SEQUOIA!!!

Okay, so...we may not have gorgeous, fantastical old structures like my blog friends Hannah and Simon in the UK...and we may not have a whole lot of history here in CA like my friend Marcus in VA...and we may be shy a few temples like Cory and Adrienne have in UT...or beautiful, wide open spaces like Kelly has in TX...but we DO have something that no one in the world can claim because they only exist in a very specific part of California, in a few small groves at a specific altitude: Sequoia trees, the biggest trees (not by height like Cameron has in Northern CA or by circumference like my blog friend Denis in Africa, but by VOLUME!!!) in the entire world. CHECK OUT THIS PUPPY:

So Jay and I took the kids for a family vacation to Sequoia National Park. We spent the first night "down the hill" (ie MOUNTAIN, 7000 ft down!) at the Lazy J Ranch Motel, a PERFECT place for a family reunion: it had a playground, a swimming pool, individual cabins (some with kitchens that sleep 8 people!), the Kaweah river next door, the family's animals (for a mini "petting zoo"), tether-and-volleyball and badminton and charcoal barbeques for making dinner outside your cabin (we cooked our Hobo dinners that I'd made up earlier in the day), and a continental breakfast to boot. It was great, reasonably priced, and the kids had a blast...plus it broke up the 5 1/2 hour trip nicely, so they only had to stick out 4 hours in the car.


The next day was perfect; it's about 70 degrees up the mountain, and the kids were wowed by the giant trees. We climbed to the top of Moro Rock (slowly...for our sakes) and Jay made super-delicious bratwursts over a charcoal cook stove. We checked into our room at Wuksachi, the "resort" up there (read: moderate-to-expensively-priced basic hotel) and then went exploring, running into some deer...the kids were thoroughly thrilled. Jason made dinner again (grilled bbq chicken drumsticks, grilled veggies, and roasted red potatoes), and we crashed that night...late. The kids went without a bedtime the entire trip; they just had to go to bed when Mom and Dad did. Surprise, surprise...they LOVED it.


So we also went for a hike around a big, BIG meadow, past some controlled burn areas, to Tharp's Log, a fallen Sequoia that a man with the surname Tharp had once hollowed out and lived in every Summer (with fireplace, bench and table, and bed!) and cooked the requisite hot dogs for lunch, then headed down to the King's River for some rock hopping, butterfly petting (I kid you not!) and fish spotting (meaning "OH, LOOK! THERE'S ONE!"), while Mikayla walked into the river up to her knees...with her pants, socks, and shoes still on.


We had dinner one night at the restaurant (which is incredibly overpriced but very good) and then went out to Sunset Rock (Beetle Rock, according to signs, but Sunset Rock for, well, the Sunset) for...the sunset. Jay and I took turns hiking the kids up and down the rocks and we'd planned to hang out and star gaze once the sun went down...until a mama bear and two cubs sauntered past a hundred or so feet away. Minutes later, a papa bear appeared and then swung around toward the parking area, so we decided it was best NOT to be on the rocks out in the open in the pitch blackness, or trying to find our way back to the car in the dark - flashlights or no (but we DID have them) - with a papa bear around. Jason took Tyler out later for stargazing after we'd returned to the hotel.


All in all it was a wonderful time, and when we were driving back down the mountain and I told the kids to say "Bye, Sequoia!" to the video camera, Mikayla yelled, "No, I don't WANT to!" In other words, we ALL had a GREAT time...and will certainly make that beautiful, peaceful, undertrafficked corner of the world a recurring theme in future Bradshaw family vacations. Enjoy the photos!

TYLER'S IN KINDERGARTEN!!!

Yes, it's true...my not-quite-5-year-old has begun "formal schooling."

Or as formal as you can get in Anaheim, CA.

See, he's attending the school around the corner (that we SWORE we'd NEVER send him to, and that we'd be LONG GONE from this state before he EVER began Kindergarten!), which started back on the 20th. His teacher WAS Mrs. Henson, and there WERE 38 kids in Tyler's class...until Friday.

Friday afternoon we got a call from the principal; she left a message asking if we were comfortable putting Mr. Man in a different K class, and I had my doubts...until she called this morning before school started to let me know Tyler would be with a Mrs. Forsythe tomorrow for school...and that Mrs. Forsythe's class would have 20 kids instead of 38.

We'll take it.

So as sweet as Mrs. Henson was, tomorrow we're done with her and moving on to greener pastures (read: a much smaller student-teacher ratio).

That said - and my son is a very capable boy, so I'm not at all concerened, but - have y'all heard about the new expectations for a Kindergartener exiting Kindergarten? I remember learning LETTERS in Kindergarten, but know they are expected to PROPERLY write their names (first letter capitalized, following lower-case), sight-read some 30-some words, be able to count to 100, write to 30, add to 20, and subtract from 10, and a whole host of other things (though I hear in most schools - particularly those outside our district - the Kinder expectations are actually MUCH HIGHER).

After the formation of this class, my son will be one of two white kids there each day (and will therefore, Lord willing, grow up racism-free), and will attend school approximately 17 1/2 hours each week. If after the first month, however, I feel like he's not being challenged (ie. he gets BORED) or I find out he's being given a hard time because he's a bit smaller or younger or paler than the other kids, I'm yanking him and we're beginning homeschool. Check back around the end of September for the verdict.

Anyway, Tyler's in, I shed no tears, and I love the stuffing out of our little man (now wearing uniforms, believe it or not!) and am so thankful that my son is still excited to wave to me and give me the ASL sign for "I love you" with his peers around. I'm enjoying it while it lasts. Wish us luck, and enjoy the "Tyler's First Day of Kindergarten" photos!

Celebrating Anniversary # 8

That's right, 8 years. I could go on and on about what a wonderful hubby my hubby is, how much I love him, or how grateful I am for the past 8 years...but that would be my usual, and we can't have the usual! Suffice it to say my husband is the perfect man FOR ME, and I cannot imagine any part of my life - from the moment he entered it to the end of eternity - without him. That said, we did some serious anniversary celebrating this year! :)

First we spent a weekend in Oxnard, a quiet little beach-and-ag-town just south of Santa Barbara (my folks kept the kids AGAIN, God bless them!) and stayed (thanks to his million Hilton points) at the Embassy Suites beach resort in Oxnard. The had a manager's reception each evening (which supplied the popcorn I fed to the bird on our porch) and a breakfast buffet every morning (which supplied our fuel for the balance of the days' activities), but the best part was our location: Jason has the highest membership status possible with Hilton Honors, so we were instantly upgraded free of charge - on top of our free room! - to their very best category (outside of the presidential suite, yeah, I know)...an oceanfront, first floor walkout. No, seriously. There was NOBODY closer to the ocean than we were, and we left our windows open both nights so the sound of the waves lulled us to sleep. Plus we ate at Capistrano's (their fine dining restaurant) one night, which was delightful/delovely/delicious, and then at a Japanese teppan-style steakhouse the next night, both of them obscenely yummy and romantic and QUIET. Aaaaaaah. The best part of the trip, though, was traversing a farmer's market to reach - here it comes! - the waterside Segway rentals! (You know, those gyro-based standy-uppy-things...) (Note I had to add the part about the farmer's market...oh, and the to-die-for tacos and tostadas at that little stand; if you've been there, you know the one!) The Segways were SOOOOOOOO much fun (and once or twice just a little scary, you're zipping around so quickly!) and not nearly as expensive to rent as I'd feared they would be...and I can honestly say there's nothing like zipping around on a Segway along the beach with your husband (almost) at your side grinning like a skunk. Fabulous. Highly recommended. Highly.

So a few days later was our ACTUAL anniversary, and we spent (an hour of) it in a gondola in Newport Harbor being paddled through the peaceful, sparkling canals just after sunset to the sound of Andrea Bocelli, glasses of sparkling cider in hand, munching on salami, cheese, and bread. (That was a really long sentence.) Our "motor" - Mike the Gondolier - was awesome, and it must take some SERIOUS effort and skill to manuever those puppies, let alone move them steadily along! I wasn't in a position (nor had I the desire) to check out his guns, but I'm guessing he had Schwarzenegger-style biceps. Back to the romantic part, though...I can't explain how awesome it was to be able to sit alongside the love of my life quietly discussing our lives together with the lights from Hoag Hospital (where I delivered our baby girl almost 3 years ago now) reflecting on the black water beneath us as we sipped cider to Con Te Partiro.

Sigh. I love my husband.

Anyway, we closed up the anniversarial activities a few nights later (the only seats we could get!) at Topol's farewell performance (he's going into retirement) of Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof at the OC Performing Arts Center. For those not familiar, Topol is the guy who played Tevya (the lead) in the movie! AND HE'S PHENOMENAL!!!!!!! He really IS Teyva...the ONLY Tevya...and I feel very sorry for anyone who has the misfortune of trying to pick up where he's about to leave off. His performance, even at ALMOST 74 YEARS OLD, left us speechless. Needless to say, the entire Segerstrom Hall gave him a standing ovation, and we're thrilled that we were able to attend and enjoy one of his very last performances before retirement. (In case you were wondering, he sure doesn't look or act 74!)

So our anniversary this year was spread out, fun, and full of festivities that celebrated us as a couple and the things we enjoy, and I loved every random moment of it. A big thank you to my sweet husband for all his planning and effort, but more than that, for being MY Jason. Love you, Jay. Always.

The Rumors are True...

I'm pulling a Stephanie Meyer, though Lord willing, it won't be so...Stephanie Meyer. I'm writing a book. Three books, really: a trilogy. I'm only partway through chapter nine, but I'm thinking that if I mention it here on the blog, maybe one (or a few) of you will give me grief about my break from writing and encourage me to get back into it so I can finally finish more than just the research. :) So, yes. I'm writing. Thanks for your curiousity (you know who you are) but that's all I'm saying about it for now.

No, that's not true; I'll also say this: It's NOT about vampires. I'm leaving that one to Adrienne, and SHE can rip it up!

Thanks to all those of you who've been so supportive thus far...always great to be able to bounce around ideas!

Aaaah, Summer...and Vacation...and School...and...It's been a while, hasn't it?

About 6 weeks, to be exact. I'll post a bunch of photos after this entry (when I get around to it...anyone got one? A Round Tuit, that is), but for now, the rundown.

Life has been busy for the Bradshaws these last few weeks:

• The kids "graduated" from swim lessons, meaning Tyler can now stick his face (briefly) in the water. That's something, especially compared to the fact that he didn't even want me to WASH his face in the tub before!


• We've spent some time with Bridget (and Catherine and Ashleigh) this Summer, the last visit at their house being a chance for the munchkins to splash and play and make mud (sorry, Bridget!) in the adorable inflatable jungle-theme ("with sprayer tunnel and slide!") pool in the Johnson's back yard, as well as a few Disney visits with Bridget's VIP seating at Playhouse Disney! Looking forward to more of that! (Being with Bridget, that is. We're a little Disney'd out for a while!)


• Speaking of which, we've been doing Disney...a LOT. Once you pay that initial massive amount for Premium passes, date night is (sorta) free!


• Jay finished up in Beverly (thank heavens!) and the Academy Awards audit is (almost) done. I even got to sleep over (in his SUITE, rough life!) and eat with him at LA Food Show one night, thanks to my folks watching the munchkins...


• ...which munchkins they also watched so BRANDON, who came to visit at the beginning of August, and I could go up to Magic Mountain and scream our lungs out on Tatsu and X2. I hadn't been there since BEFORE I get pregnant with Goo, so Tatsu was new to me, and X2 was new all over again...and honestly the first time in recent history I can remember being nervous to ride a coaster. Oh, and get this: I can ride X2 (thanks, Brandon!) but the teacups make me want to puke. When did THAT happen? Gettin' old, I guess...


• Brandon also accompanied us to Disneyland, (don't ask me why I didn't take any pictures when he was here...I suck!) and then again to Disney that same evening with me and Jay to hit up the "big people" rides. Basically, we just had tons of fun with our nephew-and-cousin, and he's TOTALLY invited back next Summer...providing we're still here. (Sigh.)


• I had a birthday...31 years, in case you were wondering...and Jason made me this insanely awesome birthday cake...I'm drooling just thinking about it. It was a buttermilk-based chocolate cake FROM SCRATCH with this chocolate ganache homemade icing and a million colorful sprinkles...ooooooooooh, I can't talk about it anymore, or I'm going to go into a chocolate coma...


• I got a henna tattoo! (Henna is TEMPORARY, people!) Found a local artist online, went to her place, and sat for 90 minutes while she drew the most awesome art on my upper back...and then, once we'd scraped it off and waited 24 hours, I found out my skin doesn't absorb henna pigment, so you practically couldn't see it. THAT led me to buy black jagua (a South American plant-based pigment) online, and Jason drew some Asian symbols on my back with it. It took beautifully AND looked like a REAL blue-black tattoo, but it took a lot of pigment for not a lot of coverage. So...eh. Not a fan of tats anyway, of course, but it was fun to try out the temp stuff.


• Mom and Dad and I took the kids to Oak Glen to go raspberry picking...and Mom and I managed to get all pricked and scratched up - and sweaty and sunburned! - for the priviledge of bringing home 8 cups of fresh, ripe raspberries, which we immediately made into the world's tastiest freezer jam...and ALL of my mom's half is GONE! (We're planning at least one more trip up there before the season ends...with better raspberry-picking attire, trust me!)


• We registered Tyler for Kindergarten...in a week! That meant he had to go to the pediatrician for his 5 year checkup...and about a gazillion shots, poor guy, but BOY, was he brave! The tears were more beforehand with the anticipation than because of the myriad jabs...and we're so proud of him!!!


• Speaking of doctors, I had an EHE exam (an "executive health exam" provided yearly through Jason's work) and found out that I'm healthy as a horse...except for those joint aches and the night sweats. Cest la vie! (I'm blaming my good health on all the farmer's market food we've been eating, by the way...just check out that dinner! Oven-roasted FM corn, FM heirloom tomato salad with basil from our concrete jungle, and our very own homemade pesto slathered on wild-caught salmon filets...what a meal!)


• We have a crazy-growing garden! Yellow pear-shaped cherry tomatoes out the ying-yang (YUM!), chives and green onions galore (although they're on the small and shabby side, I admit, but what can we expect on concrete?), more zucchini and pumpkin flowers than we know what to do with, (no, that's a lie...I stuff them and fry them and eat them. THAT'S what we do with them...ALL...) but no pumpkins or zucchini as yet, unfortunately, and a sunflower that has turned brown and just about died...which means it's going to seed, and any time now we'll have a couple hundred sunflower seeds to roast! Our "real" red tomatoes aren't all that big, (about roma sized, only round,) but they're starting to ripen, and we're super-excited about that! I love growing my own food!!! (And making dinner with the food I grow!)
• I have (once again) been released from my calling at church (maybe I haven't been there enough recently, as often as we've been out of town?) and am awaiting another call...but enjoying the lack of responsibility in the meantime. :)

There's tons more, but they will be their own entries, so I'm going to sign off here and work on the next one...and hopefully I'll stay more up-to-date! Cheers!

FIRE ALARM

I'm laughing so hard I could vomit. Still. 5 minutes later. God Bless Fail Blog. (And yes, that's a Jiffy Pop hanging up near the ceiling in place of a fire alarm, courtesy [originally] of There, I Fixed It dot com.)

And now I need a restroom so I don't pee my pants...

Indeed.

The original is MUCH cuter, but I can't find a good way to post it online. Anyone interested should email me...Tyler is Buzz, and Mia's a Fairy Princess. Motherhood. Sigh.

Just When We'd Given Up Hope...

BAM!...tomatoes.

No, we're not moving into a home, or out of state, or even into another new, inevitably and cursedly dinky apartment...yet. But we DO have tomatoes.

Not a proliferation of tomatoes, mind you, thanks to a serious lack in honeybees on concrete, but there ARE tomatoes.

And they're cute.

Yellow teardrop cherry tomatoes, to be exact, although at the moment they're green. And some haven't even gotten big enough to look like teardrops yet.

But others have, and that's what's important!

In other garden news, Mikayla's sunflower is now two feet tall, the zucchini plants are doin' their thang, Tyler's pumpkin plant has a host of male flowers (and even a few female flowers...SLOWLY) coming in, and one has burst into colorful bloom already! (There was a second, but it was starting to whither, so I plucked it off and ate it to see what a pumpkin flower would taste like. And yes, they're edible, just like zucchini flowers, and would be great sauteed with garlic in olive oil or deep fried, stuffed with cream cheese and chives like at Trina's. Yuuuuummm.)

They taste like squash, by the way, but not as intense. Did I say Yuuuummm? 'Cuz I meant to. Oh, wait, I did...twice. Let me say it again: Yuuuummm. Oh, and please excuse the photo in sideways...I know, I know, I just didn't feel like taking the time to reorient the photo. Just turn your head 90 degrees, and bill me for the doctor if you wind up with a kink.

We finally have some (small and wilty-looking) bell pepper plants coming in, and Jason's lettuce has kicked into (well, not really "high") moderate gear. We have RED tomato plants moving slowly on their way, too...not catching up to their yellow counterparts, but holding their own nice and slow. (What do we know about growing stuff? So we should have planted them earlier, so what?) In other words, all is well in our gardening world, and we've even had 5 Basil harvests thus far, the basil plants still going strong!

The shallots failed, by the way, thanks for asking. We were sad. We've replanted the area with lettuce and we're moving on.

So...now you know what I do for half an hour every day...I have no friends here, so I tend to my plants, and they treat me like family...ie, they're gonna feed me, and that makes me love them all the more. You know me and food. Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh.

Speaking of which, did I tell you Jason took me to the Napa Rose? If ever you go, skip everything and order the Seven Sparkling Sins. Not only will you not regret it, you'll never forget it. But bypass dessert. It's sadly "eh."

More detail about the Seven Sparkling Sins to follow. Trust me, it's good. Sooooooooooooo good. Off to fantasize about them now. 'Til tomorrow...

Aaaaah, Mispronunciation...

Is that even a word? Hey, I'm a Mom with Mommy Brain blogging at 7:37 in the morning. Cut me some slack.

Anyway, we've re-upped our Disney passes, of course, so we're trying to make the most of them...and remembering why we let them expire in the first place. (Jason and I are just not the most social of people...to the point that even being in contact with crowds and waiting in long lines with a multitude of strangers leaves us both a little grumpy. Joy.)

So we took the kids Saturday morning, as we do, and on the way back to the car, we hopped on the giant, endless escalator that takes us up to our area of the parking structure, and Tyler was all excited to hop on that escuvator all by himself.

I'm sorry, Tyler, honey, what did you say?

I want to get on the escuvator all by myself.

On the what?

The Es-Coo-Vator.

Oh. (Trying to hide my smug "My Kid is So Cute" smile.) Okay, then, I promise I won't try to help.

No, I didn't correct him. He'll learn soon enough what the blasted thing is really called, but in the meantime I'm going to enjoy how cute it sounds to hear my four year-old call an escalator an escuvator. And breakfast "brekdast."

Because I already miss Dar Beeder. Worse than that, I miss Bee-Dah.

Man, they grow up quick...

It's only been three weeks, so here are the highlights:

1. Arizona was hot (like the fires of hell and damnation), but we had a GREAT time with family and friends.
a) We hit up the ostrich farm again with Mom and Dad, Jewels and Roo...
b) We played with Treen and Zac and Jewels and Roo at the Phoenix Farmer's Market (come on, what ELSE would I do on vacation?!) and hooked ourselves up with some seriously yummy grub...
c) We laid by the pool (or swam in it) and downed Chicago-style dogs at Wendy's mom's clubhouse where we met up with just about every family member under the sun (still missing Nik!)...
d) Jess threatened Jared's life...(mostly in jest, and he knows why...)
e) We visited Kim & Bella in their lovely new home (and Kathy in hers!) and salivated over the price of an apt the same size as ours for half the number of people...
f) We played (and played catch-up!) with Audrey and her munchkins at their place for far longer than we'd planned, each moment a laugh and passing all too quickly...
g) We ate at Pete's. Eat there. You'll understand.
h) The Bradshaws surprised us with a giant 4-layer, chocolate-frosted Wendy-creation cake (watch that girl BAKE!) for an early celebration of Jessica's birthday.

2. We returned home to our crazy over-grown tomato plants...and pruned. We were worried that they'd never produce and never recover, but we've already got about 18 tomatoes coming in...amongst 10 veritable tomato TREES...making them quite feasibly the most expensive yellow cherry tomatoes EVER...oh, and our zucchini and pumpkin plants are going NUTS!

3. We missed out on Ashleigh's baby blessing (sorry!) but congratulate Bridget and Dan (and Katherine!) on a beautiful, sweet baby girl, whose birth announcement we have sitting on our living room 'cuz she's just that adorable.

4. Kim has returned to California!!!!!!!...for a few days. (Her brother's wife is having a baby shower.) We, of course, realize that we miss her tons when we see her...but we're making the most of the couple days she's here and we're thrilled for her that she's so excited to go home (not that we want her to)!

5. We're mourning the loss of Michael Jackson...but not because we loved him. Instead, we can't WAIT until people shut UP about him, and we're wishing he hadn't died just so we could stop hearing about him on the radio...tv...on the net...on people's t-shirts at Disney...UGH. Come on, people. You haven't wanted anything to do with that creepy once-black almost-destitute man since the early '90's...why are you suddenly mourning him like he was a family member and letting the city of LA spent a couple million bidding him a ridiculous farewell? (Stepping off my soapbox now...)

6. My hair is darker and re-layered...and I love it. ROMAN ROCKS. Let me know if you need a SPECTACULAR stylist...he's the BEST!

7. We're in SWIM LESSONS! (Yes, we're...Tyler has his class, but Mikayla's class involves Mommy participation, so we're ALL in swim lessons!) You know...it's amazing how a mom can get everything in the world done in a day and THEN spend 3 hours watching a Masterpiece Theater/BBC production, and STILL not have time to shower after a swim-lesson-chlorine-dousing. We'll see how long my hair stays dark...(and if anyone says anything to me about priorities...I'll let you borrow Cranford. You try walking away from Judy Dench on the television to take a shower!)

What else, what else, what else...? Mmmmmmmmmmmmm...I guess that's all for now! Everything else has been laundry this and grocery shopping that (you know how it is when you return from "vacation"...) so I think I'm going to go take a shower...in time to get back in the pool for swim lessons, and then to head to the pool with Kim and Bella. Aaaaaah, Summer.

OH! 8! Brandon is coming out to visit us the first week in August, and the kids are quivering with excitement! More on that one AFTER the fact, but suffice it to say...that's gonna be ONE FUN VISIT! (We're already planning Disney, the beach, and a Six Flags venture...WOOHOO!)

Okay, so now THAT'S it.

Will post again when I have a new canvas painted or another chapter to my book...so I'd better get on it! Love to all, and thanks for the catch-up!

Addendum to Below...

So, I up and tried my hand at oils again while Goo was napping, and I think I did a little better this time...both were more like what I was thinking. For those in the book-know, she's the dark and he's the blue-green...obviously. Just wanted to share. (Cory, I know it's NOTHING like what you do, but honestly? I'm just a little impressed with myself! Now I know how you must feel...like THE woman!)

On Icing Buckets, Oil Paintings, and Disneyland Passes

I'll try to be brief covering all the above-listed topics, but you know me...brevity doesn't come naturally.

Anyway, here goes: My folks, seeing our crazy urban-garden-loving backyard, bought us a book on Square Foot Gardening...and it rocks. It suggested also planting in buckets, and we thought we were so clever, spending $2.78/5 gallon Home Depot bucket...until it recommended stopping by our local bakery and asking for their empty icing food-grade plastic buckets. Uh...we can do that? So we hit up Food 4 Less, Costco, and Vons this weekend, and scored no less than 10 buckets! (Believe it or not, Costco offered us ONE...Vons gave us two - AND steam-cleaned them for me!!! - and Food 4 Less coughed up FOUR icing buckets and THREE MORE Crema Mexicana buckets!!!) ALL FOR FREE!!! Bye, bye, $2.78/bucket! We're gonna be planting in food-grade plastics! (Yeah, yeah, I know...but we're excited.) I mean, take a look at how these tomato plants GROW in buckets! Scroll back a few entries and compare our tomato plants...a couple weeks ago they were healthy, but now they're out of control!!! They've even got blooming flowers where shortly beautiful yellow cherry tomatoes will be sprouting! HOW STOKED AM I?!?!?! (Remember people, we're talking ME and FOOD...and creating my OWN food. This is a DREAM!)

Jason bought me an oil paint set at Christmas, and I've been trying to get up the courage to suck at oil painting...so I just busted 'em out and painted last night. It's abstract, yes, and it's also a test...but for those of you already aware, I'm trying to write a book, and it's exactly where one of the characters IS right now, so...yeah. I won't say I'm super-proud of it or anything, but...I did that. So. Yeah.

So Jason and I got back our Disneyland passes. Yes, it's true, we caved...and now we can go any day, anytime, all the time. Why, you ask, would we blow so much money (plus upgrade Tyler's pass to premium, too)? Well, a few reasons: It kills us when family comes into town and we CAN'T just bomb off to Disney with them...that we don't have free parking to help them drop cars in the lot...that we don't have the 15% food discount or 10% merchandise discount (for them OR us, considering how much we love Steakhouse 55 but can't afford their prices, and this is just the bump we need to enjoy our potato stacks and seven onion soups)...you name it. Plus, now we have a (paid once, now free) date night activity, and we can take the kids every Saturday morning like we used to...only now we're diaper-bag-free and our kids will actually REMEMBER going! (Okay, at least Tyler will!)

In other words...if you have a Disneyland pass or are planning to hit up the park anytime soon, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! We'd love to go with you, or hook you up somehow...after all, we live 5 minutes from the park in heavy traffic!

SINCE we have Disney passes, what did we do for date night Saturday? You guessed it. It was fun, of course, and we did Space Mountain and Soarin' Over CA, but then we decided to head out, and I've just gotta tell you what happened.

So we get on the tram to head, and get around that first bend to go back to the structure, when the tram DIES. So another tram swings around the corner and parks next to us so we can transfer to a working tram, no problem. We're about to go when we hear some women behind us screaming at each other, and a Disney tram dude flipping out. To top it off, he was very gay and had a major lisp (why on earth would you want to adopt a stereotype like that, really?) and half-running along the tram toward the front yelling "Call Security!" Suddenly everyone wants to know what's going on, we're all stuck there waiting for security to show, and the tram behind us and the tram behind them are stopped dead waiting for either our tram or the dead tram to get the heck out of the way.

In other words, ain't nobody goin' nowhere.

So we're hearing women yelling at each other about "assault" and "pressing charges" and thinking WHAT THE HECK!??! Security shows up...followed by no less than SIX police officers (the Downtown Disney cops, no doubt) and another half-dozen Disney employees, and three women get off the tram to kavetch to the officers and offer "their side" of the story, with one of the women's FOUR children getting off 10 minutes later. It's was close to half an hour from the time our original tram tried to leave until we finally were on our way to the parking structure.

So here's what I deduced: A & B were sisters; A had a newborn in arms. C had her four kids. During the tram swap, A was trying to move to the next tram, C was helping her kids on, and A, a very large, portly (read: grossly obese) woman was attempting to shield her baby from the commotion of a slew of kids and adults trying to switch trams. C accused A of "bumping" her, so C bumped back. B stepped in to bump C for bumping A, who was "just trying to protect her baby", so C bumped B, who bumped C back, and then C took things up a notch: she PINCHED B...HARD on the arm. I mean, instant black-and-blue welt-hard. Unreal. So then the screaming, the accusations, the crazy Disney employee stepping in, and basically just complete chaos...plus three or four white trash individuals loudly expressing their intellectually-challenged opinions to add to the insanity.

Did I mention these women were all well into their 40's and 50's?

The saddest part to me was watching those four little kids, all under 8 if a day, disembark from the tram to stand by their mother (C, the pincher) who was being questioned by police. Happiest place on Earth, right? Yeah, it might've been, if their Mom could've only recognized A as a human being trying to care for her baby.

Can I get a YIKES?

Anyway...if you want to grow tomato plants in buckets, go to Food 4 Less. If you want to learn to Oil Paint, talk to somebody else, like my friend Cory, who is not only able, she's GOOD. If you want to go to Disneyland, LET US KNOW!

And for anything else, well, we're leaving for AZ tomorrow, so don't expect much! Sayonara, and I'll be posting again come next week!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

To my Three Favorite Dads:

My Sweet Husband.

My Wonderful Dad.

My Terrific Inherited Dad.

I love you all. Have a fabulous Father's Day!

Attention, Arizonans!

We will be in town next week! We should be in by early evening on Tuesday, and we'll be leaving probably mid-morning or late evening on Sunday, depending on what Jay might have for work the following week. I don't know what everyone's schedule looks like these days, but we'll be around! Love to all, and maybe see you next week?

It's a Little Long, but Right on the Mark

Got this from a Tea Party friend. I don't necessarily agree with EVERY word, but...it's still right on the mark, and sums up almost exactly what I'm feeling. If you're tired of politics - we all are - or not up for a long read today, just skip it. Otherwise, enjoy! PS...it contains a few typos...not mine.

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there?
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you?

Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

Janet Contreras
Arizona

Another Epiphany

I realized why it is that I very seldom (if ever) wind up embarrassed: In order to be embarrassed, you have to CARE what other people think, and nine times out of ten (or more) I, well, don't. CASE IN POINT:

Went to the mall today to have pictures taken on the munchkins...always an UN-fun affair. "Don't touch that, get off the floor, keep your clothes clean, no you can't have juice right now, smile, smile, SMILE!" and so on...fabulous. But I had to stop and pick up some tomato cages for our Urban Homestead on the way, and aside from telling the kids 50,000 times not to touch the cages because they'd get their hands and clothes dirty, I ALSO had to tell Tyler to sit down in the back of the cart 50,000 to ensure he wouldn't end up on his head on the concrete in the garden area of Lowes. We were checking out, which, of course, is when my son knew my attention would be directed elsewhere, so he was once again up on the edge of the cart and toppled back a couple inches so he was hanging off, the cart side caught under his knees and his hands gripping the side. The checker-chick panicked and carefully pulled him back up, then turned to me like I was the world's worst mother and said "He really must stay seated in the cart if you're going to let him ride!"

Ya think? Furthermore, honey, you're not his mom and obviously haven't heard me telling him every other second for the last 10 minutes to sit down, and rest assured that if he did fall out and land on his head, not only would I NOT sue Lowes, I'd spend every other second on the way to the hospital telling him "I told you so" just by looking at him. So don't expect me to be all embarrassed and stare at the floor and shuffle my feet and apologize for not tending to my own child...no embarrassment here.

THEN...we had the photos done (and I know the kids were grumpy; we got there 20 minutes before our appt and I actually had to threaten to leave because it was half an hour PAST our appt by the time they got to us!), we waited another 15 minutes to be able to view them, and then another 10 minutes to have them printed...and it was time to leave. The kids had been great, it's true...they'd been patient, listened, laughed, been obedient...and they'd also been rewarded. We had snacks and drinks and rode up and down the in glass elevator about a dozen times, they played with the games and toys inside the photo studio...they were covered. So when we left, I expected moderate-to-polite behavior, and instead ended up with a crazy son streaking on ahead, refusing to stay with me and Miagee, and being totally defiant when I ordered him to return to my side because his running off worried me. So I grabbed him by the arm and walked him along with me. He will not bruise, he was in no pain...just disgruntled by my power position, and so he did what he could: had a total screaming, shrieking, girlie-yowling meltdown. Aaaaaaaah, kids.

So I kept walking, not even thinking about the people openly staring at me. So what? If they've had kids, they get it, and if they haven't, they'll NEVER get it. I confess, when he threw himself down on the floor in Nordstroms kicking and screaming "NO!" and "OWWWW!" at the top of his lungs, I yanked him up off the floor, caught him in midair, and carried him by the waist out of the door to the car...and wondered briefly if anyone priviledged to catch my manuver would call the police (or at least mall security) thinking I was abusing my child...but we made it to the car without incident, so...whatever.

Other than that fleeting "is someone going to call the authorities?" thought, I really truly felt no embarrassment, nor any need to apologize for him overly tired and grumpy son. Cest la vie. Doesn't make me a bad mom, so why bother being embarrassed? Perhaps if I was indeed a wretched hag of a mother, I'd feel some mortification at my son's obnoxiousness...or maybe if I was a wretched hag I wouldn't. Regardless, I'm not (usually), and my son isn't (usually) obnoxious.

So I know why it is I seldom get embarrassed!

But if I, I don't know, cut off my mom on the freeway on my way home from somewhere and didn't realize it was her until too late...THEN I might be embarrassed. (I haven't done that, by the way.) For me, it's all a matter of the action (is it truly embarrassing?) combined with the witness (are they really important to me?). In other words, if I ever tell you I'm embarrassed by you seeing/knowing/hearing something about me, it must me I care about what you think.

Maybe I shouldn't have told you this. Huh. Did I mention I'm also the type to speak before I think? Sigh. Have a great Tuesday, all!

Wong Street in Riverside

So, it seems that the powers that be in Riverside have changed a street name in their Chinatown as of today: "Wong Way" is now "Wong Street".

There are so many things I can say to this, but the first one is the MOST obvious, incredulous, and a question, to boot: Someone named a street "Wong Way" in the first place?!?!?!

What makes it funnier is that naming a street "Wong" was supposed to be to HONOR a local member of the Riversidian Chinese Community. Instead, according to the news, "Members of the Chinese community felt insulted by the street name, citing that people might take it as a joke about the way members of their community pronounce certain words."

Wow, I thought the joke was pretty much that you were going the "wong way", but the fact that people are feeling personally insulted due to their culturally-affected pronounciation of "wrong"? For some reason, that really just makes it funnier, because that idea really hadn't occured to me when I first heard "Wong Way." I actually laughed out loud listening to the radio in the car. Wong Way is mostly just an eye-roller, but a group of angry Asians thinking Wong Way is an INSULT because they pronounce Wrong "Wong"?

Sometimes it amazes me - and this is really why I'm laughing - that your average Jane (me, in this case) doesn't find something bigoted until someone points out that its bigoted, and that it is something to find offensive. Then I just think it-and-they're ridiculous. But funny.

So Wong Way is now Wong Street in Riverside. First you were supposed to go the other direction, and now you're just not supposed to drive on it at all. What's the world coming to?

Urban Homesteading and Going Green(er)

First off, if you live in Anaheim, you MUST call this guy: Noe ("Noh-eeeee") Tafolla with Anaheim Utilities Advantage Services. His number is 714-939-9020. Why, you ask? Because for Cinco de Mayo this year when I took the kids to that fiesta on La Palma, I stopped at the Anaheim Utilities booth and found out about this program the city has going: Make an appt for one of their reps (Noe for us) to come to your home (or apartment!), and they will spend about an hour with you reviewing your utilities usage to tell you how to cut back on your usage and your SPENDING, PLUS give you aids to do it...

For instance, with the exception of the tube lighting in the kitchen and a few lights where we needed smaller bulbs, ALL the light bulbs in my home are now the low-watt-using coil lights - free of charge! - I now have water-saving devices on both bathroom sinks and a saver/sprayer/quick-off-for-dish-washing device on my kitchen sink - FOR FREE! - and two brand new low-flow showerheads installed and in use in my bathrooms - TOTALLY free! Plus a couple weeks from now I'll be mailed a full report on how to lower my utility usage point by point and step by step, and I have all the info I need about other rebates and programs the city offers; unfortunately, since I'm not a homeowner, I can't really use them, but they include things like rebates for low-flow toilets/washers and dryers/fridges/ceiling fans/dishwashers/YOU NAME IT!

I know what you're thinking, I was thinking it to and I asked for you: Why on earth would the city of Anaheim want to HELP people use LESS of their utilities, thereby DENYING themselves the extra income??? Turns out if Anaheim overuses utilities and can't produce enough to keep up with their residents' usage, they actually LOSE money because they have to then turn around and buy the extra energy off Edison for a higher rate...so the closer they are to selling only the amount of utilities they can produce, the higher their profits. Having to power Disney keeps them from hiking their rates, so they can't make extra $ that way...better to help residents use the proper billable amount. Tada! Free program!!! Loooooove it! I'm greener AND I'm saving money! (And isn't that the best part?)

Speaking of going green(er) and saving money, Kim introduced me a few months ago to those green veggie bags you see on TV...and I confess, I doubted. I doubted, that was, UNTIL I started storing my mushrooms in them. One time around was all it took. You see, I LOVE mushrooms...but often find myself buying them, forgetting about them, and tossing them since they get all nasty and slimy in 3 or 4 days. NO LONGER. As long as I wipe out the condensation inside the green bag every few days now, they last FOREVER! (Okay, my record is 3 1/2 weeks, but that's because then I used them because they looked like they were JUST starting to go.) Witness the photos herein; I bought these mushrooms fully 11 days ago, and they're PERFECT. But it's not just mushrooms, it's all my produce, and so now I won't have to throw away the head of Romaine I forgot about in the bottom of the bin, or the brussels sprouts I keep intending to serve with dinner but don't have a husband around to serve them to. They're BRILLIANT. Thanks, Kim. I believe...

Then there's Urban Homesteading, one of those uber-hip catch-phrases that might make you scratch your head...if it weren't so obvious. We live in a concrete jungle stacked on top of ourselves and others, and as Urbanites, we're still attempting Self-Sufficiency...by turning our back "yard" into a Garden! Go, Urban Homesteading! And what's MOST amazing to us is...we actually seem to be succeeding! We put seeds in dirt in pots and watered it, and things are GROWING!!! My friend Natasha is a master gardener and would probably snicker at our amazement, but let me tell you, my friends...growing Tomatoes, Shallots, Basil, Green Onions, Chives, Zucchini, Pumpkin, Sunflowers, Bell Peppers, and Lettuce on a 10x10 concrete balcony seems like a MIRACLE to us! (I also have some roses, courtesy of Kim and Kathy and Bella, and believe it or not, you three, they're still thriving!) When Kim moved she "donated" her two window boxes to us, and we planted. We bought $1 tin pots from Target, punches holes in the bottom for drainage with a hammer and flathead screw driver, and we planted. Jason won (don't ask) 3 indoor trees from work which we uprooted, refilled the pots with soil, and we planted. We bought big orange Home Depot 5 gallon multipurpose buckets, Jason drilled holes in the bottom, and we planted. And believe it or not, STUFF IS GROWING!!!

The most amazing thing to us, of course, are the tomato plants. Do you see those little silvery tin buckets? ONE of them was a proving ground for me...I experimented, poking tons of crazy chopstick holes all over the dirt, tossing 3 (or 4 or 5!) seeds in each hole, covering them over, and watering them...and now we have FORTY-FIVE TOMATO PLANTS!!! Yes, they ALL grew. Like WEEDS. After 2 or 3 weeks, we had to transplant them...and a couple weeks later, they've had to be transplanted AGAIN! We had SO MANY tomato plants, in fact, that we took 5 groups (of 3 - 5 seedlings each!!!) to my folks' yesterday evening and transplanted them THERE! (We only have room and funds for so many transplant buckets!) We're still in shock...and excited as all get-out.

Growing stuff is AWESOME. Even if everything suddenly DIES, we'll just try again, learn from our experiments, and keep growing! (I imagine, however, that at least a couple of those plants will produce...and I'm STOKED!) So I have something to be excited about again...and since I'm putting off painting and writing for no good reason, this is one I HAVE to stick with, and it's good for me, and I'm enjoying it.

But I'm NOT enjoying the manure-stinky soil stuck underneath my fingernails, so if anyone has any ideas - other than cutting all my nails off, that is - let me know. Nail brushes just ain't cuttin' it. Oh, and my patio stinks like cow poo. Yeah, that sucks too. But we have tomato plants! I'm over it!