it's the closest thing to addiction for me

I stay at home most of the day and I stare at the decor discontentedly.
"This design did not work out the way I wanted it," I think to myself between dispensing bottles and kibbles.

But how to make it right? How can I make the living areas make sense?*

I did not know.

Then for our anniversary we went to a decent restaraunt and I loved the design of it.




Our furniture already works. It's brilliant and I want to paint the walls yellow and the trim brown right away!!

But alas, I made a promise to myself not to execute any design ideas until after the second baby arrives (the exception being the other baby's room of course).
I learned my lesson from the first go round. Roughly a quarter of my ideas were bad and now I have to figure out how to undo them.
Anything I do in the next 6 months must have been thought up before conception, ha, no but really, I made that rule.

So my Left Bank living/dining room will have to wait.
Even though I can't get through a day without plotting out every step of the concept.
"Warm yellow walls, yes, chocolate trim, a couple of dark stained round sidetables, mmhmm yes, lovely..."
It's about once an hour, honestly, that I think of it.
Hourly!

*I am quite sure no one in Swazliland has ever felt this way. And for that I am ashamed.

now everyone knows that I watch German television, but-

I was just watching a German news show, kinda like Dateline (minus fear mongering). And they were reporting how this one port city is trying to out-do Hamburg as a shipping town.
They showed the little party they had to celebrate their rising success at the harbor and I heard Alan Jackson's Chattahoochee song playing.
And sure enough in the background there were line dancers in cowboy hats.

Those crazy Germans.

Baby Tuesday

To clarify on the last baby name post, don't worry we won't do Tuesday as a name. He doesn't like it. And I never had the intention of making Abilene a first name for anyone. It was just a good "A" name for a middle.
But thank you all for shooting down Adenine. I'm pretty happy with the one that we can both agree on for now. 2 more months and you'll know it.

I have a video this week, but Youtube is down for maintenance, so that'll have to wait two shakes.


This is my vantage point during most of her waking hours. The baby attack. She's got claws and fangs, that baby. Villagers beware. 

A lil' sleepy here. Nobody likes a flash at 8am. 

This never happens! I came home from church on Sunday and she was asleep on him. Miraculous! 

This photo was a little ho hum, so it needed some pink chinchillas to perk it up. I was trying to show how she can get in and out of short chairs by herself, but the best I got was her sitting and staring at a diaper clip. 

they'll be glad to know

My family flew out a week ago, and promptly informed that my house had funny smells and my furniture was oddly organized.
The smells I was kinda unaware of, but I was very ready for their help with the other stuff.

Aurora bought me clorox wipes, which I thought I didn't want.
But now I soley clean the kitchen counter with them.

My mom suggested that the baby's diaper pail go outside her room.
It's still outside, no more stinky baby room.

They both said that my dining room table should be against the wall.
The day after they left, I turned it and pushed it against the wall. Much better!


Sadly my couches still look stupid where they are and I've yet to replace the insanity of dog blankets in the guest bathroom. But it was a good start. :)

sometimes I think nature is overrated

When I first moved to CA, I lived out in the boonies. At night I had to drive really slow back to my house so that I wouldn't hit deer. Really, there were tons of deer, just jonesin' to leap out at my truck.
And then over the years I've taken walks in the hills and decided to turn around when I saw "Danger! Do not walk alone! Mountain lion warning!" signs.
I've met people that live near the hills whose dogs and cats have been eaten by coyotes.
(None of these things were ever a problem in Richardson, TX. Roaches and ticks yes. Big game, no.)


But the most annoying animals are the spiders! Everyplace that I've lived here has been chock full of spiders.
I'm not scared of spiders, and the little ones are just fine with me, I won't even move them if I see them.
Bigger ones, I'll trap and throw outside.

But oh my gosh, there are some honkers in our yard. And they are BUSY web makers*. I take a broom to their webs, they're back in two days. It's like I live in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.

The inspiration of this post was this guy:


Holy Mary and Joseph, this spider is big and orange like a rubber halloween gag!
He wove a giant web over the baby's stroller on the front porch in about 24 hours. And he's just sitting there. Asking for me to kill him.

(I looked it up, it's not poisonous, just ugly.)


*I often like to try n' put animal world cirumstances into human terms and figure out what the parallel would be. Like in the case of the massive amounts of spider webs filled with the carcases of spent insects: Would that be like evil cannibals setting booby traps around town and killing innocent people? I think the insects should legislate or get some sort of militia against the spiders. Bug rights are being seriously violated.

nothing ruffles feathers like baby names

We're not going to be as secretive with the second baby's name as we were with baby C. People know what to expect from us now, so I didn't see any reason to put it on the Q.T.
However, I will wait until we know boy or girl to blog what the name will be. Sorry, folks, gotta wait until November.

The boy's name is already picked out from last time. That's wrapped up and sealed, it doesn't get any better.

The girl's is still very much up for debate. We didn't have a definite #2 choice from last time. What did happen last time was that we tried to give baby C a middle name that started with the letter A, so that she would have the same initials as me. We gave up on that because it was a standstill on either side of the battlefield.
I wanted Abilene
and he wanted Adenine.

He was abhorred because mine was a city in Texas.
I was abhorred because his was an organic molecule.

So we went with Fairlane instead and her initials don't spell a word and I'm okay with that.

But now! Kevin still wants to name our second daughter Adenine. Like, as in a first name.
I hate it and these are my reasons why.

#1. People will say "huh?"
Just like with my name, people aren't ready for a odd word. Baby C's name, everyone knows that word. They might make a face because they're surprised, but they won't mispronouce it.

#2. It's nerdy, and not the good kind.
I like the name Linus. I like the name Pascal/Pascale. Those are names that are cool that also happen to be science references. I'm okay with that. Thayers are scientists, I accept that. But no molecule names!

He's quite upset about my veto on this. So I told him I'd blog it and see what other people think. So all of you that never comment, you better comment! Vote vote vote!

not good.

p.s. My name that I really liked that he hates is "Tuesday". But I accept the veto. That's the way this deal works.

what does this accomplish?

I can't buy the same design of bank checks twice. It's like always getting the same flavor ice cream, there's no adventure to it.

So as I'm browsing the many options of personalized checks, I notice there are many Christian designs. Nice ones with verses, cute little babies, sunsets and cartoon crosses. All fine. (I used to have some that had verses on them, when I was single, they were very girly.)
And then I come across these:



It says on the page "Everyone loves a cartoon, but these messages are no laughing matter..." And you can even buy a "Thou shall not kill" embossed leather checkbook cover.

What?!

Good heavens!

Ok, listen.
How I (or any other stranger) personally feel about abortion doesn't make a bit of difference to someone who's actually considering doing it.
Furthermore, is anyone going to see your check to the phone company and think "ha, you're right John Q Citizen! Those Planned Parenthood people, they're a bunch of buffoons!"
No.

I didn't see any "save the people of Sudan!" checks or "pass a living wage bill!" checks. Thank goodness there weren't any Pro-heterosexual cartoon checks.

Let's just stick to our Bible verses, and landscapes, can we?




p.s. On our drive back from Tahoe, we saw a high school athletics sticker on the back on SUV that said "Jesuit Marauders"... Um, I'm thinking that any faith-based school should not use a mascot who's defined as "someone who attacks in search of booty."
I'm just sayin'.

cracka what?

I hadn't checked my myspace in a long time,(The sparkle of it is fading).
I checked it this morning and what do I see in my friend request box?

I request from a 45 year old woman in Florida.

"I can't possibly actually know this person" I think, as I scan her page.
She's all over the place--Amazon consultant this and Ebay power seller that. But most prominently she has big boobies comin' right for ya' in her layout.
What is that supposed to communicate?
"I'm old enough to be grandmother but I like boobs?"
They aren't hers...it's very weird.

And she's got 301 friends. She doesn't need me like JR does. Sorry Danna, I already have a friend your age, I call her "Mom."

Tom Jones should have been the last

This guy may otherwise be real cool.
And I'm glad he's wearing american made, anti-sweatshop all natural clothing.
But a "deep v" neck on a man?

I don't care who you are. Male super model, doesn't matter.


No low cut men's shirts!

Baby Tuesday

It's 8:45 AM and she's still sleeping!
And I believe it's all thanks to the pajamas.
I used to just put her in a T-shirt to go to sleep because I think it gets kinda hot in our house at night. But then when my mom and I shared a room with her we noticed that she flips and flops and makes little noises all night long. Then I tried putting full jammies on her and she slept like a log.

Tahoe was our first real trip with the baby and I learned there's alot of downtime with a baby. Especially with two babies, we had to wait until they had both napped or both eaten, etc until we could leave to do something together. Most days we had to split into two baby groups because they wouldn't synch up.

I had to use Hello to post the photos, Blogger's laggin'...


I don't know why this makes me think of the 70's, but it does. If there was a field of wildflowers behind her and she was wearing an sundress, the image would be complete.  

I took her out of the water after her lips started quivering. 

Don't we all have photos like this of us with our siblings or in this case, cousins? Scout is an agreeable bather. The bug, not so much. She's a stealer too. Look at that scoul of indignation! 

She's at the stage where she doesn't want anything on her head-- pulls it right off. So I thought we'd just have to slather her head with sunblock. I learned that that only gives her punk rock hair and little else.
Then after holding a towel on her head like a birka for our entire paddleboat ride, I bought a little hat that ties on. Perfect! 

I forgot my maternity swimsuit, a.k.a. the easter egg suit, at home so I bought a cheap bikini at Kmart and let the belly shine at the beach. The baby obviously was dressed more tastefully. 


BTW, last night was our two year anniversary. I've yet to not be pregnant on our anniversary, but 2 1/2 mo's is way more attractive than 8 1/2 mo's so this time I looked a little cuter.
We saw Little Miss Sunshine and I loved it! 9 1/2 out of 10!

"let's motor"

Ever since the idea of having a baby (the first one) came up, the idea of getting a different car has always been on the table.
My pompous American attitude in the very beginning was "no way am I driving our baby in my Civic coupe with no A/C!"
Then the baby came along about a year before our budget would allow for another car.
And yes, I drive her around in it, and it's not a big deal. (If it's the middle of a heat wave, K drives the hot tamale to work.)
But two babies? Two car seats? Two door car?
Eeek.

Circumstances regarding our current cars leads us to want to replace both of them.
Ideally, one commuter, and one family size.

Which to buy first?
You'd think family, but the Audi has 4 doors and A/C, which will suit me just fine for a few years.
So we'll replace the Civic with a new commuter for him.


Okay then we narrow it down more:

1. Not more than 25K
2. Used
3. Gas milage at around 25/30 mpg
4. Really low emissions
5. Really good safety ratings

What did Edmunds.com and FuelEconomy.gov lead me to?



A MINI.

He's not sold on it yet. But I do love them. I always look to see who's driving them.


In the meantime I can't help searching for the family vehicle of my future.

Of course, as I blogged about before, I would love an FJ Cruiser, but after seeing how eensy the backseat is, and that it doesn't have a 3rd row option, FJ got dumped.
Honda Element? No, it only seats 4.
VW Touareg? No, too $$ and bad mpg.
Volvo? Too $$
etc
etc
etc

You know what I narrowed my search down to?



A RAV4!

I'm a little embarrassed to say it. But with the 3rd row option, it meets all the requirements. It would have to be black, with nice wheels to make up for it's limp wrists. However, I am a girl. I do have vanity plates with hearts and flowers on it, I might as well have a RAV4 and go whole hog.

In the meantime, go MINI!

back by popular demand

The vacation was good. It still felt kinda funny going on vacation when I don't really have a "job." And if taking care of the baby is my job, then I didn't really take a vacation because she came too.

I dunno, but it was fun.


Let me illustrate Lake Tahoe, CA/NV...


If we had gone on a hike, I could have taken this photo.
Babies don't make good hiking buddies, so instead we walked the doggies around the cabin-y neighborhood.



I think it was the city of Chicago that started this trend of civic-art-animals. They had various artists decorate/design cows and then sprinkled them about the city. San Jose had art-sharks a couple years back (they're gone now, I guess they returned them to the sea). And Tahoe has bears. Quality fiberglass bears just asking for you to take your picture with them. I didn't do that, but somebody took this one.



If we had been big spenders, we would have gotten a motorboat like this. But c'mon, $100 for an hour of making sure my husband, who can't get in the water and my baby who can't swim, don't fall overboard didn't make fiscal sense.
But I tell ya', when the babies get older, I'll be the skipper of one of those boats, and Dad can't chill on the beach with his book while we cruise.
We did rent a paddleboat. $15, much better price. Plus, I don't think a paddleboat has flipped in the history of mankind. The baby was happy for about 20 minutes and then it was a game of who's gonna hold the cranky bug and who's gonna paddle like crazy back to the marina.



Okay, this is the only one that would be impossible for me to have taken myself. This is the Nevada stateline in the 1960's. Swingin'!
Now that Harrahs is MUCH bigger. Kevin and I willingly lost $40 in their shiny, blinky, plinky, smokey casino. I did get a vanilla milkshake out of the deal, so I guess you could say we just paid alot for that milkshake.
After we left, Aurora got little stars tattoo'd on her foot at the Lake Monster Parlor next door to Harrahs. Now we're matchy-tattoo-sisters, although I only have one star. I would have got a second one, but I'm preggie. :p

Most of us on the trip kept contemplating how one could live year round in Tahoe. What do all those people do for money? Is the snow maddening? Would I live in constant fear of bears, wolves and pumas?...okay that last one was just mine.

Tomorrow I will have real photos that were taken by me or more likely Aurora on our trip. They all have the bug in them so I'm saving them for Tuesday...

baby tuesday

Just one pic.

We're in Tahoe, who would've thought I'd have blogging access?

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.