duty calls

got placed on a jury.  of course.

never been before, so it's kind of interesting.

and really effing heartbreaking.

am likely the most emotional basketcase they've had as a juror in a long time.

miss working with cupcakes.

now completely in awe of all my lawyer friends.  especially the one who works for the d.a.'s office.  don't know how you do it.

give me the strength to get through the next week.

effed up friday

i am so freaking irritated.

i sat through hours and hours of jury duty yesterday, got called up in the last group to be questioned by the attorneys, thought i'd be good to go.

um, no. halfway through the questioning, the judge broke for the evening and instructed us to return today at 9. mothereff.

not to mention, if i get picked for the jury, trial is next week - the teen's last week of summer vacation. and we had fun activities planned for each day.

and then, when i got home, i expected time warner to have come and gone, leaving wonderfully fast internet installed all nice and neat. they were scheduled to arrive between 1 and 3. but somehow, they managed to fuck that up too. when the doorbell rang at 5:30, FIL and i lined up to ream the guy a new asshole. even better, he claimed to be a supervisor. heh. who STILL couldn't accomplish what we needed - install the freaking internet without leaving wires and cables running exposed all up and down the walls. good gracious.

he ended up leaving with his tail tucked between his legs, and after letting the hub know what had happened, i'm pretty sure that dude got an earful from him too. now they're supposed to be back today, and i swear to all that is holy, if that shit isn't done when i get home from that courthouse, heads are gonna freaking roll.

i haven't been this frustrated in a long time. damn.

word to my mother

sixty *mumble* years ago today
the world was changed forever.
(your daughter's stuck in jury duty
and is trying to be clever!)

it's because of you i'm who i am
that's a good thing, don'tcha think?
you handled the teen rebellion years alone
and for that, you deserve a drink!

supportive, cute, kind and generous
you're all of those and more.
you appreciate all the good things in life
and the bad shit, you just ignore.

though life has had its ups and downs
now, happiness is key.
the hub should send you a big ass thank you card
because you gave him ME (hee hee)!

although i can't be with you today
i'm sure the day will be fab.
ooh! i know what you should do!
go and eat some crab :)

wow, that was really bad. this jury selection room is sucking the life outta me. sorry about that. i'll make up for it next year, i promise.

happy birthday, mommy! i love you!

birthday princess(es) in da hizow

so i've been doing a lot of bitching and moaning about our (still ongoing) lack of internet at home. it's been almost three weeks now, and i'm STILL blogging via iPad. so bitter. and as it turns out, we're going back to cable internet after all. the same one we should've had two weeks ago. and why? because verizon sucks. we're in their jurisdiction, but just barely - which means that we're on the far edge of their coverage area. the tech spent about an hour and a half trying everything he possibly could before finally determining that we would never be able to maintain a constant connection. ugh.

so now we've got yet another appointment on thursday for stupid time warner to come and do their thing. luckily, the hub got on the phone and complained so much that they agreed to basically do the install for free, gave us the fastest connection available for the same price as the shittiest one. granted, we had to pay for a year in advance, but i guess it'll be worth it. when it finally gets installed, that is.

in the meantime, i've been keeping myself occupied with other stuff, like organizing and unpacking our kitchen and bedroom crap, compiling a mental list of fabulous items i'd love to find waiting for me on birthday princess day - a mere 39 days away. not that i'm counting or anything. do you smell a fun post, complete with links and pictures, coming as soon as the cable guy shows up? i sure do!

and more importantly, i'm trying to think of a fun theme for the bean's upcoming 3rd birthday party. toy story is a front-runner, since it's currently her favorite movie. and how cute would the decorations be? woody and buzz and mr. potatohead and slinky dog and barbie and all sorts of fun, nostalgic toys everywhere! i already found some super cute fabric to make a birthday party outfit for her to wear, and eyeballed the back yard to make sure we could fit a jumpy bouncy house back there. i'm thinking the food will be super easy, too, because we can transform the kitchen into our very own...wait for it...pizza planet! i'm getting all worked up into a party nazi frenzy over here.

i sure hope i'll have located my stupid camera chargers and cables and things by then.

losing weight ain't all it's cracked up to be

i can't even believe you fools didn't comment on my THOUSANDTH post (well, aside from my buddy nanette!). i am so not feeling the love. hmph. haha!

okay, on to more important things. i know i've mentioned my beloved aunt florida before. she and her two adorable girls visited us two houses ago, during their last trip home, and i've missed her in the years that she's been gone. she's my mom's youngest sibling (there are seven of them total!), only six years older than me. we basically grew up together, giggling and arguing and sharing everything. she was my hero, and i wanted to do everything she did. as the years went by and we got older, the roles were reversed somewhat. i found myself being the influence (often a bad one, heh), and it was a lot of fun. she and her now-husband found each other online at around the same time that the hub and i started dating, and i was the maid of honor at their wedding. i'm also honorary ninang to little flo, her firstborn. sadly, as time and distance took their toll, we've grown apart and haven't been in touch much recently.

through the family grapevine, AKA my mom, i found out that she's been having some health issues lately. it sounds like she's under a lot of stress - with two very active children, a household to run, a husband, and diabetes to boot - and she ended up in the hospital. apparently, she hasn't been eating much and has lost a whopping 30 pounds in the last two months. after some frantic phone calls from her husband, my mom and her sibs sprang into action, looking for solutions and booking plane tickets to take turns going out there to help out with the kids.

the latest news is not great - her kidneys are only at 20% right now, and a biopsy is scheduled for tomorrow to determine whether dialysis is needed or not. yikes. my cousin r, who works in public health, is doing some research on locating some help for them. with the husband a former military man, they're hoping to find some sort of program or aid that will help them on a long-term basis. after all, the sibs can't exactly keep taking turns going out there.

i was finally able to reach her on her cell this morning on my way to work, and it was a rather puzzling conversation. she sounded super duper chipper, and when i told her i was working in a cupcake shop, she said "oh, i need some of those!". i said "yeah dude, that's what i heard! what the hell is up with that?" and she said "i'm SKINNY now, girl, like 98 pounds!" she sounded almost excited, proud even. i couldn't tell if she was joking around or trying to sugarcoat her situation, but it just hit me wrong. i think i may be even more worried about her now than before i spoke to her. oy vey.

i personally think they would be better off if the husband started looking for a job closer to home. both of their families live here in southern california, and it sure sounds like they could use as much support from their loved ones as they can get. i know that's probably easier said than done, but it just seems like the most practical solution out there.

send some healthy vibes to my dear aunt florida, will ya please? we all need her to be well.

it's my thousandiversary!

i'm so sad that we STILL have no internet at home, which means that i can't even celebrate my 1,000th blog post properly. how much does that suck?

i have so much to catch up on, like finishing the road trip recaps (i think i'm throwing in the towel on that one), a super fun alien encounter with some pals, the photoblogging extravaganza that left me with an intense craving for more thinly sliced prosciutto and fresh mozzarella, a trip to five guys on the west coast, my first food truck, a fun kiddie birthday party, and all sorts of other cool shit.

plus there's the blog sale for baby (and mom too)! i keep finding more and more stuff to throw in. oh, and a potentially squicky conundrum: i came across a handful of really cute bras from a now-defunct high-ish end line from victoria's secret. i'd scooped up a crapload of stuff on clearance a few years ago in preparation for a once-in-a-lifetime boudoir session and didn't end up using a bunch of it. so i'm left with brand new ling-er-ee with tags on that i can't return and have no desire to wear.

would it be super gross of me to throw that into the sale? selling on eBay was suggested too, but it would be so much easier for me to just include it here.

yay or nay? you decide.

and YAY for blog post #1,000! i even have a giveaway lined up, but it's gonna have to wait. post #1,005?

everybody's talking about it

by now, unless you live under a rock (or maybe outside of cali, heh), you'll have heard the news about prop 8 being overturned by a federal judge. it's been all over my twitter feed and facebook page, and it's pretty awesome. well, aside from the incredibly judgmental replies from random people that have irritated the crap outta me.

i mentioned in my own facebook status update that although i don't generally like to talk politics, i had to throw my $.03 (of course, i think my opinion is worth more than average). i truly don't understand why anyone cares what other people do, especially if it has ZERO impact on their own lives. and my friend jessica also pointed out that it's not even a political issue (at least, it shouldn't be) - it's a basic human right.

seriously, folks, can't we all just get along? it's not the first time that a judge has overturned something that won by majority vote, and god knows it sure won't be the last. not to mention, i'm pretty damn sure that if prop 8 hadn't passed in the first place, the other side would've appealed the shit outta that.

just let people love who they love and be free to marry whoever they want to. who cares? it doesn't make your marriage/relationship any less meaningful. and if it somehow does, well, that's on you, now isn't it?

stuff i love

being able to blog even though we still don't have internet at home. thank goodness for 3G on the iPad. i miss adding visual aids and links, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

my new 'do. whee! i love having cute hair.

wedges by tom's shoes. i haven't gotten my hands on a pair yet, but pics tweeted by my buddy nabum have convinced me that i must get some, stat! maybe they'll be on my birthday list. plus, for every pair purchased of tom's shoes, the company donates a pair to a needy child. so full of win.

speaking of which, i'm stoked that birthday princess day is next month! are you ready? i sure am!

playing "just dance" on the wii with the teen. we're a little obsessed with that darn game, and find ourselves playing every day. it leaves me one sweaty ass monkey, so i'm totally counting it as a workout. heh.

seeing the hub's smile when he walks in the door of our new house every day after work. we're still in that fun, surreal phase of first-time home ownership, and it's just awesome. the joint is still in a shambles, but with the carpet finally coming this weekend, methinks the decor and furniture arranging will kick into high gear soon.

plastic storage/organizing boxes. i might be a wee bit obsessed with the idea of keeping everything all nice and neat in its own little spot, from shoes to cereal to our stash of travel-sized toiletries. if i even breathe the words "label maker," though, handcuff me to a chair or something.

foursquare. it's super silly, but i'm really stuck on checking in to all sorts of local establishments in my quest for badges and mayorships. i chalk it up to my competitive "only child" syndrome.

the bean amazes us every day with her ever-growing vocabulary and sentence structure. she's just such a cute little person now, and has really been emerging from her shell (at last!). she's been more vocal and sociable at her twice-weekly library storytime visits and a much more active participant at gymnastics class. i dig when we're out and she says "i wanna go to my new house, pweese." and when she whispers "i love you too, mommy" at bedtime, i melt.

ooh! she's quadrilingual now - MIL taught her how to count from 1-10 in german! i've gotta get that with the flip soon.

even mollydog has been extra endearing lately. she's been so confused lately with all the goings-on, but she's done a great job of adjusting (knock on wood).

i'm also considering taking a course to become certified as a medical coder. one of my aunts is currently taking it, and knows several folks who've passed the certification test and signed contracts to work from home for $25-$35/hour. i'm still debating and researching, because it truly sounds too good to be true. and we all know what to expect in situations like that. I just want to make sure it's something that makes sense for me.

i still love my job. no further explanation necessary. oh, and the boss is still mulling over an offer from a super persistent casting person who's trying to get us on "cupcake wars." i don't watch the show, so...got any feedback on that for me to pass on?

the new year of junior league is in full swing! i'm on the fundraising committee, which means that i get to help plan our annual "chocolate chip ball." it's our yearly gala and i had to miss it this year, so i made sure i would HAVE to go next year. heh. plus, some of my favorite JLPers are on the committee with me.

speaking of JLP, we'll be holding several open house events in the next couple of months to attract new members ("provisionals"). if you're local and have even a tiny bit of interest, let me know and i'll pass on the details! it's a great group of women working to better the community at large, and it's really a lot of fun. you already know how much i love it.

last but definitely not least, the blog baby sale will happen for sure! as winnie pointed out, my initial idea doesn't make much sense. i guess what i should do is post the minimum price i'll accept for each item, set a deadline, and the highest offer takes it.

if you have a better idea, let's hear it. i'm always open to suggestions!

no more! i need peace!

so, remember ages and ages ago when i got that stupid ass ticket on my way to meet up with the teen's counselor at school?  well, i'd signed up for traffic school and then completely forgot about it until i checked the calendar and realized that the deadline to get it done was, uh, yesterday.  d-oh!

and of course, our internet isn't getting connected until wednesday.  mothereff.  but as luck would have it, FIL has wireless internet for his laptop that works everywhere with a little plug-in thingy.  and he's always given me unlimited access to it whenever i ask for it.  i tried doing it with the iPad for a while, but i was stuck with text-only and it froze up a few times, so i sucked it up and borrowed the laptop.  i finally finished that ish on sunday afternoon, and got confirmation first thing yesterday morning that the completion certificate was faxed over.  phew.

to add to my current woes, i got a jury duty summons.  gah!  i've always managed to successfully dodge my civic duty - the last time i got called, i was still nursing the bean and couldn't be away from her for more than a couple of hours at a time.  this time, i have no way out unless i miraculously get dismissed.  why is it that i never got called when i wanted to (like, when i was working in a corporate environment that paid 100% for as long as i was needed in court), but when i can't really afford to do it?  blech.

i also got my official DMV notice that my driver's license expires on my birthday this year.  but at least the bright spot was that i can renew via internet and i don't have to take a new picture.  yay!  i remember spending an hour on my hair the last time i had to go in, and this license is actually pretty cute.  although i guess it doesn't really look like me anymore, as it wasn't long after our wedding and my hair was super duper long.  oh, well, whatever.  i get to keep my cute license!

the blog baby sale is still in the works.  don't lose faith - i keep finding more fun stuff to add to it, and i'm trying to figure out the best way to do it.  i'll likely just post pics of the items with a description if it's not obvious, and what i paid for it, and y'all can just make me an offer.  first offer takes it.  sound fair?

the mail also brought a fat envelope from the teen's school - registration for the new school year is in two weeks.  yikes!  where did the summer go??  even though we did the awesome road trip extravaganza (which i still have yet to finish recapping), it doesn't seem like we really did a lot, compared to other summers.  of course, we did have the big move to the new casa (still ongoing).

oy.  too much crap happening all at once.  i need another vacation.

time flies when you're having fun. sort of.

good god, it's august already.  yikes!  we have less than six months till the holiday season, folks.  and the teen is squeezing as much fun as possible into her last few weeks of summer vacation.  school starts again on the 24th.  where did the time go?

okay, i'm stoked to see that the idea of a blog baby sale is getting more "yay"s than "boo"s.  hee hee!  i'm working on gathering all the stuff worthy of such an event, and as soon as i can find the freaking cord to download pictures from my camera, we's in business.  not to mention, our internet isn't getting connected till wednesday.  boo.  um, don't ask me how i'm posting this right now.  heh.

in the meantime, a recap of my weekend, via iPhone dump.

the bean is definitely coming out of her shell at last.  at gymnastics this week, she was little miss social butterfly, scooting over to sit next to the other girls, chatting them up ("hi! my name is bean. how are you today?").  she's even getting bolder with trying everything out in the obstacle courses set up for their classes, and *gasp* letting go of the hub's hand when walking across the beam or going for a ride in the rope swing.  if we'd known that all it took was going on vacation...well, maybe we'd have gone sooner.  heh.

we managed to unearth the wii system, hook it up, and play a new favorite game:  just dance.  of course, i'm still an awful dancer, but i sure have a blast playing this against the teen.  even brother wan and his girlfriend had fun with it, and i was particularly stoked to beat the teen during a song that i OWN:

i attended my second phototasting event this weekend, too.  the goal was to go and be their assistant, while maybe picking up a few more tips and tricks here and there - but i ended up getting there about 15 minutes late because of stupid traffic.  wah wah.  i consoled myself with a lovely plate of imported buffalo mozzarella, beautifully sliced prosciutto, and lightly dressed arugula as i attempted to help as much as i could.  

the hub's grampa went in for knee replacement surgery on friday, and we headed to kaiser to visit him a couple of days later.  he's doing quite well and is expected to come home early this week.  he was pleased to see us drop by for a visit, and the hub entertained the bean with various items around the room.

and in the meantime, unpacking and organizing hell continues.  gah!

wan sweet inspiration.

as if that's news.  heh.

yesterday at work, while finishing up the prep work for the day's supply of goodies (we typically have about fifteen different [rotating] flavors available on a daily basis), the boss asked me what it was that i brought every morning in my starbucks cup.

of course, it's my grande iced nonfat upside-down caramel macchiato.

she laughed at my enormous sweet tooth - she always chuckles when i leave for the day with at least one cupcake in hand.  you'd think i'd be sick of 'em by now, having worked there for over a month now.  but nope - i just can't get enough of that delicious, moist (that word is okay ONLY when used to describe luscious dessert) chocolate cake.

anyway, with one batch of chocolate cupcakes still to frost, she decided to experiment and create a new flavor based on my drink of choice.  she poked holes in the tops of the cupcakes and filled them with sweetened whipped cream, frosted the top with coffee-flavored whipped cream, gave it a swirl of caramel and sprinkled chocolate bits on top.  voila!

i was the lucky taste-tester (the fact that i'm not yet sick of cupcakes probably had something to do with it), and although the coffee flavor was really subtle, the whole combo was really, really good.

and i sold the shit outta those things.  with no sign on the board that described it, customer after customer inquired about the scrumptious-looking mystery flavor.  i rattled off a full description of the tasty treat, and they ate that shit up.  literally.

i sure hope she makes them again.  mmmm.

oh, before i forget - so, i've come across all sorts of great baby stuff that's either brand new or maybe used once or twice.  there's a set of babylegs, a beco butterfly carrier,  a cute little plastic battery-operated chandelier.  i'm kind of debating doing a "blog sale," kind of like the ones done by a fellow blogger who a bunch of us all know and love.  heh.

anyway, is that a super duper lame idea?  i could put it all out at a yard sale, but i just think some of you might appreciate these items more than some randoms shopping for shit that costs them $.25 or something.

gimme a "yay" or a "nay" in a comment, wouldja?  and do you love how i base my decisions on responses from my internet friends?

the end of operation downsize, phase I

phew, we the hub and his folks finally got the thimble completely empty and cleaned out.  they did the majority of the work while i hung out with the bean at the new pad.  heh. 

so yesterday, i scheduled the final walk-through with the apartment manager, who's a super sweet lady, and decided to bring her a little treat. 

not to mention, we were missing a key, and i was hoping that cupcakes would help us avoid a replacement key fee.  heh.

i decided to take a quick look at the empty apartment before i called her up to do business, and as i walked through the sad, lonely rooms, i found myself getting a little sad over our departure.  silly, right?  but despite the close quarters and the noisy neighbors and everything else that comes with apartment living, we had a lot of really good times in here.  last time the place looked like this, operation downsize had just begun.

when she came up, i told her about my weird mixed feelings and she said that just about every tenant she'd ever done a final walk-thru with felt the same way.  i guess i'm not as sappy as i thought.  or i am, but everyone else is too.  haha!  and i was even more surprised to find that the hub had similar feelings - and he hated the thimble even more than i (thought i) did! 

oh!  and i finally got my haircut.  yay!  i'd had to reschedule it from last week, since it was really bad timing with all of the moving and stuff, and i was excited to chop some of my mane off.  when it's long enough to put into a ponytail, it's too long.

before:

and after:

wow, i look tired and old in the supposedly new-and-improved-me shot.  dang.  but my hair looks fabulous, thanks to my dear pal rochelle.  if you're in the san gabriel valley-ish area and need a good cut at a super reasonable price, i HIGHLY recommend her. 

heh.  i haven't plugged rochelle in ages.  but she really is wonderful, and i love her.  she's become a friend in the three years i've been going to her, and she's such a sweetheart as well as a fantastic stylist.  tell her i sent ya.

best part of my day (aside from my sweet new 'do)?  coming home and finding this:

the bean starfishes like no other (thanks to thatgirl for introducing me to that term).

phototasting, take two!

remember a few months ago, when i participated in a food blogging workshop that some friends were putting on?

they're doing another one this saturday!  woo-hoo!  and this time, it's at a new venue - cube in l.a.  i know that my pal weezermonkey (click on that link for a fun camera strap giveaway!) loves this place.  and i'm excited to attend again - sort of in her place, since she's out of town this weekend - and act as assistant to the three instructors.  i got to know two of them since the last go-round, and they're so cool that i'm honored that they'll let me participate in some fashion.

if you're interested in going to learn some cool food photography tips (and get to nibble on some yummy tidbits), clear your calendar for saturday from 2:00 to 5:00, and reserve your spot here.  they sold out last time, so make sure you snag your spot ASAP!

you, too, could take your skillz from this:

to this:

come on.  you know you wanna.  

see you there!

i could have DIED!

okay, so there are other important things i need to blog about, but this one is serious, dang it.

you already know how much i love my new job.  like, tons and tons.  and one of the fun perks is that the boss often buys us breakfast or lunch, which is fabulous, right?  food is definitely the fast track to my heart.  

this morning, one of the guys handed me a warm, foil-wrapped package.  i said "ooh, what's this?" thinking it was a breakfast burrito, and he said "it's a surprise!" grinned, and took off on some errands.  i usually set it aside till later, because the last thing i want is to have a mouth full of grub and then a customer walks in.  awkward.  but my co-worker, rock-ell2, said "it's a breakfast sandwich from corner bakery.  try to eat it while the eggs are still warm."  

so i did.  i took a few bites, munched happily, and on about the fourth bite, i chomped down on something really hard.  i thought maybe it was a bone of some sort (which was really stupid, considering there wasn't any meat in there), but i spit everything out into my hand and when i riffled through to figure out what it was, this is what i found:

 

surprise, indeed.  i flipped out.  "OHMYGODIFOUNDAFREAKINGRAZORINMYSANDWICH!" i shrieked to rock-ell2.  i washed it off, we looked at it for a few seconds, and then i showed it to the boss.  she immediately picked up the phone to call corner bakery.  

and apparently, they were less than sympathetic.  when she explained the situation to the manager on duty, he calmly said "oh, it must be from our tomato dicer."  and he said it with no hesitation - as if it had happened before.  mothereffer.  she asked him what he planned to do about it, and all she got was "oh, well, we'll just have to throw those eggs out."

all i could think of was, what if it'd been a little kid who might not have known to spit it out and swallowed it instead?  that shit could've torn up their insides and killed somebody!  as we were talking about it, one of our regular customers walked in with her little girl.  the boss filled her in on what had happened, and she flipped the fuck out (almost more than i did):  "we go there for breakfast every sunday!  we're never going there again.  they need to be shut down!"  

boss still had a sack full of about 3 or 4 more sandwiches, and she packed 'em up and hopped in the car to take them back and demand a full refund.  after she left, the customer called back and suggested that we report the incident to the health department.  i decided to call as soon as my shift ended, but no more than an hour later, i answered a phone call from our health inspector.  turns out she'd taken matters into her own hands and called them herself.  heh.  he asked me a few questions and then informed me that he was sending a representative over to talk to us.

about 15 minutes later, he showed up.  and as we started talking, boss walked in.  she'd spoken to the manager (or, more accurately, bitched his ass out in front of a restaurant full of customers), who had replaced the blade for the defective tomato dicer.  she asked him if it was just the one blade missing, and he pulled the thing out of the trash, showed it to her, and said "oh, no, there's a whole row missing."  

um, there were about twelve freaking blades per row on there.  what. the. fuck.

supposedly, he'd checked the dicer first thing that morning, and it was fine.  so there are eleven other people out there who might have swallowed a freaking razor blade.  awesome.

and he still didn't understand why she was so pissed off at him.  "ma'am, we threw the eggs out and sent the person who handled it home for the day.  those are already extreme measures.  what else do you want me to do?"

unbelievable.  so, for my local peeps out there, a warning:  DO NOT EAT AT CORNER BAKERY ON LAKE AVENUE IN PASADENA.  

i'm thankful that i didn't get hurt, but man, i'm really effing pissed off.  not that it happened - yeah, it was bad and super negligent on their part, but the worst of it is that manager's cavalier attitude towards it all.  even the health inspector said that it was a big deal - although he couldn't shut 'em down.  all he could do was go over there and give them a warning or some lame shit like that.

with their corporate office in texas, it's too late to call and tell them how much that store manager sucks.  but you better believe i'm on the phone first thing tomorrow.  hmph.

exhausted

going to work was a "break."

we've been living on take-out for three days and counting.

target runs are now a chore.

even after hours of packing and moving, the thimble still isn't completely empty.

mollydog has been kicking it alone there because we're not quite ready to bring her over yet.

my back (and the hub's) is KILLING me.

i got stuck with the task of packing up the rest of the teen's room. whew, what a disaster.

the time warner guy was an idiot. hence, my blogging via iPhone. grrrrr.

did I mention the ticket i got as we left the beach last week? yeah.

and now I'm sitting at kaiser waiting to be seen because I don't feel 100%, as evidenced by the slight temperature I apparently have.

but on the flip side, we've been living in the partially furnished new house now since friday! it still hasn't sunk in that we're homeowners. still pretty surreal.

and man, it's pretty freaking awesome.

we interrupt the road trip recaps to bring you this breaking news:

our quest for a new casa may finally come to a triumphant end today!

the loan funded yesterday, and if all goes well, we'll close in a few hours. good vibes/prayers/thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

oh, and i'm getting a haircut today too. i'm willing to bet money that i'll walk out with my posh 'do (you know - the "pob", circa oh, about 2007), but i suppose that's not a bad thing. i always felt cute with that cut anyway.

and, the teen and i finally took the bean to see "toy story 3" this week. i'm proud to report that she sat quietly in my lap through the whole movie, kept the 3D glasses on until the last few minutes, and happily munched on her popcorn. mind you, i cried like a baby at the end of the film, but that's neither here nor there.

happy friday indeed!

best independence day ever

we kicked off 4th of july with a visit to the place where president lincoln was assassinated.

a little morbid?  maybe.  but the teen, who'd learned about ford's theater in school, really wanted to see it.  none of us were aware that it was still a working theater, though.

the bean, kicking it in her cheapy $20 stroller that the hub scooped up at CVS, couldn't care less.  heh.

the tour began with a stop in the slightly cheesetastic museum downstairs.

and then it was time to line up and troop upstairs to the theater.

the hallways were lined with a timeline of that fateful day - a play-by-play of the seemingly ordinary day in two lives.

the presidential box, marked with patriotic decor and a framed portrait of george washington (apparently, back then, when you thought of the POTUS, ol' george was who came to mind first for most folks).  obviously, it's not open to the public for viewing or for performances.

the tour and museum are actually run by the state parks department.  as we sat in the small theater, a parks employee stood onstage and delivered in a bored monotone a very thorough speech detailing the events of that day.  it was actually very interesting, although i guess after rattling through that monologue a few hundred times, i'd be totally over it, too.

the private home where president lincoln was taken after being shot (and where he died not long after) was just across the street.  it, too, is open to the public for viewing, but there was a crazy line to get in once we got out of the theater.  our tour ticket gave us access anytime that day until it closed at 5:15, but sadly, we never made it back.  oh, well, next time.

with just one day to soak in as much of D.C. as we could, we scanned this sign and tried to decide where to go next.

actually, it wasn't a tough choice.

ever wonder what the presidential christmas tree looks like during the rest of the year?  yeah, me either.  but here it is anyway.

 the bean remained indifferent to our surroundings.

despite the blazing heat, we soldiered on and made our way down the long, long path towards the lincoln memorial.  i learned the hard way that my super cute sandals were not great for walking.  blech.  but it was our only chance to see this stuff, so i just followed along at a rather glacial pace.  we passed other memorials and lots of signs about the upcoming fireworks show along the way.

the girls were pretty excited to realize that they could dangle their feet in the pools.

after they'd cooled down somewhat, we strapped the bean back into the stroller and continued on.  and finally we were there.

more "forrest gump" flashbacks as i stood here:

i always wonder why folks can't follow simple instructions.

after we were done, we found ourselves walking through george washington university as we trudged the fourteen blocks back to the hotel.  oh mah gah, i wanted to kill myself.

not wanting to waste any time, we continued our tour from the air-conditioned comfort of our full-size rental car, heading into nearby georgetown.  somehow, we always manage to find our way to the fun shopping areas.  there was something for everyone here, although we didn't stop to shop:

another quick drive-through of a cool, historic university:

being a big holiday, access to a handful of places was either limited or not available.  here, the pentagon memorial:

by then, it was time to find our hotel for the night and check in.

we picked up our picnic dinner and found a fantastic spot on the lawn between the washington memorial and the white house.

the teen wasn't thrilled after a long, long day of walking in the sun.

the bean was pretty cheerful, though.

but once we got some good grub in our bellies, the teen cheered up considerably.  of course, the live concert at the white house by the killers helped brighten her mood, too.  heh.  we could hear it perfectly from where we were sitting.

she even let us take some pictures.

our timing was damn near perfect.  it got dark pretty quickly as the lawn filled up with more and more people, and right at 9:00 the fireworks show started.

i'm pretty sure that was the best fireworks show i've ever seen.  not just for the 4th of july, but like, EVER.  it was fantastic, and even the bean loved it.  "it's not scary, mom," she said.  ha!

and then it was absolute madness as the gazillion people who'd come out to watch the pyrotechnic spectacular all tried to get out at the very same time.  mad. ness.

miraculously, we were able to maneuver our way through the crowds, get to the parking garage, have our car brought up, and wind our way through the insanely packed roads and return to our hotel without too much delay.  i swear, the gods were with us that night.  

and boy, were those beds super comfy.  it was heavenly to crawl between the cool sheets and pass the eff out.