dreaming of bread

Simply put, we need to find time to make bread at home soon.

Katie and I took a cooking class when we were in Paris last October.  We made amazingly delicious bread.

No, seriously ... really. good. bread.

 

We walked back to our apartment and bought two rotisserie cornish hens, an Orangina for KT, red wine for me and ... well, this might have been the best meal we had that trip.

she just looks grown up

I know it's such a motherly thing to say, but Katie is getting so grown up.

No, she doesn't wear makeup.  Her, D and Lia were just messing around at a mom's makeup event.

Love their "gentle" technique of palming each other's head when applying makeup.

We watched The Bourne Identity with her recently, and I feel like we have more and more "adult" conversations with Katie.  Often I feel like I'm talking with a friend rather than a kid.

Then something like this happens:

Song:  Fitz's tongue just went into my mouth.  He Frenched me!

Katie:  That's not how French people kiss.

... and then, I remember she's still a little girl.

because she's boss like that

I still contend she's the one we are going to have to look out for. 

One word:  Trouble. 

Twenty-two years ago today...

Songer and I went on our first date.  We were in college and we ate at Tony Romas, and watched the movie Waterworld.  Five years later we got engaged in Paris at the restaurant pictured above. 

Now, every year we eat ribs on March 1st.  Tonight we were eating ribs ...

Me:  Hey Katie, 22 years ago today your dad and I kissed for the first time.
KT: You kissed on the first date!?  Ewwww....

Vintage Rugs and Yellow Labs

I keep thinking I'm going to "catch up" with my blogging.  I haven't chronicled my adventures in Paris with Katie, the holidays, Mo on a rip-stick, Katie playing the bass, and now clarinet, Mo joining a club soccer team ... none of it.  It's just so daunting when I think about it.

So, I'm just going to post when I can and it will probably be more simple things -- you, know how I wish things were.

Today my new kitchen rug arrived.  I had to lock the dog and cat up in another room while I was trying to get the rug situated on top of the rug pad because they kept laying on it.

I like it.  Fitz seems to like it.  I hope everyone else does too, although, it's from Turkey so more than likely I will not be returning it even if they have objections...

These American Girls are Heartbroken

RIP Tom Petty.

Dog Cat

Yes, we have a dog and a cat.  But, that isn't a typo in the heading.  Toby is a "Dog-Cat."  

What I mean by this, is he comes to the door to greet people, like a dog.  

He likes his belly rubbed...

He lays on the bed and chews on Fitz's bone...

And, he's a rascal...

We did go on an amazing vacation, which I will post about later when I have more time!

mo versus fitz

Mo has been playing soccer with a new team the last few months.

Today she tried some of her moves out on the Fitz.

Yellow card on the Yellow Lab in the 35th minute!

the breakup

Mo officially moved out of The Purple Room this weekend leaving KT behind, and a little saddened. KT likes company.  KT likes action.  KT likes to be around people.

Mo likes her space and solitude, and is more than ecstatic about the move.  The Purple Room looked like this before the move ...

Mo takes after her dad -- neat, fastidious, organized.  

KT and I are, well ... none of those things. 

All of this leaves me out in the cold office-wise.  I'm currently working on the dining room table which provides for a terrible ergonomic situation for me (I'm short, the table is too high, etc., etc.).  However, we do have some plans in the works which we'll hopefully get completed sooner rather than later!

yeh, a pine tree is strange mascot, but we'll take it in a heartbeat

So last night at 5th grade promotion, the principal read each student's statement as they crossed the stage.  Some quoted the likes of Shakespeare, Einstein, even Dr. Seuss.  Others kids thanked their teachers or mom and dad.

Here's KT's statement.

People now assume either her dad or I went to Stanford.  Nope.

Love that she has her sights set high.  I would gladly take on that massive tuition bill.

Later in the car on the way to dinner Katie said, "Mom, I'm wearing a dress, my soul is slowly dying."

That should have been her statement when she crossed the stage.

Hair Model

And, it grows super fast too.  

Sorry, I'm her mom.  I have to brag.

Her hair like mine, though would be stick straight within the hour -- even after having been in a bun all. night. long.

She consistently bemoans (that's putting it mildly) having knotted hair.  I keep telling her people would love to have her hair.  She doesn't believe me, which is about par for the course these days.  

Fitz Impersonating Me

Four words: Ready. For. The. Weekend.

Times Are a Changin'

That's not a reference to the throwback outfits the girls wore to the Sock Hop Dance at school.  I'm referring to the girl/boy behavior at the dance itself.

According to my girls here is a recap of events by grade level:

• Kinder/1 & 2nd graders -- danced their booties off.  
• 3rd graders -- this is the year they get more apprehensive and worried about how they look in front of others.  Apparently, Mo and her friends walked around most of the dance, you know, just scoping the scene.
• 4th graders -- limited intel gathered on 4th graders.
• 5th graders -- Lots of standing around in small groups.  There was some "daring" of dancing with boys and vice versa.  Katie apparently danced with a boy.

I've been hearing lots of stories about 5h grade boys and girls, and frankly, it's got me a little worried.  I do remember people having crushes and starting to pair off nearing middle school, but geez, when you have a kid that age, it changes the game!

I keep telling the girls "boys are bad, stay away from them," and "boys are gross, stay away from them."  

I'm only half joking.  

I guess Song has it worse.  While I definitely want to protect them, there is something about a daddy and his daughters.  I mean, he tears up when he sees anything having to do with a dad and his daughter -- television show, a commercial, I swear even a "touching" print ad will get him. 

Days Like These

Facts:  Song is out of town.  We scheduled the furnace to be replaced this week.

Presumptions:  The furnace company was supposed to come on Tuesday and replace the furnace and ducts in one day, starting at 8 a.m. and finishing at approximately 2 p.m.

Reality:

• It takes two full days.  They end up leaving at 6:20 p.m. on Wednesday.
• A City inspector shows up on day 2, and writes our project up for not having a permit.
• When I ask about the "ticket" Robert from the furnace company replies he doesn't think it's in the contract that they pull the permit.  Songer says he was told by Ben a permit would be pulled.  *plot twist*  Ben no longer works for the company!  

More Reality:

• I take Fitz for an outing in the orchard after dinner because the dog has been on leash when inside for 2 days because the furnace guys were working.  He runs around like a happy maniac.

• They are watering some of the trees, and his paws get muddy.  I rinse them off when we return, and find....
• KT is trying to take a shower but there is no hot water! Apparently, when they turned the gas off yesterday, the pilot light went out, and hence our water heater was not... well, heating water.
• I try to light the pilot with no avail. I follow the directions, I google how to do it -- no go.  I have to call Ray.
• I get off the phone and the kids are screaming.  I go and find Fitz rolling in the now small mud puddle that was created when I rinsed his paws off.  He's now covered in mud.

• Ray who seems a little annoyed graciously lights my pilot light -- in like, 2 seconds -- making me feel like a stereotypical completely incompetent woman.

To add insult to injury, we have apparently lost the wine opener, and I am forced to drink beer utilizing the opener screwed into the trellis.  Nothing like having to go outside every time I want to open a beverage.

Calling it a night. 

Mother's Day - 2017

It's literally been years, but I'm making the effort to blog again.

The girls are big, I'm working more and more, and we have a wild and crazy (newish) lab.  His name is Fitz, and he's just over a year old.

I love that I've been able to capture so many of our family's memories in this blog, and realized I've been missing so much not blogging the last few years.  Blogging provides a greater context and hey, I'm a writer, so the more background, the better.  You don't get that with the Facebooks and Instagrams.

Facebook and Instagram are for other people -- many of whom you used to know -- to keep up with what we're doing.  Blogging is for me and my family.  I think I'm going to stick with the latter.

Ever since I was a little girl I kept a diary.  I kept a diary all the way through undergraduate school.   I threw my diaries away years ago, but wish desperately I would have kept them.

There was one particular entry I wish I still had.  It was from the day I met Song.

I still remember what I wrote.  I was (still) pining over the loss of my ex-boyfriend who lived (literally) 30 feet across a cement path from me.  It was all about how much I missed him, how lonely I felt, how I didn't know if I'd ever feel that way again, etc., etc.  And, then there was one little blip about how how I met my neighbor's visiting friend, and how he might be transferring to UCSD the following year.  I said he was cute, and that I hope he did transfer down.

Well, wish granted.  And, *poof* 21 years later, here I am.

I cannot reiterate how much I wish I had that particular diary entry.  More than just sentimentality, I wish I had that entry to show my daughters that a lot of us go through heartbreak (there were, I'm sure dozens of nauseating entries about that ex-boyfriend in there).  So they could see  how blind I was to the fact that I had met the man of my dreams and had NO IDEA at the time.

I know they are young, but I think it would be valuable to show them today, so they could tuck it away in their memories, and hopefully remember it when someone breaks their heart.  I don't wish heartbreak on them, but I'm not ignorant to the fact that it happens to most of us and those with a strong constitution, and sense of self tend to fair better.

Today I had a lovely mother's day with my girls.  Songer was gone on a business trip.  They picked flowers from the garden, and decorated the house before I woke up.  I played soccer, we took the dog out, we ate Persian food, and we watched a movie together.  Barring Songer not being here, it was perfect.

olympic hopefuls

Yup those are Christmas jammies -- but this post isn't about Christmas.

It's about the Winter Olympics of course.

I have fond memories of watching the Olympics as a kid, and the girls are just starting to get into it.

I love watching them trying to figure all the sports out.

Mo:  I can't wait for the gymnastics!

Me:  There isn't gymnastics in the Winter Olympics.

KT:  Why not, it's not like it's an outside sport.

Watching the biathlon competition

KT:  I think he has an extra pole in case he breaks one of his… WAIT… it's a gun!

Watching them try to do the ice skating move where they hold their skate above and behind their head in the living room was pretty hilarious too.

Mo:  Wait, I can do it, let me take my jeans off (she then precedes to try the move in her underwear)

Oh yeah, and this is back of the Christmas jammies...

Go Team USA!

power bar = juice

Mo comes into the room with the iPad.

"Mama can you plug this in?  It only has nine juices left, and it's red."

getting exposed

to Queen.

Watched a couple Queen videos with the girls tonight.

KT:  Is that a girl singing?

Mo:  Their hair is poofy.

KT:  That one looks like Sally Ride.

Mo:  He wears weird clothes.

KT:  He's really sweaty.  He looks like daddy after basketball.

Mo:  I think he just bit the microphone!

funny how they sometimes chose to be

themselves for Halloween sometimes.

Mo is constantly pretending to be a cat, and has in real life, quite a few cat-like traits.

Kaitlyn not quite a surfer yet, is an avid boogie boarder and lover of all things water.

Both made it exceptionally easy for me this year.

Hey, even moms get luck sometimes.

kamping

The vast majority of our friends camp.

We do not.

While this has been a non-issue for most of my life, kids -- shockingly -- have made this a complication, as all they want to do is "go camping like their friends."

Thank goodness for cabins.  Or, should I say kabins as the clever marketing people at the KOA have branded them.

This fall break I took the kids down to San Diego with some friends.

To say the kabins were a hit is an understatement.  A place where bunk beds are only trumped by

a porch swing.

Let me reiterate.  I. do. not. camp.  We own no camping gear.  I came armed with an electric kettle (the kabin had an electrical outlet).  It's amazing how much you can make with hot water -- cup o noodles, instant mac n cheese, coffee, need I go on?

We spent one of the days at Sea World.

(that's how the gangsters roll with one polka dotted legging up, right?)

After all that kamping, we had to stop at Fin's on the drive back.  I mean mommy earned that -- being all by myself!

Happy fall break!