Happy Halloween!

Travis enjoyed his first participation in Halloween today. Last year, we were driving home from our Vegas trip all Halloween, so it didn't count.

See how little he was then?
Squishy little man! Halloween 2005

But, I took pictures when we got home last year, and lots of pictures today as well! :)

We went to the Fall Harvest Party @ our playgroup. It was tons of fun.

Mama Fall Fairy & Mickey Travis!

The kids were all dressed up, and there was music, and so much cuteness in the form of itty-bitty new babies my ovaries almost exploded! (Don't worry, no babies 'til after Mexico, my dear MIL!) ;)

SO much cuteness!

The we came home and napped, and went out to our lovely outdoor mall for their haloween. I took Travis trick or treating at the stores there with all the zillions of older kids. He was most definately the CUTEST! (Of course!)

Then, we went to Starbucks, where I had a Pumpkin Spice Latte, and he had a Pumpkin cookie. Yum!

Being a mouse is hard work! It's COOKIE time!

Aah, some yummy refreshing ice water!

When hubby got home, we went out to this really nice neighborhood and took him TRT'ing... he had a blast, going up all the stairs... but he kept wanting to go inside peoples' houses. LOL!

He had his first ever candy tonight... in the form of M & Ms. He was totally impressed!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Anniversary!!

Today is hubby and my 9th wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? He proposed to me in my senior year of high school, and we lived together for 3 years before we got married. We got married when I was 20 and he was 21. In Tahoe of all places... but that didn't stop me from gambling. Sorry, we eloped, so no cheese-ball then and now photos. Heh!

Anyway... Jeff is coming home from work soon... and I'm making a super-yummy dinner for us! :)

I am making Red Wine Risotto & Chicken breasts stuffed with Parmesan, Lemon, and breadcrumbs. For dessert we bought a pint of Hagen Daz Bailey's ice cream. Tip that off with some yummy watermelon-lemonaid martinis... and call it a night! ;)

Travis has been a bit of a toddler-monster when we go out to eat lately... so we're not even attempting the whole dinner out thing.

I did put on makeup (shocking!), and curl my hair with my super-rad new aquisition. I found at a Caruso Molecular hair setter at a thrift store last week for the bargain price of $3.99. I think it's from the early 90s... at least the super-cheeze photos inside lead me to believe that... but it works like a charm! Right now I have my curled hair pulled back into my usual non-descript mommy-do. A ponytail looped around in a sloppy bun. But when I take it out later... KAPOW! Super-sexy curls! So sneaky, aren't I?! Hey... gotta keep him guessing... here's to the next 9! :)

Spam, spam, spam....

Just a small sampling of the SPAM in my email box this morning.... (Love me some Python, but dunno what's up with the subtitles on that YouTube...)

"It's a pity, because you could do it with her much longer!"


Um, okay... do WHAT? with her (who?!) much longer? The dishes? The laundry? Cause I'd be all over that!

"It's not wonder your girlfriend is very angry!"

Um, who have you been talking to? Girlfriend? I hardly have time to pee, let alone have a GIRLFRIEND!

"Damn, you can not stop premature ejjacullation!"

Damn, indeed. How can you STOP something, if you can't SPELL it! EJACULATION! Use a freaking DICTIONARY!

That being said... Yeah, I totally hate when I ejaculate prematurely...

Jeez-us. I shudder to think about the scads of Googling results directed to my blog because of this entry.

Invisible

The theme this week at Mama Says Om is INVISIBLE.

Something has been bothering me lately.... I see it nearly every day. There's a disconnect between us, the people here, sharing space on this planet at the same time in history.

That's the problem. We're just sharing space. Not experiences, not common interests.

I see people out, shopping, at the stores, driving in their cars, walking on the streets, eating in restaurants. But, they're on their cell phone, their BlackBerry, their Bluetooth headset. Oblivious to the world, the people around them.

Or, they're rushing around, singularly-focused - not paying attention to anyone else.

There are moms are getting coffee at Starbucks like I am, with their little ones... but they are not making eye contact, not smiling, ignoring everyone around them. I smile hopefully, hold the door open for them, make my feeble attempts at small talk. Only to be rebuffed, as usual. Sigh. Why do I bother anymore?

I have lived within these same 30 square miles my entire life... it's very hard for me to make friends. What is wrong with people? Why can't we just talk to the people in front of us, share our common denominators?

Some days, I might as well be invisible.

The Sounds of Silence! :)

A strange thing is happening right now. Travis is letting me blog. And have coffee - in peace! He's not trying to pry my fingers off of the keyboard. He's not throwing a tantrum, and he's not trying to turn off the computer monitor and he's not putting Bunny Grahams in the computer's tower. He's not climbing on me demanding Boob. It's bizarre.

He's alive, and well. He's playing BY HIMSELF! And he has been for the last 30-40 minutes. A virtual eternity for him.
No, he's not drugged, or zoning out on the idiot box.

I found a very cool toy at our local consignment store:




Does it not rock? There are little wooden animals, and doors and windows that open and close. There are wooden food pellets that you drop down the chute, and turn the wheel, and they drop out into a trough on the bottom. The roof slats are removable, and all in all, it freaking rocks my socks.

The best part? It retails for $80.00 new, and I scored it gently-used for $15.00. Yay!!

Also, since we got our new French Press coffee maker last weekend... Yum! I love being able to just make a couple of cups in the morning for myself. The daily trips to Starbucks... and on the REALLY bad days - 2... oh, they are over. I've been twice this week. Once on Cannery Row, and after we went to the Aquarium the other day
in the evening... and once last night at the mall.

Considering, I can't get out of there without spending $5.00 a pop - Grande Pumpkin spice Latte or a Maple or Caramel Macchiato for me, plus a pastry most of the time for The Boy... yeah, that's an improvement.

Sigh. The toy's novelty has worn off for the moment, and Travis is back to his old tricks. Later.

Life

This week's theme over at Mama Says Om is LIFE.

All of these photos were taken before he even drew his first breath. Yet, it's no question... To me, he was alive from the moment that + sign showed up on the test.

And, in a few short weeks, he's turning 2!! Unbelievable!

I wish you the best life possible, my baby love.

On the road to recovery...

Well, Little Man's eye is getting better day by day. I've been giving him Arnica tablets. They seem to be helping.

It looked REALLY bad Wednesday... the whole thing was black and blue. :(

I've been getting (perceived, I'm sure) glares from people all week who are CERTAIN I beat my child.

Sigh. Like last night. We went to the store. I got some halloween makeup, and some beer. Newcastle, yummy! :)

So, I have him in the cart, and we're waiting to check out. This youngish-looking 20-something guy starts talking to him. "How are you doing?" He asks Travis. I say enthusiatically, "We're fine!" and smile. He looks at Travis,sees the black eye and says and says all sympathetically: "Oh, did you get hit in the eye, little guy?" I turn around and say "Yup, he sure hurt himself. This is better than how it looked before!"

I swear he's thinking. "Alcoholic beotch beats her kid!!" Maybe it's all in my head, maybe not?

Anyway... we're doing better.... Travis has an unhealthy addiction to Pirate's Booty. He calls it "P. Boo" and he asks for it all the time. This morning after his yogurt, he saw the bag on the counter.
"P. Boo?" He asked. Then, it was like a demand. "P. Boo! PEEEBOOOOO!!!!"

The Boy LOVES his P. Boo. ;)
So, I gave him some damned P.Boo. At 10:00am. Sue me.

Ouch!

The Boy hurt himself today. It's not bad, thank goodness... He hit right below his eyebrow on the shelf in our living room. I think he just fell on a toy or something. It bled a tiny bit. I called our Pediatric group right after it happened. They are on my speed-dial! :) I was told to ice it. HA!!! That's a good one!! Of COURSE he'll allow that!!

It bled the tiniest amount. Like - not even two drops. And after the crying and nursing... I called Jeff at the office and had him pick up some Children's Motrin. He brought it home - and helped me administer it to a very pissed off kiddo.

He isn't any worse for wear though... just has a war wound. :(

What a little trooper. He handled it much better than I did. So, no ER visit, no stitches, just black and blue eye.

Of course, I took the obligatory photos of his shiner... and here they are.

Writing Wednesday #2 - Of lunches past...

"Lunch Box"

I'll be perfectly honest with you. I used to HATE lunchtime when I was in grade school.

Except for the recess part... (do they even still have recess anymore?? Hmm?)

But, I digress...

I was never a popular kid. I grew up poor. Poor, poor. Like, we were on Food Stamps, and I got free hot lunch kind of poor.

I used to hide in the hallways until all the other kids bought their lunch tickets for the month. Only after I was absolutely SURE everyone else had gone - would I dare to creep around the corner, and get my month's worth of free lunch tickets. They looked the same as the other lunch tickets, I just didn't want anyone to KNOW I got FREE school lunch. Because we were POOR!

I wore crappy clothes, and they were also the source of much of my embarassment. The other girls had Guess? Jeans and Reeboks. I had hand-me-downs and Pro-Wings.

I usually had only one or two friends at a time. And, if they got hot lunch when I brought a sack lunch, I had to sit alone. Our school segregated those who brought their lunch from those who got school lunch. I still don't know why. This was why I would often sit all alone at lunchtime.

I really can't recall ever having a particular favorite lunch box. I know I had them, but usually I brought my lunch in a paper bag. I'm guessing I would lose them, and we wouldn't have the money to replace them.

Whenever I brought my lunch... it was when the cafeteria was serving something gross. Which, as I recall, was more often than not.

My lunch always consisted of a sandwich (usually PB & J) always grape. When it wasn't that, it was egg salad, tuna, or bologna. ALWAYS on WHOLE WHEAT bread. All the other kids had Wonder-white bread. Nope, not me. My mom was one of those "Hippy" Moms. We didn't eat white bread. We didn't have sugar.

I usually had a hard-boiled egg (always with a little packet of salt). Sometimes I had a thermos of soup or and celery with peanut butter and raisens. An apple, orange, or banana would round out my lunch.

I hardly ever had a "dessert" of sorts. There were rare times when I would see a treat tucked into my lunch. But, every day, my mom put a napkin in there. She always wrote something, or put a sticker or a little doodle on the napkin.

Looking back, I know that she only wanted what was best for me. To nourish me in the best way possible.

But, there were many days I wished for a doughy white-bread sandwich, with chips, and twinkies. Devoid of any nutrition. Just like all the other kids had. Just to fit in. Just for one day.

Fall Challenges...

I've been meaning to start doing these things I see online. Challenges, and such. Photo things, writing things... you know... to be a consistant part of something something that lasts longer than a few weeks.

So, that's what I intend to do. I love Mama Says Om. So, I want to do the photo theme whenever possible. Also, the Writing Wednesday. And, maybe, if I'm feeling ambitious, the Self-Portrait Challenge. We'll see. :)

I also REALLY need to keep my Flickr account updated, join photo pools, convert my links over to del.icio.us and be less of a lurky-online bump on a log. ;)

So, without any further ado... the theme over at Mama Says Om this week is Fall. So, in honor of that... here is a picture of my little man at around this time last year.



Last year, Travis could crawl, but not walk. He could babble, but not talk. Now, he's walking, dancing, and talking. He's figuring out this world we live in - day by day. His favorite word right now is "OPEN!" (Pronounced "oh-puh!") He wants to OPEN EVERYTHING! He says it for the door, the light switches, the baby gate, his flip-up straw on his sippy cup.

His favorite thing to say is "No! Alldone!" and he says "all done" just like that - "alldone!!", as if it's one word. If he wants something to be over he says "Alldone!" as if, just uttering the phrase makes whatever unpleasant task stop in its tracks.

The Boy figured out that we were having chicken for dinner. "Cockadoodledoo" or as he says "tucadoodoodoo". He figured out he could move our new ottoman over and climb up on it to "Oh-PUH" the light switch all by himself.

By the way... the ottoman? Normally $50.00 at Tar-jay. Clearanced to $6.24!!!
Oh, yeah... I am NINJA shopper!

Parenting Travis a joy, and a challenge daily. We have perfect, storybook days... and those where at the end of the day - I feel like I've run a marathon. Twice. Today, it's most definately the latter.

Today he pulled his first public toddler stunt. It involved laying down in the PARKING LOT at Target. Yup. He was walking with me from Starbucks. (Which is just across from Target.) All I wanted was a Pumkin Spice Latte. Full fat, with whipped cream. Just. A. Latte. He picked out a piece of lemon poundcake. I had visions of enjoying my coffee, while he sat - in cherubic form, nibbling his snack.

Oh, no.... he wouldn't sit down at Starbucks. He wanted to re-arrange the bags of coffee in the displays. He wanted to spin the CD tower, and to try and open the doors. He wanted to dance to the Louie Armstrong playing on the music channel. He wanted to climb up on the chair next to an elderly lady. I let him do this after her blessing... but then it was a get up, only to get down game. Ugh. He wanted to be free to do what he wanted.

So I vocalized to him that he had a lot of energy. I asked if he wanted to play at the park or go to the beach and use his shovel. "Uffle! (shovel) Yeeeah!" he said. So, off we went - we were going to the beach!!

We walked across the parking lot. I had his sippy, my latte, and the bag with his snack. Also, his hand - as he walked beside me. About a quarter of the way to the car, he did that Jell-o leg thing. He dropped to the ground and refused to walk. I pulled on his hand, to get him to stand up again. He did, but then a few steps later did it again. This time starting to tantrum. I pulled him up AGAIN, and told him he had to walk because I couldn't carry him. So, this continued until we were 2 cars from our own. He did it AGAIN. This time he laid down in the middle of the parking lot. He would NOT get up, and just tantrumed away.

I was FURIOUS. I left our stuff on the ground, and picked him up. I opened the car and the whole time I was telling him (not yelling, but close.) that it was not safe to lay down in the street. I buckled him into his carseat, and seriously, was probably the maddest I have been at him. I didn't lose my marbles, didn't scream, didn't spank, just was frustrated and mad.

I closed his door, then retrieved our things from the ground. I got in the car, turned on the AC, and just took a second or two to BREATHE! I looked back at Travis. He wouldn't make eye contact. He looked crestfallen. I felt bad. But he had to know that his behavior wasn't okay.

So, I plugged my iPod in, and turned on The Backyardigans CD, and turned it up loud - and sang along. I looked back again. He started to dance in his carseat. Then I took a piece of poundcake and offered it to him. He smiled and ate it. He ate his poundcake while I drank my latte in the car. Peace was restored.

Then we went to the beach, just like I promised. :)

So, here's a photo of us - a self-portrait at the beach, after this whole scenario - taken today. What a difference a year makes, huh?!