this is me today.

it's been a really, really shitty day. i've got absolutely nothing fun or witty to say. i'm just drained, folks. and crying just sucks ass. it effs up my makeup and makes my face all puffy and stuff.

tune in tomorrow for a (hopefully) more cheerful post.

hangin' with the kiddies

and it didn't take long to realize that they're all so way cooler than i ever was (which isn't hard to begin with).

yesterday was the kid's 6th grade pool party/BBQ in the park. of course, i didn't know a thing about it until the day BEFORE. her BFF's mom calls me and says "hey, are you going to help out at the BBQ tomorrow?" not only did i make the scooby doo noise, but the face as well. so i called the school secretary and volunteered my services like a good mom. the park, 10am, help set up, check.

i'm still in that fabulous lazy in-between-awake-and asleep stage, thinking about thinking about getting up to pee, and the phone rings. loudly. opening one eye tells me it's the ungodly hour of 7am, and i make like one of the three blind mice and fumble around to make the ringing stop.

kid: "mom, what are you doing today? did my teacher talk to you?" (it's her dad's week)
me: [silent groan] "um, no. i haven't heard from her."
kid: "she wanted to know if you could be one of the chaperones at the pool today."
me: "oh! sure, i can do it. what time do i need to be at the school?"
kid: "8:20."
me: (at this point, i paste a plastic smile on my face so that i can at least sound more cheerful than i am) "i'll be there. see you then!"

in a nutshell, it was fun watching the boys trying to impress the girls as they did flips off the high diving board, and the girls moaning in agony when they realized that they couldn't cover their bathing suits with t-shirts in the pool. i was amused to note that, unlike me and my friends at that age, these girls weren't shy about busting out a two-piece. i ran around from 8:20 till 2:30, sweated like a pig all day long and wasn't about to mortify the kid by joining them in the water. at the BBQ, after all the kids and teachers were happily munching away, i snuck to the table and ate two hot dogs, a bag of chips, a can of soda, and a handful of brownie bites. obviously, i was freakin' STARVING. i haven't touched hot dogs in months and the smell of them usually grosses me the hell out.

here's a few pictures i was *allowed* to take:



i ended my day with a yoga class in an effort to relax, a trip to the mall for a birthday present, and then a maniacal tour of no less than three grocery stores looking for some more of those damn brownie bites. and because i have the greatest luck in all the land, i couldn't find them anywhere. i was too tired and it was too hot to bake 'em, so i ended up settling for some reasonable facsimile. not as good, but it satisfied the craving. they topped off my oh-so-healthy dinner of spaghetti-o's (with meatballs, so there was some kind of protein), half of a PB&J (with grape jelly, so there's my fruit), and a glass of milk (calci-yum!).

oh, and before i left for the day, i snapped this week's belly pic:

phew. i was so exhausted when i finally got home, i gave the dog a half-assed petting session and flopped on the bed. poor molly, she just wanted some love.

the end.

i keep forgetting to show off

my two big purchases from the nords' half-yearly sale. i didn't find much at all, but i couldn't very well leave empty-handed, could i?? of COURSE not.

i love juicy couture. i love it a lot. mostly because of the little "j" dangly charm that they put on their stuff, i suppose. and after missing out on the most fabulous handbag from last fall, i've had my eye out for another one....so far with no luck whatsoever. booooo. anyway, so i've been carrying around the cutest pink leather juicy wallet, but because it's pink, it's gotten absolutely filthy. and really not clean-able (that's not a word, but i don't care). so i picked this one up:

yes, i'm fully aware that it's yet another pink wallet, with WHITE patent leather trim to boot. but i couldn't resist it for two reasons: it was part of the nords' sale, and the little "cupcake couture" charm was just too damn cute. i also found that it doesn't really hold all my absolutely necessary wallet crap (you know - punch cards from the scrapbook store and the car wash, hallmark gold crown card, business cards for my favorite mani/pedi and massage places, etc.). but who cares? i have a cute new wallet.

i also snapped up this adorable beach hat. i know the kid's totally going to make fun of me when i wear it (the hub, too), but poo on 'em. i love it. and i look way cuter than this girl in it, but i'm too lazy to take a picture.

now i'm going to sit back and wait for the nords' anniversary sale. it's always so totally way better than the half-yearly, anyway. pish-posh.

okay, i broke down and did it.

so lots of folks have been telling me that the styles that all the kids are wearing now are totally suitable for maternity wear. i half believed them, but couldn't ever bring myself to walk into stores like forever 21 for a couple of reasons: i always hated spending cash on "disposable" clothing, and, well, okay, i admit it: the music's too loud. YES, I'M OLD AS HELL. shut up.

i was meeting a friend in old town pasadena for a late lunch and found myself there a little bit early, so on a whim, i walked into the ginormous forever 21 store (you know, the one that used to be saks fifth avenue). and dang it, folks were right! plus, i was rather startled to see several items that were perfect replicas of items i picked up at one of my favorite stores, anthropologie. and then "startled" turned into "annoyance" - for the price of one anthropologie top, i could've bought about seven at forever 21. SEVEN. grrrrrrrrrrr.

a text message on my phone told me i had time to actually try stuff on, so i went into the dressing room armed with about six different tops/dresses. one of my favorites was a polka-dot dress that was retailing for a whopping $17.80. anyway, i breezed out of there with a few items and the intention of heading straight to the cashier, when out of the corner of my eye, i noticed a staircase leading to a SECOND level, stocked with even more stuff. whoa.

i walked out of there feeling like the greatest bargain shopper that ever was. $95 bought me no less than six days' worth of fun stuff to wear! i haven't told the hub yet, but i'll be emphasizing that old wives' lie of "babe, it's not how much i spent, but HOW MUCH I SAVED."

heh.

my friend and i had fabulously greasy bacon cheeseburgers at barney's on colorado, and topped it off with a stop at the always-crowded 21 choices frozen yogurt. neither of us had ever been there, and quickly learned exactly why the place was always packed like a sardine can - it's the coldstone of frozen yogurt! they carry six flavors of yogurt that change on a daily basis, and you have the option of having them mix in anything from peanut butter to twinkies. they had just about every candy you can imagine, plus mountains of gorgeous fresh fruit (yes, i can appreciate the beauty of fruit. i just won't eat it) and different kinds of cereal. i'm not usually a big fan of frozen yogurt, but you could mix chopped-up butterfinger in poop and it'd taste pretty good. okay, maybe not. but you get my point.

the hub and i finished off our saturday with a movie run. we caught "ocean's 13" and "knocked up", and didn't get home until almost 1AM. both movies were entertaining, and i managed to get through them without falling asleep! so it was quite a fabulous day. shopping, greasy burgers, gossiping, a sweet treat, and eye candy. can't get much better than that.

never too early.

in my long-winded recap, i forgot to mention our daytrip to santa barbara last weekend!

i have two cousins who are currently students at UCSB, plus my sister graduated from there a few years ago. although i myself never took advantage of the benefits of higher education (which is obvious!), i DO want the kid to. as with most parents, i want her to have a fabulous life and do things i didn't, learn from my mistakes, blah, blah, blah. and this starts with a solid education, right?

our first stop was, of course, the habit. i'd been absolutely fiending for one of their chili cheeseburgers, and i wasn't disappointed. i absolutely devoured that thing and wished i'd have gone for a double! oh, well. now, i know they've expanded and now have a location that's really not that far from home, but that would take some of the magic away. kind of like trying to eat a "hawaiian shave ice" in rancho cucamonga. it's just not the same. anyway, i washed it down with a few gulps of the hub's chocolate malt and off we went to meet up with my cousin.

well, okay, so UCSB's a major party school. i'm fully aware of this - and it was evident as we drove through isla vista and saw all the gatherings...and this was at 1:00 in the afternoon. i also learned a thing or two, like the fact that cardboard beer cases DO have other uses after they're empty other than recycling. and how pretty vodka bottles can be! oooooooh, shiny.

it's a pretty campus, and five minutes from the beach. my cousin took us on a walking tour of the campus before we got back in the car and drove through the little downtown area. the kid seemed to be impressed and thought it would be a great place to go to school. our last stop on our walking tour was in the bookstore, during which she took extreme care in selecting a hoodie to take home. it helps that she loves this cousin to death, and wants to be just like her. ha!

the last stop, of course, was a stroll down state street. i mean, come on - santa barbara's got some really fabulouso shopping! i didn't actually buy anything *gasp* but it was good exercise. yeah! lots of walking! right.

next stop, UC irvine. i think. we'll see. kid's only 12....there's plenty of time.

it's time to play catch-up.

whew! it's been a CRAZY few days. not that y'all are used to daily posts from me anyway, but i think i've gotten a little better lately. right? um.......right?

::crickets::

um, okay. let's see. where shall i begin? it's gonna be long, so get comfy. i've got a lot of crap to talk about.

the last two days have been absolutely jam-packed with helping the kid work on her report for school. the assignment was to choose an important person in history and go into detail about their life and how they impacted society. well, my kid's a rebel. "i don't want to pick something that EVERYBODY ELSE is doing, mom." so of COURSE this translates into choosing mummies as her topic. [eyeroll] oh, and one little detail: the report is due TODAY. the kid's known about this thing for TWO WEEKS. can you say "frustration", boys and girls? i know you can.

although let me point something out that she won't ever hear about from me: she's exactly like her mother. she's horrible at math, has no patience for ignorance or stupidity (or terrible drivers), and she procrastinates like crazy. i felt like the biggest hypocrite while i lectured her about putting this crap off till the last minute, but i suppose that's my job....she couldn't actually SEE me cringing on the inside as i uttered the very mother-hen-like words "WHY didn't you tell me about this sooner? now you have to cram it all in TWO days before it's DUE?? come on, child, what were you thinking?"

i'm absolutely cringing right now, as i type it. in any case, we finished the research, outline, bibliography, title & cover pages, PLUS the power point presentation that accompanies the written report. seriously, the last two days have been utterly exhausting. remember that lack of patience i mentioned before? how many times do you think i wanted to just grab the computer and mouse and do it all myself, to get through it faster.....but of course, i couldn't, and didn't. she did all the work herself, and learned a bit more about how to create presentations using the mighty power point. yay.

and a "me" update - i went to the doctor yesterday and all is well with me and the bean. i've finally managed to gain some weight, which made the doc and the hub happy. now, anyone with at least a thimbleful of common sense knows that when you're with child, you're SUPPOSED to add some poundage. i like to think i have at least that much sense in my nugget. but it's awfully hard for this heffa, who's spent the last several years trying to exercise regularly and keep the weight down to a specific range, to step on the scale and not be torn between screaming with rage and soaking an entire roll of TP with hot, salty tears. i should toss that damn scale out the window, but i'm such a glutton for punishment. not to mention that it's become habit to strip for the shower and automatically weigh myself. help me, kirstie alley. valerie bertinelli. jenny mccarthy?

whatever. i'm trying to be sensible about it. i'm on week 3 of my resolve to hit the gym at least twice, plus a yoga class. but it doesn't help that i'm addicted to cinnamon toast eggos, cap'n crunch cereal, and wendy's. come on - everything else gives me heartburn! it sucks. and i've already resigned myself to joining weight watchers or something after the baby's born. i just want the bean to be healthy, so i'm trying my hardest to forget the number on the scale.

oh, that reminds me! a couple of days ago, the kid and i are pulling into the driveway after yoga and find the hub's car parked in the street, the garage door open, and him standing in the garage with a look that can only be described as confused and amused. conmused? amfused? anyway, we look inside the garage and see this:

my husband HATES cats. and yet he helped this poor kitty out from where she was trapped behind the cupboards AND brought out a bowl full of milk?? this also shed some light on why the dog had been going absolutely out of her head -she must've heard the meowing. anyway, the cat hung out for a while, snacked some more, and finally took off running.

i hope the coyotes didn't get ya, my friend.

tag, i'm screwed.

i say this because those who have tagged me already got to the few bloggers i know! crap. well, i'm always a sucker for those "learn new things about your friends" chain e-mails, so you know i'm playing along with this one, too. so here goes:

each player starts with seven random facts or habits about himself or herself. a tagged player then writes a blog entry with the seven things, as well as these rules. then the player tags seven others and lists their names on his or her blog. remember to leave a comment for your newly tagged players, letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. i'm turning into a major wuss. i used to be the kind of girl who would be marking my calendar for new rides at amusement parks - and usually had a season pass. i rode 'em all - viper, goliath, batman, riddler, even x. as long as it wasn't a wooden coaster (which gives me the worst headaches), i was all over it. the kid has vague recollections of her early years, when we spent many a summer weekday making the drive out to valencia to walk up and down the ridiculous hills of magic mountain.

2. i'm terrible at dressing myself. seriously, even though i love shopping more than chocolate, i'm terrible at putting cool outfits together. if you look at me, i'm always in jeans and some top i thought was cool, or maybe a dress that saved me from having to put any actual thought into my appearance. and accessories? fuhgeddaboutit. i'm always wearing the same old silver hoop earrings, my watch, rings, one of about 3 silver necklaces with a heart charm, and the "return to tiffany" bracelet that i refuse to stop wearing, even though many would say that it belongs on pre-teens and high school age girls. not a 35-year-old hag. btw, this extends to my house as well. if not for my dear hub, we'd have bare walls and nothing but basic furniture.

3. i'm fluent in tagalog. this fact still surprises folks to this day - even a family member now and then will express their shock at hearing me speak in the tongue of the homeland. i wish i could've taught the kid the super-secret language, too, but she's always been resistant. hey, my mom was a teacher - i guess she had the skills to sneak in lessons without me knowing it. i'm just not that clever.

4. i never met a reality show i didn't like.... except for the motha of all reality shows, "survivor". i've watched them all - "temptation island", "hell's kitchen", "the bachelor(ette)", even that horrible one on fox that had the pretty blonde having to pretend to be in love with the big fat guy and finding out at their "wedding" that it was all a hoax. and yet i've never seen a single episode of "survivor". i don't know why, but it's just never caught my interest. very sad.

5. magazines are my friend. i'm a HUGE magazine junkie. you name it, i've subscribed to it. i kick the mailbox on fridays when it doesn't contain my highly-anticipated new issue of us weekly. i pick up the ones i can't bring myself to subscribe to at the grocery store. lately, i've tortured myself by not allowing myself to crack them open unless i'm at the gym. but it's working - i manage to get to the gym more often now. and it makes me into the biggest hypocrite, because as i support the magazines who support the paparazzi, i always feel sorry for the celebrities who can't eat lunch or take a dump without having to worry about a camera in their face. go figure.

6. ralph's is one of my favorite places. i really like going grocery shopping. sometimes i'll clip coupons and snatch the receipt from the cashier's hand to see how much i "saved" (because we all know that prices on stuff that has coupons on sunday are automatically increased the night before, right?), but not always. i like buying food. i like picking up the newest creations that the snack companies have dreamed up just for suckers like me. my current debate is whether or not to give the oreos with the strawberry flavored filling a try. it's a catch-22 - if i hate it, i'll be pissed to have wasted $3.49 on it. but if i love it, i'll dread the day when they realize that no one but me does, and stop producing it. and if you slap "limited edition" on a food, most likely you'll get my money. at least once.

7. housekeeping. bleh. i can blog/knot, shop, or i can scrub toilets. or just wait for the cleaning crew. no further explanation necessary.

okay, i'm done. i'm going to tag married not buried, our baby j, and twentysomething. that's less than seven, but i don't care. i don't know anybody else to tag, because i'm a loser, baby.

here she is, the newest love of my life.

we're so excited about our newest addition to the family.





she's absolutely gorgeous.





she's my newest obsession.





i can't stop looking at her.





she's changed my life profoundly.





and oh, man, is she sweet. here she is:

that's right, folks. we traded in my little car for a new X5. family friendly, cute, and still sporty, just like me. ha! don'tcha love it?

it's a hard-knock life.

last week was quite a performance-filled time for the kid. on tuesday, she got to participate in the spring concert, which featured the bands and chorus groups throughout our school district. because she's a rock star, she'd chosen to play the drums. luckily for my sanity (and my checkbook), all this required was a set of sticks and a practice pad - not a full set of drums!

it was quite entertaining to listen to the kids play....especially as the four school bands had never practiced together even once. heh. our friend robert, who is a professional videographer, was set up in the back of the auditorium to capture the event for us and texted me with "awwww, some of these parents are mean. i heard one tell another "i don't want to be here." how sad!"

how sad, indeed. :(

thursday brought an even more nerve-wracking evening for the kid, as she'd been cast as a "dancing orphan" for her class' performance of two scenes from "annie". actually, she was one of the two choreographers, but i'm not one to brag. ;) they'd done a full dress rehearsal the day before, which i'd been able to see, and this was the BIG show in the city's performing arts center. after a rather comical beginning, during which the male "miss hannigan" had some microphone troubles, the girls pulled it off and ended with a triumphant bow:

don'tcha love it?? if you've got 5-ish minutes to watch, the performance is here.

the milestones of infanticipating.

do you remember that episode of "i love lucy", where lucy's pregnancy was written up in the paper, making ricky feel left out of the whole process? "infanticipating". ha!

so we had our second ultrasound this morning, and we saw girl parts! the bean wasn't being too cooperative at first, but after a little poking and shaking, she finally moved just enough to confirm it. it was really cool to see her little hands and her mouth opening and closing, and watch her strong little heart just pumping, pumping away. she's 13 ounces right now and 21 weeks, 2 days along. she's quite the active little squiggle-butt, too - we have a gymnastics performance on a regular basis now. her daddy got to feel the craziness for the first time last thursday :) that was pretty neat.

i also confess to feeling a little alarmed when i stepped on the scale at the doctor's office today and found that since my last appointment a mere TWO weeks ago, i'd managed to pack on seven pounds. now, i realize that's a good thing, and that i'm SUPPOSED to be gaining weight. but the vain girl in me is freaking out. i glanced at the scale and also realized that before the whole thing is over, they'd be moving that other bar over one notch. EEK. i know, i know, shut up. [sigh]

i'm off to buy more bagels, crunch berries, and hopefully pick up some maternity jeans. every time i unbutton and unzip my jeans in the car, the hub looks at me sideways and says "are you going to go and get some maternity pants NOW?"

well, if that means it's okay to go shopping......

bad, BAD blogger!

talk about slacker.... i haven't posted in months!

but i realized today that i better get on it. and i guess it's going to turn into a pregnancy blog! i want to be able to look back later on and remember everything. i think.

so i'm 20 weeks along as of yesterday. it's hard to believe that in another 20 weeks, we'll have a baby. holy crap! let's see....what else? ummm....i need to work on gaining weight. i've only gained one pound and the doc and the hub are both on my ass about it. i don't have any freaky cravings. i can't touch meat (although i seem to be softening towards chicken now and then). shrimp and crab seem to be all i manage to choke down in the way of dinners. and when i do manage to eat, it isn't much. luckily, i'm able to drink milk. and the other day, i ate some WATERMELON. i thought the hub and the kid were going to pass out when they saw it.

today, crunch berries are my friend. and chocolate - i seem to have a burning need for plain hershey's milk chocolate bars. damn. so much for trying to gain the weight in a HEALTHY way.

i better make sure i save this post, for sure. i want to remember the one time in my life that i got in trouble for not weighing enough!