rant/ any players?

Whew, I am so glad that I didn't post anything this morning. I was so livid about something pertaining to blogging and possibly my page that I was this close to going on a rant. I'm glad I didn't since I think it might've alienated a few of you. I know I wouldn't want to go read that on someone's page. Also, I would've drawn some negative attention to my page. Also, not something I want to do. The only reason I'm still sort of mentioning this is that I'm still mad. Not anywhere near as mad as I was this morning, but mad. Ok, enough of that.

There's something else I want to ask you all. At the beginning of the year there was a celeb dead pool that I wanted to participate in. I didn't and I still hear about the results now that the year long game is almost over. The problem was that that particular one wasn't online. I think I'd be easier to play that way. Anyway, I'd like to start one in January. So, my question is, is that morbid? I mean is it like laughing at the misfortunes of others? Of course it would just be a game but is that super mean? Would you guys play if I set up the page? Rodrigo agreed to play and he doesn't have a website, so just an email address will do. The whole point would be to make a list of 25 famous people and if and when one of them dies in 2007 we would subtract their age from 100. At the end of the year the person with the most points wins. I don't know, maybe monthly prizes as well. What do you guys think? Is this a go or just plain mean. The only reason why I'm asking this now is that if we do play, I'd like to have a couple of weeks to come up with my list. Let me know what you think in the comments or an email.

One last thing today. I can't believe I almost forgot. Happy Birthday to my dad! Would you like to know what he's doing for his birthday? He. Is. Going. Hunting. That's right. Now, you should know that he's never been hunting in his life. Ever. My uncle (who has also never been hunting) invited him. He, in turn, was invited by some fellow co-workers none of whom have been hunting either. I think its more of male bonding sort of thing, so I'm happy for them. I guess. I doubt they'll actually get anything. I think what makes them more excited is a weekend without the wives. :)

feeling: freezing!
listening to: Thurl Ravenscroft (You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch) <-- don't laugh its on my holiday play list

dr oz.

Have any of you been watching Oprah lately? I watch it sporadically and I've seen Dr. Oz on there a few times. Let me tell you, he is scaring the living daylights out of me. He was on today, but before today is when he scared me. It was an episode when he showed something called an omentum. It made me a little sick to think that mine might not be as thin as it should be. He talked about foods and I wrote down the things that you're supposed to avoid in foods: enriched flour, high fructose corn syrup and more than 4 grams of sugar. I looked through our pantry and yikes, I was surprised. I thought wheat bread wouldn't contain enriched flour. Since then, I read everything before I buy it. The result? Shopping takes longer and we have been buying more and more produce.
I thought I was doing pretty well and then I thought of something I'd never even considered . . our coffee. Rodrigo and I both drink a lot of it. With creamer. All those tasty creamers are just sooooo good. Expecially now with all the holiday flavors. Anyway, this morning while shopping, I made the switch to a plain soy creamer. On the nutrition label, "less than 1 gram of sugar".
I don't want to turn into someone that cooks with no flavor or is paranoid about food, but I also don't want to be hurting my family. The statistics about health and weight in our country are astounding. Of course we'll go out to eat sometimes and of course I'll still let the kids have sweets but I think there needs to be a good balance. -sigh- I think for the first time ever, I wish we lived on a farm. Ok, maybe I don't but I really wish all that stuff that is so bad for you wouldn't be so readily available.

feeling: concerned
listening to: Incubus (Paper Shoes)

NaNoWriMo & NaBloPoMo

I relieved that I there are only a few days left for NaBloPoMo. While I actually wouldn't mind posting everyday, I hate feeling like I have to do something. I know I didn't actually have to, but I did sign up and I've done it so far.
It is also now safe to say that I've failed miserably at NaNoWriMo. I started out really well. I had a topic I thought was amazing and wrote well. Then I got stuck. I couldn't think of anything else. I wrote all I thought I could and wasn't even halfway done. So I just stopped writing for several days. After that I thought the topic I'd loved so much at first maybe wasn't so good afterall. When I finally convinced myself that it was right, it was time to get ready to leave town. I haven't written since. I might try again next year since I have a base to go from now.
I know a lot of people just write anything on there just to get the word count, but it didn't seem right. Also, I still have to say that I think November is a horrible month to do this. Is it really only college kids that participate? Even then, don't they go home for Thanksgiving? I don't know. I guess if you have a really firm grasp on what it is you want to write, it becomes more doable. I feel bad because I soooooo wanted to do this this year. Well, I actually tried this year. Oh well. Wah! :(

Ok, I'm stopping now. I'm messing with Photoshop and am terribly frustrated. I made a border on a picture but when I try saving the picture, the border doesn't appear. Does anyone know how to fix this?

feeling: frustrated
listening to: Incubus (A Kiss to Send Us Off)

light grenades

What are you doing right now? Me? I'm listening to the new Incubus cd, Light Grenades. I've been listening to it all day. You should too. Oh wait. You can't because it isn't out on sale yet. Aww... Well, maybe when you read this, it will be. Yes, I get excited about things like this. Yvett hearts Incubus. Oh, why do I have one? Because I won a win it before you can buy it copy. Because I rock. See the radio station's sticker on the cover?




Well, I was also going to write about how the kids' advent calendar is coming along and about the turkey dinner we had tonight, but I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. Must. Go. To. Bed. Now.

feeling: super tired
listening to: Incubus (Dig)

home

We're home! As much as I love visiting my family, it feels so good to be home. I must say that my house smells nice. My mom had told me that before and I'd never noticed until I walked in today. I walked in and thought, Hello house. Hello couch. Hello my bed. Hello kitchen. Hello my computer. You get the gist.
Just as we were leaving my mom's house today, she told me "Oh, take some turkey". By "some turkey", she meant "Take this whole turkey". Yep, I brought home an entire cooked turkey just waiting to be eaten by me. I let Alec just sit around loose and put the turkey in the car seat. Ha! Yes, I'm kidding. Right now I'm being Bubba and replacing shrimp with turkey thinking of the things I'm going to cook this week. Turkey tacos, turkey sandwiches, turkey enchiladas, turkey quesadillas, turkey stir fry. . . Did anyone say tryptophan overdose?

Understand Spanish slang? Pavo con huevo, pavo a huevo. :)

feeling: I'M HOME!!
listening to: Benny Ibarra (Llueve Luz)

kid free

We're spending this whole long holiday weekend in Texas with our families. Whoo-hoo! Also, a double whoo-hoo because today my parents decided to take my kids and nephew on a road trip today. They told us that they'd be out all day so to take advantage of the day. Seriously. A day with NO KIDS. I haven't had that happen in about 75 years so I was going crazy thinking of all the possibilities. We decided to have dinner at a restaurant/brewery. That's right. I ordered a pint of berry cider with dinner. One pint, not ten. I thought it was going to be, well, like the kind of cider you get at the store, but noooo. . . this was about 180 proof. :P Anyway, towards the end of that pint I was saying "Make beautiful duet. . ." <-- please read that with your arms raised, with slurred speech and in your best Anna Nichole voice. What can I say, I'm a light weight now. Rodrigo likes to call it a cheap date.
Later we went to watch Babel. We were in our seats and some man walked in with two little kids. I'd say they were about 5 and 7 years old. Now, if any of you have seen Babel, you know that this is not a movie for kids. Not at all. I couldn't believe it when I saw him walk in. I kept waiting for him to realize he was in the wrong theater and walk out. That didn't happen. Throughout the whole movie whenever a not child safe scene would come out, I kept thinking about those poor kids. I felt like going over and covering their eyes.
So, what else did we do since we had all day? Well, what every other person who is always with kids does when they are without kids. We slept. That's right. We took a loooonnnnnggg uninterrupted afternoon nap. How boring, huh? Ahh.... not for me. I felt like I soooo needed it. Crazy kids will do that to you.

feeling: rested

black friday

Did any of you do any shopping today? Ugh. We stayed away from stores today. Rodrigo went to a computer store last night (yes, on Thanksgiving). They were having a sale from 6pm - midnight. He ended up leaving without getting anything. He said the lines were just entirely too long. Also, he noticed people camping out at the nearby stores. I couldn't believe it. We'd kind of wanted to go shopping, but I hate crowds as it is, imagine a crowd of that size ?!?! Being able to buy a giant plasma screen tv for ten dollars is not enough to get me to go into that mob. :) Still, if any of you went, I'd love to hear how it went for you.

Multimedia message

Happy thanksgiving , all!

santa

Brianna will turning 8 next month. I thought for sure that this was the year that she would be asking me the Santa question. I'd even started thinking of ways to answer her. Then a few weeks ago she came and asked me about the chimney. (yes we have a chimney. In Arizona) She asked if we were ever going to turn it on. I told her that if it got cold enough, we would. Then she said, "Well, just make sure to turn it off the night that Santa comes". It took me a second to respond and I assured her it wouldn't be on at that time. Since then she's been thinking of what kind of cookies to leave out for him. She asks about whether she should leave him coffee or milk, what kind of milk and if she could leave a notepad out so that he could sign it for her. I think it's really cute. Also, I need the leverage. I love being able to say that Santa is watching and making a list. It guarantees good behavior for a short while. Yes, I lie to my kids. So what? The same thing was done to us.
Anyway, yesterday a nearby photography place went around the neighborhood and hung little garland loops and one of their fliers on the door knobs. When Alec and I walked out to go get Brianna from school, he saw it. Alright! It couldn't have come at a better time! He was shocked and of course thought it was Santa's doing. I told him that he was going around checking in on the kids in the houses. The whole walk to the school Alec would be looking at the doors checking whether they also had garland or not. Sure enough, they all did. Once he saw Brianna, he immediately told her what had happened. There were green, white, and only one red garland. Once we got home, Brianna explained the colors. Green garland was put on houses where the kids are on the good list. White for the so-so kids and red (only one house) for the bad kids. Uh-huh. Guess which one we had. . . .



- a-hem. nevermind the camera strap in the picture (blush)

feeling: still hot!
listening to: The Raconteurs (Level)

"i'm not a virgin anymore . .

. . I just thought you should know". Yep, that's right. I am an EBay virgin no longer. Woo hoo and such! Rodrigo goes on there often to look up dork things. You know, computer parts and things like that. Me, well, I like to look at Hello Kitty, U2 and Incubus things, but I've only done that maybe two times in my life. Today I was talking to Brianna about the Littlest Pet Shop. She's really into this right now and has been for well over a year now. Rodrigo, a-hem, I mean Santa already bought her another play set for Christmas. She was telling me about the pets she wants to get. She wants the Panda bear (check. included in the play set), the monkey (check. included in the play set) and the sea horse (uh-oh. that elusive sea horse). When she started doing her homework, I went straight to the computer, went into EBay and found that darn sea horse. There were about 5 minutes left in the auction and no bids. So I placed one. I was the high bidder, then someone else bid. I bid more and it stayed that way until 26 seconds before it finished. The other person had the nerve to bid higher than me. All I could think was "Oh no she didn't". If I were able to swivel my neck, I'd have been doing that. It was sooooo on then. That sucker didn't count on the fact that I'm a fast typist. I placed the bid and with two seconds to go it was confirmed. A-ha! Take that! That sea horse is mine, be-yotch! (yeah, like I really talk like that) :P Uh, so much for the spirit of the season. I got really competitive for an eight dollar toy. Hey, but it was for my daughter and someone was getting in the way of that. You'd do the same thing, right?



feeling: too proud
listening to: Poe (Not A Virgin) <-- I got this song stuck in my head from my post title so I HAD to play it

bad news/good news

When we moved to Arizona I told all of you that the house we are currently living in was going to be a temporary home. We moved in July, are having a house built and were supposed to move into the new house in December. Well, that's not going to happen anymore. We're still having the house built but it is going to take about five more months for it to be completed. Suck.
This was bad news to me because I can't wait to move to the new house. I love, love, love our house we're having built. Oh . . . I just can't wait to decorate it, to be able to use that kitchen, to walk in to that view, there's just so much I want to do. As it is having to wait six months seemed like torture to me but now we're going to end up waiting almost a year total. Yeah, that's what I get for complaining so much about six months.
Another thing that I thought was bad was the whole credit change thing. Since we are already approved and in the middle of the whole contract thing, we can't make any major changes to the credit. That means we can't trade in my car or make any major purchases.
Rodrigo, on the other hand, thinks that it is really good news that we have this extra time. He sees it as extra time to save more money for a bigger down payment, for furniture, etc. Hmm, I guess. I'd just really like to be getting ready to move now rather than know that it won't be for a while. I mean, I purposely didn't unpack a lot of things since we were only going to be here for a short while. We don't have a lot of decorations up, no pictures on the walls. It all looks very sterile. I had thought that we would be spending Christmas in the new house. I didn't even send out change of address cards since I thought I'd be having to send some out only a short time later. Oh well. . . All I can do is wait.

feeling: anticipation
listening to: some Chris Cornell song

rhyme time

Rodrigo has this habit of changing words to things that rhyme with them. For example he calls Rob Thomas, Blob Thomas. Or the show Top Chef is Slop Chef. He's done this for as long as I've known him. At first, just like anything else he did, I thought it was the funniest, wittiest most novel thing in the world. Then it got a little annoying. Especially when he'd butcher lyrics (which is what he most often does). Now I'm just sort of indifferent for the most part. I'm just so used to it. We were in the car the other day listening to John Mayer. Rodrigo started singing "Your body is a blunderland". I had to laugh. Not so much because I thought it was funny but because he took a song which is a song that most any woman would love someone sing about them or to them, (imagine having someone actually write this song about you!) he changed a few letters and turned it into something so insulting. I mean, imagine someone actually telling you "your body is a blunderland". Unbelievable! I explained, we laughed and it was over for that. So I thought. He's now ruined the song for me. I heard it again and am now replacing blunderland for wonderland in my head. It completely changed the meaning of the song from something so sweet to something so 7th grade funny. I have to get back at him and ruin a song he likes. GRR!

feeling: annoyed
listening to: John Mayer (Belief)

loud house

My mom, dad and nephew are in town for the weekend. Yay for seeing family! Boo for the extremely loud house! You see the kids hadn't seen in each other for a while and of course all they want to do is play. Well, they want to play, scream, fight and cry, play, scream, fight and cry, play scream, fight and cry. You get the picture. It's funny that even though they end up fighting, they all just want to be together all the time. Poor Alec is getting bullied today. The youngest always gets it. They're playing Candyland in his room right now and he runs out crying every few minutes.

At today's football game Brianna had to audacity to tell her little cheerleader friends that she wishes she had a sister. I heard this and couldn't believe it. She hates when Alec goes into her room and gets things. I would imagine that a sister would be even more interested in her toys. Brianna would be mad all the time. I don't know. I think her chances of having a sister are slim to none. The older the kids get, the less I can imagine having another baby and just doing all the baby things over again.

Sorry, I have to go now. My mom has completely taken over my computer to play the all important Text Twist. I'm getting kicked out of the office.

feeling: happy to see my family
listening to: my mom telling me to move :)

tv deathwatch

Are any of you playing TV Deathwatch? What you do is pick the television shows that you think are going to be cancelled. It's funny because there are some shows on there that I'd never even heard of. Like Knights of the Prophecy. The game right now is for midseason shows, but in the beginning of the season, I was surprised at how many people were betting on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip to be cancelled. To be honest, I watched that show the first few times it was on but haven't kept up with it.

While I'm talking about shows, I'm glad to say that my favorite new show this season, 30 Rock, is moving to Thursdays! Yay! On the same night as The Office! The lineup is going to be My Name is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, and 30 Rock. Hmm . . .they might just be able to use the "Must See TV" slogan again and mean it.

feeling: uh-oh sneezy
listening to: Incubus Podcast

responses

Wow.....I'm soooo sorry that I'm barely posting this right now. I've been having some blogger issues lately. I haven't had much time for posting and whatever time I did have, I kept getting a "server down" message. When I was able to type something, it would freeze and not be able to post. So I saved the entries as drafts and I'm trying once again. . .

Ok, so here are the responses . . . .

-Nannette: This is what I wore today. . .


I usually don't wear t-shirts but I loved this one. It is an Asian Kellogg's shirt. I wore it with black pedal pushers and Crocs. Don't give me any greif about the Crocs. They're soooooo comfortable. Hmm, now that I see the clothes, it looks sort of frumpy. To my defense, I knew I had no where to go to today other than to drop off/pick up Brianna. Also, my hair looked say cute, so already I don't look like I just rolled out of bed (like some of the moms). I'm just saying.

-Ani: this is my favortie pair of shoes. . .



I love the classic look of Burberry, so I love these shoes. They're a size 7 1/2 which makes them two sizes too big for me. Everytime I wear them, my feet hurt because of that but it is a small price to pay to wear really cute shoes. :P

-Jess: surprisingly, my favorite place here is really the outdoors. I say "surprisingly" because I'm more of a "great indoors" type of person. I love the scenery here, the temperature, the weather, just all of it. These were taken in November. . .





Oh, and I also love Trader Joe's. I finally live where I can shop at one!

- Jodi: In the 90's I had the best dog in the world! His name was Brandy and I took him everywhere with me. I'd dress him up, let him sleep on my bed, take lots and lots of pictures of him. Aww.... I miss him.



That picture was taken in Halloween of 1995.

-Diana: One thing I'm working on for Christmas, I can't show. :) Since I think Thanksgiving gets the shaft, I tried making decorations. Here's what I have on my living room table (first picture). . .



I'm also having the kids work on an Advent Calendar. I bought 24 little boxes and are having them paint them. In each box I'm going to put a little treat or a thing to do. Things like baking cookies, writing a letter to Santa and mailing cards. (second picture)

-Ren: Nothing too exciting for dinner tonight either. We grilled.



-Michelle: If I could have anything right now and not have to worry about money, I'd love a car. I need a new one but since we're having a house built, we can't make major changes in the credit. I'd love to just have Santa leave me one.





I found pics of a Mini Cooper and a VW Beetle which I love.

That's all!

feeling: craving Thanksgiving stuffing
watching: The Tonight Show

still have nothing

I'm still having a serious case of the "I don't know what to post". Rather, it is more of a case of "I don't feel like posting" since I have about a million things that I want to write about. So today I'm leaving it up to you to help me. I'm asking you guys to name some things you want to see. Then I'll take a picture and post them as quickly as I can. I'd done this before and I received requests like "something you treasure, the inside of your fridge, and you". I'm also asking the codfish that come here and don't comment to play along because I'm really stuck on writing. Telling me on the phone or messenger doesn't count. You know who you are. Ok, so I guess this is to be continued . . . .

feeling: blah
watching: Dancing With The Stars

memoirs

I've been reading lots of memoirs lately. I don't know why, it sort of just happened. I'm always, always reading something and it had mostly been just fiction. The recent memoirs I've read are. . .

- The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I liked this book and all but I found so much of it so hard to believe. As a mother, I mean. Maybe it's better to say that I found lots of it hard to grasp. There are parts where she is a three year old and cooking hot dogs for herself and another part where the parents put all in the kids including a baby in the back of a Uhaul. I don't understand how parents could be like that.

- Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. I don't know how to explain David Sedaris but if you're read any of his books, you know. He's funny the stories are sort of disfunctional and entertaining.

- The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan. Well, I love Amy Tan so it was great to read more explanations of her works along with all the things she wrote about her life. If you are an Amy Tan fan, this is a must read.

- The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. This book was absolutely beautiful. I loved the way he told this story and makes you care about all the people in it. I was going through book withdrawl when I finished this book and we have an ongoing Moehringer thing here at my house. I'll explain in another post as it is a long story.

- Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. Uh, yikes! This was one of those books that I wanted to read and just kept putting it off. Then I heard that the movie was out and I thought I should really read this before I watch it. Wow, I'm surprised he's not some sort of psycho. I figure this stuff has to be true because who could make this up?

Right now I am reading a fiction book Rodrigo bought me but I have nothing new after that. Any recommendations?

feeling: tired
watching: Conan O'Brien

alec

The online album issue has been solved. Even though, technically I'm not supposed to do this, I'm going to share a couple of pictures with you for maybe a day or two. Then I'll take it down. So, here is my baby Alec. . .



feeling: cold
listening to: Christmas music

christmas season

Every year the holiday season seems to start earlier and earlier. Now everything just goes straight from Halloween to Christmas. Thanksgiving really does get the shaft. Still, this is the year that I've decorated the most for Thanksgiving.
Anyway, again I am pledging that this is the year that I will not procrastinate on the gift shopping. We actually already have a few gifts. I can't believe it! I always start shopping until after Thanksgiving but this year there were a whole lot of sales waaaayyyyyy before. Wish me luck. I pledge the same thing every year and every year I am one of the suckers stuck at the mall on Christmas Eve. Here's hoping. . . . .

feeling: relaxed
listening to: that horrible new Gwen song

siempre hay un pelo en la sopa

It's always something. ALWAYS. We took Alec to get portraits taken today. The session went well. The photographer guy was really nice. We received the pictures TODAY already and were overall really pleased. They gave us a proof sheet as well and told us that the pictures were already up and we could access them online. I got home and couldn't wait to share the album with friends and family. I logged on and noticed that a few of our favorite poses, poses that we had purchased were not on there. I read the troubleshooting area and finally called the studio. Since we'd had no problems at all, I KNOW that I was very pleasant and asked her if maybe not all the pictures were showing yet. The girl that answered was not the one that had helped us and she said that only the proofs that were shown to us were the ones that were online. I told her that we'd been shown those but others as well and the others were not on there. "Well", she said, "That's because you ordered one thing then made a change and ordered another thing". Ok, I absolutely hate it when someone in a customer service position tells me that I did something. I hate it when they say you did something instead of asking if you did it. Especially, especially when it is something that I did not do. I know for a fact that we did not make changes in the order. Rodrigo and I took a very long time trying to pick out the package and people went a couple of times to ask us if we needed help. We had a "for sure" stack, a "maybe" stack and a "no" stack. The pictures that are missing were from the for sure stack, so there is just no way that we had made a change on those. Then she said that we were first shown six poses and then someone brought out more. This is also not true. We were given a whole pile all at once and we sorted through them. I mean, come on, we're young parents who just had pictures taken of their child whom they think is just one of the best looking people walking the earth. That equals suckers. Do you really think they weren't going to show us all the poses? She finally said that she would have to rescan the whole session and repost everything over and she'd give me a call once it was completed. She sounded like this was the most difficult task ever. Whatever. I thanked her and we hung up. We'll see.
*I didn't link to the studio because it really was a great they did and I don't want my whining about one employee to make it sound like anything less.

feeling: sleepy
listening to: ahhhh......silence

nothing. nothing.

All this writing has drained me of words. I've got nothing to tell you. I mean, I do, but I don't feel like it. Does that make sense? I feel like anything I'd type out today would have a incredibly boring vibe. Or like all of you are thinking "Geez, enough about your kids already. Post something interesting".
I signed up to blog every day in November and am really, really trying hard to actually do it. Also, I'm stuck on NaNoWriMo. I'm super stuck and not even halfway through. Suck. I also just read over all I've written so far and find it incredibly dull. I'm going to become some sort of alcoholic or opimum addict a la Hemmingway or Poe and I bet I'd be an amazing writer. Ok, maybe not.

In uplifting news, Jenn is fantastic! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Jenn!



Ok, off to try to salvage this so called novel and neglect my children.

feeling: blah
listening to: Incubus (Echo)

booster seats

Sorry about all my soapbox posts as of late. I think I'm over it for a while. As much as I don't like to post about politics or religion, sometimes that's what's on my mind. No more Debbie Downer for a while, ok?

So, anyway. I was listening to the radio, paying attention for once and I heard an announcement about booster seats. It said that kids have to be in booster seats until they are 4'9". Four feet, nine inches! What?!?! I am 5'1" AND A HALF, mind you so that means I'd have to have been in a booster seat until I was like in high school. At least middle school. Ok, nevermind. I just went into the website and if you're older than 8, you don't need one. At 12, you can sit in the front seat. That's really old still, no? I wonder how Brianna would react if I put her back in a booster. I don't see ANY kids her age in one. Maybe four year olds and that's stretching it. Of course Alec is so small and thin, he'll be in one much longer than Brianna was.
It's funny how things change. I mean, I remember as a kid, I'd always ride in the front seat and I don't remember having to wear a seat belt. We never wore one until it became a law. I also remember when I'd go somewhere and we were a lot of kids, they'd put us in the bed of a pick-up truck. Not strapped in or anything. We would just sit down. Rodrigo and I were talking about this not too long ago. I was saying that I couldn't even imagine throwing the kids in the back of a pick-up. We came to the same conclusion: our parents hated us. ;)

feeling: I wish I could still be in bed
listening to: Pearl Jam (Dissident)

election results

Now that the results are in, I'm pretty pleased with the results. There were a few propositions that I was watching closely. One of them was a proposition to "protect marriage". I was SHOCKED that it was rejected. It was important for me to vote against it since Rodrigo and I are not married. It would potentially take away benefits and such (next of kin, life or death decisions). I know some people (like my mom) would say "well, just get married already" but really, if we do I want it to be because we thought it was time. Not because of a new law. I was almost sure the ban would pass because of all the older and conservative people that retire in Arizona but apparently many, many many of these retirees who have lost a spouse are now domestic partners with someone else of their age. Well, if they would get married, it would change their social security benefits, so they "live in sin" and voted against this proposition. Wow!
Anyway, I was reading one of our local papers online right now and I was shocked again. Shocked and sad really. We as a nation are sooooooo divided. Some of the comments I read were . .

- "now that the terrorists have won the election. ."
- "welcome to France"
- "It's the liberal media gloating"
- "hop the fence and go hide in Mexico"
- "It's all a liberal conspiracy"
- "Gays getting married is not at all, even remotely the same as heteros getting married"
- "you can make more sitting on your ass than picking produce"
- "At least now she can get some exercise since she'll be getting a bigger cage"

Isn't it just awful? Responses aren't much better just accusing people of crying and being racists and nazis. Sad, sad times. We need a leader that can unite and that people can admire and respect. Here's hoping. . . .

feeling: mixed feelings
listening to: Incubus (Anna Molly)

today's news

- Phew, I voted. Did you? I feel like I just took a final. I'm sooooo glad this election is over and now ready to hear the results. I read up as much as I could on the candidates and all the propositions. I am sooooooo glad I did, because some of the propositions were worded in a way that seems, hmm, not so different either way. I was glad to have known already my thoughts on each. I am happy to not have to see any more mudslinging ads. At least for a little while. I'm sure there are going to be a whole lot if the 2008 O.C. (Obama/Clinton) really happens.

- Saint Bono continues his good work. I love him. Although, I think technically, if canonized, he'd be Saint Paul.

- FINALLY!

- I bought Cars for Alec today. I predict that I am going to have to watch it about 75 million times. In the first week.

feeling: HOT!
listening to: Barefoot Music or Harold Barefoot (Doggy Fun)

bad, bad Brianna

Yes, I love my daughter. Yes, I'd do anything for her. Yes, she's usually nice but every now and then, wow, my daughter can be sooooo bad. She loves drama. Always has. We're pretty much used to it and don't make a huge deal about it. Tonight, though, she made me quite angry.
She was getting ready for bed was already in pajamas and had already brushed her teeth. Then she asked me what she was going to be wearing for school tomorrow and I showed her. When she saw the outfit, she wanted to sleep in curlers because "her hair had to be pretty with those clothes". I was putting the curlers on her and she kept fidgeting and whining. I started making conversation with her but she was in an arguing mood. I told her I was proud of her and her class for passing some tests. She started arguing saying that they weren't tests but instead "things they have to do". I was talking to her about an upcoming field trip and she said she didn't care. I knew she must be really sleepy since she gets in an "everbody is my enemy" mood when she's realy sleepy. She started moving her head away and was stopping my hand, so I told her to go to bed. I wasn't done placing all the curlers and I was sort of bluffing. I'd have gone into her room a minute later and finished but right then she stood up. She started removing the curlers one by one and saying, "Good. I. Didn't. Want. To. Wear. These. Anyway." At the same time she was throwing the curlers to the floor all over the living room. I was shocked! All I thought was "Oh no she didn't". In a calm voice I told her to pick them up and she almost screamed "No!". I told her again, this time in a firmer voice. She threw herself in a pseudo-faint worthy of an Oscar nomination, started picking them up all while crying and saying "It's not fair! It's not fair!". I don't know what wasn't fair, but I guess it wasn't. She went to bed. I followed a few minutes later to tuck her in and kiss her knowing she'd be over it but she was fast asleep. I felt horrible for not tucking her in but I kissed her anyway. Yikes. I wonder how the teen years are going to be.

feeling: sleepy
watching: Conan O'Brien

botanical garden

We took the kiddies to the botanical gardens today to see a butterfly exhibit. They LOVED it! I did too, of course. Ok, time to upload the pictures.

feeling: tired
listening to: Incubus (Anna Molly)

arizona autumn

It seems almost impossible for me to believe that we are already in November. I'm LOVING this mild Arizona weather. I know that I've said this before, but you would really have to be here to believe it. People are still walking about comfortably in shorts and tank tops. You can wear a light jacket really early in the mornings, but you better be wearing something summery underneath. The afternoons are at least in the mid 80's. Brianna and the rest of the cheerleader girls are still not cold in their uniforms. This picture was taken earlier today. Yes, today. In November.

On Arizona: Mountains. Blue skies. The air was like wine and the winters were like spring. - J.R. Moehringer

feeling: sleepy
listening to: Cary Brothers (Ride) <-- I listen to this song a lot

hacking democracy

Did everyone catch the premiere of the new HBO documentary, Hacking Democracy last night? Wow. We were speechless and very, very concerned. Rodrigo and I were talking about what could be done. I suggested a sort of receipt. You know, like a "just in case" sort of deal. I mean, you get a receipt for everything else, why not for something as important as this? Rodrigo, the techy surprised me by saying that the best solution would be strict paper ballots. He says that fake receipts would start popping up all over. My solution to this is some sort of transaction number and the person's id number printed on the receipt as well. I don't know, but something has to be done. I feel so unsafe heading into next week's elections. Anyway, if you didn't watch it, you should. It played on HBO, so I'm sure it'll be on heavy rotation for a while.

As NaBloPoMo continues, expect daily posts. . . .

feeling: concerned
watching: Law & Order SVU

black, white and red

While combing Brianna's hair, she told me this. . .

Brianna: You look nice today
me: Thank you, birdie
Brianna: you're welcome mama. yeah, you look different
me: different?
Brianna: yeah, I like your pink blouse. and your skirt
me: thanks
Brianna: and you're always wearing black.
me: oh
Brianna: or white. and red. but you look nice today
me: uh, thanks
Brianna: I wear all the colors, mama, not just black and all my friends always like my clothes. you should try it
me: (thinking: sheesh) thanks, birdie. I'll try it

I started thinking about the clothes I've worn the past few days and I have to admit that she is right. Yesterday I wore a red skirt and blouse outfit, Halloween I wore a black pantsuit (to my defense, I was wearing kitty ears, so I had to wear black), Monday I wore black slacks and a black Polo blouse (the Polo logo was torquoise, though) Sunday I wore a black skirt and a black, gray and red blouse, Saturday I wore khaki colored pedal pushers (a-ha!) and my favorite black Banana Republic blouse. I can't remember past that. Yikes, I do wear a lot of the same colors. Little does Brianna know that I am the lost member of the White Stripes. I know that black is slimming and all, but that's not the reason why I choose it. I mean, I'm just attracted to black clothes. I love the way they look like really classic. Plus, there are a few pieces of jewelry that I've been wearing for a while now and I like how they look against black. This is a common issue, right? I'm not the only one, am I?

feeling: I can't believe my 7 year old is giving me fashion tips
listening to: NPR

trick or treaters

I was amazed at how many trick or treaters were out last night. If I'd never been to this area and someone told me that the elementary school had just let out and all the kids went directly to trick or treating, I'd have believed it. The area was PACKED! It was also good to be able to see all the costumes. The weather was very pleasant and there was no need for even a sweater. A lot of the parents were out in shorts. Our house looked nice. We had pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, some eerie music, and a few skulls. There were some really nicely decorated houses around here. One house had jack-o-lanterns all over the lawn. They had 14 total, just laid out on the lawn. It looked NICE. Another house had about a million jars with tea lights hanging from their tree. That looked very creepy but I LOVED the idea. Other houses had fog and many, many houses had creepy music. I loved how the whole neighborhood got into the spirit. Last year we were one of about three houses on the block that were even giving out candy. I am also happy to report that we are in the "good candy" area. The kids are pleased.

feeling: nervous about actually completing nanowrimo
listening to: Breaking Benjamin (Diary of Jane)