Park Fluff

Random fluff from a recent park visit

Sofia guiding her brother



Freedom! Squee!



David being cute and happy



William being not happy



Ma!! Let me out!!!!!!



Sofia using her new skates (thrift store purchase) and thinking she is a bad ass



I have started calling Sofia SpiderGirl as she never ceases to amaze me with her mad climbing skills









Photos of the gogurt incident

I know better than to give little ones gogurt, really I do, but they always see big sis eating it and I thought it would be ok to bring to the park. Notsomuch. It was dripped on the ground, then stepped in, all over their clothes and faces. Never again.







Sofia showing me her displeasure at leaving the park



What's wrong with this picture? That is a Christmas decoration hanging and a pumpkin hiding in the bushes

Old Friends

Sofia and I went to visit my friends in San Francisco yesterday. This is my former best friend, maid of honor (and I hers), her husband and their 3 mo old baby. I say former because the 2 of us got engaged at the same time (along with a 3rd friend) and it literally became a females-gone-crazy situation a la "Bride Wars." It's a really long story (albeit kind of a good one) so I'll spare you the details for another day, but I swore that after the wedding we would never be close again.

It's been 5 years and we see each other rarely. I occasionally feel bad about this, but then I remember all the shenanigans she pulled. As she has just had given birth to her first child, I've started to feel traces of guilt for distancing myself from her and dare I say, pangs of missing her.

Just driving through her the neighborhood in Noe Valley, I was flooded with memories of many evenings spent at a local bar there 10-12 years ago. What use to be called "The Rover" - a working class, Irish pub with plumbers, electricians and city workers glued to its bar stools is now called "Bliss Bar" and serves martinis and girlie drinks. The neighborhood was just starting to gentrify 10 years ago, it is now complete in its transformation. Upscale shops, boutiques, restaurants and businesses line the streets. It is a yippy (yuppie hippy) paradise.

But I digress.

It was really nice to catch up. I'm not sure if my newfound warm and fuzzies are due to the fact that she's "one of the club" now or if I'm just starved for some girl time, but it was actually quite nice to catch up and soak in some new baby goodness.

Being a typical 3.75 yr old and gregarious by nature, my daughter has no concept of censoring what she says at any given moment. I know you all have been there. My friends live in a studio apartment in a trendy, high rent area. Sofia's first question upon sitting on the couch was "Where are the rest of the rooms, mommy?"

"Where does the baby sleep?" "Where's the baby's room?" "Where's the baby's toys?" continued the line of questioning.

We ended up eating dinner there and when we were done, my daughter asked what they had for dessert. Then, she wanted a snack. By the time we left, she had managed to finagle an apple, Hershey's kisses, a fig bar and a bunch of honey roasted peanuts from my unsuspecting friends.

I am pretty sure they thought her constant snack seeking was cute, but I do believe "Bottomless pit" was used at one point.

Note to self: Need to work on manners with S. and bring more snacks when going for visits.

Betty Crocker Me Not

Ok, you know you are not much with the cooking when you take your daughter to visit a friend and upon seeing the friend's rack of pots and pans hanging from her wall, your daughter exclaims, "MOMMY? What are those?"

Esta Blog

Oh my god, another award!! This is kind of fun...

The award states

The award states "This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

My awards are as follows (assuming you can't give the award to the one who gave it to you, otherwise, Gina, I'd totally have you on my list)*:

Breed 'em and Weep

BagMomma

The Journey - Raising 4 Kids Under 4

Everyday Snapshots

Chicken and Cheese

Twinfatuation

And I'll Raise You 5

The More, The Messier

*To those of you who don't do awards, or have possibly already done this award or similar, please just take this as my way of saying I appreciate your writing.

PSA - Toddlers and Gogurt do NOT mix

My New Favorite Things

This should be called Silent Saturday. It is the above item that is going to get me through my first week on Weight Watchers. This awesome zero point soup!! It's actually more like 1 point when you calculate it, but heck, if WW calls it zero, I'll go with that. When one starts out on WW, they typically encourage you to make the zero point soup from their recipe. I have done that in the past and kept a big pot of it nearby so I don't starve. Honestly, the first week is rough. Always. I am not used to being hungry. But you get past it and then you're not hungry anymore. It's pretty much like going through withdrawals.

Anyhoo - they now have this awesome Progresso soup, so you don't have to sit and slave over a pot of soup all day. I don't have time for that, so this is a godsend. Just pop it in the micro and there it is. It's actually not that bad, either. Oh and they sell it by the case at Costco, so even better!

Second favorite thing? The Weight Watchers breakfast sandwiches. I prefer the candian bacon one. It's a great way for me to start the morning, although I don't always want to spend 4 points. Still, it keeps you full much longer than yogurt or cereal, in my opinion.



My 3rd favorite thing? Fiber One Bars. They are awesome and only 2 points!! Much better and larger than Kudos or the WW bars (which are higher in points!)

So, exciting news. My friend Gina at Namaste By Day just gave me my first award. Woo hoo! This award asks me to share some random, honest things about myself, so here goes...

(I have done this sort of thing before and for those of you who are on Facebook with me, you probably have seen my recent "16 things about me" note, so this will be repetitive.)

1. I love the History Channel, Frontline, Meet the Press, This Week with G.S. and Nova. I also love all of the VH1/MTV and E Channel Reality shows; Rock of Love, The Hills, and Celebrity Rehab. What.....a dichotomy.

2. I can forge pretty much anyone's signature. This came in very handy in high school, let me tell you. I regularly forge my boss' signature (with her blessing) and can change my writing style to match my mood. I read somewhere that people who change handwriting often are unbalanced. Now it all makes sense.

3. I was raised by a true blue (or pink as the case may be - *rimshot please*) beatnik/hippie dad who used to teach art and also received a National Endowment for the Arts grant in the 70's. To say my upbringing was offbeat would be an understatement. Dad rolled with Ferlinghetti in North Beach and made lots of interesting artwork growing up. He had girlfriends that were practically teenagers. There was always a sweet, funny smell in his house but I will give him credit, he never did it in front of us until we were adults.

4. My name was supposed to be Atman. My brother's name is Brahman, which is a really big deal in Hindu world. Hippy. Dad. Get the picture?

5. On my 3rd birthday, my brother and I were taken away from my mother. I saw her a handful of times after that and then never saw her again after age 6.

6. I won first prize in a college literary magazine short story contest in 1989. The story focused on #5.

7. In 1989, I lost 80 lbs on my own, through diet and exercise. I kept it off for 15 years, then lost 40 lbs on WW before my 2003 wedding. Since I started trying to conceive in 2003, having miscarriages, babies and more babies, it's been an uphill struggle with my weight. 4 pregnancies in 3 years will do wonders to a girl's figure. I do not recognize myself when I look in the mirror anymore. Working out used to be such an integral part of my life but unfortunately, doesn't really fit into my current lifestyle. That is my main goal for this year, to get back to a realistic, comfortable place with my weight and as a result, a much healthier lifestyle.