I told Robert if he's going to play DnD he's still gonna have to stay true to his beer drinking/sports loving self. You see, shallow as it seems, I fell in love with the jock in him (as much as I loved the goth, Cure loving boytoy that originally caught my eye). And I guess he's doing a pretty good job.
$13
That's what it cost Robert to keep track of the Seahawks/Cowboys game on Saturday night via his cell phone whilst Dee and Deeing.
(apparently the DnDers were not watching football)
Why the slacking, you ask? Well, last week I was doing other stuff and this week I've been sick. I kind of want to catch up since I like to think of this blog as a journal of my super exciting life (heh); a place that I can look back at in 10 years and remember all the little things that happened in my life.
To summarize (with photos):
Zoe goes to Gameworks
Gameworks is a great birthday venue for bigger kids. Parents can go off to the bar upstairs and look down to watch their daughters and their friends spend $25 token cards on the stuffed animal claw game (Zoe was able to hoist up 4 snuggly animals worth probably $3).
Here, Zoe and Emma take a break from the claw:
***
Zoe's Venus party
The Venus girls are the big girls (my friends) and every year we have a little gathering where we eat yummy snacks and watch a movie. This year we watched Can't Buy Me Love and ate creme brulee (plus a huge spread of other delicious sweets and cheeses and goodies). Zoe got a bag full of knitting and crocheting supplies.
Gifts included this book -- the title was too embarrassing for Zoe to say out loud
***
Zoe got a dog!
We call him bubbles
***
Robert slices and dices
Robert's been working on a treehouse. A few weeks back, while trimming cedar branches that were hanging down into the house, he made a whoopsie. I knew it'd happen one of these days. He had to get 8 stitches.
What happens when you cut your middle finger and they put a splint on it
And the weapon
***
Scanning project continued
I started scanning my mom's photos again (after a 6 month break). It took me 3 days to scan, crop, save and upload 196 photos. And still I feel like I haven't made a dent. The latest batch seemed to include quite a few photos of ex-husbands. (Sisters with ex's -- sorry.) I scanned everything in there.
I found this photo of me and mom getting off the monorail in probably 1991. Heh.
I'm just finishing up a five day weekend. It wasn't a very exciting weekend. Mostly just spent my time getting things ready for the new school year. Things we did:
THE DAY WE SPENT BUTTLOADS OF MONEY
And on Thursday we went shopping.
The kids both needed new shoes for school. Zoe is now up to a size 6. That's a half size smaller than what I wear. Scarier, still, Sid is up to a size 9 in men's shoes. This creeps me out for some reason.
Zoe wore out a pair of Converse last year so I was planning on getting her a brand new pair for this year. But then we ran into the Vans store first so I ended up getting her a pair of cute black velcro strapped Vans. Of course the Vans store has other cute stuff so we ended up getting a shirt and belt for Sid and a bunch of those cute little socks that don't show when you're wearing your cute little canvas shoes and then I found a cute Vans t-shirt on sale for $12 so there you have my first big purchase. To summarize: CUTE
Next up, Limited Too. Huge mistake. I have been buying pants for Zoe there for the last several years because it is the only place I've found that sells decent slim sizes in cute styles. The Limited Too in the mall near us closed recently and I'd never been to this particular store. It was awful. Every rack was overloaded with clothes. Everytime I pushed anything to the side to check a size half the clothes on the rack would fall off the end. In the dressing rooms there were clothes piled 5 feet high all around us. And the sad thing was, the store had only been open for about 45 minutes. Obviously there was some poor managing going on in this store. I was so frustrated by the whole fiasco and I should have dropped everything and left. But I felt like it might be our only chance to find something that fit Zoe. Last year she wore 8 slims so I grabbed almost all 10 slims off the racks. Once we got in the dressing room I discovered that she's still way too skinny for a size 10 but too tall for the size 8s. Zoe was begging and nagging to get this hooker dress and my cell phone was ringing and someone walked in on us in the dressing room and I started to have a panic attack. I basically just grabbed what looked semi-decent on her and ran out and paid for it (and bad customer service...I had to wait about 5 minutes before one of the sales girls saw us standing there). I spent way more than I should have on some questionable pants, a pair of overpriced leggings, and a shirt. The only thing good that came out of it was a really cute belt that was on sale.
While Zoe and I were in the scary Limited Too, Robert managed to find Sid a new pair of shoes at a shoe store. At that point I figured we were almost done shopping. I knew that either one or both of the kids would need new gym shoes but decided to wait on getting them because if they didn't end up having gym this quarter they might outgrow them before then (the bloody school waited until that very day to send out schedules...we got them in the mail that afternoon and Zoe has gym now and Sid doesn't so I'm glad I waited). The last item on our shopping list was a pair (or two) of Levi's for Sid. I'd checked online earlier and I knew that JCPenney carried the particular style Sid likes. I haven't been to Penney's in a long while. I'm not sure what is was, but when we walked in the store there was this strange fishy smell. We couldn't escape it. I wonder if there is some kind of dye they use in their clothes that smells funny. The salespeople didn't seem to notice but I was a little ill. I planned on running in and running out. We found 2 pair of jeans for Sid right away (and he's lost some of his "baby fat" so he actually switched from a size 14 to a 12...he was really pleased about that) and were about to leave but then Zoe started noticing all kinds of clothes she wanted to get. Some were cringe-worthy in my opinion but then I spotted some really cute cargo jeans in slim sizes and decided she'd better try them on. They fit perfectly and were more than half the price of the pants at Limited Too. It turns out that Penny's has a huge slim size section as well as a huge plus size section for girls. Now I just need to wash the jeans a couple of times and let's hope the funky smell comes out.
So that was day one of shopping. I had intended to only spend about $250 but ended up spending closer to $400. Shudder.
THE EVENING OF INCONTINENCE
Zoe slept over at a friend's house on Thursday night so I bought Sid a pizza and Robert and I went out for drinks. We live down the hill from several bars so we decided to just walk up there. We had dinner and drinks (I had 2 margaritas and a whiskey sour) at one place and then walked over to another place where I got a glass of wine. I made a bathroom break as we were leaving the first place and really didn't need to go after the second place. This is where I get all TMI on your ass and tell you I have had incontinence problems since Sid's traumatic birth (forceps delivery and other scary shit). It's not nearly as bad as it was when I first had him (kegels rock) but certain things can bring it back with a vengeance. One of those things is playing tennis. Another one is running/jogging unless I go in the morning before I have coffee. The last one (that I'll mention, that is) is brisk walking, downhill, (especially after drinking alcohol). It was not a fun walk home. I won't go into details but when I got home I was really pissed off and of course, upset. I popped in Ghost World to cheer myself up and then spent the entire time not watching the show, but Googling for articles about cystoceles (that's the scientific term for a ...MORE TMI... herniated vagina that allows the bladder to drop down and cause havoc and make a girl's life miserable). I fell asleep asking myself why I didn't just ask for a C-section.
IT'S THE END OF THE 3-RING BINDER AS WE KNOW IT
Office Max school supply shopping. The main goal here was to get Zoe a new binder. She wanted one of those fancy ones that zips up so things can't fall out. In my opinion, they're ugly and overly huge. When she found one and I held it up, I was pretty sure it wasn't going to fit in the little High Sierra sling backpack we'd gotten for her last month. I told her we should just get a simple 3 ring binder but she whined and pouted. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Well, I guess we'll have to get you a bigger backpack then." What's it matter anyway? I mean, I've already spent all this money and I didn't want her to carry a sling pack anyway. I don't think walking 1.5 miles every day with one of those is healthy for her back and I shouldn't have let her get one in the first place. I figured I'd just use it occasionally or let her use it for her overnight trips. We walked over to the backpacks and there were maybe 6 left. 6 really ugly ones. Or at least they weren't the right color. You see, Zoe wants everything of hers to be blue. Baby blue. We did find a Jansport backpack that was the correct color, but *gasp* it didn't have a headphone port! Or a cellphone pocket! The horrors. I convinced Zoe that we should look elsewhere. So after buying the binder and some random shit that I assume the kids will probably need (this middle school thing is hard because they don't get their supply lists until the first day of class and then they come home with 6 lists instead of 1). We drove over to Big-5 next to look for gym shoes and gym shorts for Zoe. She found a pair of frightening looking shoes right away and I had to pretend that they were too expensive but then she saw the price and that they were on sale even so I had to make up a story about how the soles had too much dark rubber and she needed to get white soles. I distracted her by having her look at backpacks. She didn't find any that she liked there either. I convinced her that we'd have better luck going to Fred Meyer next door to look for shoes and backpacks. Before we left, though, we looked for gym shorts. Nope, no navy blue or gray gym shorts for a tiny little 10 year old in that store. We left empty handed.
Next up Fred Meyer. We found a perfectly decent pair of Avia shoes on sale even! And we didn't find gym shorts, of course. And again, no perfect backpacks. Zoe saw a few that she kind of liked but I talked her out of them because they said stuff like "Pretty Princess" and I told her a kid in middle school could get teased for that kind of stuff. I should probably not be scaring her this way. She spent the last 2 years of school with a scary ass Bratz Doll backpack and no one ever beat her up for it.
I came home and collapsed.
That night the boys went off to their geekery meeting (DnD) while Zoe and I made soup with all my organic veggies and ate it while watching Charade.
I AWOKE WITH THE FEELING THAT SOMETHING IMPORTANT HADN'T BEEN DONE
What was it? It kept bugging me all morning. I knew I still needed to find a backpack for Zoe and we were planning on going to G.I. Joes after lunch. That wasn't it. Gym shorts? Nope. I was going to look for those at G.I. Joes as well. I walked around the kitchen and noticed some cobwebs stuck to that sticky, greasy stuff that builds up around the stove area. I tried to wipe them off but got all this gunk on my fingers. It's little things like this that will put me in a cleaning fit.
STOP! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! I know you're picturing me yelling "NO WIRE HANGERS EVER!" JUST STOP IT.
I pulled out the Formula 409 and took everything off the shelf and counters around the stove and started spraying everything. I figured I'd eventually realize what I'd forgotten while in my cleaning frenzy. The problem with cleaning around the stove is this: The store then looks gross. So I had to clean the stove top, the drip trays, the little knobs. Then I took out the racks and ran the auto clean on the oven. Just as I was cleaning the racks (2 hours after this thing began) I looked over into the living room and I saw Jon's viola case. Oh. Yeah. Zoe is starting orchestra on Wednesday. I needed to get strings and I needed to get the bow rehaired. And they usually have the instrument in the shop for a week before I get it back. Yikes.
We flew out the door and drove to the music store. I walked in with Zoe and said, "Hi. We need to get this ready for her to use in 4 days." The guy looked at me like I was insane. "You say this is your friend's viola? And she's gonna play it? I think not. It's huge!" He then did a measurement and chuckled a little. We then got interrupted by some crazy lady who teaches violin and was hooking for new clients. While she cornered us a bunch of new people came in and once we finally got rid of her we had to wait a while to get helped (find a solution to Zoe's instrument problem). While we were waiting, Zoe repeatedly requested that we just let her play the violin. She had originally signed up for violin but Jon had the viola and I figured it'd be handy to have a friend around to help her out when she needs it since I'm useless in the string instrument area. I asked Zoe if she was sure and she said she was. She added, "and Jon made me sing and I didn't want to so now I'm gonna do WHAT I WANT!" Okay, then. So we ended up renting a violin that's so tiny and adorable and we also got a mouth harp that we can't figure out how to play.
And backpack success at G.I. Joes! We found a baby blue North Face backpack with headphone ports!
And no gym shorts were found.
I came home and tried out a few recipes from my most recent Sunset magazine (grilled veggies and mint couscous) and ate them along with grilled steak. Steak is heavenly.
I also admired my shiny stove and oven.
FINALLY A DAY TO RELAX AND ENJOY OURSELVES WITHOUT ANY ANNOYANCES
For Robert's birthday last weekend, we were going to drive up to La Conner to eat lunch at the brewery and buy a bunch of their beer that Robert loves but hasn't been able to find here in Seattle lately. It turned out that Zoe was dog sitting on that day, though, so we didn't want to be away from home for more than 3 hours. We decided to go yesterday instead. Now, I've known Robert since the summer of 1988 and he's always been a good driver. He's never gotten a ticket or caused an accident. He does drive somewhat fast, though. After all this time, I guess it was bound to happen. He got pulled over on I-5 on our way up to La Conner (in bloody Lynnwood). It was one of those cases where just about everyone was going fast but we were in the carpool lane and that's where the cop was standing with his little radar gun. After the cop took Robert's license and walked back to his car, I started thinking about Robert's driving record and figured there was no way the cop would actually give him a ticket. I was sure he'd just get a warning. I mean, he's got these cute kids in the back seat and we're all so wholesome looking, right? Nope. He got a ticket. I suppose he'll have to wait another year before he gets his 2nd tattoo (that was going to be his birthday present to himself this year).
At least Robert got some of his favorite beer. Only he thinks they changed the recipe and he's a bit pissed about the whole thing.
We came home and I watched In Her Shoes. It made me cry. And jealous that I don't have a closet full of cute shoes. Or a sister nearby.
IT'S ABOUT BLOODY TIME I WRAPPED THINGS UP HERE
I was feeling a little melancholy this morning. Sad that I'd spent so much money. Sad that Robert got the ticket. Sad that the kids are going back to school. Really sad that the weekend was almost over.
I made the kids pancakes and fake sausages (not bad, really). We then walked over to the movie theater and saw Talladega Nights. Loved it. Sure, some of it was inappropriate for kids, but, oh well. They're growing up and we all needed a laugh.
Still no gym shorts.
GOING ORGANIC-ISH
Remember that Sesame Street live action segment where the Puerto Rican mom and daughter go into a small market to buy ingredients to make chicken soup? This is it.
I love when they rattle off the ingredients. Twice.
chicken
peppers
carrots
onions
garlic
potatoes
rice
I was a little jealous that I didn't have a Puerto Rican mother living in an inner city apartment complex making some of that for me. My favorite part was the end when the girl tastes it. "Mmmm. Mommy. Soup is buena!" A yummy meal that probably costs less than $5 in today's money...if you're frugal and sensible and not too concerned about chemicals and inhumane animal treatment, that is.
This is how a similar visit to the market went for me yesterday:
organic stuff:
carrots with the tops on (they're so pretty!)
parsley
bok choy
cage free hen laid eggs
nectarines
bananas
oatmeal
non-organic stuff:
artichoke pesto
mushroom gravy
couscous
cottage cheese
whole wheat bread
onions
2% milk
The organic stuff was not cheap. I never used to buy organic mainly because I just felt like I couldn't afford it. I'm sure I probably paid at least $5 more on my bill. I think I can afford that. I choose to go cheap in other ways. I only drink cheap work coffee, for instance. And I quit drinking pop. And now that we buy less meat I seem to be saving even more.
All this chatter about food is making me hungry. I'm in the mood for chopping and steaming and making stews and soups. I have a cupboard full of canned goods, pasta, grains and lentils -- stuff that's been there A WHILE. Today's goal is to use up a few things that have been sitting in there (canned tomatoes and lentils). I'm going to make a vegetarian shepherd's pie.
THREE DOG NIGHT
Project "Convince Zoe that our family can't handle a dog" is complete. This summer Zoe took care of 3 dogs. Three lovely dogs. She took pretty good care of them. Pretty good, meaning, once her parents whined and nagged and YELLED reminders to her, she did the right thing. We have hopefully convinced her that she can't have a dog mainly because her parents went partially insane while they were here (not really but she thinks so) and the cats were treated like 2nd class citizens when a dog was around ("you mean I have to shit AND eat in the garage?"). The last dog left today.
(Psst...I miss them! Dog's are so sweet!)
HE'S THE BIRTHDAY BOY!
Today is Robert's birthday. How sad is it that he's getting a cordless drill battery for his birthday? Sad. We did take him out for lunch and Zoe made him a load of lemon cupcakes. He says there's something else he wants. We'll have to wait until next weekend to find out what it is. Hmmm.
On the way to our lunch outing, we stopped by the Ballard Farmer's Market. All the fresh veggies and fruits for sale were so pretty. This is why I don't carry cash to these things. Also, there's something about going to an open outdoor market that makes people feel connected...and extremely friendly to each other. It didn't hurt that it was a gorgeous day and there were talented street performers singing (and tap dancing) out on the street.
And so I end my blabbing with this: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBERT!!!
I made chicken long rice this weekend. I needed to make a trial run before the big luau in a few weeks. This version (basically a recipe from my head) came out okay only I will leave out the shitake mushrooms. TOO much SHITake.
I also did a buttload of weeding and burned my back. However, I soothed myself afterwards by heading over to Sully's Snowgoose to drink a pint and eat some nachos. You know what's so awesome about Sully's? They have the tv tuned to The Food Network...with sound! And old drunk (possibly gay) guys sit around commenting and snarking about whatever happens to be on (Iron Chef America was on). It's like Mystery Science Theater but better. We might have to become regulars. They have several IPAs on tap (Robert's favorite) including Diamond Knot (his current very favorite but not bottled) and the pints were just $2.50 a pop plus the nachos were practically free.
After weeding but before drinking I needed a shower (duh). I walked in the kitchen and both kids were standing there. Zoe made this kinda grody face and then started frantically smelling her pits. I chuckled. "No. That's me. I smell like GRANDPA." She looked relieved and then later when I asked her if she wanted to smell my sweaty shirt she said, "Sure!"
Today we went to Whidbey Island. Ferries are cool.
p.s. see photos of my "sailing" trip on Wednesday with coworkers and check out Zoe's awesome zebra and panda retainers!
Robert used to drink a beer called La Conner IPA. He loved it. Then it went away and he was sad. Now we've learned that the guy who brewed it makes a special batch of very similar beer for his pub owner buddy and it is only served in 3 pubs. Latona, Hopvine and The Fiddler. Today Robert drank the Contraband IPA at Latona. Today Robert was happy.
Zoe and Robert are out tonight. They're attending a Daddy/Daughter dance. There will be a jazz ensemble, a full course meal, a d.j. and, of course, dancing. Zoe's friends and their pops were going so how could Robert say no? And doesn't he look thrilled to be going? He's the best dad, isn't he?
Robert and Zoe, heading out to their dance
Update: Zoe had a great time. She got a corsage and got Robert to dance, even. Actually, Robert said that as soon as the music started up after dinner practically every dad couldn't wait to run out and start dancing. What a bunch of weirdos. I guess Zoe got Robert to do numfar's dance of joy. I wish I could have seen that.
More on The Warriors...I totally forgot about this photo:
Can you spy Robert???
p.s. tonight's movie at the Tin Hat was Fight Club. What's the first rule about Fight Club?
As you all know, Robert and I go eat 69 cent tacos (and I drink whiskey sours) every Tuesday night at a bar near our house.
Why I love going to The Tin Hat week after week
Because I'm a barfly.
1. Awesome (muted) movies
Some of the movies we've "seen" there are The Shining (always fun), King Kong vs. Godzilla (totally rocked! but poor Godzilla), Team America (never seen this with the sound on or in full so no comment), and my very favorite:
The Warriors (probably the 2nd thing Robert ever said to me was "Can you dig it?????").
I personally have never seen The Warriors. I've caught snippets here and there and watching an hour of it at the bar while muted doesn't count either. However, I love this movie! The concept has always cracked me up. If you're not familiar with the movie or you just want to laugh you need to read this hilarious summary. If anyone wants to have a showing at their house I'll bring the pizza and beer.
2. Pinball Machine Art
The bar has a "Twister The Movie" pinball machine (free pinball on Mondays!). I don't play pinball and the movie was stupid but it amuses me so to see it every week with a drawing of Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton running away from a flying truck (or is it a cow?).
3. Clean Air
It's now smoke free! I feel proud that I am supporting my local previously smoky bar although I don't think they've lost that much business (smokers still gotta drink and eat cheap food, am I right?). Oh, and even if it were still smoky I'd be going there nonetheless.
Almodovar's Bad Education = Bad Movie. I just didn't like it. The only thing good I have to say about it is the opening credits were very cool and Hitchcockesque. Oh, and the other good thing I have to say about it is there were a few nice male butts to be seen. That is all.
Robert and Sid are going to a Mariner's game tonight. Lucky! They're sitting way out behind the bull-pen so they will get to watch the nice male butts out in outfield.
Currently, I'm "supervising" a playdate. Zoe and her friend are out in the shed building a fort. Before going out to build the fort they dressed up. One must always wear high heels, bucket hats and mini-dresses whilst building a fort.
Speaking of playdates...Robert loathes the term "playdate". He also loathes the terms "use your words" and "time out". I equally loathe them but use them often just to bug him.
