Max and a buddy wash my old car... before we sold it.. 

Tractor girl 

At 9, Grandad considers children old enough to learn to drive......the tractor. Emma gets lessons. 

soapbox

In case you aren't aware of my political leanings, you may feel free to check out this link. I participated in a September 11 Rememberance Project with my local paper, The Austin American Statesman. You can explore and find my original letter I wrote about how my life has changed since 9/11.

So far, no spam from the Right Wing Wackos.

kids grow up

I recently got in touch with one of our old Seattle friends. Changing an email address, and updating everyone in my address book hasn't been without its little rewards. Anyway, this neat friend had two neat kids, who are no longer pre-teens like I will always have them locked in my mind. She filled me in on thier lives as young adults.

One of them, is a video artist in Seattle. And even though I still picture him as a kid, he made something that I find so beautiful, I can't stop watching it.

almost got it....

Still thinking about naming the van. Rita seems to be winning in public voting.....

If the van is Rita, it follows our common use of "Beatles material as names for things around the house". Emma was almost a LUCY, MAX has Maxwell's Silver Hanger, JOJO gives back his high heeled shoes and his low neck sweater, now we have LOVELY RITA who we hope the meter maid won't visit.

I know it's dorky.

The other trend that emerged briefly was that we have EMMY and MAX from Dragon Tales. Fortunately Joey didn't get named Ord. But I guess the van could be called Weezy.

van name and thinking about fall

Still haven't named the van.

I've had a suggestion that sounded pretty good. Rita, as in margarita. One of my mom friends suggested this one. I was lamenting that Sandy sounded too prissy. And if you are driving a van, you need to go to the other direction for a name. Something slightly slutty. Also in the running, Sissy or Sassy (Sienna derivitive)

When I look at the car, I only think "Big Blocky Whale". But I don't say it out loud or I'd hurt the van's feelings.

Besides naming the van. I'm just holding out for school to start. It is a double edged sword. The good side, since the kids are bickering and bored, I'd get some needed relief. The summer is hot, and seemingly endless, I'd like a little help, some structure, some outdoor playtime I don't have to attend, to wear out the little darlings. On the other hand, I've already started getting emails calling for volunteers at school. I'd have to wake up early, get the kids up, fed and on the way to school.

I'm solving the too busy dilemma by only volunteering for what I really LOVE doing. At the school, that is Teacher Treats, an art show my friend pulls together, and Girl Scouts. Joey's school, unfortunately gets zip, except for helping with a classroom party somewhere along the way. A little church work. But that's it.

I'm going to be working in the Fall, but I'm actually looking forward to that. And I'm waiting until at least January before accepting any office Architecture job. I've got some freelance work to do, and I'm going to start sewing again for two art shows.

Busy, but different than the busy of summer with the kids. Only ten days to go!

sweet ride

Ruby, my old station wagon, now belongs to Jerry and his used car lot in Hurst Texas. I sold her yesterday with help from my wonderful Dad, and I actually enjoyed it. I was a little sad to see her go. We had lots of fun times with that wagon. Bought it in Seattle about a week before Max was born when I was REALLY pregnant. I'm sure the salesman knew he had a desperate sale on his hands, but we thought we bargained pretty well.

Since then, the car has been on a road trip with us when we moved back to Texas. Ten days with a 1 and 3 year old along the west coast. It's driven us to the beach, to Grandma and Grandad's, to every family outing for the last 6 and a half years. But it was time to move on.

Now I am a total stereotypical mom. I have a minivan! It is a sweet, fancy, almost spankin' brand new Toyota. It has 3800 miles and I hope to drive her to the end, in about 15 years! Photos coming soon.

Farewell old Ruby, hello, ????. We'll let you know the van's name when we figure it out.

wasting time

I am captivated by this website.

bad car

some people actually enjoy the thought of getting a new car. it is just plain painful for us. decisions, car payments, even with a great deal right in front of us (thank you, benefactors, you know who you are) it is still hard to pull the trigger.

But the old car is not good for us. We made a deal that we would treat it very nice and pay for lots of expensive repairs in exchange for about three more years of good driving. And the car welched on that deal. So there you have it.

Take a Break from the Burka

When your repressive government (or family) decides to let you cool off during the summer, here is the spot for you. I'm getting Emma all set up, right after I order a chastity belt. Too bad the boys can't be "modest" too.

cable karma

First time in 6+ years, I ordered cable. I did it, because it would be stupid not to. AT&T (who I don't like) had raised our DSL and phone service so high that the competitor's price for cable, DSL and phone is only about $8 more. Now we can watch UT Football this fall! Hook 'Em. Not to mention Nick for the kids, HGTV for me, and Comedy Central for news.

Of course, 2 hours after ordering, the universe righted itself. I was up north checking out a very cool UT surplus auction. It was preview day. It was also 103 degrees and I had the kids. On the way home, the engine light not only came on, but blinked at me. I decided to drive straight to the dealer (4pm) and prayed to God the whole way to get me there safely. I could just picture myself stuck on the 183 overpass, with three kids, in the heat in a stalled car with all of Austin streaming by at 80 mph. Got to the dealer, waited with three kids for 2.5 hours. Found out it is a $1200 fix after just spending that much in May. No loaner car. Taxi home $45. Decided not to take taxi. Drove broken car home. Prayed again. Woke up today and drove to gas station/repair shop 1 mile away because I trust those guys to help me make a decision.

Anyway, if you believe in karma, was the chain of events.....

a) ordering cable::disordering of universe::highly expensive breakdown

b) contemplate buying UT surplus at auction::disordering of universe::highly expensive breakdown

c) repair car in May::growing hatred for car::car repays hatred with highly expensive breakdown

d) Heard Bob Dylan song sung by old black blues singer on radio yesterday "Everything is broken" :: contemplate download on iTunes :: song trying to become reality so that I will buy it.

or a combo of all.

evidence

Here is the video of DLR on Conan, apparantly the disgruntled fan who posted it couldn't stand the sound either and dubbed over it. Turn the volume down and just imagine him butchering this song to a bluegrass banjo background. I can't wait for someone to post the real thing, it was horrible!

Top this.

Is there anything as sad as David Lee Roth singing today? He is on Conan O'Brian right now and it is so painful to see that we turned the channel away. He is singing Jamie's Crying to a bluegrass band. What the hell, does he even think of how this affects my generation? He looks like a big baby loser. I'm actually kind of mad about it, mad or sad, whatever.

50% less sunscreen

OK, so why did I wait until halfway through summer to get the boys the surfer shirts they've been wanting? Now I don't have to sunscreen their whole torsos. Max's even has fairly long sleeves. I'll get him all slicked down with sunscreen in about 1/4 the time. Even defiant Joey decided he needed one. Man, where was my brain?

4am/4pm

It always happens this way. A couple of nights with too little sleep. David and I stayed up too late last night, reading books (my new one is The Omnivore's Dilemma --- it is very good/insightful/disturbing). We turned off the lights around 1am.

4 am. Joey starts throwing up. Moves into our room and begins nap/vomit cycle that is about, oh, 20 minutes long. At about 4:45 we hear Max in his room, moaning. David dashes in, and gets him to the toilet. So then it is non stop fun. By 5:00, my paper was on the lawn, so I just decided to stay up and read the paper in bed so I'd be ready to roll Joey over and help him out with the trashcan.

Around 11:30 they are done with the worst of it. Started watching TV, and then around 4pm, it starts: the bickering we never even knew we missed! They are normal. They are fighting again! Hurray!

Mitchell is sitting on the arm of the chair 

her favorite chair 

Emma's at home

OK. I had a chance to look into the future last night. But first I have to back-track a little bit.

There is a very cool furniture store called Mitchell Gold Bob Williams. It advertises in all my design magazines. Google them to see all the yummy furniture. They just opened an Austin showroom, and there were ads in the paper, but for some reason, I got an invitation to their grand opening gala with valet parking, cocktails, and a chance to meet the founders. The invitation said "dress to be seen".

Meanwhile, for the last year or so, Emma has been wanting to be an interior designer, and for some reason she was familiar with the Mitchell Gold ads in my mags. So she was very hyped up about this opening. Not thinking she was ready for a cocktail party, we went to the "soft opening" of the store last week. Emma prepared herself by spending an hour on the computer, looking up and listing all her favorite pieces. After dressing up (for a Wednesday morning last week) Emma wowed the salespeople with her extensive knowledge of the merchandise. They gave her a free t-shirt and officially urged her to come to the Grand Opening Gala.

So, last night was the Gala, Emma was dressed to be seen. Black skirt, cobalt blue haltar top and trendy black string poncho, jewelry, etc.... There was valet parking, a red carpet, water bottles with the store logo, goodie bags (like at the oscars!), cocktails, a DJ, yummy food, lots of furniture, and lots of people there trying very hard to be seen. I thought since I'd know no one there, we'd make a circle around the store and leave. But two hours later we were still there. Emma was totally at ease. She worked the room, stopping to pose/sit on various pieces of furniture. I thought "uh-oh" she really likes parties. She chatted with people, since many stopped us to tell her she looked very pretty. She was asked often if she was a designer. I was pretty much ignored. She talked to me about furniture, parties and food.

On the way out, we accomplished our last goal. She got to meet Mitchell Gold himself. He was outside getting a breath of air. We walked up to him and Emma shook her hand. I mentioned she was a big fan, and how she did internet research, and showed him the list. He asked me if I was going to buy her what she wanted (approx. $10,000 worth of goodies), and then he asked if she was going to be a designer (yes) and then he told her she should be an intern for them when she gets older. On the way to the car, I explained what an intern is. She floated home, her plans for the future secure. And she told me she was never washing her hand again.

miss Max

Max is enjoying week two of day camp. After last week turned out to be so fun for him, we were 8 on the waiting list to get into camp this week. I assumed that meant we would not get in, but on Monday afternoon, we got a call.

This camp is run by the LCRA which is our Colorado River Authority. They have beautiful land about 15 miles east of Austin. The camp is run by LCRA naturalists and professionals, not high school kids. They hike, play Indian games, make crafts, do rock climbing, swimming and river rafting. But the best part is that no less than 10 of the boys from Max's grade at school are all there together, including all his closest friends. He is in boy heaven. He comes home everyday, tired, happy, HUNGRY, and ready to fall asleep at 8pm.

Except last night, he didn't come home. He had his first sleepover! I was missing him all evening, and half expecting him to call for a pickup, but he made it. My baby is growing up! boo hoo.