Hanging on by a thread

This is the coolest thing. Flapping in the wind is Princess's first loose tooth. Her smile is forever changed.

She got $2.00 in dimes. She said that she chose 17 coins to ask for because she was thinking of a big number. But when she thought about it longer, 20 is bigger than 17 so that's what she asked for. And she decided that dimes were more fair than quarters because otherwise, some kids might not get any money for their teeth. Dimes weigh less than quarters.

She made a small quilt for the Tooth Fairy out of a piece of scrap fabric. She also asked the Tooth Fairy to take the quilt instead of the tooth because she wants to collect all her baby teeth. I was surprised. The Tooth Fairy took the quilt and left the money. Pretty sweet deal.

Watch your step into the 21st century

My brother called me on the phone last night. He's got a new webcam for his computer and we thought it would be fun to have a video conference so the kids can see each other even though we live in different states.

After exchanging ooVoo usernames, we attempted to talk to each other on the computer.

You would think that all you had to do was plug that little device in and off we'd go. But no. What followed was about an hour of trying to describe things to my brother that he should see on the screen. "Click on the button that is under your picture that looks like a blue thought bubble..." "Try clicking on the hang up button and then you call me. On the computer. Not the phone." Ultimately, we did an end run on the problem of getting the audio and vid working at the same time and instead ran the video while using the speaker phone on our land lines to talk.

Every day I find myself acting a little more like how I remember my parents acting when I was a kid. I remember my dad holding the remote control over his head and aiming it at the t.v. while pressing the button. He and Mom called it the "space age controller," and my dad swore that it really did work better when he held it aloft.

I remember when we got our first microwave. I don't remember what year it was, but I think it was in the late 70's. My parents invited the son-in-law of my Godmother (Ninang Emily) to teach us how to cook with it. Morris was a certified appliance repairman, not a chef or cook. But a repairman. We all gathered around the kitchen while Morris put in a raw scrambled egg in a bowl and out came a that same bowl with a yellow rubber like film that was allegedly cooked scrambled egg. You had to scrape the egg off the bowl and then attempt to eat it. For months after that lesson, my mother would start my day with egg microwaved in the bowl. For months after that lesson, I went to school nauseated or hungry because I had puked up that poor excuse for an egg. Morris also gave me and Mom some microwave cookbooks -- the official ones from the manufacturers of the appliances themselves. You'd think they'd give you edible recipes because they'd want to promote their microwaves. But no. According to the cookbook, there was nothing you couldn't cook in the microwave. Birthday cake? In less than 3 minutes! Fish? You bet! In less than 5 minutes! Thanksgiving dinner? Absolutely! In less than 10 minutes! Mom bought all kinds of special microwave cookware for our new oven, but no matter what, the food experiments were all just assaults on our senses.

But back to last night's foray into technology. It was really fun to get to see my niece and nephew. The littlest one was asleep so I didn't get to see him. I got to see Mom too. Unfortunately, all my kids were asleep but we're going to try to video conference again.

And probably use the speaker phone on the land lines again. Ahhh... technology.

fRee eyboaRd

I had to put this here. I laughed for a good 10 minutes straight. I know it is simple and most likely a hoax, but I tell you what, it is an elegant joke -- perfectly executed.

tesshaddon has forwarded you this craigslist.org posting.
Please see below for more information.

---

fRee eyboaRd

Reply to:
Date: 2007-11-08, 2:01PM

fRee eyboaRd
fiRst peRson gets it – a genuine MicRosoft compatible eyboaRd, ciRca 1999. It still woRs pRetty good, except the ey is missing, and foR some Reason the R is stuc on uppeRcase.
SeRious Replies only.

• Location: Greenwood
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Original URL: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sea/473011361.html
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Lip gloss application -- proper technique

This is Lil'T prettying herself up with some lip gloss. I figured you uncles & aunts out there would get a kick out of it. I have a couple of friends who only have boys in their families. This is what you're missing out on.

The evolution of girl friends

My mother, who turned 70 this past August, has a close friend who lives in Barcelona. How cool is that? Yvonne is probably in her 50's-60's (I don't want to commit to an exact age. She might have some choice words for me if I do.) She and my mom used to be neighbors but when Yvonne's husband got work in Europe, Yvonne had to move. And to make it even worse, Yvonne sold her house in Hawaii and will be moving to Washington when her husband's work in Barcelona is over. Thank goodness for the Internet. They email each other regularly. Even though Mom isn't living with me anymore, when we talk on the phone, I'll read Mom's emails to her and then take dictation for the replies. Sometimes they'll write about how the grand kids are getting so big. They marvel about how this one is already talking, or the other one has outgrown their shoes after only 3 months. But that's a distraction.

Invariably, their bulk of their emails is about food.

Yvonne always writes about her access to fabulous seafood, fresh market produce, and exotic restaurants. Mom counters with all the home cooking and local foods that Yvonne cannot find in Barcelona -- things like pancit bihon, manapua, chicken adobo, and Loraine Lau's laulau. (We ate the last of the Lau's laulau last month and so I'm begging my mom to call Loraine as soon as she deplanes in Honolulu. Loraine makes the best laulau. Broke da mout!)

My husband teases me every time I facilitate an email exchange between my mother and her friend. He says that someday it'll be me with my friends comparing produce and side dishes on the phone.

A few years ago, I remember having a mild freak out when my friend Charlotte, whom I've known since we were both 14 years old, gave me a recipe for a dip. A dip recipe! That was something my mother always did with her friends. Now that Char & I are old married ladies and mothers, we no longer talk about shoes, boys, makeup, shoes, which of the Duran Duran guys would make the best husband, and what's the new black. (And if you think I put in shoes twice by accident, you clearly don't know me personally.) None of that. Now we're exchanging casserole recipes and tips on how to get wine stains out of Berber carpet.

I hope that I remain an interesting person as time goes on. I'd hate to think that after we stop exchanging recipes, stain removal tips, and bragging/complaining about our kid's schoolwork/homework/sports/activities, all we'll be left with to talk about is what we had for dinner last night.

But what if it is already too late? What if conversation devolving into talking only about food is the only safe road? I mean, we don't talk religion, politics, or finances. Is that what is going on? Is that why we become "boring"?

It's only 7:50am and already I'm in tears

Good tears though. Only good ones.

You may have clicked on the sites I have listed on here as sites I visit on a regular basis. One of those is about a friend of a friend who has gone through one of those things you think only happens to other people. She's a colorectal cancer patient who has arrived on the other side of the diagnosis in remission.

I met Ang at Nancy's wedding. She and I were Nancy's bridesmaids. We both had just had babies -- hers about 6 months prior and mine, 6 weeks prior. And yeah, she looks way better in the dress than I do. I don't hold it against her. Much.

After I read the news, I told her that now she can add an Easter story to her own personal narrative. Her life and her future are again within reach; her life has been given back to her. I just think it is amazing that this news came right before Holy Week. The holidays were fragmented and difficult for Ang. This Easter will be joyful and whole.

And just to make sure that I work those tear ducts well, I went back to her first post. It is always nice to reflect on a journey by looking back at where you started.

My first question was, "Am I going to die?" The second was, "What about my boys?" I settled into the master bathroom with my back leaning on the cabinets on the floor. I cried, and I told Grant that if anything happens to me that he had to promise me that the boys would know how fiercely I love them. Both of us crying, he promised. That night I was up for most of it. I watched my boys sleep. It was a strangely calm night and they were peaceful. I prayed to see them go to the 1st grade, I prayed to see them graduate from High School, and then I prayed that if I didn't that the path their father would have to take with them (without me) would be easy.

Prayer works.

Famous Musician

Yesterday was Princess's birthday. We're in full ramp up mode for her slumber party this weekend. Her room has been cleaned. We're trying to figure out where we're going to place 7 little girls. I kind of think I might be able to beg my MD for some tranquilizers. Not for them. For me. I'm stocking up on some ear plugs. 7 little girls. What was I thinking?

But, as I was saying, yesterday was Princess's birthday. When I asked her what kind of day she had a school, the standard, "Good," was replaced with, "Super!" Not only did the kids at school sing the Happy Birthday song to her, not only did she get the birthday bear at her desk all day long, there was a special assembly at school for a "famous musician."

Man, that phrase just brought warm feelings to my heart. I *loved* special assemblies. Okay, now you probably know way too much about the kind of kid I was. But they were usually fun and meant that you didn't have to learn anything for a little while.

So I asked, "What was the musicians name?" I kind of predicted she wouldn't remember.

Taking a different tack, "What kind of instrument did he play?"

She looked at me like I was a little soft in the head. "He didn't play any instrument."

"Oh, so what songs did he sing?"

Again with that look of poor-mommy-is-so-confused, she said, "Not musician like singing songs. Musician like pulling a rabbit out of a hat."

I loved her explanation. And I didn't correct her. Does that make me a bad mommy? I did verify that she did say musician. She was very definite about that. It was musician. I'm sure she'll figure it out by the time she turns 8.

He was my ride

Me: *exasperated* You're driving me crazy.

Hubby: How can I drive you crazy? You're already parked there and the engine is cold.

Carton Of Irregular Cat Hats

I was looking through Craigslist and came across quite possibly the most magnificent thing I've seen on the internet in a long time. The post title says it all. I think that the poster can rest assured that she and Snowman have most definitely increased joy levels around the world. At least in this little corner of it. My only regret is she posted only 3 images when there are 14 hats in all. But one must accept the good with the bad. It makes the good all the more sweet.

Carton Of Irregular Cat Hats

Reply to:
Date: 2008-02-07, 11:01AM

Hello. I have a big box of used cat and kitten hats that I have collected over the years for various occasions. As of recently my cat, Snowman, is no longer living and thus I am forced to get rid of these precious memories. I would not feel right asking money for them so I am offering the whole box for free. There are many styles from formal to cute and funny.

There is a variety of 14 different hats total. I just hope you and your pet can find as much joy in these hats as me and Snowman once did.

E-mail me if you are interested and I will give you my address where you can pick them up. I can also arrange for a free delivery if you are not too far away.

Thank you, Patty

• Location: San Diego
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Original URL: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sdo/566171148.html
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Cookie update

There is something great about supplying a top customer. I get it. I understand how companies can set themselves up to find one big customer and forget the other sources of revenue. I am experiencing that right now.

Sharon and Steve have ordered an additional 9 boxes of cookies since my last post on the subject. NINE!

In the past few days, cookies have been running out at their house. Part of the problem *might* be that Sharon is out of state visiting a friend. Steve is finding empty cookie boxes in the strangest places -- shoved behind bookshelves, under sofas, amongst crayons... you get the picture. Reserves must be restored.

My daughter's troop has the goal of selling 200 boxes per girl. With site sales, that really isn't all that much. Steve and Sharon have almost singlehandedly put my daughter's sales through the roof. I can totally see them going into withdrawals this week being the last one of the cookie sale. I mean, what are they going to do for the rest of the year?

My daughter is going to make a big thank-you card for these uber cookie monsters. They deserve it.

Trollin' for chicks in the Costco line

Know that I like men. I truly do. But there are some things I certainly can do without. Some things, as with wine, you think would mellow with age. You'd think that some of the things that make men a little creepy would eventually fade with some years. But no. So long as they have testicles, they remain slaves to their hormones.

Like a certain uncle of ours who in the receiving line at our father's funeral gladly took the hug from a very pretty friend of my brother. And even had the nerve to turn around and check out her behind. At my father's funeral!!! (I don't really fault him for that. There were few rays of humor during that very dark time and that was one of them. Actually, I'm glad he did it. Makes that memory lighter to bear.)

But to the title of the post. Today I was standing in line for my $1.50 hot dogs at Costco behind a older gentleman -- probably in his late 70's. He was dressed in a grey cardigan, olive slacks and a wool herringbone driving cap which didn't fully conceal the fact that there was not much hair under there. The hair sticking out from under the hat was snowy white. He was old.

In front of him in line was a cute teen-aged girl. She must have been about 16 or 17 years old. An older lady walked by and told the girl to order her a coffee. The lady looked like she was maybe in her 70's as well. She was wearing a lilac overcoat which set off her pretty silver hair which she had done up in big curls near the crown of her head. Well, the elder in front of me watched the girl's grandma walk by, turned around to watch her walk away, and then asked the girl, "Is that your grandma?" Girl nodded. "How old is she? That's one good looking woman."

What was priceless was the look on the girl's face. You could see the absolute horror that some old man was checking her nana out. That was just not right.

The old man went on to say, "I'm probably wrong here, but I bet she's not even 70. You'll probably say she's much older, but wow, she looks great." I saw him glance back in grandma's direction again. The young girl pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and looked like she was engrossed in texting somebody. I think she was just trying to avoid having to give her grandma's phone number to the guy in the Costco line.

But man, when I'm an old lady, I hope I can still attract the attention of the dudes out there. Chick's still got game!

Bellwether

Definition:

Main Entry: bell·weth·er
Pronunciation: \ˈbel-ˈwe-thər, -ˌwe-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, leading sheep of a flock, leader, from belle bell + wether; from the practice of belling the leader of a flock
Date: 13th century

: one that takes the lead or initiative : leader; also : an indicator of trends

There has been a lot of punditry based on bellwether states in this election cycle. I went to good old Wikipedia to see exactly which states are the bellwether states, and which ones went for my girl. Here's what Wiki said:

In the United States, Missouri, often referred to as the Missouri bellwether, has produced the same outcome as the national results in every presidential election beginning in 1904, except in 1956. The American bellwether states are [1]:

* Missouri - 1 miss (1956) from 1904 on, perfect since 1960
* Nevada - 1 miss (1976) from 1912 on, perfect since 1980
* Tennessee - 1 miss (1960) from 1928 on, perfect since 1964
* Ohio - 2 misses (1944, 1960) from 1896 on, perfect since 1964
* Delaware - 2 misses (2000, 2004) from 1952 on, perfect from 1952 to 1996
* The three states of Alabama, New Mexico, and Ohio - the candidate that wins at least 2 of them, perfect since 1912 (when New Mexico became a state)


Now, here is what the results of the primaries look like:

Missouri: Barack Obama
Nevada: Hillary Clinton
Tennessee: Hillary Clinton
Ohio: Hillary Clinton
Deleware: Barack Obama
The hat trick states: 2/3 for Hillary (NM & OH), 1/3 for Barack (AL)


You know I want my girl to be at the top of the ticket. But I think that these bellwether states can't be counted on. Sure, the only perfect record that exists amongst the bellwethers is the trifecta -- and Hillary won that. Eh, I just don't get my hopes up.

I thought maybe I'd look at which way the states went in 2000, when Bush got in even though the popular vote went to Al Gore. That offered me no help. All the bellwethers went to the dark side, I mean the republican party, except for DE (which went for Barack) & NM (which went for Hillary).


How about 2004 you might ask? Yeah, doesn't that look familiar? Only Deleware went for Kerry out of our bellwethers. The rest, including New Mexico, went for Bush.

Do I know what any of this means? I kind of think it is like reading tea leaves. Maybe Aunty Priscilla can have a go at it. She learned a lot of cool tricks on her travels including palm reading, reading tea leaves and tarot reading. But I think anybody who travels around the world just using her wits for currency would have to be open to unusual skills to make it. She's got some amazing stories. And can read your tea leaves.

People don't pay attention to history any more. George W. Bush broke the rules of history when he was elected and then re-elected. All bets are off. The election this year will be a history making one no matter which way it goes.

Next time Hillary is in town, I'm having Aunty Priscilla and her over for tea.

Hillary Clinton's March 4th Victory Speech

I got a phone call last night from my fellow Hillraiser (do I count as a Hillraiser if I'm in Gen X?) when she heard that Ohio went for our girl. Rock on Hillary!

I tell you, I had all but given up. Sure, I contributed last week when everyone else was ringing the death knell for her campaign. Sure, I stood up for my girl in our local caucuses. Sure, I still supported her even though my brothers and even my husband all said that I was wrong. And boy, am I glad I persevered.

The language today is really interesting. I had previously posted that I could see Hillary extending a hand to Barack should she get the nomination, offering him the VP spot. That I could not see him doing the same for her. And today, I think that suspicion has been proven correct. Hillary was asked if she would consider being on a ticket with Barack and she stated that could be where they were headed. Barack, when asked the same question, said that it was premature to say.

I wish that they would meet in a back room somewhere. I wish they would come out with some kind of compromise. I wish they would announce that they would be at the top of the ticket together. That the primaries would simply be finalizing a Clinton/Obama ticket vs. an Obama/Clinton ticket, that would be enough to unite this party. And man, do we need uniting in a bad way.

Hillary needs to keep on running hard. She needs to stay relevant. If it is inevitable that Barack take the nomination, make it also inevitable that she take the VP spot. We cannot heal a rift in this party without that concession.

Hillary Clinton Ad Featuring Jack Nicholson

On missing Dad

This is a present to my brother whose kids were born after my father passed away. My father narrates this entire video made almost 11 years ago now. Few of things of note:

1. Man, didn't we all look so young?
2. The briefest opening shot was taken at my brother's graduation from Dental School.
3. Favorite part of the video: When Dad says, "got um..." because you might think that because of the size of the vid here on the webpage, you can't read the card he's trying to focus on. But really, you can't read the card he's trying to focus on. It is totally blurry.
4. Boy, I don't miss my husband's glasses at all.
5. You'll also see Uncle Bob, Aunty Priscilla, & Uncle Nofre.
6. That was our first apartment we nicknamed, "The cave."
7. The windowsill shot was because of slight jaundice.
8. I still think he was the prettiest baby I've ever seen. My girls could not compare to his beauty as a newborn. They've caught up now, but man, back in the day...
9. Seriously, so young.

Miracle of life according to Princess

While I was braiding her hair, Princess excitedly educated me about babies.

"Sometimes, even if babies can't see the other baby, they'll fight each other."

I had to admit, I couldn't even begin to comprehend what that meant. I had me some learning to do. I told her that I didn't know what she was talking about.

"See Mommy, if say a baby is inside its mommy, then there's a wall here," she touched my abdomen. "So the baby can't see outside because of that wall. And then, if there is another baby on its mommy's lap, even if it can't see the baby, it will fight because it thinks, 'Hey, that's my mommy!'"

"Like this one time, when you were at the gym and Lil'T was sitting on the lap of the teacher in that room (the child care room), she had a baby in her belly, and that baby could tell that Lil'T was sitting on her mommy's lap. She was kicking Lil'T in the back. And when Lil'T got off the teacher's lap, we could still see something moving under the teacher's shirt. We told her that the baby was still fighting. Isn't that funny?"

I asked Princess if she remembered that Lil'T used to kick her when I was pregnant with Lil'T. And I asked if she remembered kicking her brother when she was in my belly. She couldn't remember any of it. That's okay though. I do.

Cookie update

Sharon requested I let all of you know that her family have ordered an additional 7 boxes since the last post -- putting them in the lead with a total of 24 boxes. Sharon has also put in an order for 3 boxes of the sugar free chocolate chip cookies. They actually don't taste all that bad. They taste like Chips Ahoy cookies so I can appreciate why they like them.

Sharon & Steve are now my best customers with 24 boxes and another 3 boxes on order. 27 total! Amazing.

Also, we ran into a GS troop leader of Senior level Girl Scouts. She said that her girls are selling cookies hard and furious. Turns out that they've been saving up to go on a trip for the past 4 years. That's pretty impressive. They're going to be graduating this year and will be going to Hawaii with their cookie proceeds. They had originally wanted to go to India but decided that goal was going to be unattainable because they have such a small troop. They've only 5 girls. That tells me that Tahiti isn't out of reach and if we can get these girls saving up for it next year, we can tour the world when they're Seniors. Wouldn't it be cool if I can convince them to go on a trip every couple of years? Educational ones, of course.