Shrimp Poptail

We went out to dinner and Elise ordered shrimp "poptails" and french sparkling lemonade...Last time we went out for sushi she ordered sashimi. We are waiting for the day she says "I'll take the foie gras with a nice Sauternes"

A big girl bed of her own

Elise's birthday is coming up in a month and her big present this year will likely be a "big girl bed". She has been in a toddler bed for the last year and a half and has decided she wants out. We are happy about this decision and hope it helps to keep her in her room at night. She had become very skilled at sneaking into our bed without our knowledge-except now I'm awake about half the night so I can catch her in the act. Mike doesn't mind at all but I need my space.

This brings up a funny story from my childhood..not my first, but my most memorable big girl bed. There are several things about this story that are now both amusing and shocking.

When I was eight years old I went with my dad to run some errands. I had a few dollars I collected somehow-in reality that means I probably just said, "dad can I have a few dollars?" My dad gave me the liberty to choose how to spend these dollars so I did what any eight year old girl would do-I decided to buy some lottery tickets. I walked into a liquor store and bought three scratch tickets. Is it worse that my dad not only allowed but encouraged me to do it or that the man behind the counter of a liquor store sold scratch tickets to an eight year old girl? "Um, they're for my dad."

Anyway, when I got home I grabbed a penny and scratched myself a $500 winner! Naturally, my parents also gave me the liberty to decide what to spend that money on and naturally, I decided to buy a waterbed. Was there anything not cool about a waterbed in 1984? I remember the day we filled it-the garden hose running through the house into my room-it took hours. When it was finished I topped it off with glorious pink satin sheets and invited friends to come over and look at it. "yes you can sit on it-just the edge..and not all at once!" Everyone was jealous and it was the talk of the class for at least a week.

As I basked in the glory of my new bed it never occurred to me that we had at least 3 cats-with claws. I would later realize why these things don't mix. The bed only lasted a few years but the memories will live on forever. I would curl up in my warm floating island while reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and try to ignore the drowning dreams that would subsequently follow.

I guess the whole point of this story is that while I value Elise's independence and encourage her to choose the things she wants in life, there are some things I will have to put my foot down about.

yikes

hail storm. thunder and lightening (ok, i was happy about that). unrelenting rain. tornadoes. hurricane-like wind. What is happening to our sunny little part of the world? We curse you El Nino...

Looks Like Rain...

No, not one of Holly's favorite Grateful Dead songs...our weather, sigh. Cats and dogs, leaves and tree branches, mudslides and tornadoes (!)

No end in sight.

We have been watching Batman episodes (from the series) and it's so terrible and ridiculous but so hard not to keep watching. Adam West's voice still sounds the same.

Beautiful California

child of the 80's

No, not me. or Mike. Not too surprisingly Elise LOVES 80's music. I think most kids do-it's all so catchy and danceable. Her favorite song is "Our House" by Madness. Today is her day off from school and she has made me play it at least 20 times already.

My ears! Make it stop!

Three of my least favorite sounds in the world:

Motorcycles revving up right near me

Auctioneers' chant

Frankie Valli's (and the four seasons) voice

sorry, I heard all three today. what a horrible cacophony.

3-D

3-D glasses have come a long way since I was eight. The other night we went on a date to Spago (yum) and to see Avatar-it was fantastic, by the way. Nice job James Cameron...I realized I hadn't been to a movie since May 2005 (Star Wars) let alone a 3D movie! It was so cool and now I want to see everything in 3D. Yes, I look dorky, but oh was it fun. Great movie. If you plan on seeing it, do yourself a favor and see it in 3D at an Imax-renting it from Netflix at home will never do it justice.

Happy New Year!

We had a pretty low key New Years..sparkling cider and movies! What can you expect with a three year old, a pregnant mom and an on call dad? We got a Wii Fit for x-mas and Elise has been obsessed with trying to do the yoga moves like mom. It's actually quite hysterical to watch her in action-she is so determined. And yes, thanks to Mike's sister I am wearing a shirt that says "pregnant is the new skinny"