If you have to ask why I am ready to burst with excitement over this date, then…I’m just speechless. I cannot help you.
Awright - for those living under a rock - HARRY POTTER #6 comes out on July 16, 2005!!!! I’m almost as excited about this as I was about waiting for Decker to arrive! (And this won’t involve 30+ hours of labor!).
Happy New Year to us all!
Friday night was awesome - Sean and I, with my folks and my sisters, went to see “White Christmas” in San Francisco. It was so good! It took all the great songs from the movie, added a couple of other Irving Berlin classics, and had some neat tweaks to it so it would work as a live show. The best part hands down was the dancing - man, these folks made it look so easy and the tap numbers were really really good. Makes me wanna try to learn again (after my ill-fated attempt in first grade - my wonderful mom and grandma Cholly got me involved in a combo ballet/gymnastics/tap class, and I just wasn’t into it at the time. Something about the practicing part - this of course is what doomed me at the flute as well…my poor parents) - it just looks so exhilirating and fun!
Saturday night the festivities continued, as Sean watched Decker and I went over to Tully’s friend Anna’s house for games and goodies. We played a hilarious new game called “Apples to Apples”, and I laughed myself into a coughing fit. (Of course, I’m also still recovering from the plague, but the laughing exacerbated it, is my point). Went into a sweets coma from the cocoa, caramel popcorn balls, and cupcakes. Oof. So good.
On Sunday night, Katil hosted a small holiday dinner at her place, featuring a delicious pot roast cooked by Tully. Wow. I so did not inherit the same genes as her. We played Trivial Pursuit 90s version aftewards, and Decker roamed around doing his thing and ocassionally breaking into applause and looking to all of us to join in with him and say “yayyyyyyyy!”. Much eggnog was consumed. Ahhhh…eggnog. A moment of silence for eggnog.
And tonight - dinner with Sean’s mom and his brother Ryan and Amanda, to celebrate Ryan’s birthday. I’m gonna need to recover from all the frivolity before Christmas arrives! (Or start eating just celery sticks, to give my digestive system a chance to reboot from all the great food…). Heh.
One week to go - have you all finished your shopping for me? What? What are you doing working? Get out there! Go! Now! Git!
So, all of us here at Haus O’Steen are recovering slowly but surely from what can only be described as a mega-virus. It swept through our little family, as well as several others we know. I think the hardest part was watching Decker go through it, especially when he got really bad at the end of the week. It was bad enough worrying about every cough, or whether or not he was taking in ANY of the medicine we attempted to dose him with. But I missed his little personality, too. He was so quiet and lethargic, and then just grumpy. At least now, he saves his fits for things that he deserves to get upset about, like the aforementioned medicine, as well as my putting a fresh layer of Desitin on his extremely red little bum! (a side effect of antibiotics that no one warns you about!).
Anyway…so Christmas is next weekend - ack! Having spent 10 days in quarantine, I am now officially 10 days behind! I feel it best to warn you all that you may simply receive something from the $1 bargain bin at Long’s, but remember it’s the thought that counts!
It’s great to be feeling better though, and to have the burst of energy to actually attempt to tame the beast which is my cluttered house. So I better get back to it, instead of wasting time here on the computer! (It’s so hard to resist though, especially when Decker is down for a nap!).
Netflix pick of the week: “The Office” (miniseries from BBC America. It is HILARIOUS. And reminds me of one particular former boss - no I won’t name names - to a spooky degree). Rent it today! See it with someone you love!
Movie pick of the week: “Polar Express” - But ONLY in 3-D IMAX. Otherwise don’t bother. Oh, and the elves are very disturbing. But hey, it’s got Tom Hanks’ voice, so it’s not all bad.
As faithful readers of Decker’s blogs may remember, he has grown an inch since his first birthday 3 months ago. So I’ve been out shopping lately and trying to find some cute and cheap winter clothes for him. Having been pleasantly surprised by the options available to little boys up to now (ie: from newborn through 18 months), I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to keep finding some basic, sweet (but not too sweet) little boy outfits for my little guy. However…there seems to be a general concensus out there among the clothing manufacturers that once a little boy turns 18 months, his parents immediately want to start dressing him like he’s 5 years old (they only get to wear cute baby stuff for such a short while as it is!), and more specifically, they have divided your choices into the following categories:
* Future Athletes - ie: sports logos, bright t-shirts and sweat suits with pictures of sports equipment on it, etc.
* Future Construction Workers - shirts with construction equipment, etc.
* Future NASCAR drivers - shirts with race cars, motorcycles, et al
* Future Investment Bankers - little blazers and trousers that look like the child is heading to work over at Wall St
* Future Duck Hunter/Soldier - lots of camouflage, bright orange, hunting caps, and such
Forget being able to find anything even remotely resembling a color besides orange, gray, red, navy, sometimes yellow (mustardy and bright), forest green, and black. My son’s not even 2 yet! Where are the pastels that were considered ok for him to wear as a younger kid? Where are the little farm animals? Why is he only allowed to wear dinosaurs now?
I’m not trying to sound snobby - after all, Decker has had some cute little overalls with embroidered tools on them, things like that. But…it still seems like he is given so few options, beginning at a really young age. And it’s pretty bad for girls too (although I would argue not as limiting) - so many clothes being marketed out there seem to want them to dress like little hookers at the age of 3!
Sigh…All I ask is a basic pair of overalls. Or a onesie without superheroes, football players, or racecars on it. For heavens sake…
Gripe Gripe Gripe…
What else is up lately with me?
* Went out with some friends from Berkeley on Monday night - I seriously need to come up with a better response to the question, “What have you been up to?”. Being a SAHM, I usually demure with something to the effect of, “Well, we’re really boring but good, actually. Decker and I go to the park a lot, and we’re having fun together.” It’s true, but not very exciting and kinda ends the conversation right then and there. I’m thinking I may start cribbing off some old books, and see if anyone recognizes the plots I’m using. I wonder if it’s believable to claim I just got back from searching for ancient cursed chess pieces in north Africa…
* Drove in to SF for lunch with Tully yesterday. Decker was well behaved, and we braved the cold over in the Embarcadero while eating yummy pizza. It’s really nice that her office building is literally right on the waterfront, so the parking on weekdays is a breeze. Yay Gap Inc!
* Book pick of the month: “The Eight”. If you liked Da Vinci Code, you might like “The Eight” even better. I stayed up so late reading it that one or two mornings I woke up with a reading “hangover”. Worth it, though!
It’s been forever since I blogged, but I also can’t seem to get my brain clear enough to come up with some substantial stuff to write. Here then, is a hodgepodge for your perusal (sort of like the “potpourri” plate at Olde Spaghetti Factory, which incidentally is my favorite item there, go figure):
* I’ve been having fun catching up with some old friends over the past couple of weeks. I got to go to dinner with Erin Peltzman last Wednesday, and met her boyfriend Scott. I’ve known Erin since she was my supervisor at UCSD, and she was my mentor for getting into grad school, so I owe her a lot, plus she’s just cool! So it was fun to see her in person (she lives in Fairfield and works at UC Davis, so it’s been a while!). Scott is neat - I approve!
* My friend Kay let me know that she is having a girl! I am so excited for her and Thor! And, I have to say I’m feeling a little smug, as I had predicted it would be a girl. Yes, I know I had a 50/50 chance but hey, let me have this!
Little man is awake…will finish this later on!