Jenny

Listening to the Mountain Goats' 2002 album All Hail West Texas. Such a great album for folding laundry!

Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Who remembers this guy? You know, the dishwasher puppy who grew to be a 70 pound lap dog? The doorknob eatingest, car chewingest, blockade destroyingest dog in the world?

I do. And I miss him like crazy. That pink nosed monster was easily the neediest, most destructive dog I've ever known, but oh what a lover. And the didn't just like be me the way a dog lives a person who has a piece of bacon in their hand. He loved me with entirety of his giant doggie soul, and I'm pretty sure I'll never be loved that way by any other dog.

Burning Down The House

Recipe for an awesome Sunday

Take one out-of-town friend and place in house.

Add a handful of local but rarely seen pals from all over the Bay Area.

Gently blend in bourbon, beer, and wine until frothy.

Combine with chili, chips, dip, Greek salad and one dozen donuts.

Simmer in medium heat in hot tub. Remove when thoroughly cooked and arrange around fire pit.

Sprinkle liberally with giggles.

Enjoy!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

My boss taped this one to my monitor the other day. He's got me pegged!

Celebration

The was some sort of wishing board outside the kiddos classroom today...

You and me both, kid. 

Don't we all!

Yum!

Checkers Speech

The kiddo and I spent the President's Day holiday in San Francisco with my in-laws, touring the Presido and talking about the soldiers who used to live there. Canons, barracks, munitions...everything is an army thing to this kid. At 6, he knows more about the military than I'll ever know about how to properly do laundry (sorry about that sweater, Max).

We had lunch at Burma Superstar in the Inner Richmond--noodles, noodles and more noodles. A fun, playful, delicious, beautiful day with great company. Hooray for presidents!

Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine

Turkey Sandwich does NOT like the division that has been delivered upon our household by the Little League powers that be. Not. One. Bit.

A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours

Who spent the morning installing bluetooth mood lighting around the hot tub? My boys are the best. Now I can spend the evening in the jacuzzi, watching the rain clouds roll in, listening to Morrissey. Strangeways, here we come!

Stubborn Love

Getting some puppy love from my Turkey Sandwich. It's easier said than done; she is just not much of a cuddler. You see, it's hard to be on duty when the humans have their arms around you. And if you're not on duty, well, we all know what could happen. THE SQUIRRELS COULD TAKE OVER EVERYTHING.

Schitzophrenia

Just got our little league team assignment. It's going to be a weird season.

It Don't Come Easy

For those special days when you just don't feel like blogging, but you're determined to post something every day...classic kid pictures!

Full Belly Farm, August 2010

What Is Hip

Floating tower this morning on the way to Coffee Bar.

*love*

In Five Years Time

Sigh. Five years ago, to the day. I miss these guys. Best dog ever, best awful dog ever, and best toddler ever. And best footie pajamas ever.

Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!

And then this happened:

Luckily, he totally bought my story about the Tooth Fairy retiring...that's why he/she left $20 last time. The kiddo had been the Tooth Fairy's last exchange, you see, after a long and illustrious career. So the Tooth Fairy felt it fitting to leave his/her last tooth transaction with an exceptionally generous trade. But the Tooth Fairy's replacement, of course, wasn't so flush--you know, being an entry level Tooth Fairy and all--so he shouldn't expect another big bill under his pillow next time.

It turns out that five singles under his pillow on Sunday morning was just fine. We had one happy kid on our hands; one toothless, ruthless, giant little kid on our hands.

Not this guy:

Those teeth are long gone. By the way, can someone please explain how this picture could possibly have been five years ago? Holy shit.

Tickle Me Pink

A night out! Child care! Meats on sticks! Musical performances! Smoke machines! Whimsical graffiti on bathroom stall! Too much fun to write in complete sentences!

Johnny Flynn at Rickshaw Stop last night!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Keeping warm in the frozen tundra that is the San Francisco Bay Area. It went below 50 this morning!

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.