Getting Militant Again

I have been fired up this last week. First gay rights, now a woman's right to choose is in the headlines. I wrote about my feelings on my other blog. Check it out!

Passing Wind and Fart Festival 2009

Well it's actually called the Wind and Art Festival, and it's here in San Ramon every Memorial Day weekend. This year it was freezing!! The fog never cleared until after we left and it was about 50 degrees the whole time.

Here is Mike on the ferris wheel.

Here is me and Mike on the ferris wheel. I think he is trying to lick my earring.

Here is Bekah on the teacups.

Erik, Bekah and Jake. Erik was a little sea sick after this spin.

Kicking back in the wagon, munching on a hot dog, my kids know how to party.

It was so cold Erik and I only enjoyed one beer.

But the chilly air did lead to some nice cuddling.

I Hate Prop 8

So today started off pretty awesome with a Hispanic woman being picked as a nominee, for our nation's Supreme Court. But then civil rights took a step backwards just as quickly as it progressed. The horribly hateful Proposition 8 was upheld by California's Supreme Court. 6-1. To quote my brother Brandon, that is "6 justices who don't believe in civil rights.". I was angry and disappointed, but I turned off the television, and had a nice playdate with a friend and her adorable son. Then comes naptime, and my computer time, and now I am really angry after reading an article on S.F. Gate.

These are the paragraphs in particular that made me angry:



Among the first to go were Shawn Higgins and Robert Franco of San Francisco. The two men, who said they are engaged to marry, had stood for about an hour in the intersection calmly kissing while demonstrators all around them screamed, "Prop. 8 will go down, San Francisco (is a) big queer town" and other slogans.

Damn straight San Francisco is a big queer town! (excuse the pun) And don't you forget it! Who let the Prop 8 supporters over the bridges?!



Jorge Riley, 31, of Sacramento also got up early to make the drive to San Francisco to hoist his sign reading, "Gay = Pervert."

Seriously?! What a hateful, horrible person.

This is a civil rights issue, plain and simple. If you do not agree with me please do not read my blog, do not leave any comments on my blog, and do not follow my blog. Quietly go and unfollow me. And tell your friends not to read my blog. I am too angry and disgusted to be diplomatic right now.

I think rioting is completely warranted. I know that is a shocking statement, but think about it. Somebody is telling you that you can't get married. Think really hard about that........you can't marry the person you love. Wouldn't you feel outraged? Hurt? Demeaned? Feel less than a second class citizen? I would.

I want to take to the streets but I am ashamed to admit that I get caught up in the logistics of whose going to watch my kids while I am in jail. And honestly I don't want my kids around those hateful, ignorant Prop. 8 supporters. They frighten me, so I am sure they would frighten my kids.

This is the part of that article that gave me hope:

While some police officers kept watch from the outside of the protest circle, about 10 officers were positioned inside. Each of those 10 officers are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, said Lt. Lea Militello of the Tenderloin Station.

"Absolutely it affects me. I got married in October," she said.

Police Sgt. Carl Tennenbaum said the officers on the scene ranged from gay to conservative, and many had to say they had "mixed feelings would be putting it mildly." However, he said, "You just have to set the issues aside and do your job."

Maybe when supporters of Prop. 8 see that this truly affects "normal" citizens, like police officers, they will begin to change their minds. I say this because I am under the impression that many supporters of this hateful legislation, have only experienced stereotypes of homosexuals. They are not aware that gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals and transgender people come from every walk of life. So I believe we will have a chance to put this on the ballot again, and make justice and equality for everyone.

A New Classic Rock Station For Your Memorial Day BBQs

So the other day I was driving Bekah and Jake home after picking Bekah up from preschool and dropping Mike off at Pre-K. I put on the smooth jazz station which makes me want to stick ice-picks in my ears, but it's great for putting Jake to sleep. Instead of a whiny saxophone or cheesy keyboard music I heard Lynryd Skynrd. Sweet!

103.7 The Band, is the name of the new station and I know we already have The Bone and KFOG, but it certainly beats anymore Christian, Country, or Mexican radio stations. That's not a slam on Christians, Cowboys or Mexicans, just their music.

So have a rockin' Memorial Day, and turn it up.

A Weekly Weight Watcher's Menu

Ok so I am trying to get back on the Weight Watchers wagon this week due to some chick thinking I was pregnant last weekend.

I am proud of myself because I have been sticking to it, and I have been to the gym 3 days in a row. I will go ahead and post my menu for the whole week below. I will fill in the recipes later and tell you if they tasted good or not. According to Weight Watchers I am supposed to eat 23 points a day but I have 35 extra points a week to use and exercise gives you some extra points too.

Monday
Dinner (I already posted breakfast and lunch earlier in this week)
An indescribable chicken and veggie soup. It was like a Mexican Minestrone. It was based on Weight Watcher's 0 points veggie soup but I had to add chicken for my husband the carnivore and beans and rice for me. I can't do their 0 points soup because I am hungry 5 minutes after eating it and then I get a headache. But with the chicken, beans and rice it only bumped up the soup to 2 points for a giant bowl.

Tuesday
Breakfast= 1 pancake with butter only and a banana= 4 points
Lunch= Leftover soup from Monday
Snack= whole wheat mini bagel with 2 Tbs. of Lite Veggie Cream cheese= 4 points (eaten before going to the gym)
Dinner= Grilled Teriyaki chicken, grilled asparagus, grilled pineapple and brown rice (I didn't grill the rice).
I just dumped some Teriyaki sauce over some chicken breasts early in the morning and let it thaw throughout the day. (Ken's Teriyaki marinade is pretty tasty). I grilled the chicken for roughly 4-5 minutes per side, by then the coals had cooled down a little so the pound of very thin and trimmed asparagus took about 4 minutes a side. The pineapple rings (straight from a can with juice not heavy syrup) I grilled on the very outside of the grill and they take about 2 minutes per side. I put salt and pepper on the pineapple (don't knock it until you have tried it). The asparagus I just poured some more Teriyaki sauce over it and those spears were sooooo good! The brown rice was Success, boil in the bag for 10 minutes, brown rice.

I dumped a palm size piece of grilled chicken, a handful of asparagus, and 2 pineapple rings over a 1/2 cup of rice and it was only 6.5 points and it was filling. I may have had a couple of beers while watching American Idol too. *

Wednesday
Breakfast= scrambled egg white, fat-free cheese slice (on a sandwich ok but I wouldn't eat this straight), and a whole wheat english muffin= 3 points
Lunch= More of the same soup and 1/2 english muffin with f.f. cheese melted on it=3-4 points, leftover asparagus from last night=0 points and a skinny cow popsicle= 1 point (yum!!)
Dinner= Going out to P.F. Changs with a couple of my buddies tonight so I will be eating Chinese food and drinking beer. These 2 friends are skinny though so I most likely won't be pigging out.

Thursday
Breakfast= same sandwich from yesterday
Lunch= Black Bean soup, 2 cups= 2 points (3 cans of black beans 2 of them drained and 1 undrained, dumped into pot with a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juice, 1/2 cup chicken broth, a pinch of anise seeds, a pinch of dried sage and salt and pepper to taste, and Tabasco to taste. Simmer and eat with 2 Tbs of Fat Free Sour Cream, good stuff!
Dinner= Skim milk mozzarella sandwich on whole wheat bread with roasted red pepper strips and 1 tsp. of Pesto. Salad with Italian dressing and steamed broccolli and zucchini. I will give you recipe and points tommorrow or Friday.

Friday
Breakfast= Mini whole wheat bagel with 2 Tbs. lite veggie cream cheese and a cup of cantaloupe= 5 points
Lunch= More black bean soup
Dinner= Turkey burgers with minted yogurt cucumber dressing in whole wheat pitas. I will give points and recipes later when I figure it out.

Saturday
Breakfast= Sandwich, bagels or cereal= all of those are 3-4 points
Lunch= Soup if any is left or leftover turkey burgers or some kind of meat on a stick if we go to the Wind and Art Festival.
Dinner= I am trying to score a date with my husband if I can scrounge a babysitter. If I can't then I might cook ,or not. If I cook I will make Tandoori chicken on the grill, with steamed broccoli, brown rice and pita bread. I will let you know.

Sunday
Breakfast= Same as Sat.
Lunch= Same as Sat. we don't know which day we are going to the Passing Wind and Fart Festival (I crack myself up)
Dinner= Same as Sat.

Monday
Breakfast=Same as Sunday
Lunch= Leftovers
Dinner= It's Memorial Day and points be damned! I am going to hit the gym all weekend so I can enjoy a good bbq!

Grilled beef burgers with all the fixings (mayo, catsup, mustard, horseradish, cheese, lettuce and grilled sweet red onions) on huge sourdough buns
French Fries
Hot dogs
Baked Beans
Strawberries with whipped cream
Lots of ice cold beer




* Look I don't mind telling you how many beers I drink, but there are some chicks who read this blog even though they don't like me. They come from an old mom's club I was a member of and I try not to give them too many things to talk about when it comes to my lifestyle choices. Of course it doesn't seem to occur to them that the wine and martinis they swill have more alcohol than my beers..........

Something New

I am falling behind on my Weight Watcher recipes, sorry about that. It just got super busy around here. Well I am back on the wagon. Some chick thought I was pregnant this weekend, bitch.

I was at a bridal shower and I was making small talk with some very skinny moms and one of them said, "You look like you are pregnant.". WTF? No, seriously, What The Fuck?! I was stunned. I thought I looked pretty good too, a little bloated, but not enough to look pregnant.

So I need to get serious. I have a bacherlorette party to go to in a month. Thankfully that anorexic chick won't be there, but just in case she sees pictures of me from that weekend, I want her to say, "Oh shit I can't believe I thought she was pregnant! I am a truly horrible person and now I need to go eat a Double Whopper with cheese and maybe some onion rings too.".

So what I am going to do is post my meals for the entire week, with the points. And I will try to eat them too.

Monday, May 18th

1 cup Cheerios
1/2 cup 1% milk
sliced 1/2 a banana
At least 4 cups of coffee with 2 Tbs. of nonfat non-dairy Vanilla creamer
Points= 4

Ok so that's breakfast. I will post the rest of the meals as the day goes along. It's 10:14 pm here and I need to brush my teeth and go to bed. Wish me luck.

I don't need luck brushing my teeth, I mean good luck with sticking to a diet void of cheese and beer.

Wildlife in San Ramon-Wild Turkey

This is how exciting it is here in the burbs. I went to put a poopy diaper in the outside garbage can and saw this guy. I went up to the fence and he just limped a few feet away and made cute turkey noises. So I went inside, washed my hands, grabbed the camera, the phone and took a couple of pics while I called animal control. I then loaded up all the kids and went to the gym.




Four hours later and he is still hanging out. Ding-dong, thankfully Jake wasn't napping anyways, otherwise I would be annoyed by the doorbell. It's animal control, and those guys carry real guns, did you know that? Mike tried to touch it.

All 4 of us escorted the officer to our backyard to show him the turkey. I showed him how to access the creek and as soon as he stepped up to the fence, the damn thing flew off. Scared the bejesus out of us! That turkey was easily 20 pounds, with a huge wing span and when he flew off it was no joke.

I felt kind of stupid for making the call to animal control, but I explained that I didn't want a turkey to, "expire" in plain view of my children or become a feast for some coyotes. I used the word expire, because my kids know what dead means, and I spelled coyote. The officer assured me I did the right thing and that if the turkey hadn't flown off, he would have transported it to the shelter.

We then escorted the officer outside and he informed me that he has a 1 and a 3 year old, so we talked about the cost of diapers and formula. He then gave Mike, Bekah, and Jake a tour of his truck. He showed us where the dogs, cats and smaller animals go before he takes them to the shelter. He showed us his tools of the trade, like nets and those poles with the lasso thingy on the end. And he explained in great detail how his radio works and how it allows him to talk to dispatch. Bekah was very intrigued by the button on his radio. It was like a preschool field trip at my house.

The friendly officer went on his way and we haven't seen the turkey since. As you can see by the dent in my fence, he was a hefty bird, and doesn't have very good eyesight. He flew right into it, and if you look really close you can even see a feather clinging.

Hopefully the turkey was just stunned, and sprained, and will heal. The real victim seems to be my plaque of the G-ddess Athena that was hanging from that section of the fence. Athena is the G-ddess of war and is supposed to protect cities, homes, property etc. But it looks like poor Athena is no match for a big, fat turkey.

Well there you go, it doesn't get more exciting than that here in the burbs. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting the boys' haircuts and going to Cost-co. They were out of Dino nuggets (dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets for you non-parents) but I will save that thrilling saga for another day.

My Mother's Day

My mother's day present was last weekend when my husband took me to see Chelsea Handler. This weekend he let me sleep in both Saturday and Sunday morning. It felt so good. And Mike and Bekah both made me very nice mother's day presents at preschool.


I had a very small group here for dinner Sunday night. Auntie M and her husband took off camping so I hosted my mother-in-law, my step-mom and Dad and one of my step-sisters. My mother had pink-eye and couldn't make it.

I cooked an easy but yummy menu of some of my favorite foods:

Sharp white cheddar cheese
sliced bagutte
sliced Fuji apples
(and my step-sis brought some home-made totillas chips and queso)

Grilled Pesto Flat-Iron Steaks
baked potatoes with all of the fixings
green peas with bacon, mushrooms and pearl onions
green salad
biscuits

Strawberry shortcake

Erik took a couple of pictures of me in a sundress and I got one of my kids to pose with me.

Check out my other blog for a less appropriate picture my husband took.

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose

This week is spring break for my monkeys. That just means my 3 and 4 year old don't have preschool. Unfortunately my nieces, and my kids' monkey friends, had spring break last week! So I had to do a field trip solo.







I decided to take my 3 savages to places that I haunted as a child. I grew up in San Jose, California, long before it was Silicon Valley. So I decided to take my kids to lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory and to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.



Here is Jake enjoying his dessert. His entree was spaghetti with meat sauce but Jake looks like this after drinking water. He is just a messy dude, and goes through more costume changes in a day than Cher at a concert.













After our cheap, yet tasty lunch we headed over to the museum. The museum is a historic building that has lifts for wheelchairs, but no elevators and I would feel like an idiot using the lifts for the stroller. So I left the stroller in the van, which means I had no hands to take pictures inside the museum. I was on high alert with 3 toddlers and glass cases full of artifacts.

Mike pointed to one of the paintings on the wall and asked what it was. I told him it was a Pharaoh and he launched into singing, "Pharaoh let my people go....". We just celebrated Passover so the evil Pharaoh was fresh in his mind. I cracked up laughing, and Mike got a couple of weird looks.

The museum has a replica of a tomb and we got there just in time for a docent to give us a brief talk. Michael was totally into it, especially since it was dark and she had a flashlight. Toddlers go crazy over flashlights for some reason. When her talk was over, Mike immediately raised his hand and said, " I have a question, what happens when the mummies come back alive?". So she launches into this speech about resurrection, which was way over his head. He was thinking about the Scooby-Doo movie he saw.

Then Bekah, who has to copy everything her big brother does, says, "I have a question.". So the room full of people look at her and she does a pirouette and says, "Wheeee". OK folks the tour is over. Everyone laughed but I wanted to escort her out before she got out of control.

We didn't last much longer inside the museum, which was fine because kids 5 years and younger are free. I only had to pay for myself so I wasn't looking to stay there past their attention spans. We headed outside where they have beautiful gardens, and I let them run around before heading back to San Ramon.

As you can see by Bekah's hair it was very windy on Tuesday and us curly-haired chicks don't do well with wind. Jake eventually got soaked up to his elbows in that fountain.

There is a sign on that sphinx that clearly says, "Do not climb.". But it was just killing Michael, he wanted to sit on it's back sooo bad. With Mike wanting to climb everything and Jake wanting to go swimming in the fountain it was time to head home.

Erik's Birthday

Here is a picture of my husband being the awesome daddy that he is and playing with Michael in the park. Erik turned 39 last Thursday.

For dinner that night I put out some salami, olives, bread and fresh mozzarella for starters and then grilled up some chicken for a Caesar salad. We had some champagne and beer too. And some lovin' of course.

We did our real celebration Saturday night by going out to a yummy Italian restaurant in Pleasanton called Baci. We were so stuffed after dinner so we walked around the nice downtown and stopped into Hap's so Erik could have a drink (cranberry-club soda for me the designated driver). While we were there some awesome friends texted us to ask what we were doing. Turns out they got some last minute babysitting and were in Danville at an excellent dive bar called Elliott's. Well hell yeah we will join you!!

By the way, Elliott's is a dive that has been around since 1907, so that link above just takes you to a review, not a website. Dive bars don't have websites.

At Elliott's I stuck with club soda so as to commiserate with my buddy who is preggers. Drinking beer when she can't is not fun at all, even if I wasn't driving. She is an excellent beer buddy. Erik took a couple of shots of Jack but the highlight of my evening was my friend's husband telling me that he reads my blog when he is sitting on the toilet. I felt really bonded to him because I do a lot of posting on my blog when I am sitting on the toilet.

Today is Sunday and we took turns snoozing and caring for the monkeys, then hit the gym. I got an awesome work out as well as hitting the adult pool. No nudity, adult just means no kids allowed, woo hoo! And the water is saline and not chlorine, which is kind of cool. During the summer they serve you drinks poolside so you can pretend you are in Mexico instead of unincorporated Pleasanton.

As the weather warms up I am going to have to start taking the kids swimming too, right now I am just drying my bathingsuit after they go to bed at night. If they knew I was swimming without them they would feel betrayed. But taking all 3 of them swimming by myself is beyond stressful. Way more fun for them than for me!

I forgot to mention that Friday night I had a Girl's Night Out with my new and improved mom's club. The hostess had a friend there selling jewelry and I got a pretty necklace. Then I puked all over my friend's patio, but I won't bore you with that.

Boo Hoo, my baby is 2!

Jacob William turned two on March 28th. My baby and no more planned so I need to savor it as best I can. Below is a photo montage of his last 2 years.

That's daddy, my husband Erik, delivering Jake. Don't worry, he is a family practice doc so he know what he's doing. I still made my O.B. stand next to him just in case. She is the one with the bulb. No idea who that chick in the background is wringing her hands. Get to work woman, bring me a beer.






Daddy out of scrubs and holding his youngest and newest baby.

8 days later, Jacob's Bris. If you are Jewish you know what this means, if you aren't you don't want to know.

This is why I am shocked that Jake made it to 2 years. He was sooo tiny and Bekah wanted to kill him and Mike wanted to love him to death.

Bekah secretely fantasizing about smacking him around. See how Jake looks up to Michael already?

Anyone who knows how wild and crazy Michael can be is always shocked how sweet and gentle he is with babies. Especially his baby bro.

My husband never met a nap he didn't like. It's hard to stay awake during the day when you have been up nursing all night. Oh, no, wait that's me who does that.

My favorite picture ever! My crazy boys.



Grandpa Lyman. Jake has his chins for sure.

Jake testing out walking.

Naked in the backyard. Lucky boy has daddy's olive skin.

And my fabulous curls.

Jake was not interested in being a puppy for Halloween. Mike and Bekah were dissappointed because they picked out this costume. It gave him camel toe and made him hot.

Uhm, ok I am guilty, I look thin in this picture and that is the only reason I put it in here.

This is as close as we can get to a family photo.

Come on Jake you can lift it.

I like to make my sister-in-law take my kids out with her kids. Then I stalk her and say shit like, "Oh my G-d hasn't that woman ever heard of birth control?" "She must be one of those Mormons displaced from that raid in Texas.".

He gave up on puppy and went for Spiderman.

Jews go to the city for Christmas.

Cheese! That's what he is saying.

Oh sheepy, sheepy. He loves his stuffed sheep more than anything.

Well not more than mommy. And mommy is a pyro.

Yummy, dirty sock.

Screen doors are too limiting for Jake. He tore a nice hole so he can come and go as he pleases.

I look thinner than usual and Jake blonder. At least I am honest.

I am so cute it's amazing that I will bite you if you get too close.

Jake put that rain boot on all by himself. It took 10 minutes of screaming but he did it. And he looks fabulous.

Mommy is getting her $15 worth out of this Spiderman costume.

My sister has decided not to kill me and now plays with me.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy. You are one of the best 3 things to ever happen to me.

Measure C- Super Important For My Local Readers

Go here , sign petition, feel good because you give a shit about the kids in our community, have a beer.

G-d Bless California

At this present moment, 5:07pm, I am sitting in my backyard next to a Redwood tree, watching a woodpecker inspect the Oak tree in front of me and listening to a Red-Tailed Hawk screech off in the distance. I am drinking an icy beer and my kids are all happily playing by themselves. The only possible way this moment could get better is if my 2 year old would stop eating tanbark like they were potato chips and toddle off to get me another beer.

G-d Bless California.

Slain Oakland Police Officers

I was driving my youngest to Lafayette this morning for his Jewish monkey playgroup. As I was cruising on North 680 I noticed 2 firetrucks on the overpass with firemen standing at attention. That's curious. Then I saw it again on the next overpass. I quickly learned from listening to the news on KGO radio that the local fire stations had dispatched their trucks and firefighters to these overpasses to pay tribute to the 4 Oakland police officers that were murdered last weekend. Sigh.

I started off this morning so happy thinking of my brother, now home from Iraq, safe and sound. Seeing those firetrucks and then the funeral procession leaving Danville, where one of the officer's family lives, I got teary-eyed. I grabbed a clean diaper off the floor of my van and dabbed my eyes so I wouldn't have to pull over.

How sickening, how completely unfair, what a waste. Not a total waste because one of the officers, John Hege, did donate organs and tissue, saving the lives of 4 other men.

In situations like this I would also feel sad for the family of the murderer, because they also lost a son. Uhm, no. Lovelle Mixon's family is pointing fingers at their brother's parole officer who allegedly missed appointments with his client. So it's the parole officer's fault Mixon shot and killed 4 police officers with a semi-automatic weapon? These people are scum.


Even more shocking than blaming a parole officer for a criminal's behavior is that some residents of Oakland are labeling the murder of these officers, vengence for the murder of Oscar Grant. I will tell you right now that when that BART officer shot Oscar Grant, a handcuffed black man laying on his stomach, he committed a crime. Nothing in his police training would have ever taught him to do that. I am not sure if it was evil, but it was stupid, careless and criminally negligent. But to tie-in that tragic incident with this new tragic incident ,and to somehow make Lovelle Mixon a hero for avenging the death of Oscar Grant is despicable!


Lovelle Mixon was not just a guy who didn't pay his speeding tickets. He was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon and he had just been tied, by DNA evidence, to the rape of a 12 year old girl. Disgusting.

I really hope this horrible event brings the good people of Oakland together to promote positive change. I really hope my brother does not have to go back to Iraq. I really hope that the next time I see a bunch of tall, gorgeous, firefighters standing on a freeway overpass, they all have their shirts off.

Jet

This is for my neighbors. Did anyone hear that jet? A little after 1pm Sat. March 21st I heard a very loud, fast jet fly over my house and it even shook my bathroom windows a little. It is overcast today so I couldn't see anything in the sky. Erik is at the gym with the kids so I have no witnesses. This was not a passenger jet, those fly over my house all of the time and they are much slower and not as loud.

I hope somebody else heard this so I don't look like an paranoid idiot.

Things On My Mind

So there has to be 3 things on a magazine cover for me to buy it off the shelf: Britney Spears before she was medicated, Octomom, or anything to the with the FLDS. That is the Fundamental Latter Day Saints (Mormons with tons of wives and kids). When I saw them in their prairie dresses on the cover of a People magazine, I snatched it right up.

I was super excited to read about them and was all ready to be outraged and disgusted. Instead I found myself agreeing with some of their opinions. Shocking isn't it?

I realize that the FLDS handpicked 3 families to be interviewed so I am sure they are the families most likely to toe the line. But I really couldn't disagree too much with what was being said by the moms in this article.

Remember that raid on that huge FLDS compound? I totally supported that raid because they were going after parents who allowed their underage daughters to be married off. I am not talking 17 year old girls, I am talking 12 year old girls. Disgusting. Out of 439 children that were removed, 12 of them were found to have been married off between the ages of 12 and 15 and the husbands' trials will start in October. But all of the children, except 2, of been cleared to return to the ranch because everyone got re-educated. I truly hope that is the case.

So the parts I found myself agreeing with the FLDS moms had to do with diet, chores and family time. They quoted one mom as saying that she makes homemade rolls because store-bought rolls are "laundry bread" with the healthy parts washed away. I buy store-bought bread but you can't really fault a mom for feeding her kids whole grains. The children on this ranch milk cows and pitch in with the recycling and other household chores.......from the tone of this article you would think these kids were putting on hot tar roofs in the summer. My kids help bring groceries in from the car and help me sort laundry and "make" their beds. My kids are 2, 3 and 4 years old so they aren't that useful yet but I believe kids should do chores too and I don't wear a prairie dress.

This one mom also talked about how her daughter was exposed to an unmarried pregnant woman at the shelter, where they stayed after the raid. Now I know that surprise pregnancies happen to the best of us, but I have never met a single mom who really wanted to do child-rearing all by herself. Can we all just agree that having 2 parents is best? I don't care if it's 2 dads, 2 moms or an unwed couple. But it sure is a lot easier to parent with 2 adults instead of just one. Anyways, I wasn't as disgusted and enraged as I thought I was going to be.
Another thought that has been poking my frontal lobes this last week has to do with my oldest. Mike is 4.5 years old and is in Pre-K. This is Mike's 3rd preschool because he was on the verge of getting kicked out of the other 2 before I finally yanked him out and found a perfect fit for him. In his classroom there are 6 boys and 2 staff. And even though Mike is a lot more successful at this school, he is still a very demanding, high energy boy.

So my son is a case study. His lead teacher, Miss G. ,is working on her master's in education (or child development) and she is using Mike has her case study. She asked my permission, and I agreed, because I want to use the tips she will find in her research to help with his behavior at home. So I am grateful for that, but of course there is a part of me that is like great my son is a fucking case study.

Then Miss G. tells me after she presented Mike to her class, her fellow students start ripping on her and making her cry. WTF?! She told me that they believe the school is too rough on him and that maybe he has attachment issues. That is outrageous!

Let me tell you why they are wrong. After Mike's first unsuccessful preschool episode I took him to our pediatrician for an assesment. I actually believed the bullshit they were feeding me about Michael being hard of hearing, possibly autistic, only a 4 word vocabulary, etc. etc. My pediatrician rolled his eyes but agreed that responsible parents follow through with concerns like this, and since assesment is free through our school district then why not? Guess what? There is nothing wrong with Mike.

The 2 child behaviourists spent an hour with him and they said the only thing wrong was that they now needed a nap and they thought I was amazing. I was 7 months pregnant with Bekah at the time and they couldn't believe I was still standing. The diagnosis; a very energetic boy who would rather play than sit in a circle or do schoolwork.

So now Miss G. has made him her case study and they are not too hard on him and he does not have attachment issues! Mike needs rigid structure. External control for internal chaos, and me and the school are on the same page with this issue.

Attachment issues? Are you shitting me? I realize that there is a need to label Mike with something because then you will have a set method to deal with a set problem. Mike is very attached to friends and family. He has 2 parents at home, a large and super involved extended family,and a loving babysitter. I want to go to Miss G.'s class and set these people straight but obviously that would be inappropriate. The only label that really fits my son is, spazz.


Have you heard of Freecycle? It's a Yahoo! group where you can get free stuff, and get rid of your stuff. This week I swapped with another mom through freecycle. She took a bunch of Bekah's shoes and clothes and I got a DVD player that had only been used once. Sweet! Our old DVD player in the kids' rec room died after Mike gnawed through the cords (see paragraph above for the reason why). So Erik and I told Mike don't you dare do that again because it's not safe and that's not how you treat your belongings. We told him he would get electrocuted and asked him if he knew what that meant. He said, "That's when you light up, start shaking and get all bony.". Sounds like he has been watching too much Tom and Jerry.

I am sure by now you have heard of that woman who got attacked by her friend's 200 lb. chimp? I was watching the news and her current health status is that she has lost both of her hands, her eyelids, her nose and her lips and may be blind and have brain damage. They are keeping her in a medically induced coma so she can heal. It was announced this week that her family is going to sue the now dead chimp's owner. They are suing for $50 million, and I don't think that is enough. What a horrible story.

For anyone reading this for the first time I will inform you that I live in the East San Francisco Bay Area. The weather this week has been spectacular! Sunny and warm and trees are blooming. But my daughter got an ear infection and we have all been stuck inside, arrgh! After the ear infection she got some horrible diarrhea from the antibiotics, ugh! But now she is all better and it's gorgeous outside still so we will have one day to enjoy this weather before it rains again tommorrow. Beer drinking in the backyard is on my agenda for this evening, how about you?

Bodylines and Va de Vie-My Opinion Only

So in less than 10 days my household suffered 3 bouts of stomach bug, the croup and an ear infection. 2 of the cases of stomach bug were my three and four year old and we know how unsuccessful toddlers are in vomiting where they are supposed to vomit. The first case of vomiting and diarrhea was me! And when mom ends up in the emergency room getting 2 liters of I.V. fluid then everyone suffers. My husband and I were exhausted.


Our Valentine's Day was spent sipping champagne between loads of barfy laundry. So by President's Day we were ready for a break. I begged our sitter to come that Monday afternoon and I scored us 2-60 minute massages at Bodylines Day Spa in San Ramon for only $149.



My husband got an excellent massage but the girl that I had was way into deep tissue and I now have a giant bruise on my calf. She was at least 6 inches shorter than I am but this chick was tough! But a mediocre massage is way better than no massage. My husband and I showered there (not together) and then headed to Walnut Creek for dinner.

We went to Va de Vie, for our first visit. This is a small plates kind of place so you can order many dishes and share. Erik and I have big appetites and ordered a lot. I could have ordered more but I decided to enjoy the 4 pounds I lost after the stomach virus.

Va de Vie has an amazing wine list and you can order 3 glasses at once (a flight) or by the glass. So you can pair different wine with different dishes. The wine list is interesting enough to read if your date is boring. I ordered a flight of sparkling wine and tried not to chug-a-lug them. Erik got The Bailout which was a flight of red for $9.99! 3 glasses of wine for $9.99 is a good deal and they were tasty.

You can order all your dishes at once and the come out willy-nilly, whichever gets cooked first. And you can order stuff later too if you are still hungry. The first dish to arrive was the Miso Beef Salad. More greens than beef, just 4 very slender slices, with some thin noodles as well. Delicious but not exceptional. Pomme Frites, basically garlic fries and of course they were awesome. Erik got the Ahi Tartare, all for himself because I am not that into fish. He said it was amazing, and it looked very pretty. Then came our Mushroom Gnocchi. My second favorite dish of the evening. It tasted like a gourmet Stroganoff. The Gnocchi were not too chewy, the mushrooms were very flavorful, and the rich, creamy sauce I wanted to drink. But my overall favorite dish was the Duck Confit. The duck was not gamey at all, the skin was crisp, the meat was falling off the bones and it came with plum sauce and steamed buns. (like Dim Sum) Wow! That was sooooo good.

Dessert was a mini pecan pie for Erik and I got the profiteroles with vanilla gelato, you just can't screw that up and they didn't. The service was excellent and it's both a romantic and casual bistro.

My only complaint was the bathroom. It was dirty. Not gas station bathroom dirty but fast food restaurant dirty. I was really surprised and grossed out. They weren't that busy that evening so I didn't understand why it was so messy and why nobody could pop in there and clean it up.

But seriously after the couple of weeks Erik and I had we would have been happy eating at Burger King if it meant some time alone.

A Much Needed Break

Let me give you the run-down on our last 9 days here in the Gracer household.

1. Last Saturday Feb. 7th I woke up feeling nauseous with stomach cramps and thinking it was my monthly visitor, I soldiered on.

2. Erik let me nap that morning but I could hear from upstairs that he was not handling the kids very well and seemed very stressed out.

3. I put Jake down for a nap and took Bekah and Michael hiking on Mt. Diablo.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=517
That whole hike I was nauseous but just kept trucking along.

4. On the way home I stopped to get a take and bake pizza for dinner. As soon as I walked in the door and got a whiff of the pizza I knew something was seriously wrong with me. Pizza usually smells awesome so I knew as soon as my stomach flipped and I broke into a sweat that I was in trouble.

5. I took pizza and kids home and laid on couch and tried to eat apple sauce while Erik fed the kids. Soon I visited the bathroom and started to vomit and have diarrhea.

6. This continued through the night and Erik went to his office and got a shot of Phenegrine but I continued to vomit through that as well. Also a side effect of that medicine is restless legs so I tossed and turned and could not sleep.

7. When I got up to take care of Jake at about 3am, I was so dizzy I contemplated crawling. I told Erik this and he said it was from dehydration and I would definitely need to to the E.R. in the morning for fluids.

8. I called and woke up Auntie M and Uncle Chrissy and begged them to come over and watch kids so Erik could take me to the E.R.

9. We both fell asleep in the E.R. room and felt like we were on a date, it was so much more relaxing than being at home.

10. 2 liters of fluid later and I still didn't have to pee, that's how dehydrated I was.

11. That night, Sunday, Jake was up almost all night with a horrible cough. He was still sleeping at 9am when I plucked him from his crib so I could take Bekah to school.

12. Took Jake to the pediatrician and he has a ear infection and the Croup. I am still incredibly nauseous and having to visit the bathroom frequently while running kids to and from school, pediatrician and Target.

13. Wednesday Bekah skips breakfast which is a horrible sign because Bekah loves food. She is incredibly lethargic all day and refuses to eat and is crying because I kept her home from school and she loves school. In the middle of the night she finally starts barfing and barfs a lot.

14. I thankfully get Sarah to take Mike to school so I don't have to drag Bekah and Jake around and Erik picks Michael up in the afternoon.

15. By Wednesday I can finally eat solid food again and good news I have lost 4 pounds.

16. I was supposed to have a Valentine's party here on Friday for my new and far superior mom's club but thankfully my friend Barb took over. Auntie M takes Mike to the party after she picks him up for school. And Erik goes to the party and brings Mike home later.

17. Our electricity goes out for 2 hours.

18. Saturday afternoon I take Mike to a graduation party for our friend Laura. Bekah and Jake stay home with Erik. Michael is fine at the party but then around 11p he starts puking all over his bedroom. This is our Valentine's Day.

19. Mike is nauseous and lethargic and is crying because he couldn't go to his buddy's birthday party. He promises me that he will puke in the toilet at the Bowling Alley if I let him go. Poor baby.

20. I spend all day scraping barf chunks off of Mike's bedding and doing tons of laundry.

21. Finally, Monday, everyone seems to be in better health!!!


So today is Monday, President's Day and our dear sitter Sarah is coming to watch the kids so Erik and I can go get massages and go to dinner. We need it!! We are getting a couple's massage at Bodylines Day Spa.

http://www.bodylinesdayspa.com/day-spa-packages.aspx

Then we are going to dinner at Va de Vi in Walnut Creek. Awww, I can't wait.

http://web.mac.com/vadevi/Va_de_Vi/Va_de_Vi_Home.html

Inaugural Hangover, In-Laws and The Super Bowl

I obsessively watched the inauguration almost 2 weeks ago. And I have been crazy busy since then so this is going to be a long read for you.

I had a friend and her 2 kids over that morning of 1/20/09 and we feasted on bagels and donuts. As soon as Aretha, in her fabulous hat, started singing I was teary and sniffling and it lasted all day long. That evening Auntie M and I tried to come up with our own version of the inaugural feast for our dinner.

http://www.chow.com/food_and_cooking/7032

We ate shrimp cocktail, rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, green salad and apple pie and vanilla ice cream. And lots and lots of champagne.

The next day I had a teensy bit of a hangover and I am so jaded from the last administration that I just assumed Obama would take a few days off to play golf. He actually went to work after staying out all night dancing. And every time I see him sit down and sign a new pledge to the American people with his left-handed scrawl, I want to make-out with him.

Soon after the inauguration my inlaws came to town from Arizona. Must people would shudder at a week long visit by their inlaws but mine are really cool. We visited and ate and took pictures and celebrated my FIL's 60th birthday. That is the picture below. My children don't sit well for pictures, they are the squirmy ones. Don't worry that's just water on Jake's pants, he has a hole in his lip.
Right after that party was SUPER BOWL. I could really care less about the game but having 55 people over to party on a Sunday was very exciting! I made 2 huge vats of nacho cheese sauce and we had a make your own nacho bar. It was a potluck too so we had a variety of toppings, plus hotwings, taquitos, several desserts and tons of beer. Good times!!! I think Bekah basically ate a dozen cupcakes by herself as much as I tried to stop her. Well at least she didn't go to bed hungry. That's her picture below with the evidence on her face and trying to put her 3D glasses on for the halftime show.







Our other halftime show was my dear husband and his buddy playing guitar. They sounded way better than Springsteen but the video I took turned out really shitty so I didn't post it here. They also played a post-game show that included Uncle Chrissy singing made-up blues songs that were, uhm, very interesting.

We did some betting with squares and I am not even going to pretend how that works but some squares were empty and since the game went long everbody decided that Erik and I would get the cash from the 3rd and 4th quarters and the rest would go to the N.E.O. Mamas party fund.

Speaking of my new and improved mom's club. When the universe slams a door shut she opens a window. I feel bad for blowing up the last club but everyone seems happier and far more entertained and we get almost one new member a week. There is obvioulsy a need for a group of women that aren't easily offended, and their husbands like it too. I know because a couple of husbands have told me to my face that this club is better.

I also heard that a couple of scab pickers are still reading my blog/blogs. What I mean by this is that there are some women who read my blog only to get mad or to confirm their suspicions that I suck. Hey if that floats your boat be my guest. I personally avoid stuff that pisses me off or makes me feel bad. Life is way too short.

Even though I just said I avoid stuff that makes me feel bad, I do have to take a minute to get personal and talk about feelings. So skip this part if you want, I am fine with that. So all last week and yesterday, people kept commenting on how brave I am (and maybe a little crazy) to host a super bowl party with 55 guests. Most of these guests were under the age of 5 years old. Let me tell you why I don't mind doing this. I grew up in a house with an asshole, alcoholic, drug addict. That would be my mother's current husband (sorry mom you might want to skip this part). Even though my friends were welcome to come to my house, they often did not want to because they were scared of my step-father. They told me this then, and they tell me this now as adults, how they felt as children. So don't think I am just projecting my feelings on others, this is a fact.


This is why I don't mind hosting parties, playgroups, potlucks, etc. I won't lie it's a killer on my carpets and I spent a huge part of my morning cleaning, and I am not done yet, but it's so worth it. To have a home where not only my kids feel safe, but where other parents' kids feel safe and have fun, is something that is very, very important to me.

Uh-oh now I am having some deep feelings so I better go eat the leftover pork ribs in my fridge until these feelings go away.