11/28/12
This afternoon I was in a great mood. Miles had been insane since we were cooped up in the house due to the rain, but was chillin' hard in the car listening to some old Sam Cooke while we drove to pick up Isla from school. We got there early, she was in her cooking class where they read a book, then cook something related - this time it was pigs in a blanket. I glanced in the window of her preschool room and noticed her sitting happily at the table with the kids waiting for the food to be served. So, Miles and I walked around for awhile in the drizzling rain, checking out the playground and some little sculptures. When I went back to check if the kids were done, I noticed through the window that Isla wasn't sitting at the little table, and the teacher was frantically waving me in. Turns out, Isla had thrown up all over the table, which didn't seem to deter the rest of the kids, who were contentedly chowing on their pastry-wrapped hotdogs. I went over to the bathroom, and there was isla, getting a new outfit courtesy of her teacher from the lost and found box. She was a little green, and said her tummy hurt, so I gave her a big hug and said we'd go home, get some 7 up and some soda crackers and curl up in front of a movie.
In the car, I gave her a plastic bag and said if her mouth felt funny, to hold it open and throw up inside there. Now I don't know about you, but throwing up for me is an intense experience, there's tears and snot and heaving and "no, no, no nonononononono's" right before the eruption of stomach contents. This is not true for Isla, who apparently can puke mid-sentence, then continue once the convulsion is over. She threw up in the bag, then, proud of her accomplishment, told me that she did so, only to have her sentence interrupted by a huge spewing of dried mango and yogurt, that missed the bag completely and probably filled the entire carseat. This was my day.
Don't worry, Isla's fine.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Year of writing 315. Wisdom of youth.
11/27/12
My facebook status as of today was a gem from Isla again:
My facebook status as of today was a gem from Isla again:
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Year of writing 314.
11/27/12
As I write this, my daughter and I are sitting on the couch watching "the Grinch." She is four, mind you, and has spent the entire first half of the movie explaining to me why he is not really a bad character, he is trying to save Christmas from a town that has forgotten that it's not just about presents and money. Plus, he's funny because he hit himself in the head with a hammer.
This girl is awesome.
As I write this, my daughter and I are sitting on the couch watching "the Grinch." She is four, mind you, and has spent the entire first half of the movie explaining to me why he is not really a bad character, he is trying to save Christmas from a town that has forgotten that it's not just about presents and money. Plus, he's funny because he hit himself in the head with a hammer.
This girl is awesome.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Year of writing 313. Back to it.
11/26/12
If every day was as easy as it was today, this stay at home thing would be a breeze. We woke up late, nobody stressed, Isla ate her breakfast in the car without wiping it all over herself and the baby, & got off to school without a hitch. Then Miles and I went to Ventura without him once pooping his pants, throwing a fit, or trying to eat his shoes. He slept for two hours while I read a book. A BOOK! Then we headed over and picked up Isla and Zia for gymanstics, where the girls tumbled giddily while Miles played serenely in the sandbox at the park outside and angels fed me grapes while I lounged in the uncharacteristic November sun. Yeah, it was a good day.
If every day was as easy as it was today, this stay at home thing would be a breeze. We woke up late, nobody stressed, Isla ate her breakfast in the car without wiping it all over herself and the baby, & got off to school without a hitch. Then Miles and I went to Ventura without him once pooping his pants, throwing a fit, or trying to eat his shoes. He slept for two hours while I read a book. A BOOK! Then we headed over and picked up Isla and Zia for gymanstics, where the girls tumbled giddily while Miles played serenely in the sandbox at the park outside and angels fed me grapes while I lounged in the uncharacteristic November sun. Yeah, it was a good day.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Year of writing 312. The thanksgiving break.
11/25/12
After a visit with my Grandma this break, I have made an executive decision to recommit to this blog. If for nothing else than that she can read it and laugh at my mishaps as a stay at home dad (or commiserate, whatever the case may be).
This week definitely had its ups and downs like any good rollercoaster - we decided to leave the loving arms of our families, who have smothered us with love and kindness for the last 6 months since moving down here, to visit some well-missed friends in the Bay. We've found that the best way to travel with our kids, as well as maximize the time we get in a place is to leave around 4 AM, so the kids will sleep. Yeah, not so much this time. I finally finished packing up around 1 AM, slept til 4 and hit the road. Isla settled back into her carseat and immediately asked for Disney songs on the stereo - now, I'm not exactly a musical snob or anything, but princess songs at 4 in the morning are a little bit like rubbing broken glass mixed with lemon juice in your eyeballs. This unfortunately means that princess songs at 4 in the morning on three hours sleep is worse than that. We did OK, besides being tired as hell, and cruised into Oakland around 11:30 in the morning.
The first day was a really nice time, seeing friends and reconnecting. I do really miss the bay area and all of its diversity, cuisine and awesome people. I do not really miss the traffic, or the crowds AT ALL. In the early afternoon I had to pick up our awesome turkey at Whole Foods, so I drove down the block, lamenting how close everything is in Oakland, until I ran into the line of about 30 cars waiting to get into the parking lot. The market was Pre-Thanksgiving chaos. Around 20 security guards were directing traffic in the most aggressive way I've ever witnessed - I saw one burly dude screaming into an elderly woman's car, berating her for not moving fast enough out of her parking place. I was more than a little scared, wondering if my maneuvers were good enough for these monsters. I did finally get into the store, however, and while it was like being at a sold-out concert minus the music or fun, I got out with only minor cuts and bruises and a 17 pound turkey.
We decided to brine the turkey, which required wrestling it out of the package, washing it (upon which I discovered that the heart was still attached to the inside of the bird, and removed it with my hand, holding it aloft like some crazed caveman, then promptly grossing myself out so much I had to take a little break). Then, I had to wrestle the turkey into a brining bag, which is somewhat like trying to fetch a naked toddler out of the bath, and into the fridge.
This would have been the start to a beautiful Thanksgiving. Then, Tegan caught an overnight flu. My poor wife spent the entire day shivering with a fever on the couch, while we made the meal. At least she did get to eat.
Highlights of the rest of the trip include:
1) Leftover turkey, sweet potato curry put together by Janey
2) Our friends' kid who is precociously verbose, making a joke out of a nonsense word "Pite" then using it as an inside joke the rest of the trip
3) Seeing my old student, Christsna when we went out to eat.
4) Reconnecting with my old college roommate and his girlfriend for drinks.
5) Spending precious time with my grandma at her house in Walnut Creek
Lowlights:
1) Being sick
2) Missing out on seeing people - especially an old teaching partner I was excited to see
3) The drive back with insane children.
4) Snot.
After a visit with my Grandma this break, I have made an executive decision to recommit to this blog. If for nothing else than that she can read it and laugh at my mishaps as a stay at home dad (or commiserate, whatever the case may be).
This week definitely had its ups and downs like any good rollercoaster - we decided to leave the loving arms of our families, who have smothered us with love and kindness for the last 6 months since moving down here, to visit some well-missed friends in the Bay. We've found that the best way to travel with our kids, as well as maximize the time we get in a place is to leave around 4 AM, so the kids will sleep. Yeah, not so much this time. I finally finished packing up around 1 AM, slept til 4 and hit the road. Isla settled back into her carseat and immediately asked for Disney songs on the stereo - now, I'm not exactly a musical snob or anything, but princess songs at 4 in the morning are a little bit like rubbing broken glass mixed with lemon juice in your eyeballs. This unfortunately means that princess songs at 4 in the morning on three hours sleep is worse than that. We did OK, besides being tired as hell, and cruised into Oakland around 11:30 in the morning.
The first day was a really nice time, seeing friends and reconnecting. I do really miss the bay area and all of its diversity, cuisine and awesome people. I do not really miss the traffic, or the crowds AT ALL. In the early afternoon I had to pick up our awesome turkey at Whole Foods, so I drove down the block, lamenting how close everything is in Oakland, until I ran into the line of about 30 cars waiting to get into the parking lot. The market was Pre-Thanksgiving chaos. Around 20 security guards were directing traffic in the most aggressive way I've ever witnessed - I saw one burly dude screaming into an elderly woman's car, berating her for not moving fast enough out of her parking place. I was more than a little scared, wondering if my maneuvers were good enough for these monsters. I did finally get into the store, however, and while it was like being at a sold-out concert minus the music or fun, I got out with only minor cuts and bruises and a 17 pound turkey.
We decided to brine the turkey, which required wrestling it out of the package, washing it (upon which I discovered that the heart was still attached to the inside of the bird, and removed it with my hand, holding it aloft like some crazed caveman, then promptly grossing myself out so much I had to take a little break). Then, I had to wrestle the turkey into a brining bag, which is somewhat like trying to fetch a naked toddler out of the bath, and into the fridge.
This would have been the start to a beautiful Thanksgiving. Then, Tegan caught an overnight flu. My poor wife spent the entire day shivering with a fever on the couch, while we made the meal. At least she did get to eat.
Highlights of the rest of the trip include:
1) Leftover turkey, sweet potato curry put together by Janey
2) Our friends' kid who is precociously verbose, making a joke out of a nonsense word "Pite" then using it as an inside joke the rest of the trip
3) Seeing my old student, Christsna when we went out to eat.
4) Reconnecting with my old college roommate and his girlfriend for drinks.
5) Spending precious time with my grandma at her house in Walnut Creek
Lowlights:
1) Being sick
2) Missing out on seeing people - especially an old teaching partner I was excited to see
3) The drive back with insane children.
4) Snot.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Year of writing 311. Fairy time.
11/14/12
Isla's Wednesdays away from school have gotten into a rhythm, which is pretty rad. We wake up in the morning, do a couple chores, then head out to get breakfast at the coffee shop. Isla gets a bagel & cream cheese or a muffin and some hot chocolate, and Miles throws shit on the floor. But it's still cool just to hang out with my kids at a coffee shop on a Wednesday morning. Then we walk over to the park and play for a while, go to the library and check out some new books and it's back home so Miles can nap. Usually, this is where the day breaks down, because it's as far as I plan. However, today Zia came over before Miles woke up for his nap - the girls played for a bit, then when he woke up, we decided to go to the rocketship park. (check earlier entries for verification).
At the park, the girls were occupied from 1:00 to 3:30, playing a game where they each took turns being different kinds of fairy, then gathering whatever supplies a fairy of this genre would need for a party. For example, Isla started as the grass fairy, so she made a big pile of grass. At first Zia allowed herself to be ordered into a fairy class, and ended up the "sand fairy," so she sat despondent in the sandbox until she realized she could make the rules as well, and ended up being a leaf fairy, then gathering huge Maple leaves until there was a big enough pile. I was the dirt fairy, the litter fairy, and in my lowest moment, the dog poop and diaper fairy. I guess I had to take one for the team.
Isla's Wednesdays away from school have gotten into a rhythm, which is pretty rad. We wake up in the morning, do a couple chores, then head out to get breakfast at the coffee shop. Isla gets a bagel & cream cheese or a muffin and some hot chocolate, and Miles throws shit on the floor. But it's still cool just to hang out with my kids at a coffee shop on a Wednesday morning. Then we walk over to the park and play for a while, go to the library and check out some new books and it's back home so Miles can nap. Usually, this is where the day breaks down, because it's as far as I plan. However, today Zia came over before Miles woke up for his nap - the girls played for a bit, then when he woke up, we decided to go to the rocketship park. (check earlier entries for verification).
At the park, the girls were occupied from 1:00 to 3:30, playing a game where they each took turns being different kinds of fairy, then gathering whatever supplies a fairy of this genre would need for a party. For example, Isla started as the grass fairy, so she made a big pile of grass. At first Zia allowed herself to be ordered into a fairy class, and ended up the "sand fairy," so she sat despondent in the sandbox until she realized she could make the rules as well, and ended up being a leaf fairy, then gathering huge Maple leaves until there was a big enough pile. I was the dirt fairy, the litter fairy, and in my lowest moment, the dog poop and diaper fairy. I guess I had to take one for the team.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Year of writing 310. Work
11/13/12
My hands bear a good hurt,
a deep soreness at the base of the thumb,
this is what work feels like.
Shovels and dirt and rust and hammers
I've become out of practice, my hands
preoccupied with rest and comfort.
I don't miss the cuts, the nicks and scrapes
until they're back. I don't miss the ache
until it's throb knocks at the doors of my bones.
My hands bear a good hurt,
a deep soreness at the base of the thumb,
this is what work feels like.
Shovels and dirt and rust and hammers
I've become out of practice, my hands
preoccupied with rest and comfort.
I don't miss the cuts, the nicks and scrapes
until they're back. I don't miss the ache
until it's throb knocks at the doors of my bones.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Year of writing 309. I can do this.
11/12/12
I don't have any excuses for not updating for the last six days. Nothing has happened that should have precluded me writing, in fact, nothing of note happened at all. That shouldn't have stopped me from writing, actually, that's usually when the best writing happens. I just had writers block and couldn't get out of my own head enough to power through it.
Looking at a blank screen sometimes is the scariest thing I do. Even knowing that I am doing this ultimately for myself, (and my children, if I ever dare show them) I sometimes can't bring myself to commit to the words I write down. I hit the backspace button after every word, second guessing each sentence. In fact, it's happening now as I'm writing these words down - but I'm going to finish this entry this time.
So catching up to today - I had a horrendous DJ experience turn decent after epic malfunctions, I watched guys cut down our dead tree, helped a friend find a poem to read at a funeral, and found out that my house is hella cold in the winter time. There's no gas to our house, which means no heat. Which leads to today.
Today I dug a ditch. Seriously. Again. I was trying to find a gas line that we cut off when we were doing all the work on the house in the beginning. I found it, it took a couple hours of digging while Isla played in the sawdust left over from the tree being cut down and Miles tried to eat cat poop. When I got it all dug out, my dad came out and told me to fill it in again. This is my life now.
At least I got to tear a wall down in the garage. I'll comment more if it works out.
Also, since Isla got a day off preschool for Veterans Day, my sister offered to take her to Wreck it Ralph with the cousins - any smidgeon of time occupied for a four year old will be cherished by me, so of course I said yes.
I took the kids to Ventura and dropped Isla off at the movies with her Auntie. Then I realized I had two hours to kill with a 14 month old who was already pissed off because he couldn't pull the steering wheel off his little stroller car thing. I mean, I supposed it could have been residual cat poop ingestion, but that's a cop out in my opinion. We tried going into a couple thrift stores, but I think his ego couldn't take it and he began wailing as soon as the grandpa smell hit him. So, I instead went to this consignment mall store that sells collectibles and knick knacks. I was looking for a She-Ra doll for Isla, who is now obsessed with that show, but no luck. As I was leaving the store, Miles reached out and grabbed the lid of a Marilyn Monroe cookie jar on the end of a glass counter and launched it. It slid the length of the counter and teetered on the other side, way too far for me to save. Luckily, right then, a nimble good Samaritan happened to be walking by and saved the jar from falling. As I thanked him, I noticed the price tag. $549.00. For a cookie jar. Either Miles or I shit our pants immediately, I'm not telling who.
I don't have any excuses for not updating for the last six days. Nothing has happened that should have precluded me writing, in fact, nothing of note happened at all. That shouldn't have stopped me from writing, actually, that's usually when the best writing happens. I just had writers block and couldn't get out of my own head enough to power through it.
Looking at a blank screen sometimes is the scariest thing I do. Even knowing that I am doing this ultimately for myself, (and my children, if I ever dare show them) I sometimes can't bring myself to commit to the words I write down. I hit the backspace button after every word, second guessing each sentence. In fact, it's happening now as I'm writing these words down - but I'm going to finish this entry this time.
So catching up to today - I had a horrendous DJ experience turn decent after epic malfunctions, I watched guys cut down our dead tree, helped a friend find a poem to read at a funeral, and found out that my house is hella cold in the winter time. There's no gas to our house, which means no heat. Which leads to today.
Today I dug a ditch. Seriously. Again. I was trying to find a gas line that we cut off when we were doing all the work on the house in the beginning. I found it, it took a couple hours of digging while Isla played in the sawdust left over from the tree being cut down and Miles tried to eat cat poop. When I got it all dug out, my dad came out and told me to fill it in again. This is my life now.
At least I got to tear a wall down in the garage. I'll comment more if it works out.
Also, since Isla got a day off preschool for Veterans Day, my sister offered to take her to Wreck it Ralph with the cousins - any smidgeon of time occupied for a four year old will be cherished by me, so of course I said yes.
I took the kids to Ventura and dropped Isla off at the movies with her Auntie. Then I realized I had two hours to kill with a 14 month old who was already pissed off because he couldn't pull the steering wheel off his little stroller car thing. I mean, I supposed it could have been residual cat poop ingestion, but that's a cop out in my opinion. We tried going into a couple thrift stores, but I think his ego couldn't take it and he began wailing as soon as the grandpa smell hit him. So, I instead went to this consignment mall store that sells collectibles and knick knacks. I was looking for a She-Ra doll for Isla, who is now obsessed with that show, but no luck. As I was leaving the store, Miles reached out and grabbed the lid of a Marilyn Monroe cookie jar on the end of a glass counter and launched it. It slid the length of the counter and teetered on the other side, way too far for me to save. Luckily, right then, a nimble good Samaritan happened to be walking by and saved the jar from falling. As I thanked him, I noticed the price tag. $549.00. For a cookie jar. Either Miles or I shit our pants immediately, I'm not telling who.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Year of writing 308. The Election.
11/6/12
I watched the election coverage last night on a bunch of channels: Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, DemocracyNow, ABC, The Drudge Report, The Huffington Post. And here's my take on the whole thing:
1. This political game we play has become so media saturated that people actually internalize the BS that comes out of all camps.
2. I live in a "progressive state" that fails to pass progressive policies.
3. People get really, really mad when money they've used to back a candidate does not show a return.
4. My daughter says: "I will vote for brock obama because romney doesn't like girls." If she's catching that vibe, maybe romney needs to brush up on his feminism.
5. The kid that got up on stage with Obama sporting the Rakim high top fade from 1983 was so awesome I almost pooped my pants.
6. While I'm glad I voted, so I could at least see prop 30 support education in CA, it was pretty anticlimactic to see California called like 15 seconds after the polls closed.
7. Carl Rove is completely insane. See #3.
8. I love my family, and I hope everybody who was really upset about Romney not winning goes back and looks at the posts they made on facebook or otherwise after seeing that they're ok in four years and maybe rethinks the hateful drivel they've leveraged toward a man for no other apparent reason than he's black.
I watched the election coverage last night on a bunch of channels: Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, DemocracyNow, ABC, The Drudge Report, The Huffington Post. And here's my take on the whole thing:
1. This political game we play has become so media saturated that people actually internalize the BS that comes out of all camps.
2. I live in a "progressive state" that fails to pass progressive policies.
3. People get really, really mad when money they've used to back a candidate does not show a return.
4. My daughter says: "I will vote for brock obama because romney doesn't like girls." If she's catching that vibe, maybe romney needs to brush up on his feminism.
5. The kid that got up on stage with Obama sporting the Rakim high top fade from 1983 was so awesome I almost pooped my pants.
6. While I'm glad I voted, so I could at least see prop 30 support education in CA, it was pretty anticlimactic to see California called like 15 seconds after the polls closed.
7. Carl Rove is completely insane. See #3.
8. I love my family, and I hope everybody who was really upset about Romney not winning goes back and looks at the posts they made on facebook or otherwise after seeing that they're ok in four years and maybe rethinks the hateful drivel they've leveraged toward a man for no other apparent reason than he's black.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Year of writing 307. The moth.
11/5/12
OK, I know I missed the weekend. Don't worry about it, it was nothing to write home about. Besides, I'm human, I can miss a weekend.
None of that is relevant however. Ojai is a city of bugs, big bugs, little bugs, spiders, all kinds. I forgot this until I moved back and have been on a neverending quest to end the lives of most of these. It almost came back to me today.
As I was taking a shower (our shower is an enclosed glass box in a tiny bathroom), I heard a noise - sort of like a shirt flapping in the wind. I wiped the soap out of my eyes to find I was staring at a moth the size of a fucking sparrow beating its horrid wings around the light. I froze in my glass prison, willing it to go back out the window, which seemed impossible due to the fact that this thing was a mutant moth from hell and couldn't possibly fit. As I was contemplating how to escape this situation unmothed, the bastard dove from the light DOWN INTO THE SHOWER where I was cringing. Suppressing the urge to curl into the fetal position, I reached quickly for the door handle, missed, slipped, and almost went headfirst through the glass, if I hadn't put one foot out for balance. This moth had almost been the end of me, dear readers. The end of the story is not even close to as good as the beginning - I escaped, and in all my naked glory, tried to find a smashing implement that would allow me to be at the furthest distance possible from this Silence of the Lambs extra. However, upon my return to the bathroom I found it had escaped back into the Ojai night. Hopefully never to be seen again. Ever.
OK, I know I missed the weekend. Don't worry about it, it was nothing to write home about. Besides, I'm human, I can miss a weekend.
None of that is relevant however. Ojai is a city of bugs, big bugs, little bugs, spiders, all kinds. I forgot this until I moved back and have been on a neverending quest to end the lives of most of these. It almost came back to me today.
As I was taking a shower (our shower is an enclosed glass box in a tiny bathroom), I heard a noise - sort of like a shirt flapping in the wind. I wiped the soap out of my eyes to find I was staring at a moth the size of a fucking sparrow beating its horrid wings around the light. I froze in my glass prison, willing it to go back out the window, which seemed impossible due to the fact that this thing was a mutant moth from hell and couldn't possibly fit. As I was contemplating how to escape this situation unmothed, the bastard dove from the light DOWN INTO THE SHOWER where I was cringing. Suppressing the urge to curl into the fetal position, I reached quickly for the door handle, missed, slipped, and almost went headfirst through the glass, if I hadn't put one foot out for balance. This moth had almost been the end of me, dear readers. The end of the story is not even close to as good as the beginning - I escaped, and in all my naked glory, tried to find a smashing implement that would allow me to be at the furthest distance possible from this Silence of the Lambs extra. However, upon my return to the bathroom I found it had escaped back into the Ojai night. Hopefully never to be seen again. Ever.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Year of writing 306. Friday .
11/2/12
To get back to some stay at home dad lessons - which I haven't done in a while - here's a list of stuff I need to remember for next time:
1. Kids are only as patient as you are. This means with zero sleep, you can expect madness from your little ones. When you act a fool, there's no inverse correlation to how good your kids will be. That's just duh.
2. Dress nicely. For serious, I put on a shirt and tie this morning for the first time since stopping work, and people treated me so much better. Even the stuck up mom who wrinkles her nose when I say good morning stopped and cooed over Miles in the parking lot this morning. What the hell that is, I don't know, but I'm milking it.
3. If there is more than 36 hours between poops, don't over worry and take your kid to the emergency room, however be prepared for sheer pandemonium once that baby gets uncorked. I believe this last one literally lifted Miles up off the floor when it was unleashed into his diaper.
4. Isla is a univore. She will eat only one thing. It used to be pasta, now it's broccoli - go figure.
5. The switch witch (invented to trade out kids' candy for a present of some kind left on the porch) is the best holiday gift character ever. Isla had her candy for 2 days before she was itching to trade it in. I get candy, she gets a toy. Everybody wins.
To get back to some stay at home dad lessons - which I haven't done in a while - here's a list of stuff I need to remember for next time:
1. Kids are only as patient as you are. This means with zero sleep, you can expect madness from your little ones. When you act a fool, there's no inverse correlation to how good your kids will be. That's just duh.
2. Dress nicely. For serious, I put on a shirt and tie this morning for the first time since stopping work, and people treated me so much better. Even the stuck up mom who wrinkles her nose when I say good morning stopped and cooed over Miles in the parking lot this morning. What the hell that is, I don't know, but I'm milking it.
3. If there is more than 36 hours between poops, don't over worry and take your kid to the emergency room, however be prepared for sheer pandemonium once that baby gets uncorked. I believe this last one literally lifted Miles up off the floor when it was unleashed into his diaper.
4. Isla is a univore. She will eat only one thing. It used to be pasta, now it's broccoli - go figure.
5. The switch witch (invented to trade out kids' candy for a present of some kind left on the porch) is the best holiday gift character ever. Isla had her candy for 2 days before she was itching to trade it in. I get candy, she gets a toy. Everybody wins.
Year of writing 305. The Day after.
11/01/12
There's nothing like sleeping 2 hours to make taking care of kids impossible. Our DJ set at Azu last night was pretty epic, we closed the joint down - but that meant I wasn't in bed til 3, wasn't asleep til 4. You know that you're really tired when your eyes feel like sandpaper at 10 in the morning. Oh well, at least I know I can take a nap when Miles does. That is, unless the second I fall asleep, I get the neighbor knocking on the door asking if I've seen a small black and white dog. "Yeah, man - while I was sleeping in my house, I saw it running around in my dreams." That's what I said in my head anyway.
There's nothing like sleeping 2 hours to make taking care of kids impossible. Our DJ set at Azu last night was pretty epic, we closed the joint down - but that meant I wasn't in bed til 3, wasn't asleep til 4. You know that you're really tired when your eyes feel like sandpaper at 10 in the morning. Oh well, at least I know I can take a nap when Miles does. That is, unless the second I fall asleep, I get the neighbor knocking on the door asking if I've seen a small black and white dog. "Yeah, man - while I was sleeping in my house, I saw it running around in my dreams." That's what I said in my head anyway.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
year of writing 304. Halloween.
10/31/12
This year's Halloween was extremely eventful. The day started off with Isla being able to participate in her preschool's party even though it wasn't her day to be at school. I made Tegan get her costume picked out and ready the night before, as I was witness to her meltdown last year trying to choose a costume for the day, and wanted to avoid all of that. She decided on a "fairy cowgirl" costume. That's fine, even though I had worked really hard to put together a rad Hermione Granger costume (by working hard, I mean pressing buttons on Amazon and Etsy, don't judge me). So, when morning came, I thought we were good to go. Yeah. Right. The cowgirl fairy costume was too "blue." The princess costumes in her dress up box were too "itchy." The Hermione costume wasn't pretty enough. The Witch costume had too poofy a skirt. About this time, we were already late for school, I had a huge migrane headache and I wanted to punt my sweet little daughter over the fence. Finally, I pulled out a doctors' jacket Tegan had bought for her at her old job and convinced her how cool it would be to go as a doctor.
Not only was it cool, it was a totally empowering costume. Sweet. We hopped in the car and headed to school. As we approached, Isla could see all the little kids milling around, and 9 out of every 10 girls were princesses. I could see her physically sink deeper and deeper into her carseat, and I knew that this was going to be tough. She did get out, however, and hiding behind my leg, made her way to the classroom. As soon as we got inside the gate, a little girl yelled out "Isla, THAT's what you're wearing? hahahahhahaha!" and then ran away. Shoving aside my desire to shove all of her plastic doctor accoutrements down this little shit's throat, I turned to Isla as tears started to roll down her face and said "That girl will never be able to be a doctor, don't worry." It didn't work. Her wonderfully nice teacher attempted to give her a princess costume that is in their dress up area, but it was again, "Too itchy" so Isla just sulked in the corner. Luckily, a sweet little boy named Finn saved the day when he shared his line leader duties with Isla, bringing her back into the fold.
Like my wife told her when she got home, 20 years from now Isla, you'll look back on that decision to be a doctor in preschool with pride, and that little girl who yelled at you will probably be wearing sweatpants and 11 AM, eating tootsie rolls while she surfs the internet and throws the wrappers into her kids crib. Forget her.
This year's Halloween was extremely eventful. The day started off with Isla being able to participate in her preschool's party even though it wasn't her day to be at school. I made Tegan get her costume picked out and ready the night before, as I was witness to her meltdown last year trying to choose a costume for the day, and wanted to avoid all of that. She decided on a "fairy cowgirl" costume. That's fine, even though I had worked really hard to put together a rad Hermione Granger costume (by working hard, I mean pressing buttons on Amazon and Etsy, don't judge me). So, when morning came, I thought we were good to go. Yeah. Right. The cowgirl fairy costume was too "blue." The princess costumes in her dress up box were too "itchy." The Hermione costume wasn't pretty enough. The Witch costume had too poofy a skirt. About this time, we were already late for school, I had a huge migrane headache and I wanted to punt my sweet little daughter over the fence. Finally, I pulled out a doctors' jacket Tegan had bought for her at her old job and convinced her how cool it would be to go as a doctor.
Not only was it cool, it was a totally empowering costume. Sweet. We hopped in the car and headed to school. As we approached, Isla could see all the little kids milling around, and 9 out of every 10 girls were princesses. I could see her physically sink deeper and deeper into her carseat, and I knew that this was going to be tough. She did get out, however, and hiding behind my leg, made her way to the classroom. As soon as we got inside the gate, a little girl yelled out "Isla, THAT's what you're wearing? hahahahhahaha!" and then ran away. Shoving aside my desire to shove all of her plastic doctor accoutrements down this little shit's throat, I turned to Isla as tears started to roll down her face and said "That girl will never be able to be a doctor, don't worry." It didn't work. Her wonderfully nice teacher attempted to give her a princess costume that is in their dress up area, but it was again, "Too itchy" so Isla just sulked in the corner. Luckily, a sweet little boy named Finn saved the day when he shared his line leader duties with Isla, bringing her back into the fold.
Like my wife told her when she got home, 20 years from now Isla, you'll look back on that decision to be a doctor in preschool with pride, and that little girl who yelled at you will probably be wearing sweatpants and 11 AM, eating tootsie rolls while she surfs the internet and throws the wrappers into her kids crib. Forget her.
Year of writing 303. The people from the bay.
10/30/12
It took one of my good friends visiting from the Bay down here to realize just how much I miss the Bay Area and all of its inhabitants. When one moves from a place where one was living for the last sixteen years, building relationships and forming community, it's pretty shocking to pull up roots and move away. Luckily we are in a place where there is built in community with family and old friends, but I still have to get my Bay fix every once in awhile.
Thank you to Joe and Hong for coming out with their baby boy and spending a night with us, catching up and doing what one does in Ojai - chilling hard.
It took one of my good friends visiting from the Bay down here to realize just how much I miss the Bay Area and all of its inhabitants. When one moves from a place where one was living for the last sixteen years, building relationships and forming community, it's pretty shocking to pull up roots and move away. Luckily we are in a place where there is built in community with family and old friends, but I still have to get my Bay fix every once in awhile.
Thank you to Joe and Hong for coming out with their baby boy and spending a night with us, catching up and doing what one does in Ojai - chilling hard.
Year of writing 302. Monday blues.
10/29/12
Miles seems to get all Dilbert about Mondays. His teeth hurt, he doesn't want to eat anything, but really wants to throw all his food on the ground, he seeks out anything dirty or disgusting and wipes it all over his face and hair, and generally acts outrageously. This makes me think that perhaps people's widespread hatred of Mondays may perhaps be genetic, it may be in our DNA. I don't have any empirical evidence as of yet, but I am conducting a double blind study in which I will attempt to convince Miles that Tuesdays are actually Mondays and see if anything happens. Meanwhile, Isla will be given candy for breakfast lunch and dinner on Mondays, prepping her to love them, while her body will go into hypoglycemic shock on Tuesday. This experiment is going to be so awesome.
Miles seems to get all Dilbert about Mondays. His teeth hurt, he doesn't want to eat anything, but really wants to throw all his food on the ground, he seeks out anything dirty or disgusting and wipes it all over his face and hair, and generally acts outrageously. This makes me think that perhaps people's widespread hatred of Mondays may perhaps be genetic, it may be in our DNA. I don't have any empirical evidence as of yet, but I am conducting a double blind study in which I will attempt to convince Miles that Tuesdays are actually Mondays and see if anything happens. Meanwhile, Isla will be given candy for breakfast lunch and dinner on Mondays, prepping her to love them, while her body will go into hypoglycemic shock on Tuesday. This experiment is going to be so awesome.
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