good and bad

Sometimes, you can't have just one.

Like the other day, I went to b.good and tried a new burger for me. I usually get the b.good burger with garlicky greens, but with the whole spinach snafu, I figured this would be an opportunity to branch out...to the West Side. Whoa. What an amazingly yummy burger, and very Weight Watcher friendly too, with avocado, salsa and cilantro on a whole wheat bun. It was SO good, I went back for another today (and, it was just as delicious). Plus I got paid, so I can front the $7.35 combo with the fantastic baked fries and a drink. Sure, it's can be crowded at lunchtime, but I'd rather have a hand-packed healthy burger made by good people than chain store food. And they have good music, too.

Then when I went out for a coffee, I stopped by the farmer's market at Copley. Hamilton Farms had a special of fresh raspberries, 2 for $5.00. What do I get to go along with them? A home made whoopie pie, that's what. Boy, did that go really well with my tall non-fat decaf sugar-free vanilla latte. Just the ticket on a Friday afternoon.

home on the range

For the last three weeks Owen & I have been staying over at my parents' house twice a week so he can go to preschool there (in addition to the one he goes to in Boston.) This is mainly because he'd spend a day with my mom anyway, and this way he has something to do on the other day plus make some new friends while my mom can get some work done. The really scary thing is that I'm starting to like staying down there. I get a lot of sleep. I don't have to worry as much about what a wreck my house is. So, this is why I haven't been blogging as much.

What else is odd is that I was one of those kids who *could not wait* to get out of the 'burbs. When I'm tempted to move back down, I dig up this article from the NY Times"Goodbye, Suburbs" about how city-folk just can't really adjust to suburban life. That could be me...

Another thing is that I finally colored my hair red. I had been super lazy and let the gray grow in. Plus, it kind of looked like highlights, which was OK for summer. But after fielding some well meaning comments from people and equally misguided comments from my mother (like "I was never that gray at your age" to "Are you trying to get pregnant?"), I celebrated fall with some Garnier Nutriesse in #56/ Sangria. It would have been Torrid Outrageous Cherry, but the beauty supply store was closed. Owen likes it, and wants me to color my hair blue next! Needless to say, I've had the Tori Amos song Take to the Sky running through my head. "I know I've got some magic/ buried deep in my heart yeah." Sing it , sister. Happy fall everybody.

chocolate chip pancake recipe

Here's the recipe for the pancakes Owen & I made, adapted from a flapjack recipe from Parents magazine, March 05. I halved it. (*= halved for recipe)
1 cup flour*
1.5 tsp baking powder*
dash salt (double into 1/2tsp)
1 Tbsp sugar (was originally 1.5 tbsp)
sprinkle of cinnamon
1 cup milk*
1 egg*
splash vanilla

Mix dry stuff together; add wet ingredients. Mix or whisk. Fold in 2/3 or 3/4 cup chocolate chips (minus a few to make sure they're good).Melt butter or use cooking spray on a hot pan; pour batter in 2-5 inch circles onto pan. Flip. Makes 12-15 pancakes (enough breakfast for 3 and leftovers for late night snacks).
Enjoy!

sheep shop saturday

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, what do I do? Yarn shop! Circles Salon in JP held a Sheep Shop Yarns event with Fonnie, the owner of Sheep Shop. Fonnie's done a great job with these yarns, they're soft and the colors are amazing. I can't wait to knit with them. And Circles is such a warm, homey space. Everyone there was so friendly, sweet and great to talk to.


It wasn't just a shoppy kind of day. Owen & I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Do skim milk and whole wheat flour balance out the chocolate chips? And yes, I am wearing my Duran Duran t-shirt from the concert last year.

We managed to tear Owen away from the Duoplo Legos and train tracks to check out the Children's Book Festival at Copley Plaza. Some of the events we wanted to see weren't running on time (or at least in the order that ran on-line), so Tak took Owen home for a nap after lunch. After I got my yarn on at Circles, I visited Dan & Sarah et al at the Freedom Rally. Went home, had dinner, did our night time thing. Got locked out while doing laundry; luckily our neighbor came home and let me call to wake up Tak, who fell asleep with Owen. He didn't wake up until after I'd been knocking at the door/wall for about 10 minutes. At least the laundry got folded while it was still warm! I also finally finished my sister's scarf. As in: it is for her, but she also began it when she learned how to knit, and she didn't want to finish it. So now it just needs to be blocked. Birthday present: done.

jam packed

Finally writing about the NY trip. It was great. Bus ride sucked. At least I was on Greyhound/ Peter Pan (not Fung Wah). I was totally exhausted, so I'm sure that didn't help my bus-sickness. Then, it was so long, we had two movies: The Pacifier and Just Like Heaven. I thought I was going to hurl as we drove stop and go through the city. was so glad to be off that bus. I ended taking the train back--and it was totally worth the extra cash.

So, I did a ton but still managed to relax. Ate, drank, and shopped. After I had a couple Tylenol and a ginger ale to recover from the bus ride, I got my eyebrows threaded. One of my coworkers suggested Pinky, so I checked out her salon (on 6th between 38th & 37th), which was fast (less than 10 minutes), mostly painless, and cheap ($6! vs. $18 in Boston). I met up with Lorie and we had a drink at Bryant Park. Sarah arrived and I dashed off to meet Karen at Penelope for an early dinner. Best Mac & Cheese ever (even better than Scollay Square, and they have amazing Mac & Cheese), and the catfish finger salad was delish. The "penny" sized chocolate cupcakes with mocha frosting were, dare I say, better than Magnolia's. Karen went off shopping, and I met back up with Lorie & Sarah at PS54 (Lexington & 30th), with an OK mojito but super tasty Mac & Cheese puffs (balls of Mac & Cheese deep fried), fish tacos, and shredded braised rib nachos. Really good size portions for "small plates," and not horrendously expensive ($9-15 each). We got in a cab back to Brooklyn, dropped my junk off at Lorie & Pete's, and hung out for awhile at Soda Lounge. We walked Sarah home, and crashed out. What a blissful, child-free night of sleep--until 10AM. Luxurious.

We went to Beast for brunch, and while we were waiting for Sarah & Dan, we checked out a cute little shop, Red Lipstick (560 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn), where I got some cute hoop earrings (can't remember the designer's name) & a shirt (the owner is a knitter & sells her hats, scarves, etc too). Beast was fantastic. I had the French Toast, but it was really the bread basket that sealed the deal. Because I wanted to check out Brooklyn General Store (it's a yarn shop), D & S gave us a ride in their adorable new Mini. Fun! But BGS was closed (dammit), so we went to Knitting Hands on Atlantic Ave instead. And also to Layers (394 Atlantic Ave.), where I found a really neat pair of Tuareg earrings from Africa. Then we went home, packed, got a sandwich from City Sub, walked around a little bit, and I got on the train. This is, of course, after getting that awful sick sinking feeling in my stomach upon getting off at Port Authority/42nd St., so we turned around & went to Penn Station. Such a smart choice. Comfy seats, walking around, eating the rest of my sandwich in the dining car without bothering anyone else. Here are my souvenirs.


Finally got home around midnight. Next morning: made breakfast for Tak's parents. Took them to South Station (yes, they take the Fung Wah since it's down the street from where they live), and took Owen to the Children's Museum.

8/30-9/2: Spent the better part of the week cranking through knitting a birthday gift, and slept over at my parents' with Owen. Crashed out around 9:30 Thursday and Friday night.
9/3-9/4: Stayed up late Saturday night cleaning for my friend Michelle's visit--she's one of my best friends from high school AND she introduced me to Tak on her 21st birthday (they went to BU together). She's out visiting for the week & came by for brunch.


Now I need to get back on the program after all the hanging out & period/binge eating.
Owen starts preschool #2 next week. Should be interesting. At least his aim has gotten better!

lessons in gravity

Now that Owen is using the big potty (yay!), the next lesson will soon be in aim. As we cheer him on when he goes in the big potty, I also can't help but notice that his pee always hits the back of the toilet, or the seat, or all over the rim.

Of course, it's the best when we run out of cleaner (found some ancient bleach, though), it's 12:20am, the in-laws are coming for a rare overnight visit, plus I'm going to NYC tomorrow and I have to finish packing.

Hooray, solo mama/girlfriend trip!
Boo, crazy late night cleaning!

potty party

We've been sloooooowly working up to going diaper-free since at least March, so there were a couple things that finally needed to happen. I told him last Saturday that I wasn't buying any more diapers to wear during the day, and we gave him the choice of diapers vs. underpants (staying away from the "big boy" label since he's pretty conflicted about it). We've had less than 5 accidents in the last week, which is great. The drawback is that he's been wanting to sleep with us, he's outgrowing his daytime naps, and he wants me to rock him before bedtime. Minor.

The last hurdle was getting Owen to poop in the potty. We set up a reward chart, so that when he went 3 times, he'd get a party. He made poop #3 last Sunday, so we set the party for Thursday, complete with pizza, cake, and a "Way to Go" balloon. But now he wants a party all the time, and he's coming to the realization that you don't get a potty party all the time.

The cake, by the way, wasn't a chocolate bundt cake with white frosting. I was really wanting to make one, but the night before the party, Tak & I went out for wedding anniversary #8, and cake making was not going to happen when we got home. Instead, Owen got a fudge cake with a cherry in the middle (ha!) from Shaw's bakery--which has really great cakes and possibly the best frosting ever. Thank heaven it's almost gone.

Now, Owen is sleeping and Tak is on his way home from a Dig photoshoot with photos for the Fall Style guide. Nice, huh?

BTW, I've only watched the 1st half of Nightwatch (Nochnoy Dozor) and I love it. Can't wait to finish it tonight and will probably be chomping at the bit to watch the sequels.

my favorite typos

Maybe it’s because I’m an editor, but there are some things that I see over and over that drive me bananas.

whose (possessive) vs. who’s (abbreviation for “who is”)
your (possessive) vs. you’re (abbreviation for “you are”)
periods and commas outside the quotation marks (In America, they go “inside,” not outside.)

zombie-phobia "cured" by (P.K.) Dick

Ha! sorry. I couldn't help it.

Ever since the remake of Dawn of the Dead played in heavy rotation in April/May, I had awful nightmares about zombies. It kept me awake at night. What would happen if there was an outbreak and they broke into our house? How would we fight them? How would we try & escape? Maybe it was a mother instinct, but I was pretty freaked out. And I love horror films. Something about this movie, every time it was on, I had to watch it. It was my own stupid fault. Finally, Mr. Man took control of the remote when it was on (thankfully).

But it's weird, there are just some things I can't watch anymore. I can watch all kinds of freaky, creepy, scary-ass movies (the Grudge, Ringu, Audition, etc.). I even sat through all of The Blob (the 80's version, mullets, shoulder pads, pegged jeans, and all) last month when it was on. But Resident Evil? Saw? Hostel? No thanks, I'm not interested. Can't do it.

It got me thinking, vampires are really just pretty zombies, depending on which movie version. I'll take Underworld/Buffy vampires over the 'Salem's Lot version, thank you. Any monster movie preys on the audience's fear of losing control/thrill of regaining control. What makes us human? What sets us apart from the undead freak that's eating brains, the werewolf, the serial killer? The will to fight? The ability to choose who are the victims, if any? That maybe I really needed to sit down with a few old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and make sure I have my super-long knitting needles with me at all times? What about voudoo zombies, the kind that need a master, a la Serpent and the Rainbow? That helped temporarily. I figured it was best not to get into the psychology/ philosophy of zombies. Especially since they're already dead and don't think, or feel, anything.

On a sidenote: Shaun of the Dead is too funny to scare me. At the end, the army comes in and saves the day. Happy endings, all around! 28 days later has enough of a really faulty lynchpin that it doesn't scare me so much. Rage? C'mon. Well, not that Zombie-ism is really supposed to make sense anyway. The victims are still kind of human, too. Plus, not only does it happen in England, but the film also has Cillian Murphy naked. But that's not quite the dick I'm talking about.

About the height of my zombie-phobia, I got two excellent reading recommendations at a friend's wedding from my table-mates (all well-cultured sci-fi/horror/cult film afcionados):
One was for the Zombie Survival Guide, a part tongue-in-cheek, part Boy Scout manual to living through a zombie invasion. I know, in my conscious brain, that it's a joke. Author Max Brooks is Mel Brooks' son, and Brad Pitt's production company Plan B just bought the rights to a pseudo-sequel; they are all laughing on the way to the bank. My subconscious brain, the one that goes into overdrive at 3 A.M.--because from my bed, I can see my unit's front door (yes, BAD feng shui. we're working on it.)--was oddly comforted.

The other reading recommendation was for Philip K. Dick. (Yes, finally the long winded punchline.) Oh. My. Wow. Blade Runner is in my all time top film list. Philip K. Dick's work is still being looted for really well-done sci-fi/action films. But it's bleak as hell. In the future, humanity is defeated, over and over, by its own undoing, usually creating machinery that perpetuates a vicious cycle of destruction. Or in a post-apocalyptic world, innocence is lost, religion is alien, pointless and/or frightening, reality is a hallucination, and memory is never to be trusted. Those are just a collection of short stories (including Minority Report and We Can Remember it for You Wholesale/Totall Recall). The most hopeful story hinges on the character's ability to rebel. I'm still digesting it, and I haven't even read A Scanner Darkly or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Don't worry, I'll get to them--after I've read a truckload of picture books, Peter Pan, the Wee Free Men, City of Ember, a couple of historical romance novels, and a few potty training guides.

I don't need zombies to keep me up at night now that I know in the future it won't really matter. We'll be going through the motions, if that. Um, thanks? I think I'll watch Reign of Fire now. Dragons plunging the civilized world into chaos seems more reassuring.

the muffin man

Owen is all about helping to cook these days. Luckily, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and he's a dessert devil, just like me! But finding eggless batter (hooray, botulism!) is tricky. Mixes that stand out are Krusteaz Blueberry Pancake Mix (just add water), No Pudge Brownie mix (add fat-free vanilla yogurt), and mixes from the Country Gourmet. The Lemon Poppy Scone & Muffin mix is a fave, and the Blueberry Oat Scone & Muffin mix also makes good size muffins--not the lame kind that have zero rise. Oh no. Made incorrectly, these babies could break a window. If small children aren't going to be licking the bowl, go ahead and add the lone beaten egg to the mix and water. The best way to enjoy them is cut in half, toast, and add a little butter or jam. A little "gourmet" at Marshalls ($3.99/lb bag), but they're healthier than a coffee shop muffin.

I didn't forget, I was just lazy

That sociolgy breastfeeding book was At the Breast by Linda Blum. I actually remembered the title the next day. It's not one to rush out and read, but the introduction and conclusion were interesting. The cover and title got me a lot of looks on the train.

monday night's alright for blogging

finished objects: knitting needle cases
My Aunt Ginnie was up this weekend, so I made knitting needle cases for her and my aunt MaryAnn (they're my dad's sisters). Being a title 1 procrastinator, I cut the fabric last weekend, but didn't start the sewing part until 9pm Saturday night. Somehow, they got done around 2:30AM, and I spent about an hour finishing them Sunday AM. They came out pretty good. Ginnie's has half a cherry dishcloth from Crate and Barrel (now discontinued, of course!), half a black Target napkin, leopard upholstry fabric and part of a pillowcase from Ikea. MaryAnn's has the rest of the pillowcase, half of an Issac Mizrahi napkin, more of the leopard upholstry fabric (a NYC find), and plum funky remnant from Michael's.


my new favorite things:
XL Hefty Ziploc heavy duty bags: For storage, these bags are up there with Space Bags. Perfect for storing comforters, a season's worth of toddler clothes, or a couple of pillows. If you sit on them, you can squeeze most of the air out to fit them into funky places. Priced at about $7 at Target for 4, they're a steal. There's also an XXL size, too.

Half portions of single serve Annie's Microwavable Mac & Cheese: Perfect for a toddler-sized side dish, use 1/4 cup macaroni with 1/4 cup water. Microwave for 3 minutes, add about 1 heaping tablespoon of cheese mix. Leave the rest in the packaging for another time. Makes a box of 6 servings last longer. Also, buy the white cheddar at Trader Joe's for $2.19, not $4.19 like at Shaw's or Stop and Shop.

Shocking, isn't it? Some of my key food items--like the Annie's Mac and Cheese, also Envirokids and Barbara's cereal products--are significantly less expensive at Trader Joe's. Even Whole Foods, surprisingly, is less expensive for the organic staples, like...

Consorzio Marinades: California Teriyaki 10-minute Marinade is hands-down a staple in our house, on steak and salmon especially. Mix it with a little of the Baja Lime or Tropical Mango on a thin pork chop (chicken works just as well), and you've got a little slice o' heaven. The Consorzio Organic BBQ sauce is also the right balance of sweet and tangy. Again, it's cheaper at Whole Foods for $2.99 a bottle or $4.99 at Shaw's.

Benedryl Cream for inflamed mosquito bites. Histamine takes the red out. After-Bite does a number on the immediate itchiness, but it stings like crazy at first.

The new Blade series on Spike: not too bad. It's less painful to watch than the Witchblade series a few years ago.

zipper pouch

zipper pouch
Originally uploaded by tracey2bits.

Found it! I thought this might have been taken when we were robbed a couple months ago, but I found it in a bag I hadn't used. It's slightly bigger than an iPod, made from printed canvas swatches from Repo Depot. Yay!

8/20/06: The new Sephora catalog has a line of makeup bags with the exact same print (different material). It's the Mod bag collection.

mama is my friend

I just happened to look at the TV, and the film Bent is on, starring Clive Owen. He looks like Michael Stipe in one scene, Vinny Jones in another. Huh. Jude Law & Paul Bettany are also in it. Clive Owen must have a new movie coming out. They've been showing King Arthur like crazy (thanks Kiera Knightly), the Bourne Identity, and now this. Not that I mind, at all. Makes me want to watch Sin City again. At least it's a break from an evening of UFC. And now we have cable in the bedroom. How sweet it is!

I can't stop reading Yarn Harlot's blog. She posted ("the power scares me") about one knitter's support to help WIC in California promote breastfeeding by knitting hats made of veggies, fruits, and judging by some readers' comments, boobies. Since the YH is also a lacation specialist--so, so cool--yet she's still respectful of the choices women make. Yay, on so many levels.

Most of the comments were women's bf stories, offering support & experiences. The US just sucks how little maternity leave we get, and lack of a pumping room in many workplaces. At least at my job, there is a room and another one if needed. Support and education for bf moms is spotty, and can we please, please not gang up on each other about the choices we make for our kids? Like moms don't have enough guilt? OK?

Breastfeeding is a loaded parenting topic, not as much as co-sleeping or Ferberizing (whoa, is that one a party pooper!) but it can get pretty heated. I read a great book when I was breastfeeding--I'll go look for it in the library tomorrow, I promise (it was one of those books that I was trolling the aisles and just picked up)--about the sociology of contemporary breastfeeding. I'm not going to go into *my* feelings now, but it's something near & dear to my heart.

For the record? My son was 6 weeks early, I went back to work part-time after my leave (6 weeks plus my vacation time then a month unpaid=12 weeks, the most allowed by my workplace without having to jump through tons of paperwork hoops) and we breastfed until he was 20 months old. Ups and downs, it was great. We had to stop (which was a relief, in a way) when he had a nasty rotavirus and couldn't keep anything down except Pedialyte. That week was awful, but he's really well adjusted now.

Owen's quotes of the day: "That huge elevator is for big people." (He came to my work and was enthralled with the freight elevator.)
"Mama is my friend." (He went to backup day care. I'm sure they called everyone "friends," so this makes sense.)

weekend(s) of love

Two weeks ago I took O-man out in the drizzle to the Red Wagon on Charles St. to get him some rain boots. He had such a great time at the store, and the staff was really nice about him opening and closing the door to the upstairs area (where the books, toys, boots, and sale items are). They were even nicer about me having to change a poopy diaper in their supertiny bathroom. I also ended up buying a pair of Curious George boots, which ended up to be just big enough that they fell off when I carried the little dude, and they got stuck in a mucky puddle as O-man tried to jump out of it. That was no fun to clean up, and I was worried about the various kinds of bacteria that might have been swallowed when O. fell on his face. (I think he emerged relatively unscathed.) Top that off with going down the wet slides, slipping down the wobbly bridge, and having to ride the T home with wet pants and 1 sock: priceless.

Easy Mojito: Mint leaves (enough to equal 2 or so sprigs), 2 teaspoons sugar, juice of 1 lime (more if desired, maybe equal to 2 tbls) with at least 1/4-1/2 rind; muddle or bruise leaves with the handle of a wooden meat tenderizer or rice paddle so the sugar is mostly dissolved; add shot (plus/minus) rum, ice, top off with club soda. Enjoy!

4th of July weekend notes:
Zuzu is not the most kid-friendly place, but that's kind of OK. It's a bar. The mojitos are good, and the ice cream/chocolate baklava with fruit makes a yummy dessert. Wish I could have stayed and talked to Aisha more, but I had O-man with me. He had fun being out late.
Upper Crust was a kid-friendly, and we polished off 2 pieces of pizza between the two of us.

Public Service Announcement: The bathrooms at the Frog Pond close at 6PM. Bathrooms at the Visitor Center close at 5PM. Macy's, however is open until 9pm most nights.

Congrats to Lorie & Pete. Yay! Of course, happy birthday to Dan. Rob is the best grill master ever. Dr. Phil should never, ever again be allowed to co-host a fireworks celebration.

a few of my new favorite things

Clif Nectar bars: specifically, the cinnamon pecan tastes like a little chewy cinnabun. There are four ingredients, all organic: pecans, dates, cinnamon, vanilla. I could eat a bunch of these little bits o' heaven. 3 WW pts.

VitaminWater in Rescue/Green Tea: I have been in love with this since they launched in, what, 2000? And I drank it when I was in labor. This is my fave of ALL the green teas, but is hard to find. Apparently, VitaminWater (even though they are in the process of being bought by a big eevil company) has the same distributor as Snapple, and since Snapple has a similar drink (but not really), oftentimes the same store won't carry both. Which is a shame, because the Vitamin/SmartWaters aren't loaded with high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring.

Krusteaz Blueberry Pancake and Waffle mix vs. Bisquick Healthy Heart mix: Krusteaz is airy and fluffy, Bisquick is hearty and thicker. Both are delicious. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and vanilla. Guaranteed crowd pleaser.

Trader Joe's rules! English Cheddar with Carmelized Onion. $3 buck Chuck (because in MA we have to pay a distributor). Dry Rub All-natural Bacon. Frozen Wild Alaskan salmon. Turkey meatballs. British muffins. Soycatash. Always an over-shopping opportunity. I pity the poor folks who don't have one near them.

veganlunchbox.blogspot.com: Jennifer shmoo is a creative genius and an inspiration to fulltime working omnivore moms like me. But since my little dude is going to a nut free school, this'll be tricky. But she's got so many great ideas, and she's funny, it's worth checking out.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: always a great read.

I should be...

I should be cleaning, since the house is a wreck and we are having a sleepover guest tomorrow.
I should be doing some work, since this week was all wonky with appointments (and missed appointments) and other work related business.
I should be knitting, because I have something I really want to finish. And, I am still kind of obsessed with it, so I miss it.
I should finally be adding reviews to yelp.com, because I've been putting it off.
I should also be looking at the large list of stuff to get together for the little snooky to take to his new "school" (daycare center).
I should NOT be blogging, while Mr. Man is watching UFC, or whatever documentary is on behind me. He has had a rough day.
I have the rest of the night to do at least some of things, right? Sure.

winnah!

My girlfriend Ilona is in town, so I went all out today. We met at Falafel King (at Downtown Crossing) and splurged on the King Special Sandwich: falafel and meat of choice (for me, today: lamb). Whoa. What a sandwich. Those guys are so good there. But I totally got drenched in the one of the periodic downpours today on my way back to work: a classic scenario of leaning into the wind with an inside-out umbrella. Plus, I'm holding a latte that's splashing all over me. Smaht!

And tonight, after the munchkin went to bed, I met Ilona & we went to ManRay at Toast. It'll never be quite the same, but we saw Richard & Sarah, and the music was good (especially for someone who doesn't go out anymore). I try to make it home early...and I missed the bus. But my stubborn streak rears its head, and I think I can catch the bus back the other way. Not thinking (until it's too late) that maybe the train won't be running when I get to Lechmere and/or the Red Line.

Which, by the way, shouldn't the T stop running buses to a train that can't get you anywhere?

So I hoof it from Lechmere to the other end of the Galleria where I know there is a cab stand, and got a nice cabbie who drove me to Dorchester after 12:30.

I get home, and instead of going to bed? I check email. And write emails. And blog. And now the cat is being a jerk, knocking stuff over at 1:30AM. Still, I had fun, and that's what counts. Even so: duh-duh-nuh! Winnah!

totoro, totoro

We've been reading the picture book version of My Neighbor Totoro for the last couple weeks. It's basically screen captures of the film with the story, broken into chapters. I trotted out some of the Totoros I've collected over the years, including a plush backpack. Owen LOVES it. Tonight we finally watched the newly-dubbed Disney version, and he was entranced. We started it from the scene where the girls are waiting for their dad to get off the bus and watched until the end. Then we watched it again from the beginning. I'm pretty psyched the boy already has great taste in anime!


As a kid, I loved watching Creature Double Feature on Saturday mornings on channel WLVI 56. One (of the many) film(s) that stuck in my head was The Monster Club, starring Vincent Price. I Netflixed it awhile ago, and just watched it again. Oh. My. God. "Camp" doesn't even come close. The trilogy of stories is actually OK, there are some funny cameos, and even Berni Wrightson art. But the horribly bad early 80's bands were completely unnecessary. I gave it the (Fast Forward) finger.

tempus fugit

There are a couple of reasons why I've been out of the blogging loop: knitting, and the O-man's 3rd birthday, which was an all weekend long event.

For the knitting part, I finished my first hat. Lucy at Mind's Eye Yarns was very kind and called the straight part in the middle a "design feature." My seester Katie gave me the yarn; not only was she packing for a move, but she's put knitting aside. Now I just have to finish her scarf. I've also been on a cotton coaster kick, since they make nice housewarming gifts, plus they have a high satisfaction rate. I can knit one up in an hour or two. I also finished a knitted envelope, like a sunglass case.

All day long Friday, I was thinking, "3 years ago I was...(at work in labor unawares, doing errands, making pudding, paying bills)." Saturday morning it was, "3 years ago I was...(getting a ride to the hospital from Karen & Ilona, having my water broken, pushing, going to see O in the NICU)." For a little guy who was 6 weeks early, he sure has caught up!

On Saturday, we ventured out into the downpour to the Children's Museum. Train table = fun. By lunch time, the rain had cleared, so we went to see my family & check out my sister & her beau's new pad on Beacon Hill (which was very nice, and made me miss living there). I split at nap time to get the boy's b-day gifts, and the rest of the day we hung out. It was nice. Sunday was family brunch followed by more hanging out. Today was the day-care party, complete with crown. I finally gave him the "strawberry cake," complete with a number 3 candle, that he's been wanting. Luckily, he just really wanted the strawberries. Especially since I didn't want a Sara Lee pound cake in the house, after Tak & I demolished the Entenmann's devil's food cake from Saturday. So it was nice, but I'm glad it's done. Next: new day care center, more potty training, new doctor.