not quite up to the standard

on friday, we gathered to surprise our dear friend levioletfemme with a goodbye dinner. after going back and forth on dates and coordinating with mr. levioletfemme, we settled on 24/7 restaurant at the standard in downtown l.a. actually, this turned out to be a combo celebration - as we were bidding LVF a fond farewell with this little party, we were welcoming home our dear winnie, back from her self-imposed exile on the east coast. yay x 2!

my cheap ass passed this up:

in favor of saving $5 and parking my car my own self downstairs, in the underground lot. hey, $5's $5.

we've eaten here before, although last time we were seated outside. it was a little chilly, so we opted to sit at a table inside, where i thought it looked like a padded cell. apropos for our group, yes?

the menus here always crack us up. i was hoping to get the dog, but apparently that one's reserved for the wine list. and we all know i have zero use for that thing. so instead, this was me:

here's the monkey's, and nanette's is the dessert menu.

i was amused to find what looked like a folded dishtowel at each place setting. i'd recently read an entry on eaterLA about how this is the new cool thing to do at restaurants these days.

as the rest of our group arrived, we had fun chatting and catching up, plus signing the photo album i'd put together as part of LVF's going-away present. i'd gone through the archives and found almost 40 pictures of GTGs and LVF making funny faces at my camera. it was fun putting it together, and the ladies giggled as they paged through the various photos from the last several years of our friendship. nanette and r had scooped up the other components of our gift, and we scurried to put it all together before LVF arrived.

from where we were sitting, we had a great view of the entrance via a mirror on the opposite wall. and when mr. LVF came into view with our guest of honor in tow, we all snatched up our menus and hid our faces with them. i wish i'd gotten a picture of that, but i'm sure you can imagine the hilarity.

expecting date night with her spousal unit (a term i've borrowed from my buddy cornell), LVF looked slightly puzzled at his choice of restaurant - until we peeked out from behind our disguises and shouted "surprise!"

i caught a few other shots with various facial expressions, but i'd like to keep LVF as a friend, so they've been deleted. heh.

despite being invited to join us, mr. LVF boned outta there like his feet were on fire. i guess i don't blame him. i probably wouldn't have hung out, either. haha! and after she got settled, we passed her the album and goody bag. i'd explain the contents, but they're super old inside jokes that wouldn't be funny to anyone who wasn't on the local knot board back in the day. sorry.

despite having perused the menu on and off for the last, oh, 45 minutes or so, i was still undecided as to what i wanted to eat. i was torn between the burger (substantial) and their homemade ravioli, stuffed with goodies like asparagus, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, and other delicious ingredients. upon hearing that nanette was experiencing the same conflict, i suggested that we order both and split them. problem solved! and it turned out that we started a trend, because weatherjen, winnie, r, and lilcee all decided to do the same thing.

LVF opted for a chicken entree and the monkey, not a mushroom fan, chose a goat cheese flatbread and a side of macaroni & cheese, which she generously shared with the table. mmmm.

at some point during dinner - i can't remember whether it was during our entrees or after - this occurred:

weatherjen, in a stage whisper: hey, do you see a bug over there on the curtain?
[winnie and i turn to look, and see a big ass nasty black thing kickin' it in the folds of the drapery]
winnie, shrugging nonchalantly: yeah, it looks like it.
me, slightly wigging out: ewwwww! gross! we need to find someone...
nanette, waving down a passing busboy: HEY!
[busboy stops at our table]
a number of us, gesturing towards the window: um, there's a big ol' bug over there. can you...
[busboy practically sprints over to the curtain, puts out his hand, and squashes offending insect]
entire table: uuuuughhhhhh! ... YAY!

pretty stinking funny. something always happens to us at these gatherings.

for dessert, the usual indecisiveness kicked in and we ended up ordering practically one of everything to pass around the table. i only got pictures of the ones on our end - sugarplum tart (sounds very holiday-y, eh?), strawberry coupe (not a car, as verified by the monkey while ordering), and reliable ol' red velvet cake.

as we wrapped it up, took care of the bill, and said goodbye to weatherjen, nanette and lilcee, we got the server to take the requisite group shot.

the rest of us trooped over to the escalator to head up to the rooftop bar, to hang out a little longer and maybe grab a drink or two. we were stopped by the cheerful bouncer dude, who sent us outside to get a wristband. i groaned inwardly, because i knew what that meant.

and sure enough, the guy out there looked down his nose at us, a bunch of 30-something women not clad in cleave-baring, skintight hoochie attire, and said "there's a $20 per person cover to go upstairs."

looking over at the monkey, he added "and you can't bring that camera up there, either. you can check it in at the desk while you're upstairs."

well, son of a bitch. my days of paying cover charges to get in the door for anything are long gone, and the monkey wasn't about to part with her precious camera, either. we squelched the urge to smash our purses over the guy's head and walked down the steps in defeat.

and that was the end of our night. after a round of hugs, i headed down to the parking garage with winnie and r, who'd also chosen to save $5, and i was home before 11. luckily, it's not quite a final goodbye to LVF, because we're going to squeeze in at least one more GTG before she heads off to the wrong coast.

but for the right reasons. awesome reasons! yay for LVF!

yesterday was plain awful

you can say that again.
yesterday was plain awful!
but that's not now, that's then.

bonus points to anyone who can name that obscure ass song, and googling doesn't count.

so 102.7 isn't just my favorite station on the FM dial anymore. oh, no. that was also my temperature yesterday, as taken by the hub as I lay moaning, groaning and whimpering on the couch.

you know how wives complain about their husbands being big babies when they're sick? well, in the wan household, it's exactly the opposite. i don't get sick very often, but when i do, i turn into a six-year-old who has to be taken care of and completely babied. heh. and lucky for me, the hub is super patient and thoughtful, as previously described during our labor experience with the bean.

my workday, while a short one, dragged endlessly as i got progressively worse and worse. i spent a lot of it suffering from that horrid, chest-scraping, headache-intensifying coughing. it was completely craptastic. by the time i finally left to head home, i was super miserable and it was all i could do to drive my sorry, sickly ass home and drag myself upstairs. as i walked in, MIL greeted me and gestured to the bean, asleep on the couch.

"she only fell asleep about ten minutes ago," she said. sweet! this meant i could change and curl up next to her to catch a few winks myself.

and i did exactly that. we slept together for over two hours while my head throbbed and my body ached. thankfully, mollydog managed to refrain from barking at random people and leaves falling from the tree, and we all enjoyed a wonderful afternoon nap together.

when we finally woke up, i thought i was gonna die. i felt like i'd been run over by a freaking bus. i was freezing and sweating and i. was. in. hell. the bean was concerned. "mum?" she queried in in her amusingly british way as she knelt over me, rubbed my cheek lovingly and reached out and patted my shoulder with her adorably chubby hand. it was totally cute and i just wanted to hug her for being so sweet, but i lacked the energy. instead, i smiled weakly and told her that mommy was going to be just fine.

then she decided she'd had enough and grabbed the remote. handing it to me, she made all the gestures and motions for her beloved "blue's clues." and while i really hate using the tv as a sitter, i was so ridiculously grateful for the stash of episodes we had saved on the tivo. while i continued to writhe in agony on the couch, she was entertained by the antics of steve and blue.

but then she disappeared into her play house, and seconds later i heard the unmistakable noises of a diaper being stuffed to the gills with stinky, goopy poop. hell. how on earth was i going to manage to stay upright long enough to change her? as it was, i was freaking starving and couldn't bring myself to get up and take the time to find and make myself something to eat. this is me, folks! i lacked the patience and energy for food! that tells you right there how shitty i was feeling.

somehow i managed to get her cleaned up and changed into a fresh diaper, and as i collapsed onto the couch again, the phone rang and it was the hub. the baby in me reared its head immediately.


"ohhhhh, when are you coming hooooooome?" i whined.


"i'm on my way," he answered. thank god.


and when he got home, he took over. he scooped up the bean, took my temperature (which was well over 100, yikes), and when i told him that i was starving, he went right out to get some food. they returned quickly, and as he got the bean situated in her high chair and handed me a drink and some ibuprofen, i was so overwhelmed with how awful i felt and how sweet and caring he was being that i completely melted down and burst into tears.

such a baby.

after we were done eating, he cleaned up and sent me off to bed to get some hard-core, uninterrupted rest. i put on some pajamas, socks, and a sweatshirt (it was 85 degrees outside and i was fucking freezing), and he soaked a washcloth in cool water and laid it on my forehead as i crawled under the covers and tried to go to sleep. through the door, i could hear him and the bean playing and laughing, and somehow i finally drifted off.

he came in to check on me a couple of times, rewetting the washcloth and checking my temperature, and looked relieved as the numbers continued to decline. i could feel myself returning to semi-normal as i flung off the covers and tore off the sweatshirt and socks, sweating my ass off. and an hour and a half after i'd gone to bed, i got up and went out to join my family in the living room. i was finally able to sit upright without feeling dizzy, and the bean was so relieved to see me that she trotted right over and gave me a big, long hug.

as the alarm went off this morning, i debated over whether to come to work or to stay home and get back to 100% (i'm still not there, but i'm close), and decided that i could hang for my short four-hour shift.

now, i must catch up on the weekend. stay tuned for at least one more post today - one that's much more fun and interesting than this one, i promise. yay!

oh, and p.s. - happy birfday to my dear brother! it was yesterday, but i know he was swept away on a fun weekend getaway and won't have been reading blogs anyway. good for him.

the streak is over.

eff.

i haven't been sick in over two years - since before the bean was a bean. and in all her [almost] 21 months of life, she's not been sick aside from the occasional teething fever. those don't count in my book. i'd always been worried about getting sick, since i wasn't sure if i'd end up passing it on to her via nursing sessions. i take my prenatal vitamins faithfully every night, and i was sure that it was helping keep me healthy, because both the hub and the teen have gone through umpteen illnesses over the last couple of years and i've managed to escape unscathed.

but yesterday, our luck ran out. the bean woke up with a super warm little body, and i had a weird tickle in the back of my throat that made me cough every five minutes and a headache that wouldn't quit. i took her temperature and it wasn't horrible - she was at 99.4 degrees - and i broke down and popped an advil. i haven't taken any kind of meds aside from the motrin from the doc way back when the bean sprung forth from my loins.

we ended up spending the majority of father's day chilling on the couch with the hub, who worked on his laptop while the bean and i took several catnaps throughout the afternoon. and we watched several episodes of "blue's clues" and a few movies - "tropic thunder" (holy crap, tom cruise is really funny in that movie. made me think he was a little less bizarre), "walk in the clouds" (oh, yes. keanu reeves isn't a great actor, but it was fun to revisit that flick), and bits and pieces of other movies that i can't even remember anymore. heh.

as is her nature, the bean didn't let a little fever get to her. she was her same old good-natured, sweet, funny little self - just a little extra tired and sleepy. you could see how crappy she was feeling when you looked at her little face. so sad. but she was cute and charming as always when we went over to the grandparents' for a father's day bbq.

and as for me, i'm at work, but i feel like shit. my back hurts, my body aches, and i'm coughing constantly, but hell, i'm only here for four hours. fuck it. i can hang.

the only other annoyance is that our internet at home seems to have taken a crap. this sucks so much, especially since i just downloaded a fun weekend's worth of pictures that i wanted to blog about! i hope we can figure out how to fix it, because otherwise the only blogging i'll get to do is from the iPhone or at work, and this stupid windows vista that i hate so much really blows when it comes to blogging with pictures.

is it friday yet?

BFF's a freshman too

on wednesday, the teen, the bean and i headed to my alma mater for BFF's 8th grade promotion ceremony. it was "hot balls," as the teen likes to say, and we were sweating our asses off as we made our way to the bleachers.

our timing was pretty good, because as we found a seat, the music started and the ceremony began. the procession was led by students clad in red gowns, carrying the flag.

we were pretty amazed at the sheer size of BFF's 8th grade class. it looked so big - it seemed as though it were double the size of the teen's class at her own ceremony a couple of weeks ago.

finally, we spotted BFF, looking gorgeous and so grown-up. i always thought she was a pretty girl, but when she gets dressed up and stuff, wow - i fear for her parents. heh. i should start a support group with them, because we're going to need each other in the coming years.

i was totally smiling to myself as i noted some of the girls COMPLETELY overdressed for the occasion. the teen was manning the camera, so i couldn't take any pictures of the most...interesting ensembles, but these two were rather prom-y looking.

as the kids made their way to the lawn and got themselves situated, the school officials and seven - yes, SEVEN - valedictorians waited at the podium. for middle school.

we all stood for the pledge of allegiance, and then four students stepped up to the microphone to perform the national anthem.

i must share this - one of my pet peeves is when people are completely disrespectful during the singing of the national anthem. there was a group sitting in front of us, and two of the guys were talking to each other really loudly during the song. i was SO annoyed. i seriously wanted to throw my shoes at them, but i settled for an icy glare and some not-so-subtle "shush"ing. yup, i was actually the shush-er instead of the shush-ee for once. heh. one of the women in the group noticed and motioned towards the guys to pipe down, but they ignored her as they had me. ugh.

and then one of the balloons they had brought for their promoting student came undone and flew away. i totally snickered and took a picture. bye bye, balloon.

the bean started to get wiggly and impatient, so the teen took her for a walk during the seven valedictorian speeches. i knew it was a big moment for them and their proud families, but good lord, i was bored. don't get me wrong though, i listened to every word and clapped in all the right places like a good girl.

finally, the principal began the long process of calling up each and every student to accept their certificate of promotion. and when it was BFF's turn, we clapped and cheered for her.

like at the teen's ceremony, the kids were well-behaved and the process was smooth and well-organized. and when it was over, the bleachers emptied out onto the field and it was a major clusterfuck. i can only imagine what it'll look like in four years, for high school.

the teen's "friend," who was sitting with us, took the teen's sign that she'd made and held it up in an effort to help us connect with BFF. it kind of made me laugh - he reminded me of sally field in "norma rae."

haha!

at last, we found her. the two girls hugged and screamed as though they hadn't seen each other in ages. but it had been three whole days, you know.

i was slightly confused over seeing BFF tower over the teen, because usually it's the other way around - until i looked down and noticed this:

ouch. i can't even wear shoes that high - i would've been toast after about 2.5 minutes of it. and BFF confessed that her feet were, indeed, killing her. ha!

we found her parents in the bleachers and went up to join them. after the rounds of hugs, BFF's mom slipped an envelope into the teen's hand and whispered something in her ear. i was a little startled to see the teen's eyes get a little watery, and it was because BFF's mom was telling her that she was such a good friend and that they really missed having her around since we'd moved away. awwww. she goes over there to hang out as often as she can, but it's not like it was when we lived around the corner from them. kind of made me a little nostalgic. they'd come to our wedding in hawaii, and we consider them family - i miss them, too.

the girls laughed at the pictures that the teen had chosen to decorate the sign with.

here's nostalgia for you. i don't have some of the older pictures on hand, but looking at some of these and seeing how much they've grown up really make me smile. these two have been BFFs since the first day of kindergarten.

from these:

to this:

my, my, how time flies.