

For your Sunday evening enjoyment: pictures of stuff we found inside a sofa that we are reupholstering at the shop!

Signed by the original upholsterer in 1934

Signed by a worker boy in 1961.

Good luck with that, Andrea!

Reflektor

It's a great song, but boy is it long. How long? Long enough that we've started measuring time by how many times you could play Reflektor. For instance:

"I think there's something wrong with the hot water heater. It took almost two reflektors to get hot water in the kitchen sink."

"Mommy, how many reflektors do I have to be in the bath tub for?"

"Will you go check on the dog? She's been out back for three and half reflektors already."

"How long should I roast the vegetables for?" "Oh, I'd say about four or five reflektors ought to do it."

Groovin'

Things That I Saw Written On The Sidewalk When I Walked The Two Blocks From The Shop To The Post Office Today

Eat the rich
Kenneth my Ninja!
Metro PCS is the Devil
Mexico is everywhere
2 + 2 = 7
Woof y'all!

Just One Night

Oh, what a difference a night out makes! Here's the arithmetic:

one good friend from out of town + one handsome hub + a couple of awesome folks who I should be spending more time with + one super fancy cocktail with CARDAMOM (yes! cardamom!) in it + warm olives = fun fun fun!

Sure, I got home after the boy went to bed, and sure, I left for work today before he woke up...and yes I'll be out again tonight. So I guess I have to adjust the equation slightly:

- goodnight hugs - kid-sized kisses being blown to me from the second story window as I leave for work at the crack of dawn - any sort of conversation about Minecraft for TWO FULL DAYS = an "aw, man" sort of disappointment. But still totally worth it.

Uptown Girl

Sitting at the desk at the shop where I've worked for nearly 4 months now, listening to Belle & Sebastian. A little old, a little new. It's the first time I've been here in the dark, and the first time I get to show my peeps around this magnificent place where I spend many (many many) hours. Max got a quick peek once, but this time I get to show off the chickadee!

Two Tickets to Paradise

It's hard to blog when your keyboard is speckled with cat drool.

Turkey Sandwich is on squirrel patrol in the backyard, and the girls are taking advantage of her absence to wrestle on the bed and wreak havoc in general. USS Ronald Reagan and Elvis the Girl are without question the awesome cats I've ever lived with. There have been some special cats in my life, but these ladies take the cake.

 

Hello, I Love You

The Sutro Tower is standing in a sea of fog right now, poking out through the top and blinking.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

I miss living near the tower. I miss the giant all-seeing, all-knowing ladder of metal and electricity. I miss the foggy soup. I miss the blinking.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

Now, my tower is a giant eucalyptus tree that stands in my backyard. Now, my tower sheds giants pieces of bark on to the Japanese maple that resides below it. Now, my tower has roots so massively thick and strong that they are pushing the bricks and pavement up, out, and away, disrupting the ground around it. Now, my tower has created a new terrain and when the wind blows, it cre-e-e-e-eaks.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

Love is a Battlefield

Epic battle tonight in the living room: Playmobile vs. Legos!

Paradise by the Dashboard Light

Continuing our family tradition of watching borderline appropriate movies on Sunday evening, we are sitting on the sofa with the kiddo watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

What? You don't let your six-year-old watch movies with dead bodies and monkey brains? It's how our family bonds, don't judge.

OK, in the time that it took me write that last bit, Max switched the movie to Pirates of Penzance, so you can all quit being so shocked. Can you hear Samson's eyes rolling with boredom? A MUSICAL?! MUSICALS DON'T HAVE MONKEY BRAINS. No worries kiddos, I'll be sure to comment about that on Gilbert & Sullivan's Facebook page.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Is it time to make changes? Isn't it always time to make changes? Max says we need to challenge ourselves. He says that if something is hard to do or makes you uncomfortable, then it's probably the thing that you should be doing.

Max is right.

Change is many things, and "hard to do" and "uncomfortable" definitely top the list of things that fit that description. So I spent a year changing what I eat and how I look at food. I spent months exploring how I could find personal satisfaction in my job--what that meant and whether it was an achievable goal, and then how to make it happen. I'm constantly working on how to change my view of my son, trying to understand that he is more than my baby, more than a helpless child. I need to change my own perspective of myself--survivor, fighter, victim, spoiled brat, lottery winner. I suppose it comes down to how I feel about any given situation at any given time, but one thing never changes. And that is the fact that everything is always changing.

Shout at the Devil

2013. The year that sucked, then didn't for a while, and then totally did again at the end.

Pros:
Awesome new job
Four clean MRIs with no tumor growth
Wonderful trips to San Diego, Israel, New York, Seattle, and Minneapolis
Fun and heartwarming visits from out-of-town family and friends

And you know what? I'm not even going to write a list of cons. I'm far too busy being in the moment to look into the past in search of sadness or disappointment. Or, at least that's what I'll be saying once I've achieved my new year's goal of reaching spiritual enlightenment. I plan to be checking that sucker off of the big ol' to-do list by mid March. Along with not rushing so much and chilling the fuck out.

To end 2013 and begin 2014, let me just say this: if you are considering letting your six-year-old stay up until midnight on new year's eve next year, I strongly advise against it.