Thursday, November 25, 2010

Gobble

This is it. It is officially turkey day.
I am having a rough go of it. Can't figure out if it is because I am not in AZ with my extended family and most importantly, my mom, but it has taken me a little bit to get in the spirit.
So I am thankful for Q enduring his mothers craziness and E for being hope

Monday, November 15, 2010

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Good friends and amends

all in a days work.
Today was a big day for a couple reasons. I woke up early and it's a SUNDAY!! shocker. I'm such a lazy slack ass usually but I do feel like I have less time for that, which is good. Who has time to waste?
Pancake was the last one up, "Chu-chie" "Chu-cho", Quattro and now "Taco/Tonto", he slept in and came out all sleepy eyed and snuggly, I love that.
We walked down into Ballard and had brunch at Hattie's Hat. The scene of Eddie's upcoming photo shoot, directed by Moi! I'm stoked, it's going to be so much fun, I love to boss him around and I just like seeing pictures of him be made, he is very much a cartoon character.
Elvis charmed even the most hungover crowd today at breakfast, these three good looking guys were sitting in the booth behind us and just loved her. It's not the first time but I definitely looked at her and was like "Wow" that baby is beautiful! She has the most fantastic face, with great expression, she looks just like Gloria, she's lucky because my grandmother is gorgeous. She is a total knock out.
After we left (pulling Elvis away from her fans) we walked around, bought some beets, Quattro's favorite, and leeks, my fav, we ended up at this new kitchen store right on Ballard Ave. It was pretty cool at first, I guess they have classes or something, but tons of kitchen supply too. I threw out my metal sieve last week so I was thinking, perfect! I'll get a new one BEFORE I need it, then I looked at the price, it was like $30! So I started to look around at the price of everything, and this is the same stuff you can get elsewhere, ie the kitchen store down the street that's been there for years... but for half the price. I was feeling that weight that feeling when you know your neighborhood has gone "there", but it's fine, I went "there" once too, I came back though.
I spent the evening making a delicious meal and texting with my BFF and my cousin who just had surgery on his foot. It was nice to get connected with both of them. It's hard to stay connected these days, we are so busy and by "we" I mean everyone! I am usually the one that tries not to be busy, I try to just keep things real laid back but with the start of business, art work, things with the record, there are a lot of things going on and that doesn't include the "me" things, things that go on with me no matter what is happening in business. I'm enjoying it though. On top of it all we are redoing  a few rooms in the house, I want them done before Eddie leaves for 7 weeks in January.... wishful thinking maybe but I might as well give it a shot.

It's cold outside

and I am definitely okay with that.
Growing up in AZ I was sort of programmed to hate the cold. Everything was "oh, that's too cold, ick" and the thing is/was, I hated the heat. Always have. The sunburns, the hot concrete (I was forever shoeless) hot cars, hot bedrooms... the list goes on. So when the seasons change here and the warm summer goes away and the fall crisp air blows in, I can appreciate the cold-  I love summer (here) and I know it will always come back.
It's late here too and I am not tired. I took a half of Ambien and I'm waiting for it to kick in and also for Eddie. He flew home last night from the midwest and now he is in Tacoma for a show, I am sure he is still playing... ugh.
Tonight when Quattro and I got back from the movies we all went out for a walk in Ballard. It was cold and a little rainy but it was the best time. With Eddie gone a lot and it's about to be a lot more, it was nice to scrap any evening plans we had and just go for a stroll. We ended up at the market and the fabric store- I just LOVE being in a neighborhood where I can walk to nearly anything. We can eat, have coffee, shop, library, book stores, cupcakes, parks, movies... pretty much anything- we even walked by a couple new places. I saw a wine bar that I had never seen, although I would rather have wine at home. 
I had planned to put both kids to bed early (we were all up really late last night getting Eddie from the airport) but Q and I stayed up and made a stuffed friend. He called him "Ricky Ragdoll" and he is quite cute. He and a friend drew what they wanted their stuffies to look like and they have been hanging on the bulletin board for a couple weeks now. I have so may projects going on, I just never had time and tonight I let him stay up and up he did stay, it was 12:10 when he went to bed! It was worth it though. He learned how to pin and cut. He even sewed a button (for an eye) and learned to use the sewing machine. I love that he is such a creative crafter... but tomorrow, I will be cleaning this office up because we sure did trash it. Just from sitting here I can see about 12 different kinds of fabric he looked at when choosing his. 
So good night people.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

I am a Mom.

I have spent the last 4 days with sick kids. Why is it that whenever Eddie leaves something goes awry? I don't know, but you would think after 11 years (yep, 11 years) I'd be getting use to that buuuut, I'm not.
Anyway I have been conflicted, yet again, about the blogging world. Seems like I have nothing to say but I have realized that is not the case. Two things come to mind when I think about getting on here, one is that I think I have nothing to talk about worth interest to anyone and b. I think "this shit is TOO personal!"- that's how life has been treating me lately. It's all either too boring or too private. But I think I am missing the important things, in more ways than one. I think I tend to get so caught up in the madness of something or the dullness, that I overlook the goodness. Like on Friday, I made "Gloria's Special" with Quattro. I had a rough day, Eddie left and Elvis was up all night, it was just not a good day. So that night I decided to flood myself with feel good things, something else I forget to do, and so we made my Grandma's recipe and it was magic. We cooked, we laughed, we learned. I learned that there are some kids at school talking about how they looked at something called "california girls" online and they were talking about how inappropriate it all was. Q asked me what I thought it was and I told him it was  a music video or naked ladies- he was shocked but not in the way you might think, he said "what's the big deal about naked ladies?"... then I had to wonder myself. What's the big deal?
First of all, we do not have a "naked house". I sort of grew up in one, sort of but a friend of mine totally had one and it was a big thumbs down. I do not mind if my kids see me naked, I am proud of my body and I don't reach for the door or towel in horror if Quattro comes walking in the bathroom when I am getting out of the shower. I don't stand around blow drying my hair naked (well not always) while he's in there and I have definitely come down stairs in my underwear to get coffee or grab my jeans out of the dryer- you get the point. I am not a super prude, I am proud of my body, I like it and I want him to like his (and his wife's after she has a baby or two) so I try to be aware of that.... okay, I just lost my thought.
Oh, "california girls" right...
so I told him that kids will start trolling the internet for things they know they shouldn't be looking at. He knows that when you grow up you have a different relationship with your love interest, I don't think he puts too much thought into it though. He and I have a pretty open relationship. He is very much in his own little bubble, he isn't like a lot of 4th graders, he does not want to grow up. He is Willy Wonka. Seriously, he is.
He took no interest in the said girls on the internet, we then talked about how he is in a tricky spot, he is of the age that kids might be saying "hey, check this out" and it could be porn, or worse... but really, for a 9 year old, what's worse than porn? I don't have any problems with porn, it has it's place but I can't imagine it would be good for a 9 year old to see it. I told him there are things in life that when you see them, you can't "un-see" them. We talk about this a lot really, the "un-see" and the "undo" button do not exist. I figure the sooner he knows this and believes it the better. I wish someone would have told me about this, there are a whole list of things I wish I could undo and un-see but I can't.
I don't know. Maybe I am delusional, maybe I am trying to keep him from things for selfish reasons, maybe I am prolonging the inevitable but I am okay with that. Because I know he will grow up, that's the goal- I am just trying to raise a decent kid in a world where it is nearly impossible. I'll keep trying because that is my job.
Speaking of jobs. On a side note and something I have touched on before.
Why is it that if you are a stay at home Mom or Dad you get no credit for having to work but if you are a daycare worker, you have a job? or a nanny, or a school teacher or even a babysitter?
I was talking to my Mom about carpal tunnel, she had it and I have it and she said "well, I had to go to work with it" and I said "ya, me too" and she said something like her having to go to a "job"... it pissed me off. Same as when she said she wishes she had "all this time" to craft and do fun things but she doesn't because she has to work. I love her but I wish she would give me some god damn credit. I could get a job and pay for someone else to raise my kids, sure, I could. I don't have a problem with either but I would like people, well not all people, but the ones who interact with me to know that I. have. a. job. It's called raising my kids. I'm also a travel agent to my husband, a project manager, art director and a room parent at school. I am the co-advisor for the student council, I am the (fabulous) chef. I am the caterer, I am the housekeeper. I am the dog walker, I am the maintenance man. I am the organizer of life for four. I am the food shopper, the clothes shopper and the hair stylist and wardrobe consultant. I am the cover model, back-up singer and a songwriter. I am a bag designer, the forever crafter. I am the photographer and driver. I am the baby book keeper, the vacation blogger, the saver of everything that my kids will want to look at, keep or maybe even throw away. I am the manicurist, the tax preparer, I am the painter and cat claw trimmer. I am the gardener, the party planner and a few other things I can't think of because I am the breast feeding forgetful at times, Mom. I am a Mom and a god damn good one.