One New Thing Every Day

#435 - Inside Wild Island

2010-03-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

Last summer, TLG and I spent a day at the water park at Wild Island in Sparks. It was awesome. I've been meaning to post this "new thing" for a while now, but a couple of weekends ago, TLG attended a birthday party inside the Coconut Bowl area at Wild Island. Having never been there ourselves, we all went... and were highly impressed! The main attraction of the party was an indoor, 3-story structure with foam balls, launchers, slides, stairs, and play areas. TLG and some of his friends from daycare were all over this place while the adults watched from outside. At one point, I went in to see why TLG was standing all alone, and when I discovered TLG and his friends were too short to put the foam balls in the launchers very well, I stayed a few minutes to help load it up. (It was lots of fun, but I didn't want to be one of those hovering moms so I tried not to stay too long.) After a pizza lunch, TLG and my wonderful hubby went with some of the other families outside to try the go-carts. My two boys rode on the big cars together, with TLG grinning the whole time his daddy drove. Then it was on to the little cars, which TLG was plenty big enough to drive by himself. TLG and the birthday boy had a race in the little cars, which TLG handily won (probably because he is taller and could reach the pedals better). I do hope we'll have a chance to take TLG back here again before too long. What fun!

#434 - Swimming Lesson

2010-03-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Today was The Little Guy's first swimming lesson at Silver Bear Swim School. We took him down to see the school last Saturday and bought him a pair of goggles when we signed him up... he's worn the goggles in the bathtub every night since then! As it turns out, he's the only kid currently signed up for his level of class, so he had a private 30-minute class today with his teacher Amanda. We arrived half-an-hour before class started to get him changed and watch another class in progress, which was fun. TLG was so excited, and talking all about his teacher and what he was going to learn. When it was TLG's turn, he got right in. (We got to watch everything through the glass window.) They tried floating, putting his face in the water, and played a game picking up toys off a ledge. TLG even was able to push himself up onto the side of the pool by himself! We were so proud. And the best part: He's even more excited to come back next week.

#433 - Exercise Partner?

2010-03-12T06:12:00.000-08:00

This evening, The Little Guy helped me exercise in our living room to my new Dancing with the Stars DVD. I recently purchased the DVD with Kym, Lacey and Dmitry that teaches the swing, jive and quickstep. TLG and I tackled the quickstep, and boy was it fun to do it together! For the first few minutes, TLG was even trying to do some of the moves/kicks/spins, which was pretty cute. After that, he started bouncing in circles around me while I did the dance moves. Then we both got frustrated and just made up our own dance moves. (I probably could have done the dance moves, but he was just so excited to be dancing that it was much more fun!)

#432 - Quick, Quick!

2010-03-08T06:05:00.000-08:00

I was one of those nerdy kids who loved playing with the typing tutor game on my Atari growing up. (Was it Mavis Beacon? Something like that?) Anyway, I have discovered a new typing game online where you can race other people to see how quick you can type: TyprX Typing Races. My average is hovering between 88 wpm and 90 wpm, but my record is 108 wpm. You don't have to race people, either, if you'd rather just type and see your time... this is a huge time sink for me, I don't know why I've always loved to type fast but I could easily waste half a day on these races.

#431 - T-Ball

2010-03-06T06:21:00.000-08:00

Finally, we've had some good weather. Today TLG wanted to break out one of his new Christmas gifts: a T-ball set from his Aunt B. We set it all up and found that he's actually pretty good at hitting the (plastic) ball with the (oversized) bat when someone is just pitching to him... but when you don't have a grown-up around to pitch, the T-ball stand will work very well too. He can get the ball all the way across the yard (no balls into the neighbors' yards or anything yet). Thanks, Aunt B!

#430 - Lady with the Painted Veil

2010-02-19T23:03:00.000-08:00

For lunch today, I joined some friends at the Cafe Musee at the Nevada Museum of Art. Afterwards, we took a quick tour of some of the headline exhibitions going on there, including seeing Raphael's masterpiece painting, "The Woman with the Veil," painted in approximately 1516. It was pretty spectacular, seeing something in such good condition from so many years ago. The woman seemed to be glowing in the painting, and the longer I looked, the more details I saw. They had this painting in a darkened room, with no other distractions, just the one painting under lights with a security guard nearby. We also saw an Italian triptech (a three-paneled painted altar piece from the 15th century); a set of quilts from Gee's Bend, Alabama; and a gallery of Amphora pottery pieces. There was an artist there setting up a future exhibition of statues made of furniture that's been stripped down and reassembled into animals, which looked fun and interesting. We also saw two groups of students on field trips. I'm not usually one to spend time in an art museum, but I really enjoyed seeing the different exhibits, and they seemed to have something for everyone.

#429 - Slugbug

2010-02-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

Did you ever play Slugbug? We used to play a lot, I think I even remember playing in our carpool - maybe in high school? It's where you see the VW Beetles while you're traveling, you say "Slugbug!" and you get to hit/slap/punch someone else if you beat them to it. Well, today, TLG and I were driving around doing errands, and I taught him to play Slugbug. I don't know what made me think of it, it's been years since I even thought of the game. TLG wasn't very good at finding the cars, but he thought the game was hysterical! He even chased me up the eisles of the stores, yelling Slugbug! and slapping me on the arm. It was fun to share something so silly with him and it made me remember lots of good times with my carpool buddies.

#428 - Biking

2010-02-14T19:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, today was Valentine's Day, but we most of our V-Day celebration was all things we've done before. So I'll share today's new thing instead: this morning, my wonderful hubby fixed up my 10-speed bike's tires (the same bike I've had since I bought it at age 10) so I could ride with The Little Guy. TLG was thrilled, since that meant I could ride next to him instead of walking/jogging to keep up. *Note: we took photos/video, but haven't downloaded them yet... hopefully soon. TLG has training wheels so doesn't need help actually riding his own bike, but our court has a little bend in it and I like to see him at all times, just in case. We had a great 20-minute ride up-and-back, up-and-back, wash, rinse, repeat. I tried to see if he wanted to go around the corner and into our neighborhood a little more, but so far the answer is no. My bike does need a new seat (the padding in this old one is basically flat!) and some work on the brakes, but for something that's been around so long it worked pretty well. The last time I rode it was at least five years ago, and before that... well, I think I was still a kid myself. I hope TLG and I can get lots of riding in this spring/summer, and once my hubby's knee is all healed up (from his recent surgery) maybe he'll join us.

#427 - (Not) Leaving on a Jet Plane

2010-02-06T22:41:00.000-08:00

This evening, an old friend who's now a pilot flew into town for an overnight stay. He routinely flies LearJets full of famous people all around, and happened to be in town for the Super Bowl tomorrow. So after we took him out to dinner, he took our family to the airport so we could check out the jet! Wow, what a privilege it was to see the plane close up - and how excited The Little Guy was to go inside! My friend let him climb into the cockpit, turn on the lights, and even move the steering wheel a tiny bit. (While the grown-ups chatted, TLG was making flying noises and pretending to be the captain!) We stayed long enough to learn how the plane works, and hear some stories about what life is like when you're a pilot. TLG loved the special attention and seeing the gazillions of buttons and switches and lights and everything in the cockpit. Did you know it would only take 14 minutes to fly from Reno to Sacramento in a LearJet? Amazing. We had an amazing visit to the airport and this is something I doubt TLG will ever forget.

#426 - Event Volunteering

2010-02-06T22:36:00.000-08:00

This morning, some ladies from the music fraternity and I volunteered to get the Note-Able Evening of Romance event ready for their big 400-person gala. The Note-Ables are a great local organization who provide music therapy to children and adults who need it, they also have a performing group. Their executive director, Manal Toppozada, is a new Patroness member of the fraternity, so we have been helping them this year so we can all get to know her better. As for this morning, I spent time using a cutting board, stringing icicle lights along the stage, and putting together goody bags. Here's hoping they have a great event and raise lots of money!

#425 - Wii Fit Plus

2010-02-01T22:31:00.000-08:00

The second of the new Wii games we recently purchased is the Wii Fit Plus. One thing we didn't like about the regular Wii Fit was that it was always for one player only. The best feature about the new Plus games is the ability to take turns among players without having to go out to the main menu each time. There's also a few new games for the multi-player mode only, including a a fun snowball fight that TLG really enjoys, and an obstacle course game. (You still only play one player at a time, but at least you can take turns easier.) Much of the rest of this game is the same as the regular Wii Fit, with the yoga, strength training and games. But we're still really enjoying this new addition to our collection.

#424 - Chicken Macaroni Casserole

2010-01-31T22:26:00.000-08:00

We've been trying about one new recipe a week or so, and I have not been sharing them all here because this is not supposed to be a blog about cooking. But tonight we tried a recipe found in a family cookbook for a chicken-macaroni noodle casserole that turned out pretty bland. It has peas-and-carrots, and cream of chicken soup too. We followed the directions closely, hoping that since it was in a family collection it would surprise us with something great... but alas it was very mild and none of us were "wowed." I think we'll probably not make this one again, but I'm glad we tried it anyway.

#423 - Dinars

2010-01-29T22:19:00.000-08:00

I have a friend from college who is a surgeon in the Army, currently stationed overseas. She was in the band and the women's music fraternity with me, and also lived in the same apartment complex. As you know, I am a pro at sending boxes overseas, so when I found out she had arrived in Iraq I asked for her address and sent a few things. Today, her thank you card arrived in the mail, containing a bill worth 250 dinars! I've never seen a dinar before so we had fun taking a look - and then I googled the exchange rate from this to an American dollar. Turns out her gift is worth about 11 American cents - I love it! I proudly display this bill in my office, where I pack the boxes, as a reminder of where so many great Americans are currently working/living.

#422 - Jalapenos?

2010-01-25T07:41:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I did the grocery shopping by myself (a rarity), and as I was picking out a few fresh bagels for this week, a fellow shopper asked me if I'd ever tried the jalapeno bagels. (Uh, no.) He told me they're not as spicy as they sound and I should at least try one someday. (Did he know about this blog?!?) So, this morning, I tried a jalapeno bagel with cream cheese. It didn't smell very appetizing to me as it was in the toaster, but I put my fear aside and gave it my all. The other shopper was right, it wasn't as spicy as it sounds, but it did leave a funny spicy taste in my mouth that made it hard to eat my grapefruit. I'm not a huge jalapeno lover regularly, but it was an interesting change-up to my morning routine. I think I'll probably stick to the bagels I know and love (sesame seed, plain, everything), but I can say I've tried it.

#421 - Lanterns

2010-01-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Our house occasionally has power outages, most famously on Thanksgiving Eve a few years ago (leaving us with a houseful of people and no way to cook the food we had purchased!). Thinking ahead, my fabulous in-laws gave us two lanterns, the kind you would take camping with you. So last night, with our 6-hour-blackout, we used our lanterns for the first time! They are Rayovac 18-watt twin tube lanterns, and they worked great. Our power stopped at about 8:30, as I was typing up the lemonade entry for the blog... TLG was still awake and it was a little spooky for him. We got him settled in with his flashlight and got the candles lit downstairs, then set up the lanterns! They put out a lot of light, and we ended up having one downstairs and one up. We set the upstairs lantern near the stairs to use as a nightlight for anybody who needed it, which really helped all of us (since none of us slept well). The power came back on about 2:00am and TLG got up to ask for more batteries for his flashlight. This morning's "Arthur" program on PBS featured a storyline about a blizzard where the electricity goes out, and TLG knew exactly what they were talking about. Then he saw the lanterns sitting in our kitchen, and he wanted to figure out how they work. Very timely program, and what a help those lanterns are!

#420 - Toy Story Wii Game

2010-01-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

Tonight we headed to Best Buy to choose a new Wii game (or three)... two of our choices are ones I will critique for you, the third (Indiana Jones and the "something something") is one my hubby will probably play without me. First up: Toy Story Mania Wii game. This game is based on the two Toy Story rides at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure, so we knew I would like it - plus TLG likes these movies and remembers the rides too (see photo, left, taken last September on the ride at California Adventure). The Wii game game with two 3D glasses with the red-and-blue windows in them. I never did adjust to wearing them (but that could have been because I was wearing my regular glasses today and the 3D glasses didn't fit well). TLG loved the glasses. As for the game, we played for about 30 minutes, and all the games we remember from our trip to Disney showed up somehow - the "ring an alien" game featured in the photo, plus the balloon pop, the shooting gallery with the bullseyes, and some we didn't remember like the teacup switch and the whack-an-alien-with-a-hammer-to-shoot-him-into-space. The game was a definite "hit" at our house, considering TLG had a little tantrum when it was time to turn it off and go get ready for bed. I do believe we'll be playing lots of this one in the future!

#419 - Lemonade

2010-01-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, it snowed all afternoon here. But on this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, The Little Guy and I were home, and we needed a fun project. My mom gave me a Sesame Street cookbook for Christmas knowing that 1) I love Sesame Street and 2) I'm often looking for fun recipes that TLG and I can make together. We chose today to try to make lemonade from actual lemons (not Kool-Aid, Crystal Light or anything else - since TLG already knows how to make that by himself, without any help from me except reaching the Brita from the fridge). So we started by measuring 2 cups water, 1 cup sugar into a saucepan and I stirred it on the stovetop until it boiled. Then we spent a while squeezing juice from 5 lemons and removing seeds. OK, I was squeezing them, and TLG was licking juice off his fingers. (Hey, who said cooking with a 4-year-old was sanitary?) We mixed it all together, added more water and ice, and voila! This isn't nearly as easy as making Crystal Light, but it was fun to do this together and now we have a yummy drink to help us ignore the ice and snow by pretending it's summertime!

#418 - Sacher Torte

2010-01-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

There's a much funnier story behind this cake, but it's not for me to share with everybody... suffice to say that today we spent all afternoon trying a new recipe for an international-themed potluck for this evening: Sacher Torte, a Viennese chocolate torte with apricot filling, chocolate glaze, and whipped cream. We made it from scratch, thank goodness the new Good Housekeeping cookbook has very specific instructions because we've never made anything like this before. I even had to go buy a springform pan for this during the week! The pan itself worked great, and the torte turned out well. Then we heated the apricot preserves, strained out the liquid, and put it between the two layers and on top. Then a layer of chocolate glaze and YUM! There wasn't any cake to bring home after the potluck, so I think everyone else enjoyed it too, but it was a lot of work and I doubt we'd make it again on a whim.

#417 - Hearts

2010-01-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

The little guy got a ton of new games for Christmas and his recent birthday (thanks, everybody!). His newest favorites include Yahtzee Jr., Whack-a-Mole, Gator Golf, Cranium Cariboo Island and Dr. Seuss' Super Stretchy ABC game. But today he found a few tiny card games in the bottom of a gift bag he hadn't previously explored too closely. We decided to try a game of Hearts. Thank goodness there were instructions in the box, because even though I've played Hearts tons myself, explaining it to someone else sounded hard. It actually wasn't too bad, the rules are simple and TLG understands numbers that are "higher than" and "lower than" and he can count past 20 so there weren't any problems there. He actually beat me by quite a few cards! I will say we've played Yahtzee Jr. (the Toy Story version) a few times each day since Christmas, so it was nice to play something else for a few minutes.

#416 - Roller Skates

2009-12-27T21:28:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, I helped TLG try out his new roller skates in our backyard. There are some great photos of this that I will try to post here after our main computer is up and running again. We strapped TLG into his bike helmet and knee pads and I got behind him to hold under his arms when we first got started... but that meant holding most of his weight as he leaned back onto me. Once I got in front of him, holding his hands, he was able to walk a little - but having wheels on your feet inevitably means falling down. He did eventually fall, which was about enough for this adventure today. These skates are the kind you put on over your shoes, and once he graduates to the next size shoe they won't fit anymore, so I hope he doesn't grow too much before the snow thaws. I have a pair of roller blades and I hope we can skate together!

#415 - Christmas New Things

2009-12-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! The Little Guy got lots of great new things I'm excited to share with him in the coming days. Today's new things included a scooter and a jump rope. The scooter seemed like no big deal, he just hopped on and figured it out, no problem. But he's never tried a jump rope before, so I got to teach TLG how to use a jump rope. Of course it's been years since I jumped rope myself, and the kid-sized one he got was a little small for me, but after trying (with no success) to explain how it works, I finally just borrowed the rope and showed him. He's not a pro yet, in fact he got bored and a little frustrated after just a few times around. But I think when the weather warms up and he gets the hang of it better, he'll really enjoy this activity.

#414 - Mango Madness

2009-12-14T21:41:00.000-08:00

This past weekend at the grocery store, TLG pointed at a fruit display and asked, "What are those, Mommy?" I had to look at the sign before I knew for sure those funny greenish fruits were mangoes. Shows you how much experience I have with them, right? How did I grow up in California and not learn how to pick a good mango, much less prepare it for eating?!? So we bought two mangoes and I pledged to figure out how to eat them. After a quick call to my fabulous brother-in-law, who explained they are much like an avocado (in that you have to cut out the large seed in the middle, and you don't eat the skin), we were ready to try it. Tonight I took a sharp steak knife and went to town - the mango we chose was soft and once I cut it into quarters around the seed, I was able to peel the skin off by hand. Then it was just a matter of cutting off the seed and into pieces for eating. It was delicious and now that I know how easy it is, we'll need to add this fruit to our repertoire.

#413 - Kid Party

2009-12-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Last year, for The Little Guy's birthday, we rented a bounce house place and had a huge party (jointly with another family). This year we decided to go more low-key: we invited TLG's friends from daycare to our house for a birthday party. Two families joined us for lunch, cake, and a pinata (which all the boys loved!) We decorated the house with balloons, streamers, and Hot Wheels stuff everywhere - which was a little overwhelming with all the Christmas decorations already out - but hey, if you're going to have a party, you need to go all out! I don't know for sure if the snow kept some other families away - we sent out a bunch of invitations that people did not let us know if they were coming or not... next time I will know to follow-up with the parents when I run into them or daycare or something! One thing is certain: TLG had a fabulous time showing off his toys to his friends, and got a huge kick out of the pinata. It was definitely a great birthday!

#412 - Snowed-Out Birthday

2009-12-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

Since TLG was born in December a few years ago, we have had good luck with the weather on his birthday weekend, allowing some family members to drive to us (or us to drive to them!) for a family birthday party. 'Twas not to be this year: despite all our planning, Mother Nature forced us to cancel our big family birthday plans for TLG's party today. While I was disappointed, TLG still had a terrific (albeit smaller) family party. We spent the morning playing in the snow at our house, shoveling pathways for our dogs. TLG actually really enjoys shoveling, or at least dragging the shovel around the yard. Then we made time for grocery shopping, not really a fun birthday activity but a necessity! After a quick lunch and nap, we met Grandma and Grandpa at the bowling alley. (Grandma and Grandpa couldn't really remember when they'd been bowling last, but guessed it was over 30 years ago. It was good to see them in action!) TLG and his dad played a game of air hockey (shown) and then it was home for presents, taco salads, and cake. We had a very nice day celebrating TLG and didn't let the weather get us down too much. Happy birthday, TLG!

#411 - TLG's Musical Performance

2009-12-10T18:25:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, The Little Guy and the other older preschoolers and kindergarteners sang six Christmas carols at the community college President's Christmas party. We, of course, videotaped the entire thing, as well as taking photos! All the kids wore the adorable antlers they made (as seen in the photo). We've been practicing the words to all six songs at home for about a week:

- Rudolph

- Jingle Bells

- Kwanzaa's Here

- Hanukkah

- This Little Light of Mine

- We Wish You a Happy Holidays

TLG knew all the words very well, despite being one of the younger kids in this crowd. They positioned him in front of the microphones, but after the second song he switched places with the kid next to him. (Why? You'd have to ask him, I have no idea.) He did great! I was definitely a proud parent today.

When the President's Party was over, we retreated to the daycare for their Christmas party, where TLG made an ornament for our tree and the kids gave a repeat performance of their songs, helped with the younger preschoolers too. Oh yeah, my wonderful hubby and I also played trombone duets, but that was mostly just background noise. Ha!

#410 - Guitar Karma

2009-12-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

About six weeks ago, I sent a box of books and a digital metronome to a soldier overseas who had requested some beginning guitar instruction books. He e-mailed me to say thanks, and since then I've learned a little about him - including that he's been checking out a shared guitar at his base and teaching himself to play for only two months. Today, while attending a board meeting in North Carolina, my fellow board members gave me four guitar instruction books to send this soldier, and tentatively gave me a guitar to ship him later. The music and instruments are part of Sigma Alpha Iota's People-to-People project, which ships these materials to people who need them all over the world. (I just need to get approval from the project director on the guitar part.) I can hardly wait to see the e-mail from this soldier once he receives the instruction books - I told him about them in an e-mail as soon as I had them in my suitcase to bring home.

#409 - Bowling

2009-11-27T22:30:00.000-08:00

This morning, we took The Little Guy bowling for the first time. Granted, he knows all about bowling from playing on our Wii so he already knew that there would be a ball to throw to knock down 10 pins (he even knew that it's called a strike!). My dad, my wonderful hubby and I took him to the Fireside Lanes in Citrus Heights while we were all together for Thanksgiving. TLG took about three steps into the bowling alley and got very excited to see all the lanes and pines and balls (and funny shoes!) We used the bumpers on our lane and TLG got 73 pins in his first game and 50-something on the second game. He used a 6-pound ball and was able to hold it with the correct fingers and throw it using one arm (though he tried out each arm a few times). No granny-rolling between his legs for our little guy! It was really fun to see him dance around in excitement to try this new thing.

#408 - Shoebox Party

2009-11-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

As you know, I enjoy volunteer work. I pack boxes of books for soldiers, I help the local PBS television station, and so on. But this afternoon, I attended a shoebox party. The hosts have this party annually through Operation Christmas Child (a part of Samaritan's Purse) where they pack shoeboxes full of toys, school supplies and candy for needy children all over the world. I brought a few bags of candy and a Wal-Mart bag full of stuff I purchased last week, but I was not ready for the sheer size of this party! They were expecting 60 guests and had a video to help us learn what to pack. I ended up leaving and going to the Dollar Tree store to get more items for my boxes. We had to wrap each shoebox in Christmas paper (which was the hardest part of the party). It was fun to see what everyone was packing and I was glad to help out in this way.

#407 - Xmas Fireworks

2009-11-21T20:35:00.000-08:00

This evening, the little guy, my fabulous mother-in-law, and I went to the arrival of Santa Claus at the Summit mall. We were supposed to meet up with a bunch of families from our daycare, but we only ever found one other family. I was surprised at the sheer number of people there! There was a youth choir singing carols, and Santa arrived with a police escort. TLG was close enough to the roped-off walkway to say a quick hello. After that, there was 10-15 minutes of fireworks, which was really fun to see in December! The mall had distributed fancy-lensed paper glasses which made the fireworks look more rainbow-colored than normal. When the fireworks ended, we chose not to stay to shop or meet Santa more closely. What a neat event for the mall to have.

#406 - Trios at Home

2009-11-17T22:08:00.001-08:00

As you know, my hubby and I both play trombone in a swing band. We are currently playing the 2nd and 3rd chairs in the group with another local musician (one who's so good, it's his day job!). So this evening, our friend the trombonist came over for dinner and an hour or so of playing trios/duets with us. (Fortunately, we have an amazing Grandma who played with the little guy during the music portion of our evening - thanks Grandma!) This turned into a really fun evening after a stressful day of work... we tried our hand at some classical duets and Christmas trios and had a great time. I'm so lucky to have music as part of our lives.

#405 - Orange Basil Salad

2009-11-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

This evening, after a long tough day at work, we tried a new salad recipe: Orange Basil Spinach salad. The dressing was balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. The salad itself was spinach, fresh basil, orange wedges, dried cranberries, red onion, and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds (made fresh on Halloween Eve a few weeks ago). I don't usually serve new recipes to company (see blog entry #406) but this salad was just begging us to try it. And I have to say: YUM! My wonderful hubby (who doesn't like cranberries) and our little guy (who hasn't really tried spinach before) both ate quite a bit of this --- hubby even cleaned his plate. I think we'll be trying this one again before long.

#404 - November Swimming

2009-11-15T22:18:00.001-08:00

Last night, after our big event, my wonderful hubby and I stayed the night at the Atlantis hotel where I had spent all day. We had a very nice room on one of the concierge floors! I wish I could say I slept well, but I'll admit between the energy of a great event, funny noises in the middle of the night, my boss texting me at 3:30am, and the alarm clock going off at 5:30 (no, we didn't set it).... let's just say it wasn't the most restful night. However, this morning after a wonderful room service breakfast, the hubby went home to collect our bathing suits and TLG... and when they got back, the three of us went swimming in the indoor pool. This part of our stay was wonderful, as the water was delightful and TLG was thrilled to be swimming. (He is definitely ready for swim lessons next spring, as he's already experimenting with holding his breath and going under water!) So despite the lack of sleep, it was a great morning with my family, and you gotta love that.

#403 - Raising $$$ in a Down Economy

2009-11-14T23:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was the lead point person for a major fundraising dinner. We hosted 600 people for a reception/dinner/presentation/dancing. Overall, I'm proud to say the event went very well. Everyone I spoke to had a good time, thought the food was great and the presentation was nice. The only real complaint I heard was that the band and singers were too loud, and though we asked them numerous times to turn it down, it never really got better. Best news of all: We made well over our fundraising goal for the evening. It is a different experience being the point person, staying on schedule and working with the staff of the venue to get everything exactly right. I had a blast tonight (and I only got one blister from my goofy shoes). A job well done, if I do say so myself. Also, a special shout-out to my amazing hubby (who never actually reads this) who put on a tuxedo and volunteered his time to help this evening. I love showing off my handsome better half and though I know big crowds aren't his favorite scene, he is really good talking to people. I'm a lucky girl.

#402 - Veterans Day Parade

2009-11-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

I've lived in Reno for 12 Veterans Days so far, and I've never attended a parade. So today, I took TLG downtown to watch the Veterans Day Parade on Virginia Street. It wasn't exactly what I expected: there were tons of JROTC students and veteran's support groups, boy and girl scout troops... all just walking and waving. Yes, there were six or seven marching bands and a couple of horses, but where were the floats? TLG did enjoy seeing the motorcycles and the two or three vintage cars. And he did get really sad when the people handing out candy ran out before he got some. (A big thank-you to the girl sitting next to us who gave him a piece before he totally melted down.) I don't know if we'll make it a habit to attend this parade, but it was nice to acknowledge our veterans' gift to our country.

#401 - TLG's Bubbles

2009-11-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

I love bubble baths, and The Little Guy (who loves all things water-related) has always enjoyed them too. Usually we use Johnson's Bedtime Bath (purple bottle) or Avon's kids bubble bath. This evening, we tried a new bath product: Johnson's baby bubble bath & wash (in a blue bottle). The scent is on the fruity side for me - upon opening, I said "Hey! It smells like fruit salad!"... but TLG didn't seem to mind it. It had plenty of bubbles to start, but once we started using soap to wash (I used our regular soap, not the new product), the bubbles just about disappeared. We'll use this bottle, but I think next time we'll go back to our tried and true favorites.

#400 - Healthy Tree

2009-11-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

In the early summer, we noticed that one of the five trees in our backyard was growing brown clumps on the branches near the budding leaves. Concerned, I took a sample to the state agriculture office to ask about what kind of fungus it was and how to get rid of it. I became even more concerned when instead of a fungus, they told me we had an infestation of teeny-tiny bugs that were slowly eating the tree! They told me the only way to get rid of the bugs was to wait until fall, when the leaves fall off, then remove the clumps by hand. This would avoid removing large branches of the tree (which would be bad for the tree) and would get rid of the bugs. So today, I spent 30 minutes standing on a ladder pruning a tree. The branches are pretty high on this tree, so I really only helped two branches today, but every little bit helps, right? We have a long way to go out there before the snow arrives, though. Whew!

#399 - Good Karma

2009-11-06T21:26:00.001-08:00

We went out to dinner tonight at one of our favorite places, Red Robin. As I was helping the little guy unbuckle his carseat, I noticed a loud hissing noise nearby. It turns out we had just driven over a large nail and the rear passenger tire was going flat. My wonderful hubby got out the spare, took off the old tire, and then... couldn't get the spare tire on because of a crack in the parking lot that we were parked on. I called AAA, and while I was requesting help, a perfect stranger brought a flashlight over and started helping my dear hubby re-position the car jack to try again. He said he's a police officer and he helps lots of people with their cars, and his wife waited patiently while they worked together to replace the spare and put the pieces back into place. We didn't catch his name at all, but I wish him tons of good karma and owe him a big debt of thanks.

#398 - Sesame Street Love

2009-11-06T21:21:00.000-08:00

Today a memory I wrote about my experience at Muppetfest (in 2001) was published online in USA Today's story about the 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street. I submitted the story on Monday, not really expecting to hear anything, and they called me on Wednesday to double-check the spelling of my name and hometown. They said there was a chance it would be in the print edition as well (it wasn't, I checked)... but it was exciting enough to be included in the other great stories that readers sent. I'm proud to be a part of the celebration!

#397 - Opa!

2009-11-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

For lunch today, I tried a Greek restaurant called "Opa." A co-worker and I were on a work errand at lunch time and decided to stop in. The place is pretty small, only a handful of tables inside with a few more outside. I tried the large Greek salad, which came with a warm pita. It was delicious, romaine lettuce covered in feta cheese with some tomatoes, artichokes, kalamata olives and peppercinis. My co-worker had the spanikopia (spinach pie), which looked really tasty, with a small Greek salad. The man who took our order seemed like the owner, he was a little gruff with the woman waiting the tables but he warmed up once everyone had been served. He even brought us lemon cookies for dessert though we didn't order them! This place isn't really near my work (it's across town in the Costco shopping center) but if I'm ever over there again I'd go there for another bite.

#396 - When There's a Will...

2009-11-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

Today, my amazing hubby and I finalized our wills. People have been telling us since the little guy was born that we needed to have a will, and it took us until now to actually do it. We started a few weeks ago with a consultation with the lawyer to discuss our wishes, then we had a second meeting to go over everything and ask questions. And boy, did we have questions! Legal-ese does not come naturally to me. And today was just a quick meeting to look everything over a final time and sign it all. Whew! As my hubby said to the lawyer, "I feel very grown up."

#395 - Wii Fit

2009-11-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

After almost a year of looking at the box (purchased late last year, if memory serves), today we got out the Wii Fit and tried it out. It comes with a balance board and a CD with a bunch of different games (yoga, balance games, aerobics and strength exercises). The little guy LOVED it, especially the ski jump and running games (boy, did he ever run!). One cute thing he did, after running in place for about 10 minutes with the game, he said he was sweaty and he wanted to take his shirt off. It was so funny the way he said it (I know I'm not describing it right, just take my word for it.) I liked the hula hoop game, the yoga stuff, and the ski games. My wonderful hubby was preoccupied watching football today and tending to his knee - did I mention he had knee surgery 10 days ago? - so I didn't see him do many activities. I hope once his knees are recovered this will be something we can all do together. One complaint I have so far: we haven't figured out how to get more than one player in a game at one time, so when we want to take turns, we have to back all the way out and start over. That will get old, so I'm hoping we can figure that out soon. But overall, I think it was a hit!

#394 - Glow Stick

2009-10-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, everyone! Tonight, we took our little Spiderman trick-or-treating, but the best part of the day for him was a new thing altogether: a green glow stick. We got the glow stick last weekend in preparation for today, and it's been killing him all week that we couldn't open it sooner. We got all ready to venture out in the neighborhood and got it out at the last minute. (It was like Christmas around here!) As for trick-or-treating, we only did our court and up one side of the next street over before TLG decided he had had enough... though after all the other Halloween festivities this week, I can't blame him. He did help us answer the door for a while, but mostly he wanted to play with the glow stick and eat candy. (Who can blame him?) The photo, left, is from bathtime - we let him take a "spooky bath" in the dark with the glow stick. I didn't know they could go in the water, but it didn't seem to hurt anything and he loved it. We had plenty of trick-or-treaters this year but between the leftover candy and the all the loot TLG collected this week, I do see some sugar rushes in our future!

#393 - Toy Story

2009-10-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

Let me share with you today's "toy story": Grammy and Papa sent TLG $5 in a Halloween card this week, and we talked with him about how much that could buy in a store. We told him he could buy anything he wanted. He said he wanted a Buzz Lightyear toy, so knowing that they've re-released Toy Story toys, the two of us headed to a Wal-Mart Supercenter (guaranteed to have more toys to choose from than the regular Wal-Mart we usually shop in). And once we arrived, I told him he could take as long as he wanted to choose his toy. We spent an entire hour in the toy department, exploring and learning about price tags and how much things cost. It was actually the highlight of my day - we talked about the numbers on the price tags, and we walked every single isle of the toy department from bikes to Barbie dolls. It was fascinating to watch him play with every toy he could reach, discover new kinds of toys, and see what got him excited. I got lots of great ideas for his birthday and Christmas!

After learning the Toy Story toys cost quite a bit more than he had to spend, he spent the longest time in the Hot Wheels section, choosing the right one. He finally chose an "American Grafitti" collectors 1958 Corvette that came in a special display case. He loves it so much, he took it to bed with him this evening like a stuffed animal. The little man loves his cars!

#392 - Daycare Trick-or-Treating

2009-10-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, I spent a few hours at TLG's daycare helping take the preschoolers trick-or-treating around campus. Originally, I was assigned three kids: my little dragon, plus Snow White and a pink cowgirl. Not having much (OK, not having any) experience taking three preschoolers out in the world, I didn't really think to tell them to all hold hands - though I did ask them to stay together. Silly me, what was I thinking? The cowgirl took off, making her hard to keep track of, and the teacher re-assigned her to another parent by the second stop on our journey. So the dragon, Snow White and I did it all ourselves, holding hands most of the way. Snow White recognized her mother's office when we got there, and when she couldn't find her mom anywhere, she got very upset and refused to hold my hand after that. Thank goodness for her mom showing up 10 minutes later! As for me and the little dragon, we did great. There was about 30 stops for candy in the 2-1/2 hours, and he was a trooper. No complaints, no asking to eat anything, not even any bathroom breaks. What a kid.

#391 - Pop Candy Featured Reader

2009-10-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

As I think I've mentioned before, my favorite blog is USA Today's Pop Candy. Author Whitney Matheson has tons of great suggestions for people like me who love all things pop culture, and though I don't always agree with her (I'm not a big comic book fan, for example), I get a kick out of her writing and suggestions. Well, a couple of weeks ago she decided to start asking readers to submit pop-culture related "Top Five" lists. Of course I had to write one! I'm proud to share today's new thing: I am today's featured reader on the USA Today Pop Candy blog! I wrote a list of dream (fictional) high schools I wish I could have gone to, including the schools from TV shows Friday Night Lights, Glee, Gilmore Girls, Saved by the Bell, and finally Freaks and Geeks. I'm so proud!

#390 - Disneyland with a Kiddo

2009-09-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

The last time I went to Disneyland, I was a college student. So today's new thing was completely different: visiting Disneyland with my family. This was my hubby's amazing birthday gift to me, and it was spectacular! We were there before the park opened in the morning to purchase "ears" for TLG (see below). The lines for rides were very short so we got to try tons of rides! We walked straight on (no waiting!) to Pirates, It's a Small World, Buzz Lightyear, the flying rockets, King Arthur's Carousel and Winnie the Pooh. I think the longest we waited was 30 minutes (for Autopia and the Matterhorn, which only the hubby went on)... amazing. We had lunch in Tomorrowland and went on every single ride there except Space Mountain, which was closed for them to put up Halloween decorations. The only two rides TLG wanted to go on again were Small World and the teacups, and he really didn't like the Roger Rabbit ride. (I forgot how scary that movie was!)

We met Pluto and Mickey Mouse, and saw Snow White from afar. TLG and I had fun playing in Toontown with all the bells, switches and levers all over. We ate popcorn for dinner and stayed until closing time, running to get on "one last ride" (teacups for the boys, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for me). When it was time to leave, we had to stop on Main Street to buy souvenirs including a Mickey light saber for TLG. Then we hiked across the street to IHOP to have pancakes for dinner late in the evening.

What an amazing day we had, and some great memories for our photo album too. TLG is the perfect age for a first trip to Disneyland - he loved seeing all the characters and choosing which rides to go on. And I loved watching him explore and see all the amazing things Disneyland has to offer.

#389 - California Adventure

2009-09-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today, our family flew to Burbank, CA then drove to Anaheim and spent the day in Disney's California Adventure. None of us had ever visited there before, so it was entirely new for all of us... and it was great fun! We met Mickey Mouse just inside the door of the park, had some lunch, and headed off for some rides. My wonderful hubby's favorite was the Soarin' Over California, I loved the California Screamin roller coaster and the Muppet-Vision 3D (of course). TLG's favorite ride were the bug bumper cars (though he seemed to like the Soarin' ride with his Dad too - upon exiting the ride, he was pumping his fists and yelling about how cool it was). Meeting and posing for a photo with Lightning and Mater was awesome (TLG looks tired here, but I think he was just in awe... when we were done posing, he patted Lightning and said goodbye). We also enjoyed the Pixar Play Parade which had many of our favorite movie characters in it, before they closed the park for the night.

#388 - Darn Fox Tails

2009-08-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

We recently had to take our black dog, Ellie, to the emergency vet after hours. (The photo, left, is from the day we adopted Penny over a year ago, but it's a great shot of Ellie too.)

It was about dinner time when she started having weird sneezing attacks... and it got more bizarre when she started sneezing blood all over the kitchen. She continued to have fits as the evening wore on, and by the time my wonderful hubby got home from his evening activity, I was more than concerned. She wouldn't let us get near her, and it seemed to be getting worse. The final straw for me was when she started making a mess on the carpet outside The Little Guy's room as I was trying to get him to go to bed.

Finally about 9:15pm, we called All Creatures Veterinary Hospital, which had a vet on-call until 10:00pm. My wonderful hubby loaded up our poor pup and ran to the other side of town, where the vet had to put her under anesthesia and plucked a giant fox tail out of her nostril. Thank goodness for the doggie ER!

Our little Ellie has fully recovered and we have been keeping the pooches out of the dog run, where the fox tails grow. I do hope we don't have to experience this one again any time soon.

#387 - (Really Old New Thing) 50's Party

2009-08-20T16:29:00.001-07:00

Waaaaaaaaay back in May, my sister hosted a costume party with a 50's theme, which we happily dressed up to attend. It was an awesome party, and each of my family members showed up dressed to the nines. Even my then-5-month-old niece had a poodle skirt! It was really fun to dress up outside of Halloween, and we had everything from Elvis to a beatnik to a high school coach (see left).

Rather than go back and re-number all my new things, I decided to just add this now, with this totally adorable photo of our family.

#386 - Local Water Fun

2009-08-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today, I took TLG to the local waterpark for our first visit. While we did visit the waterpark in Branson last summer, neither of us had ever been to the Wild Island park here. Going on a Wednesday was a great idea: we had no trouble finding chairs to stash our towels, but I could easily see how a weekend would be really crowded. Not to mention, it was the hottest day of the year so far! Also, children 3-and-under are free every day, so that helped my pocketbook a bit! We arrived shortly after opening, got a locker and got right in the water. The splash area was not TLG's favorite, so we only went there for a few minutes. But the kids' slide area, the river, and the wave pool were each big hits and we visited each twice! TLG loves to be in the water so much... we may have the next Michael Phelps on our hands. I went down some of the kids' slides with TLG the first time or two, but after that I got "Mommy, you stay at the bottom and catch me. I can do it by myself." What a big boy! And all day, I got lots of: "Mommy, I love you." It was a great afternoon.

#385 - Surprise!

2009-08-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I threw a surprise birthday party for my wonderful husband. I had lots of help from my hubby's parents, who assisted with everything from planning to getting him out of the house... it turned out to be about 30 people over for dinner and cake, ping pong and good times. All of my family from California drove in, which helped add to the surprise (they had all called to say "happy birthday!" throughout the day). I know it wasn't a complete surprise for him (he told me I asked him some weird question about surprise parties months ago, so he suspected something was going on). But all the logistics were a surprise - where, when, who. It was especially hard for me not to mention it in front of TLG, who is really good at surprising me with what he'll remember and bring up later! And since I'm a terrible liar, that part was difficult too. But what a special birthday party! Thanks, everyone, for your part in the surprise.

#382 - #384 - Convention New Things

2009-08-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

After my wonderful hubby and TLG went home, I stayed on in Chicago another week to attend a national board meeting and five-day convention. While I was there, I...

#382 - Shared a Hotel Room with My Fantastic Mother-In-Law
One thing you should know: I have the world's best mother-in-law. She and I have a lot in common, and I am extremely lucky that we get along so well. I had convinced her to attend the convention with me, and we agreed that staying together would be best for all of our wallets. I really enjoyed sharing the convention highlights with her, attending concerts and workshops, and reviewing all the day's activities. I am so happy I got to share this with her!

#383 - Watched "Flight of the Conchords" Season 1
If you like quirky, musically-related television shows, and if you've never seen this one, please add it to your Netflix queue. Brit and Jermaine are two New Zealanders living in New York City, trying to make it as musicians. They are hilarious, and each of the songs they perform plays out like a music video in the episode... and each song is a different style, from pop-techno, to love ballad, to disco, to French rock. Hi-lar-i-ous, and kept me in stitches while I was waiting between board meeting and convention activities. Season 2 is also out on DVD but I haven't seen it yet.

#384 - Limo Ride to O'Hare
Yes, instead of a shuttle ride or a private car to O'Hare airport, I got to ride in a limo. (No, I didn't ask for a limo, and no, I'm not anybody important. They just had over 800 people all going to O'Hare at the same time from the same hotel. They brought out the big guns.) The last time I rode in a limo was at my wedding over five years ago! It was really classy and made for a great last impression of my time in Chicago. No frills in the car, I will report, but it was fun to pull up at the airport and feel like a million dollars.

#380 - #381 - Chicago (Day Three)

2009-08-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

The next day in Chicago, we had a blast...

#380 - Taking TLG to a Children's Museum
We visited the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville, IL. We were only there about 45 minutes before they closed, but it was AWESOME. I don't know if TLG liked the wind toys, the hands-on construction area, the water toys, or the giant mazes best. Part of that was my wonderful hubby and I were like kids in a candy store - "Hey, look at this!" (Then from the other side of the room: "Wow - check this out!") TLG didn't stand a chance with the two of us crazies. If you are ever nearby with a little one, I urge you to go and see this place.

#381 - Family Visits
We also spent a good portion of a day driving around Chicago and visiting various members of my extended family. We had lunch with my great-aunt who turned 91, and one of my uncles. It was such fun to hear stories of my Dad and his brothers when they were children! And we had dinner with two sets of uncles and aunts, plus one cousin and her twins. TLG was happy to have kids to play with, and I had a great time visiting with my family (who I don't see nearly often enough).

#376 - #379 - Chicago Firsts (Days One-Two)

2009-08-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been away so long. It has been a crazy couple of months here. I'll try to post more regularly as I notice new things in our lives! In the meantime, I just got home from 10 days in Chicago and have a handful of new things to share:

#376 - Waterfall Swimming
The first hotel we stayed at had an indoor pool with a giant (fake rock) waterfall. It was beautiful to look at but GOOD GRIEF the water was cold! We swam anyways, since TLG loves to be in the water... he thought it was the greatest fun to swim back behind the waterfall. Of course we couldn't stay in there long because our lips were turning blue.

But I would be remiss in talking about Chicago if I forgot to mention the

#377 - Rental Car Upgrades!
Leftover from my previous job, I have a membership as a Hertz Gold Club member. Somehow we got upgraded from a mid-size SUV to a new Cadillac Escalade... which was awesome! Leather seats with warmers, tons of room to spread out, a smooth ride, a satellite radio, and best of all, a GPS. OK, we knew we were getting the GPS because we paid extra for that - but thank goodness we had "her" with us. We were only 90 minutes late to the...

#378 - Major Family Reunion
One of the reasons we took this trip was to attend a major family reunion in Auburn, IN. There were about 35 members of my husband's extended family in attendance, including a bunch of kids. We were late NOT because of the GPS but because we failed to double-check the driving time in advance. Oh well, we still got to visit with everyone and eat a good meal. While we were there, one of my hubby's cousins gave TLG a...

#379 - Fishing Lesson
I'll admit I've never been fishing. I'm not even sure if my hubby has, either? Outdoorsmen, we are not. The park where the reunion was held had a small fishing pond, and the cousin's children clearly had plenty of experience. While we didn't let TLG actually fish any, the two of us stood there for quite some time watching. I asked our cousin to explain what he was doing (since I obviously was at a loss for words), and he did a great job telling TLG all the steps to catching a fish. I don't think they caught anything, but that wasn't really the point.

#375 - TLG's First Sleepover

2009-04-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

As part of our date night last night, it was also TLG's first sleepover at Grandma & Grandpa's house. In over three years, he's never spent the night anywhere without either me or my wonderful hubby. I will tell you TLG loved, loved, loved spending the night at my in-laws' house. I don't know all the details about what they did, but we did get a few cute photos like the one here. (That's a popper hooked to a push-toy that TLG likes to run in circles with.) I'm not too proud to tell you that I was nervous and a little sad unless I was distracted by a trivia game or a movie... I had trouble falling asleep and kept listening for him even though I knew he wasn't here. *sigh* He had a blast, went to bed late and got up early, and fell asleep in the car on the way home (just the way a sleepover should be).

#374 - Wings & Games

2009-04-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I went on a special date night tonight and had dinner at a new place: Buffalo Wild Wings. We chose it because it's right next to the movie theater (and we chose to go see "Monsters vs. Aliens" without TLG tonight). It's a bar/grill type of place, and it was pretty crowded, but we got a table right away. We enjoyed the food, I had delicious wings with medium sauce (pretty spicy, actually, but they were great) and we shared some cheesy potato wedges. Hubby, who doesn't like wings, ordered a burger and said it was great. But the best part of dinner: I had heard about the trivia games they have, and our waitress brought us an electronic console so we could join in... it was really fun! The first game was popular music trivia and we didn't do so well, actually. But the second game was general trivia and we did great - though what do you expect when out of 10 questions, one was about the Muppet Show and two were about cars? We came in 5th in the restaurant out of 20 people playing. I can definitely see us going back here again sometime soon!

#373 - Emergency?

2009-03-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

As you probably know, TLG had his 3rd surgery in February and it was a great success. All the work the surgeon wanted to complete was done, and he has been healing quickly and completely. But I admit it, I am a worrywart of the first degree. This weekend I noticed some things around his scars that didn't look quite right. So this morning, I called UC Davis to ask a nurse about it. The receptionist didn't even let me talk to the nurse, and told us to come right down for an afternoon appointment! Well! Let me tell you how much I flipped out. I assumed this was an emergency and had a terrible time calming down. Turns out what I saw was just scarring and was completely normal, the surgeon actually made me feel quite silly for coming in to see him, but HEY you can't be too careful with MY CHILD. Right?!? This was the first time we had to rush to UC Davis - all our other visits were carefully planned - and that drive is not fun when you're a nervous wreck.

#372 - Violin Lesson

2009-03-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know what possessed TLG to ask to see my violin tonight. I hadn't mentioned it in ages, I didn't think he even remembered I own one. I know I've never shown it to him. But tonight, of his own free accord, TLG asked to see my violin. So I brought it out of storage and TLG used the bow while I did the fingering to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." He was very careful with the violin and understood that it wasn't a toy like his little guitar (also shown in the photo). But he loved making a song come out of the violin and wanted to do it over and over again. I'll be interested to see what instrument he chooses to play when he decides he's ready.

#371 - Landlocked Marina

2009-03-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

After we left the movie, we headed someplace else I've never visited: the Sparks Marina. This man-made marina is near I-80 in nearby Sparks, and boy was it crowded on this windy (but sunny) day! There's a nice playground that was crawling with kids, so TLG didn't play there for long. Instead, we wandered down to the "beach" which seemed to me to be so windblown that the dirt under the sand was showing through. TLG loved running up and down the lifeguard stations, which weren't being used at this time of year. We walked down the beach to three different stations before heading back. We didn't stay too long, since the wind was pretty fierce, but we might have to check it out again on a day when we could wade in the water. I wonder how crowded it is in the summertime?

#370 - $30 I'll Never See Again

2009-03-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

We thought we were being fun, exciting parents when we tried to take TLG to see the movie "Monsters vs. Aliens" in 3D today. Instead, TLG (who admittedly was the youngest kid in the theater) got really scared of the things coming out of the screen... and we chose to leave the movie after about 20 minutes. With the extra charges for the 3D glasses and the popcorn/soda we bought, that's a good $30 we can't get back. I knew the movie was rated PG going in, but he loves Madagascar and has seen Shrek, so I thought the people at Dreamworks were on a roll. TLG also loves Monsters Inc. (which is a Disney/Pixar movie but, hey, it's about MONSTERS). Oh well, at least we tried.

#369 - Cracker Barrel

2009-02-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

This morning I had breakfast at a Cracker Barrel. These famous restaurants don't exist on the west coast, so I'd never gotten to try it. I had a delicious meal, the best of which was the fresh apple cider. I don't remember even trying grits before, so I made a point to taste them (verdict: not a fan, even with milk and sugar). It was funny to me (and my good friend Kim) that they still have a smoking section, which we were guided to when we agreed to "first available table" - smoking sections just don't exist anymore where we live. After our meal, we checked out the in-house store, where I found a great extra-long straw that looks like glasses to bring home for TLG. Great variety of odd toys, clothes, spring time decorations, we spent a good amount of time looking around.

#368 - Musings on Travel

2009-02-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

Today I flew Continental Airlines from Reno to Phoenix to Charleston, SC to Asheville, NC. I have flown to Asheville before, many times actually, but usually Delta through Atlanta, GA. So here are some of my random thoughts about this trip: 1) Continental made me mad by no in-flight movie, AND wanting to charge for any drinks (even bottled water), though I did hear they are going to discontinue this practice. Apparently I'm not the only one who got angry about this. I paid good money for my ticket, and I can't even have a free drink? Or a movie to pass the time?!? 2) The Charleston airport really knocked my socks off - spacious, clean, lots of food choices. I would happily fly here again, if only I took a different airline. 3) Man, this is a loooong trip. Flying Reno-Atlanta-Asheville takes a little less time, but it feels like a LOT less time.

#367 - Thomas Live

2009-01-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, The Little Guy and I went to see Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends in a live production. As it turns out, TLG is a little shy to meet any costumed characters up close (see photo), but he enjoyed the show fairly well. It was unfortunate that the show began at his normal naptime so he was not very enthusiastic during the audience participation sections of the show... but he didn't want to leave, either. The show itself was about a circus coming to the Island of Sodor, and since TLG has never been to a circus, either, I'm not sure if he really understood the plot. But he liked seeing the trains on the stage and seemed to enjoy the music, most of which he knew from watching the Thomas TV show. I got him a new light-up toy from the souvenir stand, and he did wave it around quite a bit during the show. One funny thought: there were cookies in the meet-and-greet area, and TLG didn't want one, nor did he want any popcorn. He settled on M&M peanuts (a boy after my own heart) but blew me away with not wanting a cookie!

#366 - TLG's First Basketball Game

2009-01-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

My husband and I both went to the University of Nevada, Reno and therefore we both know how to "Back the Pack." (For you uninitiated folk, that's the Nevada Wolfpack.) Tonight, we took TLG to his first Wolfpack men's basketball game. We started the evening by visiting the bookstore to purchase new shirts for all of us, because you have to dress the part to attend a Nevada game! Then we proceeded to the game... My boss let me have his tickets, since he was unable to attend, and his seats were great. From our vantage point, we could clearly see the game, the cheerleaders, the mascots, and the band. TLG loved seeing the mascots best of all, though at first he said they were "bears" instead of wolves. He quickly figured it out, though, and we all had a great time. We clapped along with the music, ate tons of popcorn, and cheered on the team to victory! We did end up leaving before the game ended, since it was well past TLG's bedtime, but we stayed long enough to ensure a win.

A General Blog Message

2009-01-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

Happy 365 New Things to me, and a Happy New Year to you! Now that I've completed my entire year's worth of new things, I intend to update this blog as I discover new things, either for myself, or to share with my family. Thank you for keeping up with me over the past 365 new things, and now that I'm free of the burden of all the time scouting of new things, I hope to have a little more free time to do everything else!

#365 - Local Library

2008-12-31T20:27:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, I took TLG to the local library branch near our house. As an avid reader, I spent tons of hours reading books from libraries in Sacramento, so I was really looking forward to today's new thing. It turns out that the daycare has taught TLG many of the rules of the library, including being quiet, and borrowing books and having to return them. The branch near our house has a great kids' section with tons of books and videos to choose from, though TLG's method of choosing books is totally haphazard (whatever he touches first, basically). Though I don't know the exact titles, TLG's first five library books ever are: 1) The Bernstain Bears' Road Race, 2) Garfield at the Circus, 3) Bob the Builder Learns Shapes, 4) Some Things Go Together, and 5) Amelia Bedelia. I can hardly wait to share these with him over the next three weeks, and I'm already looking forward to our return visit.

#364 - Sneaky Snacker

2008-12-30T12:58:00.000-08:00

Sometime last night/this morning while my hubby and I were sleeping, we believe TLG snuck downstairs and helped himself to four (4!) cheesy biscuits, leftover from dinner last night. This was his first time sneaking food during the night, and at first we thought it might have been one of our doggies. But, rationally, we figured the dogs would have eaten them all instead of leaving a few behind - and certainly they would have not been so neat with the crumbs. TLG woke me around 3:00AM and asked for a drink of water, and at the time I didn't know why... This morning, neither of us adults really knew what to say about this to TLG, once he woke up for good and admitted that he had eaten a snack. TLG did say that his tummy felt a little funny, and I thought that was probably enough deterrent to not eat so much next time. I don't really care if he finds himself a snack when he's hungry, I just wish he would show this independence with other tasks (like going to the bathroom by himself in the middle of the night).

#363 - Wii All Had a Good Time

2008-12-26T23:47:00.000-08:00

My wonderful family gave us a handful of new Wii games for Christmas, so last night and this evening we taught some of my family members to play with the Wii remotes, and we tried a bunch of new games: Wii Music, Dancing with the Stars, Star Wars Force Unleashed, and a Namco Arcade game (which includes Pac Man and Dig Dug, two games I grew up with). A few thoughts on the games: 1) The Little Guy loved the Wii Music game. If you know any three-year-olds, I'd recommend this one to try, since a good portion of it doesn't require any ability to point the controller at the screen - just wave it around to "play" an instrument or conduct an orchestra. And, I hate to brag, but TLG was really getting good at matching pitches and answering questions about music in the Pitch Perfect game. 2) My husband is a better "Dancer" than I am... he insists that this means he is a better video gamer than me, but I think that's a silly excuse to get out of dancing with me in person more often. 3) I only observed the Star Wars game, which apparently lets the player become Darth Vader, swinging a light saber and searching out a Jedi knight. But my hubby thought it was great, and I do believe that I'll be hearing Darth's funny breathing more and more around our house. 4) As for the Pac Man game, I hate to say it, but some things are better left alone. We need to go buy some "traditional" controllers to make this one more palatable for me. I used to be really good at Dig Dug but the controllers really held me back. 5) I think my favorite part of this session was during the Wii Music game last night, when we all got the giggles because we were "conducting" so poorly. What a crack-up.

#362 - Santa Replies

2008-12-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Today's mail brought a letter for The Little Guy with a return address from the North Pole. Inside was a typed poem by an elf named "Maria", who signed the letter, which promised that Santa was busy making toys. It also said that if TLG was good for his parents Santa would try to bring him some special treats at Christmas. I've never heard of getting a reply to a letter to Santa - I certainly don't remember getting a letter back when I wrote to Santa myself - so this was just the coolest thing to see in the mail! It just made me love Christmastime even more.

#361 - Becoming an Aunt!

2008-12-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

This morning at 1:01AM, I witnessed the birth of my niece. What an amazing thing to be a part of: the miracle of birth. My sister is my new hero... she made it through 25 hours of labor with no epidural (!) to introduce the world to her daughter. My brother-in-law, my mom, and I were all helping, especially for the four or five hours leading up to the birth. Our precious new family member weighs 7 lbs., 10 oz. and is so beautiful we could hardly stand it. I was the first photographer on the scene (and will need to get permission from my sister before I post anything here). There were tons of family members in the waiting room, but being able to be a part of this was an honor I wouldn't trade for anything.

#360 - An Exciting Drive

2008-12-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

I've lived in Reno for over twelve years, and I have driven over Donner Summit to northern California by myself many times... but never has it been as exciting drive as it was this morning. Shortly after midnight, I received the phone call from my sister that her water had broken and she was on her way to the hospital. (YAY!) So I quickly packed my suitcase, left my house at 1:30AM and drove over the mountains by myself in the middle of the night. I was pretty wired about the prospect of becoming an aunt today, so I wasn't sleepy, and I had my ipod on shuffle and sang most of the way (as I often do). The traffic was light, and there was no ice on the road (thank goodness). I wouldn't recommend stopping at the Donner rest area at 2:30AM by yourself... a little spooky for a woman travelling by herself, but I was pleased to see the CHP officers driving by as I was walking back to my car.

#359 - A Little Cake with My Alcohol

2008-12-16T21:43:00.001-08:00

Someone at work gave me a loaf of homemade Jamaican fruitcake, so that made an easy new thing to try today... when she handed it to me, she explained that her friend who makes it soaks the fruit "all year" in rum and port wine, so it really would be "a little cake with your booze" (her words, not mine). So I brought it home at lunchtime and cut myself a tiny slice to taste. I should mention that before I even unwrapped the package I could smell the alcohol - and I was surprised that the cake looked like a loaf of chocolate brownies needing to be sliced. Upon tasting it, I was blown away by the strong alcohol taste - she wasn't kidding! - I couldn't even tell you what type of cake was surrounding the fruit. I admit I only took three bites before I became overwhelmed, and since we don't keep alcohol in our house, I re-wrapped it to take outside. Wow.

#358 - Letter to Santa

2008-12-15T21:34:00.000-08:00

For the past three Christmases, TLG has been too little to really ask questions about Santa Claus, and he certainly hasn't been able to ask for anything specific for Christmas. But today, TLG dictated a letter to Santa, which I wrote down and helped him mail. We used a regular envelope and put a stamp on it in the hopes that the USPS knows how to send it all the way to the North Pole. The two things TLG really wants for Christmas are a flashlight and a big letter "J". I do hope he will stop throwing nightly tantrums and saying "I don't want to!" all the time... I've explained many times that Santa only brings gifts to good boys and girls, but I have a feeling Santa was watching how good TLG has been all year. I suspect he will probably receive the gifts he's asked for, and then some. I love Christmas!

#357 - No (Beauty) Sleep for the Weary

2008-12-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

During the past year, I have tried a few new products to attempt to look less like a sleep-deprived mommy and more like a put-together young lady. Today, I tried Clean & Clear's Morning Burst Shine Control Facial Cleanser. This clear liquid soap has blue and yellow specks ("bursting beads") in it which are supposed to "burst with energy and vitamins" while the smell wakes me up. I didn't get this product to lather very well while I was using it, but after rinsing it off I did notice a tingling sensation on my face that lasted for a few minutes. I did like the fragrance, which had a hint of lemongrass in it. While I didn't notice any diminished shine during the day, at least it wasn't worse than normal (I do have very oily skin). I'll probably try it for the next week or so and see if I notice any other changes before making a final decision on this soap, but so far I like it.

#356 - Third Birthday

2008-12-12T21:23:00.000-08:00

The little guy turned 3 today, and we took the day off from work to have a leisurely day with family. Early this morning, we drove to Sacramento to have lunch with my mom and sister. After a nice nap and a little afternoon shopping, my sister had an amazing "Handy Manny" party ready for TLG, complete with streamers, balloons, plates, napkins, and toys emblazoned with the cartoon handyman. My terrific family all gathered for a dinner from The Old Spaghetti Factory and chocolate cake, decorated by my dad ("Poppy"), just like he used to do for me when I was younger. And, oh, the toys! Did I mention the toys?!? The highlight must be his very first two-wheel bike (though for now it has training wheels) with a Lightning McQueen bike helmet. He took to it right away, and even rode down the driveway before getting a little afraid of not being able to stop. (I'm sure he'll get the hang of those pedal brakes before long.) Thank you, family, for a wonderful party and some great memories.

#355 - A Jury of TLG's Peers

2008-12-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, my wonderful hubby and I played Christmas carols at the daycare center's annual family Christmas get-together. I will admit, I don't usually get nervous before I play trombone, but today I felt some little butterflies before we began playing. One of the office managers there plays baritone, and she joined us to make a trio for the first three songs (which was nice). And later in the party, we played a handful of duets. The funniest thing was the little guy's reaction - he stood between us while we were playing, hardly moving at all, even though he could have been doing art projects, playing with friends, or eating a snack. I love that he is respectful of live music already, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for bringing him to our regular band rehearsals and gigs and teaching him about this. Of course, we played fine, and there was certainly no reason to be nervous... all the other kids and their families seemed to enjoy the music as they partied hearty. We were overshadowed by the cute kindergartners singing carols during our break, but who wouldn't be?!?

#354 - Almost Like Peanut Butter Soup

2008-12-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

My family has a joke about the time, long ago, that my mom tried a new recipe and made peanut butter soup for dinner. It was so bad we all remember it as a special event. Well, tonight we tried a new recipe at our house from a Cooking Light cookbook: black bean chili over white rice. It was so spicy we threw it all out and ordered a pizza. I wish I could describe just the spicy smell in our kitchen - almost enough to bowl you over without ever tasting the food! The recipe had black beans, diced tomatoes, sauteed onions and garlic, a bunch of spices including chili powder and cumin, and 1/4 cup of chipotle sauce. Yes, there was water and a tiny bit of sugar, and we were instructed to put fresh cilantro and light sour cream on top, which we did --- but it still melted the make-up right off of my face. The Little Guy liked helping to make this dinner, since it involved pouring out cans, measuring ingredients, all sorts of jobs he enjoys. In fact, he was eating black beans straight from the can and seemed to enjoy them. But once dinner was ready, TLG and my wonderful hubby took about two bites each and declared they didn't like it. (I took a few more bites, until I thought my stomach was on fire.) I hope we'll try this recipe again someday, since I liked the idea of it, but it will need to be doctored a lot to fit our family's likes!

#353 - Memory

2008-12-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

One of the great birthday gifts TLG received from a friend yesterday was the game Memory. I haven't played it in eons, so I was very excited to try it. It turns out my hubby had never played it before, so today our little family played our first real "board" game with TLG. (OK, technically Memory doesn't have a board, since you just spread out the cards and find the matching pairs, but since it comes in a box and is sold in the game section, I'm calling it a board game.) The little guy didn't completely understand the rules about taking turns, but he was trying. He just got so excited when he knew there was a match to be found, well, it was hard to enforce the rules! I can't wait to share more games with him, I just hope he likes them as much as his parents do.

#352 - Birthday Party!

2008-12-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Today we held TLG's first-ever birthday party with his friends. We went to a local bounce-house place, Jump N Play, and had about 20 kids total for a two-hour party. In the photo, you can see the backs of all our heads as we watch TLG try to scale a giant bouncy ladder to go down a big slide (which he could do with no help from anybody). It was actually a joint party with his best friend, who also had a birthday just a couple weeks ago. He had an amazing party, jumping and sliding and climbing and racing around. After about 90 minutes in the bounce areas, it was time for pizza, ice cream cake, and singing happy birthday! Having the party jointly was great, since our two kids have mostly the same friends, and each family only had to pay for half a party... and at this time of year, it was nice for the other friends' families to only have one party to put on the calendar. We loved this birthday and we all left feeling like it was a total success, and lots of fun.

#351 - Air Museum

2008-11-29T20:13:00.000-08:00

This morning, we visited the Aerospace Museum of California, located next to McClellan Air Force Base. TLG loved seeing the planes up close, especially the ones that you could climb inside (like the one shown in the photo). They had tons of 'em - most were outside, though, so we were lucky to have good weather to enjoy them all. We got a private tour from a volunteer who showed us all around - fortunately it wasn't a busy day at the museum, so our volunteer even opened a specially reconstructed Coast Guard plane to show it to us. TLG got a little tired of all the descriptions of stuff once he had seen the inside of all the planes, so my wonderful hubby and TLG took off, exploring the other displays indoors and re-visiting all the open planes. It was amazing to see the planes up close and personal, since I've only ever seen commercial planes. This museum is not very old, I believe it opened in 2007, and they could use some more visitors, so if you've never been, give it a try.

#350 - Uh-Oh

2008-11-26T22:08:00.000-08:00

On our way to California for Thanksgiving tonight, our family was in our first car accident together. My hubby and I have both been in them before, but never together, and TLG certainly has never been in one. Before I describe any more, let me tell you that we are all OK (my back is a little sore, will probably get checked out soon). Even our Jeep is pretty OK, we'll probably need a new bumper and hitch, but compared to the other guy's car, we are doing much better. Now for my ranting and raving: the guy who hit us, a non-English speaker, had no ID of any sort and was waving around some insurance paperwork but never wrote anything down for us... no name, no insurance info, no license plate, or anything. The CHP officer told us it was a "good thing" we have uninsured motorist insurance. So what, this jerk hit us and we have to pay for it because he's an idiot? Great. That's EXACTLY what I want to do with my disposable income in the next month. Birthday and Christmas to pay for? Too bad, now you have to pay for getting your car fixed and your back looked at. *sigh* I was a tiny bit glad his car was totaled and he was probably getting arrested that night. I hope you all don't think I'm a bad person.

#349 - Preschool

2008-11-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today, the little guy had his first day in the preschool room at daycare. I dropped him off as usual in the toddler room, where apparently after an hour they had some sort of exciting procession to take TLG and his best friend down to preschool to spend the rest of the day. We talked about preschool all weekend, and how much fun it would be, and so I was pleased to hear that he had a mostly good day. He slept in the new preschool nap area OK, and played with the new toys and in the new playground. In the past, when things at daycare change, he hasn't had the best time with transitions, but I hope this one will be OK.

#348 - Donate What You Can

2008-11-10T22:06:00.000-08:00

I've always been a believer in the motto "donate what you can." I am a regular blood donor, and we are always giving stuff to the local MS society when they come by the house. And of course, my work with the Booksforsoldiers.com website keeps me busy too. Well, today I completed the sign-up process to put my name on the National Marrow Donor Program list as a potential donor. I actually tried to sign up once, years ago, when there was a local drive to sign up people at one of the local casinos. They turned me away for my recent back problems. But the website sign-up asked if I'd had any problems in the past two years, and I am proud to say that it's been many years since my last real back problem (maybe I've finally learned to lift with my knees?).

Anyway, for the month of November, the NMDP has received an unrestricted grant to cover the cost of all the donors who sign-up online like I did (this usually costs a little over $50 to the donor!) It was really easy - I just answered some personal contact questions, some health/medical questions, and hit "enter." Then today I received four cotton swabs in the mail to use on the inside of my cheek and mail back for them to "type" me. I may never get a call that I could be a match, but I feel good knowing that I've at least volunteered if there is someone in need. There's still time this month to register for free, so if anybody reading this is in good health, I'd urge you to put your name forward. Just go to http://www.marrow.org/

#347 - Wii Mii

2008-11-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today, our family bought a Nintendo Wii. We have it all set up downstairs but haven't had much chance to play with it yet... however, we did set up our "Mii" avatars, these are characters that look like us to show on the screen while we're playing. We giggled like crazy - TLG included - as my hubby set his up with crazy eyes, a beard, and dreadlocks. So now we have Mii's for all three of us. That took us so long, that when we were done we only had time to play the first game, which was a lot like the old Nintendo "Duck Hunt" with the point-and-shoot clay shoot. I can hardly wait to try some of the other silly games we got with our controllers... I think we're really going to like this! If you're in the neighborhood, come over and play with us, OK?

#346 - Air Hockey

2008-11-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

When my hubby and I were first dating, we played quite a bit of air hockey. I don't know how it happened, but many of the places we went, there were tables, so we always stopped to play. (Maybe this is a sign that we are just kids at heart?) Today, while we were at the movie theater waiting for the movie to begin, I took TLG into the game room and decided we could try to play air hockey, just the two of us. I showed him where the puck came out, and we slowly batted it up and back on the table a few times, until it went into the slot on his side of the table. He thought that was lots of fun, so he picked it up and immediately put it back through. Ummmm, yeah. He knocked it up the table once or twice more, but mostly he just put it through the slot on his table a bunch of times, and then the game was over. It cracked me up that I couldn't explain the game better, but come on - I was way at the other side of the table in a room filled with noise and kids and games and neon. My wonderful hubby came back just in time to see the game ending, so I have a witness for this silly new thing. Next time we'll double-team him and try to explain it a little better!

#345 - TLG's First Movie

2008-11-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Today, we took TLG to his very first movie theater! As much as he loves movies and TV at home, we were pretty sure he would love it... and we were right! We took him to see Madagascar 2 (he loves the first movie, and as you probably know, the first movie quote he ever learned was from the first Madagascar). He sat quietly throughout the movie, entranced by the new story and his old favorite characters. I brought an empty brown paper bag so we could put some popcorn in a separate bag for him, and he thought that was great. We also brought along a couple of pieces of Halloween candy to share at the movie, too (don't tell!) As for the actual movie, I thought it was not the greatest plot line, but seeing TLG enjoying it so much more than made up for that (in my book). Something tells me we'll be going to see plenty of movies in the future with TLG! A spare thought: Since when do child movie tickets cost upwards of $6?!? Insanity!

Here's one more photo of us with the Madagascar display in the lobby of the theater:

#344 - TLG's Election Day Adventure

2008-11-04T20:57:00.000-08:00

I've pretty much voted in every election I've been eligible for, including ones by absentee ballot long ago, and the ones where I was required to mail in my ballot because my precinct was too small to have it's own polling place. But today I was proud to go to our new polling place and I did something I've never done before: I took the little guy to the polling place with me. Now, this doesn't seem like a big deal, maybe, to many parents who take their kids everywhere. But the people at our polling place made it special for him, including letting him have his very own "I Voted" sticker when we were done at the electronic voting machine. I doubt he'll ever remember this small new thing, but when he's grown up he can tell his own children that his mommy took him with her to vote for President Obama.

On a side note, I watched Obama's speech this evening with a great mixture of pride and relief - I do hope that he will keep his word on some of his campaign promises including health care, the war in Iraq, and fixing this economy that's so broken. Yay!

#343 - Scheels Ferris Wheel

2008-11-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, our little family visited the new Scheels sporting goods store and rode the indoor ferris wheel. The line for the ride moved very slowly so we were very excited when it was finally our turn. This ferris wheel goes up at least three stories in the air, and being inside you can definitely get some perspective on how far up you are - my hubby got a little queasy at the top, and I'll admit when TLG started moving a tiny bit in his seat, I asked him to stop because he was making me nervous! TLG and I played a rousing game of "I Spy" while we were stopped, trying to pass the time and not let on that I was feeling nervous. (We actually play I Spy all the time, at least twice a day and often in the car, so TLG is good at it.) You could see downtown Reno out the window from the top of the wheel! All too quickly, our ride was over. Then we explored the store a little, particularly the coffee shop (hubby), escalators and pet section (TLG and me). Honestly, TLG loved the escalators (we rode up and down about 4 times each) and we would have saved a little time and money if we had skipped the ferris wheel and just rode the escalators up and down! Ha! The store also has two huge aquariums full of beautiful fish, which we looked at for a minute or two. Scheels is quite a distance from our side of town, so unless we're desperate, I don't see us journeying back there any time soon, but it was a nice new place to visit today.

#342 - Trick-or-Treating for Real

2008-10-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we took the little guy on his first neighborhood trick-or-treating adventure (which was also our first time going as parents). Since we practiced TLG's "lines" the other night (including "Trick-or-treat!" and "Thank you,") he took to them pretty quickly. We only went to houses that had lights on, but I was disappointed that even at some of those houses, nobody answered the door. We walked around our street, down an adjacent street to the corner, crossed it and looped up a court, and then headed back to our house. We are grateful to Grandma, who answered the door at our house for 45 minutes while we were out on the prowl. And we're also thankful for our great neighbors who ooohed and aaaahed appropriately over TLG's cute dragon costume and gave him a huge stash of treats!

After we finished our "rounds" of the neighborhood, we stayed up late (for TLG) and ate candy, answered the door for other kids coming by, and sat around being silly and giggling together. After a quick bath, we read some Halloween books that I've had since I was a child, and then it was time to turn off the lights. It's nights like these that make me feel so lucky to have such a great kid.

#341 - "I Want to be Little!"

2008-10-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Our little guy is growing bigger every day, there's no denying it. Two nights ago, he said matter-of-factly, "Mommy, I don't use a pacifier for naps at daycare anymore." Which was a perfect opening for us to discuss how he shouldn't use them at home, either! But we decided to give him until tonight to get used to the idea. So tonight, for the first time, we insisted that TLG go to bed without his pacifier. It was just me home tonight at bedtime, so when he started looking for the pacifier after his first bedtime story, I reminded him that he's a big boy and that he doesn't need it... and that's when he started crying and said: "I want to be little!" (So cute, and yet so silly!) Fortunately, my wonderful hubby came home about 20 minutes after bedtime, and so for the past hour or so, we've been taking turns answering TLG's requests (he wanted music on, he needed to go potty, he needed a stuffed animal from downstairs... you get the idea). My hubby finally had to threaten to close his bedroom door if he didn't stay in bed, and we think he's finally asleep. Whew!

#340 - Strip Mall Trick-or-Treating

2008-10-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

Growing up, when we went trick-or-treating, I remember it always being at homes in our neighborhood or at the elementary school carnival. So tonight we put TLG in his dragon costume and attended the "Safe Trick-or-Treating" at the Raley's shopping center near our house. All the stores in the strip mall had people outside their doors handing out candy, and the place was pretty busy with families and kids in costumes everywhere! We fit right in, and we did practice saying "trick-or-treat" in the car on the way over there. TLG came home with plenty of candy to enjoy over the next few days until it's Halloween again and we can do the old-fashioned trick-or-treating at least at a few houses on our little street. He seemed a little overwhelmed at the stores, I don't know if that was from all the people, the costumes, the new-ness of trick-or-treating (since he has always been too little to go, this was his first real experience with that). He loved the candy though. We let him eat a mini Twix bar on the way home from the store, then after dinner he chose a Tootsie Roll Pop which took forever for him to finish (how many licks DOES it take to get to the center of the Tootsie Roll Pop?!?) All in all, this was a neat neighborhood activity.

Here's a photo of us standing in line near a neat decoration outside one of the stores:

#339 - Carving Pumpkins

2008-10-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have only carved a couple of pumpkins as an adult, and it was quite a few years ago that we did one at our house. So tonight, TLG helped us carve a pumpkin. He has been learning about jack-o-lanterns at daycare for a week or two now, so he knew all about it. I was surprised that he didn't want to use his hands to get all the gooey mess out of the pumpkin (in my mind, that was a natural boy thing to do!) so we ended up using pasta forks to scrape everything out. (He called it a "rake.") My wonderful hubby did all the carving, to TLG's specifications, and we think the jack-o-lantern turned out great. The one mishap we had was we burned all the seeds we were trying to cook so we could eat them... guess we'll have to carve another pumpkin and try again.

#338 - Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

Today, my dad joined our little family at the Pumpkin Patch in Sacramento, where we had lots of first for The Little Guy (including his first hayride, haunted house, corn maze, and pumpkin patch in general!) I didn't remember that this particular pumpkin patch had so many great things to do --- TLG also got to go on a pony ride, play on the hay bales, climb through a long tunnel, and of course pick some pumpkins to bring home. We easily spent two hours exploring all the great things to do, and could have stayed longer if TLG hadn't gotten tuckered out and in need of a nap. Thanks, Poppy, for spending the morning with us. TLG and both his parents had a great time and really enjoyed exploring all these new things!

#337 - Dark new eatery

2008-10-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

OK, today's new restaurant is only new to me - practically everyone in town has been there before... I had lunch today at a place called Rapscallion's. The interior surprised me, since it was very dark for being the middle of the day. High-walled booths gave everyone lots of privacy (and also blocked out some of the sun). Upon arriving, I found I was walking very carefully because my eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the lack of light and I was afraid of falling down! Food-wise, everything was very tasty. I had a cup of clam chowder, a piece of bread, and a salad with angel hair pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, bacon, and basil. It was really very good, though I'll admit I was expecting the salad to come in a bed of lettuce or something (this meal was a little too carb-heavy for me). The prices seemed reasonable for a place that is so famous in town, though I could see how it would be pricey if you were ordering a full meal with drinks.

#336 - Raining Gifts

2008-10-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today I threw a really fun baby shower for my sister, who as I reported in an earlier post, is expecting her first baby in a couple of months. As part of the excitement, I tried two new games, including a "Price is Right" type of game, and a cartoon-character recognition game... both of which seemed really good with the group of ladies who attended. My sister's friends are really nice and it was so nice to see them all together after a long time apart. Everyone brought such wonderful gifts for my niece-to-be (who I can't wait to meet!) and it was an all-around great afternoon.

#335 - Bistro Seven

2008-10-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today I went to a new restaurant: Bistro Seven, which is on the south side of town. I'm sure I've driven by there plenty of times over the years, but I don't think I've ever noticed that entire strip mall before! B7 (as the sign said) had a dark and hip interior with a curtain of gold beads and neat lighting fixtures. One of the ladies at lunch had been there plenty of times before, so she had some good recommendations on the food - and she knew all the waitresses/hostesses by name. I ordered a tomato, mozzarella and watermelon salad and I was not disappointed - it was very tasty! This salad would have been even tastier in July or August when tomatoes and watermelon were fully in season, but with the drizzles of dressing and seasonings, I really enjoyed this meal. I did notice some yummy-looking "sliders" (tiny hamburgers) going to a nearby table, and there were plenty of other good-sounding temptations on the menu. If I ever get to go to B7 again, I will try a different meal even though my salad was good.

#334 - Wordle

2008-10-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

I stumbled on wordle.net today, and so of course I had to make a "wordle" from this blog! What is a wordle? Well, to quote the website, it's a word cloud that gives prominence to the words that appear more frequently in the text. I tried to make this image larger, but it just won't work, so you'll just have to visit wordle, type in my blog address (or any address you like) and see what happens for yourself! You can change the colors, font, directions of the words - it's like an art project with words! I think it's pretty neat!

#333 - Hawaiian Food #2 (Local)

2008-10-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Back in June, I tried Hawaiian food at a place in Salt Lake City (New Thing #228). So today I stopped in to try another new Hawaiian place: I had lunch at L&L Hawaiian BBQ. I asked the cashier what the best thing on the menu was, and she directed me to the teriyaki chicken mini-meal, which included two pieces of chicken, a scoop of white rice, a scoop of macaroni salad, and some cabbage (garnish?). I have to say... I didn't enjoy my meal at all. It came in a styrofoam box and was lukewarm to begin with. The chicken was oily and fatty, and I actually gagged on one bite (ewww, I know, right?). The macaroni salad was warmer than it should have been, and the rice was... rice. It's hard to mess up rice. This restaurant replaced an Alaskan fish place on the south side of town, and I remember having delicious clam chowder at the old place, so I am doubly sorry that the Alaskan eatery is gone. I will not be going back to L&L.

#332 - Home Improvement Project

2008-10-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

My wonderful hubby and his dad have been working on a big home improvement project, and today it was time to paint the walls. The little guy has never been allowed to paint on anything except a piece of paper, so when I suggested that TLG be allowed to help paint the walls, WOW! You'd have thought I suggested we go to Disneyland! So we found some old, mis-matched clothes for TLG and sent him in to learn how to use a real paintbrush and a roller brush. He did seem to really enjoy working with his daddy and Grandpa, being a part of this special project. This big project is coming along amazingly well and I can hardly believe what a great room this will be when it's all done (and it won't be long now!). Thank you, everybody, for all your hard work on this room.

#331 - Water Baby

2008-10-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

The little guy (TLG) loves water, and anything having to do with water, as I've mentioned in the past. Tonight, my bosses asked us to bring home some volunteer work to try: we have a ton of zipped-up canvas bags that need to be unzipped, soaked in a bunch of water in the sink, then dried in the clothes dryer on high heat. I am proud to share that I helped TLG do his first-ever volunteer work by helping me with this project. He quickly figured out how to unzip the bags, but even more exciting was pushing the bags down in the sink-full of water. And best of all was taking the bags out, one by one, and letting them drip all over the place in the kitchen. Of course, he didn't realized this was "work" because he just loves to help.