Christmas Updates

My family...

I truly enjoy my children.  I have gotten to an age in life where the gifts I receive seem meaningless compared to the ones I give.  I still love stuff, I an not any less materialistic, I just prefer to buy whatever I want and then focus on overspending on my children.

Some of the highlights this year:

• Casey didn't complain about his gifts and said it was his best Christmas ever.  Compared to other years in which he threw himself on the ground crying over receiving books, this is a big deal.   
• Bridget as usual loved every gift she got and was excited over the smallest thing.  She just loves to be excited and also loves to scream things at her little sister over property ownership (which has been in full force for everyone this year).
• Gillian has taken her brother's place as the eternally unsatisfied.  As we have already been through this with Casey, I am hopeful that it is a phase.  She has, however, been very sweet with her Baby Alive Doll.  Which, btw, is an annoying gift because it actually wets diapers and apparently you have to buy a diaper refill kit.  No WAY am I shelling out a single dime for fake diapers when we still are buying them for Megs.
• Megs... poor little Meg, who honestly continues to be the most delectable little girl... looked like this for the majority of the holiday--she threw up anytime she got anything in her system and she didn't ever even open her presents.  We were looking forward to seeing her yumminess and excitement in opening those presents, but it literally never happened.  Finally toward the end of the day, Gillian volunteered to open up the presents on her behalf so we never saw it happen.

Megs, looking like this:

I myself was highly satisfied with the gifts I received and intend on spending some more dollahs in after Christmas sales.  

I hope your giving and receiving was as enjoyable.

Nueva York

In case you missed it, I had a great opportunity to last minute head to NYC for a work thing.  It was awesome.

I won't go into detail about the actual work part, but the touristy part, now that was amazing.  

We were working from 8-6:30 on the first day and by the time we were finished with dinner and debriefing it was 9:00 pm.  Considering the fact that my flight was delayed coming in to NY the night before and I didn't get to sleep until 2:30 AM, I was wiped out.  

BUT, not to be daunted, I did play the tourist bit until around 11:30 or so.  My previous post was of the outside of Saks 5th Avenue and their really cool bubbles and snowflakes digital wonderland.

A few other pics that really don't even capture the amazement of the city:

The Tiffany's window display after hours:

I took a gazillion pics of all the cool window displays done up for the holidays:

And of course, the most awesome entrance into an Apple store ever.  The real estate of the window front alone must be astronomical.  The store inside is just like any other Apple store only bigger.  You see the artistry of the Apple in the Big Apple, right?

More lights--the stores all just try to outdo each other...

I won't bore you with more, but honestly, if I had even the slightest chance of getting my husband to agree to it, I would totally be down with living there for the next stint.

I suppose Utah is alluring.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Turn it sideways. Sorry, lame PC.

Gratitude Part II

Wednesday I had to be in Los Angeles to support a school.  It was one of those Savage Inequalities moments in which the most amazing teachers were trying to fundamentally change the culture of at-risk students and all the world has to offer them is a set of dilapidated buildings and crappy technology.  While my heart was breaking for them, I am pretty hopeful the kids are going to get the heck out of that place because the right people are there to make a difference for them.

So Steve decided to make a Disney date and come down with the kids to meet me in Anaheim after work.

It was one of my "work perk" moments in which I felt that, even though I missed Casey's karate test (1000 punches and 1000 kicks!) and singing during winter program for Gillian and Bridget, and watching Meg while Steve helped the cub scouts cut out their derby cars, I did my best to leverage my work benefits to buy their love.

Thank you Hilton Honors, for the opportunity to use free points to stay in a double room Queen suite walking distance from Magical Kingdom:

Thank you also for the cookie at check-in, hot and warm, one for each of my little family members (thanks for the one for Meg, it was too much for her and we really enjoyed finishing it off)

Thanks to some colleagues in Washington, D.C., who sent me a professional gift complete with refrigerated packaging and making me look like a hero to my kids:

A few other thanks here and there, but those will come next week after my trip to NYC.

Happy work perks to all!

Gratitude

For my husband who worked his hardest to give me and my children the most amazing day today.  Thank you also to Walt and Mickey and the rest of the cast.

I feel satisfied at my life and wouldn't change a thing.  Even the stinky smell in the kitchen.

Dessert Contest?

So we finished our official dessert contest last year over 6 months ago and Steve has proposed that we start up again.

Here are our reasons for considering doing it again:

• The first place winner moved across the country freeing up her slot
• The second place winner is withdrawing from the competition
• There are a few families that moved in since our last competition who we think could bring it
• It is a good way to celebrate our last few months
• The trophy is so cute, really it is

What is your vote?

What you would have gotten tonight

If you lived next door...

Second runner-up

You may remember when I posted about the most inspiring keynote ever, Wynton Marsalis.

Well, I saw someone who matched him: Bill Strickland.  So many ways to improve urban education yet so few make it happen.  If you saw Waiting for Superman they show him (for like two seconds) driving by a prison and he talks about most of his peers from high school are there now.

Indiana Winter

I tried to capture the chill in my bones but it just looks normal.  But seriously, Midwestern winter is freeeeezing.

High Schooler Gratitude

Saw this on the tree of gratitude hanging in the hallway at a school today.  Take heart parents!

Joys of Unpacking

The last 24 hours...

Steve's advisor:   So... I think you should stay here until March.

Steve and Lee:  Uh.  We already have started planning our own going away party.

Steve's advisor:  Well, okay.  But I am making a case for you to stay, take this great job as a TA to enhance your resume and we can make sure you are really focused on your dissertation before we send you off into the wild yonder with all those Mormons.  Also, I think you should apply for this awesome fellowship that you don't actually quality for.

Steve and Lee:  uh....

Bridget:  No, I want to move!!!

Lee:  I want a washing machine

Steve:  I like the Mountains

Friends at dinner last night:  The most important thing for you is relationships with faculty, but if you feel like you have been around long enough to establish those relationships, then good for you.

Steve:  Uhhh....

This morning:

Lee:  I hate the cold. Plus Lisa Nicholes is awesome.

Steve:  I like to run here.  Plus I can make some money.

Bridget:  I better get some ballroom dance classes if we are staying here.

So friends... we are delaying our move to Utah until March.    Mainly because I want to hold an "Ides of March" going away party.

Joys of Packing

Update on the Utah Move

People have been asking, so I will fill you in here:

• We plan on sticking around in Santa Barbara until December 20th at which time we will hop on through Vegas on the way to Orem where the kids and I will stay.  Steve will come back to SB the first week of January, finish cleaning and be here to greet our moving truck on the 6th and join us in Utah.
• We will be living in the basement of my in-laws home until the end of the schoolyear and then we will be finding our own place in June
• Steve's parents are going on sabbatical to Austria from February-June so we will be co-habitating with them for only a few months prior to their departure
• The basement, for those who do not know, has approximately four times the square footage of our apartment.  That is just the basement.  It includes a full kitchen (with a dishwasher) and a laundry room so we will not have to take up space in his parent's place.
• The kids will be attending a local elementary school in Orem that has a bilingual program--but only 2-6 grades, so Gillian will have to flip back to English for a few months prior to enrolling in the program.  But we couldn't get her in anywhere else because apparently there are a ton of 1st graders trying to get into all of these programs.
• No we do not have appropriate shoes for the winter, we will be purchasing them along with some other items when we move.

The following items are available free for anyone in SB who is interested:

• A loft bed complete with a dresser and a shelving unit. The drawers sometimes don't close all the way, but we have lived with it for two years and it has worked fine
• A king-sized bed and mattresses, only 12 years old.  We will include a foam mattress topper that is only a year old, or you can claim just the mattress topper
• A rolltop desk
• A bunch of stuffed animals
• Several games with missing pieces
• Two broken bookshelves
• A futon that pulls out to make a bed.  Please claim this one immediately before my husband tries to insist we bring it with us.
• Dinner plates and bowls that do not match.  Also a bunch of unmatched silverware.

You can stop drooling now and hit me up on the blog or via email with your request

Melee in the Cafeteria

On a recent site visit (which I usually don't blog about out of respect for my schools but got permission from the director who I totally adore) I heard the following announcement come over the loudspeaker in a panicky voice:

"All teachers immediately report the cafeteria, there is a huge fight happening, all teachers we need your help now!"

As we approached the cafeteria, a multitude of police officers (who btw were using profanity and smoking themselves) came into break up the mob.  A teacher had already attempted to break up one of the three fights by mashing a cream-filled powdered donut into the face of one of the students.  He kept swinging so she broke her collar bone but 7 people ended up with a powdery white substance all over.

The main fight was started by a young lady who was fighting with another girl.  When the police came and attempted to detain the instigator , the perp's mother, who apparently worked in the cafeteria, attempted to knock out one of the police officers to defend her daughter.

Needless to say, her employment was terminated immediately.

As we walked away from the cafeteria, another announcement was made over the intercom system:

"All students immediately report to class, any students found in the hallway will be leaving with the police."

Good times.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Their Servants

If you had enough money to buy five homes and have a set of servants for each home, would one of them be placed with a view like this?

With a swimming pool like this?

In the same 'hood as Oprah?

Would you hire a personal chef who can pop stuff like this out at a minute's notice?

I think I would.


Gillian has a friend in her class whose father is the personal chef of a wealthy family and his wife is the maid.  They live in the "servant's quarters" of the house with their daughter and they live to serve their "patrons" when they are in town.  When not in town, they don't work.  So I guess this person has enough money to keep four servants employed full-time at this particular house.

I didn't take any pictures inside the main house in case the octogenarian owners surf the web and fire their poor servants for letting us in the house, but it was interesting to see how the other half live..

Honesty, it was pretty tacky in the decor department.  They had a bunch of cowboy portraits that were totally uncoordinated and they had spent a lot of money doing it.  The house had expensive carpet and doors (the doors seemed to be covered in some kind of soft suede) and they had a Picasso.  The one thing about the house that really had me impressed was the vast dinnerware sets they had.  There were over 20 complete sets from all over the world: Morocco, Italy, Switzerland, etc. and apparently they insist on having their food served on a different set every night.

They served us up our own four course meal that was truly delectable and we really enjoyed getting to know the couple.  Little French chef and Mexicana hospitality, what more can one ask for?

From what we understood the patroness treats her servants like Lucille Bluth might so it sounded like a demeaning job, but to look at this view every night might be worth it.

You Impress Me

There are a lot of impressive things that people do.  People like you, people that I know and people that inspire me to be better at the things that I do.

Yet I won't be replicating your actions because it is beyond my capacity.  But I want you to know that I really, really admire the things you do and in parallel universe I would do them too.  But I won't for obvious reasons-- that I am not motivated to do them.  But I wish I were.

So here are the things you do of which I am in awe yet will not be copying:

1.  Run marathons (even a half marathon blows me away)
2.  Show up on time to church every single Sunday
3.  Throw themed and fancy birthday parties
4.  Maintain a religious, 5 day weekly exercise routine
5.  Amazing photography (if you own a zoom lens you probably qualify)
6.  Professional cake decoration
7.  Eat small portion sizes on a daily basis
8.  Mop your kitchen floor nightly
9.  Have kids participating on sports teams (the one that I am actually motivated to do but have no idea on how to get accomplished)
10.  Artful decorating of your home

Most of you do more than one of these things which is even more impressive.  Thanks for being a source of inspiration to me and all those you know.

Sweetness

G: Mama I really, really want to make this box to give to my teacher.

Dad: Well, why don't you wait until Christmas and you can put your present in there?

G: I will just put in this magnet I made in preschool. And can I have some granola too?

Dad: Just wait until Christmas...

G: I just want to give it to her now. Because no one listens to her and I feel really sorry for her.

Losing Loved Ones

As I get older I know these kinds of things will happen more and more... but I woke up this morning to some truly tragic news about Megan Smith, a girl that I babysat when I was in high school.  She passed away after a four month battle with Leukemia that was discovered hours before giving birth to her first little baby who was taken away from her to begin immediate treatment. The story of Megan is particularly tragic because of her youth but also because she has always been a joyful soul.  Her siblings are unique and tremendous people, her older brother Nathan being a wonderful friend to me when we were both in the youth program.

Her mom, Pam, has been special to me since the moment I met her.  When I was 15 and went to church for the first time, Pam was there giving a lesson on the importance of journals.  Something about her, the way she talked, the way she laughed, the way she explained things just made me fall in love with her.  I eventually started babysitting her kids, more than anything as an opportunity to just hang out with her family.  Each time I go home to Sonora I get a chance to visit with her and we have developed a special relationship over the years.  I can't tell you enough how much she means to me.

I could also say a lot about her husband Doug --  He is a judge and it suits him perfectly.  He is wise and balanced, kind and loving, and believes in fairness.  Doug would sometimes send me cassette tapes on my mission chatting about this and that-- in Spanish--to encourage me on my mission.  He also wrote me a letter of recommendation that helped me get some scholarships and acceptance into BYU.  He has taken to baking a particular kind of cookies for our family each time we visit Sonora and I will always enjoy his clever thinking and sense of humor. I hope to see them at Thanksgiving.

I love Doug and Pam tremendously and I hope they feel love and peace as they fight the sadness this inevitably brings to them.  They were so proud of their special daughter and truly this will be an lasting pain for them.  My prayer is that their sorrow will be quieted by a hope of a world to come that is without physical pain or sadness.

Dia De Los Muertos

Some of you may recall a few years ago my sweet son created a tribute for my father in his art class (altar).  I didn't even know that he had done this work so needless to say it was pretty emotional.  I cried as I thought of my son brainstorming for whom he could make such a touching tribute.

So you can imagine my glee when last night we went to the kids' art show at the library downtown and I realized that the current 4th grade class had altars on display.  Which family member would Bridget have immortalized and written about?  My mom?  A beloved uncle?

 

*









The former SB School Board President approached me and said "I LOVED your daughter's display for Día de los muertos."

Yes, very touching.


*Translation:

Michael Jackson was a singer.  He was born the 29^th of August, 1958 and he died the 25^th of June, 2009.  He liked to sing and dance.  Many people called themselves to him, the king of pop.  He was seen as a girl, and the color of his skin, when he died, was pink and white.  He liked to sing and dance (and maybe beer, not sure what this word is supposed to be).  He did many crazy things.  For example, he had a son that he named “Blanket”. Michael Jackson sang Thriller, Beat It, Bad, and Billy Jean.  He was very famous during his life, but he is still famous today.  I think that he thought the name “Blanket” is good.   I also think that he is the most crazy is the whole world.  He said dancing is very fun.

Post-election Blues

I love being an American.  


I joke about the downside of democracy, like trying to actually cast a vote for someone whose position makes no sense to me, or voting yes or no to a series of judges who I am not qualified to assess but I assume most Americans take my approach to only vote on people and things you have researched and therefore leave blank most of the ballot.  I vote for the State Super because I have some knowledge here, you vote for the state controller because you know what that guy will do, and the attorneys vote for the judges.


A friend posted this tremendous quote on my facebook page:


"No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." - Sir Winston Churchill, 1947"


Indeed.

So in watching the concession speeches and acceptances, I started to feel a tug in my chest, a desire to really and truly believe in a candidate to the point of tears at a heartbreaking loss or enthusiasm late at night waiting for the win.


Interestingly, what did it for me was the concession speech of a Pennsylvania Senator who I have absolutely zero knowledge about--he could be a complete criminal or the humble guy he seems in this clip--but his grace at losing the election was something that I hope that all politicians can aspire to and one day I would like to support a candidate--party aside-- whose concession speech makes me cry because I care so much about the cause, or gives me an adrenaline rush.

So thank you Congressman Sestak for the lesson in sportsmanship and class and one day I hope to find my own candidate to support and throw my time and resources behind--maybe even *volunteer on the campaign trail.



*Once the kids are older of course

Happy Halloween

I think I have a bunch of other updates/explanations for my lack of participation in srbc but for now will stick with the current:

Happy Halloween breakfast for kids:

Puffy German Pancake. I originally got this recipe in college from my friend Emily but in the end had to look it up online and it called for using my cast iron pan. It was tasty. And of course I used whole wheat.

For the last several weeks my time has been taken by either traveling a ton (gone last 3 of 4 weeks) or by sewing this trench coat for Bridget's spy costume. She was happy and honestly I was pretty proud of the way it turned out for like 5 minutes.  Until I kept looking at it...

Bridget was my only child who cared about her costume.  Casey didn't bother because he is too old apparently.  But he did want candy so last minute grabbed a cloak from a few years ago.  And some paint from his Grandma halloween package.  He wanted to paint his skin black but I felt weird about that so we went with green.



















Gillian was a princess and then decided to be a vampire.  Bridget fortunately talked her into believing their makeup would be the same and anything involving makeup is a fun costume.  Apparently I didn't get a shot of her in the franticity.  Is that a word?

Next up Megs.  She refused to wear a costume in spite of looking so scrumptious in all of them:

Try #1:

Try #2:























Try #3 and final selection--bribed with "candy" to get her to get dressed (candy=fruit snacks)

For the actual trunk or treat event I tried to straighten her hair.  She looked really wild but it was fun--she refused to sit still and her hair was already fighting the straightness.

Here is our fancy trunk decoration:

And of course last minute we made Steve throw on a costume--one of my Blouses and a pirate hat from the costume box.  He wasn't too into it but he was a good sport about it. He looked adorable, really.

Since today is Sunday, we have a low key evening and we are having dinner with some friends instead of going out--I thought the kids would feel back but they got plenty of candy last night at the church Trunk or Treat so we are in good shape.  Have a bountiful Halloween of your own!

Meg Update

Turning Off the Switch

I have a new thing I do when I travel: Turn off the switch 24 hours in advance of returning home.  What does this look like?

1) Evening before in hotel room: No work.  I create a bit of a to-do list and then I turn off my computer, and curl up with a book or a movie if one is on.  Fall asleep no later than 9 pm.

2)  On airplane home, no work.  Read book, listen to music, or sleep.  Make sure and eat healthy meal.

3)  As I deplane, start to gear up for my "at home momness."  I expect the house to be messy, I get excited about cleaning, and try to think of what kind of things I can do with my kids to make it a fun time for them.

4)  When I walk in the door, get right down to business.  No napping, no endless snacking, and no movie watching.

This sounds really simple, but the decompressing 24 hours in advance is really important.  I want my children to look forward to me coming home, not a mom who walks in the door and criticizes or is grumpy.

It takes a lot of effort, but I have used this formula the last three times I came home and it makes a HUGE difference in my own attitude.  Unfortunately, it wears off around 8 pm and then my strategy is to go straight to bed.  I wish I could make it past 8 so I could extend the high energy flow to hanging out with Steve, but when you get up at 3 or 4 pm East Coast Time, it is hard to go all day with positive energy.  Especially after a 5-cities/5 days traveling bout.

As a side note, Steve and I went on our first date in which we didn't hire a babysitter.  I can feel a change of lifestyle coming on and it feels good.  

Waiting for Superman

I have seen Waiting for Superman.

And you should too--because you ought to know what is happening in the public school system.  I wrote two reviews--my first impression was not that good because I wanted it to be exactly the message that I send too.

But after a week of work in the field, I have changed my mind and decided that this IS the message for now.

I can deal with part II once people fix this first set of problems.

Here is what the film brings up that you should consider:

1)  Tracking is devastating.  Tracking is the idea that if you come in with low scores as a 9th grader, you cannot take college prep classes.

2)  The teachers union may be keeping your children from having the best teacher possible.

3)  Children in high poverty areas are further handicapped by their schools, not helped.

4)  Children in high poverty areas do have parents who care about their education--they send kids to school and trust the school to be a source of hope for the future.

5)  There are people out there who know what to do to fix schools and you should hold your school accountable for those principles.

Here is a suggested step for each of those key points:

1) The first day your child enrolls in high school, make it clear to the counselor and principal that you are expecting that their courses will automatically make them eligible for a 4-year college.  Check in each year that they are getting those requirements met and if you don't know, ask the counselor.

2)  If your child has a teacher who is incredible who loses their job at the end of the year and is replaced by an another less passionate teacher due to budget cuts and union protection of tenured teachers, march down to your school board and make a statement loud and clear about your tax dollars going to a system that does not consider quality teaching a priority.

3)  Do not take it for granted that poor children stay poor because their behaviors at home and lack of expectations at home lead them to learn less at school.  If you live in a city with a poor school, stand up for the rights of the children whose parents do not understand the system.  The majority of poor parents do not want their children to end up in their same socio-economic station yet don't know how to get their children into a better school.  Vote for initiatives that support high quality teaching.

4)  Do a reality check-- has your child grown this year?  When you go to parent teacher conferences, and they show you student work, ask how your child has improved.  Do not take a simple sample of their work that looks on grade level as evidence that your child is learning, ask for a pre and post sample.  If they don't have one, ask for one in the next conference.

5)  Make sure you know where the school is spending money--what is their plan and does the money that they spend support the plan.

Okay and when all else fails, give me a call.  I might give you bad advice, but it will make me feel better.

School reform is what I do--and my fidelity to it does create a gap elsewhere, but it is ultimately is who I am.

Cost of Fidelity

I read an article last year that I cannot find so I am going to have to make up the content to record my brilliant epiphany before it slips my mind.

I hope I am not plagiarizing, I promise that if I could find the article, I would have simply linked it to you.

The concept is pretty simple: When you do something extremely well, you suffer in other areas.  For example:

--Fidelity to a gym schedule costs you the time

--Fidelity to a particular diet costs you the opportunity to eat other foods

--Fidelity to a particular car brand can cost you an extended drive to find parts, extra money, or only being able to take it to a particular mechanic, etc.

Get the gist?  The idea is that every commitment you make has a toll on you which is why we should make them carefully.

Fidelity is not a bad thing---those who are faithful to principles, places, or people will enjoy tremendous benefits but you must weigh before each commitment what the cost would be.

You can avoid the costs by avoiding the fidelity but then you lose the magic that the fidelity provides to you.  For example, giving up on your diet will not yield you the results that fidelity would yield so you have to choose fidelity to the food offered, or fidelity to the diet restrictions?

Setting aside the obvious ones of family, religion, and blogging, to what principles are you faithful?

Staying the night in Berne

...Indiana

School Uniforme

That is not a typo, in Spanish we call it a uniforme.

And my eldest daughter has decided she doesn't like the white polo.  Before you get annoyed, let me tell you a little tale:

Last year at the kids' school, families asked me if we were going to do new uniforms along with the new school name and charter.  At the time I said "there are no plans to do that, but even if we do, we will allow the old uniform until people grow out of them."  But apparently I lied.

This summer someone decided to get a new uniform, new colors, new everything---and not let the old ones fade out of existence slowly.  If I were a real environmentalist I would be annoyed on behalf of all the cotton grown and then thrown out in favor of getting a new pritty color.  But I am not a real environmentalist, so I will just be cheap and say that with three kids and only planning on staying here for 6 months, it was annoying enough to have to drop $150 on approximately 3 T-shirts, one white polo, and one aqua polo per child.  The office staff was kind enough to let me know that I needed at least one aqua polo for field trips.

So... three weeks into the school year AFTER I have spent my money, a nice little noticia comes home stating that the T-shirts are only for Fridays and we must have a polo during the weekday.  Well, since I have already spent the money, I don't really want to go out and get more polos, right?  I mean, you are with me on this so far, no?

But Bridget is not with me--or anyone at the school on this as she feels it somehow violates her personal freedom to have to wear a polo.  So she wears the T-shirt a few days in a row until she is informed that she will "lose free dress day the last Friday of the month" if she wears the T-shirt on any other day.

I almost told my daughter that if they can't enforce the uniform policy on her now, how could they enforce it on free dress day and were they going to expel her or something? But decide to lay down the law and support the policy even if I think it was badly done.

This morning, Bridget awakens to discover that she has no clean aqua polo, only a white one.  So she actually refuses to go to school.

Steve, being the super genius that he is tells her that she not only is NOT going to get to do dance (the special SWAT team at her school that just started) but that she cannot go to Disneyland again....(insert crying)... unless she works it off.  So her total chore set today?

--10 loads of laundry (it was 8 but since I mistakenly posted 10 on my fb status I will stick with it here)
--dishes
--spot carpet cleaning with a brush and carpet cleaner
--random other chores that we could think of
--unloading and putting away laundry
--cleaning off her dresser
--putting away the groceries
--babysitting Megs

I asked her "how was your day today?" and she predictably said that she missed school.  I said "what would you do differently?" she said "I would just deal with it."

When I asked her if she would wear the white polo she said "no" so I am not really sure we reached her, but we talked about finding the shirt the night before. Which she did not do, so wish us luck in the morning.

On Aging...or Overworking

I can't decide if I am overworking myself or if I am just getting old.  I know not THAT old, but THIS old.  I am on my second straight week of 15 hour days.  So here is what is happening, is this as a result of age or work?

1. I don't really care what I look like
2. My hair does not behave
3. I am not motivated to lose weight to look better, just to be healthier (wha???) (see 1)
4. I don't want to eat any spicy or acidic foods.  Stuff I LOVE to eat, just makes me sick.
5. I like drinking chamomile.
6. I can't remember a lot of stuff and I have total mental freezes mid sentence
7. I watch teenage shows and feel sorry for the parents more than the kids
8. I would rather hang out with my kids than pretty much anyone else
9. I don't know what is real anymore.  Or what is true.
10. I don't want to answer the same question from someone who thinks they are the first person to ask me said question
11. I don't feel like I want to impress anyone, I just want other people to be successful as a result of my work.  This sounds more altruistic than it actually is.
12. I used the phrase "hunky dory" today.

I am somewhere wandering the hotels of Indiana, and piles of emails to go before I sleep. 

Hmmm

What Scouts Do in Santa Barbara

Casey's first official Boy Scout camping trip.  He loved it.

The Joads, three generations later

I went to the "Brothers and Sisters" party on Saturday up in the CV (Central Valley) and it was indescribably fun. My aunt calls the party the Brothers and Sisters because it is her siblings and their kids that come to the thing.  Other than the two that died (including Hippie Artist of course.)

I come from some seriously sturdy stock.  By sturdy, I mean hard workers.  Here is a picture of most of the family (excluding the recently out of the woodwork aunt, the two deceased, and the current family hermit):

See a sample of a couple of cousins below.  I heart them.  First cousins, though I am 10 years older than the oldest, I really enjoy hanging out with them.

The kid on the right is an architect in SF.  He is actually getting all SFd out by losing some weight and wearing expensive shades.  And the black clothing of course.  He and I had a conversation about how we have never had a job where our hands got really dirty.  Yet my uncles have all lived long and hard laboring lives.  To them, 12 hours in a hot moving truck, with hot asphalt, or digging ditches for 8 hours in the sun is just a day's work.

My generation is soft.  What would we do if someone threw us into a truck and said "hey go work in the hot Central Valley sun for 8 hours" ?

We would all melt away.

While we were chatting about this hard-working paradigm of our elders, lounging in chairs and listening to stories of my uncle's prison record, where were my aunts?  In the kitchen cleaning up.  And by the time I offered up any help, the work was complete.

Our idea of a hard day's work is sitting in a chair and talking on the phone for 12 hours.  We might have a headache when finished, but we bear no calluses and have exerted no muscles.

And I wonder if my aunts and uncles and second cousins think of us as lazy.

Or maybe my generation IS the American Dream. My grandparents migrated across the country during the dustbowl farming along the way so that their children could own homes and their grandchildren could rub elbows with the middle class, maybe even BE middle class.

So while I commiserate with cousin Jay about figuring out how to work the Droid, and wonder with cousin Bernice about the political direction the country is taking, we have fulfilled the vision of what it means to be an American.

And may we endeavor to have even lazier children.

A Few Updates

Droid is great. I am used to it now, have no complaints about the service or the interface and it has now taken the place of my iPhone. I will always love my iPhone but I can no longer say that it was a better phone. Too many cool things on the droid.

Gillian is doing really well--we took her this summer to get a second opinion from a specialist in Utah and he said that the treatment she is getting here is stellar (current treatment: do nothing, medically known as "wait and watch')

I have a list of 13 things I am going to do in Santa Barbara before I leave town. I completed #1 on Saturday. Here is my list, feel free to join me if you like and reviews welcome

1) Gaviota Hot Springs (it was like a warm, stinky bathtub, the girls totally went swimming and loved it, picture coming next post)

2) Tidepool--the problem here is that the low tide is early morning or late at night so I have to pick a Friday night or something

3) Painted Caves

4) Red Rock Swimming Hole

5) Railroad depot to take pictures of my kids

6) UCSB Art Museum

7) Storke tower--I want to see if I can find my way to the top, I hear they don't do that anymore but I would love to try

8) SB Orchid Estate

9) Clairmont Lavender Farm

10) Gaviota Coast Conservatory

11) Ganey Vineyards

12) Drum Circle on East/West Beach

13) Oak Park Wading Pool

I know that anyone who lives here has already done all of these things, I am just a slacker. We have already done cool stuff locally but we don't get out enough.  It is tough to do everything when you live a mile from a couple of beaches, a butterfly preserve, a couple of nice hikes, a lake, and a Costco.  Who else can claim that?

Happy Birthday Megs!

In honor of Meg turning 2, here is her favorite video of herself. Happy birthday little Megs!

A quiz

Which one of these cars would you rather be behind on the freeway?

A.  Mark IV cobra.  I used to have a picture of this car hanging on my wall as a kid. I think my step-brother used to refer to nice cars as "cherry" so I thought that I should have a red mark IV hanging up.  Blame my parents for taking me to the car shows at the Marconi Center in SF.

OR

2.  Dodge Grand Caravan, 2006, largest storage in the minivan market at an astonishing 72 cubic feet (and full red circle in consumer reports for its sound system).

Now, you my readers are savvy and will get the answer correct to this little quiz...but before you make your guess, let me ask you the following questions:

• Which vehicle can go from 0 to 60 in less than 5 seconds?
• Which vehicle is most likely to go from 0 to 60 is less than 5 seconds?
• Which vehicle can go as fast as 160?
• Which vehicle is most likely to be running late for an appointment and drive faster than the law allows?

Right.

Now taking your votes.