New wheels, new tricks

Lucas got a new, bigger bike over the weekend. It's basically a bigger version of his other bike. Today we took it out to the school across the street. I never saw him go off this big old curb before. It took about five tries for me to capture the exact moment on my iPhone camera.Even though it's new, I think I'm still okay with my Compact February. Why? It's new, not used, but by the good graces of Wheels of Justice, we returned his old bike to them, which they will donate to a local kids' non-profit, and they credited us the full price we paid toward his new bike. So we only had to pay $30, some lucky little kid gets Lucas' well-used bike, and we promote biking as a way to travel about town -- I think even the most compacted Compacters will bless this "purchase".

The Gift

Lucas has been really big on reading for a while now. In his class, they have these little leveled reading books, once they read it with a teacher and read it on their own, they are allowed to bring them home to read to us. He's always very excited when he brings a new one home, especially if it's a new color, which means a higher level.

The other day his teacher said to me how well Lucas reads. She also said that he wants to read all the time and that sometimes she suggests other things for him to do besides reading.

On Sunday he pulled out the "Giving Tree" from his bookshelf, which he has never picked up before. I read it to him once. Then he said he wanted to read it to me.

By bed time, he had read about 3/4 of the book. I was totally blown away:

1) He had the stamina to plow through it, sometimes letter by letter. The first few pages just have one or two lines each, but then there are big chunks of text. He worked his way through every word. I could tell sometimes he was about to get frustrated, and I would tell him that we could take a break, but that seemed to just strengthen his resolve to get through it.

2) If a sentence started with a question word, like "Can you help me?" He knew to make it sound like a question, with the last word higher than the rest.

3) His ability to correctly guess at some of the words, like "would", using the context of the sentence.

And then there was his "analysis" of the story. He felt sad for the tree when the boy was taking the apples and then cutting it down. I asked him how it made the tree feel, to be able to give those things to the boy. "I guess it made the tree happy, but it's still a little bit sad."

Some say "The Giving Tree" demonstrates the relationship between mother and child. How as parents, we give and give to our kids, which makes us happy. And we don't expect anything in return. I discussed this with Lucas, and he said, "But mommy, I make you notes all the time. And remember the other day I gave you one of my crackers..."

I agreed with him that he is a giving boy. I also told him that listening to him read this book was one of the best gifts ever.

Lucas skis!

Last weekend we went up to Bear Valley. The conditions were excellent...clear, sunny, no wind, lots of powdery soft snow. It was spring skiing at its best and perfect for a beginning skier.

Lucas' two-day skiing experience started out slowly. He worked out some initial frustration at having skis strapped to his feet and was pretty determined to do it on his own.

He took a ski class the first day, but it was a lot of waiting around, and not much instruction. I think he only went down the little slope 4 or 5 times during the 1.5 hour class.

Under Kevin's tutelage on day two, he worked his way up quickly, with some bumps and crashes along the way.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Afterwards we went to a gas station to load up on snacks for the ride home. Lucas started talking with the 20-something kid working the cash register. I overheard part of their conversation.

Lucas: I knew how to ski without even learning.
Cashier: Dude, that's awesome! Did you do some helicopters and flips?
Lucas: I jumped over some hills. I'll do flips next time.
Cashier: You should have entered the freestyle competition, you would have been the only one in your division. You could have won 500 bucks!
Lucas: Yeah.

Lucas later asked what a "freestyle competition" is. I told him and he said he wanted to do that next time.

Living more compactly - two years later

Just shy of two years ago I wrote about the Compact, the ambitious group folks who vow to not buy anything new for a year, save a few personal items, food and toiletries. And as of February 1st, I'm trying it for a month.

Luckily, I have the support and camaraderie of two of my co-workers, and of course, Kevin, who is always a big proponent of not buying things (He's not officially signing up for the Compact pact, since he is normally pretty frugal. Except for this month, which happens to be his birthday month. He has purchased just the essentials, like two Kendo swords and a Go board).

So, why now? With the possibility of private school in our future, Kevin and I are on a new lower spending program, with a decreased personal monthly spending budget and more accountability. And just like any kind of diet, I'm always eager to see results.

Well, our monthly spending in January was roughly 1/2 of our monthly average from 2007! And that even included some fancy Joe's Jeans for $60 from my favorite new site, Regents Secret (let me know if you want 'in', as you have to be invited to take part) and a couple accessories for my iPhone.

Also, we're constantly going through our stuff and getting rid of it. Clothes, books, you name it. It it always seems like once I clear out stuff, like books, I break down and purchase more, which kind of defeats the purpose of clearing stuff out in the first place.

I've been doing pretty well so far. I borrowed a ton of snow gear for our ski trip. And I purchased some audio books for my iPhone to listen to on the long drive, but, these are okay since they're not physical goods.

I broke down over the weekend and purchased new laces for my 17-year old snow boots (I only had one shoelace for some odd reason). However, I think my $8.58 purchase doesn't count against me, as shoes and socks are two of the things you can purchase new.

I want to make a pin board for Lucas, so I will either scrounge for some used cork board and material, or wait until March for my big shopping spree ;) Or maybe I'll have so much fun not buying anything new that I'll keep it up for a while longer.

Superbowl Sunday!

Lucas and Kevin eagerly awaited Superbowl Sunday, but not for the obvious reasons, since none of us are football fans.

We went to a Superbowl party at Bill's house. Bill is not a football fan either. In fact, I don't think anyone at the party was a football fan, or even knew the littlest bit about football, based on snippets of conversations I overheard:

"It's kind of fun to root for a team I chose arbitrarily five minutes ago."
"I didn't realize until today who was playing."
"I know nothing about football. I didn't even know until just a few days ago that the Washington Redskins are from THAT Washington." (I actually forgot what she said, whether they're from DC or the state, and I still don't know.)

The true purpose of the party was to watch the Wall-E commercial, which Bill and some other guests (who all work at Pixar) created specifically for the Superbowl.

But back to Kevin and Lucas. They had another motive altogether for going to this party.

We walked into the party and I reminded Bill of our true purpose. He knelt down and asked Lucas, "Do you like Star Wars?" Lucas nodded emphatically. Bill led us all upstairs.

We walked into this room and Lucas' jaw dropped. He wasn't sure what he was looking at, but he knew it was something "super kewel", as he would say.

You see, Bill has an impressive collection of Star Wars, Star Trek and comic book action figures, models and, well, toys. He picked up a few Star Wars figures and would ask Lucas who they were. Lucas identified Darth Vader. Then Bill asked Lucas, "Do you know who Luke Skywalker is?" Lucas replied, "I know about him, but I've never seen him before." So Bill brought down Luke, Darth Maul, various stormtroopers and a host of other Star Wars characters who I didn't know.Then Kevin began asking Bill questions like, "Is this an X Wing Fighter...?" and "Is that sword _______ from Lord of the Rings?" Yes, yes and yes.Bill was nice enough to let Lucas play with a bunch of the toys. After a while, Bill led us down to his workshop where he showed us some super-impressive models he's working on from Star Wars and Star Trek. The detail on these models was amazing - using stencils to paint intricate patterns on these. Then Kevin started asking technical questions, "Do you use such-and-such type of plastic/epoxy/whatever?", which led to further discussions, which were beyond my comprehension.

We stayed for a couple hours. Lucas found another young Jedi who wanted to fight with Bill's light sabers. Kevin lingered around the food table, and I had some nice conversations with other non-football fans.

Suffice it to say, we had a blast at Lucas' first Superbowl Party.

Lucas casts his vote

I told Lucas that I would pick him up early so he could go with me to the polls today.

Lucas said he wanted to vote for Han Solo. I reminded him that Han Solo is not a real person. Then he nominated Luke Skywalker. Again, not a real person.

Then he said, "I'm just joking. I'm going to vote for Obama!"

So when we got home from the polls, he said he wanted to vote too. I made him a ballot and he cast his vote.

The Force is strong with him, Episode 1

Little known facts about the Stars Wars mythology, as told by Lucas:

• Proper pronunciation is "Dark Fagor", not "Darth Vader"
• Luke Skywalker dies
  
• Obi-Wan has a wife who also has a white beard
• The Jedi forces have an office, it's in a hole in a tree
  
• While still the toughest and most powerful Jedi in the whole world, Yoda actually resembles a baby who wears diapers
  
• Yoda's good friends can call him "Y-O-D-A", "Y-O", or in its simplest form, "Yo"
• General Grievous' alter ego is Lightning Shooter of the Moon

Lucas and his cronies at school propagate these truths, semi-truths, and made-up pieces of data about Star Wars. And to my knowledge, none of them have actually seen any of the movies. I assume it's more like a game of telephone where one kid hears something from an older sibling and it's passed on, with the true facts falling away as it makes its way through the playground.

Almost every time I pick up Lucas from school, there's a picture of something like this.
(Hint: DRC = Dark and FAGR = Fagor)

We play with the light sabers quite frequently in our house. Lucas is always Yoda, Luke Skywalker, or Obi-Wan. Kevin and I have played various characters from the Dark Side. My sister gave him a blue bath robe for Christmas, which he wears a lot, since he knows that Jedis wear robes.

At first I was asked to play Count Duku. Then I was asked to be Princess Leia, whose sole purpose seemed to be to cheer for the guys fighting with the light sabers. This was a very complex role for me to play. At first I was asked to cheer just for Lucas' character. Then seeing that this was probably not fair, Lucas would say to me, "Cheer for daddy too, but mostly for me." So I would say, "Go go go! But really go Yoda." Lucas said I wasn't doing it right and did some heavy coaching. I never seemed to strike the perfect balance in my cheering.

Then I was cast as General Grievous from the Dark Side, who I had to look up when Lucas first told me about him (he's in the newer episodes). But Lucas has since allowed me to cross over into the Light Side so I can learn to be a Jedi knight under his tutelage. He has given me a new name to go with my new identity, "Lightning Shooter of the Moon". He's coached me on proper usage of my light saber.

Last I checked, I'm "still human, but just one step away from being a Jedi". According to Lucas (aka "Y-O") once I reach Jedi status, I'll get a piece of paper that says "Jedi". I can't wait!

So easy, even I can use it

I am a bit of a technophobe. I just learned how to send text messages from my phone last year, and could never figure out how to do it without using ALL CAPS. In December I purchased my third Canon camera. Canon is a great brand and the cameras take great pictures, but the main reason is because I've used Canons and I know how they work. I've had the same Palm Pilot since 1996 or 97. Granted I haven't used it since 2004, but I haven't purchased a new one either.

And I've always been a PC user. I've barely given the cool-looking Apple products a second glance. I passed on the cute little iMacs that came in different colors and even my boss' offer to purchase an iPhone and MacBook for me last year. I kindly refused and claimed my Samsung phone and old little Dell laptop were just fine with me.

However, last year I did purchase a cute little iPod. I loved that thing, then it was taken from me prematurely last month when our house was broken into.

So when my boss put out the offer again earlier this month for an iPhone, I seriously reconsidered. Especially now that I was sans iPod. Plus I thought it would be kind of nifty to have a camera, PDA, Internet access, phone AND my music all with one device. I replied back, "Yes, I want one."


I got it on Tuesday. And just like with my iPod, it came with a small booklet of instructions, with the friendly name "Finger Tips" - simple instructions with full-color photos for things like "Silence the ring" and "See the web up close". Everything is so damn intuitive, even for someone like me, that I haven't had to look anything up yet.

I brought it home and Lucas and I sat down and played with it together. He played with the calculator, took pictures and even learned some new lingo, "What's an icon?". Then he helped me re-arrange them on my screen. He was having fun and it was super easy for him to use it too.

I love everything about it:

• I love that I can add photos to my contacts so when my sister calls, a cute photo of my niece pops up. It makes you want to answer the phone.
  
• And I can't wait for more people to leave me messages so I can browse through them and listen to them in whatever order I want.
  
• And I love love the fact that I can send the same text message to multiple people at the same time, instead of having to type in, "CHANGE OF PLAN, LET'S MEET AT 6:30 INSTEAD" over and over again. And now I can do it not in ALL CAPS.
  

Yesterday I went with some co-workers to the Apple store and we pimped out our new iPhones. I got a bright cyan rubbberized case for my iPhone and a tape player gizmo so I can listen to it in the car. I need to be good to it so it will be good to me.

So far, I've received three compliments me on my iPhone:

• My boss after seeing my new case - "Wow, that's way too cool for you." (Okay, so he was complimenting my case and undermining my own marginal cool factor.)
• My co-worker asked me to help her add her work email to the iPhone. Wow, someone finally asking me for technical help. So this wasn't really a compliment on my iPhone, but a high nonetheless.
  
• Lucas said, "Mommy, I really like your iPhone. It's very cool."

I feel so fancy and high-tech I can hardly stand it.

"The interview"

We're applying to a couple private schools for Lucas. It's been an interesting experience all around for Kevin and I to tour these schools, meet current and prospective parents, and discuss the whole public vs. private school topic with friends.

And of course there's Lucas, who knows nothing about any of this. He assumes he will go to our local public school, aka "the school across the street", and there's a chance he will.

Last weekend I took Lucas to the playground of one of the private schools we're applying to. It was suggested by the school, to get them used to the place before his "interview". As we were driving home from the playground I asked if he wanted to come back with me on Friday, since "I would be meeting with some other parents". He could play on the playground and in one of the classrooms with some other kids. (Yes, it's a slight twist on the truth, but I decided it would be better than, "We're coming back on Friday so strangers you don't know can take you in another room with 9 other kids you don't know. They'll observe you, ask you to perform some academic tasks, and ask you questions, to see how smart/charming/curious/whatever you are, and to see if you will be one of the 25-30% of kids who they will deem worthy of paying the price of a new car every year so you can benefit from their school.)

I admit, I have been somewhat anxious about the interview since I learned that it's part of the admissions process for private schools. Lucas can be shy and is not usually willing to off with someone else, especially someone new. Like a lot of kids, it takes him a while to open up in new situations. And again like all kids, sometimes wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. And with an interview starting at 9, I thought about how I would have to wake up Lucas, who sometimes he sleeps in till 8 or so and DOES NOT like to be woken up.

So all week I have been feeding Lucas propaganda about our "fun" Friday. In the morning, playing with other kids then, and after that, going to work with me to have lunch and 'work" (for some reason, Lucas loves to come to my office).

Yesterday Lucas woke up before 7 and was fairly chipper as well. As we drove to the school in the pouring rain, I told him he wouldn't be playing outside when we got there because it was too wet, he agreed. The only coaching I did for Lucas was "Listen to the grownups and remember to share with the other kids," which is what I usually tell him before we go on play dates, etc.

We got to the school and we went straight to the parents waiting room, which was actually the tech lab. We were the first ones there and Lucas was unusually adventurous and wandered around the room on his own.

My jaw practically dropped when I saw the second child and parent walk in. The poor girl looked very uncomfortable, all dressed for a holiday party -- patent leather black Mary Janes, red/black plaid dress, bows, and a red coat. I looked at Lucas in his pull-on pants, pj top under a sweatshirt. My mind went back to what I've heard about "snooty parents" at some of the private schools. Luckily, my mind was at ease as the other kids/parents trickled in - normal looking parents with normal kids with wet pants, rain boots, t-shirts, and typical kid clothes.

An adult came up and started talking with us, then asked Lucas if he was ready to go play some games. Surprisingly, he said yes and went away with the woman.

There were parent volunteers in the room with us to answer any questions we might have. I sat with some other moms and we all chatted. Contrary to what I've heard about some parents of private schools, the other prospective parents at my table were super nice and very interesting: a bird biologist, social worker working with at-risk-youth, and a stay-at-home mom.

However, in my focus on getting Lucas out the door that morning, I forgot one thing -- that I was probably going to be observed as well. While the three other women chatted while knitting super-impressive handiwork (the bird biologist was doing some needle felting to make, what else, a goldfinch), I just sat there with my idle hands and talked (observer notes: mom cannot multi-task and is not as crafty as the other moms). At one point I looked in my bag to see if I had something to read, but I just pulled out a handful of old parking tickets (observer notes: mom has racked up a collection of parking violations). I shoved them back in my bag and decided it was safer to just talk.

After the two hours were up, the kids came running back into the room. Lucas was all smiles as he told me that he had fun, and had a juice box AND graham crackers.

On the car ride on the way to my office, I gently questioned him on what went on in the other room. It was all pretty much what they told us would happen - drawing, circle time, puzzles, etc. Lucas shared some anecdotes with me:

• "After I drew a picture, one lady was very funny. She asked me to give it to her so I did. Then she gave it back to me and said, "Now give it back to me and put your hands on your head," I did it, but isn't that so silly?"
  
• "One man showed me a picture of the sun and he said, tell me what you see in the picture, but don't say the word 'sun'. So I said 'shiny'. And he said 'good job'. Why do you think he didn't want me to say 'sun'?
• "First the man asked me to read some words. Then he asked me to spell some words, like 'dog', 'cat'. Then I showed him that I can spell 'Yoda'. He thought that was funny.

It sounds like he had fun and it went well. So if we happen not to get into this school, I'm sure it will be because of me (admissions feedback: Son would have been a perfect fit, but unfortunately, we can't accept non-crafty moms with excessive unpaid parking tickets.)

How to entertain your kid without getting off your butt

No, we haven't purchased a TV, but we have a new game at home called, "Bowling for Mommy".

It's not as painful as it sounds. Actually it's one of the few games we play where you barely have to move. The game is very simple actually. Lucas stands on one side of the living room (the "arena") with the yoga ball and kicks it at me. If I catch it or stop it from getting by me, I get a point. If it gets by me, Lucas gets a point. If he knocks me down with it, he gets two points. And the best part? I can sit or lay on the ground and don't have to move (except of course to block or catch the ball). I tried at one point to include some isometric abdominal work for me, but that got too tiring.

Another good thing about this game is Lucas has let go of the idea that he always has to win. We talk to him about how playing the game and having fun is more important than winning. In fact, he's given me points. This game also incorporates math concepts, like simple addition (adding 1 point to your total points). Lucas also keeps the score card, so we can remember where we left off when we resume playing after dinner. Our current score card is 100 (Lucas) to 199 (me). We've been playing this for four days now. Lucas says we need to play to 880.

Promises

When I was little my mom would darn my socks, which fixed the hole, but made them very uncomfortable; I told myself that when I grew up and had a kid with holes in his socks, I would never make him wear them and would just buy him new socks. (When I got a little older, I would try and trick my mom by throwing them away. I'd stuff them at the bottom of the garbage bag. But she always knew. After a while, she stopped darning my socks.) Needless to say, I toss Lucas' socks the minute I see holes in them (also, I'm super lame with a needle and thread).

And it's been so cold lately that when Lucas is done with his bath, I have toasty pajamas ready for him, straight out of the dryer. Yes, it wastes electricity and is super indulgent, but he loves it. And again, when I was little, and it was cold outside I would hold my clothes over the heating vents to make them warm before I put them on.

I was telling him the other day how I wished that someone would have made my pj's warm for me when I was little, so he said, "When you get to be old, I'll put your pj's in the dryer for you." I thanked him and told him that when I'm a little old lady I'll love it if someone could help me with that.

Sometimes it pays to wake up early

You could wake up early and become $300 richer, okay, maybe not quite $300, but here's how you do it.

• Wake up super early, futz around on the computer for a bit, then decide to go to the gym.
• Look for your car, which was parked in front of your house when you came home the night before.
• Believe that your car was stolen and call the police.
• Listen to the cop tell you that your car wasn't stolen, but rather towed (intrigued? read on)
• Call your good friend who will give you a ride to the police station, but not before you both walk over to Semifreddi's for some morning libations (you'll need it).
• Send your husband a text message to let him know the scoop, but also to ask him to tell your son nothing of what's going on so he doesn't think his mom is a loser, or that cops are assholes.
• Your husband assures you that you're not a loser, but you don't believe him.
  
• Your friend will drive you to the police station, only to have them tell you you have to go to the DMV first to get your registration tags (which expired six months ago, but you were too lazy to deal with it)
• Call City Car Share to reserve a car for you to drive that day so your friend doesn't have to cart you around.
• Listen to CCS tell you that your account is suspended because of an invalid credit card number on file.
• Remember that after your house was broken into last month, you changed all your accounts, but forgot to call CCS with your new card.
• Give CCS a new card, but they'll tell you that it takes 24 hours to process. You ask them to expedite and they say they will see what they can do.
  
• Your really good friend will drive you to the DMV and wait for you while you go inside.
• The DMV agent will ask you for your license plate or VIN number.
• Tell her you don't have it because it's in/on your car.
• She'll let you know that your registration will not go through until you submit proof of car insurance, and even after you show proof, it won't be processed for 72 hours!
  
• You let her know that you have car insurance and have had it this whole time.
• She'll repeat that she has to have your plate or VIN number or she can't help you.
• You'll call your husband and ask him, but he doesn't know those numbers either. Then he'll rummage around in the stack of papers to be filed and will find the VIN number.
• He'll give you the string of 16 numbers.
• Wait in line, only to have the agent tell you that you're missing a number.
• Call your husband back, slightly peeved, and ask again for the number - BINGO, you get the missing number.
• While waiting in line, call your other good friend to ask her to take your son to school - she agrees.
• Get a message from CCS that your new card was processed and you can reserve a car now.
• Give the DMV agent your 17-digit number and after she looks up your car, she confirms that you actually DO have insurance, AND the DMV owes you $300!
• You get in the next line to get your new, rightful registration!
• Happily, you come running out of the DMV (in less than 15 minutes) and your friend drives you back to the police station.
• You pay your $100 to get your car out. You ask the police what they were doing looking at registration stickers at 2:40 in the morning. You remind them that your home was broken into less than a month ago, and ask if they have caught those thugs, or have anything better to do with their time. You don't get an answer.
• Your friend drives you do the impound yard.
• You pay your $225 fee and are at home with your registered car by 9:30am.

Okay, so actually, it turns out that you actually may come out $25 in the hole, but that's what happens sometimes when you wake up early, but do things later than you should.

Finding the right word

Lucas: Mommy, I know why I'm cold in the morning.
Me: Why?
Lucas: Because my pajamas are (searching for the right word, while feeling his pj top)
Lucas: ...flat.
Me: Flat?
Lucas: Yeah, flat.
Me: Do you mean thin?
Lucas: (laughing at me) No, not thin. I said 'flat' not 'fat'. You're funny.

Royalty has its privileges

I know princesses, especially of the Disney variety, are super popular among my friends' daughters. In fact, it seems that most girls, especially around age 3 and 4 are totally wrapped up in the princess phenomena.

For Christmas my friend's daughter got a Dancerella Disney Princess Dance Studio, which is the princess version of Dance Dance Revolution. She also told me at least three times about her Ariel nightgown, which she proceeded to put on towards the end of her playdate with Lucas.

Well, Lucas will have you all know that a real princess lives in his house. He made this for me yesterday.In case you are wondering, it's a princess tiara, on the inside he wrote, "I love mom".

When talk turns to princesses, I overhear Lucas say to his friends, "You know my mom is a princess...for real life!". Not sure what his friends make of this since I'm usually just standing there in my yoga pants and fleece, certainly not done up with a fancy hairdo, make-up, and a sparkly bejeweled gown.

I wonder what he thinks a princess is. Especially since my princess-ness seems to only include having tiaras made for me and him telling his friends I'm a princess. But would a true princess hear things like this?

"Can you carry me to the car? It's too rainy."
"I'm getting tired of cleaning up my toys, you do it."
"I wipe my own bottom at school and when Daddy's home, but when you're home, you can do it."

Hmmm...what would Cinderella do?

Air McKay

After being cooped up on a recent rainy day, we took advantage of a small break in the downpour to go out and jump in puddles.

The boy can jump!!

Christmas at home

There are things I remember about Christmas as a kid: Bing Crosby singing about his dreams of a White Christmas, my mom's pride about her Jell-O salad, playing games and playing with our new toys, a fire blazing in the fireplace, frost outside in the morning, and my mom busy in the kitchen churning out yummy things for us to eat.

We spent Christmas in Moraga this year and it was fantastic. And it was just as it has always been. This year it was just the three of us, my mom and brother.

Yes, my mom made a wonderful Jell-O salad, Rocky and I played at least 10 games of Scrabble and Rocky and Kevin played Go, Lucas played busily with all his new toys, we saw the frost outside on the lawn and on the rooftops, and we all ate more than our share of good food and sweets. We even threw our environmental standards out the door and Kevin rustled up a great fire in my mom's fireplace.

Lucas was so excited about all his gifts, especially all his toys. And he remembered what he wrote on his list to Santa and mentally checked off that Santa gave him everything he asked for (and much much more). At night and during self-imposed breaks during the day, he took some time off from his toys and picked up his books for a change of pace.

It was a really nice Christmas. More than anything, it really reinforced the great memories of what Christmas is like at my mom's house.

Little mountain bikers

Lucas' good friend from school, Jack, is also an advanced cyclist. So we took the boys up to Tilden Park for an off-road adventure. We were armed with fruit, water, string cheese and peppermint chocolate bark. We don't yet have a bike rack for our car, so I hoofed it along side Lucas, Jack and Jack's mom.

The weather was crisp and gorgeous. I would have taken a photo, but I still don't have a camera.

It was a wide dirt path, I guess it's what you call a fire road. There were some long gentle hills, which the boys had a blast riding down. Again, I would have taken a photo, but I still don't have a camera. We stopped probably six times during the 1 hour bike ride for water and snacks.

We biked down to Jewel Lake, then pretty much turned around and came back. Going back up the hill was not quite so fun as the downhill ride. There was some whining going on, but overall, the boys did great.

Next stop, Mount Tam. Hopefully, I'll have received a replacement camera by then.

What I learned this Christmas shopping season

Thankfully, I didn't have to go to a mall, but I did go to actual stores for my Xmas shopping this year. Here are some things to remember for next year's Christmas shopping spree:

1. Be safe, wear a helmet - The first two stores I went to did not have the parking garage that Lucas requested from Santa. So I went to another store where I saw the damn thing on Saturday. As I entered the doorway, I saw just one on the highest shelf. I sprinted over, past two people who were looking at the display, jumped up and pulled it down off the shelf. It hit me in the head. The two more patient people looked at me like I was a freak (which I was), and the salesperson rushed over and said, "Are you okay? Next time, just ask and I'll get it for you." After I bought it and got to my car, I noticed a slight red abrasion on my forehead in the mirror.

2. Go "sans enfant" - I started out with my friend and her baby in the stroller. The store aisles are so crowded this time of year, but a stroller really slows you down. Once we went our separate ways, I got a lot more shopping done in less time (sorry!).

3. Don't drive around - People drive like imbeciles on the 2nd to last weekend before Christmas. There was a lot of road raging going on. Probably another good reason why it's good to wear a helmet.

I have one more thing to buy, but luckily I can buy it online. Happy shopping!

The moments you want to remember

Lucas woke up at 3am Wednesday morning. I went in and snuggled with him in his bed. I told him how much I love him, and he said, "I love you all the way from the moon to your nose."

Lower than low

We just realized this morning that the a******* who stole our stuff also stole Lucas' coin bank.

He was really into that coin bank, which he got last Christmas. He has been putting all his coins for a year. Around Halloween, he hit $100! It was a big moment for him.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I can't believe those jerks who stole our stuff would steal what was clearly a child's coin bank. That's the worst thing they could have done.

Luckily, I found an identical bank on Amazon. I ordered it express delivery and we'll fill it back up with coins for him.

Maybe I'm being too protective, but it was jarring enough for Lucas to know that someone broke into our house, and he seems to be over it. I don't want to re-open that can of worms and tell him that they also stole his coin bank.

Robbers really really suck.

Walk much?

Why walk? When you can skip, run, hop or some weird combination of those three to get you from here to there?

I can count on one hand the number of times Lucas has walked calmly down the street. He's always throwing in some little jumps or kicks to liven things up.


No, the cops didn't find any of our stuff. But without a camera I'm going to have to resort to older photos or my own sophisticated illustrations. (This is my drawing, not Lucas'.)

Scenes from a more successful photo shoot

After our visit with Santa and numerous rides on the merry-go-round, we went to Saul's for a family dinner.

My mom was able to wrangle the kids for some photos.

Photo 1: Kid wrangling
Photo 2: Getting their attention. Someone put Milan's stuffed animal over my head as I took this one. Lucas feels good about getting his photo taken.Photo 3: Someone took Milan's stuffed animal away. Lucas is getting cozy with Grammy.

A visit with Santa

Last weekend we visited Santa at the Christmas merry-go-round at Tilden Park. Of course, we wanted to get a nice photo of Lucas and Milan gleefully posing with Santa.

This is what we got instead:
Suggested thought bubbles:

Joe: Milan, just one photo, please.
Milan: AHHHHHHH! WTF! Who is this freaky guy??
Lucas: What's happening here? Why is Milan crying? Is Santa a bad guy?
Santa: Okay, this isn't going to work. NEXT!!

Robbers suck!

I worked from home most of Monday, but left the house at 1:30 to go to the office. Between then and when I got home with Lucas at about 5pm, someone kicked down our door, ransacked our place, and stole some of our stuff.

Luckily we don't have much to take and this guy was dumber than your average robber because he only took things (iPod and iPod player, 2 digital cameras, one laptop), and it doesn't seem like he stole anything that had our identity on it (social security cards, checkbooks, etc.) We're still taking precautions by changing our account numbers. The inside of the door jamb is pretty much ruined, but Kevin fixed it so at least it locks securely now. I would take a photo, but the jerk stole my camera too.

The cops said that six other houses in the neighborhood were also hit that same day. They said it was probably the same guy since they found the same bootprint on the doors.

Now we're going to have to deal with insurance and all of that baloney. The worst is that they took my camera, which I used frequently, especially for my blog postings.

Hopefully, Santa will remember how good I've been this year.

"Now YOU read the book."

On Sunday Lucas picked up "Pat the Bunny" and read it to me. I definitely got teary-eyed as he went through every page, trying to sound out all the words.

He's been sounding out words for a while now, but this was the first time he got through a whole book. Pretty darn awesome!

We kept some of Lucas' board books around for when Milan comes to our house. Frankly, I never really cared for Pat the Bunny. I know it's an old book, but the weird little kids and references to "Mummy" always seemed a little off to me, kind of Stepford-ish. But now, I'll always remember this funny little book.

I have to find some small books he can read himself. And I have to find a book for me that can teach me how to help him. Anyone have suggestions?

What happens when a compulsive shopper marries someone with borderline OCD?

You might come home one day and find something like this in your closet.


On Sunday while I was out getting pampered at the Claremont, Kevin was multi-tasking: playing with Lucas and getting us organized.

Why do we have so many toiletries? I tend to buy extras, especially when I'm at Elephant Pharmacy. I'm not intentionally stocking up. It's either I think we may be running out of something or I'm not sure where it is (who wants to be without deodorant or shampoo? not me!) Then I get home and find that indeed, we have lots of sunscreen or lip balm (two of my favorite purchases).

Here's a quick inventory:
- sunscreen - 8 (this doesn't include the three that are in our car)
- dental floss - 8
- lip balm - 5 (this doesn't include the 4 or 5 others that are stashed in my various backpacks and purses)
- shampoo and conditioner - 7
- travel size lotions and shampoos - 20 I think

I applaud Kevin for getting me organized, and in a way that truly speaks to me. Now, if I feel the need to shop, I can just go to my very local little pharmacy.

Thanks Kev!

The mute slave baby

Lucas is really into role playing. Usually it goes something like this, "I'll be the brave knight, mommy's the princess, and daddy's the evil troll," or this, "I'll be Lightning McQueen, you be The King..." etc.

But the other morning while he was eating breakfast, he asked me to play the baby and he would be the daddy. He said I could be 2 so I could talk. I told him I had to make his lunch for school, so I would be using a knife. He said that would be okay.

So as he sat there eating his oatmeal, I started to engage in some toddler-inspired discussion with him.

"No, you can't talk. You can just work and make my lunch."

Lucas' Hollywood ending

Lucas' bed time routine consists of two books, one made-up story which we tell, and one song.

For the made-up story, Lucas has special requests, to make sure we set the stage for the story. Here is the type of preamble I get before I tell him a story:

"Tell the story about how me and Jack (his new BFF at school) go to the end of the street and there's a spooky old house. And we go in and see a creepy old troll with purple skin and black teeth. Then we try to open the door again but it's locked. So we shine a flashlight in his eyes and he melts so we get away. Tell me that story."

At times like this, I say to him, "Wow, you practically told the whole story, can you finish it?" He flatly refuses and makes me re-tell it, yet often corrects me when I get a detail wrong.

On many occasions, we fall asleep in his room during the storytelling session. I try and hold it together, but honestly, sometimes I can't help but doze off. I know I start mumbling about things that happened during the day, like, "...and then I was on hold for 10 minutes with the DMV...". Lucas will shake me and say, "Mommy, that's not the way the story goes. I don't know what you're talking about." Neither do I.

This happened on Wednesday night. I was telling him a story about something (see I don't even remember now) and fell asleep. Lucas woke me up and this was the conversation as I remember it.

Lucas: Finish telling the story mommy
Me: Can you tell me what the story was about?
Lucas: Can you just finish the story? (clearly exasperated with his lame story-telling mom)
Me: I forget what it's about.
Lucas: Mommy just say this, "Then we all went back to Grandma Kay's and had a party with cupcakes with blue frosting and blue sprinkles. The End." Can you just say that for the ending?

Flashback weekend!

We went to LA for the long Turkey weekend. Aside from enjoying all the food and gluttony that accompanies the usual Thanksgiving festivities, I took advantage of this long weekend to catch up with old friends.

Running with the Arvidsons - Lucas and I met up with my friend Sunday and her four beautiful daughters (three 5-year-olds, and one 2-year-old) at this picturesque park in San Marino.Lucas met the triplets a few times in his early years.

THEN (2003 in Manhattan Beach)

THEN (2004, roadtrip to LA)

How times have changed! Needless to say, Lucas loved getting outside and playing with kids his age. They all ran around, played in big piles of leaves, and had a great time!

NOW (last weekend in San Marino)

With everyone now being more self-sufficient, without needing so much parental supervision, Sunday and I had a chance to catch up in person. We've been close friends since we first met sophomore year in college. I tried to do the math, but take my word for it, it's been a long long time (note the massive shoulder pads in the photo below).

WAY BACK THEN (circa early 1990s, roadtrip to SF)

We were roommates, fellow partygoers and survived a lot of roadtrips and weekenders together. We hadn't seen each other since our girls' weekend to Palm Springs, about a year and a half ago. But we talk on the phone about once a week, so it was hard for me to believe it had been that long since our last meeting.

FAQ - When I tell people that Sunday has four kids, people are astonished and always ask me "How does she do it?" I admit, when Sunday told me she was going to have triplets, I was a little anxious for her. In college, she was notorious for losing things: keys, jackets, cameras, etc. But from spending time with them at the park, seeing them a few times over the years, and talking to her weekly, I'm constantly amazed and impressed at how awesome she is with her kids.

The Friskes - Sunday morning I went solo and drove into LA. My first stop was at the Friskes. Ali and I have been friends since we met freshman year in the dorms. We spring break-ed (broke?) together in Waikiki and had our share of college dorm antics.

WAY BACK THEN (1989, Hana Bay, Waikiki)

Instead of talking about dollar beer joints and fraternity parties, we talked potty training and private schools. Again, we tried to piece together a timeline of the last few times we had seen each other, but it's been a while: Ali's had two adorable kids since we last met.

Me and Jeanne - I left the Friskes and headed straight over to West LA to see Jeanne. Jeanne and I have been close friends since high school. Unfortunately, this is the earliest pic I could find of the two of us. Can you guess what decade this is? (Hint: the halfshirt and acid-washed jeans)

WAY BACK THEN (1988, USC/Stanford Weekender)

We strolled around Santa Monica: Main Street, the awesome farmer's market there, then down to 3rd Street Promenade. I walked away without buying a single thing. But it felt so indulgent to just window shop with a good friend and not be in any kind of rush.

Long lost relatives - Alex and Graham were two of the groomsmen in our wedding. The four of us hung out so much when we lived in LA: dinner parties, running charades, movie nights, dim sum outings, movie making - we used to do so much with them. Alex and I used to pretend that we were cousins, or was is siblings? I can't even remember anymore.

WAY BACK WHEN - 1988 in LA's Chinatown

We were trying to figure out the last time we had all seen each other and sadly surmised that it was at our wedding, or shortly thereafter -- NINE YEARS AGO! And we really haven't been good about keeping in touch, not even with email.

They came over Sunday night and we hung out so they could meet Lucas. Then we went out for dinner. The awesome thing was that once we started talking, it felt like no time had passed at all since our last meeting. That being said, we agreed on mutual visits in 2008.

(NOW - last weekend at Kevin's parents' house)

Kevin and I talked later about how much fun it was to spend time with Alex and Graham. I'm not sure what happened these last nine years and why we never picked up the phone on one of our visits down there, or sent more emails. But we aren't going to let that happen again.

Zen and the Art of Bathroom Maintenance

Everyone in Lucas' classroom has a job. I think they keep the same job for a week or two. Some of Lucas' past include:

• Calendar helper - putting the new dates in the calendar during circle time
• Shelf duster - dusting shelves
• Mat monitor - making sure that the mats are rolled up tightly

Here is my exclusive interview with Lucas, the current bathroom monitor of the Pre-K classroom:

Me: What exactly do you do, as bathroom monitor?
Lucas: When we all go to the bathroom, I make sure that everyone flushes the toilet and washes their hands. Then I make sure that all the paper towels go into the trash can.
Me: Do you like this job?
Lucas: Yeah, I think so.
Me: What is your favorite job?
Lucas: Bathroom monitor.
Me: Really? Why is it your favorite?
Lucas: Because it's my job right now.

More than a name

Lucas has come a long way since earlier this year when he interpreted the term "Native Americans" as the "Knights of America".

Lucas' class is currently studying Native Americans. The class went on a field trip last week to the Oakland Museum of California. Lucas told me that they lived in "pointy houses called tipis" and that they ate a lot of corn. He also told me that people moved onto the land of the Native Americans, and made them move away, even though they were there first.

Everyone in his class received a Native American name. Lucas' is "Fast Running Tiger". His friends have names like Red Eagle, Fire Cheetah, and Tall Snowy Mountain. Lucas named me Mountain Lion Mama and Kevin is Big Fluffy Monster (?).

Lucas informed me that Native Americans want to be called Native Americans, not Indians. He told me that his teacher Shereen is from the country India, so she is Indian, and different from the people who live in tipis.

This prompted me to do some research. I saw that the YMCA Indian Guides and Indian Princesses programs only just recently (2003) shed these terms for the less controversial monikers "Adventure Guides" and "Explorers". Sounds like some of the parents were not in favor of these name changes. Maybe Fast Running Tiger should have a talk with them.

The Walk: Part 3 - Sunny Gets Her Just Desserts

After the walk, I made the trek to Orange County so I could spend some time with my friend Venita.
Venita and I were sorority sisters, roommates in college, and also roommates after college. We even got jobs at the same place right after college. We also were dating two guys, who were also roommates. Venita and I shared a lot of the same interests: getting up early to roller blade along the boardwalk along the beaches, eating raw chocolate chip cookie dough, eating desserts, going out to parties, shopping, walking, eating raw chocolate chip cookie dough, watching good movies and bad movies, and did I mention that we both enjoyed eating raw chocolate chip cookie dough?

On my ride up to her house, I called Venita from the road, she said, "Do you hear this?" It was the sweet sound of the hand mixer, mixing what I could only believe was chocolate chip cookie dough.

I spent Sunday night at Venita's house. I slept in a comfy bed, was able to use a real toilet (not just a port-a-potty), washed my hands with real running water and soap (not Purell), and got to play with her two adorable little kids. And of course, I got to eat cookie dough, cookies, other assorted desserts, and spend time with one of my best friends. It was a great way to end my trip.

Lucas and Kevin had a great time when I was gone. I came back to a lot of artwork inspired by, well, me. Here is one of me as a vampire with a spiral of "I love mom" and "I love dad". (Not sure how a child psychologist would interpret that one.)I guess that's how he worked out some of his angst for me being gone for so long.

The Walk: Part 2 - The Pink Factor and Life in the Bottom Quartile

When you look at the 3-day web site, you get the feeling that there will be a lot of pink at this event. You have no idea.Lindsey, Jeanne, and I looked like the goth kids compared to the other 4,497 peppy and perky people decked out in pink. For some reason, the three teachers in our group were the ones who sported the pink clothes and additional pink "flair"(Jennifer, second from the right, and Isabelle and Amy, not pictured).There were the crazy costumes and accessories - pink cowboy hats, pink tutus, pink boas, pink pumps, and everything else in between (there was also the Southern California factor, so people were really decked out, made-up, and tan!)

Here's a photo of us at one of the pit stops. They had all sorts of stuff to dress up in for a photo. But seriously, many people wore stuff like this when they walked. Plus, people really played up the word "breast" and all of its nicknames with logos on shirts and signs. Here are some of my favorites:

• I'm a breast man - seen on the shirt of a very old (probably 90-year-old) man who cheered us on along the route.
• Save the Tatas
  
• The Tittee Committee
• Mammo-Glam
• Big or Small...Save Them All
• Boobs on the Move
• Chicas for Chi-Chis
• Happy Hooters
• Jammin' for Jugs
• Saving Second Base

I must say that this was one well-oiled pink machine. There were vans always driving by, to pick up anyone who needed a lift. These people would receive a button saying, "Sagged and Proud".

Most of the pit stops were themed. My favorite was the 80s "Hard Walk Cafe". They blasted my favorite 80s music and staff and volunteers were dressed in mini-skirts, double belts and some sported mullets.There was a lot of preambling going on at the opening ceremonies, and while I appreciate a good speech, what I saw along the walk was much more moving: the woman walking with the sign on her back that said, "85 year old walker, 2-time cancer survivor", the dad with two young kids with a sign saying, "We miss you Mom", the current cancer patient standing on the side of the road with the sign, "Thank you for walking for me". Those were the things that moved me along, plus the fact that my bladder was always in search of the next bathroom. (I was very close to having my own slogan that said, "I peed in my pants for breast cancer.")

Oh, and the food. Almost every supporter on the side of the route had bowls full of, what I can only imagine to be, left over Halloween candy. Aside from candy, people also handed out donut holes, popsicles, chips and salsa, and all sorts of other stuff. My favorites were the guy who had two buckets, one labeled "Milk Chocolate" and the other "Dark Chocolate" (by Day 3, he only had Milk Chocolate left) and the one guy who had freshly caught mahi mahi on crackers with mango chutney. I actually gained weight from this walk, if you can believe it.

We slept in tents. Yes, even me. Luckily they were set up for us already and Lindsey, my tentmate, is an experienced camper. She brought the tarps and the tarp clips, and camp light. If it wasn't for Lindsey, I would have been wet and miserable (thanks Lindsey!).

With a team that included alumni from competitive schools like Harvard, Stanford, UCLA and USC, we were somewhat dismayed to find ourselves in the bottom quartile of walkers. No matter what time we left in the morning, we were consistently among the last 25%. (This didn't sit well with my competitive side, but I had to keep reminding myself that this was not a race.) But we had a great time talking as we strolled. Amy brought a set of "conversation cards", with deep and thought-provoking questions we could ponder and discuss, like "What was the worst hairstyle you ever had?" and "What part of the world has the sexiest men?".

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. I spent lots of good quality time with my friends and I hobbled away with only three blisters and some mild soreness in my legs.

Thanks to all my wonderful friends and family, I met my goal of raising $2200 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The event in San Diego raised more than $10 million - pretty impressive for a lot of people dressed up in pink. And if you're wondering, yes, you can still donate if you haven't already.

The Walk: Part I - Road trip and Last-Minute Preparation

A few months back I signed up with some friends to walk 60 miles for the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. It was this past weekend. Here's part one. If you just want to know how it went, it went great.

Jennifer picked me up early on Thursday morning. We decided to drive to San Diego for a little road trip to make the most of our break from our daily family obligations. So of course, we spent the entire drive chatting about our families.

We made great time on I-5 and landed in Santa Monica right around noon. We had some time to kill as hotel check-in in San Diego wasn't until 4pm so we snuck in one last "training" walk down Montana Avenue, which was one of my favorite streets to stroll when I lived in LaLa Land.

With 60 miles of walking in our near future, we shopped for the basic essentials. We hit the Blue Jean Bar and tried on many pairs of tight, pricey jeans. I ended up with two pairs from the Lucky store down the street. We noshed on fancy salads at the Marmalade Cafe, one of my favorite lunch spots on Montana. As we were heading to the car we both realized we needed more undies for the walk. As luck would have it, the only place that had undies was a cute boutique which had bras priced at $250! But we needed underwear and didn't have time to find the nearest REI. With no other alternatives at that point, I sucked it up and bought some expensive pima cotton panties.

Feeling not-too-guilty about our purchases, we drove the rest of the way down to San Diego. On the drive, we conducted a small chocolate tasting. (Green & Blacks Maya Gold won out over the Dagoba Xocolatl).

At the hotel, where we would spend the night before walking 60 miles and sleeping in tents for two nights, I reduced the amount of stuff I would need for the walk and campsite by at least 30% and put the excess stuff in Jennifer's car.

Then it was time to merchandise the Clif Bar products, donated by my friend who works for Clif. All those years of setting up packaging displays at various software and toy companies really paid off, check out my handiwork.After Lindsey arrived we went out for a carb-loading sushi dinner and then a last-last minute shopping trip to the CVS Pharmacy and drug store. Then our 4th hotel roommate Jeanne arrived. We carefully selected our Clif products for the next few days, packed up, readied ourselves for the upcoming event, and went to bed.

Despite the fact that some obnoxious drunk guys were yelling obscenities like "Shave my a**hole!" in the adjacent parking lot at 3am, I had a good night's sleep.

Art appreciation

Saturday morning Lucas was busy at the art table. He said he was making a surprise for me.
Then he showed me this.
In case you still need coaching on how to read Lucas' writing, it says, "I dumped my water out on a leaf." (I dup mi wodrl ot on u lef). He told me that the yellow part of the drawing was water.

I was amazed! The leaf was so much more real-looking than his other drawings. Plus, his interpretation of water on the leaf was more conceptual than his other drawings.

I told him what I liked about his drawing, then we hung it up on the wall.

Candy experiment - results

Well, the results were mixed and not quite what I had hoped for.

Lucas has such a sweet tooth. He loved waking up and feeding his sweet tooth every morning. Of course, I would also fix him breakfast, which he would eat, but then, right back to the candy. And once we got home from school, he would make a bee-line for his candy.

On Thursday afternoon he ate about 8 pieces of candy. He walked around doubled over for a bit before dinner, saying, "My tummy hurts." I asked him if he thought it was from all the candy. Of course, he said no. After surprising me by eating a healthy meal of chicken spinach salad and some good crusty bread, he went right back to inhale more candy. I was secretly hoping that he would have recognized his evil ways and said "no" to candy.

Friday morning, I reminded him that he would be giving up his candy at the end of the day. He ate his candy with a slight look of desperation in his eyes. I also reminded him that the "sugar fairy" would leave him something in place of all his candy.

Saturday morning he was a little upset that his candy was gone. He couldn't believe it was true. Then I asked him if he checked to see if the sugar fairy left him anything. We opened the front door and his eyes went immediately to a shiny stack of coins on the porch(about $1.50). He grabbed the coins and started putting them into his coin bank and never mentioned his candy again.