Melissa's Blog

Diario di una studentessa matta has a new site!

2010-03-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

Ciao a tutti! I am blogging on a new site these days in Italian. I am blogging and "tweeting" and "facebooking" in Italian to improve my language skills as la studentessa matta (the crazy Italian student!).

You can find me at:

"Diario di una Studentessa Matta" (that is: http://www.studentessamatta.com)

you can also find me on the Facebook Page for Diario

and on Twitter at: italiamelissa

Venite a trovarmi! A presto! Melissa

Spring break 2006...or the Muldoon's do southern California

2006-04-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

Home again, after a week traveling around in the car with the kids in southern California. Despite having to leave the dog at home in a kennel (the dog was greatly missed), and being without a computer for nine days (I suffered major internet withdrawal symptoms) or the fact that gas prices were at an all time high (we drove 700 miles in a Ford Expedition - you do the math!) we had a great time!

We spent the first night in San Louis Obispo where we visited & toured the Cal Poly campus. My oldest son is only a sophmore in high school, but we figured this would be a great opportunity for him to see a slice of college life. Boy were we right. My husband and I can't stop congratulating ourselves and patting ourselves on the back about how a great an idea this was! My son, while he IS about the biggest, brightest, & shiniest of all light bulbs in any drawer, tends to be a bit lazy and not seeing the big picture of why it is a good thing to turn in papers, finish assignments and get good grades. This has all changed in one fateful afternoon that will forever be etched on my brain. He finally got IT. He finally realized what FUN living in a dorm room could be. He finally understands that he could have a fantastic life after highschool, which doesn't involve living out of our house and attending the local junior college. My husband and I left the campus five hours later with tears streaming down our faces! I kid you not!

San Louis is right on the ocean and close to Pismo beach where the following day we rented dune buggies (meaning me and my youngest son) and the rest ATVs (i.e., my husband and two older boys) and we played around on the sand dunes of Pismo Beach. They all made fun of me because I was going so slow...but I swear I had that thing floored. Back on the road we headed down to Santa Barbara where we spent Easter weekend. We ate out every night of our trip. It was truly a wonderful thing for me not to have to cook or grocery shop, and by the end of the vacation we had eaten at Italian, Mexican, Cajun & Japanese restaurants...not to mention of course the In-N-Out Burger and Pollo Loco! In Santa Barbara we ate on the pier and watched the sunset, we lounged on the beach, read books and built castles. We even admired the artistic talents of local sand artists who crafted amazing sculptures in the sand near the boardwalk. When even played golf together, to both my husband and my complete amazement, since he is always trying to get me to play and I am always avoiding it like the plague. But, it was fun with the boys, even if we lost almost all our balls and tees, and I pretty much stink at the game.

While in Santa Barbara we visited UCSB and had another college tour. The campus is a joke...how can anyone go to college a foot away from the beach. Dorm rooms have ocean views, for crying out loud! It turns out to be a great school, but class sizes are HUGE! Kind of a turn off for my son. But, I was pleased to find out that they actually have an Italian language major...not that my son cares (yes it is always all about me... I can at least dream and pretend to be a college applicant all over again, ready to major in Italian and travel abroad!)

On we drove to LA, Anaheim and Disneyland. Again, what were we thinking when we decided to arrive in LA at 5pm and rush hour...and me at the wheel none-the-less. Not quite sure how that happened with my husband conveniently enscounced in the passenger seat reading the map while I handled the bumper to bumper traffic. Yikes! But, our day at Disney turned out to be a blast. I was a bit skeptical seeing as that we have been to Disney World a billion times and never to Disneyland...but in the end, Disney is Disney and the two parks are fairly comparable. We took advantage of the Fast Past system and maximized our rides. The best part of the day was walking quickly into Splash Mountain and avoiding the TWO hour wait time in line. Now that WAS a great time...and the ride itself was okay too.

We left LA for Carlsbad (practically in San Diego at that point) where we played another day on the beach and at the pool. We drove home in a day and made it into the driveway just as the "check the engine immediately" sign started flashing ominously. The dog was happy to see us, when we picked him up the next day from "Happiness Country Kennels". No worse for wear and he hadn't forgotten us, as we all feared he might. My computer survived my absence and started right up and there was even the internet waiting for me with over 100 emails to answer.

Vacations are always good. They allow you to step back and clear your head. I always feel that a chapter has ended and a new one is about to begin. Prior to taking a vacation I always think... "how can I possibly go away...how can I leave this or that project, or how can a do without my computer, or how can I possibly leave my established routine for so long. And when I return, I always think..."How could I have survived had I not have gotten away!" Vacations are always a good idea!

...and speaking of other trips in our near future....yes, Amy the trip to Almalfi is still on! Flights have been reserved and the hotel has been booked. Charlene liked the hotel so much when I told her about it, that she booked rooms at the same time that we are there too, so we will have company! Do you want to come too?

The Next Survivor Series

2006-02-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

I felt compelled to post the following on my blog. In fact, I received it from a friend of mine that lives in Boulder Colorado just the other day. It is probably going around the internet already, and it may already be old news. At first, I thought it was pretty funny. But, I have to admit, as the day wore on, and after I had sent it on to a bunch of my girlfriends who I thought would find it hilarous, the more I thought about it, the more depressed I became. Sigh. I sent it to my husband whose only response was a single worded email "Ouch!". But, I did notice that he took a decidely more active role in doing the laundry last night!

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THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks. Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes. There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money. In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week. Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment. He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care (weekend, evening, on a holiday or right when they're about to leave for vacation). He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times. The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done. There is only one TV between them, and a remote with dead batteries.

Each dad will be required to know all of the words to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of each and every character on cartoons. The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, which they will apply to themselves either while driving or making three lunches. Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker, and get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.

Each man must adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep their nails polished and eyebrows groomed. The men must try to get through each day without snot, spit-up or barf on their clothing. During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, backaches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties. They must try to explain what a tampon is for when the 6-yr old boy finds it in their purse. They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

He will need to read a book with the children each night without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 7:00. They must leave the home with no food on their face or clothes. A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each dad will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up. They must clean up after their sick children at 2:00 a.m. and then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better. They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to "You're not the boss of me."

The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with this spouse at a moment's notice. If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years...eventually earning the right to be called Mom!

Friday the 17th

2006-02-18T09:07:00.000-08:00

Did you know that in Italy Friday the 17th is considered unlucky? Well, it is...kind of like Friday the 13th for many Americans. I was out to lunch yesterday with some Italian girl friends when they brought this up. One of my friends scoffed at this but then proceeded to tell me how just that morning a little boy in her son's classroom had fallen and split his lip open. Spooky! As we ate lunch at a new pizza place that had just opened up near us, the skies began to darken. Ominous! By the time we walked out of the restaurant it was drizzling and by the time we got in our cars to drive off to pick up our children from school the drizzle had turned into rain. Inconvenient! As I was nearing home, the rain had stopped. But, as I looked up at the hill behind our house I was dumbfounded. There was snow covering the top of Mission Peak. Shock! And after I had just been telling everyone how warm and sunny California was in January and February...it goes and snows in practically in my very own backyard! I am starting to believe in the power of supersition. Friday the 17th OR Friday the 13th, I can take my pick...but now I have two spooky dates to beware of!!!!

What I am watching on TV lately

2006-02-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

Well, of course I am in love with "Grey's Anatomy". That goest without saying. How great it is when Sunday rolls around, and I suddenly remember on my way home from the gym or from some inane weekend errand that the show will be on later in the evening. I have to say that I get a kick out of Sandra Oh's character. She is a hoot. And, darn it if I don't cry at the end of every episode. I love a good show that makes you cry.

Then of course there is "Invasion". Once again, my middle of the week is brightened when I suddenly remember around 6pm, about the time I am desperately scrounging through the refrigerator trying to come up with a dinner plan, that another piece of the alien drama unfolding in the Florida keys will be revealed. In fact, it starts just one hour from now...so I'd better hurry up with this blog! How great was it last week when the semi-transformed alien showed up bouncing around featuring just the head of Dave and a tadpole body. Simply great.

And then, I hate to admit it, but yes, I have formed a disgusting fascination for "The Bachelor in Paris". Yes, ugh! I turn on the show every Monday night and watch desperate women throw themselves at what they perceive is the love of their lives, the love that they just met under contrived and scripted circumstances. And yet I continue to watch this perverse human drama, knowing full well that nothing will ever come of these couples and the whole thing is simply ridiculous. I like to watch I guess so I can roll my eyes and be disgusted and feel so much better about my self! Yes that's it...or is it the cat fights and the fabulous locations...they did venture over to Venice last week...Yes, that must be it! Okay so what are you guys watching?

What's up with me lately

2006-02-14T21:20:00.000-08:00

It's Valentine's Day. We ate a big fat chocolate cake for dinner. Well, okay for dessert, but really that was the most spectacular part of the meal. Our family was slightly diminished tonight. My husband and oldest son left for New York this morning. My husband is overseeing the taping of radio ad spots for YoCrunch Yogurt this week and thought my eldest son would benefit from the experience. We all read the scripts for the humourous ads that the New York agency wrote and we listened to the audition tapes for the actors and each of us put in our two cents about which voices we preferred. Seeing all the pieces coming together in the final taping will be a lot of fun for Ryan. Who knows, maybe he has a future in advertising.

Meanwhile I stay back home and keep the home fires burning, working away on the YoCrunch website and websites for a bunch of other new clients. We had a momentary crisis the other day when someone, namely my husband! left the back gate open and the dog cruised out into the big bad world. A neighbor knocked on our door to alert us to the fact that she had seen our dog running down the street. Long story short, Sinbad was found several blocks away from the house. Quite a big scare for the whole family and we are thankful that Sinbad is back home safe and sound. I am keeping a more watchful eye on the back gate these days.

I was asked to join a bookclub and had my first meeting last Thursday night. It is an interesting group of women comprised of friends who are Italian, English, Argentinian and American. We discussed a book about life in the south during the depression. Interesting discussion from the point of view of non natives. Next month we are discussing "Wisdom's Daughter" by India Edghill a story about Solomon and Sheba. Stay tuned to see if I like the book. What I am really into these days are a series of Italian comic books called "Dylan Dog". Kind of weird and scary story lines about a guy who investigates surreal and bizzare phenomenon. But, I find that the I get a kick out of reading the Italian and think it helps with grammar and vocab.

My son has a new best friend named Tiko. Tiko has bright red hair and it turns out his family is from Denmark and recently moved into the neighborhood. The two are inseparable and play with their remote controlled rebound super bikes for hours in the driveway. Just saying "rebound super bike" makes me laugh out loud. It literally bounces of walls and continues to motor on. We went to see the Pink Panther last weekend. Kyle, a fervent watcher of commercials (well maybe he is the one that will really have a future in advertising!), was counting down the days until the film was released. It was fun, but I have to admit that I think I liked the opening cartoon during the credits the best of all.

My husband gave me a big bunch of flowers and chocolates for Valentines Day. That and a massage at the gym where we work out. Who could ask for a better present than a massage...working out those knots and kinks in your neck is the perfect way to say "I love you!"

Trip planning and fun with Google Earth

2006-01-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

I have started to plan our September trip to Italy. I always find the initial stages of trip planning to be a little daunting and over- whelming. How can one possibly begin to narrow down which cities to visit, let alone figure out which hotels will be the most accomodating and perfect? I am also always on the lookout for remote places and unique opportunties that most tourists don't partake of, so that I can practice my Italian. For our 2006 trip we have decided to visit the Amalfi coast. Okay, not so remote and not so deserted; we fully expect to bump into lots of straggling tourists despite our intention of traveling in late September. We have never been south of Rome and have always wanted to visit Napoli, Sorrento, Pompei and Positano. So, Almafi Coast, it is this time!

Now, inorder to put together a workable itinerary, and figure out how to go about this trip, I have spent the last two days combing the internet researching places to stay and making inquieries of hotel owners and of seasoned travellers who have left their comments on various trip advisory sites. My ideas are rapidly coming together and I have decided to forgo a stay in Napoli and move directly to Praiano where I think we will set up camp for the entire week after training it down from Rome. From Praiano we can easily make day trips to Pompei, Capri and Positano. Well, at least as of today this is my plan. I may read something later on on the web or hear something from a friend that might get me exited about another town...but, this is the fun of trip planning. At the beginning there are so many possibities before us. Perhaps this time, instead of renting a car, we will rent scooters to more easily reach local destinations and hot spots. Perhaps we will dance at the night club in Praiano situated in a big cave just above the sea, where the big dance floor is covered with plates of glass and the underlying sea is seen along with the stalagmites that are illuminated with iridescent reflections. How fun would that be!

I am intrigued by all the beautiful photos I am finding on the web of my ultimate destination. But, this time round, I have added a new tool to help make the trip seem more real and really come alive. My brother called the other day to tell me about the new Google Earth now available for the Mac. I have been using it to zoom in on Italy and visit Praiano, Pompei, Napoli and the entire Amalfi coast to fully envision where we are going to be in the fall. I love this program! It simulates topography and cities so well that you feel as if you were literally hovering above the place you have just googled. Simply amazing. I wish I could telaport myself as easily to these destinations as I can sitting here at my keyboard.

Now I am starting to feel the excitement coursing through my veins and I just can't wait to hop a plane and be there! I am definitely past the first indecisive phase of trip planning and moving full steam into phase II...booking hotels and making plane reservations.

La bella vita!

2006-01-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

Well, if you are wondering where I have gone off to, just wanted to stop by and let you know that I'm still here, just having way too much fun posting on my Italian chat boards these days. I've been chatting away on www.Impariamo.com and lurking around the Italian Word Reference forums enjoying la bella vita! Ciao!

How do you measure satisfaction?

2006-01-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

How do you measure satisfaction? Well, I have recently discovered the perfect way.

The other day my vacuum cleaner died. Now, I am not a very avid vacuum cleaner to begin with, but I figured I had better get the thing replaced...you know, just because everyone should have a working vaccum cleaner. So, on a recent shopping expedition to "Bed Bath & Beyond" I picked a new one up. I had bopped over to the mall with the idea of outfitting my son's room with some new curtains and comforter. He has been living with a baby blue gingham patchwork bedspread for years now, and we both kind of realized at the same time that at fifteen he is ready for something a little more hip and happening. Anyway, as we were searching for the duvet covers we came across the vacuum cleaner display. And there is was - the Dyson Animal Vacuum. You must know the Dyson commercials...the ones that feature the English guy who asks "Have you been let down by your vaccum cleaner lately?" and claims to have refined his vacuum after creating 5000 prototypes. Well, anyone who spends that kind of time thinking about a vacuum cleaner has my vote. This machine is supposed to have more suction power than any other machine and is touted as being the best for picking up dog hair and dander. Now I was really sucked in, pun intended, and I bought the thing.

Once home, I set it up, well okay my son set the thing up because I hate to read manuals, and then I started to vacuum. Never in my life have I ever enjoyed vacuuming more. And the best part of the machine, is the clear cartridge where all the dust and junk collect, where you can actually see how effective the machine is being. The cartridge literally fills up instantaneously with dirt, grit and dog hair. Who knew that we lived in so much dust to begin with! I was amazed and yes, in a weird way a little thrilled.

Now, I just vacuum the carpets for the fun of it to see how much crud I can vacuum up. Heck, we all kind of fight over who is going to vacuum the carpets and I have taken to leaving it out in plain sight out instead of putting it away, just because it is a thing of beauty and amazement. Even the dog loves the "Animal" and follows me all over the house when I am vacuuming as if he wants a turn at it. If I don't get anything else done all day, at least I have the satisfaction that I have vacuumed up several canisters of dust out of our carpets. Does life get any better than that? Where else can you measure satisfaction like that?

Oh look! Its a brand new year!

2006-01-11T09:06:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well, it's January 11th already and the new year is well underway. It has been a while since posting, that I almost forgot my blog password. You will probably be relieved to know that we are off to a good start and we rang in the new year with plenty of noise and commotion. I made some really great resolutions for this year.... now, if I could just remember what they were... Oh, yeah, to finally make it through the entire box of Crest Whitening strips that I bought sometime in 2005, to be a more kind and patient driver, well and to just be MORE patient with everybody in general, to learn Adobe Photoshop AND to lose five pounds. What did you expect? After eating Panettone, sugar cookies and chocolate throughout the month of December I think it is a good idea. And the best resolution, start planning and preparing for a trip to Italy for September. Now, that is what I call a GREAT resolution. Happy New Year everybody!

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care

2005-12-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

Two days left until Christmas, and the moments are ticking away...a little too slowly for my youngest, but, for me these last few hours and minutes that lead up to Christmas morning are amongs my favorite moments of the whole holiday scene. I like to savor the anticipation and experience the thrill of knowing that there are some closets that are forbidden and wonder what is hidden inside the colorful presents under the sparkling tree. These moments are set a a part from our normal routine. People pair up to go shopping together and come home in happy festive moods.The piano that goes untouched all year long gets dusted off and played and we actually sing the entire 12 days of Christmas on the way to the grocery store. Candles are lit in the kitchen and people hang around and tell stories as the marathon baking commences...the turkey is dressed, pies are made and Christmas eve quisches are whipped up. The house is full of noise and excited voices as Christmas carols are cranked up on the stereo. In these last few days before Christmas we watch movies like "White Christmas" and "A Christmas Carol". Our holiday couldn't possibly be complete with out Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye or Alistair Sim! Two days left to consume chocolate santas, red and green m&ms and sugar cookies in the shape of trees, bells and snowmen. And two days left for getting my youngest to behave simply by calling out "Santa Claus is watching!"

getting ready for the big party!

2005-12-16T09:42:00.000-08:00

Every year we throw a big holiday party a week or so before Christmas. It has become a Muldoon holiday tradition and everyone looks forward to it every year. If I have a brain freeze and inadvertently forget to invite someone, they will call me to ask when the party will be!

I love our holiday party because it is a chance to collect together all the people that we hang out with through out the year. We typically include neighborhood friends, soccer friends, swim team friends, baseball friends, work friends, school friends, Italian friends, boyscout friends, and in the case of my oldest son, girl friends AND ex girl friends! We have quite the crowd, and because I request that everyone bring a dish to share, we have quite A LOT of interesting & delicious food to eat!

Parties are great because they provide an excellent excuse to clean up and declutter the house. Lucky for me I just need to straighten up because, my husband has volunteered to run to Costco to stock up on food and wine. He must have forgotten how much he hated doing it last year. Last year when he went, he ended calling me every five minutes on the cell phone to tell me how horrid the traffic was, how bad the parking was and that the lines were infernal. Needless to say, he wasn't a very happy camper. Mental note to self: remember to keep cell phone turned off until he gets home from Costco!

Anyway, the party is this Saturday. If you are in the area stop on by and join us...just remember to bring something really yummy to eat (and remember to take your shoes off at the door...like an idiot I just had the carpets cleaned two days ago and it is supposed to rain this weekend!) Let's party!

after the sugar settles...

2005-12-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

Did we ever bake AND decorate this weekend! We whipped up our usual holiday Double Chocolate Delights (kind of like homemade oreos with peppermint icing), molasses cookies, and the traditional decorated sugar cookies that we cut out with cookie cutters. In addition to all this sweetness overload, I made loaves and loaves of cranberry bread. If you are wondering about the white streak on my son's nose...since the kids where little, I have always told them that a sign of a real baker is to have a flour on your nose. I would always take my finger and dot their noses with a touch of flour from the rolling pin. Before we started cutting out the cookies this year, Kyle requested his traditional dousing of flour, which made me happy to know that he is still young enough to enjoy this little thing we do.

I am also happy to report that, unlike previous years, the kitchen mess was not catastrophic, and we weren't all crunching around on colored sugar or sliding around on flour that had sifted to the floor. I attribute this to Sinbad, my new Hoover dog. He was on duty cleaning the floor through out the entire process. Later we set up the tree with minimal problems. It took us about twenty minutes to remember how the pieces of the tree went together and plug the thing in. For years we used to get fresh trees, but last year gave up and got ourselves a dandy pre-lite, stress free tree, that is stress free as long as you remember how all the pieces go together.

Now the biggest irony of the season...now that I have made all these cookies, the challenge, of course, is trying not to eat them.

Some traditions are hard to break

2005-12-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

It's December and time once again, to deck the halls. The other night (with my husband's help) I brought down the dusty ornament boxes that have been stored in the garage all year, and sorted through the same old tired assortment of nutcrackers, reindeer, garlands and assundry trappings that I decorate the house with every holiday season.

Every year I try to be a little innovative by adding something new to freshen up the scene, but when it comes right down to it, most things are constant and unchanging. The mistletoe always goes on the nail over the kitchen door, the lighted garland goes on the mantel piece along with the tin santa's that I bought in Overland Park Kansas. The stockings are hung in the front living room and the dining room table is covered with a bright red tablecloth and set with green plates. Tomorrow we put up the tree and decorate it with the same ornaments, some which date all the way back to when I was five.

There are santas everywhere; on crockery, mugs, calendars, and even in the shape of cookies. Every December I say I won't go to the trouble of baking four different kinds of cookies and five loaves of cranberry bread...but, I always do. "Why bake" I say, "when Peppridge Farm puts out a dandy assortment of holiday cookies conveniently packaged and ready to eat!" But, after stating to my family that I would be boycotting the whole cooky baking scene, the kids all broke out in a clamour, and I realized that there would be no escape from holiday baking this year.

So, this Saturday you will find me laboring away in the kitchen making a huge floury mess and coating the floor with red and green sugar, as Bing Crosby croons "White Christmas" on the stero. Some traditions are just too hard to break.

Housecleaning

2005-12-04T12:17:00.000-08:00

I spent the majority of my Saturday evening doing a little housecleaning. It wasn't the typical housecleaning that you would imagine. It was a housecleaning of my website. Here I am a web designer and yet I have been a little remiss in maintaining my own site. So, last night, instead of relaxing and doing something not computer related, I sat up until 3am upgrading my own web content and paying attention, finally, to my own business!

It was rather a cathartic experience, I might add. I have been a little bogged down with lots of new work assignments and feeling the stress and not so much the joy of being a web designer. But, the experience of sitting down and reviewing my work and sorting through the many, many projects I have worked on over the years made me feel...well proud, and brought back my enthusiasm for what I do.

Sorting through my list of clients, was like cleaning out my closet. I suddenly remembered past projects, long since finalized, that I had done for a consulting firm when I lived in Kansas City, or a design job that a helped out with for this or that advertising company in Chicago or Boston. It was like finding old clothes in your closet...sometimes just seeing an old favorite dress you used to wear brings back a flood of memories that you forget until you are actually standing there holding the garment in your hands. The fabric reminds you of another place & what you used to be like when you wore it. That is why it is often hard for me to throw things away...if I don't have the physical reminder, like a garment, I am afraid the memory will be obliterated as well, because I won't have a reason to remember it.

Well, going through my website last night was a lot like cleaning out my closet. There are lots of past projects to think about that I had almost forgotten, as well as a whole host of new clients that keep me busy currently. It was inspiring to see the cumulation of projects that have carried me to this moment. It really brought things into focus and helped me feel really good about myself.

Who said a little feng shui wasn't a good thing!

Count down to Christmas

2005-12-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

It is December 1st and despite the fact that the count down to Christmas is on in a big way, I am not feeling that particularly festive. It is raining today and I have a post-Thanksgiving cold. I probably have a touch of the flu that kept Michael home from school on Monday. Pat is traveling and won't be home until Friday night.

To make things even merrier, we are having work done on the boy's bathroom. Seems the shower door has been leaking and over time water has seeped into the floor and the ceiling below. We have a contractor who is ripping up the floor, installing a new shower and putting in new drywall. Didn't really want to spend money on improving the boy's bath...but, on the other hand didn't really have much of a choice unless we wanted the bathtub to fall on top of my husband's head in the office below!

Since we are having work done and there is a contractor lurking about the house, we have opted to upgrade all the toilets in the house. The ones that came with the house have always been a bit sub optimal and continually clog up. The contractor assures us that the ones we are installing are capable of flushing 27 golf balls! My challenge now is keeping the boys from testing this out! Anyway, ho ho ho, Merry Christmas...guess this is Pat and my Christmas gift to each other...nothing says Christmas like new toilets! So, what is on your Christmas list?

Happy Thanksgiving Recap

2005-11-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

Good news! The dog survived the pies, he may be a few pound heavier and not so into regular dog food anymore, but is no worse for ware.

The pies my son made were actually quite good! He followed the recipe on the back of the can of pumpkins, didn't leave out any ingredients and didn't quadrouple the amount of salt.

So, when it came time for desert yesterday there was plenty of pie to go around. What's more, there was a lot of fun to be had with the can of spray whip cream. It seems that the pies weren't the only thing getting doused with whip cream. Did you know it is rather comical to see a dog licking whip cream off his nose?

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and had fun with your own pies and whip cream!

When the dog eats the pumpkin pies

2005-11-23T22:29:00.000-08:00

It couldn't be more clichè...but the dog, it seems, has eaten the pumpkin pies that were cooling on the counter. I got a panicked call from my son on my cell phone shortly after I had left the house. "MOM, the dog jumped up on the counter and has eaten both pies!" I guess the dog, not content to eat the butter left out on the counter, has moved on to more delicatable treats...OUR THANKSGIVING DESSERT! My son came to the rescue though. Feeling partially responsible, seeing as he was babysitting and in charge of curtailing any doggy destructive antics, proceeded to whip up two more pies to replace the ones the dog had devoured. I guess I have a lot to be thankful this Thanksgiving...a dog that makes me laugh and a son that makes me proud.

Wondering about Giovanna

2005-11-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

It's FAME week again at the elementary school. We are presenting Jan Van Eyck's painting of the Arnolfini Wedding & listening to Bach's Toccata e Fugue and dancing to his Minuet in G.

I had fun this month putting the lessons together and decorating the stage. The painting itself is small, so I painted murals featuring the oversized figures from the van Eyck painting. I also highlighted the symbols found in the painting (i.e. the single candle in the chandelier that represents the eye of God, the dog that symbolizes fidelity, the shoes that represent sacred ground & the fruit that represents innocence), so that the kids could see them better. I made a green cloak to be worn by the picture presenters, to match the gown worn by the Giovanna Cenami in the painting. I wanted the docents to wear the costume and bunch it up around the stomach to show the same puffiness as in the painting. Everyone always says the the bride is pregnant in this painting...but in reality it is the style of her dress and part of the symbolism of fertility that is found throughout the picture. On the bed posts, for instance there are carvings of St Margaret patron saint of childbirth.

I have been looking at and thinking about van Eyck's painting all month. It has been proped up in my office so that I can view it while I work. I have developed a special connection to the couple in this picture, an Italian merchant, Giovanni Arnolfini and his bride Giovanna. They were wealthy enough to have had a picture commissioned to celebrate their marriage contract and Van Eyck worked diligently to endow the picture with all kinds of symbolism that speaks of love, fidelity and fertility. I wonder about this couple from Italy and what they thought about life in the Netherlands.They must have missed the warm Italian weather and lamented the fact that they had to wrap themselves in heavy cloaks to stay warm in their drafty northern house, even if the cloaks were opulent wraps of velvet and fur. And, despite all the hopeful forshadowing that this loving couple would have a houseful of children, they never did. I wonder what kind of life Giovanna had, so far away from home and unable to have children. All I have is the reminder of her hopeful beginning.

when the dog won't let you work

2005-11-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

What do you do when the dog won't let you work? I love my new dog but he has started this habit, which I will admit at first was sooo very cute, but now has become a bit of a problem. When I sit down to work at the computer and he wants my attention (which is pretty much all the time) he stands up on two legs, rest two paws on my leg and nuzzles his nose under my hand that is working the mouse. He literally gets his entire head under my hand and pushes it up and off my mouse, as if to say "stop working! put that mouse down! pay attention to me!" While this was very endearing at first, it is becoming a huge distraction when I have a web site to design or a blog to write. So, here I sit today in front of the computer, dog bisquits in my left hand and my right hand firmly gripped around my mouse, resolved to train the dog that "down" means DOWN! So far so good, sort of...I guess. He got tired and is now asleep at my feet. He is wedged between my chair and the CPU...so trusting, as at any moment I could forget he is under my feet and wheel back in my chair and run him over.

(dog update: yes, we are keeping him...my son's allergies seem non existent, I think he has willed them away out of sheer desperation to keep the dog. So far so good. There have been only a couple of peeing on the carpet incidents - but I would have to say his whole bodily function thing is well under control. He has managed to survive eating BabyRuth bar that one of the kids dropped on the floor out of their Halloween stashes of candy (who knew that chocolate is bad for dogs) and drinking blue water out of the toilet. I am getting used to having a constant shadow (I can't go anywhere in the house without the dog following me) and his insatiable desire to be loved and patted. All in all, getting the dog was a really great idea. I do get those every so often!)

A very weird week

2005-10-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

We have had a very weird week, to say the least... full of thrills and chills and yes, sadly a few tears.

It started off last Friday when I received a phone call from my husband who was traveling home from Connecticut to California. He called to tell me that his airplane take off was aborted due to a fire in the engine. They were barreling down the run way, practically nose off the ground, when the flight was scrapped. He was poised ready to open the emergency exit door, but luckily it didn't come to that. Just glad the situation was discovered before the plane was in the air! It took him an extra 5-1/2 hours to re-rout his flight plan and arrive home safe and sound that night.

Sunday, as we were coming home from a soccer game in Antioch, a mis-guided hawk decided to make direct contact with our windshield. We were taking back roads through the rolling California hills, just enjoying the views, when this drunken bird swooped closer and closer to our car. Unfortunately for him and for us, it never pulled up and as a result made dramatic contact with our poor car. All, I can say is, thank god for safety glass, it really works!

Tuesday I discovered that my youngest son, Kyle, is allergic to dogs. This is a bit of a tragedy for us as we have recently acquired a new beagle. The saddest thing of all is that we acquired him mainly for Kyle's sake! If you were to have a dog, this is the sweetest best dog that you could ever imagine owning. After Kyle complained of very itchy eyes the other day, to be on the safe side and rule out the dog, I took him to the allergist. Before going, I joked with my husband, "wouldn't it be funny if he were allergic to the dog?" Not so funny any more. Many tears were shed at the allergists, as Kyle sobbed that he couldn't believe he is allergic to his dog and that he didn't want to give him up. I am a wreck and not sure quite what is best...get rid of the dog to protect my child's health or keep the dog and nurture his emotional well being. Dilemma, dilemma. We are keeping are fingers crossed and hoping that the allergy is mild. So far so good, Kyle hasn't had itchy eyes since we visited the doctors and it seems that if he keeps fingers and hands clean he feels fine...we shall see.

I'm almost afraid of what tomorrow has in store for me...I don't think I can take any more surprises.

New addition to the family

2005-10-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

Meet Sinbad. He is the latest addition to our family! Move over fish, there is a new dog in town. The kids are ecstactic and I am happy to report that we are all taking to Sinbad in a big way. Just take a look at that adorable beagle face! He is such a sweet little guy and we all fell in love with him immediately.

Just two short weeks ago I mentioned to a client of mine that we were kind-of-sort-of thinking about getting a dog. She sent me a link to the northern California Beagle Rescue Association. I went on-line just to check it out, but wasn't really going to act on anything unless I found a dog in our city. We were still getting used to the idea of getting dog and I didn't think we were prepared to drive all the way to Redding or Sacramento to get one. Well, of course, right away there was Sinbad's picture and he was located right here in town. I got my husband interested in him and we decided to send off a general inquiry about his availability. I didn't hear back about him for four whole days and was starting to think that someone else had adopted him. Then I heard word from John and Andy who were fostering Sinbad. Turns out they live only a few blocks away near the swimming pool where the kid's swim team is located. John let us know that there were thirty, count them all up, thirty, people interested in Sinbad! By this point we had all been staring at Sinbad's picture on-line and falling in love with him, so, as soon as I heard that, I immediately swung into action. I sent off another email to John, with the subject line "Meet the Muldoons" with pictures of our family and really layed it on thick , telling him about our boys and how we are a great family and any dog would love to adopt us. I guess that did the trick because John gave up in defeat & decided we were worthy of meeting this little beagle. He invited us on over to his house the next day to meet Sinbad and the rest is history.

Sinbad is now on a two week "sleep-over" with us. The sleep-over is a trial period for family and dog to bond before the final adoption and make sure we are all happy campers. So far so good. Looks like we have a new addition to the family...and that life will never been the same again!

Things every woman should know

2005-10-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

#1. A woman should know how to use an electric drill.

#2. A woman should know how to use a toilet plunger.

#3. A woman should know how to set a rat trap.

#4. A woman should know the number of Triple A so that she can call to have her flat tire repaired.

Personal observations

2005-10-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

Personal observation number 1: No matter where you go, no matter how big or small the organization, you are bound to run into extreme personalities, conflicts and politics.

I guess I was kind of naive last year when I took over the job as FAME coordinator for the elementary school. I figured it couldn't be THAT difficult to present a once a month, schoolwide, weekly art and music program. I love to prepare the lessons and backdrops so that I can open up the world of art and music to inquisistive little minds. I love getting in front of a group of kids, all dressed up in a long white dress and a big straw hat to talk about Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt and musical composer Claude Debussy.

How hard could it be I thought, to run the show behind the scenes! Well, little missy! Not such a piece of cake after all. Recruiting volunteers to help run the program was my first big challenge. It seems that people are a just a tad bit leery about getting involved. If I didn't know better, I would think that the entire 5th grade was parentless, as not one parent from the 5th grade has volunteered for anything at the school...ever! But, through a well planned marketing campaign, by which I blanketed the school with witty flyers and veiled threats, I recruited a fine group of moms to help me with the monthly lessons. Many of these moms are professional volunteers, as they spend their entire days at the school helping out in one capacity or another.

Personal observation number 2: There are some women that just don't seem to have the word "no" in their vocabulary.

I was a little naive to think that parent volunteers are welcomed with open arms in the school office and that we are god's gift elementary school staff. Wrong. My next rude awakening came with a run in with the school secretary. Who knew there would be politics over who gets to use the school xerox machine! But, let's face it folks... Miss Dora guards the school xerox machine like a hawk. Apparently there is a whole hierarchy of who gets rights to the copier. A parent volunteer is the low man on the totem and can be treated with great disdain if they get cheeky and ask to use the copying facilities out of turn.

My naivitee extended to believing that there existed a "cum-ba-ya" cooperative spirit between teachers and volunteers when it comes to organizing the FAME schedule. Trying to carve time out of the busy school day for each class to participate in the 40 minute FAME leson takes the patience and the battle stratagem of MacArthur. We recently have acquired a new principal and because of his "newness" we are encountering hiccups in the otherwise flawless FAME machine. The vacating principal, who was known for her micro managing of the FAME schedule, failed to pass the baton on to her successor. As a result, this year there has been a bit of a communication gap between faculty and staff and my little old group of FAME volunteers. Since the schedule had been approved at the end of last school year, I figured it was built into the school calendar. That was my first wrong assumption. That the teachers were all cool with their appointed times, was my second wrong assumption.

So, I am working through a few rough patches, keeping a sense of humor, placating the powers that be, conjoling and flattering those that would take offense at xerox machine infractions. Yes, I would say that I am starting to get the hang of the whole political scene at the elementary school.

Personal observation number 3: If you manage to get on the good side of the school secretary, then life can be very good.

Did you see the lights?

2005-10-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

Talk to me! Who out there is loving the new ABC drama "Invasion"?

On Wednesday nights, I am usually back from mid-week cubscout meetings and am folding laundry by 10 pm, just in time to get drawn into the shifty goings on down in south Florida in the new show "Invasion". You just know, that when you see mysterious lights, seemingly unaffected by the gale-force winds, floating near the water, in the middle of the everglades... it must be the work of extraterrestrials!

When the show first premiered two weeks ago, I was randomly flipping dials following real-time hurricane coverage down in Texas. At the time, I was incredulous that the show premiered its first episode with the story line of a major hurricane barreling down on Florida. Art imitating reality seemed a little intense at the time, but then, T.V folk can be so sensitive. But, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for aliens and intrigue and got hooked after the first episode. The characters are pretty melodramatic and fun to follow. There is the hunky dad, trying to make sense of all the weird goings on along with his reporter wife, not to mention the scary looking doctor and her creepy looking sherif husband. I have a theory that the shifty looking sherif is hiding something sinister and has already had a date or two with some of the aliens swimming around in the everglades. Time and ratings will tell.

So, what if perceived natural disasters were really diversions created to conceal clandestine alien activities? Kind of makes you want to re-think the whole weather thing lately, doesn't it? Doo do doo do! Tune in next week to see who falls into the water and goes alien!

Cinq Cepages Weekend

2005-10-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

School is underway, which means back to school nights and struggles with homework have commenced all over again. Think: overwhelmed AND stressed out! I am continuing on as the director of the art and music appreciation program at the elementary school, adding even more fun and delight to my already over-packed schedule. Classes start a week from Monday, but preparation on my end has been going on for a month now and I have been busily recruiting docent volunteers and writing up the first lesson plans. I also sat through the most excrutiatingly boring THREE hour Parent Teacher Organization budget meeting in order to get my funding for the year approved. Boy, am I glad I work for myself and don't have to sit through mind numbing meetings on a daily basis. If I did, I would surely have to wear a sign around my neck to warn people...CAUTION! head about to explode!

At the end of the week, just when my eyes were starting to cross, and I felt my tentative grasp on reality slipping away, my husband suggested that we park the kids at a friends house and hightail it out of here for a weekend in Sonoma. The crush has started in the Sonoma Valley and at Chateau St. Jean, on Saturday, they unveiled their new 2002 Cinq Cepage Release. We spent an idyllic, "kid-less and loving it" afternoon at our favorite vineyard with friends. We sampled wines, while watching as the grapes were harvested in the fields before our eyes. We spent the night at our friends home in Santa Rosa in their amazing house with its incredible view of Sonoma valley. We were away for just 24 hours, and yet it felt like we had gone away for a week. Back at home, reality sets in once again. Soccer games have been attended, homework has been reviewed, groceries have been bought AND a much needed work out at the gym was squeezed in. Back to real life...and on we go....

Zola Açai

2005-09-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, everyone say it with me now! Zola A-Sci-EEEEE!

Now that you know how to pronounce it, let me tell you about the Brazilian power berry juice that we are crazy about. First off, you should know that my husband is the CEO of the small start up beverage company that makes Zola Açaí, and I help out with graphic design projects for the company. For example, here is the brand new 12-pack case package that I designed this summer. Isn't it pretty! It was unveiled last week and was a hit at the food trade show in Washington D.C.

We have been working on Zola for two years now, along with Chris Cuvelier and his wife Jacquie and a handful of other dedicated Açaí fanatics. The drink is becoming popular as more & more people are becoming aware of the health benefits of Zola. The drink is actually made from the pulp of the nut, that is found in a berry, that grows on the top of a palm tree, in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Whew! Say that ten times fast! The açaí pulp is shipped from the Amazon to California where it is mixed into the Zola Power Juice. Just a little guarana is added to the mix to give it a natural, but mild, caffeinated punch.Tastewise, it has an interesting combination of chocolate and blueberry flavors. But, get this, the açaí berry has two times the amount of antioxidents found in blueberries!

We first got involved in the Zola world, when my husband was asked to step in as a consultant and help the company through the pangs of child birth. As it is a start up company, it has suffered the ups and downs, that all new businesses are challenged by, and yet it has succeeded remarkedly well. Originally, Zola Açaí was the brain child of Chris Cuvelier. He is this amazing guy full of carisma, energy and bright ideas. My kids love the drink almost as much as they love Chris. They refer to him as "Buff Fashion Dude" as he exudes a hip and happening energy.

Once when we were all together in Tahoe, we helped Chris sample Zola on the slopes of NorthStar. We set up tables in the middle of the NorthStar village and handed out drinks to all the skiiers coming off the slopes. That winter, Zola was named the official drink of Squaw Valley. Our kids have also done their part to promote Zola. On their own, they have made Zola the official drink of the swim team and the traveling soccer team! The soccer players chant "Zola, Zola, Zola" at half time. They think it is a great energy source to urge them on to victory during the second half!

We are all pretty excited about all the new successes that Zola is starting to have. We are getting a wider distribution, and soon the drink will be available at Costco. You can always get it on line at www.zolaacai.com. (I also did the web site, thank you very much!) Drink! Enjoy! Be healthy! Get some Zola today!

The kissey girls

2005-09-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, to be young and in second grade again! Remember those days when boys and girls played on the play ground together; little girls clustered together on one side and little boys on the other? Usually the little girls, bored to sit idely by and swing on swings or slide down slides, would resort to the lowest form of attention grabbing ploys - that of kicking boys in the shins. Such demonstrative actions inevitably would set off the obligatory screaming race around the playground until the bell rang sending them all back to their respective classrooms. Early attempts at flirting and seduction, learned in Playground 101.

My son came home today to tell me that he had formed a club on the playground today. Turns out, quite naturally, that it is an all boys club. He said it was necessary to band together with the "other Kyle, and Brett in order to combine forces to deal with the "Kissey Girls". The "Kissey Girls" I asked. Whoah! Hold on there son! The KISSEY GIRLS! What is this all about. And moreover, where did they come up with a name like that!? Turns out, Kaiela and Tarin and a few others have an all girls group of their own. They send "spies" out to spy on Kyle and his friends during recess. In order to combat this, the boys are closing ranks, circling up the wagons and preparing for... okay, I am at a losss, what!!??!

Give it up little men, your battle is already lost! You haven't the slightest hope of evading the wiles of a female, even if she is only seven years old.

I smell another rat

2005-09-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I caught another rat last night. Now don't go thinking that I live in some kind of run down shack or something. Just ask Charlene! She's been here and knows I don't live in a dump! My husband was the first to notice the tell tail signs (get it!) that there was another mouse in the house. So, I ran out and stocked up on the super size stickey traps and we began to lay them out at night. The first morning, we cautiously approached the the kitchen only to find the invading maurader had skipped out on us. Well, actually, he gnawed his way out of the trap leaving bits of fluff behind. I continued to diligently leave the traps out at night, but would come down to an empty kitchen every morning. Well, I thought. The mouse has flown the coop, (caution! mixing metaphors!) So, seeing as my husband was leaving town for the week, and that I didn't especially want to "deal" with the mouse issue this time AGAIN, all by my little ol' self, I collected all four sticky traps onto a sheet of newspaper and slid them into a corner in the dining room. I wanted to get them out of the way because I knew, just knew, that flaunting them would only excite my youngest and make him want to stick his fingers into the traps...just 'cause! Well, in fact this happened. He came into my office with a sheepish kind of look on his face. I looked at him up and down and then asked...you stuck your finger in the trap didn't you...he kind of hung his head looking very guilty and fessed up to the nasty deed. Then with morbid fascination he pleaded with me, to pleeeeaaaase, let him have a look at the mouse after it has been caught. Big yuck! I thought. There is no way I am going to hold on to a dead mouse so that my seven year old can take a peek at it.

So, a day or so went by. The traps sat in the dining room in the corner....that is until this morning. I came down stairs at 6:15 in the morning and started my coffee brewing. And then, I peeked into the dining room, just to make sure there was no wild life running around in there. Much to my horror there was the big old hairy mousey rat stuck in the middle of a trap that was now close to the middle of the dining room. It had more or less run into all the traps, but the third one was the one that finally nabbed him. Quite the strong ferocious little rodent. Must be well stocked up on steroids back at the nest. To make matters worse, the thing was still twitching and trying to get out of its predicament.

At that point, I had a decision to make. Should I run upstairs and get Kyle out of bed so that he could view this sight. Well, of course I did! He came down the stairs all bleary eyed and full of unbridled curiosity. He then proceeded to sneak ever closer trying to get a better look. He watched as I ungracefully attempted to remove the thing and put it into a garbage bag, only to be halted at a crucial moment when Kyle cried "Wait!" "Wait? Wait for what?", I cried back, as I looked over at him. There he was all big eyes and biting his lower lip, "But, can't we keep him as a pet. We can put him in the old turtle cage!"

Oh dear! I think I need to re-evaluate this whole pet/dog thing. The fish just aren't cutting it any more, if my son now wants to keep a rat for a pet, and one that has been stuck in a sticky trap over night, none-the-less!

Blogspam and false flattery

2005-09-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

What is up with blog spamming all of a sudden? Is nothing sacred anymore? The last couple of entries that I have made here on Melissa's Blog have been debauched by yucky spam. To add insult to injury, it comes with a sugary coating of false praise and validation. You have to admit that it is a little exciting to hear the "ding" of your mail program alerting you to the fact that you have new mail. Better still, to see that someone has responded to a blog you have written. You get excited thinking that a friend or unknown passer by has found something interesting in your words and has decided to leave a comment or validate your experience with an interesting story of their own. So, you approach the blog comment filled with anticipation. You preen a little as you begin to read "This is a excellent blog. Keep it going." Well, hey you think, I'm something special, bloggings gift to blogdom. But, then the delusion and disgust set in as you continue to read: "And don't miss visiting this site about how to buy & sell everything, like music on interest free credit; pay whenever you want." You realize that this is not a potential friend or kindred spirit leaving a message, but someone just using your blog to sell something or to further pander a stupid product on-line. I say no more! Go hawk your product somewhere else and leave my journal alone! But, if you want to leave a comment, full of flattery and niceties, those are more than welcome. All I ask is that they be sincere.

Feeling like a fish out of water

2005-09-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

Why is it that when men get together, who don't know each other well, and have nothing much in common, they can immediately find common ground by talking sports. Women don't really do that. We stand around, sipping our drinks and mumble polite niceties and ask about children and marital status. I mean, I am not leading off with "how about that Agassi, did you see his great come back over Blake the other night?" Men on the other hand can carry on lively conversations with total strangers within two minutes of meeting each other, as long as they have the common denominator of golf or baseball..."how about those Cubs, anyway?"

We went out last night to a party in San Francisco that I didn't really want to attend. It was a birthday party for a guy that my husband had worked with several years ago and I vaguely know him and his wife. For me, there is no great chemistry with these people. Besides that, we had been up early to attend one soccer game and then driven an hour and a half to attend another. By the time we returned home mid afternoon, my idea of a lovely Saturday evening did not include dressing up, taking the BART and attending a party where I knew absolutely nobody. But, I did it because my husband really felt that we should go. So, tired as I was, I made the effort. I figured it was only fair, seeing as my husband is a good sport and will go just about anywhere with me, including to parties where everyone speaks Italian and he is the only one that doesn't! Turn about is fair play.

We took the BART to reach the city and got off at Civic Center. Looking at the map, to me, it seemed that the place where the party was being held was just a couple of blocks away. So, I suggested that we save the cab fare and hoof it. BIG mistake. What looked like short innocent city blocks, in reality turned out to be LONG menacing city blocks, and up and down hills to boot. San Francisco after all is a HILL town!!! So, there I was in my pointy sequined backless shoes, that while they are comfortable walking across the living room floor, are decidely NOT comfortable traipsing across the city of San Francisco. I started to get a little crabby, but couldn't complain too much, seeing as it had been my idea to walk in the first place.

When we finally got to the party, loud music was blaring and people I had never seen before in my life were milling about. We were greeted with enthusiasm by the host and hostess; but truthfully, I wasn't feeling like investing too much into these people, that I probably would not ever see again. We were starving, and hadn't eaten dinner. However, the appetizer trays, by the time we arrived, were looking pretty shabby. Still, we filled our plates and drank our wine and my husband introduced me to his golfing friends and ex-work mates. The sports stories warmed their blood and they carried on like frat buddies. I smiled politely at the other women, who all seemed to know one another and have history with each other. Interesting to see the workings of a social internet that I am not quite a part of. They say everyone has a story, and if you scratch hard enough you can find amazing things about people that you just never would have suspected by looking at them. I know that. But, I just wasn't in the mood, I guess last night. I was happy to observe. Kind of like watching fish swim around in a fish bowl, with me being the one on the outside looking in.

Together again, one year later

2005-09-07T22:46:00.000-07:00

I had a visit from Charlene and Pete yesterday. They were here in the Bay Area for their son's wedding and the day before they returned to Virginia we got together for lunch. Originally my husband and I met Charlene and Pete exactly one year ago this September, when we were traveling in Italy. Specifically, we got to know them in the Cinque Terre, having shared a common living arrangement in one of Giuliano's bungalows, on the side of the steep hillside in Vernazza.

Being that Vernazza is a tiny rustic fishing village, despite the hoardes of tourists that invade its main piazza every season, it still invites intimacy amongst its guests. Therefore it was easy to get to know our fellow travelers, sitting on the rooftop of our cabin drinking a glass of wine as the sun set over the rooftops and the sea every evening in Vernazza. Charlene and Pete however, usually were just setting out to take photographs at that hour. They would wave to us cheerfully, as they headed out to catch the best light of the day and to take stunning photos of the beautiful Italian scene.

But, being that the Cinque Terre is small, as luck would have it, every day we would run into them in Manarola or Monterossa, as we made our tour of the five fishing lands, via the hiking trail or the local train line. We would bump into each other and share a gelato as we talked about our unusual and much gossiped about host Giuliano. Vernazza is small, need I remind you, and the town is full of personalities and stories that make for interesting banter. We would share notes about learning the Italian language and where to find the best Italian magazines - the silly soap opera photo kind with hilarilously funny captions. Back on our rooftop, in the early mornings, before striking off down the twisting trail above the train station to enjoy a caffè and a pastry at the bar run by two Sicilian twins, who never ceased to drip with charm and flattery, we would swap travel stories and offer bits of advice of where to go next time.

It is always lovely, the friendships made while traveling, and even lovelier still when those friendships are maintained after returning home. Charlene and I have a nice way to stay in touch through our Italian chat group Impariamo. And, after meeting Charlene and Pete again after one year's time, all I can say is what a dynamic, interesting, funny, and sensational couple they are. Here's to traveling and meeting excellent people!

vin santo and chocolate chip biscotti

2005-09-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

Last night my husband and I celebrated our 21st anniversary. It doesn't seem that we have been married that long. Oh, the interesting things that we have done, in all this time that we have been together. And yet, we still go out and laugh at each others jokes, and tease each other relentlessly and just simply enjoy each other's company. And last night, was no exception. We went to this really fabulous asian fusian restaurant where we dined on satay, avocado shrimp salads and lobster cooked in lemon grass, chili and lime. We ended our meal with Fra Angelico and chocolate chip cookies, the closest thing the restaurant had to offer to vin santo and chocolate chip biscotti.

Last year for our anniversary we were at La Moscadella, in Italy sitting in the room pictured above, enjoying the wonderful hospitality of Gherardo and his wife Roberta. We stayed for three days and three nights at the secluded and recently rennovated farm house in southern Tuscany. We were the only Americans, amongst a handful of German tourists. I found La Moscadella on the internet and corresponded with Gerardo throughout the summer prior to our September trip. He and I had worked out an arrangement whereby he would meet us with his van, at the train station after we had come up from Rome. He drove us back to La Moscadella through the stunning countryside past Pienza and Montepulciano to the tiny remote village of Castelmuzio where La Moscadella is located.

During the day we wandered through the country side, down back roads lined with olive trees and sage. We visited churches and tiny medieval hill towns throughout the surrounding area. We swam in the frigid, but beautiful pool, equipped with a swim up bar and submerged bar stools. We were always slightly bemused to find the bar tended by, what must have been a relative or zio. He would be all by himself waiting to pour a caffè or aparitif to anyone who would swim by. As we sunned ourselves on deck, we would look down into the valley and watched as shepherds moved their flocks to and from their pastures. The clanking of bells, the sounds of the crickets and silence of the countryside were music to our ears.

At night we would brave the ferocious mosquitos and eat dinner on the patio of La Moscadella. The dishes we were servered were "straordinario" out of this word, and delightful. Wonderful flavorful dishes, seasoned with local herbs, sage and thyme. The food tasted like the air smelled around La Moscadella. We would end each meal with Vin santo and biscotti. But, not just ordinary biscotti. These were home made, the largest biscotti I had ever seen, and filled with chunks of chocolate. We toasted our years together with biscotti dripping with vin santo.

Last night, although we were not seated on the patio of La Moscadella, sipping Vin Santo, enveloped by the dark Tuscan night, we still celebrated as we always do, always appreciating and enjoying the fact that we have many more years of adventures and celebrating yet to come.

Good karma

2005-09-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

The other day I was standing outside the elementary school, checking out the posted list of teachers and room assignments for the coming school year. I looked up and saw a friend. The first thing she said to me was "You are going to live to be a hundred years old." I wasn't expecting that to come out of her mouth at that particular moment. I thought I hadn't heard correctly and was slightly mystified. "What!" I asked. She explained to me that in India, if you are thinking about someone and that person appears before you, than that person will have a very long life. "Well!" I thought on my way home...It is nice to have encountered some good karma, in addition to working out all the kinks in the car pool schedule. Now THAT is good karma!

Books by the bedside

2005-08-26T21:44:00.001-07:00

I love to read and I love to collect books. Here is the current stash that I have next to the bed. They are scattered about in a cluttered hodgepodge, in, around and on the nightstand. There is 'Il Quadro che Uccide' that I am currently reading, that I ordered from the Italian Internet Bookshop a few weeks ago and under that is 'Soluzioni a practical guide to Italian grammer' a new addition to my monstrous collection of Italian self education books. Next to those is a stack which include 'Food for Love', 'The Middle Window' (by Elizabeth Goudge a childhood favorite) and a collection of plays written by Natalia Ginzburg. I can't wait to get started on 'Food for Love' as it is about an art historian studying in Rome that decides that she will only go out with a man that can cook...intrigue to follow. At the bottom of that pile is 'A Kiss from Madalena', a book that I am almost done with, but kind of stalled out on. I plan on finishing it, but the descriptions of Italy during the war, as the Germans were pulling out and leaving destruction behind them got a bit too tedious and so I moved on to my Italian thriller dective story as a brief respite.

On the floor is 'L' Affair' by Diane Johnson. I don't know if this will be any good, but I had a gift certificate to Barnes and Nobles and I liked the cover and the description on the jacket so I am anticipating a good read. Under that is 'Firm up in 3 Weeks', a book of proverbs written by Benjamin Franklin (we were just in Philadelphia visiting his house or more precisely the musuem occupying the space where his house used to be) and 'Il Codice da Vinci' (the Italian version of the Da Vinci Code).

The basket to the side is filled with various and assorted Italian grammar books and magazines. Roberta, my friend from Milan gave me the magazine 'Focus' which is filled with amazing factoids about science, human behavior, and weird historical tidbits. Behind the basket is a pen and ink scribble I did of Sargent's Madame X, way back in graduate school.

Inside the nightstand is 'Casa Rosa', a rather depressing, but interesting book about three generations of women dealing with a tragic family secret. Behind that is a Sidney Sheldon novel in Italian. Amongst the rest is Peter Mayle's 'A Good Year', Harry Potter books and 'The Miracles of Santa Fico', a book I read last spring. From the photo I can't tell what the rest of the mish mash of journals and books are, but they have been well loved during the amount of time that it took me to read them all.

Keeping company with my stacks of books, is a paper weight that I bought in Venice, one of the scented candles my friend Stacy gave to me in a collection of six, my alarm clock which hasn't been used all summer long, but is about to returned to service starting next Thursday, the first day of school. And last but not least, is a picture of my grandmother Edie, taken on her graduation day from Swathmore College sometime around 1907. And that's it. There you go. Go grab a book and get reading!

A visit from Intuit

2005-08-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

The other day I got a call from Intuit. They were calling to ask if I would like to participate in a product development interview. At first, I was a little dubious and as I was really busy that day I almost gave the woman on the other end of the phone the brush off. I get a lot of junk calls during the day and unfortunately, I have hardened myself to random and weird telephone calls. Like the guy who called looking for broken harddrives, as if I were to have those hanging around, the woman who wanted to sell me barrels of wine in bulk, and don't get me started on the thousands of refinancing-your-mortgage calls! But, I liked the sound of this woman's voice and her delivery, so I continued to listen for a few moments more. She asked if I infact used the software Quicken and if it would be okay if three program software developers were to come to my office and discuss the merits of Quicken. She was even willing to pay me for my efforts. I thought, hey great. This might be kind of fun. They come to me, ask me a bunch of questions, let me demonstrate a couple of things that I do with the program and then give me money. What could be better.

It was after I arranged the meeting that I began to think twice about my decision. I started to actually regret the pending interview, especially when I received the email that asked if I would mind if they video taped the session. Panic set it. While I am an avid user of Quicken I realized that I am just a basic user. Quicken is my electronic checkbook and I use it to link to my bank and download transactions. When I first became a Quicken user a million years ago, I was distracted by the flashy graphing, forecasting and budget planning features and used to play around with them frequently. But, these days, I don't really use any of that anymore. I am just so darn busy and only use the program to keep balances, input checks and keep a general pulse on our finances. I thought, great! They are going to come all the way out to my office, they will plug in their camera and then we will all just sit there smiling at each other, and I will have absolutely nothing to say.

But, I perservered and didn't call to cancel the appointment. In the end it actually all turned out pretty okay, that is after the initial weirdness of having a camera focused on me. I got a chance to meet part of the software development team and I have to say they are pretty normal people, and I even got them to crack a few smiles here and there. They were really interested how I used the program, what I liked about it, what I didn't like and what could be done differently. We had a good session. Turned out I had more to say than I thought. I always do, sigh.

Now, if I could just get someone from Macromedia to call me...now, that is the software development team that I would REALLY like to have all to myself in my office for an entire afternoon! I am taking calls...

Eureka!

2005-08-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Eureka! We have been to, seen and conquered Eureka. Now for all of you out there that haven't a clue as to where Eureka is...here is a little geography lesson. Okay, so, do you see those two big dots on the map of California? The green dot is our general location in San Francisco. Do you see the big red dot that is pratically sitting on the California Oregon border? That is where we spent the weekend. We drove twelve hours so that our son Michael could play four hours in the Humboldt Bay soccer tournament. The exiting news is that his team took first place and won the tournament!

How did we pass the time near Humboldt bay, when we weren't jumping up and down & screaming ourselves hoarse on a damp soccer field outside of Eureka? Well, to begin with we ate breakfast at the Samoa House, an old fashioned, all you can eat, "we-don't-give-you-a-choice-what-we-bring-to-the-table-in-great-big-platters", kind of place. Then we walked around town and enjoyed the overcast views of the bay. We were amazed by the giant hammer outside the local hardware store, and as Eureka is basically a logging community,
we gazed upon stacks and stacks of lumber piled up all over the place. On the way home we drove through the Valley of the Giants, a stretch of old 101 that winds between the biggest red wood trees that I have ever seen. We stopped and looked in amazement upon the 1000 year old "Immortal Tree".

If you ever get the chance to drive 101 north up the coast of California, I highly recommend it. But, now that this has been my third trip north this summer, I am done for a while. The drive is breathtaking, the road twisting and turning and delightful....well, twisting, turning and delightful until you get to Willits and Ukia. At that point, the yucky bay area weekend traffic starts to rear its ugly head. We slowed down to a crawl outside of Hopland where there was some kind of hippy-solar engergy-organic-vegetable-fest occuring. Then we came to a screeching halt outside of Santa Rosa where we ditched the traffic for a stop over at the local In-and-Out burger. We crossed the Richmond bridge at dusk and were treated to a foggy view of San Francisco's lights, bay bridge and just the hint of the Golden Gate. We were home checking e-mail and doing laundry by 9pm. Another successful road trip. And now I can say that I've been to Eureka and back!

Cartwheels, rollerskating and standing on your head

2005-08-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

This morning Kyle took time out from eating breakfast and started spontaneoulsy turning cartwheels in the living room. We all looked at him a little dumb founded as he performed his amazing gymnastic routine. Then my husband, after cautioning him forcefully not to crash into the tv, said that he thought that Kyle was the only one in the family that could do that so well. And then I said, "but I can do that too", and proceeded to turn a couple of cartwheels in front of the family, much to Kyle's great delight and my husband's disbelief! When I was a little I used turn cartwheels all day long on the front lawn. I turned a cartwheel this morning, and I liked that I still could.

This afternoon we went roller skating. Kyle had never been. Half way around the rink the first time, after falling down five or six times, he screamed out, this stinks! But, he didn't give up and by the end of the first half hour, he was proficiency on wheels. I joined him skating around and around and around, trying to maintain my equilibrium, balance and of course, grace. I had forgotten how freeing and how mindlessly entertaining roller skating can be. I didn't work or worry about paying bills this afternoon, and I liked how that felt.

On the way home from the roller rink I asked the kids, "what can we do now to top cartwheels and rollerskating". "How about standing on our heads?", one of the boys giggled. Okay, so we gave it a try. Looking at the world upside down was fun. The floor became the ceiling and the ceiling became the floor. My head started to hurt a bit and I got a little dizzy, but, I viewed the world from a new angle, and I liked what I saw.

So you want to be rich and famous?

2005-08-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

Used to be that fame and noteriety came about only through the traditional means of Hollywood, controversial books and rock bands. But these days it seems that people can be catapulted from total obscurity to stardom by means of reality tv, pod casts...and yes, now through blogging.

I discovered this just the other day. Oh, not to me personally be assured, but to another lucky soul, who it appears was born to blog and as a result is reaping great benefits and face recognition on the streets of New York city. Now as I was saying, I discovered this tid bit of news, as I was flipping through my Italian Gossip magazine (brought to me by my friend who was in Rome recently, remember...you just have to stay up with my blog guys!) Well, scattered in amidst the pictures of famous people, actresses and socialites in their bathing suites (for better or for worse) I came across an interesting article on blogging. But, fascinatingly enough, it wasn't an article about an Italian blogger, but an article in Italian, about a New Yorker by name of Stephanie Klein. The heading read: "Ciao, I am the most clicked on woman in the world."

Okay, it is pretty amazing that this woman's blog has not only become the most clicked on blog in America, but that she is now getting press in Italian magazines, just blows my mind. Her on-line journal called Greek Tragedy, is so popular, that it is being touted as Sex in the City chic and book publishing worthy. In fact, she actually HAS a book deal pending all based upon her little ol' blog. I couldn't resist. I had to google her blog and read a couple of her entries. And kind of like the celebs in their bathing suit, I found, for better or for worse, she more or less, lets everything hang out. No topic is tabu. I kind of decided I liked her when I read her comment "I hate when people use LOL". Makes me wince and cringe too, Stephanie.

So, I got to thinking, what would it be like to be catapulted to celebrity stardom based upon a blog. To have people recognize you on the street and have the paparazzi follow you and snap your picture...just because you write a blog? What would that feel like? Let's all take a moment shall we, and think about that....hmmmm, well, I guess I am pretty okay with my low, low profile status. Too much fauning and attention might make me fingers freeze up and paralyze my brain. On the other hand, all you fellow bloggers, we now have something to aspire to. May we all live long and prosper. And may the minutia and insights our blogs provide to the world bring us all fame, fortune and happiness. Maybe someday I too, will have an honorable mention in an Italian magazine....well, I am not about to go and hold my breath and turn blue, so don't worry!

Sideways

2005-08-15T10:07:00.002-07:00

Last Friday night we watched Sideways. It was an okay movie, despite all the negative hype I had heard about it. "What dogs men can be" and "it is such a downer movie" were pretty much the headliners I had heard going in to the movie. And, well, they were pretty much confirmed after viewing the film. But truth be known, I spent the first twenty minutes going crazy trying to figure out where I had seen Thomas Hadden Church before. I knew he had been on some dumb TV show somewhere back in time and couldn't quite place him. I finally had to stop the movie and do a google search to figure out that he had been a regular on "Wings". Such relief to finally place him as the goofy mechanic Lowel Mather and be able to continue on with the movie.

As doggy as Church's character was, just as depressing, was the the passive aggressiveness of the character of Paul and the hyper neediness of Stephanie, played by Sandra Oh. Sandra Oh, by the way, I find to be an interesting actress to watch, and think she is pretty funny in Gray's Anatomy.

My father-in-law asked over breakfast the next day why I thought the movie was called Sideways. His take was that the characters were not moving forward with their lives but rather moving sideways and not getting anywhere. I on the other hand, think the movie's title has more to do with self examination and reviewing the quality of one's life. When one examines a glass of wine, one not only smells it and tastes the wine by letting it roll around ones mouth, but one tips one's glass sideways to fully examine the color of the wine. Viewing the wine sideways you see how the color extends to the rim of the glass. The more color, the stronger the character of the wine, rendering it more exceptional. The weekend trip, for the character of Paul at least, was a catalystic moment in which he evaluated his life, fully excepting his failures, professional and personal. In the end, by viewing his life sideways, he saw what was lacking, dull and weak. I like to think that he offloaded some of his negative baggage and was finally able to start a new relationship, and move forward with his life.

Charmed lives

2005-08-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Amy over at Amy's Alsakan Antics brought up an interesting point the other day in her blog. Is the grass always greener in someone else's blog? Do we really know what is going on with someone else or are they just telling us what they want us to know and keeping the sordid details a secret.

True, true. But, in my humble opinion, it seems that blogging, if you are being honest with yourself and what you post, is actually a great way of cutting to the chase and finding out what makes others tick. For me, it is a great place to air out things that are going around in my head; things that sometimes my friends I meet face to face might not even know about. So, in light of truth and honesty...here are some recent charmed things to know about me.

I tried on a pair of my favorite Gap khakis back in May and was ticked that they were suddenly too tight. Ever since, I have been on a massive control diet. Doesn't seem fair to have to go through this with all the exercising I do. When you are in your forties, (there I said it!) your metabolism just doesn't operate the same as when you are in your twenties. Those were the days when I could consume an entire bag of oreos and not gain and ounce. Not so much anymore. Good news is that I have lost eight pounds but have reached a plateau...Drats!

Ryan tanked in trig last year. Yes, he failed the class. He needs to retake the class but couldn't do it this past summer because he told me about this way too late in the year. On top of that, his Spanish teacher is not keen on him going on to Spanish II...sooooo, I found a tutor and have been paying mega bucks for him to be ready to move on. Arghhhhhh! We are hoping that studying becomes more of a priority this year in school.

I am kind of ticked with my husband lately. We have a mutual standing agreement that whoever gets out of bed last in the morning makes the bed. But, recently he read an article that said if you make your bed right away, without airing it out, the likelyhood of incubating dust mites increases. All, well and good, but he now conveniently has stopped making the bed in the morning and now I have to do it even if I am the first one up.

Our best friend's dad died a few days before swim championships. We took care of all three of our friend's kids when they were in the hospital, while he was in a coma in the hospital. It was an emotionally rough time for us all, and the reason I was clerk of the course for Championships. I took over Stacy's responsibilities that day.

We went to Sonoma today for a fun getaway. Grandpa Jack is in town for the week and we thought it would be great to drive up to visit Chateau St. Jean, one of our favorite vineyards. I felt a bit queasy this morning before we left. I felt increasingly worse as the day wore on. That I had caught Kyle's flu bug was confirmed around 5:30 pm when I dashed out of the Kenwood Restaurant where we had stopped for dinner and proceeded to throw up in the parking lot. And NO, it was not from drinking wine. I had craddled Kyle in my arms just days before as he threw up all over the bathroom floor, conveniently missing the toilet! Such a charmed life I lead. : ) Excuse me as I run to the bathroom.....

It all started with a slow dance

2005-08-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

So, here I am sitting in my office with Green Day blaring in the living room. There are about 15 kids hanging out in our backyard messing around. Now that we area back from vacation, my son is having a belated birthday party. The kids have already watched Godzilla and Anchorman, and have consumed burgers and chocolate cake. Nothing too out of the ordinary, except that there are GIRLS at this party. In particular one, Miss Jennifer Mitchell.

I am not sure when it happened but, my shy, quiet little boy has turned into this gregarious, exceptionally funny confident young guy. And girls are noticing. Most of the kids are all on the swim team together and know each other pretty well from practices and meets. But, I started noticing the looks and the bashful flirting going on a while ago between Ryan and Jennifer. The mutual attraction fan club was pretty much confirmed when, Jen's mother called me up two weeks ago and said the girls wanted to come over and fill Ryan's room with balloons when he wasn't around. There they all were, a bevy of girls, complete with air pump, standing in my son's room filling it with colorful balloons. What an impression it made on Ryan later that day when he returned home. How cute he looked diving into the balloons that those girls had left for him to find.

And then, there was the end of the year swim team party. After the awards ceremony and the potluck dinner, there was a DJ and dancing. The kids all did group dancing and hung tight together, being silly and challenging each other in group line dancing manoevers. But, then, a slow dance came on. I turned around and my jaw dropped. There was my son slow dancing with a girl...not just any girl, but, Miss Jennifer. Where did he ever get the nerve? So plucky, and confident and cheered on by his best guy friends. Oh, you can believe that we have been teasing him mercilessly ever since, but, apparently he doesn't even seem to mind (which kind of takes the fun out of it!)But, with that slow dance, a threshold was crossed. Time to hang on loosely and allow him become more and more independent. Kind of exciting and scary for me at the same time. The times, they are a changing. Happy 15th birthday Ryan!

Painting pottery, the Prince of Savoia and being missed

2005-08-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

My friend Jenny called me up yesterday and wanted to know if I would go along with her to this new shop that has opened up here in town where you can paint your own pottery. I had driven by the place a couple of times and thought it looked like fun, so I said sure. Turns out there were a bunch of friends going and food and wine were involved as well. Sounded like a lot of fun! We got to the place around 5pm and picked out the ceramic pieces we wanted to decorate and then filled our palattes with paint and then set to work. Jenny is just back from a trip home to England and a sideways trip down to Rome, so we had a lot to talk about. She also brought me back the magazine "Gente" from the Rome airport, so now I can get all caught up with controversial news about Italian actresses like, Sabrina Ferilli and how Emanuele Filiberto (prince of Savoia) spent his summer vcation. Sweet!

It was quite nice to paint, chat and not have to worry about kids and fixing dinner for anyone...as a result we all stayed until the shop closed at 9. As I was leaving I noticed that I had missed four phone calls all placed from home...and then the phone rang again. It was my six year old calling a fifth time. Kyle has learned by heart my cell phone number and takes great delight in calling me when I am not with him, even if I have only left him momentarily for a quick trip to the grocery store. If I don't hear the phone ring and pick up, he leaves me messages like these. "Hey mom, ummmm, I was just wondering where you were. I hope you are having a great time. I miss you. By the way, this is Kyle. I just wanted to know when you were coming home. Okay, bye. Oh, just one more thing...(sound of him blowing me a kiss on the phone)...Okay. Bye. See you soon."

I just like going away, so I can get messages like these. It is nice to be missed.

Vacationing in New Jersey?

2005-08-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

We spent the last seven days on the East Coast visiting my parents. Southern New Jersey to be exact. I am here to tell you that it was hot. Not just regular hot, but more precisely, sticky, muggy hot. How soon one forgets living here in California, how humid the summers are on the East coast. One also forgets how green and lush summers can be in the mid-west and on the east coast. My parents have recently relocated back to New Jersey after having retired twenty years ago to Florida. I think my mom and dad are the only two people who are doing a reverse commute back to where they came from! You may well ask, how can you go from palm trees, lakeside property and a short jaunt to Disney World, back to the delight that is Trenton New Jersey? Go figure! Any way, this was our first trip back to the east coast to visit my folks in their new house.

We enjoyed a pretty typical family visit, landing on my parents in a complete whirlwind of high energy. The boys were excited to fly across the country and were absolutely wonderful travelers, enduring the long lines at check in and the 5-1/2 hour flight from Oakland to Philadelphia with ease. Our week at grandma's was filled with sight seeing trips to Philadelphia to view Indepedence hall and the liberty bell, a day at the Jersey shore and a car trip to visit old stomping grounds - "Bellvue Farm" where my mother grew up. My aunt also lives nearby and so we had the opportunity to reconnect with her. She is no fool and when she saw she had some able bodied helpers she set us to work in her garden stringing up the green beans, staking up the tomatos and picking zinnias for the dinner table. But, the best part of the entire trip was simply hanging out, catching-up and watching the kids interact my grandma and grandpa.

When I was a kid, I had my fair share of hanging out with my grandparents. Every summer, because my dad had summers off from teaching college, we would pack up the car and spend two days driving to New Jersey where we would land on my grandparents for an entire month. It took us two days to drive from Iowa to New Jersey. We would leave early in the morning, when the mists were just rising up over the corn fields. The car trip was always a close bonding experience, how could it be anything else, what with three kids, the dog and the luggage crammed into the back and trunk of the family Buick! We were loaded down with puzzles and books and for the most part my brother and sister and I would maintain a sense of decorum, but every so often, the teasing and the bickering reached a fevered pitch and my father bellowed out the obligatory..."If you kids don't settle down I'm going to pull over to the side of the road and one of you is going to walk the rest of the way..." We would drive on, with the windows rolled down, because the air conditioner didn't work very well, stopping at every Howard Johnson's between Cedar Rapids and Philadelphia, consuming cheeseburgers, chocolate milkshakes and clam rolls for every meal.

I loved my summers at Bellvue Farm. The old house had been in my mother's family for generations and was steeped in history and intrigue. Along one hallway hung framed letters written by ancestors describing their journey from England to the new country, along with framed portraits of distant aunts and cousins. As children we cavorted around the hay loft and trepidatiously walked past the dairy cows in the stalls that lined the cow barn. We played on rusty tractors and made doll houses in the corn crib. We ran through the back meadows and hid in the gardens and ate corn on the cob fresh from my grandmother's vegetable patch. But, the best fun was had exploring the farm house that was filled with antiques and odd collectibles, narrow back stair cases, and hidden attic rooms.

So, this past week, we made a family pilgrimage to visit Bellvue Farm, and in addition to that, the Friends meeting house where my parents were married in 1948. This is the first time in almost twenty years that I have been to, or even had a reason return to the Farm and New Jersey. The farm house was sold in 1986 after my grandmother died, after having lived to the ripe old age of 99 and a half. The house still stands but is occupied by a different family. The barns have all been torn down and the color of the old house has been changed. Interesting to return, but difficult to fully recapture the place that I carry around in my head and heart still, after all these years.

Anyway, we all had a great time. We came home rested and relaxed and re-energized. I really needed a change of scenery, even if the scenery was of New Jersey! And...to my extreme and infinite relief, the fish were still alive and kicking when we got home.

Gators take third place at Championships

2005-07-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Out of twelve competing teams our swim club took third place at championships today, thus marking the end of another swim season. The final swim meet is held at Chabot college's 20 lane pool. The scene is a mad house with hundreds of swimmers participating. The event begins at 7am and finishes around 6pm. Families arrive as early as 6 am to set up camps on the lawn where they can hang out between swim events. It is a long day for all to be sure!

All three of my kids swam four events in each of their different age groups. My husband was a timer and I got to be a Clerk of the Course for the 8-10 Gator boys. Being Clerk of the Course is an all day job and you are on your feet the entire time, tracking down the boys, keeping them in your line of sight, walking them to the staging area where all the swimmers check in and line up to be escorted into the pool deck. Then the Clerk runs to the pool deck with all the towels and swim parkas and waits for the swimmers to emerge from the water. Then the Clerk escorts them back to the campsite only to start the process all over again with the next swim event. I did my job well, no lost little 8 - 10 boys. However, I did manage to loose my own six year old at one point!

The kids had a lot of fun and were very spirited. There was a lot of hair braiding, hair shaving, nailpolishing, and body painting going on...and that was just the boys, now let me tell you what the girls did! Really, the kids had a blast and were very creative in showing unity and team spirit. The relay teams came up with stupid and funny costumes. My eldest son's group painted Super Gator symbols (think superman logo) on their chests with sharpie markers and wore their towels as capes. Others wore wigs and hawaiian shirts and one group even showed up with rubber ducks and floatation devices. Quite the carnival atmosphere...imaginative and very entertaining.

Tomorrow we end the season with a final awards ceremony/pot-luck/dance event to celebrate another great swim season. We all heave a sigh of relief that early morning swim practices and all day swim competitions have come to an end! Yet, at the same time, endings, as always, are sad...we will miss not seeing friends every day at the pool and the unique comeraderie we share. It may be over, but it is never completely over! There is always next year! The Gators will return and they will rule the pool...again!

The art of T.P.ing

2005-07-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

Belonging to the Gator swim team brings with it the necessary evils of T.P.ing. There is an underground movement that only surfaces late at night, when most decent and unsuspecting folk have gone to bed. They strike with their hoarded rolls of toilet paper & chalk, leaving streaming trails of white paper dangling from trees and bushes, empty cardboard rolls stacked upon innocent car atenas and brightly colored messages on driveways, in their wake. Part of the fun, on the part of the T.P.er is the thrill of skulking around someone else's yard in the dark, cowering in the shadows when headlights pass by and covering as much lawn in toilett paper as is humanly possible without getting caught. Part of the fun, on the part of the T.P.ee is to hear the hushed whisperings and the giggling and to catch the culprits in the act. Turning on a porch light or opening a window and yelling out "busted" sends the pack scrambling down the street into waiting parked cars...cars, I might add, that are driven by adults! In my day and age, no decent, self respecting parent would be caught dead consorting with, let alone DRIVING these hellions to appointments with delinquency. Ahhh, but we live in a different world these days. Parental involvement seems to be required these days, necessary in fact in a world where we barely let our children walk ten feet to school without a chaperone!

As we approach the end of swim season and with Championships next weekend, the past few days have seen new heights in T.P. activity. In fact, our house was hit twice two days running by different bands of roving Gator buddies. In fact, while we were out T.P.ing others, our house was being hit. It's pretty much all fun and games and innocent fun. But, try explaining that to the neighbors. We live in an area were there are a lot of Chinese and Indian familes. The first time the sun rose over our barely recognizable yard strewn with millions of strands of white toilett paper, they immediately rushed over to console us, ready to call the police, soooo sorry that our house had been vandalized. We, on the other hand, stood on the front steps in our pajamas, grinning broadly trying to explain that, no quite the opposite, that this was a good thing and we were really quite happy and excited to have singled out by our Gator team for recognition. The boys, you see, get very excited by the whole ordeal, even though THEY are the ones the get to clean up the entire mess the next day!

Ocean's 12

2005-07-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I hadn't seen Ocean's 12 before tonight. What a great movie. Who knew that parts were set in Italy...always a plus. It's a good thing we watched it on DVD because we could stop & start & rewind the movie as much as we wanted to review and discuss the complicated plot twists. I have to admit that I thought the whole thing was pretty humorous and enjoyed the bantering between all the characters. And, I now have a new favorite movie line. At one point, Matt Damon's character is brainstorming a plan to have Ocean's wife, Tess (played by Julia Roberts) mascarade as the real movie actress Julia Roberts (because she bears a resemblance to her) to steal a Faberge egg. (Pay attention! I told you it was a complicated movie!) The other guys think it is an outrageous idea, but are slowly convinced that it might work. During all this, one guy comments to Damon about the plan:

"It's Italian television crazy....and we are still watching."

I laughed out loud, since recently Francesco and I have been discussing the merits of Italian television and I know that Mindy is not a big fan of Italian programming either. I, on the other hand, know it is crazy...but I AM STILL WATCHING! It seemed to hit home...another one of those, I guess you had to be there moments! Oh, go watch the movie, already!

Of mice and.....

2005-07-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

I am matching my wits against a sneeky little mouse that loves the big juicy nectarines that I have accidently left out on the counter at night. To add insult to injury, I am also under seige by an army of the teeniest, tiniest ants. The heat has brought them out of the ground and into the kitchen where they are also running rampant all over the counters. Once upon a time, the area in which I live was once filled with fields of apricot, cherry and olive trees. Our actual neighborhood was built over the site of the old Weibel Vineyard. It really is a shame that fields of fruit trees and vineyards have to be mowed down to give way to "progress" and the construction of houses. They say that less than twenty years ago, this entire area was open and wild and people used to ride horses where there are now expressways. So, in some ways I guess the "visitors" are less the intruders than me. But, none the less, I am not too keen on sharing my nectarines with a mouse. Finding little teeth marks in my fruit in the morning is not the greatest of ways to start the day! So, the hunt is on. But, I am finding that this is a sneeky little thing and it seems to be dancing around and avoiding the sticky traps that I leave out at night. The story continues...hmmmm....who will out smart whom?

Bocci anyone?

2005-07-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

As you may have guessed from previous posts it is really hot around here. Today at 4 pm the thermometer rose to 110 degrees. Now, the heat doesn't really bother me but what does is a rather disturbing correlation between the heat rising and my internet service pooping out. Every day since last Wednesday, my service has gone out at 11:30 am but comes back on line every evening around 7:30. Argh! My mood swing is mercurial...when the internet is out, I am down in the dumps; when it is back, all is right with the world and can't even recall how annoyed I was just a few hours earlier. Yet, as these outages persist, I have decided to conduct a highly scientific "charting" experiment to see if sun spots, the changing gravitational pull of the earth and/or heat temperatures, are in fact linked and reeking havoc with my internet connection. Come on folks! Let's give a girl a break here. You know it is absolutely essential and vital that I check my e-mail at least twenty times a day and surf the web just as many.

Ahh, well...what to do, what to do, when the internet goes down...that is besides panicking and driving Comcast crazy with five calls a day to their service center to check in with the mother ship. Let's see. I've gone to the mall. I've actually grocery shopped. Oh yes, I even cleaned out the two "catch-all-junk" drawers in the kitchen. I fell asleep, on my bed, over an Italian grammar book while watching an Italian situation comedy show (sorry about that RAI, but sometimes your programming isn't all that captivating!) I have been to the gym a couple of times and even seen the inside of the local library. So, yes it is nice to know that there is life beyond the internet...kind of.

I have to admit though, the most fun I have had in the last five days since the internet has gone down has been at City Beach. My husband and I and a group of friends hightailed it over to this local hang out spot last night, where we ended up staking a claim on one of the bocci ball courts where we proceeded to play a "friendly" men-against-the-women tournament for about five hours. I am not going to point any fingers...but some of us may be just a teeny bit competitive. And despite the fact, that I quite possibly, may have been playing under the influence of a Cosmo or two (and also maybeeee some red wine), I have to admit that I am a pretty darn good bocci ball player. Soon I too, will be carrying a little ruler around with me like the gentlemen in Italy do to measure the distance of the balls. Bocci is my new calling in life..as my youngest would say...it's heck-a-fun. So, if you are looking for me when the heat rises and the internet goes down, you will probably now find me on some Bocci ball court perfecting my toss. Bocci anyone?

Morning hours

2005-07-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

L'aria è fresca e pulita. The air is fresh and clean. I open the window wide to let in the coolness. In the distance I can hear the hum of mowers already at work, despite the fact that there is still dew upon the lawns. I smell the sweet aroma of newly cut grass. The world isn't quite awake and the sun hasn't yet begun to melt or parch the earth. This is my slice of time that I can call my own. A time before the day fully engages and competing domands on my attention are made. This is a time of peace, and clarity of thought. I savor the cool morning breeze, for I know, that it too will soon vanish, as the sun rises higher in the sky.

Evening hours

2005-07-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

It is night time and it is hot. It is a sticky, opressive heat that has turned the hills outside my door an ugly brown. It is a heat that makes the pavement shimmer and defeats the car's air conditioning system. The sun is down, but the house remains excessively warm inside. It is quiet except for the clicking of computer keyboards and mouses. It is funny, actually, to hear the stacato tappings coming from all corners of the house. It may be hot, but nothing keeps us from our computers. And yes, if I listen closely I can also hear the low mumble of the golf channel coming from the living room. My husband is a fanatic golfer. He and my father are the only two people on earth that I know of that can avidly watch golf on tv! Now, there it is! I can feel it...a welcome cool breeze is starting to waft through my open window. There is a perfect half moon high in the sky. I feel a nocturnal stroll coming on....

My excellent three day adventure

2005-07-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Too much fun was had this past weekend! It feels like I have been gone a week and yet, as I glance over at the three Italian calendars I have strategically placed on my office wall for confirmation, I see that it is only Monday. What did I do that could cause me to loose sense of time and place. Well, let me tell you!

Day 1: It all started Friday at 7 am, when I went day tripping with some girlfriends to pick up kids from summer camp. Stacy, Lunette, Bridget and I decided, that as long as we had to drive four hours north of San Francisco to pick up our kids and bring them home for an early Saturday morning swim meet, we might as well make it a girls' day out. With Starbucks coffee in hand we headed up highway 101 and arrived in Healdsburg, a quaint town near Napa/Sonoma just in time to do some serious damage to our pocket books. We shopped and enjoyed the views and lunched in the shady backyard of a restaurant converted from an old house called Ravenous. The falafel and yogurt sauce was delicious as was the chocolate torte served with coffee gelato. After lunch we headed up Dry Creek Canyon road to visit several of the wineries located in the hills north of town. We stopped and sipped wine in the wine caves of Bella Vineyards and then again on the lovely estate of Ferrari Carano. I couldn't resist the Zins and bought a couple of bottles to bring home with me. We arrived at camp around six, loaded up our two cars with seven stinky boys, no worse for ware, having spent the last six days roughing it in the wilderness. And that, was just the start of my excellent weekend....

Day 2: Saturday 6:30 am. Rise and shine and head to the pool for the afore mentioned swim meet! But, the swim meet wasn't the hightlight of this day...oh no! What we really were looking forward to was the Gator swim team camping event and beach day scheduled for the remainder of the weekend. Once done with the meet we packed up the car with towels, wetsuits, blankets and most importantly sticks to roast marshmallows, and headed out to Santa Cruz and the KOA (camp grounds of America) located near Sunset Beach. It is a tradition for the Gators to camp together every year and this year about twenty-five families joined together for this communal celebration. Kids were running around playing in our little tent city, while parents were strolling from tent to tent, socializing and celebrating with margheritas.

Day 3: Beach Day Sunday. After a hearty community breakfast cooked over a camp stove, the Gators headed out to the beach. We parked ourselves under umbrellas and easy ups and we didn't leave until late afternoon. There was a lot of sand castel building, and burying of kids in the sand (my son was turned into a giant mermaid and the girls took great care to make it an anatomically correct with a large bosoms) but the best part was riding those wonderful waves on a boogie board. Such an exhilarating thing to become one with a huge wave! I must admit, that I abandoned myself to the sea for an entire afternoon of playing in those waves. We came home covered in sand, a little roasted and red from being in the sun all day, but what a fabulous time we had!

I applaud the In-N-Out Burger

2005-07-07T23:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is a first. I finally made it to In-N-Out and tasted my very first In-N-Out burger.

Usually I avoid fast food restaurants like the plague and have pretty much given up on greasy fries and trying to discern the questionable origins of most fast food joint fare. I am especially leary about the partaking of such fare after hearing about the movie "Super Size Me" from friends who spare no details in describing the horrible impacts a month of eating food filled with perservatives and grease does to ones body. But, happily, I report that the In-N-Out burger is GREAT! It is made from the freshest of ingredients, nothing is frozen or added to or processed. The french fries are made before your eyes from real, yes, you heard me, real potatoes. The menu is simple and consists of hamburgers and cheeseburgers and the best milkshakes ever. This place is a real throw back and it makes me happy just to walk through its doors. Sorry to all those not living in California, Nevada and Arizona...the In-N-Out burger resides only in these states. You will just have to come and visit and we'll all go out for a burger together.

Happy Fourth of July

2005-07-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

We celebrated today, by marching in the annual Fremont 4th of July parade. What a turn out and what a diversified parade we were! There were boyscouts, cubscouts, Sikhs, Chinese, Scotts, Mexicans, marching bands, pirates, nuns, swim schools, dance schools, veterans, the chamber of commerce, the rotarians, florists, animal activists, balloons, floats, antique cars and bikers on Harleys...it truly takes all kinds to make a great parade. It makes me proud. Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Here are a couple of shots in the staging ground minutes before the parade kicked off.

Things that go together

2005-07-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

Alanis Morissette and the treadmill. Somehow, running on a treadmill at speed 6, is just so much easier while listening to Alanis. My legs go faster to her beat.

Late afternoon hunger pangs and Soy Rocks from the Dixie Diner's Club. They are crunchy. They are Soy. They are Flaxy. AND they are chocolatey. What more could you ask for! For all of you who want to run out and acquire some Soy Rocks of your own you can go to the Dixie Diner and get some!

My feet and $1.00 flip flops from Target. Such a deal and very fashionable at that!

Proud moments

2005-07-02T15:02:00.001-07:00

These are the moments that make a mother so proud...

Winning 4, count them 4, first place ribbons at last week's swim meet. Ryan took first in the Medley Relay, Free Style, Breast Stroke and Free Relay. We went on to win the meet! Go Gators!

Michael was promoted from sixth grade to seventh. Next year he leaves elementary school behind and will attend Junior Highschool.

Kyle survived first grade...

...and learned to ride a two-wheel bike in just one day!.

The closest thing I have to a piazza

2005-07-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me the other evening, as I was watching my youngest learn to ride a bike for the first time without training wheels, that the elementary school playground, with its vast expanse of asphalt, was similar to an Italian piazza. At certain times of day, the black top comes alive with vibrant activity. A real neighborhood community exists upon this black top and it reminds me of every Italian piazza that I have ever strolled across in Italy. In Italy, the neighborhood piazza is the center of activity. It is where young boys kick around a soccer ball and it is the meeting ground, where couples young and old, come out to walk and enjoy each other's company.

We live on a hill, thus making it difficult to learn to ride a two-wheel bike. So, the other evening I suggested to my son that we go to the elementary school playground where he could learn to ride on a beautiful flat surface. As I sat there watching my son gain the confidence to ride off on his own (and I must proudly note that he is a very adept biker rider) I took a moment to look around and observe the activity around me. And it hit, me. This was my piazza! Here the children come to play after dinner. Here, the women stroll arm and arm around the black top as the sun hangs low in the sky drenching the black top in amber light. Here the toddlers ride their two wheel bikes around and around and around. Here the Indian ladies in their saris and the chinese grandmothers dressed in silks converse quietly amongst themselves and scold or laugh at their children. Here young men turn out for impromtu games of basketball.

Well, there it is. The elementary school playground in all it's glory. No baroque fountains spritzing water, no marble benches or cobblestones, but yet it reminds me of an Italian piazza. Here a neighborhood comes out to play and to enjoy a summers' evening.

Isn't it great to be a Wo-Mom?

2005-06-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

I am Melissa and yes, I am a working mother.

Whew! Feels good to get that off my chest! Yesterday I attended my first "Wo-Mom" meeting. My friend Dorrie recently decided to create a networking, support group for working mothers in the bay area. The group meets every 4-6 weeks to discuss business topics of interest , but always there is the pressing topic of child care that gets discussed and re-addressed at every meeting. Meetings occur at various locales around the San Francisco bay area. Since the group is so new, so far, there are only about 11 members. Of those eleven, due to busy work and family schedules, five of us showed up for the meeting held at a coffee shop on the Embarcadero in the newly renovated Ferry Building.

Side bar: I love the Ferry Building. It is a wonderous place, very similar to an indoor farmer's market. There are permanent kiosks and booths selling imported olives from Tuscany, fresh flowers and specialty breads to die for. There is real Italian gelato place and next to it a cavier bar. Not that I am really into cavier that much, but it is fun to look at. Wandering down the center of the Ferry building is a treat for all the senses.

Meanwhile, back to our Wo-mom meeting. It took us a while to settle down to discussing the topic of the month "contracts" as we were all busy getting acquainted and talking about our individual businesses. Amongst us was a Qualitative Research Group Moderator, a Grants Writer, a Promotions & Advertising Specialist - she really calls herself a Tchotcke Queen as she can supply any event with any kind of gimick or fun take away item (and you thought I didn't know how to spell Tchotcke!) an Events Coordinator, and then me, of course, the Graphic/Web Designer. Quite a diverse group, but we discovered that we all had similar issues and concerns about how to juggle working and raising a family at the same time. I went, as a favor to my friend Dorrie, but decided to return again because the group was really dynamic, and it was actually quite helpful to discuss business ideas and concerns and feel supported. Plus, such a great way to network. We all discovered that we had some skill or something to offer the others in the group. Very cool!

So, I decided that the idea of the "Wo-Mom" group is a good one and something that I can benefit from. I just find it incredibly interesting that there are no "Wo-dad" groups around. But, then it isn't really necessary, is it? It seems inevitable that the brunt of the care taking is the responsibility and domain of women and that they ineveitably are the ones that have to juggle their clients, their time and their meetings around child care schedules. Women are the ones that have to hunt down good daycare, arrange for sitters and nannies, and in the event of an emergency, they are the ones that have to have backup-plans-to-backup-plans so that they can get their work done at all. How many men have to worry about that? Most men go off into the work place and blissfully leave all that behind. I am not pointing fingers or making any heavy acusations, just pondering the great role and responsibility that comes with being a mom and working mother.

The ice cream man cometh

2005-06-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday night friends came over for dinner. Among them was Roger. Roger works for Dryers ice cream and is king and czar of all flavors. He gets to decide which flavors of ice cream will make it or be axed from the Dryer line up. In the realm of brand managing jobs, not so bad to have ice cream taster as part of your job description. Of course, as would be expected, he brought ice cream for dessert. But, that he would bring 6 tubs of ice cream, plus the new Dryers Dibs, was something every hostess dreams of! We ate dinner, but gorged on ice cream in the kitchen later! We treated our palates to the ever delightful Rocky Road, the delicious Chocolate Fudge Chunk, the always pleasing Carmel Delight, the crowd's favorite Nestle Crunch and of course the new slow churned Double Vanilla. Roger tells me that as great as all these flavors are, the number one, two and three best sellers at Dryers are and continue to be...Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, and Old Fashioned Vanilla. America, we are so very proud of you! I have to say, that of the bunch I liked the new Dibs product the best. Dibs are like bite size ice cream bars. Roger says that he can fit 47 into his mouth at one time. They held a contest at the Dryers head quarters and he lost out to some guy from Fiji that can fit 68 Dibs into his mouth. I figure with a little self discipline and lots of practice, by the end of the summer I should be able to do just as well as the guy from Fiji...a person has to have goals, you know.

Summer magic

2005-06-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

School ends tomorrow for my kids, marking the beginning of summer. I love the summer. It brings to mind great times and favorite memories. Such as...

1-2-3 Jello.

Perpetually stubbed big toes (incurred from running around barefooted all summer long.)

Being kept awake by a single errant mosquito in the middle night and scratching the itchy bites it left behind the next morning, despite my mother's protests that doing so would leave scars.

Mr. Morton setting up a barber shop in his back yard. At the beginning of the summer, our next door neighbor, would set up a large bar stool in the back yard and shave the heads of his six boys. All the neighborhood kids would gather around and watch.

Eating homemade banana sherbert on the screened-in porch while watching the flickering TV in the dark.

Riding in our volkswagen convertible to the Rootbeer Stand, dressed in baby doll pajamas, at dusk.

Mr. Misty head freezes.

Fresh corn on the cob, dripping with butter. (What do you expect...I grew up in Iowa, on a college campus, set in the middle of a corn field)

Afternoons spent at the college library because it was so cool inside. We didn't have airconditioning, just big fans and big open windows that let the breezes in.

My mother covering the furniture with sheets, because she said it was cooler to sit in the upolstered furniture that way.

Riding my bike to the abbandoned Abbey Creek One-Room School house and playing in the mud and catching minnows in the creek.

My brother running around the house trying to catch a stray bat that flew into the house with his butterfly net...and actually catching it.

Playing kick-the-can and hide-n-go seek in the dark and being mortally terrified of every sound and every shadow, as I stayed crouched and hidden in the bushes.

Reading Anne of Green Gables in the dark, under a white sheet, with a miniature flashlight after "lights out".

The Gators rock the house!

2005-06-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

It was a Gator pool Saturday morning.

Okay, maybe we lost the swim meet to the Highland Barracudas, but we had a lot of fun anyway! They made shark bait out of us actually. They are the toughest team in the swim league and took championships last summer. But who cares. The kids swam their little hearts out, as a crowd of parents cheered from the deck. I love the Gators. It is a swim club with heart and not ultra competitive. This is our second year of participating on the Gators. Joining the Gators was like joing a big extended family. Everybody cheers for everyone else and friendships run deep. Last year it took Kyle about five minutes to make it across the pool and he was always the last one to reach the end. The Gators didn't mind. All of them stood up and screamed and yelled and encouraged Kyle as he crept to the finish line. A beaming Kyle exited the pool and all he could say was that he was soooo proud to be soooo popular!

Having moved to California from the midwest five years ago, and with most of our families scattered across the fifty states, we miss having aunts and uncles and cousins nearby. Now my kids have a whole new family. If you aren't aware, the swimming culture is very buddy oriented. My older son who was a little on the shy side, and introverted now flirts with girls and teases them and has become this very confident young person that is not afraid to express himself. In fact, yesterday during the final free-style relay he decided he needed a swim cap to help him cut nonoseconds off his time. He called out to Hannah to throw him her cap...a bright pink cap mind you. He stood tall on the diving block, in this glorious fuscia cap, having the time of his life.

This year my Italian friends Roberta and Paolo and their two sons joined the Gators. In the Gator way, they too are being welcomed into the fold and even had their house tee-peed last night. Roberta and I chat away in Italian as we watch and cheer our kids on. We may not be breaking records, but the kids are having fun and improving their swim times inch my inch, stroke by stroke. So just remember, when the Gators rock the house, they rock it all the way down!

Blog tag

2005-06-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Sam read my blog and left a comment. Amy read my blog and found Sam's comment. Being the inquisitive person that she is, she visited Sam's blog and found this name quiz thingy. I visited Amy's blog and found that she had posted the results of her name blog thingy (with a very nice mention of my blog...thanks very much!) I got curious and visited Sam's blog to find out the details... and tadah! Here is what I got. All true, of course. Now I am going to get out of MY chair and go see a movie.

MELISSA
M is for Mushy
E is for Easy
L is for Lively
I is for Inspirational
S is for Successful
S is for Striking
A is for Alert

here is the link if you want to play too

What is up with the sun visors lately?

2005-06-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know what is going on in your neck of the woods, but recently here in mine, there is a growing trend amongst some women in the neighborhood toward wearing oversize sun visors that cover the entire face. What is up with that? Now, I am not that much of a fashionista, but pleeaaasssse! This is not a good look for anyone. To walk around with your face covered by a huge piece of black plastic annoys me. If you ask me, and I know that you were just going to, it is a little anti-social and just plain weird. I get it. I get it. They are protecting themselves from the harmful rays of the sun. But, they look more like they are part of a hazmat clean up crew. Today, as I was headed out to the gym, a car cut me off. When I reached the light and pulled up beside said car, all I could see was a storm trooper visor covering the face of the offender. Great. Not only is said head device strange and anti-social, it also cuts off periferial vision and therefore is a catalyst for future collisions. I am all for sun protection and covering up against the harmful UVs but, I for one, will stick with a simple pair of Ray Bans, thank you very much!

Natural selection. Is it working?

2005-06-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Apparently not, if you live in my backyard. Every spring, for the last five years, since we built this pergola in the backyard, birds have been trying to build nests in it. The unfortunate thing for them, is that the spaces are way too small for a nest remain. But, every year, birds belonging to what I have to believe are descendents of the same line of birds that lay claim to our little backyard as home, continue to futiley attemp to create a domestic space in a space that is uninhabitable. Every year they attempt to stuff grass and leaves and paper towels that they find in our recylable bins into the niches and crannies of the pergola, only to have the stuff fall on to the ground thirty seconds later. Come June, as a result, our patio is littered with grass clippings, weeds and string that the birds have gathered to craft their nests with, but that end up on the ground instead. I have watched, for whole half hours, this process, until I give up in disgust at the stupidness of the bird. How it can not realize that, no matter how hard he tries, his nest will not stay put, is beyond me. I have even gone out, and behind the birds back cleaned out the niches with a hose, hoping that they will get the message that the space they have choosen is a disaster zone waiting to happen. About as smart as building a house in Lagoona beach, that is just waiting to slide into the ocean at any given moment. But, the birds, they never get the hint. Relentlessly, they return and continue to make nests. Personally, I think it has the earmarkings of the work of an overeager male bird. Some pregnant bird is sitting in a near by bush yelling at its mate to get a move on and make her a decent nest. While I appreciate his desire to please his mate, couldn't he finally understand that there is a more comfortable nest to be made in a tree nearby. You would think that after generations, the stupid gene would be eradicated from this particular family of birds. But, no. Apparently, stupidness never ever seems to be fully be removed from any of the gene pools.

My philosophy on decorating

2005-06-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of things you should know about my decorating tastes. First off, wrought iron speaks to me.

I sit on chairs that look like this...

I eat with utensils that look like this...

I illuminate rooms with things like these...

I don't much like floral patterns on couches or drapes. In fact, I can barely tolerate drapes. The closest I have ever come to hanging draperies is placing a simple swag across the top of a window, mounted of course with a wrought iron bracket. I like soft oversized pillows and lots of them. I like mixing vivid abstract patterns with soft brocaded beaded pillows.

I like dusky greens, warm grays and accents of yellow paint to add warmth and color. I like sponging the kitchen walls and bathrooms with all the left over paint samples to create a unique concoction of colors that look like rough, hewn stone. I like to paint boys' bedrooms bright orange or lime green with blue accents. I like to hand paint messages along the top of a wall in a foreign language...just because I can.

I like original and quirky art. I like to surround myself with pieces that friends have created or by artists that I have personally met. I have a statue made by a Kansas City artist using Indiana limestone in my hallway that I got at a art fair one summer, a painting of the Duomo painted by a woman in Florence who I met on the street in Italy and ceramics thrown on a potters wheel by a college friend in a studio that used to be next to mine. My own paintings are strewn about the premisis and are perpetually changing locations depending upon my mood. I have a hand tinted print on the wall outside my office that reads: "We lay there and looked up at the night sky and she told me about stars called blue squares and red swirls and I told her I'd never heard of them. Of course not, she said, the really important stuff they never tell you. You have to imagine it on your own."

My philosophy on decorating: nothing should really "go" with anything else, if it does, you are trying to tell someone else's story. Eclectic is good. If you surround yourself with the things that you love, you create your own personal style. I mix old with new, iron with wood, neutrals with brights, and straight and angular with soft and plushy. I like the yin and the yang of all the opposing forces. At any rate, your stuff should tell a lovely story about who you are and where you have been. Accumulate the stuff that speaks to you above all other things, and you will create a comfortable space to hang out in. No one can really tell you how to decorate. Never hire a decorator. It is your space. You have to imagine it on your own.

The small things that I like to eat

2005-06-07T22:52:00.000-07:00

Cashews

Black Olives

Cherry tomatoes

Pepperoncinis

M&Ms

Hershey Kisses with carmel filling

I could make a meal on these...entree, salad, and dessert!

Goodnight kisses

2005-06-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight Kyle had a hundred questions about the Sandman, which had him popping out of bed and wandering down the hall to find me two or three times, after I had already tucked him into bed. The Sandman, along with the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Toothfairy are still very real to him. This is something that I continue to actively encourage because I cherish his innocence and the fantasy land that is still his to romp around in for yet a while longer.

As is our nightly ritual, after teeth have been brushed and before the lights get turned out, we read a book together. The tide is turning. I used to be the one that read to him and now he chooses to read to me instead. Tonight he selected "Home For a Bunny". "Spring Spring Spring sang the frog" begins the book. How well I remember, because this was one of my personal favorites when I was Kyle's age. I tell him this and he is quite impressed that we like the same book. I always liked the illustrations by Garth Williams, who also illustrated another personal favorite of mine, "Wait to the Moon is Full", and of course all the "Little House on the Prarie" books. Kyle starts the book, but can't make it past the first couple of sentences without stopping to ask a question or comment upon the story or a picture on the page. He wants to know what a bog is, how a bunny would make a hole in the ground and how do frogs breath under water. Our nightly readings take rather random turns until mom, who usually is starting to fall asleep on the pillow next to him, tells him to keep on reading! We finish up and then I tuck him in and kiss and hug him. Then I have to kiss and hug Teddy, his rather beat up, but well loved bear, that he made at the Teddy Bear factory last November, his inseparable companion and life long friend. I have to kiss and hug Teddy the same exact number of times that I have kissed and hugged Kyle, and believe you me, if I don't, I get called back into the room to even up the score. Now all is quiet. A definite stillness has fallen over the house. A stillness that only occurs when Kyle has fallen asleep. I think the Sandman has done his work for the evening.

andddddd....we are still procrasting....

2005-06-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

So, this is the part of the day, here in Melissa's world, that we call fun with scanning. I was standing in the check out line at the supermarket a couple of weeks ago and saw this great TV Guide cover. Normally, I never bother with TV guide, or even keep the guide that comes in the newspaper for that matter, because I am a random viewer and never need to have a schedule to tell me when or what I should be watching. But, I couldn't resist buying this particular TV Guide, because it had an ultra cool special effect cover that changes from Princess Leia to Padme. I wanted to see if I could scan the hologram. By scanning it upside down, sideways and rightside up I caught the images and the image as it transformed midway. Pretty cool, huh? Okay, already! I am going back to work.... right after I find some chocolate....

Still procrastinating....

2005-06-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well, the annual report that I am supposed to be working on is still sitting on my desk. This is so unlike me. Friday I had very good intentions of starting on it but, well, it was Friday, and after 10am I was well into my weekend mode and decided to wait to start fresh on Monday morning. Monday is here. I have checked my email, surfed the web, looked at a couple of blogs, and updated the family calendar. Out of the corner of my eye I can see it still sitting there next to my computer. From what I can tell it doesn't appear to be miracolously and spontaneously designing itself. Darn! Really have to get that thing started today. Double need to start the project today, because the client went and paid me for the first part of the project that I completed already...a logo that I designed. Now, I have no excuses, like, if they just paid me I would be so motivated to start the next project. Yes, decidly must start the annual report today.

That's when I decided to go take a shower. Like I really needed to take a shower and got dressed! Some Mondays, I will work in my pajamas all the way until 3pm when the kids come home. I even washed and ironed my hair. Like I really needed to do that. Who is really going to see me today. And ironing my hair! I have taken to straightening my frizzies with a hair iron I bought at the drugstore back in March. My obsession with having straight hair these days must come from some opposite response mechanism to having permed my hair for so many years. Yikes! But, now every time I straighten my hair with the iron, it makes me think of Susan Dey in the Partridge family when she used to iron her hair with a clothes iron. I feel one with Susan Dey. So, here I am back at my desk. Really gotta get going on that annual report. Any second now. It is going to happen. I can feel it. Hey, wait. I think there must be some laundry around here that needs doing...

Nostalgia is a funny thing

2005-06-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

I am so guilty of wading around in nostalgia. I am definitely a wallower. Thinking back to times and places that have long since departed and dredging up the past is my speciality, it seems. The things that have disappeared from my life, the people that have changed or that I no longer have contact with, but are stuck in a moment in my personal history, seem touched with gold somehow, and all the more special because, well, they just are no longer. They no longer exist because new people and events have taken their places. Life continues to move forward at an alarming pace.

Just think, these very moments, these moments in which I am typing this blog will one day become pure nostalgia to me. I will look back and think: "What great fun it was to blog in those days." and "Wasn't it great when I had lots of clients and boring annual reports to design"? and... "Wasn't it great when I had to drive the kids to the pool six times a day for swim practice." "It was the best, when I went to the gym and sweated my brains out on the treadmill every other day."

Seriously, I will think this! I will think that this was a wonderful time that I will never get back again. And, whenever I hear the Paola and Chiara song "Amoremidai" my eyes will well up with tears and I will remember the spring of 2005 and think, "where did it go"? Did I really appreciate it as much as I should have when I was living through it? The answer is probably not. But, that is the beauty of nostalgia for me, I guess. Through nostalgia, I get to re-live it all later, and really remember how wonderful it was.

Day dreaming and wishful thinking

2005-06-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

This morning I was procrastinating and looking for ways to avoid starting in on the design of a rather large annual report. There it is staring at me...a pile of messy word documents in a great big manila folder, sitting next to my computer, that all somehow need to be turned into a slick, easy to read booklet complete with glossy photos and imaginative illustrations. Sipping on my coffee, and looking for ways to stall a few more moments, as per usual, I went to the internet for fun and entertainment. I head over to La Bacheca, an Italian chat group, to see what is going on. Clicking around I was disappointed to find that there were no new posts and nothing to respond to that would keep me a few moments longer from the dreaded annual report.

I guess I was really desperate for a good distraction, because I started to read the Google ads that appear on the site. And then, there it was, this big glowing banner that advertised an Italian language school in the heart of Florence, that was just beckoning for new students to come and discover the wonders of the Italian language. I couldn't resist. I clicked on the link and was quickly whisked into another world. I read through the class offerings and soon thoughts of the annual report drifted away. I began to imagine myself in Florence, surrounded by other language students, excited to be abroad and bound together by our foreigness and the desire to learn the Italian language. The photos on the site were evocative and I could smell the old building, feel the ache in my legs after having climbed to the top floor of an ancient Florentine building with a view of the Duomo where the classes are held, and see the faces of the mildly bored, but patient instructors, who have names like, Sandro and Maria Grazia.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all I had to do in a day were to spend four hours in the morning in a classroom perfecting my Italian, and then another two hours in the afternoon making conversation one-on-one with a professor. Lunchtime would be a delightful break in the day, when I would run down the eight flights of stone steps, or risk the descent in an ancient decorative Otis elevator, to the street below and to the corner bar for a panino and an aqua frizzante. Standing at the shiny counter I would be rubbing elbows with shopkeepers, business men, artisans and harried housewives . I would be immersed in the bubbling language and able to converse with everyone I met and understand conversations overheard from patrons sitting at nearby tables. And then, after meandering through the flea market in the piazza by S. Lorenzo and admiring the leather bags and second hand books, I would find myself back at the school in one of the small classrooms with high ceilings, featuring tasteful posters of Dante and David on the walls. Each room would have it's own balcony and you could hang over the railings and with a bird's eye view watch the activity on the street below. You would see the three wheel trucks, the beat up city cars and the watch as the vespas weave erratically in and out of the traffic. As they depart down side alleys, off to pick up girlfriends or return to work, the stacatto vrooom vrooom vrooom of the motor scooters would echo crazily through caverns created by the narrowly spaced ancient buildings. Gazing up and over the red tile rooftops of the city, you would see Brunelleschi's Duomo rising above all the other bell towers and chapels, and in the distance the purple haze of Piazza Michelangelo and the suburb Bagno a Ripoli.

It would be a joy to experience the life of a carefree student in Florence again. I have an ache in my heart as I daydream about the possibility.

Campaign for natural beauty

2005-06-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

The other day, I was running around doing errands and stopped in at the Postal Annex to send off my passport for renewal. To process a new passport you need to fill out paper work, write a check and supply two new current pictures to the American government. The first couple of things I got done quickly. Taking a passport picture proved to be more of a task. I went to Longs Drug store to have a picture taken, thinking that would be fast and easy. However, I have this weird, quirky thing that happens when someone takes a picture of me using a digital flash camera. My right eye inevitably closes half way, giving me the appearance that I am either drunk, or have just had a stroke. It is quite annoying. On top of that, the picture was all washed out and my hair looked hideous. Not satisfied with the Longs passport picture, I went home and had my son take a whole bunch of pictures of me against a white wall in the brightest natural light that I could find. I had my son take the pictures because I was afraid my husband would tease me relentlessly. Then, from the dozens of pictures that we had taken, I had to start analyzing every aspect of my face, my smile, bone structure, the way my hair looked behind my ears or puffed up at the top. I finally chose one and than began the process of sizing and cropping the photo to meet the specification of having my head measure 1-3/8" from crown to chin. What an ordeal! But, I have to say I was much happier with the picture. My eyes are open, nice smile and my hair definitely looks better.

So, there I was standing in line at the postal annex thinking about how stupid I had been spending such an inordinent amount of time worrying about a crumby passport picture. But there it was, what can I say, female vanity and the desire to look my best for the airport security guards in Rome, at its finest. And then I looked up at the woman behind the counter waiting to help me. I was stunned and couldn't look away. I was staring at an extraordinary woman. I couldn't help but think that I was standing in the presence of a truly beautiful woman...and she had the biggest nose that I have ever seen. She must have been in her late forties, early fifties. Her face was framed by short dark curly ringlets and and she had the brightest ruby red lipstick on her lips. She was wonderful and all I could think of was that I hoped she never would change a thing about her appearance. If she reduced that magnificent nose, her beauty would be diminished. She was perfect, and I wanted to invite her home and learn all about her life adventures.

Have you seen the recent Dove commercials? The new slogan for Dove is "Campaign for Natural Beauty." Well, you have to hand it to Dove for attempting an honest push to recognize ordinary women and their unique faces and bodies. It is kind of refreshing. On the other hand, the Italian newspaper the Repubblica and the rest of the world's media is touting Angelina Jolie as the world's most beautiful woman. Hard to disagree there. But, it is still nice to know that there are beautiful woman all around us and not just in Hollywood or on the runways, and that they can even be found working at the Postal Annex in Fremont wearing ruby red lipstick. So, I decided, that confidence, along with the the ability to accept the things that set us a part from others and to flaunt them, rather than try to change or cancel them, are the things that make a truly beautiful woman. (That and the ability to keep your eyes open and take a decent photo.)

To Anchorage with love....

2005-06-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

The other day I came across a couple of pictures of me and my husband standing on the Matanuska glacier in Alaska. We took a trip to Alaska the year after my husband graduated from business school, to visit college friends who had high tailed it out of Chicago, seeking good times and adventure in the wilds of Anchorage and the Alaskan judicial system.

Our friend Ken, never one to play it safe or easy, had spent a couple of years in France & Russia and later in Senegal Africa in the peace corp. He is a linguist and can speak French, Russian, Spanish and Wolof (a Senegalise dialect) but, has a hard time remembering names. Ken and I originally were buddies way back in college and then I introduced him to my husband. In addition to his many talents, Ken was also a drama major and a fine singer. Often times, he would walk across campus, in the dead of winter singing tunes from My Fair Lady at the top of his lungs. My husband, before he got to know Ken, used to think he was a little off his rocker. But, once I introduced them at a campus party, over a bottle of cold Russian vodka that Ken had brought back from his year abroad in Moscow, they became the best of friends...that is after they resurfaced two days later. Ken became such a good friend to us that he literally hitch hiked back from Senegal to be in our wedding. He walked, hopped buses, hitched rides on U.S military transports and jets, just to make it back in time to be our best man. After leaving the Peace Corp., Ken went back to school and got his law degree. But, not wanting to be totally conventional, he and his wife Becky, who he met in the Peace Corp., decided to move to Alaska and raise a family of two boys and one adopted Chinese daughter. He continues to litigate and even has time to act on stage in Anchorage and perform in local TV commercials.

But, way back when....before there were kids, we visited Ken and Becky in Alaska. The thing I remember most about Alaska are the vast spaces and endless drives. We would set out for a days excursion to go rafting and end up driving five hours just to get to the staging point of the rafting trip. A drive, that back in Illinois, would have taken us out of Chicago and all the way home to Lynn county and eastern Iowa. But, in Alaska...that was not a big deal. Space and lots of it...that is what I remember most about Alaska. Okay, that, and the daylight, the endless daylight... and, of course the glaciers.

So, living life on a glacier... not so bad. Not so bad when you are standing on one in the middle of a warm Alaskan summer, bathed in 24 hour light, that is. I have fond memories cavorting around the glaciers in t-shirts and shorts. Not so sure, however, I want to experience the glacier in the dead of winter. I will leave that to Ken, his wandering spirit, and his uncanny ability to endure long, dark icy winters, be they Alaskan, Russian, or Chicagoan. I instead, will continue to embrace living under the warm Californian, or even more preferrably, Tuscan sun.

That's just the way of life

2005-05-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight, as I was tucking my youngest into bed, I gave him a great big squeezy hug and I marveled out loud at how big he is getting. I remembered the tiny little baby I used to cuddle in my arms and told him he would always be my little guy, even though he wasn't so little anymore. He matter of factly said, "that's okay mom, that's just the way of life." Such big wise words from such a still small little boy.

Pesto and grilled peppers

2005-05-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

We wrapped up the three day weekend with a nice pesto and some grilled peppers. Just us at home. Just the way I like it.

Earlier in the day, we all trooped over to Lake Elizabeth, a park in the center of town. We had talked about driving down to Carmel to the beach, but decided that it would be too crowded and not much fun to sit in miles of traffic on the way home. Instead, we bought sandwiches at the Safeway deli, and hung out by the edge of the small lake, only ten minutes from our doorstep and enjoyed a lazy afternoon. It felt great not have an agenda. To simply lie around on a blanket and talk with the kids or throw a ball around was nirvana. We have had a busy weekend of entertaining and being entertained, so it was nice to just relax and hang out together and veg. We saw Star Wars yesterday and there has been an on-going family dialogue about the movie and how all the episodes hang together. We are keeping ourselves plenty amused and entertained by thoughts of sith lords and jedi powers.

I am not sure how our schedules got to be so crammed full of commitments, both work and social. I find that I miss lazy mornings and unprogrammed days. I miss having the time to page through a glossy recipe book and put together a grocery list that includes prosciutto and gorgonzola cheese instead of oatmeal and frozen pizzas. I miss the smell of summer when the cool mornings used to give way to hot sultry afternoons, when the only planned activity involved curling up in the lounge chair on the porch and reading a Nancy Drew mystery. Today some of that feeling was recaptured. Today the world slowed down, e-mails went unanswered and I made pesto and grilled peppers. Life is good. Now if I can just remember what this feels like tomorrow...

What do Helen Frankenthaler & Maurice Ravel have in common?

2005-05-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot except they were paired today, in our F.A.M.E program. Just the other day, I finally figured out what the acronymn for FAME really stands for. I used to think it stood for Fine Arts Music Education but it REALLY stands for Fine Arts Mini Experience...not that it really matters a whole bunch. But is just goes to show, I am learning a lot of new things about the FAME program that I didn't know before, now that I have been elevated to the exalted status of FAME coordinator. For instance, someone has to ACTUALLY schedule all the FAME sessions with the principal every month... we ACTUALLY have a budget for the program... AND if a volunteer docent can't fill his or her spot, I ACTUALLY have to: a) either find a replacement, or b) fill in for the MIA myself! Who knew! So much responsiblity to deal with. Previously I was just happy to create my lesson plan and distribute it amongst the other volunteers, show up and teach the kids and then come home feeling great after having spread around a little knowledge about an artist or two.

Now that I am coordinator, I am being pulled into the dark, inner workings of the school. I have been enrolled in the PTO's (Parent Teacher Organization) Yahoo group and now receive a plethora of emails regarding school insurance plans, Mrs. Bailey's retirement gift and why the school can't renew it's script program. Lot's of stuff I hadn't really thought about before or really wanted to know...ahhh, ignorance is bliss!

And then, there is this responsibility of finding docents. Hmmm, did I realize when I agreed to this gig that I would have to pick up the slack for missing docents? The first fly in the ointment came on Monday morning, when at 9am the phone rang and I learned that my music docent for the first graders couldn't perform her duties. Panic set it. I sent out urgent emails pleading and begging for someone to come forward to teach the lesson with me. I already had four art classes to deal with and was hoping that I wouldn't have to do the music lesson as well. Even though I played piano for five years as a kid, and I know a smattering about composers, I feel entirely more comfortable speaking about artists. Well, it looked bad by Tuesday when I realized that everyone was pretending that they hadn't seen my pleaful emails. It seemed that no one was available to help me. So, resignedly, I began to brush up on the composer Maurice Ravel, the famed composer of Bolero. I made my notes and was getting into it when the phone rang around 10 pm Tuesday evening and a friend of a friend of a friend, agreed to deliver the lesson. What a brave soul, as she had never previously participated in the FAME program. This would be her initiation, and I surely didn't want to discourage her. I quickly dispatched my music notes on Ravel to her.

The lessons went just fine today. I had a chance to go on about Helen Frankenthaler and Abstract Expressionism, the New York School and her technique of stain painting. I spoke about the rebellious nature of these artists, who in the 1950's broke with tradition and rules and created paintings by throwing, dripping and staining huge canvases, so that the very act of creating the painting became almost as important as the final design. Frankenthaler considers herself a "finder of paintings" rather than a "maker of paintings." She approached her raw canvases without preconceived ideas and let the way the paint rolled across the canvas determine the direction of the piece she was creating. I showed the kids pictures of macrophotography of cyrstals, flowers and even a toothbrush, so that they could appreciate the abstract beauty of something that they can not identify. Beauty can be found in the ordinary object if we choose to look at it in a new way.

The Ravel lesson went well too. All I can think of when I hear Bolero is the 80's movie "10" with Bo Derek and her beaded braids. Not too helpful when you are putting together lesson plans for elementary age kids, mind you! Not surprisingly, I learned a lot more than I knew before about Ravel and his Bolero. For instance, the Bolero is the national dance of spain, and Ravel's piece is composed in a "merry-go-round" style with the melody repeating over and over, 17 times. The only thing that keeps it from being monotonous is the crescendo and the changing of the instruments and the dramatic finale as the instruments continue to grow dynamically.

I am getting a handle on this whole FAME thing. I found a new docent who wants to participate next year and realized that teaching the music lesson isn't beyond the scope of my capabilities. Yep, that's me. Everyday pushing the envelope, going where no woman has gone before, being all that I can be...okay I'll stop now.

The force is with us....again

2005-05-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

We are now well into the month of May, and I feel as if I am just landing on smooth tarmac after a very bumpy airplane ride.

In the past few weeks we have celebrated two birthdays, one on May fifth (yes, I have a cinco da mayo baby!) and one on May 10th. Grandpa has been out from Chicago for a ten day visit. Baseball, swimming and soccer are at an all time feavered pitch. End of school year activities are crowding the calendar and work continues to flow in through the cable line in my office. Throw into the mix a new computer and a car that was in the shop for four days and there you have it - one very busy agenda! All you can do is grab the reigns and hold on for dear life!

But, we are all smiling and keeping our sense of humor. Lately, and I don't know how this all came about, our family has this silly little quippy, smart-alecky banter thing going on. Anytime, anyone makes an inane comment about anything, someone will pick up on the comment and turn it around in a very nonsensical way. For instance, tonight I made salmon for dinner. The kids arrive in the kitchen, "What's that?", they ask. I reply, "I'm broiling salmon." Then someone will say, "YOU'RE a salmon". Or, "That looks like a mighty, fine peach your eating". Hold your breath, count a few beats and inevitably you will hear someone pipe up with, "YOU'RE a peach." I don't know why, but it has become part of our weird family lingo, that we all find so very, terribly funny. (I guess you have to be here...)

Anyway, now that the birthday parties are over, the computer is humming along and the car is operational again, life can resume its normal brisk pace. We are left with a couple pieces of cake in the cake pan and a pile of birthday presents to be sorted through and enjoyed. And, yes, judging by the boys' haul this year, Star Wars is definitely upon us again. Between the two of them, they have received the motherload of Star Wars toys. We can't wait to go and see the movie that is due out later this month and to keep us in the busy until it does, we have two new laser swords, a talking Darth Vader helmut, three, count them three, lego star wars naboo fighter jets, a Tie Fighter and a X-wing, not to mention a whole slew of obi-wan kenobi action figures.

In fact, at the moment, all three of my kids are out on the back patio reinacting a star wars duel with their very cool new laser swords. Laser swords so cool, that they light up blue and red and make very theatrical light-sabery noises. They are giggling and laughing. One of them calls out to the other, "You know what? There are a lot of Wookies in the new movie". Silence. And, then the inevitable response. "YOU'RE a wookie!"

May the force be with us!

Well, she went and bought a new computer.

2005-05-10T02:45:00.000-07:00

and it is grrrrrrrrreat! I have a new Mac with the new Tiger operating system and I'm loving it. In fact, it is 2:50 in the morning and I just had to get out of bed to come stare at my great big beautiful new monitor and play with my new computer. The entire family is in a festive mood and it feels a bit like Christmas, with enormous boxes and packaging materials strewn around the hallway outside of my office. I am breathing in the new computer "smell", kind of like the aroma of a brand new car, and it is very exciting. Those folks at Apple have things pretty much all figured out and I had an amazing buy experience. The personal attention I received, from setting up the new machinge to transfering data from my old mac, made for a seamless transition between old and new. My new system is "uber" fast, as my son likes to put it, and I am enjoying lightening speeds and amazing responsiveness to my every command. Well, I should go back to bed...but, boy, I can't wait to go to work in the morning!

To upgrade...or not to upgrade...

2005-05-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Apple's new Tiger operating system is out and causing me to seriously contemplate upgrading my operating system. All my computing devices, printers, email and internet appear to be functioning well (at least for the last past week) and now I have to go and mess around with my system again and potentially bring new frustration and havic into my computing world. I must be nuts! I invite my own pain I believe. But, the prospect of new and better is soooo appealing. The new operating system even has a built in language translator. How cool is that! I am so tempted. To upgrade or not to upgrade. What will she do????

Three signs that you may be a basket case

2005-04-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sign #1: You find yourself talking to your computer.

Sign #2: As you reach for the carton of soy milk to add to your morning coffee you grab the carton of chicken broth instead...and you barely even notice the difference.

Sign #3: Tears roll down your cheeks as you listen to Carly Simon's song "It Was So Easy".....

I remember a time, rompin' through the woods
Sun against our skin instead of clothes
When we felt hungry we swould eat, when we felt glad we'd dance
And whenever we felt drowsy we would doze

It was so easy then never takin' any stands
It was so easy then, holdin' hands

I remember a time when our fears could be named
And courage meant not refusing dares
I remember when we took such cares to step never on the cracks, no only in the squares
Or else we'd be abducted by the bears

And now we are grown, with debts and regrets
And broken hearts and sentimental schemes
Now every tender failure seems to overthrow old dreams
Love can drive a normal woman to extremes

It was so easy once, holdn' hands without a plan
It was so easy once holdn' hands
Just holdin' hands......

Jenny's birthday surprise

2005-04-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

We are having a surprise birthday party for my friend Jenny this Friday evening. She is turning 50! Her husband Vic came up with the idea of throwing her a party that would include both friends AND family. Not an easy feat to have the relatives attend, seeing as they ALL live in England (with the exception of a sister-in-law that lives outside of Rome!) This past weekend, the Langfords arrived in mass...all twelve of them... mum and dad (both sets), brothers and sisters and all their kids!

We have been scheeming and plotting for months to keep the plans for Jenny's birthday a secret. I designed the invitations, and everybody is helping out with food and fun for the party. Friday afternoon she is to be whisked away, so that we can decorate the house and set up and all be there to surprise her when she walks back through the door. Phase I of the plan went off without a hitch, when on Monday, Jenny went out to lunch and was surprised and overwhelmed by the entire English clan! Phase II...well, we are not sure what is going to happen on Friday evening.

You see on Sunday Jenny called me and asked if I would like to go hiking up Mission Peak on Tuesday morning after the kids were off to school. At first, I thought, "Wow, I have so much work to do" and then I asked, "Why on a Tuesday?" She replied, kind of shyly, that it was her birthday and she wanted to be standing on the top to celebrate her big day. I had been so busy with plans for the upcoming party on Friday, and all of our plans of subterfuge, that I had completely lost track of the fact that Tuesday, today, was her actual birthday. So, I readily agreed to go with her, hoping that I wouldn't spill the beans about the party on Friday night!

Well, we climbed the peak today, Jenny, I, another girlfriend and Jenny's brother and sister. It was a glorious day. We got to the top and enjoyed the view. Every one was having a great time. But, as we started back down the slope, that is when disaster struck. I was in the lead and Jenny behind me, when she began to slip on some loose gravel. She hit the ground hard and tried to break her fall with her left hand. She heard the pop and doubled over in pain and then we realized that she had just broken her wrist. There we were at the top of the Peak with a long way to go to get to the bottom. Luckily one of us had a cell phone and we called 911. A few moments later the dispatch told us that they were sending a helicopter to her rescue! We cheered and danced around...all except poor Jen, of course. We gathered around her and helped her through the pain as we waited for the helicopter that would carry her to the hospital.

Now, Mission Peak is pretty peaky, and we weren't at all sure where they were going to land a helicopter. To our surprise they managed to put the helicopter down at the very tippy top right next to us. It was so precariously perched on the hill, that I was afraid it would tumble right on down the side of the mountain. But, it didn't, and Jenny was carefully helped into the chopper by two hunky rescue guys. Not once did she cry or complain. Surely, I would have been a teary-eyed mess had our situations been reversed. We watched as she was flown down the mountain and away to the hospital. The four of us that remained, made our way back down the hill, feeling both miserable and bemused by the situation at the same time. Some day, we assured ourselves, Jenny will laugh at this adventure. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But someday!

Meanwhile there is still that big surprise birthday bash that we are throwing for Jen on Friday. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that she will be up for yet another surprise. Hopefully! If not, her birthday will still be an event. One way or another we will be telling this story over and over and over again. It may not turn out to be the birthday of her dreams, but the fact that she is surrounded by so many friends and loved ones today, makes her a very lucky person, indeed!

Don't judge a movie by its promo

2005-04-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

During the past week I have managed to sneak in a little downtown to view three movies. One movie I saw at the theater with some girlfriends, the other two I viewed on Netflix DVDs over the weekend. The film picks included: "Little Black Book", "Wicker Park" and "Beauty Shop".

I had high hopes for "Little Black Book". I loved the promos for the movie, the movie poster, and the Maroon Five song that they used in the trailers...but the movie itself never lived up to what it promised. My husband and I actually started watching the movie two weekends ago, but were so bored after the first twenty minutes that we put the film on ice. I pulled it out again this weekend, hoping that the movie would get better and redeem itself...but, sadly, it never did. I was hoping for a cute romantic comedy. It was just dull and stupid. I did like the fact that the girl eventually realizes that she is not right for her man, moves on and lets him go. Other than that, the movie is pretty lame, and I don't remember hearing Maroon Five except, I think in the opening credits. There were some nice flashbacks to Carly Simon's music however, causing me to buy her CD "No Secrets" on Amazon yesterday! Rating: D

I was intrigued with the promos for "Wicker Park". Based upon limited knowledge of the movie and the previews, I had already formed a theory as to how the plot would develop. I expected a Hitchcockian twist that would deliver a surprise ending. I wanted to see if I had figured out the plot twist. The film, however, much like "Little Black Book" was kind of boring. I never once developed a liking for the moronic couple that "loses" track of themselves due to the manipulations of one love-sick girl. How dumb is that. Have they ever heard of a cell phones, email, Instant Messaging, the United States post office, blogging or actually talking in person. In my opinion, they deserved to get "lost" if they can't manage to communicate to each other their plans in the first place. The basis of the entire film is just not credible and it was just plain painful to watch the couple keep missing running into each other on the street. Rating: D-

The third movie that I have seen recently, is "Beauty Shop" with Queen Latifah. From watching the movie promos, I figured I had pretty much seen the entire movie and the best punch lines the movie had to offer. As a result, I had very low expectations for this movie. I went to the show, basically, because I needed an escape from the house and work. My friends, who invited me to go along with them, had already determined the movie that they wanted to see so I didn't really have a choice in the matter. I figured, what the heck, it will be a nice break for my overstressed brain. But, surprisingly, this movie was terrific. Not a world changing movie but, still it was a hoot. It is funny, cute and provided a great escape. It surprised me, which is what a good film is supposed to do. Rating: A

It just goes to show...you can't judge a movie by its promo!

All is well

2005-04-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

I am on a roll today. It has been a difficult week, fraught a with a thousand little mind boggling problems and frustrations. This is becoming much, too much the norm of my life and I am starting to feel run down and depressed by all the things that seem to be straying to the left instead of to the right. I am frankly growing tired of problem solving.

But, this morning I began to see an improvement. First, just as I was about to pick up the phone and call tech support about my printer, it miraculously started to funtion properly again. The Sears repair man fixed the icemaker that has remained mysteriously absent of ice for the past two weeks. The missing batch of personal checks, that the bank claimed they mailed two weeks ago, finally showed up. This morning my internet connection, that has been going in and out since last week, was resolved yet again AND I was given a week's credit for the inconvenience.

But wait, the day keeps getting better and better. I figured out the html glitch on the Allure website, that has been frustrating me for an entire week. My client was so happy she showed up on my doorstep with a bottle of wine as a thank you! The Zola website, that I worked on all last weekend, is up, and just in the nick of time for an important investor to visit. Three more clients called with technical problems and I was able to resolve them quickly. This has been a break through day! And just when I was starting to cross my eyes and see double and wonder if I was jinxed. I have to admit that to a certain extent I thrive on problem solving. However, there is just so much frustration a person can endure in a limited amount of time. But, the good new is I can feel that the tide is turning. Things seem to be getting better! Yes, decidedly better!

What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do!?!?!?!

2005-04-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy this week that I haven't had much time to read the newspaper. Most of my news has come from the CNN start screen I have my web browser programmed to every time I open my browser window. My husband has been in Boston this week, so as I dash out to run carpools in the morning, I snag the morning papers and throw them into a pile in the garage. But, yesterday afternoon, as I was running out to jump in the car and take the kids to swim practice I glanced down at the growing mound of papers and a headline caught me eye. "Adobe purchases Macromedia". Wow! Was all I could say. This is big! Then, I thought, oh my god, this is horrible!!!! This is horrible, because it spells doom and destruction for my favorite design tools, the way I work, my lifestyle as a designer. Ahhh, the agony!

You see, a long time ago, back when I was just getting into computer graphics at a little place called A.T. Kearney (where I made some of the nicest life-long friends, by the way, yes, that means you Elaine!!!! I know you are out there lurking and reading), I decided that Aldus' Freehand was a much more user friendly program than Adobe's Illustrator. I LOVE Freehand. I have grown with the program from its very inception. It is the program that I use everyday to create everything from complicated illustrations, to laying out brochures, magazines and annual reports. I use Freehand to map out my thumbnails for websites. I used it for EVERYTHING. When Freehand was acquired by Macromedia things just got better. Then, came a whole suite of programs that compliment the usage of Freehand...Flash and Dreamweaver and Fireworks. All these programs are the cornerstone of my work existence. I love them. I can't imagine life without them!

There has always been rivalry between Freehand and Illustrator, as to which was the better design tool. Almost like the rivalry between Macs and PCs. So, this acquisition in terms of design programs, would be like Bill Gates acquiring Apple...do you think they would keep the mac around after that??? So, do you think Adobe is going to keep Freehand alive after it gets a hold of it??? I am sad. Why, oh why, oh why??!?!!? Why do things have to change?

What is up with me and potato salad lately?

2005-04-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I have been craving potato salad lately. It is a good thing that I go to the gym and work out a lot. To some extent, I always feel that my passion for working out, allows me to indulge a bit on cookies and yes, lately potato salad. I love the gym. I used to work out at home. We had a nordic track and a weight machine in the garage that I used religiously. But, then one day, I decided...okay I work from home, I raise my kids at home, I exercise at home, I do Yoga at home with Rodney Yee's tapes...I need to get out of the house more! So, we joined Club Sport which is a quick ten minute drive from the house. I love going to the gym and crave the exercise if I don't. I enjoy working out in the big exercise room on the eliptical trainer or the treadmill and lifting weights in the weight room, or participating twice a week in Roberta's Step classes.

Step Class is the highlight of my week. At first, I was a complete dunce and looked like an idiot trying to get the hang of the moves and the new lingo attending a Step Class requires you to know. The movements are kind of complicated and are choreographed like dance moves. This is not something, that I think I come by naturally. I remember back in college thinking it would be fun to dance in Knox College's production of My Fair Lady. I went to an audition where the choreographer got up on stage and did a rapid succession of dance moves, pirots, and kicks and then looked at me and said...okay go! I kind of looked at her and slunk out the back door. Was she insane! So, I am a little slow to learn new dance steps and am slightly dislesic when it comes to telling my right foot from my left. But, once I learn the steps I am as coordinated as the next gal, and good to go! The other reason I am not a natural dancer, is that I sweat a lot...probably THE major reason I decided not to try my luck on the broadway stage!

I like Step Class, not only for the great physical work out I get, but also for the great mental exercise I get. I really do think I come back to my computer with my brain reshuffled after step class. Performing step you have to learn a whole new language. It is constantly causing my brain to create new patterns and I find it entirely refreshing. For instance, here is one of our routines...

Turn step. Double chug. Reverse hop over the step. A-step. L-step. Basic right. Basic left. Chicago Tap. Drag and turn around. Reverse turn. Mambo waltz. Tap over. Diva. Turn around. Knee lift walk two. Elevator. Tap down. Tap up. Chug two walk four. Rear leg lift walk back. Turn and leap. Kick ball change. L-squat turn around and leg lift. Crazy eight. Split lunge. The whiz. Merry-go-round. Quickie tap. Brittney Spears. Reverse V and mambo stomp. Circle turn. Stroll over. Circle turn back. Diagonal over and jazz square. Fame. X-step. Chop sitck turn and knee lift...and that's just what I can remember sitting here at the computer.

For an entire hour, I whirl around following Roberta's commands as she calls out all the fancy-smancy step moves. The music is loud and the enthusiasm is high. There we all are, a group of about 15-20 men and women all stepping together, more or less in a coordinated pattern. It is a great work out and for me, breaks up the monotony of lifting weights and running on the treadmill all the time.

So, potato salad...you just don't stand a chance! In fact, I going to have a chocolate chip cookie too, just because I went to Step Class today!

And it shall forever after be known as the great wine spill of '05

2005-04-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

There I was, at 11:00pm, all snuggled in bed, after a very long and eventful day, ready for some relaxation with my book and a glass of wine before turning out the lights. I presented FAME again to the first and sixth graders all day, so the majority of my day was spent at the elementary school talking about Andrew Wyeth and his painting "The Chambered Nautilus". Recently I was asked to take on the responsibility of directing the entire FAME program (Fine Arts & Music Education), kind of a big responsibility, but I kind of saw it coming. I think I was a little too enthusiastic about being a docent and they all decided I would be a perfect candidate to shepherd the entire program from here on out. Kind of smart on the school's part too, seeing as Kyle is just in first grade and they have me locked in for another five years!

I needed a relaxing moment after the crazy day of FAME, swim lessons, grocery shopping, and a Tiger Scout meeting. We had an extremely informative Tiger scout meeting, by the way. Another mom decided to plan the entire meeting around snail knowledge and husbandry, and of all things and brought a tupperware container full of them so that the kids could look at them and see all their body parts. The only kid that wanted to bring his snail home, of course, was my son. He cried and cried when he realized that Fred, yes, he named his snail, would be let go into the wilds of the school yard. He bonded pretty quickly to Fred and continued to lament the fact that I wouldn't let him bring Fred home with us. After all, you have to understand that I hate snails and I have taken a solemn oath to erradicate them from my own back yard. I am never going to hear the end of this! Thanks a bunch Torrie!!!

Okay so there I was lying in bed with a big glass of red wine ready and waiting on my nightstand, a book in hand and my comfy pillows all around me. That's when I decided I had better set my alarm clock. Leaning over I grabbed the clock with one hand and inadvertantly knocked over the wine glass. Oh, I didn't just knock it over kind off, so that only a little dribble fell on to the cream colored carpeting. No, I knocked into it with such force, causing the wine glass to fall over spewing a thousand drops of wine across an expanse of five or six feet in a five foot radius. There was wine on the wall, wine on my books, but mostly wine across the entire bedroom carpet. I screamed my husband tells me, but he was playing a video game downstairs and didn't budge off the couch to come to my rescue. Hmmm, his lack of concern , now that I think about it seriously makes me wonder what would he have done had the situation been slightly more dire...say if someone had been trying to abduct me from the bedroom window or if I were having a heart attack. He would have entered the bedroom to either: a) find me not there or b) slumped over in bed expired...I bet he would have felt bad then!

Not to say my wine situation wasn't an extremely dire situation at all...it was. It was horrible. The worst. I spent 45 minutes scrubbing away at the floor in my pajamas until the spots started to lighten. Now that it is over and done with, I have nothing but good things to say about "Wine Away" the bottle of Red Wine Stain Remover. It worked miracles and I highly recommend it as a product. I can verify that it really really works. I usually keep several bottles on hand, mostly because my husband has the greater tendency to splash wine on the carpet. But, not anymore. I may never live this down.

I have to say that, I really thought that this morning, I would have to call in the 911 emergency carpeting experts. But, surprisingly, the carpet looks pretty good (and probably is a lot cleaner than before I knocked over my glass of red wine!) Not quite the relaxing experience I was looking for last night around 11pm. But, after I got my spots out, I returned to the kitchen and poured myself another big glass of ruby red wine. The incident definitely has not deterred me from imbibbing my wine!

Do your husbands (or significant others) read your blog?

2005-04-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

I was just wondering. Mine does. At first he didn't get the whole thing. He was a little leary when I first started. He is kind of a private kind of guy and he wasn't sure that having all kinds of personal thoughts spread across the internet was such a good thing. But, then he started reading some of my entries and then he came back to me and said..."I get it now." Now, he checks in every so often to see what I have been mulling around in the back of my brain and actually gets a kick out of the whole thing. Even for someone who knows you so well, they still can be surprised and learn something new, from reading a blog and understanding the little things that are important to you. Also, it is just one more way for him to to delve into my very complex female brain and see what makes it tick! Good luck, honey!

A bright spot in an otherwise crummy day

2005-04-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

It has been one of those days. I keep getting derailed constantly. I have a ton of work to do and when I start to focus on one thing, something else distracts me from my true purpose. Like right now, I am waiting for an incredibily large file to open. I sit staring at my screen thinking it is going to pop open at any moment. But, it doesn't and the "updating imported image" bar doesn't seem to be moving across the screen at all. While I wait, I blog.

My day has been hampered by a myrid of server glitches and equipment hiccups, and it just hasn't been a whole lot of fun. I changed printer cartridges this morning, so of course that set me back an hour while the printer learned to talk to the computer again, causing me to fret and freak out like I did last week when my internet suddenly went down. I never learn to be rational and remember that these things always do manage to come back and function again. I become paranoid and frantic to solve the the problem at hand, and work extra hard to get everything back into working order as soon as possible. I wish I could be a little more laid back and easy going, but I'm not.

My intention to start a web design today was delayed when I got a call from another client with some urgent requests. This is a client that inevitably calls me the morning that I am about to depart on vacation or the day before Christmas with a hot project that needs to be tended to. But, she is bright, full of ideas and generous to a fault. I love her and I have learned to deal with her unexpected distractions.

Today was also the first day of Gator swim practices, which means that car pooling on a regular interval has begun to the pool and back, three times over. My kids are different ages and therefore they practice at different times with their appropriate age groups. Carpooling is just one more thing that has taken over my life today and been a frustration that keeps me from my work.

Around noonish my husband, seeing the sour scowl upon my face, bravely approached me in my office and suggested that we have a picnic out on the patio. "It is kind of cloudy, I glumly responded". I wasn't seeing any good in anything at that point! But, he cajoled me into taking a break. It was nice sitting there on the patio and I got to rant about my all the things that were irritating me. I was still feeling a little cranky when I mentioned to my husband that our friend Barbara had invited us to attend her wedding in Italy in September. I really expected him to start listing all the reasons why it would be unlikely that we would be able to go this September.... But, he surprised me and said...maybe we should and could go! Well, the sun came out at that point...and we started to talk about the possibility. We will see. Work is going well for both of us and if we finish up the quarter on a high note perhaps we just might! But, what fun to think that we could. Maybe, Gherardo, you will see us once again, at the Moscadella. All of a sudden my day just got so much better!

Traveling the coast of California

2005-04-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

Last week we made our get away and travelled down highway 1 along the coast of California. We didn't travel very far from home, but, living where we do in Northern California, it isn't all that necessary to go great distances in order to see beautiful and unusual sights. Our excursion lasted four days. Our first stop was the beach at Carmel, where we ate a picnic lunch and played in the ocean.

We drove on to the Big Sur and stayed at the Big Sur River Inn for the first night. We arrived mid-afternoon and were delighted to find a rustic hotel set next to a lovely river. My new favorite spot. My husband and I sat in a big wicker chairs next to the river and read books and dozed, while the kids played in the grassy knoll by the river. I have now decided that I want to live by a river. It was relaxing and mesmorizing and yet there was enough gentle motion and activity that I could sit still and yet not feel that I wasn't a part of something. My restless nature, to get up and do something active, was completely satisfied and thus I could sit in total serenity enjoying my surroundings.

The second day we continued on down the coast, following the winding and scenic highway. We meandered along, stopping to gape at the beautiful vistas or pay our respects to a pod of whales travling far below us.

Close to the town of Cambria we came upon a beach where hundreds of Sea Elephants and their babies were basking in the warm sunshine on the beach. They were all alive, despite their disconcerting sluggish appearance. They would flip sand over each other and waddle up and out of the surf, indicating that they were very much alive and kicking.

We stayed in Cambria, close to St Simeon, along the coast. We spent the afternoon on the beach and the boys played in the waves, and later at the Cambria Inn where we found cleverly designed gardens, mazes crafted from the hedges and secret paths for the boys to lose themselves and play hide-n-seek in.

Friday was spent exploring the grounds of the Rennaisance castle that Randolph Hearst built in the twenties, high above the sea, at St. Simeon. It proved to be a wonderful place, filled with art work, beautiful designs and attached to it a wonderful history of famous people that have stayed at the castel, from Clark Gable and Cary Grant to Winston Churchill. Michael came away from our tour saying that he now wants to be an architect!

We drove home along an inland route, stopping to check out several vineyards in the Paso Robles area. At Bianchi, the boys played with miniature motorized saleboats, while we sipped on wine and enjoyed the view of the vines just starting to sprout. All in all, we had a nice get away. We made a family movie, in which I'm afraid, we were all terribly silly. We ate simple meals of sandwiches on the beach and nicer breakfasts on the patio over looking the river. We moved together, ate together, played together and had fun together. A nice change from our scattered activities that often times splinter our schedules and cause us to move in a thousand different directions. It is reassuring to know, that you don't have to go far, or do something incredibly spectacular, to create a wonderful memory and strengthen the bonds of your family.

To sum up...

2005-03-29T21:37:00.000-08:00

This is what I have been up to lately...

Hiked. Ate a lot of chocolate rabbits and malted milk bird eggs. Clarified the meaning of Easter for my youngest, who thought we were celebrating the Easter Bunny's birthday. Gathered tax information. Organized the itinerary and booked hotels for our mini-spring break get-away. Saw "Robots" and fell asleep in the movie theater. Celebrated my birthday at Chevy's with the family. Drank a really big margarita and wore a Mexican sombrero home. Illustrated until 1 in the morning. Worked today from 7:30am until 7:30pm with out many breaks. Ate too much left-over potato salad. Went to Step class to work it off. Well, that's it in a nutshell. I'm out of here on spring vacation!

Snaps from Saturday's hike up Mission Peak. The whole family went this weekend, including our very good friends and their kids. They came on over for Easter brunch on Sunday and we ended up eating way more than we should have, including the killer carmel apple pie from Costco that should be outlawed because it contains way too many calories!

Sleep is so underated

2005-03-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of spring break and the kids are off from school. Even though technically, it is still a work day for me, I allowed myself to sleep-in. It felt great. I woke up refreshed, and happy. I had interesting and entertaining dreams that I remembered with bemusement after waking up. The sun is shining, the birds are singing. The design I was working on last night, looks better than ever! I feel ready to take on the world again. Even my hair is having a good day as a result of extra sleep!

Sleep has been a missing commodity in my life for a while. Not only do I rise early during the week for school and work, but the once sacred weekend sleep-in days, have been traded in for running kids to swim meets, early morning baseball games and of course, for me to climb Mission Peak. I remember when I was a teenager, I used to sleep late every weekend. I was never an early riser or for that matter a morning person. I would lounge around in bed and enjoy the luxury of soft pillows and comforters and the knowlege that I had nothing urgent or very pressing to accomplish, other than a term paper to write or an algebra problem to solve. These days, I think I am making up for all the hours that I frittered away in my great big four poster bed sleeping until noon. Payback time is here!

So, anyway today, for the first time in weeks, I didn't have to get up at "o-dark thirty" to shepherd the kids off to school. I told every one last night, no one was to wake me up, for any reason, what-so-ever. I had to make this announcement, because last Saturday, Kyle woke me up very early with his urgent "mom!, Mom!, MOM!!!!! I thought he might be sick and throwing up in the bathroom, that... or being abducted by aliens. After leaping out of bed and running to assist him in his moment of need, I realized he only had another question for me. It turned out, he simply wanted to know why, if the earth is round, how come the sidewalks are straight and don't bend. Not wanting to run the risk of playing trivial pursuit at 6am, I made sure that everyone knew that I was sleeping in. This worked to some extent. I did manage to sleep-in, but didn't quite accomplish my goal of sleeping in undisturbed until 10am! A pure fantasy, it turns out when you have children. Instead, despite my polite requests not to distrub mommy in the morning, I was woken up at 7:30 am, to be asked where the Pillsbury Dipping strips were. Yesterday at the grocery store, Kyle, my avid TV commercial watcher, jumped up and down in the frozen aisle when he spotted the Dipping Strips. Mom! We got to try 'em...I saw 'em on TV...they have to be gooood! In a weak moment, because I was, really tired, I caved in and bought the Dipping Strips, which turn out in reality to be, frozen waffles, cut into strips and sold with prepackaged syrup. Nothing, too spectacular that we couldn't already recreate at home. But, novelty is Kyle's operating word and it was all he talked about last night and needless to say, he couldn't wait for breakfast. That should have been my clue. The signs were big as day! I should have known that my sleeping-in plan would be foiled by the Pillsbury dough boy! But, apparently, I was just too tired to notice!

Plate art

2005-03-23T10:36:00.000-08:00

In Tiger Scouts last month, the kids made family emblems. We asked the boys to draw pictures of things that reminded them of their families and home. We later shipped their designs off to a company that transfers the designs onto plastic plates. Kyle drew a picture of our house. He took special care to get all the details just right. He even proudly told me, that he included me in his picture. If you look closely at the front window, you can see mommy working at my computer! I am hoping that the fact that he associates, me, home and computing all together, is a good thing!!!

Goddess of multi-tasking

2005-03-22T07:25:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wish that you had more than two hands? Well, I do! Constantly!

An Evening out with the girls

2005-03-20T22:27:00.000-08:00

Last night I went out with four of my Italian girlfriends to celebrate my birthday. Usually our group is quite large, consisting of about fifteen native Italian woman...and me, the only American. When we go out, only Italian is spoken. I was initially invited to join the group, upon the request of my friend Roberta. After having assessed my Italian language skills, I guess she decided that I wouldn't be completely overwhelmed by the fast paced conversation that runs the gambit from children and daily pet peeves to finding the best airline fare back to Italy for the holidays. We all began meeting about two years ago to celebrate La festa della Donna. In Italy, women's day is celebrated on March 8th and women are given yellow mimosa flowers and are encouraged to go out and have a good time. The day commemorates the 1908 tragedy in New York, in which factory workers, the majority of which were Italian imigrants, died in a factory fire, due to the fact that the doors had been barracaded by the owner, because the woman were striking due to poor working conditions.

After our initial outing, this group of ladies had such a good time together we decided to make it a monthly event to celebrate whos-ever birthday it might be. It is a great excuse to socialize, get away from the kids for a brief moment and recharge our batteries. Normally our group enters a restaurant and overwhelms it. This month, however, due to spring break, travel plans and previous engagements our group was very small. Because of this, I chose a smaller more intimate restaurant in Fremont for our dinner out. Pearl's Cafe from the outside doesn't appear all that fancy or exciting. It is a small house that has been converted into a restaurant and is situated in a rustic part of town. Inside, however, one experiences the best dining experience that Fremont has to offer, in an eclectic and informal setting. I brought a bottle of wine from Chateau St. Jean (our favorite vineyard in Sonoma) to share, and the four of us, Roberta, Gaia, Vania and myself settled into a four-hour dinner. We feasted on salads made with pears and sweetened walnuts, ravioli stuffed with dungeonous crab, plates of scallops and polenta and bois-a-bas. For dessert we selected tiramasu, lemon creme brule with lemon, lavendar cookies on the side, butter cake with thick chocolate sauce and bananas foster. We each took turns sampling each others dinners and desserts. My dessert arrived with a candle and "happy birthday Melissa" written in chocolate around the rim of the plate.

One of the things we discussed last night, is a common concern amongst my Italian friends. As much as they try to teach their children Italian, raise them as Italians and try to stay connected to Italy, the children themselves consider themselves to be American. Their children are different from them and do not share the same heritage as they would had they been born and raised in Italy like their parents. They worry that even though their children are learning the Italian language that they are speaking it using English idioms or "Italiafying" English words when they can't remember the correct word in Italian. I cringe when I hear this, realizing that the mistakes their children are making are the very same mistakes that I sometimes make. The women themselves are assimulating to the ways of Americans and when they return to Italy they laugh with disparity that other Italians notice the American "accent" in their voices. They are mistaken for American tourists even when they are speaking their native tongue! When I hear things like this, I realize I am never going to nail the accent and I will always sound like an English person trying to speak the Italian language! Roberta worries that the Italy she relates to is the Italy that she left eight years ago, an Italy that really doesn't exist anymore...times move on and things change and it is hard to hold onto the intangible when you are miles away from the country in which you were raised.

I returned home around mid-night, elated and exhausted from the exertion of speaking and striving to understand a foreign language. I am both delighted and critical of my performance, however. On the one hand, I am amazed at myself that I can follow the thread of the conversation and add my two cents and comment upon the current topic. On the other hand, I am slightly depressed at how difficult it still is at times, to find the correct words, the correct tense, conjugate the verb and still manage to say something timely and intelligent! Sometimes the words come just fine, and other times I feel like giving myself a little slap on the forhead, when I realize that I should have said it in a different way. I am completely self-conscious and anxious to make a good impression and not make mistakes. In Italian they use the expression "fare una bella figura"...loosely translated it means "to make a good impression". I try to "fare una bella figura" and not completely embarrass myself, but that just can't be helped sometimes, and I must resign myself to it! I realize everytime I go out with this group, that speaking is a completely different animal all-together from writing, where I have a the advantage of being able to review and self correct. I listen to my friends bantering back and forth across the table and I am completely envious. While I am competent, I am still a long way away from having the language ooze out of my pores and flow with complete ease off my tongue! Still, I am grateful that my friends want me to participate. I always come away from one of our events with a new appreciation for the language and a new perspective of what it is like to be an Italian living in the United States.

Techno Friday - the good and the bad

2005-03-18T13:33:00.000-08:00

The good news is that I have a brand-spanking new cell phone. The bad news is that the sim card from my old cell phone is not compatible with the new phone. It was necessary to spend about about forty-five minutes on the train yesterday reprogramming the new phone, and then, of course, another half hour listening to ring tones, trying to figure out which tone was best suited to my personality. Very complicated work, that required a lot of well deserved concentration. Why a new phone you ask? Well, my son's phone has lost it's ability to relay messages and for some god-forsaken reason, our phone plans are intertwined making it necessary for me to relinquish my old phone so that his could be changed over too. I let my husband deal with the entire thing, and refused to listen closely to all the complicated details...he is king of all cell phone knowledge, so I left it in his entirely capable hands. The reason my son's phone doesn't work anymore is because, as he claims, it got washed last month in the washing machine. My son blamed the whole thing on me, which I entirely disagree with, of course. I am not entirely convinced it ever really was in the washer, but if it was, had he not left the phone in his pocket, the whole alleged phone washing incident could have been avoided in the first place. I knew from the get-go something like that would happen, and last fall when he asked for his very own cell phone, I just kind of chuckled, and said "Yeah, right, like that's gonna ever happen!" But, then he started playing on the water polo team and after about a week's worth of practices I saw the light and realized that my life would be so much easier if I had a means of communicating with him about where and when to pick him up. Now that he is back swimming again on the highschool swim team, I realized, "Wow, life would be so much easier if that phone worked again!" So, here we are, the two of us playing with our new techno toys, calling each other to test out our ring tones and sending each other lame text messages...just to make sure our phones are communicating again, of course.

The good news is that I recently upgraded my headphones. The bad news is that I think I have abnormally small ears. I decided to go with a pair of miniaturized "buds", that are supposed to fit snugly into your ear. You know, the trendy, new, teeny-tiny ear technology that replaces the big ol' headphones that wrap around your head and are reminiscent of the head-gear you wore when you had braces on your teeth. However, as cool as they may be, the stupid, little "ear buds" don't stay put in MY ears. I even bought a pair that have a little hooky-thing that wraps around your ear. But, it doesn't even matter. My ears are small, small I tell you! I spent the better part of my work out trying to cram the teeny-tiny speakers into my ear canals, and every couple of minutes they would slide right back out again. Ugh! I just don't get what is up with the shape of my ears! Very frustrating. I guess it is back to my old, behind the times, headphones again.

The good news is that I finally opened a four year old file that had been corrupted. The bad news is that I spent an inordinant amount of time doing so, and pretty much ended up wasting a good two hours of my day. But, that is me...never give up in the face of a good challenge. In the infamous words of Captain Taggart..."Never give up! Never surrender" (okay who knows what movie that is from? If you know you get a gold star!) I tried a thousand things to prod the file open, I resorted to disk utilities, tried importing it, and changing it to a .jpg, a .tif, a .png and a .pdf. I used every trick up my sleeve to no avail. And then, I got lucky! I renamed it with a Freehand9 tag and Viola it opened! It worked like magic...and just when I was about to give up in dispair and cry into my pillow and cancel the rest of my day! I could just do a little dance on top of my computer at the moment! Maybe I will!

Help! I've fallen into the internet and I can't get out!

2005-03-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

I'm doing it again. I'm being sucked into the internet and I can't get out. Yesterday I entered the black hole of the internet and was afraid I wouldn't find my way back home again. Just to prove to myself that I wasn't entirely addicted, I did take some time out to talk with my kids, while eating a reheated quische, that a dear friend had brought over for dinner the other night. She had made one for me before, but her husband ended up eating it all. She felt so bad about it, that the other night she showed up on my doorstep unexpectedly with a steaming, killer mushroom quische in hand. Thank you Devi Rao for you spontaneity and your overwhelming kindness, especially on a day when I had no time to cook! The quische and the kids didn't separate me for long from the computer, and I was right back at it again, with the pretense that I just was going to check a couple of emails. Well, you know how that goes...one email leads to another, and another, and then you just have to stop by and check in with this or that chat group...and then, oh, what the heck, let's look at some blogs... well, as long as I'm here on my blog spot, maybe I'll post a photo...that done, now, let's see what's going on in my friend's lives...okay, now let's see what's happening to random strangers...well, I might as well leave a comment on this spot, after all, I just learned how you make your very own drag queen name (you put the name of your first pet together with the name of the street where you grew up...that would make me "Whimsy Summit", which I thought was pretty hilarious!) So, I'm blogging away and then I look at the clock on the computer screen and I realize it's getting late, and I'm missing my 11:00 showing of Will and Grace...that's okay, I think, it comes on again at 11:30, always a double feature. At 11:45 I finally mangaged to disengage myself from the internet...it was tough going, but the thought of a glass of wine and seeing the last ten minutes of Will and Grace finally got me extricated from the internet...but, surprise, surprise...here I am again today. It's only been nine hours and I'm back on the internet. Every time I think I'm out, it keeps pulling me back in!

Family portrait

2005-03-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

Here we all are, one big, happy family, sitting on the ledge of my office window....

Verbina is blooming

2005-03-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it is starting to bloom and with a little luck (and a few less snails) the hill will soon be covered in a purple carpet of flowers. Here is a shot of our garden taken only moments ago!

Directly in the center of the picture is my rosemary bush. I use it all the time when I am making pasta dishes. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs, and I specifically wanted it in my garden. Who knew that Rosemary would grow large and rampant in California! I have to keep trimming it back every couple of months because it wants to become a tree!

See all those pots lined up against the wall...that is my herb garden. It is dormant now, but pretty soon, half of the pots will be filled with basil plants and those remaining, with sage, thyme and Italian parsely. I can almost taste the pesto now! With spring comes inspiration. Maybe I'll start cooking again!

Business is booming!

2005-03-15T16:09:00.000-08:00

Things are going pretty well work-wise. I just signed two new clients this afternoon who want new websites and I have been notified by three existing clients of more work on the way! Since early this morning I have been consistently working away, with hardly any breaks, on a variety of different client projects. I have been making monthly updates to web sites and finalizing a new logo and setting up layouts for business cards, powerpoint presentations, and word documents using the new logo design. I only took a moment out, I swear, to check in on La Bacheca, to chat for a few moments, before returning to press my nose to the computer screen and start updating Dreamweaver templates and selecting colors from my Pantone color guide.

It has been one of those days, in which I started working the moment my children left for school and stayed in my pajamas all the way up until twelve o'clock. I ate a Garden Burger Spicy Chicken patty on a taco with salsa for lunch (a staple lunchtime entree!), while sitting at my desk. It was kind of messy so I had to wipe down the key board a couple of times. Kind of gross. I dashed out between projects to pick up the kids from school and then was back at my desk, fielding homework questions and helping with spelling as I researched the best place to register a new domain name for a client. I am in a complete zone of work and new projects and am being fueled by Hershey kisses filled with carmel. Mmmmm...dangerously good, and dangerous in general because when I get in a focused work mode, such as I am today, I tend to forget how many I have consumed.

Finally, I am starting to clear my desk of urgent projects and can now turn to a really fun one. I have a client for whom I am creating a package design that requires an illustration, such as you find on Tuscan pottery! This is such a fun project, that I can hardly believe that I am being paid to do it. Just as much fun as creating the designs for Mindy's La Bacheca last week. What can I say, some jobs are so much more enjoyable because of the fun people you get to work with and the images are rich with beauty and potential. The design just sometimes seems to fall into place!

Casa Rossa

2005-03-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading 'Casa Rossa' by Francesca Marciano. I found it to be a sad and sometimes difficult book to read. Marciano dealt with the story of three generations of women, each with a tragic and explosive secret that they try to hide. However, the pain of betrayals, and past deceptions do not stay in the past and have an emotionally cripling effect on the daughters making them suffer and make tragic choices in their own lives.

I guess my problem with the book in general, is that had the original woman not run away abandoning her child, she would not have messed her daughter up, causing her to become an unloved child and later a confused and unhappy woman. Had she the courage to confront her daughter with the truth about herself, she could have avoided the whole downward spiral of two generations of emotionally incapacitated women. I can't fathom the cruelty of emotionally abandoning a child for matters of self. So, for me, the book was hard to deal with and unenjoyable at times.

I did like the poetic ending of the book, in which the women, mother and daughter, watch as the rain beats down on the walls of Casa Rossa. As the rain cleanses the building, a design, hidden under the red paint begins to emerge. They see a "pentimento". In the language of an artist, a "pentimento" is the first sketch or preliminary painting that an artists put on a canvas. Often times an artist will change his mind and he will repaint over the initial image changing the postures of figures and altering the composition. Or, another artist might come along and paint over the original painting with his own work. Sometimes, many years later, the original sketch begins to emerge through the second coat of paint, and one can see clearly the original intent or plan of the artist. I like the metaphor, that time is like a pentimento, and eventually the truth of a past life emerges to set the story straight, allowing those effected, to be liberated of the past and able to move on with their lives. Such a positive metaphor sort of redeems the book for me. But, on the whole a depressing book. It's a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I'm off to find a more engaging and positive read.