Doing Lunch, A New Favorite Thing

Friend + Old Colleague + Woman to be Admired = Lunch with Jess

So fun to catch-up and chat.

P.S. Thanks for sending the cell phone pic, I cannot believe I forgot my camera!

Mobility

It
has
happened.

Yesterday afternoon to be exact,
A special moment with his Cedo.

Luke is a crawler with intent.
I’ve seen it coming for the last two weeks,
as the little guy worked out exactly how to
put all the elements together.
He has scooted and pushed his way around
for what seems like forever
but
now
he can dash and dart.

It is a whole new game of defense for me.

No. 4

I’ve noticed two gas stations in our area having to upgrade their gas price signs to accommodate the number four. Apparently, their signs (one electronic and the other an old-fashion interchangeable number tile gizmo) weren’t calibrated for gas to go above $3.99 a gallon. And this morning I heard some guy say he thought it would be $5 a gallon in the next few months.

Did you just take a deep breath?

Me too.

Perhaps you would like to ponder Tom Friedman’s Mr. Bush, Lead or Leave op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times? Toss that around in your head as you listen to candidates this election cycle.

Netflix

Update: I’ve retired from the living room and am about to go to sleep. What a stupid movie. The dialogue is comical, poor Sly looks like burnt rubber and I can hardly understand his Rambo mutters. I’m pretty sure he will kill the bad guy and save the girl. All with a thingy tied around his head.

Movies at Home
27 Dresses
John Adams, Disc 1
Rambo (whatever the new one is called)

I’m cutting up a ripe pineapple and our conversation went a little like this…
John Adams
Rambo
John Adams
Rambo
John Adams
Rambo
John Adams!
Rambo
Please, John Adams
No. Rambo.
John Adams, pleeeeaaazzzeee.
I watched 27 Dresses last night.
Silence.

Crab Boat

An early morning crab boat.

Can you spot the guy on top of the boat?

A New Love

Luke l o v e d the pool.

I told you we were serious

about sun protection in our house.

Other Way, Love

Sadly, this has become the preferred dining position.

Pot of Gold?

The end of the rainbow was outside our door this evening,
thanks to another thunderstorm.
Alas, no pot of gold.
But it was beautiful.

Country Music

“I would have rather seen a country music singer...that I didn’t know.”

That’s how my mom described an event she attended this week.
I’m going to try and describe things like that.
For example, when Faris asks me how grocery shopping was I might use the answer above.

A Miscalculation

When I was expecting Luke I once calculated how many meals I was responsible for providing for the next eighteen years, not including snacks and drinks. The number was so high that I immediately blocked it out and plainly refuse to recalculate. Yesterday I realized I should not have feared that number and that I was completely ignorant of the challenge of sustenance. Because snacks and drinks do count. Also, I failed to factor in the cleaning-up after the foodstuff.

So yesterday I called my mom and thanked her for all the times she cleaned my highchair tray.

Warp Speed

I feel like I’m
moving at warp speed
but not really.
But really.

Monday after the storm.















See the boat out on the water?
See the little dots floating on the water?
They are crab pots
sort of like my very own
Deadliest Catch
in my backyard.

Today was a perfect day for a walk.
We admired this creature on our walk.















Self Portrait
















Dinner
Thai chicken and noodle salad.














Yum.
A little salty
because my garlic was moldy
so I improvised with garlic salt.
Not a bad summer meal.
My onetruelove said
he felt like he was in a
a Thai restaurant
in
New York City.
Right, babe.
And I know you were
sorry as soon as you said it.

Stroll It

Finally.
I put the stroller seat on for Luke.
He
l.o.v.e.d
it.
Editor’s Note: Have no fear, with a few clicks/snaps I can bang that car seat right back in the frame if need be.

P.S. Wasn’t my day so interesting? Thrills all around.

Happy Father's Day

Being a Father is a big responsibility.
Thanks for handling it so well, Dad.

Thanks for teaching me
how to throw/shoot various types of balls
how to catch balls mentioned above
sportsmanship
about fairness
how to use a drill and other tools
how to trust someone will catch me when i leap
or how to land on my own
how to suck it up
how to play hard and fair
how to change a tire
how to check my oil and tire pressure
and for all the other things not listed here.

Thanks for
my orange go-cart (that I can’t wait for Luke to ride)
super cool bikes
your baseball glove
the cases of kiwi strawberry Snapple my freshman year of college
always making sure I was ok
making sure J-D and I always
had what we needed and then some.

With love,
Your daughter

School's Out

Happy
Happy
Happy
Last day of school, MOM!!!

Being Alone

My house
surprisingly tidy at the end of the day.
Baby boy asleep.
Dinner & strawberry pie
enjoyed and cleaned-up.
Dishwasher running.
So I snuck out
for some quite alone time.
Me.
My Economist.
The Bay.
Sun setting and
making everything pink.
My paparazzi snapped a picture for you.
















I would have stayed longer but there were tiny little bugs.
So I came back.
It sure was nice to be alone.
It was like standing on a mountain top
alone
and taking a deep deep long breath.
I’m refreshed and back in the game.
Not that I was ever out, really.

Uh-O-E-O

You don’t know how lucky you are.
I almost didn’t post this video.
I look horrible.
I look so bad that I
almost deleted this
immediately.
I thought I’d wait until today to delete it
you know, in case I was wrong yesterday.
This is so funny that
I couldn’t deny you.

Video Origins: During Luke’s dinner, something dropped and I said, “Uh-o-e-o”. That small uh-o-e-o set Luke off on in a hysterical laughing fit. So I kept on and he kept on and I was able to capture it.

I dare you to admit how many times you watch this.

Light

Yesterday my father came to help install (ok, to install) a new light in Luke’s room.
We are so grateful for his help on things like this.
SO handy he is retired.
But
That is not all he did.
Yesterday morning I called and said
If you want coffee
You
Need to bring three scoops
Because I am out
Again.
Dad brought me a whole bag of
Starbucks coffee.
Fancy.
(When I looked at the supply of my elixir I estimated that it would be enough to last until my trip to the grocery story this week. I was wrong. I am such a bad bad estimator. I’ve learned that when on the edge about important household items like morning elixir, better to have than be in need.)

Serious In Our House

We are very serious about sun protection in our household.
Very serious.
As requested by my onetruelove
I've ordered Luke swimwear and whatnot from Coolibar .

I hope to be poolside by the end of the week.

Washing the Heat Away

It
was
a
hot
h o t
h.o.t
weekend.
But you don’t need me to tell you that.
Bath time tonight was sweet.
































Looking at Dad

Sitting on Toys

Sunday Morning

in the bag

under a watchful eye

Thanks, Mom

My mom was involved in a lot of my weekend. And it was wonderful. Both for conversation and baby relief. Thank you, Mom. Especially since you had a long week. While my mom played with Luke I made the tyke mini-muffins. Luke l o v e s to feed himself and I thought muffins would be a good addition to our cheerios only line-up. Muffins are messier than cheerios.

Oh, and today saladpalozza rocked. Linda made the Barefoot Contessa Guacamole Salad and it was amazing. Faris is worried he won’t ever have it again and has checked with me several times to ensure I’ll make it. My mom’s salad looked better than the salad on the link above.

Morning Play

Tostada Thursday

I made chicken-fajita tostadas for dinner. It was pretty good and e a s y. It’s not like a lot of things in my dinner rotation so I thought maybe you all might like it too.

A few notes from the cook if you attempt this meal--
I used a rotisserie chicken and already sliced green, red, and yellow peppers. Use a good fresh salsa and make sure to have plenty to add at the table. I added black beans. And I made almost all of it this afternoon and heated it when we got home.

Giddy-Up

I have a lot of personal policies.
And morphing to a stay at home mom
In the icky suburbs
Brought a lot of new
Important
Personal policies.
One of my personal policies:
No ponytail until 4pm.
I violated the policy today.
I thought I would try
A ponytail for the day
Cutely secured at the nape of my neck
With a tasteful black elastic band.
And of course my outfit and footwear
Balanced the ponytail.
(perhaps I should tell you why I don’t do a ponytail? I don’t do a ponytail because for me it is an easy baby step down the sweat pants and a minivan road. Or simply put, a ponytail before 4pm makes me feel sloppy.)
So la la la
Luke and I are going about our business
Until
He spots my ponytail.
And of course he clutched
My gathered hair in his cute little hand.
And you think he pulled, right?
No.
No he did not.
He just held on.
Like you would hold
The mane of a horse you were ridding.
And he did that almost every time I picked him up.
So.
I’d like to amend my
Ponytail policy.
New Policy: In an effort to refrain from feeling sloppy and to struggle with all my might to avoid the suburban black hole of bad hair and footwear, no ponytail before 4pm. And while I might be a workhorse (aren’t all mommies, really?), I shall not be made to feel like one.

A Storm Observation

Update: Rumor is that there was a tornado yesterday not more than a mile away from where we dwell. Our little town was on the evening news with our mayor giving a full report via telephone and a news helicopter showing the damage. What a story the man in the small boat has to tell his buddies. About that—after the storm the man in the small boat slowly made his way back to the boat launching place. As he went by our balcony I noticed he had on full rain gear and had removed his life jacket. I’m sorry…did he go out on purpose?

An intense thunderstorm just passed through. Rain, brutal wind, and lots of lighting—which is fun to spot on the Bay. Under normal circumstances I would suggest you stay inside when your plot of land is under a tornado watch BUT I had to sneak out to the balcony and snap a picture of this f o o l. Can you spy the man in the small boat in the middle of the storm?

Bait & Switch

A day or two ago I had an ethical quandary.
Was it moral for me to give Lukealicious
A spoon of beloved mango
And then sneak in a spoon of loathed edamame?
It didn’t seem very nice while committing the crime.
I’m positive there is something in the Geneva Convention
About situations just like this.
Answer: Yes.
Today he ate all of his previous loathed foods eagerly.
Every bit of edamame was inhaled.

Cage Match

quick.
where is my resume?
i’m adding
professional wrestler
to it.
because
itotallyam.
have you ever put
pjs/diaper/socks/pants/shirts/younameit
on an eight month old?
because you have to wrestle them.
i’m sure I can take
hulk hogan
randy macho man savage
and
the Ultimate Warrior
together
in a CAGE match.

Weekend Update #81562093

I either have a cold or my allergies are back. From the feel of things I think my allergies are back. They went away during the years I lived in a city. Just another good reason to flee the middleofnowhere. All that to say I haven’t been feeling all that well the last few days but that didn’t stop our weekend activities.

By 8:40am on Saturday I had done the following:
1. Made buckwheat pancakes for F & L.
2. Made Saturday night dinner.
And I stood in awe of my awsomeness for having all that done!

Buckwheat pancakes. Sorry about that little L and my onetruelove. Next time I’ll make regular pancakes. I don’t eat pancakes so how I was supposed to know buckwheat pancakes would taste like that?

For Saturday dinner I made Roasted Shrimp and Orzo, courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa. Delicious summer meal. Lots of chopping but worth it especially since you can make it ahead.

We visited Faris’ family on Saturday afternoon. Nader and Carolyn are back from their London excursion and it was nice to hear their tales. Serious Saturday afternoon storms brought hail and a power outage at my in-laws. Am thinking the British Tea they brought back might aid my stuffiness?!

Afternoon lunch by candle light.










Father & Son enjoying the summer storm.










Sunday we visited Joe and Linda’s where Saladpalozza* is in full effect. I love Saladpalozza. It is SO fun.










*Saladpalozza: Linda makes at least one new salad at our family meal. And the salad doesn’t have to be green. This week was a curry rice salad with artichokes, olives and other fun stuff and some sort of cool whip concoction that was loved by the people who eat cool whip products. The sad thing about Saladpalozza is that you may never see a favorite salad on the table again. There are hardly any repeats…unless you b e g.