at the zoo

in Griffith Park. it was my kind of zoo: one with no sad looking animals at all, empty for the past 50 years and their former cages left open for little boys to explore and climb inside and pretend to be ferocious beasts :)

i love LA (sometimes :)

just pictures

he's a cub scout! (an adorable, sweet, polite, door-holding-open, usually-smiling-but-not-here cub scout :)

... who really really hopes he doesn't look like Russell from "Up"...

... but how cute would he be in this for halloween :)


Friday is 12 years old (possibly the old cat ever!) and still a little kitten at heart :)

our beautiful boy made the honor roll again (and we are SO DISGUSTINGLY PROUD OF HIM!!!)

last day of elementary school (and honor roll donut treat:)

he is soooo almost middle school: loves starbucks coffee, takes his phone everywhere with him (and always answers it... it's so cool and handy - like lo-jack for kids!) and is already trying to decide what his first car will be :)

the first of many summer playdates, i hope...



i love that their new love is monopoly (grand theft auto, not so much...)

back to school - i already cried twice today, fricking last days kill me!!!
xoxo back later

today i...........

woke up at 4am after having the worst nightmare that everyone was kidnapped from Knotts Berry Farm (the area where Mrs Knott sells chicken dinners...) and their heads chopped off on live TV (what does it mean????!)

it was hard to get back to sleep after that, but then i had a nightmare i had to eat an entire bowl of playdoh which gave me major indigestion :(

ps last night i couldn't sleep because i had a dream i had to find a lost diamond earring in a shag rug full of crumbs :|

had oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast and marveled at this miraculous taste sensation that is just soooo easy to make and wonderful and nutritious and filling too :)

mopped the entire house with zoflora and a brand new mop (seriously, is there anything better in life? ;)

since the water was cut off for FOUR HOURS, i was forced to drink diet coke instead of water

borrowed Aaron's credit card and lost it while trying on clothes (everytime i borrow his credit card, i somehow end up losing it - it's just not fair ;)

found a sunblock that doesn't look like thick white lard and smell like Disneyland (i didn't think such a wonderful thing existed :)

had pop and worcester sauce crisps for lunch

found out that rental cars with 'unlimited miles' actually have a 1400 mile weekly limit (so technically not unlimited....)

planned our 4564 mile roadtrip to Graceland anyway in a big fancy Lincoln towncar :) if Piggly Wiggly changes it's name to something sensible in the next month i am going to be SO UTTERLY PISSED!!!!!!!!

listened to Elvis Presley singing Danny Boy - despite having a little boy named Danny, i've never actually listened to that song before :)

attended Sam's Honor Roll assembly :)

had to hide my bitter jealousy when the Mom sitting next to me said she was going to the resort in Dirty Dancing for their summer vacation (NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!)

came home and found my Tiny Prints free father's day in the mail... filed it somewhere for safekeeping and lost it - grrrrrrrrr, i do that ALL THE TIME!!!

heard Sam listening to David Bowie "Young Americans" and had one of those awesome, tingly, perfect circle moments (please let him be a David Bowie fan! :)

helped saw out Danny's first wiggly tooth with a flosser (it was causing so many tears, it had to come out - but boy do i hate twisting teeth that are loosely attached to gums.....)

watched the real housewives of OC reunion - yawn. i hope part two has more hair-pulling and venomous attacks

in good news, Jeff Lewis is flipping out again soon!! if more people were like Jeff Lewis, what a wonderful (and admittedly somewhat uptight) world this would be :)

went to Lone Star Steakhouse for dinner - i had salad and a baked potato and Danny actually ate his kid meal


picked up new bedding and Danny chose a Lego set for the tooth fairy to leave him tonight ;)

subjected our children to our singing on the way home - they plugged their ears :)

snuggled with Friday and listened to the Bangles (she likes the Bangles - she's really old....) while we researched presidential libraries :)

off to bed xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxx

horses, emotional turmoil and cherries

photoshopping a sweet horsey's pictures to finally present to his sweet owner (i took the pics last Summer and she has been sweetly reminding me every 6 months or so :)

keeping really really still because it hurts like the dickens to look up or left or right :| (i have no idea why... i looked on webMD and everything)

simply dying to get away to Big Sur and reset my senses/pulse/blood pressure back to normal and just B-R-E-A-T-H-E.....

gargling with salt water hourly to attempt to heal the 10,000 mouth ulcers and hanging bits of bleeding bitten cheek that are making eating very un-fun - my cheeks are SOOOO PUFFY!

drinking diet coke (with three chunks of ice)

procrastinating about buying a new car :| testdrove the Toyota Sienna (again) and fell a little bit deeper in love with it. it has little blinds in the boys' windows, which also wind down (such a novelty!) and a snap-in jumpseat between their chairs for impromptu afterschool playdates. and a little button on the mirror that opens the garage door (how it knows where we live, i have no idea) and like 26,000 cupholders. and two little tables for drinks and snacks :) and a camera for backing up so you don't hit invisible walls. it has everything a mother could wish for and not an ounce of ego or attitude :|

but.... i'm feeling really really really sad about letting go of the Honda Odyssey... it feels like we are saying goodbye to a beloved, dependable, hard-working, loyal member of our family... is it completely lame to have loved your car that much....? the car that kept my boys safe and warm and cozy as babies and has always got them everywhere on time and home safely and never let us down (except that one time in Hollywood when the car just seemed so poorly and weary, i wanted to tell it "it's OK" and kiss it better....) anyway, i am feeling so sad just thinking about it no longer being part of our 'everyday'.... sigh, i am just a huge pile of sap and uselessness today :(

off to bed to watch some Law and Order:UK and hope for clarity in the morning ;)

pictures from the weekend-ish:
i looooove these kids and am hoping we'll have plenty summer playdates together :)



our new pool is a HUGE hit so far :)


i love farms - we picked cherries yesterday




we watched Gordon the gopher for at least an hour and fed him lots of (damaged) cherries so we could admire his cuteness :) (i don't think the farmer would mind, they were cherries with blemishes as the picture shows :)





we love farm dogs :)

rain, swimming pools and Kentucky butter cake :)

why does it always always always rain in the night? but never in the day.... i know i should be thankful that it doesn't rain during the day, forcing us to wear real clothes and real shoes... but i do like to sit and watch the rain with a nice cup of tea and a couple of chocolate digestives (ok, more than a couple :) (and also, i kind of hate going out in the rain so it's OK ;)

last night we got a new pool - a humungous 20 feet long pool! it's AWESOME!!! the size of our den, no less! we almost bought it at Costco for $800 but some nice old person (and slightly crazy - don't they know Costco take things back...?) on Craigs List did just that, used it one time for a party and decided to get rid of it (i looooove Craigs List - murderers and rapists aside obviously...)

my next mission: a FREE basketball hoop. must be somewhat attractive, 10 feet tall and fit in a minivan (no rusted bolts please :) and an inflatable water slide :)

i have some cheek biting disorder or maybe my molars grew too wide...? anyway, i have bitten my cheek at length 200 times this week.... and it hurts! and my mouth tastes like blood so i chew a piece of gum, and bam, bite my cheek again :( stupid chipmunk cheeks!!!!

also: i am either having a (very slow) heart attack or i have strained a muscle in my chest. or i have pleurisy (unlikely) i can't sit up or turn my head. or walk more than 5 minutes without sweating like crazy. or lie on my side - must consider going to the doctors if this persists another week or so.... it kind of sucks :(

also: Blackjack just headbutted me and i am quite sure i have a black eye (too afraid to look) his head is the hardest substance on earth, i am sure it could cut diamonds :|

today is a furlough day... i know i shouldn't, but i kind of love furlough days and the chance to run off to the beach on a misty Friday morning, when you feel kind of crappity and heart attackity and cheek bitey, to take ethereal pictures underneath the pier of my boys in striped sweaters and jeans. and be back in time for lunch :)

other mission for the day: find a pack of 500 American flag toothpicks (no more no less) go to the nice Italian restaurant for dinner. host a playdate. just dance (two). make Kentucky butter cake for Courage (he needs fattening up and everyone knows cats love butter cake :) take ibuprofen regularly. and be happy :)

likes

• things with little elephant motifs. though i'd never admit it to anyone but myself (elephants are republican...)

• painted pebbles: i have one on my desk that Danny made into a ladybug in kindy

• ruffles - on skirts and cardigans and bedding and tablecloths... basically anything but potato chips
  

• winning a royal wedding prize from Boden (it arrived today... i don't remember entering a competition, but whatever :)

• Target's online coupons: i got Shrek bandaids for 68 cents yesterday and i am almost looking forward to the next time i hurt myself so i can use them :) or when i can whip them out to delight a sobbing, injured child (ps i'd NEVER buy character anything... but i do really like the cat and the donkey... and if the thing you have a Target coupon is on sale also, some things are just too cheap to not buy! like Shrek bandaids...)

• presidential libraries: this summer we are going to Lyndon B Johnson, George HW Bush and Bill Clinton's libraries! every presidential library in the land by 2018 or bust!

• this picture (be still my Obama loving heart :)

• ginger cat cookies dipped in coffee: for breakfast, lunch and dinner

• Jo Malone fresh mint: i cannot possibly ever wear anything else, it's just so calm and clean and lucid and lovely

• early mornings: getting up early makes the day last longer :)

• my new camera bag: i like it for now, it's flaws will soon be apparent...

• crafts i can actually do: pinterest is good for my self worth :) today i made "gradulation" hats from peanut butter cups, Godiva squares and those inedible sour string thingies that are purely for decoration :)
  

• pinterest: another reason why i love it so much - there are no men there stinking the place up :)
  

• care packages of Freddo Frogs from England that smell like home

• things that i planted actually GROWING! gasp, we will have a bumper crop of potatoes this year, all grown from scratch :)
  

• this lady's body language... i don't think she's a fan ;)

• today's amazon $5 Beatles teeshirt

• being finished with the dreaded, but absolutely necessary for our yearbook, class bookmarks :)

• best friends becoming cub scouts

• backyard bokeh (and water balloon fights:)
  

• perfectly pink, pudgy, slightly wrinkled baby feet

• those little feet walking towards me today :)

what i did this weekend to avoid working on the school pictures:

cleaned the fridge for the first time EVER :| (sooo horribly gross)

cleaned and reorganized the tupperware cupboard and found the lids for everything in there.... realized we probably don't need more Pyrex after all (except round bowls - i do love the round bowls so much they have all mysteriously gone missing)

cleaned the dreaded under-the sink cupboard and sorted all my pretty white pitchers and little glass bud jars by size (i have at least 30....)

walked to Target (i have always wanted to live walking distance from a supernice SuperWalmart... but Target with groceries is a cool second best :)

made almond and oatmeal body wash from scratch (darn you pinterest!!)

changed Rudy's fish bowl and cleaned all her white shells

checked obsessively for a basketball hoop on Craigs List

googled how Barack Obama smells - a mixture of smoke, fabric softener and new carpet :|

planted 40 new succulents (they are not dead yet... fingers crossed)

shopped for herbs but bought none because i always always always kill every plant i buy, so it seems cruel to subject them to certain death...

made scones (and ate them one by one by one :)

watched Dr Phil and Dr Drew (Dr Phil is more interesting but Dr Drew is far easier to watch :)

mopped the floor verrry slowwwly and carefully dried every last square foot with my shuffle shoes

cleaned the bathrooms (as you can tell... i really hate editing the school pictures)

performed a haircut on my handsome husband

went to Trader Joe's for flowers and ginger cats and found the turtle (he was hiding in cold cuts)

sampled their date and apple loaf which reminded me of a pumpkin loaf i used to love...

made pumpkin loaf with cream cheese frosting :)

got Danny to try it by saying it's just brown sugar cake (it worked :)

got up at 5:30am to go to a hot air balloon festival

picked blueberries and ate so many that i turned into Violet Beauregarde

went to a church jumble sale and the boys bought two shooting robot things

tried a health rider but didn't buy it because i know it's just a future dusty jumble sale item waiting to happen (and a stubbed toe or two)....

went to K Mart (i know it sucks) and found the quilt i have been searching for forrrrever and a day... a perfect patchwork American flag quilt. i love it so much i bought two - one for a boy's bed and one reserved for wonderful Summer bonfires on the beach and Fall picnics during apple picking :)

bought humungous toastable marshmallows for aforementioned beach bonfire :)

stopped at Target again for $50 worth of cereal (it was on sale... i have growing boys... they eat a LOT of cereal.... i got a gift card if i spent over $50 :)

went to Wendy's for their yummy sea salt french fries

took the kittens to an adoption event

dashed to the African Hut for english delicacies

ate 2 packets of worcester sauce crisps (why don't Americans like real crisps that taste like pickled onion and ketchup and prawn cocktail?!)

test drove the new Honda Odyssey... it looks like an ugly 1970s station wagon, doesn't come with a roof rack anymore, the thing between the front seats is a big solid piece now, not a little foldaway table for holding sea sealt french fries and a charging iPhone and a lipbalm and a diet coke.... and, well, i just don't really like the new one :(

picked up a new skitty kittie and left the babies at the shelter :( i know... they looked soooo tiny and scared and desperately in need of their Mummy... i miss my Weasel :(

stopped for teriyaki and california rolls (soo sooooooooo good!!)

met Courage the cowardly cat, instantly fell in love and felt slightly better about giving him a much needed break from the shelter... he gives the best head bumps and kisses but is soooooo scared of everything and soooo thin too :( a week or two at our place will fatten him up :) he is hiding in a cat bed that Aaron put under the covers of the spare bed for him... best cat Dad ever: he googled how to make frightened cats feel at ease (gawsh i love that man! Catticus Finch, i should call him ;)

cuddled with Friday and shopped online for bedding and a vacuum cleaner - i am slightly obsessed with vacuum cleaners but naturally, i hate the Dyson with a passion ;)

looked for Palm Springs hotels - must be cool but not too cool :)

cuddled with Jerry and gave him supersized blueberries and English scones for dinner (that rat is spoiled:)

bed and Law and Order: UK (please please make there be a new one!! with head-scratching English expressions that i translate for my hubbie... it makes me feel so bilingual :)



this onion reminds us of Rudy's pineapple :)

he wuvs his teacher :)

apples and teachers

in an effort to prepare healthy snacks for my children, i cut my thumb into two apple sized slices on the apple slicer thingie (they're sharp, who knew?) it hurts sooo much i can't type :( also i really want to use that one minute manicure stuff but i know it would sting like billio. i always wonder (as i am a huge pessimist realist if i have some kind of disease that makes such cuts more painful and slow to heal... i hate having sore digits and having to wear band-aids :(

i am in post school picture hell :( i take the pictures, love the pictures - at least 50% of them, for about 30 minutes, then the icky part sets in... the regret about the unfortunate lighting on that pic, or the hard to clone background or that i should NEVER EVER shoot manual because i am not capable of paying attention to the meter AND talking about Real Housewives of New Jersey when i find TV soooo much more interesting than light meters... then there's the be-spectacled people (i should just ask that they remove their glasses even if they can't see without them - is that wrong? it's just soo hard with the reflections to see their eyes and they say the eyes are the windows to the soul (or something...)

sigh. that's where i am at - school is out in 9 days and i am complete avoiding working on the pictures :(

last night was open house: i officially LOVE Danny's kindy teacher (OK i did all year but last night, at open house, Danny presented us with book upon book of beautiful writing, self portraits and an entire portfolio of masters inspired art (all laminated for longevity. what do you buy the kindy teacher who cares that much about preserving your child's little years forever? is there a big enough gift card to Target? is a gift card enough? i love her (and i'm going to miss her!!)

on the topic, i am stressing now about the last day of school - i am going to cry, i almost cried last night (OK, i did cry in private when it was safe to do the ugly cry) it's Sam's last day of elementary school and Danny's last day of kindy. i need to find something to curb emotion in the next 9 days :| cry-off... sob-be-gone... man-in-a-jar, heartless-bitch-in-a-bottle - something like that ;)

as always i had more to say but i can't remember any of it now... back later with no pictures (thanks to the blue E, i can only do pics using the orange fox)

robins, kittens and Martha

i've been in post traumatic hiding since i ran over a robin red breast on Tuesday, while dashing to school :( (and i wasn't even driving fast, i swear...) yes, such a tragedy completely derails me for days and no amount of clenching my jaw, trying to stay buoyant and pretending it didn't really happen while undo the horror. i drove back to check he was really dead, even though the thought of having to pick up a half dead bird and wring his neck to put him out of his misery/force feed him wet cat food in a shoe box and watch him die, didn't really seemed doable. anyway he was immediately gone - poof! either snatched up by a coyote (unlikely in suburbia at 1pm) or miraculously the robin red breast had risen from the dead and went on to live a cheerful and chirpy life (my preferred option;)

in other news i have become an avid gardener (until my latest fascinations all die from too much water/love) today i am making succulent balls and succulent hanging baskets and succulent wreaths. all thanks to pinterest... i haven't felt sooo Martha-ish and inspired EVER, i even have a collection of fancy pinafores to wear when i someday make all the wonderful enchanting things on my 'i want to make' board)

last night i dreamt that we moved house. argh - why???! why are my dreams so full of work?! i woke up absolutely weary and achey from carrying box upon box to the moving truck (for some reason we used an Excursion instead of a U-Haul, probably to save gas money;) anyway, we moved e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, every single solitary dish and garden tool and matchbox car, and when we got to the new house there had been a undisclosed murder in the house and also the house had carpet in the bedrooms, and i decided to move back as it was easier than putting in wood floors. i wonder what it all means.....

bleck, two more weeks and school is out!!! and i can relax and quit making frantic sandwiches each morning and cursing at blunt knives and calling the toaster not fit to burn for burning the waffles on the LIGHT setting. i want it to be summer already!!! and go to Monterey. or Palm Springs. somewhere without a place to be at 8:25am and 10:10am and 1:35pm and 2:45pm

pic of teachers yesterday... it looked kind of boring as it was and i briefly considered accidentally deleting the whole day's pictures, but we added clown faces and surely they'll all agree it's better than the regular pic... ;)



our little black kittens pretending to be big black dogs