Blah, Blah, Blah, Blog

Bach, Bonnie Raitt, Rage Against the Machine?

What do Michael Phelps and his olympic teammates listen to on their IPODS as they await their races?  I'm curious.  What are your guesses?

So long Ragamuffin...

  Introducing the new  Muffin!

my little chef(s)

  Tonight I was making dinner and Hannah asked if she could help.  I sent her off to wash her hands and she came back a few minutes later with Mattie (my grandchild!).  They were both decked out in their matching aprons and ready to help.  Ya, she does dishes too!

My boy is back home

Camp was great and Noah is back home.  Dirt, smelly laundry and all. 

I'm happy.

Beijing

My friend Aracely and I have the exact same sentiments about the Olympics.  So... I'll just use her words.  She's way funnier than I am anyway.

"Box of Kleenex ✔

Chinese/ English Dictionary ✔

Small American, Mexican, Colombian flags ✔✔✔

I’m ready!  I can’t wait to hear about the athlete that worked at Home Depot while training for the Olympics, supporting his mother, obtaining his Masters all without the support of his dead beat dad.  I’m ready to see the overwhelming joy in every moms eyes as they cheer their kids on in the stands, and I can’t wait for the opening ceremonies.  The cool outfits,the flags, the pride, the lighting of the torch.

Few people get exited about the Olympics anymore, but I love it.  I cry, I cheer, I cry some more.  By day 2 I’m like Crap is this still on!, but come closing ceremony I’m sad it’s over. "

Okay, so maybe I don't really have any Mexican or Colombian flags.  But maybe I can make some out of the excess Kleenex.  If there is any Kleenex left cause I'll probably need a lot! 

Happy Olympic watching!  GO USA!

Hello Mother, Hello Father

We got a letter from Camp!  Miles called me on my cell to tell me that we got it and I made him read it to me 4 times over the phone!  I'm pretty excited!  Can you tell?

Last night we finally saw a picture of him on the camp website too.  I spent quite a while analyzing his expression only to come to no really good conclusion about how he's really doing.   That Psych minor I got in college isn't exactly paying off here.  I'll just wait until Saturday to hear all about it.  Hummph.

I told him in a P.S. in a letter earlier this week that his video games miss him, so my clever kid said, "I love you tons and I love my games too!"

How you know you're getting old

Tonight my brother Ian is over.  He is a sophomore at King High and occasionally walks over here after school.  Today is one of those days.  He is your typical high school boy and is ALL about music right now.  He is going through our music collection which is quite a vast selection.  It ranges from Peter, Paul, and Mary to Rage Against the Machine.  We don't have the cases or sleeves for our CD's.  They are just in a CD album, so you can't always tell who it is unless it's printed on the CD.  He kept asking who the albums were. 

Then it happened.  He said,"who's 101?". 
Miles said, "What?!  Depeche Mode!  You've never heard of them?"
Ian said, "Uh.  No.  Who's Oingo Boingo?"

Are you kidding me?  He's never heard of these guys?  Once again, I'm feeling old.

A big weekend!

Whew!  I made it through a really hectic week.  I survived week one of school, Miles' cousin got married, Connor celebrated her first birthday, the kids' went to a musical and a dive-in movie/pool party, and NOAH LEFT FOR CAMP!

Ya that's right.  My little guy is off to camp for a week!  He's sleeping in a tee pee right now in the wilderness.  I cried just a little bit.  Okay, maybe a lot.  But... he didn't see me.  I waited until Miles and I got back in the car to really open the flood gates.  So, if I saw you at the camp drop off today and I didn't say much, I wasn't being rude.  I was just really working hard to keep it together!  Ya know?

Pictures and details on the other big events of the weekend are to come.  Stay tuned.

Happy first birthday niece Connor!

don't you hate it when...

you go to a fast food joint, get home and you have food missing?

Case in point:
Being the outstanding Mom that I am, I drove through Taco Bell on my way home from a VERY long day at work, to pick up dinner.  I had open house tonight so it was 7:30ish.  My head hurts, Miles isn't home tonight, fast food was a necessity.  I picked the kids up from Grandma and headed home with promised bean burritos.  The kids sat down at 8:00 and eagerly awaited their bean burritos (remember I'm an outstanding Mom).  I open the bag to find 3 tacos.  My kids don't eat tacos.  Arggg! 

Guess what?  Noah and Hannah ate tacos tonight.   But man, that is SOOOO frustrating!

 

first day of first grade, check.

I survived my first day of first grade.  My feet hurt, my throat hurts from talking so much, and I'm pretty tired but it was actually a really good day.  The kids are really cute.  I only lost one during lunch, but that wasn't really my fault.  And there were no criers!  That's a first for me.  There's always at least one.  I think it's going to be a good year. 

Here's a peek into room 10. 

 

so long

off track wife/mom. 

Welcome back on track wife/mom.

Longshadow Ranch Winery

Last night the Kelley's invited us to Longshadow Ranch Winery in Temecula.  On Saturday nights from 5-9pm they have live music in a picnic setting at their winery.  It was amazing!  You bring your own picnic, buy there yummy wine and hang out listening to some live music.  My favorite part about this place was that it's definitely a family friendly place.  They have a kid's bar with soda, gatorade, glow sticks and snacks.  The kids dance and run around on their own.  They have horses and goats to check out.  There are twinkle lights in the trees, a firepit, and lots of picnic tables.  All in the Temecula wine Valley.  Did I mention that this is free?  It really is a beautiful thing to do on a perfect summer night with family and friends!

Thanks Billy and Michelle for inviting us.  We're ready to go again anytime!

 

This suburban Mom's adventure

The other afternoon I ventured out of my suburban SUV comfort zone and traveled via public transportation to Los Angeles to visit my friend Scarlett.  Scarlett recently took a job at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and takes the metrolink and Red Line subway to get to her work each day.  So a couple of days ago, I followed in her footsteps to check it out. 

  First I went to the Downtown Riverside Metrolink Station and boarded the 3:07 train to Union Station.  Not being the peak commuting train, I had the whole train car to myself.  So here I am on the train.  I really liked it!  I actually wish I could take the train to work in Grand Terrace every day.  It was really relaxing and I am envious that Scar gets to chill for and hour and a half on her way home.  What a great way to get some time for yourself!

This is on the subway platform.  This is where I got a little nervous being in all the hustle and bustle.  I was unsure of which train to get on so I asked a nice police officer to help.  I felt so out of place.  He told me that I needed the 4:47 subway train and pointed to his left.  So when I walked to the what I thought was the right train, the nice police officer redirected me to actual one.  Oh how embarrassing! 

   Here is my view from my seat in the subway.  I really felt like I was in a big city when a stranger sat down next to me without asking if it was available.  Of course it wouldn't have been a real subway experience without the disabled man asking me, "do you have a dollar?  I need it for the bus fare?"  Me being the suburban Mom says yes and hands him a dollar.  Then 5 seconds later he asked the lady behind me, "do you have a dollar?  I need it for the bus fare?".  Apparently my dollar wasn't going to cover it!  Scammed again!

I survived the subway and Scarlett met me in the subway platform and we walked around the corner to her office at CHLA.  She gave me a quick tour.  The hospital is really cute and smells good too.  Not so much like a hospital!

Next we went for a mani/pedi at some small little shop near the hospital.  Who doesn't love that?

Then went to Alcove for dinner.  Scarlett found this place and knew that I'd love it, because I love outdoor cafes!  One of my favorite things in life for sure!

I had a grilled Salmon Sandwich with citrus relish & raspberry dressing.  The food was so yummy,  te atmosphere was fabulous and the company was even better!

We topped the night off with a visit to Pinkberry.  Oh good heavens and to think it couldn't get any better... this guy walked in that looked a heck of a lot like Matthew McConaughey!  Seriously?!

Then we headed back to suburbia!  It was a great night!  Thanks for the adventure Scarlett!

Spontaneous sisterly fun! Mamma Mia at 10:25 pm!