My mom and I brought the kids out to Palm Springs for a few days. We thought it would be a good little break for them. We're still swimming and napping, just in a hotel, which is very exciting for them.

This morning we went to The Living Desert Museum, a combination of a zoo and botanical garden. We all got hot and had a snooze before swimming and going for dinner. There are lizards out here called chukawallas (I think) I keep wanted to call them chupacabras. They look very much like a bearded dragon, only greenish and without the beard. My mom hates lizards so I've been told to keep a sharp eye out. If I spot one, I'm to shoo it away.

Our hotel has a breakfast buffet. After we ate my mom said to me "Why did you let me eat all that bacon?"

I replied "I didn't know it was my turn to keep you from your food. Should I arm myself with a fork to jab you in the hand with?"

"Gleefully! You would do it gleefully."

"And then you'd tell me how you'd never had anyone jab you in the back of the hand with a fork in your life and I'd say 'you TOLD me to' but you'd act like to didn't hear me......."

It's a little strange for me, being out here. I'd started coming out here with my family in the early/mid eighties. I can vividly remember staying at Maxim's and standing on the balcony watching the foot traffic on the strip. Cars totally jammed in. Lines for restaurants. Lines for bars. Everyone walking slow because there just wasn't space to walk fast. Having to go out early to stake out a spot at the pool.

There was a mall within walking distance that boasted a number of high end boutiques and my mother's favorite shoe store. A row of great little restaurants was just outside there. Our favorite was called Bruzzi's where we had white garlic pizza for the first time.

The mall is completely empty now. The line of small restaurants is gone, just California Pizza Kitchen survived.

There were no lines out the door for any eatery. One one person was working Cold Stone Ice Cream. The Sonny Bono statue looked lonely, sitting all by himself.

So many store fronts are empty with faded For Sale or Lease signs in the windows.

I don't know if were here at the very off season or if some of the life has moved down the road to Palm Desert or La Quinta. It's nice to be here in the desert, but a little sad to see how empty it is.

Scott went back to Texas yesterday.

And his keys were here in the glove box of my car.

I went to Fed Ex this morning.

Whoop!

I went to a yoga class with my mom last night. I thought it would be a nice way to close out what had been an emotionally tough day.

Turns out it was a FIT yoga class, focusing on stregnth moves. I haven't done stregnth moves in a while.

I was able to keep up, but I had to do quite a bit of modification.

Ow. I'm sore this morning.

yay.

Safe and sound in Cali. Couldn't have asked the kids to be any better. Visited the Thing at exit 322 in Arizona. It says hi.

We're going to veg out in front of the telly now.

Letting your three year old rummage around under the master bathroom sink may result in the addition of fish oil capsules to the dirty laundry.

This causes unpleasant odors.

The eighties girl on the left would like to with the seventies boy on the right a very happy birthday.

Zoe's friend Rayne is spending the weekend with us. Yesterday, the kids were bored and I took them up to this free water sprinkler park by our house.

We're splashing and getting wet in the spray having fun. Rayne was playing tag with some other kids, running like she shouldn't be. She comes towards me and Will. As she gets close she slips, lands on her belly and slides on the textured concrete before banging into the fence with her left ankle.

On her way to the fence she hit Will and booted his legs out from under him. He went horizontal and came down on his face.

I got him picked up and he had blood all over his face. I sent Zoe for one of our towels, some other parents gave me ice and a bottle of water. I got him cleaned up and the bleeding in his nose stopped. He hadn't broken his nose and his teeth were okay. He was just in pain and screaming. I took us home.

He calmed down on the way. We got inside and I got him a bottle of milk. (yes, he's old for a bottle but it makes him feel better) While I was doing this he spotted the corn dogs I'd heated for lunch. He said "I want corn dog wif my bottle." I gave him one and he gobbled it down.

Yeah, he was fine. Can I have fewer scary episodes please?

We had a scary night on Thursday. It was super hot and humid during the day with some cloud cover. We'd been under a tornado watch for most of the day.

While we were getting the kids ready for bed thunder started to rumble. We got Zoe a glow stick and tried to soothe her. Once we had everyone settled I went downstairs to watch TV.


Before I turned the telly on I looked out the front door, just to see what was going on. It was still hot and humid. As I was standing there the trees started to moved around and a cool breeze hit me. Hoo boy.


Everything on tv had been interrupted with severe weather coverage. There was a thunderstorm cell with funnel clouds heading our way. A touchdown had been reported 2 miles from our house and we were being advised to take cover now. I got computers turned off. Then I took Zoe downstairs into our bed where Scott and Will were already. I went to watch the weather coverage.

Usually, storms would veer north at the last minute and miss our neighborhood entirely. Not this time. It stayed on course. When the rain started to pour down I got in bed with my family. Scott and were both listening for the train sound. If we heard that we were going to hustle into Scott's closet. We did get hail, but we didn't lose power.

Eventually it all passed over and the kids went to sleep. I really hate it when these things happen.

Will's doing real good with potty training. He's in underwear at home 100% of the time and for short trips out of the house. He will wake up from a nap to pee if he's not in a pull-up.

We're very happy about this. However, Will has also decided to explore how many different places he can pee. When he's outside he'll pee in buckets, cups, bowls. Once he was peeing on the grass and Zoe ran over with a bucket to catch it. Then they came inside to show me. Now Zoe is always on pee alert when they're outside.

Will's latest self-challenge is trying to pee in bottles. I drink a lot of club soda. He'll fish a plastic bottle out of the recycle bin, take it in the living room and let fly.

His aim is not good. He'll bring the bottle over to me and say "I pee in here." Then I have to wander around, looking for the puddle.

In a fit of frustration yesterday I sent Scott the following email:

Hey. Your son?
You know? That small person who looks like you?
I know you're busy but you should know that he just tried to pee in a one litre bottle in the middle of the living room and his aim wasn't all that great.
So could you speak to him in whatever man-language you need to use about liquid elimination and appropriate places to put it?
I mean, I know it's impressive that you CAN pee in a bottle but not without more practice and not in the living room, okay?

And my husband came home that night and talked to his son in man-language about where it's appropriate to pee in the house.

I got this tattoo two years ago. Now I almost wish I didn't have it.

The Supreme Court of the State of California has upheld Proposition 8 but has recognized the legality of the marriages performed before the proposition was voted in.

And I'm pissed off about it. You believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman? Then only marry a person of the opposite sex. How the hell is it any business of yours who another person wants to marry? How the fuck does it change your lifestyle?

Oh, you don't want to have to explain it to your kids. I see. Well, I don't want to have to explain to MY kids that there are people our country who don't think all people should be treated the same, despite what our Constitution says.

It's not fair and it's not right. This is not about differences of opinion of theology, this is about denying one portion of the population the same rights as the rest of the population. Keep your beliefs in your church and your home where they belong and out of our courtrooms.

I've gotten four hours of sleep. Between kids and insomnia it just didn't happen for m.e

I'll try and get a nap in today before the Brownie overnighter.

Coffee. I need a coffee IV.

I'm going to move all the entries from the Lipstick Diaries over to lipsticksavior It's going to take a little while to get them all moved copied over, but it should be done by the end of tomorrow.

Parts one through seventeen will still be here, but they'll also be over there. Eighteen through whatever will be over on the other account.

I went to buy the foundation undergarments I need for my aubergine dress today. It also needs to be altered a little, but I needed the shoes and the lingerie before I could think about doing that.

( More than you ever wanted to know about girdle shopping )

I don't know how long this series is going to be. I'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

( Read more... )