Scribble Scrabble

A Logical Question

2008-06-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

After

painting a tile trivet for me
making a mother's day card
waiting on me at the mother's day tea party at school
seeing several commercials about father's day gifts

my kid asked

"When is Kid's Day?"

Thank You, Sydney

2008-05-27T20:50:00.001-07:00

Sydney Pollack passed away on Sunday, in case you haven't heard. I have a feeling that you have because you, the folks that read my blog, keep up with info about good films and filmmakers. And Sydney certainly falls into that category.

Thank you, Sydney Pollack, for making 3 of my all-time favorite movies:

Tootsie

Out of Africa

The Way We Were

You made me laugh, made me cry, made my heart flutter with these films. You left your mark.

Advance warning of lack of posting

2008-04-07T15:42:00.000-07:00

Because I know everyone checks daily to see what I've posted ;O)

Going to the promised land tomorrow. By that I mean Disneyland. And then California Adventure the next day. I think I might be more excited than my kid on this one.

Then, when I get back on Thursday I have a huge, huge, huge deadline for a huge, huge, huge document due on 4/17. So, I might not be lucid for playful blogging banter.

But, you never know--I might just surpise you!

I will leave you today with a pic of my engineer. He's anxiously awaiting to hear back from Lego to see if they will feature his creation in their magazine. Or, just make the set of his Lego Guy to sell at Target. Whichever.

In case it doesn't make it that far, I'd like to give him some web exposure.

Green Eyed Monster

2008-04-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

Everyone is having babies, except me. I'm jealous, jealous, jealous (but really, truly happy for them--really, truly--really, truly.)

I guess it's time for a puppy.

Scratch & Sniff

2008-03-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Remember those stickers that you could scratch and sniff? I primarily remember grape and peppermint, but I'm sure they had other chemically-engineered scents.

I wish my blog had scratch and sniff so you could smell the amazing beauty of the jasmine in our front courtyard.

We have a little, little tile bistro table and 2 chairs right next to the jasmine. You and I could sit there and have a glass of wine and chat, or not chat. The scent is strong, but in a good way. We probably wouldn't linger too long anyway, since the chairs are not that comfy.

But even if it was for only a short while, I sure would like to share this with you.

Happiness Alert

2008-03-25T08:45:00.001-07:00

Just saw this on My Yahoo! entertainment headlines, where I get my most important, breaking news:

For George Michael fans, it pays to have faith.
The '80s icon-turned-dramedy plot point has announced plans for his first tour of the U.S. and Canada in more than 17 years, kicking off June 17 in San Diego.

SAN DIEGO!!! He's coming to see me!!!

I am going ape-shit with happiness.

Where do I pay?

Feeling Less Than...

2008-03-24T23:56:00.000-07:00

Not in regards to physical size (unfortunately) but in all other areas.

I keep trying to put the positive spin, doing the little personal pep talks. The shelf life on those feels more like half life these days.

Am I compromising or settling?

Competent or mediocre?

Justified or jealous?

Blech. I'm irritating myself and thus will stop this post right now.

Happy St. Patty's Day

2008-03-17T08:26:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid I don't remember St. Patrick's Day being a big deal. Other than being sure to wear green so you didn't get pinched (or purposely not wearing green in order to get pinched).

But my kid is WAY into St. Patrick's Day. My little engineer has pondered for weeks over the perfect leprachaun trap. We built one this Saturday. Will let you know if we catch one and he leads us to his pot of gold. If not, it will be back to work tomorrow.

Wishing you the best of Irish luck today.

Duh

2008-03-12T23:17:00.001-07:00

Today it dawned on me. Horton Hears A Who.

As in the Whos down in Who-ville.

Horton literally hears a Who.

I've only read this book to my kid about 25 times in the last couple of weeks.

Kermit, Please Forgive Me

2008-03-07T14:55:00.001-08:00

I do try to be green. I recycle. I bought the reusable grocery bags (not always faithful about using them, but we'll keep that between us). I use the backs of all the school flyers as scratch paper. I refill water bottles.

But I can't compromise on wrapping presents. Love, love, love wrapping paper. And curling ribbon. And gift tags. And specialty bags and boxes. And 3-dimensional do-dads that go on top of wrapping paper.
(I won't go into greeting cards right now--that topic deserves its own post/ode.)

See how pretty these gifts look? Doesn't their prettiness make you pause for just a moment and consider not unwrapping them? Oooooh--they are so pretty to me. And I'm not just saying that because I wrapped them. :O)

Did I mention I'm a wrapping paper snob? Hate, hate, hate cheap wrapping paper. So far, only Hallmark meets my standards. Have you felt the weight of their paper? Did you notice the cutting guides on the back? Are you familiar with the breezy way your scissors glide along the width of the tube? Wrapping paper heaven, I say.

And, I'm talking about true Hallmark paper here--not the lower tier Expressions line they've done for other retailers, such as Mervyns or Walmart. (Snobby, snobby, snobby.)

When Hallmark makes recycled paper up to their normal standards, then I will be more green. Until then, I'm killing some trees.

Happy Hippie Handbag

2008-03-06T11:23:00.001-08:00

Some people love shoes. Some people love diamonds.

I love purses.

My love is tempered by my practical side and lack of extraneous income. But sometimes I break free of those chains and indulge.

I got this purse last summer. Was lucky to get it because I saw it and loved it but didn't buy it at first. It wasn't very expensive--maybe $25. But I had talked myself out of it because it wasn't very practical, had a big purse cavern, couldn't be worn with everything, had sequins...you know the drill.

The lucky part was that the purse was at SteinMart, a Ross-ish store (but nicer), where if you like it you better buy it because it will be gone the next time you are there. But the next time I was there, it was there. I interpreted that as a sign. Plus, my sister, a great shopping enabler, said very sagely "Why wouldn't you buy it?" An excellent question for which I had no viable reply.

So, the purse is mine. I pulled it out of the closet last Friday even though the day was cloudy and still officially Winter. I transfered all my purse chunk into the yawning cavern, slung the beaded handles over my shoulder and pratically skipped out the house with happiness.

It really is the little things in life.

Note to Self: No Regrets

2008-03-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

Please remind me...

Everytime I start rumminating about what I didn't do or did do or should have done or shouldn't have done or this mistake or that bad decision or the no decisions...

That each one of those moments led me to this place with this child.

And it is all worth it.

I have to wonder..

2008-02-28T07:16:00.000-08:00

The background to my musing is that I was at Walmart yesterday, picking up some photos, and wandered over to health & beauty aisle. My mental list included a new toothbrush, cough drops, and a travel size tube of toothpaste.

Travel size stuff makes me smile. I like how they shrink down the packaging to cute, mini-me, versions.

My wondering started when I spied a travel-sized K-Y Warming Touch Massage "Oil" (my quotes).

Who needs a travel-size bottle fo K-Y?

Who is the person who carries travel-size K-Y in their Clinique-freebie purse cosmetic bag?

Could it be someone who doesn't want to check their bag at the airport? But then again, who is this person who would earmark 1/3 or 1/6 of the 3oz. total liquids allowed on board for K-Y? If you are the type of person who participates in the mile-high club, doesn't seem like you'd be the type of person who would need K-Y in the first place.

I'm just not sure. But I keep wondering about it.

We Partied Like It Was 1990

2008-02-26T21:04:00.001-08:00

With these notable exceptions:

Drank Chandon and Veuve Champagne instead of Miller Lite
Wore Diamonds instead of CZs
Ate lobster tail instead of Whataburger taquitos
Each had our own bathroom to get ready in instead of sharing one too-small mirror

But, the more things change, the more they stay the same...

Shopping the afternoon of for something new to wear
Listening to Mystify and Tic Tac Toe
Drinking a beer en route
Staying until the place shut down

Thanks, Nik, for teaching me how to have fun (even if we don't always remember how much fun we had).

Arts & Crafts

2008-02-25T21:03:00.001-08:00

This Saturday I had way too much fun at Ever After taking 2 classes by Candice Carpenter.

Candice is so amazingly talented and sweet (and I'm not just talking about the cupcakes). I love her spirit. And, having spent some time with her mom as well, I can see where she gets it from. I'm excited for her to be young and giving so much to her creativity.

I saw some friends I haven't seen in a while--Kari, Sheila, Camille. I made a new friend, Valerie, who is way funny and has a little daughter named Holiday (what a great name).

It was just me time, girl time. Hope to do it again soon.

I didn't get picked last

2008-01-10T21:07:00.000-08:00

It was like being back in middle school or high school...Today at my all-women fitness boot camp we were going to play soccer. We are all pretty new to each other so I hadn't had an opportunity to make either a good or bad impression. They didn't even know yet that I've never played soccer on a team, other than the required sessions in school PE.

The team leads were calling names. It was all happening fast since there aren't too many of us. I dreaded being the last gal standing. But I wasn't. I didn't get picked last! The team lead didn't pronounce my name correctly, but who cares. I didn't get picked last!

I'm not overly athletic; I'm not underly athletic. I can do enough to get by. But since I was picked in the middle of the pack I felt the need to prove myself worthy.

I played hard, defended my "man", ran after the ball. I had a moment where I was completely open near our goal. There was a runaway ball. This was my chance to shine. I sprinted towards the ball, trying to get ahead of it. Knowing I couldn't outrun it, I executed a quick leap ahead, angled my foot for a direct line into the goal upon impact, imagined my personal glory, and fell right on my hip/ass.

I didn't make the goal, but I think I made an impression. I'm one to give it all for the team. Some road rash is a small price to pay for not being picked last.

New Year and Already Apologies

2008-01-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

It's 2008 and I haven't blogged anything yet. I'm really grumpy today so this is going to be short; just a "I'm still alive and I'll still plan to blog" post.

Just paid bills and that puts a damper on any day in my book. Plus it's a real killjoy to the retail therapy I usually like to do when I'm grumpy.

So, sorry, this is it for today.

San Diego Christmas

2007-12-26T14:18:00.000-08:00

This is how we celebrate the holidays in America's Finest City. No need to be disappointed by the lack of snow when we have lots of sea and sand.

These were taken at the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights this year. Our 3rd annual trip to this event and certainly not our last. If you come visit us for next Christmas, we'll take you too!

A Loaded Question

2007-12-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

OK, so the husband asks me today, "What do you want for Christmas?"

I reply, "Isn't it a bit late to be asking?"

His rebuttal, "The stores are still open for the next 11 days."

I silently respect his uncharacteristically clever response. He won a point with me for that one and thus I do not rant what I want to rant, which is basically...

"Shouldn't you know what I would like after 10 years of marriage? "

or

"What's the point in my telling you because I could just as easily buy it myself?"

or

"If you'd spend as much time thinking about what other people want as you do thinking about what you want, you'd already know what to get me."

Instead I end the conversation with "I'll think about it and let you know."

A Little Bitta Humbug

2007-12-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas. The lights, the shopping, the wrapping, the wishing. On a trip to NYC last week, I was in heaven with all the decorations (see photo at right taken outside of Macy's flagship store).

But here's one of my few Christmas pet peeves--people who send photo greeting cards with nothing else on them. Just the picture and the preprinted holiday wish. Even more offending is when the return and mail to addresses are printed labels, because you know I check that.

I don't want Christmas cards that came off the assembly line. If you are too tired, busy, haggard to write a simple one-liner like "Hope your holidays are merry! Love, xxx", then please don't send one to me. Save the cost of the stamp (no small amount these days) in a special jar marked "massage" or "pedicure" or "therapy". Clearly you need some you time.

Why do I dither about this? Because Christmas cards should be a little gift that you send to those you care about. Folks spend lots of time getting just the right family photo and selecting the ideal coordinating "frame" from Kodak or Target or Walmart, but then don't have time to handwrite a sentiment?

What's the point, I say? Just send me a group email with the photo attached instead. Has the same amount of personal touch. Plus, that will free up the postal workers so they can deliver the packages that I paid extra shipping costs on to get to the receipient on time.

Not that I think I'm perfect. There have been years I haven't sent any holiday cards. Last year I only made it through the letter H in my address book. (Note: if your last name begins with the letter A-H and you did not get a card from me last year, please forgive. I still have many of my friends still filed under their maiden names. Or, maybe I had your address on a slip of paper and it's somewhere in my desk instead of in my address book.) But the ones I do send, when I send them, have at least a sentence or two, often more, written by my own hand.

That is my little gift with those cards--a few moments of my time that I am thinking just about you and wishing you the best and hoping that you are happy.

Without Further Ado

2007-10-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Here it is--my blog. I've officially stopped procrastinating about it. Keep the faith; keep checking back. I'll get into the swing of it, promise.