Friday Random

-I like to think were I alive and adult in the 60s I would have been a hippie. (did you hear that? that was the sound of my dad cringing and shaking his head...)

-I need to find a good, non chemical way to get rid of mushrooms in our lawn. I'm hoping the spraying of diluted baking soda really works.

-Why is Elvis Costello sounding more like, um, something my dad would listen to lately? I don't get that. And it's a little disturbing to me.

-Speaking of not understanding...why is Def Leppard going to be on the Country Music Awards? I feel like I'm in bizarro world.

-We got a cute little new nephew last week. Isn't he adorable? I got to go and hold him Sunday afternoon for awhile, just after they got home. So fun!

(pic shamelessly stolen from the happy parent's blog...look how cute!)

-We're getting our passports today. Not that we'll be using them anytime soon, though it is nice to know I can flee the country on a moment's notice should the need arise.

-Ring of the week:

My lovely 'sapphire'. About $4 at Kohls. It's a little big when cold, so I wear the other band (which I LOVE) on top to keep it on. Too bad I don't have anything like that for when it spins around!

-Song of the week:

(pictures of matchstick men, camper van beethoven) I can't begin to express how much I love this song. Reminds me of high school. A lot. Being anxious to get to college already!

Days Go By

The thunder rumbles deeply across the valley. Standing on the porch, you can see the dark clouds blowing swiftly toward you. It builds every afternoon the same and then the rain comes. The last time it crept across the sky, it decided to stay. Make camp. Rain for days straight.

I haven't seen things this lush and green since we left Portland. I haven't had to dash in and out of stores, hopping puddles since Portland. Rain in San Diego you can ignore and it will go away in minutes. This reminds me of the NW. Steady rain, lush fields. Ok, not so much the storms blowing in and the thunder, but definitely the last storm that decided to just stay.

School got out last week. It's the first week of summer vacation. People are grumbling about the weather. People are grumbling about the cold. Kids can't go outside to play. Our windows are still shut and locked. My dryer is creaking back to life. And all the while I just smile. Nothing but love for this wet weather. It makes me excited for Portland.

Because I'm A Stellar Parent

Sammy, with product. I was just curious to see how long his hair really is. The SCREAMS putting product in his hair elicits, however...clearly a step down from being as metro as I think he is (because I do have one metro little boy on my hands!).


It hailed the other day. This is a Sammy recreation telling what happened and our new swear word..."watch the hail!".


Sammy dancing. Always. Singing and dancing. Usually to something inappropriate. This time to I See Red, the Eddie version...(yes, that WAS stealth hand wiping on the carpet - needed to get rid of the cracker crumbs to properly dance!)


And a bonus one for Sharon...heh.

Sorting

I have a bad habit of bookmarking things to read "later". Every once in awhile, I go through my bookmarks and purge or file or read. Yesterday was the start of my sorting / purging cycle. Here's a few things I've kept to read or buy or look at or...

*I want to go to there...

*I found several articles about the publishing world. Like this and this.

*A fabulous snippet from PBS.

*If you know my son, this is self explanatory.

*Recipes to try. Lots of recipes to try.

*Random articles about lots of different things.

*My sister and I have been on the look out for tutorials on easy breezy skirts for summer. In the process she found this. So cute, but, uh, how do you pee - especially when you are in a hurry?

*I'm in love with this entire shop. The photos are amazing. I don't have enough walls for them all!

*A JCrew blog. Who knew?

*I had to find a link this weekend to a series of books I read in high school (my FAVORITE books). I found this. Hee! I have two of them still. (This should have been a stand alone No Shame post really...)

*I so want these.

Do You Think Brownies Every Month For Life is Too Much?

I was talking to Diane the other day, bemoaning that our *adorable* little boy no longer wanted to go to bed. I know, typical toddler, but it had been long enough that both our nerves were a little frayed. We would spend every evening with Sammy getting up every two minutes, if not more, and coming downstairs. Not wanting anything, just getting up. Hard to relax and watch something if you are pushing pause every other second to deal with the boy. We reread the books, we tried everything and nothing worked. Frustrating.

And then Diane casually mentioned that her sister had this same problem with one of her kids and, at the point I was, started throwing a sleeping bag down so their kid could crawl in, still see them in the family room (or wherever they were) and go to sleep. Worked until they were out of this can't be alone phase. So that night I mentioned this to Isaac, thinking he wouldn't want to try it. I clearly underestimated his frustration! That night we pulled Sammy's toddler mattress down and put it in the dining room, angling his head toward the family room so he could still see us. Worked like a charm. We are three nights into this and he just settles right in, doesn't get up and goes to sleep on time. Just...in the dining room!

It's nice to have evenings back for more than putting ourselves on repeat telling Sammy to go upstairs and go to bed. I swear I would kiss the woman who came up with this if I could.