Giants win the World Series

Have you ever found yourself swept away by someone else's joy?  Crying as you share the happiness they are feeling?  Mike has been a Giants fan since childhood.  He has memorabilia from the 70s, stories of his many game attendances and even tickets to a few playoff games that never were.  Our garage is plastered with pennants from 1984, '87, '89 & 2002.  He's got many Croix of Candlestick, proof of holding hope during extra innings at the freezing 'stick.  He's waited, watched, hoped, agonized and thoroughly brainwashed our children and even me into loving these GIANTS.

AT&T Park June 2010

And now, it has all paid off.  Our wonderful friends gave the ultimate gift of World Series tickets for game 2.  Such an experience!  Once in a lifetime! (hopefully not)

Our thanks to Les & Terri, Brian & Melissa, James and Sean!!!  We are overjoyed, were overwhelmed and  overcome with appreciation. 



AT&T Park
World Series Game 2
October 28 2010
Giants vs Rangers



We are so lucky!!

Short n' sweet summer

From Lake Tahoe to San Jose and Sly Park to Santa Cruz, we had a great summer. The kids love trips to anyplace and especially those requiring a hotel stay or a tent.

This summer's Tour of California, well central valley and coast---maybe 'I-80 corridor tour', was fantastic. We started with a family vacation to Tahoe with my in laws. Beautiful days and nights along with lake swimming, hot tubbing and assorted arcade fun. Sadly, I left early to attend a funeral for my dear cousin, Renee. She will be missed greatly, but remembered fondly for her kindness, love of family and all around spit-fire nature. Mike and the kids stayed in Tahoe and enjoyed several more days visiting with the family.

We attended a family wedding in July. Brandon & Emily had the honor of ring bearer and flower girl, respectively. They enjoyed dressing up and riding in a limo. We drove to Stanford for pictures and the setting was wonderful. Hind sight tends to rear it's head on me, reminding me that I did not attend a university, but I've been on plenty of university campuses and in the end they are all good for one thing.....education of alcohol consumption. I have a doctorate.
Anyway, off subject there a bit. The wedding was so fun and featured a mariachi band, an overnight at the Hilton and a hungover husband.

Sly Park was a short jaunt up the highway and we needed it to beat the heat. A great day with the Kuhlman family, with whom we are growing closer since they moved within driving distance. A blessing we have waited for for 14 years. Yay!

Our last trip was to New Brighton Beach. This was the site of my first camping trip with Mike before we were married. We love sharing it with our children, friends and family. This year, we ventured with our campers-in-training, the Goetzes. The kids have been friends since birth and they get along better than siblings. The beach was beautiful and not too busy. We visited Santa Cruz for pizza one evening and each day we got coffee delivered thanks to a techno junkie who needed a Wi-Fi fix.

Back to school has drained me. I now think back to the beginning of summer and relish the days I spent in my pajamas, letting the kids veg out on Disney channel and feeding them granola bars and cheese sticks for lunch. We have now been initiated to 2 carpools. There is homework and starvation. (I hear this every hour from Brandon) It's drama!

So, here I am, 11:37 pm on Sunday night. The week before me is busy. I could not ask for more, I am happy and excited for all of it. We have ballet, lunch dates, coffee dates, soccer, play dates, birthdays. And at some point I have got to get my 'September Morn' ear worm taken care of. Someone call Neil Diamond. I hope we all dance until the night becomes a brand new day.

Brandon's first day of school with photo bombing Emily.

Milestones

The kids are growing.

Brandon has 4 molars coming in and 3 front teeth going out. He graduates Kindergarten in a week. He has learned to read, write, and make friends - all with charm and kindness. I am so very proud of him. He is goofy and wise. He asks questions about the world around us, some that I even have to research to give the correct answer. It can be challenging.

Emily continues to teach me patience each day. She is warm, loving, mature beyond her 4 years, yet babyish at times. She is artistic and imaginative. She also benefits from her older brother's lessons. It seems to be an advantage when she is playing with friends or even conversing with adults. Some consider it cute; I think it is simply amazing.

I was inspired to put down my feelings about the kids after a 2 hour trip to the grocery store yesterday. Each child was pulling a gallon of milk off the shelf and I was repeating my shopping mantra: "No you may not. Please, put that back. Get off the cart. Stop touching everything." As Brandon's gallon jug gently grazed the linoleum floor, a man said, "Lucky you." I laughed, but he repeated himself, "Lucky you". I understood that my chaos was a gift. I am glad to be present.

Mary Mary, quite contrary...

Spring marks my favorite time of year. It is time to plant the garden and play outside. My kids are sadly T.V. addicts. But as this season approached I was eager to push them out of doors. My fantasy was that they would play for hours making up adventures and creating natural potions while I worked my chores in the house. (Okay, so that's a fib...I wanted to have a break of mythic proportion, this dream included some sort of beverage and a book.)

We finished our planting last week. Brandon has been on almost hourly watch to monitor it's growth progress. We used coffee grounds and cocoa mulch and flowers to 'perk' up the overall ambiance. It smells like a mocha and looks almost as good. So this is the draw of the yard. Not the swing set, sand box or ride on toys. The garden which will take 56 to 78 days until earliest harvest. That is roughly late June. I rarely have the patience for that kind of time, yet they are fascinated by the changes and obsessed with watering. All good things when you consider that the wee seedlings are counting on us for their continued life. I am proud of them and their eagerness. I am also fortified that this hobby has granted me a peaceful time to read a book and enjoy a glass of lemonade with my feet kicked up on the back patio. They won't let me go inside, but I would never complain-----I'd have to do my chores.

Mamma Duck

Recently I have been on a cleaning protest. You know the kind, you are sick of cleaning up after everyone and just one dirty sock tips you over the edge, so you just QUIT. Well, today I ended my protest, it has not been gung ho by any stretch...I mean, I am maintaining mellow status, of course.

So I woke up today, leisurely read a book in bed while Mike fed the kids; then I moved to the couch, where I leisurely read while the kids cuddled with me. Bliss!!

Oh, wait, back to the cleaning thing. After my great morning...I commenced to clean. Organizing the clothes in my room that get strewn over the recumbent bike was quick, until, the kids joined me. First Brandon, always chivalrous and complimentary said it looked great and then jumped on the bed where all the clothes were folded and neatly arranged. (I said the organizing was quick, the putting away takes a bit longer.) I kicked him off the bed, only to have him summon his sister, "Come see what Mom did, Em! Her room is clean!" She dashes in and vaults herself onto my bed, as if her very life depended on wrecking those piles. Is it any wonder I went on strike? It's a vicious cycle to clean with kids. Almost futile. They refuse to pick up after themselves, but boy, once I decide to clean up...they are right there. And, before you ask or suggest, "Do you give them jobs and tools to help?" You bet! Dusters, mops, brooms, special colored sponges, all purchased to entice them. They will help, but is that really helping?

So I soldier on. Cleaning, witnessing the messing, cleaning... The thought of everyone wearing fresh clean clothes from the laundry makes me shudder. I am going to end up washing the stuff eventually. Now is maybe not a good time to suggest nudism as a house rule.


My ducklings follow me everywhere. They talk like me, act like me. If I have a cup of coffee, they want one too. If I say I don't like the color yellow, neither do they. If I leave the room, they follow. Even when I say 'I love you', they repeat it back.

A sign in our kitchen reads, "A clean house is a sign of a misspent life."

It's almost a motto for me, but could lead my friends to call "Hoarders", so I am going to finish my chores, this minute.

Wiser, yes! More mature, no.

I wrote the following last year:
"On another note, I turn 34 tomorrow. In celebration, I drank quite a bit..."

Here we are 1 year later, I turn 35 tomorrow and in celebration, I drank quite a bit. It all started Tuesday last week and hopefully tapers off around Easter. Summer is coming and I need to be in tip top party mode. Practice makes perfect!

I had some time tonight to write this, while I waited for Emily's bloody nose to cease. Mike is home from an overnight to Ukiah, a 6 hour drive both ways, and he got himself a nice food-borne stomach ailment. My library books are 22 days overdue. I have 10 loads of laundry waiting for me. My son is still off track from school and I am fresh out of ideas to keep him entertained. I also got to visit my Ob/gyn today and that was a laugh a minute.

These are not complaints, this is the beauty of being human and having a family. Taking care of my husband and kids while I scrape up some time to celebrate the wonder of life. Along the way today I relished the sun on my face and flowers in bloom. The screams of delight while my kids played with my parents' dogs and their giggles later as they watched a favorite cartoon. I hugged my parents and thanked the powers that be that I could. I made my hubby some tea and toast, hugging him as we comforted our daughter and emptied a box of tissues together.

I turned 35---50 minutes ago. It's gonna be a beautiful day and a very good year!

The Ides of March

I am sitting here in between parties. ZZZZZzzzzzz, oh sorry, I'm up. It used to be that I was one of the few people I knew born in March. My Grandpa Roy was born March 21st and he and I never had a clash. : ) This week however has been eye-opening, I will call it 'sharing therapy'. I now know 4 adults and 5 children with March birth dates. So here I sit in the midst of party central, ending the 3rd party of the week and off to 3 more this weekend. We regretfully can't make it to one tomorrow, but then Mamma gets to ride in a limo while we tour Amador wine country. Priorities.

So I have to go wrap some gifts, I hope I don't mix stuff up and give the 40 year old the Star Wars Lego's and the 6 year old a bottle of gin. Faux pas!!

PS. Starbucks is giving away pastries with a coffee drink purchase Tuesday March 23rd in honor of my birthday. (I get around you know) Your welcome!! So party like it's your birthday!!

Welcome to Hollywood!

Last week I got to get away. Shhhhh...it happens rarely, okay so maybe once. I remember that I spent 1 night at Mom and Dad's after I got a concussion when Brandon was 1. Make no mistake, Mike and I get away, yes. We have fun, go to many fun places and it's great! But, I had yet to go anywhere on a girls trip. So we headed to LA and saw Dr Phil, The Doctors, Jimmy Kimmel Live, had great laughs at The Comedy Store and shopped and dined to exhaustion.

This trip was not without its pitfalls. The hotel room was cancelled due to my friends recent stolen wallet mishap. We found great rooms at Hollywood Heights, wonderful service too. We dined at Musso and Franks, delicious ravioli and red wine. We walked the streets and played tourist visiting of course, Fredricks! My daughter wears more fabric in one outfit than they sell in the whole place.

Dr. Phil was fun. He was very imformative about the off camera happenings. He took extra time with a family in crisis and on the brink of divorce. I was happy to see that he did not kick them out after the taping was done. The 2nd taping featured "The Fat Debate". I still think they knew I was coming. They even did a hidden video taping in the holding room prior to the show. I am looking forward to what they discovered about people and food. I can tell you right now that I love food and pairing a table of fruits and veggies versus doughnuts and cookies together will never intimidate me. Moderation. (Had I been alone this would be another story--screw moderation!) Anyhow, I got a 1 yr 24 hr fitness pass and I think I better get some use out of it, or Dr. Phil might put me in one of his "therapy houses".

We checked out Jimmy Kimmel on a whim. My girlfriend waited for 1 1/2 hours for us to get in. The rest of us went shopping and got coffee...what bitches. We brought her hot cocoa for her effort though. That was a fun experience, but the most interesting part for me is the building they are located in. It's an old Mason's hall and I find it fascinating that there was a large entry way flanked by two wooden bars. It was gorgeous inside, marble pillars, a grand fireplace, mirrors on the walls. I see how the other half (men) lived and probably still do. Swanky!

Jimmy's warm up guy sent us to The Comedy Store. "Tell 'em Don sent ya!" So we did. They replied "2 drink minimum". Have you ever been more sober after drinking than you were before you started? Well that describes how strong my 2, yes 2, Long Islands were. Maybe the mixologist forgot the Long Island part. Pauly Shore, I don't need to call you for 'Jury Duty' to render my judgement that your liquor is cheap.

'The Doctors' filmed the following day. Yes, Dr. Stork is hot. Yes, Gene Simmons hair looks like that in real life. Dr. Phil's son, Jay is the exec producer for this show. His wife is a triplet; bleach blond, buxom and painted on jeans. She and her 2 sisters recently got pregnant. Uncanny, right? How did they get that coordinated? That was some Sunday pot roast dinner back at Mom and Dad's 9 months ago. As if you could not guess, Mrs. Jay McGraw, and her sisters were previously in b-rate porn. I looked it up to confirm my suspicion. And, while I am not a man, I do know that twins are popular (ahem) shall we say, in that line of work; so triplets would be 3x the fun.
As Dr. Phil says, "That was the bubble over my head".

The trip rounded out with a delayed flight, but a wonderful meal at a Greek restaurant in Beverly Hills. So much fun!! Can't wait to see the shows when they air.