Happy Halloween

Although I may have lost my job this week, I will find out soon, we still must get ready to trick or treat. It suddenly feels very scary which is appropriate for the day.

This is our young Jedi...

And this is our dragon...again.

World's Greatest Dad

That is what his shirt says and I have to agree.He is making Max's costume. Max wants to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. Check it out. So his computer is down and he uses mine for research and finds: How To Sew and How to make a Jedi Robe.

He bought material, did his research, cut and started sewing. BZ is sewing using his little sewing repair kit that he has probably owned for over a decade.

Pretty great, huh? Jedi pictures to come....

Andy, this is for you!

So the day began with a black sharpie pen. Aiden has been a kitty cat lately, and Max thought he'd help out. I wonder how many days until the ink is all the way off? They are best buddies these days...very sweet.

Speaking of best buddies...I got a call from one of my best friends in High School, who lives in Rockridge...crazy. And crazier, another close childhood friend (who I knew since 10 yrs old) was visiting her from LA. So, I grabbed the kids and BZ today and met up with Maggie and Liz and their kids at Frog Park. We got to catch up a bit with updates from the past 20 plus years. I haven't seen either of them in over 20 years!! Lots of memories. Maggie has a 4.5 yr old and Liz has four kids that span 1 to 15 years old. She's been married over 24 years, amazing.

We finally had to break up the reunion so Maggie could get to the airport and I could get to the phone bank. I swear it won't be another 20 years now that we are reconnected. I sure hope not.


And the over-crowded weekend finally comes to a close. After dinner and a very quick bathtime, the cowboy and batman have an ice pop duel. A sweet ending to a really neat day.

Margarido House Success

This is how the day started.

Our neighbor, Russ, thought it would be funny to put up this sign outside our kitchen window behind our house. He was right. He thought he would give a bit of balance to our lefty home.

In the afternoon was the Margarido House Fundraiser. For a low-key house party (at a not so low key house) we really had an amazingly cool evening.
We raised thousands of dollars (yes, still counting but, counting lots of $100+ donations). We had loads of kids racing around, lots of grown-ups touring this crazy eco house and a bunch of volunteers who made everything roll smoothly.

BZ played guitar beautifully in the background throughout the evening. It reminded me of how sexy he is and how much I love to watch and listen to him play. Really. Hot. OK, thinking about baseball....whew.

This morning we all got to sleep in until 7:30am. Jealous?

Margarido House Event

Yes, another Obama event. This time we are inviting everyone on Saturday, October 25th at 4pm, to come see this pretty amazing "green" home that exemplifies "eco-luxury." Its slated to be the first custom home in Northern California to be LEED-H certified (that's a good thing), its so energy efficient it produces over 120% of its energy needs through solar power. There are many cool things about this house that we are showing it off, serving some wine, snacks, activities for the kids....raising some money for that final push in the swing states.
I know, 14 points up in the polls. But. I won't believe it until I see it. Anything can happen in three weeks. Anything can happen at the polls, in the machines, behind the scenes.

For more information on this fun little party, go to www.margaridoforobama.com and RSVP. I also need a few volunteers that afternoon as well to help organize. Bring your kids, I will. Oh, and BZ will be playing guitar in a nice little corner, between glasses of wine. Apparently I will be the designated driver.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a "pumpkin patch." Urban style. Hidden behind a flower shop off Piedmont Ave.

This is Max and Aiden with Max's kindergarten friend, Luciano. Yes, Max has a new friend! Don't worry mom-friends, not a replacement for other friends, just an added friend.

So is Max's school terrible with the bully business and so forth? No, not terrible. There are great other families, a lame administration, a wimpy teacher who actually is educating our children but not doing much about safety...

I am keeping watch. I'm not the only one.

And don't get me started on the school's response to gay parents trying to list an event in the newsletter....more to come.

Girl crazy

My friend Amy has a 5 yr old named Gwen, who is in Max's Kindergarten class. Max likes her a lot. Gwen likes Max and looks after him in the classroom. Amy reports the following as told to her by little Gwen:

Gwen said Max said to her, “If I were the sun, I would shine only on you!”

And she replied, “Why?”

He said, “Because I love you.”

And tonight, as I was tucking Max into bed, I asked him what the best thing about being 5 years old was and he answered, "Lauren likes me so I like her too."

Max and the ladies. To be continued?

Retreat!

I went to a knitting retreat. It was raining. Really raining. Did I bring wet weather gear? No, I did not. In fact, I had decided to pack very lightly. I was not prepared. At all.

Not wanting to remain drenched for days, I had to come up with something...after searching the car for an umbrella...and then searching again, I found the rain cover for a stroller we haven't owned in years. OK, so not quite as form fitting as a poncho but...it worked, mostly.

The rain cleared by midday on Saturday. Most of our time was indoors anyway. We learned how to make cables on the front of a pillow. Now, some of you non-knitters might be thinking that this sounds a bit "grandma-ish," knitting a pillow...but I will have you know, that I was in fact, in a room full of grandmas as well as a few other assorted aged women. And the learned cable can now be applied to other items as well.

Anyway, I am home now and the knitting has been put aside. I am launching into one of the busiest (and most stressful) months of my work year and am wondering how to balance family, politics and everything else. One of the best things since being back is volunteering in Max's school. Very fun. Max loves it and I love it too.

Politics are SO important to me but hard to fit in to our life without a sacrifice. So for today, I am letting it go. I will pick up Max early from school again and go to our favorite Cafe for a snack, we might even go to the library as well. We will figure it out. Only 29 days to go, right? Or something like that.