Halloween

Halloween for Max was all about the costume and being a robot. Halloween for Aiden was all about the candy. He didn't really understand why he couldn't just keep eating it. The pictures got too desperate to post.

After the Montclair Halloween Parade, Aiden and I had hit our limit. Max announced no need for trick or treating since he had enough candy. After dinner he changed his mind, and off he went with Mr. Bee.

Reverend Margaret

It is very easy to become a reverend. all you need is a name and an email address. If you want the official certificate, well, then its an extra $4.99 plus shipping, total a bit under $10.

I am not trying to be blasphemous, a friend asked me to marry him. Rather, he asked me to "officiate" his marriage. What an honor. He didn't think it was possible but I assured him that since living in the Bay Area, most of the weddings we've attended have been by officiated by friends and family of the bride and groom.

So I am a reverend of the Universal Life Church Monastery. It's a non-denominational church, that believes that everyone should have the right to have ceremonies like weddings, memorials, rites of passage, in whatever way they wish that reflects their beliefs.

OK, its ridiculous. I know but, my certificate is in the mail. I am officiating a wedding for someone I really care about. What's so wrong about that?

Uh oh, gotta go get ready...Happy Halloween!

The strawberry nose

Max has been to the dentist 3 times in the last 6 weeks. He is having a hard time with the x-rays. They make him gag. He has quite a gag reflex. When he cries, the dental assistant says something stupid like "don't cry" or "be quiet." Very soothing words.

So we came home this time with a new appointment and a strawberry nose. This nose is for Max to practice with. During our next visit, they will put on this nose and pump nitrous oxide and oxygen into his little face, laughing gas they used to call it when they gave it to me, and then, they will get their damned pictures.

Poor Max. I wish he wasn't so scared. I wish I didn't give him my fear of dentist, sure hate pointy things genes. I also feel bad that I gave him the really soft, full of cavities gene as well. Crap.

Hiking with the pig

This weekend was filled with good friends. We had a sleepover last night and this morning I got treated to Eggs Benedict. Yum. It went really well, for all of us. The kids did great, the grownups had fun. I can't wait to do it again.

Today's plan was to get together with another set of friends for a hike in the beautiful Oakland Hills.

Since Monica's car broke down (over heated) in the Berkeley Hills, we ended up hiking at Tilden Park, just off Grizzly Peak. As we got out of the car, a small plastic pig fell out of my door jam. Ah, hiking with a pig.

The day was beautiful, being with Linda and Monica was perfect.

The only thing missing was a bathroom. Monica doesn't like the whole hide behind a tree thing so, we began the hunt for a porto-anything. We ended up WAY off our trail on a road that we THOUGHT was Grizzly Peak. We were wrong. We found a bathroom, but not our former trail. We continued to walk in the completely wrong direction, getting help from strangers that we mostly ignored. We finally got back to the car after hours. It felt like hours and in fact, it was almost three hours. Here's a picture of our fearless leader, on the long road back to our car. Lame urban hikers.

We three women and the pig were very happy to be back in the car, very happy to get lunch and very happy to get Monica's car back on the road.

On my drive home, back on Skyline, within 5 minutes of my house, I spotted a downed cyclist. He was standing in his socks holding a tire in one hand and waving madly at me with the other. I stopped and he begged for a ride down the hill. Seeing as no one gave us a ride on our endless hike, I figured that this man deserved a break. I drove him down the hill and then continued to drive him home. Jeff thanked me and then, stupidly, shook my hand with a very sweaty bike glove still on. Yuck.

The pig and I drove home.

Odd bits

Cleaning up my office yesterday led to odd discoveries. Its easy to forget parts of your past..until the index cards fall out of a box. I used to present "The gross slide show" for Planned Parenthood, usually at Juvenile Hall. I was most effective when I stood in front of the screen and let whatever image of a gross penis malady cover my face. It really freaked them out. And, if there were very scary boys in a given group, I would look directly at one of them while talking about the symptoms, as if they knew what I was talking about. This was my favorite technique. Tough scary teen boys crossing their legs...this top index card describes "Saxophone Penis." How great is that?

Yesterday, BZ asked me, "What is a caper?" We eat them all the time, love them...but what are they?

Immature buds of a shrub in the Mediterranean that are pickled. They may be packed in the brine or in coarse salt.
www.apinchof.com/glossary1009.html

Capers are dance steps, little leaps or bounds in the air!
www.glosmorrismen.org/misc.htm

A bit of a relief really. I knew it was pickled something but, what? We are loving a shrub. Not the first, we love our rosemary bush as well.

Finally, 3 finished knit projects. The first two are for Arden (baby leggings and lace hat), the third, a scarf, for Max:




Yippee. Time for more projects...

Flight of the Conchords- Business Time

OK. So I am posting this since I think it is sort of funny and I wanted to try posting a video. Two for one. It is very silly. Enjoy.

Hats

Knitting update (Just a warning for those completely bored with knitting entries):
My first try at stripes. I am making a hat for Max and although its a crappy picture, the colors, in real life, are fantastic. This hat is starting to look like a pumpkin or a carrot. I've already screwed up and left a hole right where I changed colors. Ah well. It won't be the last time.

In other hat news, I have accepted the fact that the sweet little pink baby hat is not so little, not little enough to fit the soon-to-be girl before her 15th birthday. So, I got new pink yarn and once I finish the baby leggings (need the DP needles) I will restart the hat from scratch.

In final hat news, hopefully, I will begin Aiden's stripy blue hat with cables. I hope to be comfortable with hats by the end of this new knitting jag. The next step will be socks. In the meantime, I need to get moving on Christine's hot pink scarf with arbitrary seed pattern and, choose what to knit for my mom with the beautiful ecru cashmere she sent.

Music and a weird virus

Gosh. Its so hard to refuse. With advertising like this, it really is compelling. I'm glad we got this in the mail or we never would have known this concert was coming to town.

In other music news, Blame Sally has become the hottest band around and yet, I can't seem to find a way to see them. Dang. They've been touring like crazy and I have been chasing little boys around the house. One of these days...

I had to pick up Max early from school today. He has this tongue virus that is pretty painful. I looked it up online and the pictures made me gag. I mean, really gross things on tongues...Ack. The dentist said to use the "magic mouthwash" to numb out the tongue but it seems impossible to get it in his mouth. He screams, yes, screams like a crazy kid, then starts coughing, and choking, and spit starts flying...unbelievable.

This is how come I don't get out much and why I might never get a chance to see the Sally's unless they decide to play in our living room.

Bliss

I am not kidding. They make this stuff. How San Francisco can you get? We are always looking for non-dairy alternatives for Aiden who hates soy, and we found this. Talk about Shangri-La!

I'm a bit scared of trying it, it looks like muddy sludge. Aiden loves it. Of course. He's ready to be a stoner-dude.

All in all, bliss is good. We needed some this week, whatever the source.

Holes

This is a picture of BZ in the hole that is next door. I am standing at the spot where the door of the house will be, taking the photo. BZ is standing about 3/4 of the way to the end of the floor plan. Its going to be MASSIVE. I think he is standing on the second floor. This hole, this giant ditch was dug up next to our house over a month ago. What happens when the rains come? Will our house come down?




My Great-aunt Mary K. had Alzheimer's, which is basically a disease that makes swiss cheese of your brain. Back in the day, she was a genius (literally) and worked as an economist, worked in the White House (with several administrations), was a published author. She was a rock star of feminism before it was called feminism. She fought for day cares and child care to be provided for all children and helped to create Head Start. Her diseased behavior was frustrating and hard to understand. I think it was because everyone wanted the old Mary back, they missed her. She lost the capacity to recognize very ordinary things like names of food on her plate.


I have fear of what I cannot control. I cannot control whether or not the next door neighbor (well, there is no door) will come and build his damned house or not. Will my house and my family be put in danger if a gigantic gaping hole is left to flood? I have no idea and there is basically nothing I can do about it but worry and complain.

I have a fear of all this illness and loss around me. I know that life just happens but I have no control other than to attempt a healthy and loving life and hope that my children outlast me. I can offer support and love for those who aren't as lucky as we are at this moment. I guess that's the best I can do.

Fresh

In good news, my mood swings swing. So I am back. I am still tired, in a normal worn out parent way. The Discovery Museum was fun.
Seeing friends was great. I needed that. It was nice being with people who we know and that I don't have to "perform" for.

The kids had a great time and that was fun.

We all had a nice evening together. BZ covered this morning so I could lay in bed longer and finish my book. Awesome.

I just got back from the Farmer's market, so great to have fresh organic fruit and veggies...it makes me feel like I am a good parent. It offsets the PB&J sandwiches that Aiden eats each day. We usually eat all the good stuff on day one but ah, what a yummy day.

Saturday

Today we are going to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito. We are meeting friends there. I am exhausted and would prefer to disappear under a pillow for several hours. Under a pillow and blankets. I am grumpy from being up half the night. I am resentful of having to be a parent every day and not having a break built in anywhere. And then I feel super guilty and scared for even thinking such a thing. I am so lucky to be a parent and blah, blah, blah.

What I need is a visit to The Ranch for a week and then all would be well. If it weren't for the cost and the ability to disappear for a week...crap. I have memories of peace and wellbeing. Its been years.
In the meantime, I get the kids dressed, get them fed, sort of, pack a diaper/food bag...sneak of for a quick blog. I hear crying in the background and just want to sleep.

I think I am feeling crappy today for several reasons. No sleep or down time, constant crying in the back and fore ground...and all the emotional residue from this past week. I am also reading a book that is great, funny and really difficult emotionally. I think I am carrying that as well.

Its time to re-enter my life. I must close out this blog and get up from my twirly chair. I must open the office door and enter the fray of loudness, high voices, tired boys. Once on our way, it'll be fine, even fun. I just need to embrace the crazed energy of my boys.

The dentist

Today was Max's first dentist appointment. We survived. Max was a champ, a shaky, sort of scared champ but brave none-the-less. They have all this kid language, like, "Mr Slurpy" and and the "tickler." That scary pokey thing is called a tooth counter. So smart. Max would not get on the "Magic chair." So, his exam and cleaning was on my lap.

He picked out a brand new black tooth brush, grim. Of course, he got a prize at the end which made his morning. I tried not to leak out my fear of dentistry but he must pick it up. I let them demonstrate it all on me first, which he loved (and I hated). Perhaps, I will get better with the dentist now that I mst show how "fun" the experience is. Crap.

We return in two weeks for fluoride and x-rays and...Aiden's first visit.

In follow up biopsy news, my scarring will probably correct itself within a year, if not, I get the scars redone. This still seems easier than dental work. What's a bit of breast slashing compared to pokey things in my mouth?

Sorry, TMI.