Early Baby Tuesday

This is a work in progress. But we're on vacation, and I gotta get goin'. Go to Aurora's Love Child for details...

Baby Tuesday

She finally took a nap this morning!
Okay, it's like afternoon now.
And I needed to clean the dogginess out of the bathroom before the fam arrives tomorrow. On with the show...

Yesterday I had to wake her up so we could go eat lunch with a friend. Up until Sunday, she used to have a "bumper pad" on her crib, but it, uh, is no more. And this is first time I saw how she is now sleeping sideways with her foot out the slats.

Funny thing, I just had to sneak into her room to get the camera I left in there. It was like the reversal of when I'd sneak into my mom's room and try not wake her.





What baby doesn't love toilet paper? This one also likes magazines. I only let her do it for a little bit, until she insisted on eating it.

I'm a cheat

It's hot here, just like it's hot everywhere else right now.

But since most of Californians think heat waves are the stuff of legends, hardly anyone has air conditioning around here, and people are freaking out.

I, on the other hand, jumped at the opportunity to have A/C installed in our house last year. People acted like I was buying gold boullion to use as cat litter or something when they heard of the A/C installation, how extravagant (?).

Now there's the heat wave, and I'm so pleased with myself!

According to public service announcments, we're not supposed to use alot of power. And you're supposed to turn down your thermostat to 78.
Yeah no, I'm not gonna do it.
Bring the rolling blackouts, because lucky us in our city a.k.a. Sockswithsandalsland, we have our own special electric company and they're not blackin' out.

Run run run, little A/C condenser!

Nanny nanny boo boo!

another myspace lesson

Myspace has taught me...

that all the girls that were older than me and popular, really aren't that cool.


I was never one to obsess over the in-crowd, mostly because my class didn't have a popular group. But anyone in the classes older than me I thought were something like demi-gods. They had names like Misty and McKenna and Iris, like some daytime drama cast. Everyone knew their names at the neighborhood rec center. They had moms that were in the PTA and dads that wore sweater vests, which was a whole other world to me.

And now I find them on myspace, and they're big lame-os. Like, I'm sure they're nice people, probably always were nice. But they live in Flower Mound with unattractive husbands and have useless degrees in Communications.

I don't feel like I'm better than them. Hell, I have no job and haven't taken a shower in two days.

But it's facinating. Y'know? Fascinating where we all go.

only because Aurora said so

If you liked the survey on Peeing in the Shower, you'll love this:



1. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Dallas, Texas
2.WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? my mom and my grandmother. Right Mom?
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? I cried at the Rice Krispies commercial with the mom and the kid. I'm pregnant, these things happen.
4 DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? sure
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHEESE? whatever puts the quesa in the quesadilla
6. KIDS? 1.3 babies
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? of course, I love me!
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? you're lookin at it
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Yes, but nobody likes me when I do.
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? this is a dumb question, yes.
11. DO YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I have once, meh.
12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Healthy-Puffins. Sugar-Cocoa Pebbles
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? (I agree with Aurora)i try not to even wear shoes with ties.
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? nope, every jar opening is a struggle.
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM ? Breyers Peach or Vanilla Bean
16. SHOE SIZE? 10 and rising
17. RED OR PINK? Red, it's my fav.
18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I can't stop trash talking! Someone duct tape my mouth before God smites me!
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my family and friends in TX.
20. DO YOU WORK IN THE FIELD THAT YOU WANTED TO AS A CHILD? I remember I wanted to ride a motorcyle (for a living). That ain't happenin'.
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? jean skirt, no shoes, standard uniform
22. LAST THING YOU ATE? peach yogurt
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the loud hum of the computer
24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? plum
25. FAVORITE SMELL? clean dishwasher
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? mother in law
27. FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? I'll pretend this isn't the "rowrrr" attracted to, and say glasses and shoes.
28. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? one and only sister
29. FAVORITE DRINK? pearl tea
30. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? MLS soccer
31. EYE COLOR? very light brown
32. HAT SIZE? no clue, is there a "fat head" size?
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no, I fear them.
34. FAVORITE FOOD? tex mex, there is nothing finer.
35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? I don't get scary movies at all
36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AT THE MOVIE THEATRE? Pirates!!
37. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHES? undies, the kind that *cover* your butt
38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer, now that we have AC.
39. HUGS OR KISSES? I decline both. I have a space bubble.
40. FAVORITE DESSERT? I've never met a cobbler I didn't like
43. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne
44. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? it's black plastic, yawn.
45. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU WATCHED ON TV? Today Show
46. FAVORITE SOUNDS? the baby laughing or going baa baa baa
47. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles, but I'm not a flag waver.
48. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Italy
49. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I can play the mouth harp
41. FAVORITE FAST FOOD: in-n-out burger
42. FAVORITE FLOWER: white roses

riddle me this

When I was pregnant with baby #1, many many people wished (the curse) of twins on me, with a smile.

"Oh I hope you have twins."
"I bet you'll have twins."
"Do you think it's twins? How nice that would be."

And now those same people call me crazy for having babies 18 months apart.

So you wish me two babies at the same time, but only if they are the same age?


No entiende.

and then I swoop

I have discerning taste in clothes, that is, if most suburban women won't wear it, I probably will.
So I sit in wait for odd items to go on sale, and then I pounce!

Like this little number:


It's a fluffy maternity dress with a big bow, who else could want that but me?
Hurry up and get tossed to the clearance rack!

Baby Tuesday

Two videos this week. I apologize to those who can't see the videos on their computers. I tried to take a token still pic this morning but the camera's batteries died, too bad.

We all walked the 20th annual San Francisco AIDS Walk on Sunday, the doggies, Kevin, baby and myself. There weren't as many crazies as I had anticipated, and therefore was a little disappointed at all the normal people like us walking around Golden Gate Park. They did however, give us free popcicles and chips! And there were two French Bulldogs walking for AIDS as well! Frenchies have heart. We noticed there weren't any pugs on the walk, and then we determined that pugs aren't designed to go for the long haul.

I borrowed a jog stroller from a friend but it didn't end up fitting in the car, so we just took the standard one. What we did gain from that jog-stroller ordeal was a pumped up soccer ball from the garage (used to test the bike pump).
And now the whole family is playing with it. Last night Kevin taught Mojito to nose it across the floor to him. And here the baby is just happy she has something new to play with:



And this is the bug's latest craze, rooting through my bathroom drawers. She loves it, we do it everyday. We'll continue to play this game until the drawer guards arrive, surely they will break her heart.

attack of the blob

Pregnancy (yes, again) makes me into a useless blob. It makes me absent minded and more of a shut-in and unmotivated and tired and queasy.
I think this is God's plan for keeping us safe and still and quiet while we're building a human.
But nobody likes a blob.
I don't like being a blob.

But if you wonder why:
I don't answer the phone,
don't brush my hair,
don't get anything accomplished,

Now you have an answer.

it's totally a sign

Does anyone else out there, turn on the computer, and click around for no reason, with absolutely no satisfaction?
When I am a complete vacuum of motivation, I watch TV or click aimlessly on the computer.
But it sucks.
And it's dumb, I don't know what I'm looking for. I'm just clicking.

Both TV and the internet create a life-sucking sensation in my chest.
The same feeling as if I were unhappily sitting at work. But I'm at home!

Normally I would go take a drive, but a certain 20 pound insect has a way of nixing those plans.
(When her motivation is low, she wants to go outside and eat bark and dirt clods. I think that's the infant-equivalent of surfing the net.)

This is not a monologue about having nothing do to. Because mother-of-jefferson-davis, there's plenty to do. But I know if I pull a project out to work on it, I'll slow to a hault and just stare at it.

If you could see me now I'm staring like livestock at the screen...

Baby Tuesday

Babies don't like clothes. I guess you can't blame them.


Post bath flash!

There was a video too but Kevin forbade it! ;)

my bizarre exception to my usual myspace

A 48 year old man in Mississippi that looks remarkably like Larry Hagman, who refers to himself as JR Ewing requested to be my "friend."
I think I approved him on accident.
But he only has 8 friends and I don't have the heart to send him to the trashcan.

In the meantime, he's a facinating character, that JR.

kitchen's done! er almost done

Kevin requested that I take photos of our pretty new kitchen and put them on the blog. I was going to wait until it was done-done, but it's pretty close, so eat up readers.

Once our kitchen was like this



With patient little cabinets waiting in the storage room


And now it's fabulous.


Where the mountain of recycling lies now will be the new home of the refurbished stove that is still in surgery.

Also, if you look carefully you can see the foot pedal for our main sink. It's great! Especially since the dishwasher still needs another part and I'm washing the dishes by hand. Step down, water on. Step off, water off.

There's a red ribbon taped to the vent hood. AIDS Awareness? No. It's so that I don't bang my head into it again.


This shot was to show you the view from the barstool. But I guess it was unsuccessful, since our neighbor's house reflects like the surface of the sun.
($15 IKEA barstools! Wooo!)

This little sink was a bugger to get in yesterday. The most I did to help was look on sympathetically as he fought with it.

Do note the color of the doors and trim is called "Armadillo." :)

Can we all just relax?

I admit it here, as I openly admit it all the time. Many other Christians rub me the wrong way.

It stems from being a Christian from a less than Leave-it-to-Beaver household (which I'm proud of) and being treated like I didn't really believe in Jesus by other Christians because I didn't wear khaki pants and listen to DCTalk (gag me!). I don't like when my faith is questioned because I'm not mainstream.

I kid you not when I meet other believers I tense up and wonder if that person is evaluating me. And the church lingo gives me the creeps. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the lingo per se, but there's something about it I don't like.

I thought I could let that bitterness peeter out by moving to California where I thought people would be more open minded. What I've found is that there are still a bunch of uptight people out here.

I debated whether to post this, because the last thing I want to do is hurt our image.

But dangit, everyone just chill out will ya'?

I love our church. I love that the leadership is made up of real people and no one puts on airs or tries to impress anyone.
One would think stuffy people wouldn't attend. One would imagine they like the churches down the street with the stiff pews and pastor in the 3 piece suit.

And yet, the stuffy people come and poop our party.

And they're not all old, surprisingly. I was making pleasant conversation with a conservative girl my age and she was like "yeah like some people take off their shoes in church" and made an ugly face. It probably wasn't the polite thing to say, but I said "oh I do that."
I was thinking "if you don't like it, why are you here?"

And the guy who leads worship, is one of the most on-target, caring, hard working church leaders I've ever met. He gets grief from people because he wears shorts(in the summer because it's hot). Who gives a crap?! Jesus practically wore a dress, sheesh, it doesn't matter.

It's this kind of attitute that split us into dozens of denominations, I think.
Queen Latifah is right, what we need is U-N-I-T-Y!

Disclaimer: There are plenty of completely normal well adjusted Christians out there. I promise!

Ohaiyo!

I forgot to mention that we traveled Japan to play a few rock shows earlier this year. Must have slipped my mind.


How awesome does Kevin look? I'm his personal sylist. :)
Me, I'm making a squirrel face as usual in photos.

(OK, we were at a friend's wedding at Hakone Gardens a couple of months ago. Memoirs of Geisha was also filmed there-- fancy!)

Could have a side of cole-sla with that?

Since the dawn of time, the name Charlsa has been mispelled and misprounced. This, I believe, is why the previous two Charlsa's didn't go by their given name at all. It's a messy business, much akin to the Dread Pirate Roberts.

The three most common mispells or mispronounciations of my name are:

1. Charisa
2. Chelsa
3. Charsla


The first one I give people a break for, because the "l" can easily be mistaken for an "i" and Charisa is actually a name.

But the other two make my skin crawl.

To this day, I think the name Chelsea is ugly. Mostly because the mutation of that name, Chelsa, has been dumbly substituted for mine.

And Charsla, what is that? What is that? "Sla" sounds like "slut" with out the T on it, and that word doesn't make any sense at all!
Just today I was doing some online banking, with my name clearly displayed in the chat window with the person, and STILL I get the "sla" business:

Evelyn: Hello Charsla, how can I help you today?
charlsa blaylock: hi, I need to transfer funds to my loan from my checking acct, please.
Evelyn: I will be happy to assist you with this today Charsla.
Evelyn: Thank you very much for your identification information!
charlsa blaylock: no prob, just following directions, :)
Evelyn: How much would you like to transfer to the auto loan today Charsla?
charlsa blaylock: 100.00 please
Evelyn: One moment Charsla.

The way she repeated it was like she was mocking me!

Belated Baby Tuesday

Yesterday didn't feel like Tuesday, so I forgot to post.

This first video is of our other babies at the 4th of July party we went to at Jenna's house. It was so fun!!
The dogs had their own little party in her backyard, small dogs unite. Unfortunately, after I took this video, the camera's batteries died, so none of the other festivities were caught on tape. So you won't see the hundreds of cupcakes, the starfish burger, the bagpiper, the classic rock cover band, or the baby with little earplugs in.



And since I couldn't figure out was wrong with the still pic mechanism on our camera, there are only videos this week of the bugaboo:

I don't wanna go to school today

I'm tired.
Not horribly tired.
Not I'm-tired-of-living tired.
Just "can I sit and have some tea without thinking about anything?" tired.
This past week and weekend has made me tired. It definitely not over.
Tomorrow morning I agreed to paint 3 paintings during the services at church. I'm a last minute substitute for some other guy who bailed.
I did one tonight for the sat. service (in total there will be 4, 14 hours from now) and it didn't come out that good. That's the problem with painting in public, there's no "hmm, that looks bad," and tossing it aside and starting over.
Now I'm stuck coming up with a different image tonight, one that doesn't look bad, and pre-penciling my boards before 7am tomorrow.
I don't wanna.
Bleh.

That's only half of it. A probable hormonal imbalance has made my dealings with people difficult. It's my constant stuggle to turn off the auto pilot desire to live in a hole away from humanity.
Interacting with people makes me more tired than anything else!
My mind just goes "that's all I can give" and shuts down, and I become a hermit.

I want to skip brushing my teeth and taking a shower and just go burrow into bed fully clothed and pull the nice cool pillows on my head.

I tried doing something like that this morning, but everyone in the house loudly wanted me to get up. Plus, as you all know, it's hard to sleep no matter how tired you are, when you're behind on work. I think I slept about 30 minutes total.
Bleh.

My life is peachy, but I'm tired.