Mondays are Officially Cancelled...

I am cancelling all future Mondays until further notice. Do not expect said notice to come anytime soon!



Why am I so anti-Monday you ask?



Because yesterday was so horrid it has rolled over into today and I can't really go on strike, so I feel the need to come here and share the love with you all.



Sunday night at 7pm our transformer blew as we ate dinner. I will spare you all the interim details but it was 7:05am Monday morning before electricity was restored. We were actually very grateful it was at night and thus not did not greatly interfere with our Webkinz World computer time... SO, Monday morning we woke up, regained our power, found Princess L to be on day two of a fever accompanied by a HUGE case of the grumpies, and Princess M to have an onset of some rash in her hairline causing her to scratch like she has the cooties. This was all before 7:30am. The day rolled on mostly uneventfully until I picked up the mail. This is where it all went south, quickly. Imagine my surprise and glee to find not one but two new credit cards. The only not so minor problem, I had not applied for nor did I want either. That's right, my identity had been stolen. After having spent the better part of last evening and this morning on the phone with credit bureaus and fraud specialists, it appears my financial life is sealed up like Ft Knox, then again I didn't think I was careless before. It blows my mind how easily someone accessed and used my personal information to gain credit fraudulently... Apparently, it went all the more smoothly for them because I have such good credit. Comforting thought isn't it? If I had just been a little more reckless with my spending over the last twenty years, the crooks would have had a tougher time.



Wait, it's not over yet. This morning while I was taking a break from informing all of those I do business with to require a DNA sample from both me and my firstborn before extending any further credit in my name, I decided to fill out my California primary ballot. I received an absentee ballot because apparently due to low enrollment in my area there is no actual polling place for me to go next Tuesday. I am not making this up, it was on the letter... It's so comforting to know that I am in the minority of people who actually vote... Anyway, after reading the ballot for 45 minutes, I decided maybe so few people vote in the primary because California makes it too complicated. Finally, I figured it all out and completed my ballot. I left it sitting next to me on the computer while I finished my calls. The next thing I knew, my darling, ever-so-helpful Princess L had proceeded to shove it in the shredder sitting next to my desk. She knows how to do this because she helps me shred all of the address labels on every piece of mail we receive everyday. No, I am not exaggerating. We do this everyday, because we wouldn't want to be the victims of identity theft. Are you feeling the irony yet? So, now that my karma is apparently in the crapper (and yes, that is the most family friendly word I could come up with at this point!) I have to decide whether it is worth the risk to head out next week and try to find an actual polling location that will accept my vote? Currently, I feel like my vote could put a jinx on my candidate of choice and since you all know I am a staunch Republican, we don't need any more obstacles to overcome.



I believe I am through venting. I am getting ready to take a drive down to Big Sur to look for gray whales. Luck may not be with me, but my new camera will, just in case.



P.S. Protect your credit!



P.P.S. GO MITT!

The New Generation of Rock...

It appears we have passed the torch....

I will spare you the live video version as the musical score from the omnipresent Barbie Guitar is a never ending version of the Britney chorus "Not that Innocent." Who at Mattel thought this song was an appropriate selection for a toy rated for and marketed to 3-8 year old girls? It's just so darn heartwarming to hear a toddler, kindergartner, and first grader belting it out in all their glory...

Why does this picture remind me of Hanson? MmmBop anyone?

Rock On!

Word of the Day...

Just a quick note today about my mini-princess, L.

Yesterday, we had to stop at the Mini Mart to get milk after taking M to school.

As we were leaving the store, I informed L of our itinerary for the rest of the morning. It included returning home to exercise and bathe before going to the Commissary for some weekly restocking. How is it when I lived two blocks from the Commissary I could go every two weeks? Now that I actually have to drive the interstate to get there, I barely make it five days... Anyway, L was not impressed with the plan...

L... " I want to go to the Commissary now Momma!"

Mom... " We can't go now L, it's not open."

L... " If you say abre it will open."

I am now officially excused for the countless hours my princess has spent watching Dora... She can teach me Spanish. Who knew when they said you learn something new everyday, that it would be a foreign language tutorial from your toddler?

Just for good measure, a couple of recent shots...

California Conundrum...

I just can't get used to this California weather.

Two weeks ago I told you about our "Winter Storm 2008". It's still being discussed daily in the editorial pages here because a few "poor" souls who live in Carmel By The Sea (otherwise known as the high rent district) were without power for over five days.... Seriously, these folks live in "cottages" that start at about $1million. I really found it difficult to muster up much sympathy. Anyway, you may remember the "storm" gave us about 4 inches of rain, some gusts of wind up to 65mph, and temperatures firmly in the.... 50's. Not really blizzard conditions, but extreme for here just the same.

Now, the mornings here along the coast ARE doggone cold. When L and I head out on our morning walk, she is attired like this.....

or this....

or often this....

However, by mid afternoon most days, the temps are at least in the 60's. That, I can get used to. With C's class schedule this quarter, I can walk to school to pick up M in the afternoons, to be able to do so in the middle of January wearing flip flops and short sleeves is not too rough. Wednesday, when I took M to ballet in Carmel I decided to take some pictures to show you the scenery along my walking route.

For those of you in KY and places further north, it may be a few months before you see this again....I hope they can brighten your day!

Festivus, for the Rest of Us....

Not sure if I spelled it right, but the title for you non-sitcom fans out there is a shout out to an old and oft-quoted Seinfeld episode.


Since we are now over a week past the Epiphany we can't really call it Christmas anymore but the gifts just keep coming at our house.


Princess M's most recent favorite is yet another poodle. Who's shocked? This one is pink and is a Webkinz, and it is a gift from the most awesome people in M's world: Madison and Austin. The sun rose and set in these guys for two whole years, and that shows no sign of changing, ever. Seeing as my first best friend at age six is still one of my most favorite people on the planet (Hello, KB! Sorry, I'm even worse at real contact than I am at updating the blog...) I feel quite certain that these two folks will always be at the top of her list. Mom's too for that matter.

Anyway, the Webkinz' name is Marigold and Mom and M will now be spending a lot of time on the computer reaching out to our other friends in Webkinz World (from now on to be referred to as WW as I believe we will be mentioning it a lot.) In the interest of full disclosure, I am already somewhat addicted to one of the arcade games in WW. C had to pull me off the computer last night to put the girls to bed. Usually I am the one doing the "Yippeee, it's bedtime dance" a full half hour before absolutely necessary. Don't get me wrong I treasure every minute with my girls. I also treasure quiet and relative sanity.


Here is M with Marigold, and her custom made crown. Also note the new jammies that could in no way wait to be pre-washed before they were worn....




C, like me is receiving the bulk of his gifts post holiday because also like me, no one likes to shop for him. All he ever really wants are more instruments and their accompanying gadgets. Like all musicians, he scoffs at the idea of someone else picking them out. Now that he has moved back out of the garage and into the house, largely because we no longer have a garage, he chose to update his recording equipment. The ability to record again, in no less than 16 tracks, forced us to also need a new bass guitar, because the old one is damaged, not fixable, and no longer of anything other than aesthetic value (thanks, younger bro J). I have been assured we are continuing to move it because it will one day be very cool as mounted artwork on the wall of his future music room. That would be the one we will have when we again live in over 1200 square feet. So even though, he still complains about the few times he was forced to play bass live as opposed to "real" guitar, he is the proud owner of a rockin' new one.


Here is a shot of the test drive...

and yes, for those of you who can recognize these things, this pic was cropped because his ensemble included "Tarheel blue" shorts and I just couldn't have that outfit on my blog!

and the new recorder......

This last pic is totally unrelated, but as I was snapping the other two with their new gifts, using my new gift, L streaked into the room. She is obviously not a fan of the flash as she blinked and then yelled at me. Upon looking at the pic though, I decided to keep it just to show off those darn eyelashes. Now if she'll just get her Dad's hips too, she'll be knockin' em dead.

Time Flies...

Wow, who would have thought that sending my husband and daughter back to school this week could have made me more busy?

I have no idea where the time is going, but it seems that the days are flying by. M started back on Wednesday to find two new girls in her class. This was a welcome sight as she is still in mourning over her best buddy moving over Christmas, not to mention her beloved Madison being all the way in Virginia. I can hardly wait for the first time we have to leave a boyfriend behind somewhere.... If it's this hard to say goodbye in kindergarten, the high school years may be the bane of my existence. As if that weren't already going to be true since we will have seven straight years of at least one daughter in high school! I can't blame her though, I am still feeling the sting of leaving behind, or being left by all my closest pals too.

Luckily, she has found a great new buddy in the daughter of one of C's classmates. His family arrived to join him here right before the holidays and I believe we are all going to have some good times. They like Wii, wine and chaos. These are our kind of people.

The girls were playing dress up on Saturday with M's new makeup from Christmas. They started out making themselves quite elegant and beautiful and suddenly it morphed into this....

I think they are quite ready to shoot a horror flick.... I was just waiting for heads to start spinning...

I feel the need to show you the girls after I used half a bottle of Clinique makeup remover on their faces....They were greasy, but beautiful once again.

They look so harmless here, hard to believe it's the same girls. Lizzy was looking for an excuse to sleep on my bed, so she appointed herself guardian....

On a more pleasant note, M has beat her first video game. I am certain her Dad has never been more proud. She purchased the Wii Disney Princess game with a gift card two days after Christmas. After quite a few hours of devotion and a small amount of assistance from Dad and oddly enough, even Mom, she has conquered and become a princess.

Here are some shots of her efforts.

Look at that concentration...

Sometimes you just gotta get comfortable...

So as not to be accused of favoritism, here are some shots of L when I was playing with my new camera. I should be a master in approximately 10 years. Nothing like a new technological toy to make you feel quite mentally challenged.

I think this was L's expression when the big girls were doing their Exorcist impersonations....

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll try not to be a stranger....

Never Mock Mother Nature....

So, I realize my tone in my last entry regarding the forthcoming California Winter Storm might have come across as mildly sarcastic. I did not mean to offend anyone, most especially Mother Nature. I am well aware of her touchiness. Apparently, she was not impressed with my lack of respect for her abilities....

This is the tree removed from my neighbor's roof...

This is the plastic covering my neighbor's new skylight....

Best I can guess they must have been even less respectful of the weather goddess, otherwise it might have been our house. All jokes aside, thankfully no one was injured. When my neighbors and I spoke across the fence separating our backyards they said they thought it was an earthquake. I was actually more frightened for the three men who worked on the roof in the thick of the storm. They threw off the tree (again felt mildly like an earthquake), swept off the worst branches, and covered the hole in plastic all while ducking additional debris and pouring rain. I would have taken pictures, but was too busy waiting to dial 911 as I was certain their peril would end in tragedy. We also lost power for two separate extended periods during the day. There are similar trees and large branches down all over our neighborhood. It still amazes me that this much damage was done in what seemed to be an average thunderstorm, minus the thunder and lightning. Had this storm occurred in KY, FL, or OK no one would have even slowed down, much less commented on it. All the same, we are glad the power outages were isolated and relatively quick. We will attempt to get to the water in the next couple of days and hope that the swell damage and beach erosion are more limited than what was expected.

On a MUCH happier note, in the last two days I have received my favorite Christmas presents. For some strange reason, no one likes to shop for me.... I can't imagine why? I guess it could possibly have something to do with the fact that the things I love most are absolutely free or absolutely too expensive for ME to buy much less ask someone else for.... So in a long standing tradition of letting me pick out my own presents my dear parents and dear in laws all gave me the means to go shopping!

My in laws know I love Pottery Barn, but also know that I am unlikely to go shopping there because I can't justify the expense... So they gave me a very extravagant gift card and quickly I used it!

Here is my beautiful new duvet cover....

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I LOVE it!

My parents just went all out and gave me cold hard cash. Ever since I started this blog I have been pining for a new camera. So here is my new baby....

Prepare to see lots more pics and hopefully a great improvement in my skills as well. Note, none of these pics were taken with my new love because my 1G memory card did not arrive. Obviously, I will be taking a trip to the store today, because I cannot wait another week to start snapping!

Happy New Year....

The "A" Team wants to wish you a belated but wonderful New Year for 2008.

Obviously with two small children at home and all of our favorite people, not to mention approved babysitters, on the other side of the country we did not do any big celebrating. We did stay up way too late with new friends on the 30th... I believe it was the first time my girls saw midnight without there being sickness involved. This could also have something to do with the reason we were all in bed by 10pm on New Year's Eve. There is something anticlimactic about watching the ball drop in a delayed broadcast so we decided to skip The Rockin' New Year extravaganza. Somehow, I am certain we can catch a similar broadcast next December 31.

Today we donated several pennies to Chuck E. Cheese so the girls could both have a new pink troll doll. They make lovely additions to our ever growing poodle family in residence....

Tonight we are prepping for Winter Storm 2008. You heard it right. The Central Coast of California is expecting a winter storm working it's way down from Alaska over the next three days. I don't mean to make too light of a serious subject, but it strikes me as odd when the headline of today's paper is to watch out for the coming RAIN storm. If we do get the 50 mph winds and 2-4 inches of rain they are forecasting, then we will be closely watching the row of townhouses sitting on the hill above us. As long as they don't suddenly become our third story, I think we will persevere. It may be trying though, to be rained in for a couple of days. Our big Princess is REALLY ready to go back to school. It seems that the many, many new toys received one week ago on top of the hundreds she already had are not enough to alleviate the boredom....

Here is what the girls are doing right now as I type (other than asking me to do something for them every 1.5 seconds....) and yes, that is 3 different types of filth on L's shirt. It's been a long day....

These other pics are unrelated but too cute not to share.

M and her buddy E at their December gymnastics open house.

These last three show Princess L in her true Princess form...

No. 1 looking very royal.....

No. 2 looking slightly less royal....

No. 3 now that's my girl, really letting it all hang out.....