Stuck in Frump, Striving for Fab

Just a quick post to let y'all know that I'm on vacation without regular access to the computer (enough to visit blogs anyway), but in a week or so should be back home and back to my regular blogging activities with TONS of new stuff to post about. Whew, have we had some adventures!

"Judah?! What is THIS?!" I asked with my angry eyes.

He came running over and looked to the spot on the sofa cushion to which I pointed.



"A spiedow" he said, shrugging all matter-of-factly, as though it were no big deal.

And looking at the threadbare in places sofa cushions that are 15 years old and have been through numerous other toddler 'incidents' (including the Molly McButter leopard-spots incident and later the scented marker incident by both Jericho and his cousin K, and lets not forget the countless spills and wiped noses of barely-learning-to-walk toddlers)...well, I could hardly blame him for thinking that was just another canvas for his artistic endeavors.

Apparently somewhere after the 13 year mark, Scotch let down it's guard.

:: :: :: ::

After Jericho's recent birthday party, he had a couple of his cousins stay the night.

The next day turned out to be very hot, and so as a treat I took the kids to Baskin Robbins for ice cream.

Jericho, 13 year old that he is, was goofing around trying his best to get his cousins and anyone else around him to laugh, and on the way out of the ice cream shop, he was talking in muted tones to his cousins as though saying, "Watch this".

Suddenly, very loudly in front of a group of people exiting the nearby grocery store, he said in true Jim Carrey-esque, dimwitted fashion, "Mom, how are babies made?"

Punk kid knows full good and well how babies are made...but he did succeed in getting us and about a half-dozen people to laugh at that one.

:: :: :: ::

While driving in the car last night, Jericho said, "Hey, dad...does this sound like Yoda?" and does a dead-on perfect impression.

This morning, I went into Jericho's room to scold him for not doing the job I'd sent him there to do, and he looks at me with the most innocent face he could muster and says in perfect Yoda-voice, "Angry are you?"

How is a mother to discipline a kid that can so disarm her with his comical one-liners?

:: :: :: ::

We were at Wal*mart a week or so ago, and I was picking up a few things in the cosmetics section.

Our store provides these little gray baskets to put items in so they don't drop out of the cart throughout the store like Hansel and Gretel's crumb trail, and so I made my selections and moved along through the store.

When I got to the cash register, I simply lifted that very convenient basket out and placed it on the belt along with the rest of my items, and the unloading process was done.

My total, however, seemed to be quite a bit off from my mental tally, but having already tucked the receipt into the black hole my purse, it would have to wait until I was home and the party-popper effect of opening my purse wouldn't be quite so embarassing.

Upon arriving home, I put everything away, and sent the sack of cosmetics items via Jericho to my bathroom counter.

Later, I walked into the bathroom and was putting away those items when I came across a few things I didn't remember buying. A lipstick I'd looked at but put back and a powder compact. The biggest thing, however, was a bottle of pretty pricey liquid makeup.

I set it aside on the counter assuming that somehow there had been a mixup and we'd ended up with the stuff from the lady in front of me in line.

Just then, Judah comes meandering in and seeing the makeup on the counter his eyes light up and he says, "Did you wike yeow pweasant, mama? I buyed dat fo you!"

Sooooo....there was no taking that one back.

:: :: :: ::

A couple of nights after Jericho's birthday, while up late blogging, I heard some strange sounds coming from the living room.

"Ooomph!"

"Ugh!"

"Oh!"

"Ahhh"

"Heoughhhh!"

I glanced out into the living room to find Jericho ducking and weaving from a fixed position, his eyes on on the wall across the room.

It was close to Midnight and he was supposed to be asleep.

"What are you doing?", I inquired, tapping my foot.

He ducked suddenly, and grunted, narrowly missing some perceived blow. "Boxing! Man, this is a real workout!"

We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when we agreed to the Wii.

We went to the beach again last Friday.

Though everyone else had remembered and I was reminded, I got busy and forgot to do something very important.

We played all day in the surf and the sand.

That afternoon, my skin began to feel tight.

Uh oh.

Though cool, the salty-sandy water began to hurt.

We packed everything up and left the sunny shore.

Even walking through Downtown Disney later didn't appeal as it had the week before, so we cut out earlier than the kids wanted to than usual and headed for home, the heat on my skin growing worse by the mile.

When we finally arrived, I saw red.



Lobster red.



I had sizzled like bacon out there in the warm California sun.

Sleep was impossible thanks to burns on the fronts of my legs from the knees up, the exposed v-neck area of my swimsuit, the backside of my knees and my upper back.

No position was comfortable for sleeping.

What I wouldn't have given for one of these chairs about 3 AM, just so that nothing burned would be touching anything.



Aloe vera gel, the old tried-and-true standby worked great to cool the heat initially, but an hour later I woke miserable, skin dried tightly all over, stuck to the sheets.

I don't reccomend that, however, as it was like a skin graft giant band-aid peeling painfully off my back when I tried to get up.

I cried.

And yes, ever the blogger, I had to take pics.

This is not posed. It's me moaning because holding the camera up like that hurt my burned shoulders somethin' fierce.



After that torture-by-aloe vera in the night, I had to sacrifice my favorite nightshirt to make a strapless, backless number that wouldn't touch any sunburned areas. It wasn't pretty, but kept me halfway decent in case the boys came wandering in before I woke up the following morning...providing I slept at all, that is.

Just standing up from sitting position caused my sunburned knees and shins to pulse (painfully) with every beat of my heart.

I hurt so bad all over I whimpered, tossed and turned most of the night.

Pain is bad enough when you can sleep, but pain on all sides of your body isn't exactly conducive to rest. Any which way I tried to lay down, my body/burn heat would feel like it might catch the sheets on fire.

Desperate for sleep and something to cool the burning sensation, I went out and googled Sunburn First Aid.

Plain yogurt was supposed to help, the fats in the yogurt soothing parched skin while cooling the heat. Iced tea with it's helpful, healing tannins were also supposed to help, too, as well as my grandma's favorite remedy...vinegar.

Having no yogurt on hand, I chose the latter two, mixed together in a squirt bottle and woke Jeff to ask him to mist me all over with it.

Ah, yes...nothing like going to bed smelling like a pickle. I'm sure Jeff was delighted. Especially when he had to wake every so often to spray me down again.

Then, around 5 am, skin dried out from the overhead fan and feeling like I'd been run over by a truck, yet desperate for something to keep my skin from drying out and tightening up making the pain even worse...I spotted the olive oil mister on my kitchen counter. It'd be messy, but at least it wouldn't stick to the sheets.

"Voila!"

I even thought to get some old sheets out to put under me on the bed.

I woke Jeff again, this time to spray me with oil. And this time, I finally fell asleep...smelling like salt & vinegar potato chips. So pleasant, I'm sure.

It wasn't what you'd call restful, per se, but at least my back didn't stick to the sheets. Plus I could actually bend my knees without searing pain.

There was also the added, unexpected benefit of an oil treatment on my hair.

And might I just add that a husband who tells you he loves you and does whatever he can to help ease your misery in spite of your post-sunburn helplessness (and grossness) is a keeper?

Though still red the following day, my legs felt normal again. No stinging burn.

However, while feebly cleaning house, I could have sworn that I felt stretch-marks happening all the tight, burned skin regions of my body. Needle-prick sensations every time I moved or bent or gravity tugged.

Turns out that lovely sensation was just the blisters popping out all over the burned areas.

Yes, it appears I went and got myself a 2nd degree sunburn.

And of all times for this to happen, days away from a long family vacation...a road trip.

For four days now, I've walked around like a rusty robot, wearing a greasy, hacked apart-in-the-wee hours- nightshirt, reeking of pickles, complete with stringy, greasy hair and oozing blisters on your shoulders...yes, quite a beauty, I'm sure.

And don't get me started on trying to get dressed by myself in said condition...particularly in those devices of torture undergarments that are supposed to provide 18 hour support.

I'm still feeling pain and going on very little sleep...which reminds me of the good old days...right after my c-section and having to feed a hungry baby around the clock.

Please let my stupidity hard-earned lesson be a warning to you...USE SUNSCREEN!

It's like hell...you wouldn't want your worst enemy to go there.

The morning of Jericho's big 13th Birthday extravaganza began bright and early when the Bounce House guys came to set up the waterslide.

Judah was beside himself with excitement. "Dey're here, mama!" and later, "I'm so pwoud of getting to go on da swide." (He didn't quite know how to express his delight, but squealed that phrase out with glee.)



If you're looking to throw a party where you don't have to facilitate games...one that is low-fuss and pretty much runs itself, I highly recommend these things. They're great for hours of non-stop entertainment. The kids will come in hungry and thirsty, however, so have plenty of both on hand.

It did require some supervision (to be sure there weren't too many kids at the top of the slide at once, and of course so that nobody drowned or was otherwise injured)...but oh, sooooo worth it.

The company we rented ours from brought it by at 9:oo AM and didn't come back until almost 9:00 PM, so to say we got our money's worth would be a bit of an understatement.

Here Judah swoops down the slide with a cousin.



Oh, and the dollar store foam swords made great party favors. Most didn't last through the duration of the party, but the kids sure had a blast dividing up into teams and playing 'king of the mountain'.



Somewhere in there, I'm pretty sure I heard one boy yell, "For Sparta!!!" before leaping down the slide, sword in hand.

Here, the kids were all taking a brief snack break in the middle of the festivities, and of course posing for the photo.



Interestingly, upon looking at these pictures as I loaded them onto my computer, I suddenly realized that my sons (yet) undecorated aqua walls would look GREAT with sharks circling around... **brain whirring with ideas**

This photo almost makes it look like his bedroom is in an aquarium or something.



**And now, a courtesy cuteness Cut-away Break**

Here, I bring you an adorable witto cutie patootie-wootie ahem, little bundle of joy in an impromptu, mid-party "Anne Geddes" style portrait sitting using one of my porch pots.

Great aunts get full creative license to do crazy things like place preemie babies on pilows in pots and then take portraits of them.

Everyone humors them in their dotage.

And of course ooh and aah when they see just how darling the little baby looks perched upon a green blanket mossy bed. (Work with me, people!)



That adorable little newborn peach-fuzz, and those cute little teensy-tiny little fingers...isn't he just SO cute?

Oh, but it gets better.

Here he is with his eyes open. Sooo adorable!



**We now return to our previously scheduled Birthday Blogcast**

Here is our birthday boy with his easy-peasy oreo-cookie crusted Ice Cream "cake". \

Saved me hours in a 100 degree kitchen and was a real crowd pleaser.

Even if I did have to 'repair' the wax letter candles after little brother got into them. Thankfully all it took was melting one side with a lighter stick and quickly adhering the other side to it.

It was either that or end up with a "Happy Birllday" message on the cake.



Naturally, Jericho had to ham it up while blowing out the candles. With his nostrils.



We're just so proud. (Did you sense that heavy sarcasm just now?)

Then, while big brother is inside for a video game break Wii-th his friends, I got this cute photo of little brother with a couple of his cousins...the die-hards who were still out playing on the slide.



The only drawbacks to bounce house slides with attached pools, was the fact that the attached liners were put on with ginormous velcro, the scratchy side affixed permanently to the bounce house itself which made things a bit rough when the liner would get loose.

But hey, when kids are having this much fun, nobody cares about a couple of abraisions or mild sunburns.

In fact, the birthday boy told us in passing (before his last couple of runs down the slide), "This was the BEST birthday party ever!"



Awwwww.

And judging by the fact that several of his friends begged to stay long into the evening, I'm guessing they thought so, too.

Double Awwww.

It was fun.

I tell you, I don't think I've laughed quite so hard in ages as I did when Jeff passed by with a puzzled look on his face and a pair of BBQ tongs in his hands...heading for the main bathroom. "Someone put a corn on the cob in the toilet!" he called over his shoulder in disgust.

Oh, and did I mention that the bounce house shorted out when someone stood on the edge of the pool, releasing gallons onto the extension cords (yipes!).

Something shorted out, but we were able to move the unplugged cords to a safer location (higher ground) and plug them in elsewhere and it was up and running again.

Unfortunately, I didn't learn until early Tuesday morning that whenever that first bounce-house plug shorted out, so did the nearby plug in our garage, to which our freezer was attached. Thankfully due to it's very full state, I only lost a couple of bags of bananas which I'd kept for banana bread.

Ahhh, yes, the fun just never ends around here, lol.

We had a rare extra day off last week due to the Holiday weekend, and so took time out to go visit some friends in Huntington Beach, CA.

Now we'd been to the coast and other beaches plenty of times before, but never to that particular beach.

Boy, were we in for a treat.

Upon approaching the pier at Huntington Beach, it appeared to be constructed of toothpicks wood, and out at the very end of the pier, that red roof tops a SoCal chain restaurant called Ruby's.



Which was convenient, because we were hungry travelers, and I had a hankering for the chicken salad I remembered from that restaurant years ago.

While walking along the pier, I realized it didn't feel quite so rickety as I'd first thought. About midway down, we looked down and saw a large group of teenagers running quickly from under the pier, most wearing yellow swim caps. Turns out it was Lifeguard Camp.



Ruby's restaurant is a two-story affair, built on the very end of the pier. Naturally, the boys wanted to sit on the uppermost deck. The view from there was great, though I still felt a little nervous about the whole toothpicks-holding-it-all-up aspect of dining there.

Especially after seeing signs posted along the beach, "Tsunami Zone. In Case of Earthquake, move immediately to higher ground."

Judah had no fears whatsoever. That thin pane of plexiglass between him and the ocean gave him confidence enough to stand up in the window sill, lean against it and stare down at the water below. Way, way far below.



I was disappointed that they no longer carried my favorite salad on their menu, so I was forced to order something else.

Sorry, Jenster and Deb, I was remiss in taking pics of the food. (In case you haven't caught on yet, remiss is my word of the month.)

So a couple of bites in to my fish taco, I glanced out at the water just past Jericho and saw something that very nearly made me choke. I was gesturing wildly towards the window so my family would look outside.

"Daw-phins!!" Judah called out. And it was! Arcing perfectly in and out of the water.

They were so playful, frolicking about in the waves, feeding on the schools of mackerel that the fisherman were pulling out of the water left and right on our way to Ruby's.

In our excitement, this was the best photo we were able to take of the event (double-click to enlarge). However, as a bonus, if you look in the upper right corner, there is what appears to be a ghost ship on the horizon. Jericho called it "The Black Pearl". (It may actually have been an oil rig. There are also a few of those in the area.)



Here we have a flock of pelicans. It was fun to see them out on the ocean for once.

Pelicans must not have the best sense of direction, because they occasionally get lost and end up way out in our desert, far far from the ocean. We've seen the pour souls on the lakes in our area, no doubt wondering what happened to the plentiful supply of ocean fish and the clean ocean breezes they are accustomed to.



After our lunch, we exited the restaurant and walked around the building, hoping to spot more dolphins out in the waves.

Judah had a very healthy fear of getting too close to the edge. "I don' wanna go wif da sharks."



However, when we saw this guy, he did get a tad bit closer to get a better look. Though he kept looking up occasionally where fisherman would toss him a bait fish, this was the best photo I got of the our pinniped friend.



Along with all the wildlife, you can't go to SoCal beaches without seeing a few of these guys.





Oh, and remember how I said the restaurant looked like it was held up by toothpicks?
I felt much better after going below the pier. It kinda looks like a freeway overpass from that angle.



Judah couldn't wait to get into the water.









Of course, after spending half the day in the surf and the sand, someone needed a thorough hosing down before we headed back to the car.



On the way back to the parking garage that afternoon, we passed by this staircase which both boys found irresistable.

Jericho was able to slide from top to bottom down the handrail.



Naturally, little brother had to emulate him, but ended up having to settle on the safer arms-around-the-handrail version.



While in the general area, and after having worked up an appetite playing at the beach all day, we headed for Downtown Disney.

Along the way we saw some very interesting signs.

This one for a restaurant that served a rather odd combination. As a former student of Graphic Design, I feel that these sorts of pairings are just wrong.

Or maybe that's because I don't go into a crawfish joint intent on a pile of live crawfish and think, "Ahhh...if only I had a funnel cake for dessert, my culinary dreams would be complete!"

And yet, there must be a market for it, because there it is.



This one, however, totally took the cake. In fact, we saw it at a passing glance and had to turn around the block to get a picture of it.



Exactly what kind of a watering hole is this, anyway? I'm thinking the whole vampire thing has gone a bit too far...

I was relieved when we finally got to Anaheim.

I love all the details that Disney puts into everything, even into externals like the landscaping around the parkways leading to Disneyland and the restaurants in Downtown Disney (for you out-of-towners, that's an area outside of Disneyland that you can get into for the great shopping and restaurants, without the hassle of all the rides, lol.)

I'm SO stealing this idea for a thrift-store makeover of a shelving unit. Love those ornamental pieces along the top of the shelving.



And this yummy restaurant which we only just tried out for the first time...The Jazz Kitchen. It was a bit on the pricey side, but the ambience and service were great, and the food was delicious.
This was a view into the restaurant from where we were seated on the patio, which looks a little like New Orleans. I loved what they did with the lighting and those parasols and umbrellas. Way cute.



As usual, the boys entertained us throughout the meal.





Everyone agreed it was perhaps our new 'favorite' restaurant. Both the soup (a delectable french onion with a red-wine reduction) and salad were fantastic, but Jeff's steak was what everyone seemed to enjoy most. Perfectly cooked and loaded with flavor...and cut like, well, like buttah.

The meals being three courses, left us with lots of leftovers.

On the way home, Jeff commented that nobody, but NOBODY better lay a finger on his leftover steak in the morning.

Alas, the child responsible for bringing it into the house forgot to put it in the fridge, and our house languished all night with 100 degree temperatures and still no A/C...which meant that our dog Raisin got a delightful gourmet meal of tantalizing steak the next morning.