Hybrid

So, yesterday was July 4th and Vallejo had a lovely parade. I must say that the parade was primarily made up of low-rider clubs, tow truck companies, city council members, and churches. Yeah, only 1 marching band.
Strange.
I must say seeing so many low (or is it lo) riders did get me thinking. I wonder if they make a hybrid low rider.

Twitter

So, I'm Twittering or Tweeting or whatever.
It is like blogging, but for lazy people-like me.

Yeah, I know-
I'm blogging like I'm being paid to blog...
I'm blogging like I'm being paid to blog...

Processed

Why is it that when I’m in Costco I see so many people in warm ups pushing a flatbed of baked goods, processed cheese and meat talking on a blue tooth?
I’m not judging-just observing

Thrift

So there is this thrift store a couple of blocks away from our house. I pass by it several times a day picking up and dropping off kids.
So this morning, I’m driving by after dropping the kids off at camp, and see that the treadmill is still out in front of the store for sale.
And then I notice the “lady” standing on the treadmill trying it out.
She is rather scantily clad in:
Black high-heeled ankle boots
Animal print short-shorts
Lacy shiny black nightie-looking top

She looks a bit like Jillian Barbieri in her “before” photo for Nurtisystems.
Lots of hair. Lots of boobs. Junk in the trunk.

She is also smoking a cigarette

I suspect that she is a “working” girl.

Then, I wonder if she will write off the treadmill on her taxes….

Judge

Go ahead.
Judge me.
Call me shallow.
But-
Last nite's finale episode of the Real Housewives of New Jersey was delicious.
Sweet. Yummy. Dolce.
Never mess with the little cute one.

Lever

Went to the bike shop in Berkeley today to check out the sale and get some tubes.
Haile and I were chatting while the wrench put the water bottle cage on his bike. The conversation went something like this:
Haile: I don’t want the brake levers in more.
Me: Didn’t you say that the levers were too far out when you were riding the bike through the house on Sunday?”
Haile: No, I said that they were too far from my hands.
Me: That's what he's fixing.
Wrench: You let him ride his bike in the house?
Me: (grimace) I’m not a model parent.

Blog.2

So, I blog again.
I will do my best.
Sheesh-would ya stop snickering?!

I will as though I am being PAID to blog.
Is that better?!

In my mind I’m having that snarky conversation and squealing, “Up yours! I will too do it!”

Anywhoo

Time does tell, now doesn't it?

Rx

So I go to pick up some Tylenol at the pharmacy for my husband after his procedure.
I swear, I thought that the bitch was going to shoot me in the ass with a tranqu gun, tag me, and attach a GPS radio to my collar to make sure that I was really going to give the meds to my husband and not sell them on the black market.
I mean, did I look that tore up?
I know I was lookin' a little tired, but did I look that much like a junkie?!

Pack

JayJ on the run

Our first meeting with Padme

Sage

Padme and JayJ at Albany Bulb

Padme and Woody

Padme tends to look sad, but every day she is more and more smiley and happy

Padme
Her name is supposed to have that little thingie over the e.
She's our newest dog.
Our pack consists of Sage 15 and still hanging in there
JayJ (we'll say he'll be 2 on March 15th) the dog we rescued from Smiley Dog Rescue in September. Yep, he's a big old cinnamon brindle pit bull boy. As far as obedience..he is above average. A really good boy, and Padme (we'll say she'll be 1 on March 15th) After rescuing JayJ, we kept hearing about how hard it is for Pit Bulls, so we decided to rescue "the dog in the most need." We went to several rescue agencies and ended up finding this girl through our friends at Smiley Dog Rescue at the Oakland Animal Services facility.
She really had a tough life before she was taken in a OAS.
Some one tried to dock her tail (and botched it up) and she has these terrible scars along her back. We don't know how she got the scars, but needless to say, it must have been terribly painful and it went untreated.
She is incredibly sweet. When we first met her at the pound, she walked up to the 3 year old and put her head against his leg and just gently leaned into him. They told us that no one had been by to consider adopting her and were glad that we would consider such a beat up dog.
Anyway-poor baby, poor baby-now, she is with us and living it up.
Here are some photos of the gang

Dolce

I know, not really practical for chasing around a 3 year old....

Year

Yikes!
It's a new year.
Things are going and going and going. The boys are super and Garth and I are doing just great.
We've got dogs and dogs at our house and things are crazy fun
So-
The other day
I went to Nordstrom and had a shoe-gasm. It was AWESOME!!
I went to Nordstrom to return a lovely pair of Jimmy Choo shoes that Garth bought me. The shoes were beautiful, but my pinky-toe (like you really care about these details) just couldn't do it. The sales person was in disbelief. I kept telling her, "It isn't the shoes, it's me!" It was like trying to break up.
So she found me a new love.
Dolce
Um...
Dolce-Dolce-Dolce
She built me up nicely, wooing me with some Mui Muis...She must of had 10 pair of beautiful shoes there for me to try on. She knew exactly how to work me over. So I tried on and tried on, every pair building me up for the next pair. I swear, I felt chills. The way they made me look and feel. Nice.
Then Dolce. So sweet.
Shoe-gasm

Tomatoes

Another month?!
Sheesh!?
Well, it is less than a week before Christmas (yeah, I did want to write X-mas!!!) and I am just not as full of the holiday spirit as I should be. I mean, comon. Christmas is just CRAZY-time. Go out and shop like you don't have any sense-time.
At least I'm excited for the kids. They are really getting juiced up for the holiday. Lots of trying to be good and "Santa's watching" stuff.
Star Wars is really big around our house, now too. Last night, I put the boys to bed and about an hour later, 2 sleepy boys walk in to the bedroom as ask (totally seriously), "Momma, what is your Jedi name?"
I love boys!
Happy Happy
Healthy Healthy
Fa-la-la-la-Laaaaaa!!

Shaking

Long time.
Real long time.
Since June we've been back to Maryland. Everyone is just fine. We had a fun (although if we heard, "It's not the heat....we were gonna scream!) We spent 3 weeks in the end of July and early August.
Then...
We MOVED!

Go figure.
Here's the short story-
Kathy and Larry (Garth's parents) purchased a house in Oregon. Their house in Vallejo wasn't in any shape to sell so, they asked if we would move in to the house to help them our financially while they get it ready to go on the market.
So
We're now residents of Vallejo
BIG change from San Rafael. In many ways, it is SO much better. There is a LOT more diversity, people are more friendly, and over-all it is a much more family friendly community.
The down side is that you have to answer questions like, "Momma, why does that man have a watch on his leg?"
-Well son, he is on house arrest.
sigh.
We also got a new dog.
He is a rescue from Smiley Dog Rescue and he's a pit bull. Yeah, we LOVE the underdogs.
His name is JJ and he is about a year and a half old.
Sage is still around and SO happy to have a nice young friend.

Moving

So, a few things
1. After a rather typical MaCo, but none the less disturbing interaction at a local park, we've decided that we are giving MaCo a year and then we are outta here (if not sooner) I won't go into the details of the interaction, but here is a sample of what she was like. She was carrying on about how her 2009 fully loaded Honda Odyssey Touring was a "cheap" car. A "piece of junk that she won't drive for long" She prefers "luxury" vehicles...gag....ack!
2. The other day I saw a guy driving a Prius (alone-everyone in Maco drive solo.) flick his ciggy butt out of the window to the side of the road. I was like, "did that just really happen?" Talk about unclear on the concept....
3. The boob-job and tummy tuck look awesome. Actually, I still have a Franken-belly, but it is pretty flat!!
4. My oldest "graduates" from Pre-K tomorrow. I had no idea that one "'graduated" from Pre-K. I mean, I understand the importance of acknowledging these sort of life transitions, but "graduation"....
That's it...I'm out!

Bush

Hey
So I saw this on a bumper sticker today.
"When Bush took office, gas was $1.46 a gallon"
We are paying $4.29 for it here in MaCo.

Sick

I'm just trying to get my head around this.
So, my husband has a cold. I've said it a million times...my husband turns into a superhero when he gets sick. He becomes Baby-Man. You follow?
Now, he has been sick with a cold for about 4 days and I SWEAR-he has been able to get more sleep and no kid time in the past 4 days than I did the 4 days after my surgery. And I was in the hospital overnight.
Yeah. A real superhero

Post-op W3

So I am 3 weeks out from surgery. Dr D'Amore assures me that I am healing nicely. Personally, I feel a bit itchy. Yeah, I guess the itching means that I am healing. The sisters look pretty nice. Not nearly as high and big as they were a couple of weeks ago. I am still looking a bit like Franken-belly. Things are still swollen and overall looking kinda strange. But can I just tell you--the belly is so much flatter than before.
Yeah-I'm still REALLY happy with the results!

Drop-Off

OK, so this is totally for reals MaCo stuff.
Today I'm dropping off my soon to be 5 year-old. I see one of the other Moms dropping off her twin daughters. Since my father's illness, she has been pretty friendly to me so I do a quick stop-and-chat.
Lemme give you some back story on her first. So one other morning we were chatting and she was asking me the "how do you do it?" question referring to my husband working very long hours and me carrying the bulk of the child caring load. My standard answer is that I just "keep on keeping on." Then she tells me, "Yeah, me too. I mean, having a nanny and daytime and a nighttime housekeeper helps, but really-I do pretty much everything."
--OK, so after the nanny is watching the kids (and what does a full-time nanny do while the kids are daycare? The grocery shopping?!) and the housekeepers keep the house, what IS it that she actually does?!
So then I'm thinking...maybe she was JOKING--Yes, she must have been joking.
Then today, I realize. She WASN'T joking.
Anyway, so today I ask, "How was your Mother's Day?"
Can I just tell you, she was SO HAPPY that I asked.
She tells me that she got
A new Mac Air and...
iTV and...
iTouch

Yeah. Then she starts complaining that now she is going to have to spend all this time learning how to use a Mac.
And I was thrilled with my Kirkland Signature 16 piece stainless steel cookware set.

Post-op W1

OK, these post-op bindings are so tight. I feel like a sausage. How do women wear girdles? Why do women wear girdles? Yeah, I'm starting to get all whiny-I'll stop. I really am happy with the results.

Cop

I won't cop any lame story. I've been lazy and busy all at once. (why not lasy and busy or lazy and buzy--anywhoooo)
I've got to do some catching up...

Late-March
We returned to San Rafael after being in Maryland helping my parents for 2 1/2 months. My father is recovering nicely and my mother now has him washing the dishes since he can no longer mow the lawn.
Garth and I reconnect. [insert lame 70's porno music here] Absence does make the heart grow fonder. Actually, I think that the toxic build up of annoying things that we do to each other subsided and we become more forgiving (or forgetful) and get along like we were dating.
The boys get back into their routines--gymnastics, pre-K, day care, otter pops, playdates, Tivo'd children's shows, "mine!" "Mine!" "MINE!!!"
A week after our return, my father is rushed to the hospital in the early morning. He is experiencing shortness of breath and generally feeling lousy. He stays overnight and is discharged with some new meds. A few days later he gets a stomach flu and loses more weight. He is better after 3-4 days but weak. Well, not so weak that he can't drive....

April
I contact my plastic surgeon regarding my lovely umbilical hernia and diastasis recti. Yeah, as it turns out-THAT is why 2 years after having my last child, I continue to look like I am 5 months pregnant. We schedule my surgery (did I mention the BOOB-JOB, too!!!!) and the pre-op stuff begins.
I have my surgery and WOW!!! What a difference. As it turns out, I had to have a complete abdominal reconstruction because my abdomen was so screwed up. I now have a new belly button, mesh installed in my abdominal cavity ("This is one of the worst cases, Paisley. My doctor is Italian so use the accent when you imagine him speaking. It is like, Peez-leeh. You only have intestine here, then thin bit of tissue and some skin. You are very lucky not to rupture your abdomen.) and my old tummy back. The mermaid tattoo did suffer a bit of damage..
And the BOOBS....yes, you are wondering about them, no?!
I did get silicone implants. Nothing big. I believe he (Dr, D'Amore-no, I'm not KIDDING, his name is D'Amore!!!) refers to them as a "sporty look." For those of you who like numbers they are 225cc's..or small B's...I just like to call them "sporty" and man, they are perky little ladies, lemme tell you.....
My father continues to improve. Now he and my mother are starting to bicker about each other, so things are pretty much back to normal...

May
Well, May just started and the weather is a bit cool for my tastes. I am thinking about returning to work but as a professional organizer instead of a therapist. They can charge about the same hourly rate and I don't have to worry about all the ucky stuff that I have to deal with as a therapist. I'm going to keep my license current, so I can go back to counseling or do it on the side. For now, with the kids and Garth working so much-this just looks like a good fit for us.
Can you believe that the median (yeah, median--not average) price for a home in MaCo is $800,000. WTF?!?!
My oldest has a birthday on the 17th. He will be 5. Can you even believe it?! FIVE!!! As my brother said, "He now fills up a whole hand."