Hot Stuff

Since we live in Southern California we have the misfortune of not really being able to enjoy 4 distinct seasons. Instead we have have rain and slightly temperate weather in Winter, sometimes rain and sort of temperate, but often hot, Springs, HOT Summers and a slow descent into Fall - deceptively cool mornings followed by scorching afternoons; several coolish days followed by a heat wave.

We're having a heat wave now and, because hope springs eternal, I try to imagine that this will be the angry burst of Summer before the temperatures dip for good and we actually get our Autumn - that won't be the case, but I'm a dreamer.

Trying not to let my own preference for cooler weather deter The Boy from enjoying himself when it's hot as Hades, we went out and to enjoy our Sunday morning ritual.

A croissant

A splash around in the fountain

Then a walk through the market

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Schooled in pre-school

I have many hopes for The Boy; that he'll find true love, lead a happy life and get a good education. I also really hope that he won't inherit my tendency to procrastinate. A prime example of my procrastination being my utter ignorance, some might say wilful ignorance, of what it takes to get my kid into pre-school.

Friends whose kids are younger than The Boy have long since settled on pre-school, signed up for waiting lists, paid deposits and made friends with teachers and directors. I, on the other hand, had waited to last week to make a call to schedule an interview/walk-trough. Very lazy of me and it's definitely high-time I get my butt in gear and begin our first steps to Operation Cal/UCLA/Harvard/Yale or whatever Graduating Class of 2030(followed, of course, by graduate work at one of the aforementioned schools).

Maybe my procrastination is down to me being reluctant to see The Boy grow up. Maybe it's because I'm overwhelmed by the choices before me; Montessori, Reggio Emilia, play-based, language-based what-have-you. Maybe it's because I'm cheap and don't want to shell out the cash. Truth be told, my feet-dragging is probably the result of all of those, but time does not stand still and waiting lists don't magically get shorter.

Anyway, our visit this morning was amazing. The Boy loved it and all the kids looked really happy. They adhere to a "language based" method of learning. I'm not sure what exactly that means but I like what it means for The Boy - play, trikes, art projects, some learning, play, sand boxes, dump trucks and lots of getting dirty. We were told that he'd need extra clothes everyday because of getting dirty, and that the primary function of the school wasn't to "learn" stuff or even to socialize, but to develop a sense of himself apart from me.

That hurt. A lot. But I guess it's time, or will be in September. Sniff.

So yeah, today a room full of 2 year olds, 24 years from now this:

Pic from http://www.capsandgownsnow.com/

Wordless Wednesday

"Onward to victory, my minions!"

How We Spent Our Bank Holiday

With coffee and croissants in hand we headed to the park.

First we ate our croissants(Hubs and I drank coffee)

Then The Boy took one trip down the slide, decided he wasn't impressed and spent the rest of his time climbing the ladder

and walking across the wobbly bridge

So he still doesn't like the slide, the swings or kicking his soccer ball around but he luuuurrrrves climbing, running Hubs ragged and almost giving me heart attacks by lunging for the fireman's pole. Now I don't remember having a special love of slides when I was little, but I did really like swings. Don't all kids like swings? And slides for that matter? Is it just my kid being a monkey that makes him want to do nothing but climb and swing from things?

Whatever, he's earned his nap and Hubs and I have earned a break. I've got a cup of tea and a slice of pumpkin cake (from Pinterest!!!!) with my name on them.

Top 10

As I'm still a total novice at this blogging thing I'm trying to make more of an effort to blog regularly and learn from my more experienced online friends - to write more and tell more about myself and my boys. I freely admit to needing some serious work done on my photographic skills, but that'll come later.

Anyhoo, in honor of Christina's Listicles and Peeper's 10 on 10, here's a collection of non-Boy related things I'm currently obsessed with, studying or crushing on:

- History - Russia in the 19th Century, specifically its war against France under Napoleon and its war against everybody - well, France, Britain and Turkey and sort of the Hapsburgs, Prussia and the US. It's what I studied in college so it's always a little bit on my mind, but this year has seen a slew of books on Ukrainian history, Crimean War history and a Pushkin book remind me of what I've been missing since grad school. To finish off the year I'll be reading Russia Against Napoleon by Dominic Lieven. What? It says I'm a history geek over there on the right.

- Social Media - Pinterest - It's like crack, man. Embarrassing, don't want to admit to loving it, can't live without it crack. It's internet crack. Not only does it allow me to indulge my love of Audrey Hepburn, travel and fattening foods, it also offers a million almost useless tips for cleaning, organizing, decorating and DIY'ing lampshades/scrapbooks/lame-ass craft craze du jour. Sweet Jeebuz, it's addictive!

- Housework - Cleaning and Organizing - Most people do Spring cleaning, I do Fall cleaning. Mostly because I see Spring as heralding the coming of Summer... And I hate Summer. But the shortening of days and cooling of temperatures turns me into a busy bee. I've scrubbed the floors and the fridge, purged our closets and already taken one trip to Goodwill.

- Food - Anything pumpkin flavored - Half of the food shit I've pinned on Pinterest has pumpkin in it. I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season the other day and cannot believe how awesome it was.

- Fall shopping - Maroon and Gray - Every year I await the arrival of darker colors in clothes shops. I'm not a big shopper, but every year I allow myself one gray or maroon/plum/wine colored sweater along with a a re-stock of long sleeve black tees. Then I tell myself that whatever expense was worth it since I added color to my wardrobe. Yes, in my world greys and plums count as pops of color.

- Travel - Travel planning - I'm not much of a planner, but I've always loved daydreaming about trips. Staring at a map of Europe with a Eurail Pass in my hand or, more recently, plotting a trip on Expedia and googlemaps. It's more involved now that there's The Boy to consider, and it's certainly more expensive, but it's so much fun thinking of where to visit and imagining how The Boy will respond to new places. I'm currently in the midst of planning The Boy's first trip to San Francisco - and Hubs' first trip there since we moved... 9 years ago.

- Reading - Edgar Allen Poe and John Milton - It's not just that Poe is seasonally appropriate, I'm really digging on them because I'm about to read Poe for the first time since high school, just 'cuz, and I'm about to read Milton's Paradise Lost for the first time ever as the latest, and possibly last, book club book read for the book club my friend and I started so we could read books that we felt clever people should read but we had yet to read ourselves.

- More food - Manicotti - This year's substitute for casserole. I haven't made any yet, but I'm really looking forward to it.

- More clothes - Scarves - I have millions of them and am so glad it's finally time do dig them out of The Closet of Doom.

- Boys and movies- Last but not least, Benedict Cumberbatch

- I love the name, and apparently it's his real name. I had never heard of him until I saw press on the upcoming Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy movie - see history love and Russia fascination for getting why I care about the movie version of a Cold War novel. I think he's dreamy in a funny-looking English sort of way but will probably lose interest before TTSS comes out in December. If that does end up being the case then I can see War Horse, the new Spielberg World War I flick. As a history geek I'm a sucker for well-done war films so I'm pretty excited about this one. I'll probably make a fool of myself by crying hysterically, but I'm cool with that.

RIP Steve Jobs

I am not a computer person. Back in the day I needed my lab partner to do all the work on a Commodore 64 in my 7th grade computer science class. I still mostly flail about uselessly on the computer, relying on my code-writing Hubs to back up my junk and save me from errant viruses.

As hopeless as I am with computers, my mom always had a knack for them(take that, sociological pundits who claim technology is the preserve of the young!). Back in the late eighties she was giddy as a school girl when she brought home a small, beige boxy looking thing with an Apple logo on it. She did all kinds of stuff with it - I played Tetris. A year or so later she got an Apple laptop. It was grey and heavy, there was no color on the screen and the font was fuzzy.

When I transferred to Cal in the Winter of '98 that's what I took with me. The small, leaded suitcase type thing with an Apple logo that I inherited from my mother. I kept it for a year and it served me well, allowing me to write dozens of essays and papers in the little studio I lived in in North Berkeley. It also introduced me to personalized email - I'd previously been sharing an email address with my dad and my best friend. Sadly it took the better part of an hour to read an email and respond to it so I wasn't a massive fan of email at first.

I later inherited a much bigger but not quite as slow PC and my little Apple laptop went to Apple heaven at a Mac store in Oakland.

5 years after that Hubs got me a pink IPod mini, which doesn't seem so mini anymore. I don't have an IPhone but am thinking of replacing my current laptop with a Macbook.

It's funny how much a PC-using non-computer person thinks about Steve Jobs, but I guess that's just a testament to all he's contributed to the world - the world of technology anyway.

So rest in peace, Mr. Jobs.

2 Years Old and Already a Do-Gooder

My mom hosted her annual BikeMS fundraiser 2 weekends ago. She's been hosting 2 fundraisers a year for years; a Spring one for The Walk and a late Summer/early Fall one for the bike ride. Mom can't really show The Boy off at the Spring event yet as it's an inside affair and too crowded for The Boy to keep his cool, but he's gone to the Bike event for the last 2 years and been a great, big hit.

As friends and family crowded the yard of the house I grew up in The Boy charmed everyone with his smile and wore out Hubs with his energy. He also spent some time playing with a little girl who is a few months younger than him who happens to be his 3rd cousin? 2nd cousin once removed? What the heck is The Boy's relation to my cousin's kid?

It was a great afternoon and evening and I love the fact that The Boy will grow up learning from his grandma's example of philanthropy. Or civic duty? Again, I'm not really sure.

The best thing about going was that my dad's little brother, Mom's former brother in law, was down from the Bay Area. He was my absolute favorite uncle growing up - I've got lots of uncles - but he's only had the opportunity too meet The Boy once before, like a year ago. Here they are with my mom.

So relatives were seen, money was raised, wine was drunk and a good time was had by all.