Last Saturday night, Oscar, Clara, & I braved the wilds in our backyard. We pitched a tent, unrolled our sleeping bags, and slept outside. It was #24 on the list, after all, so you knew I was going to do it, right? I’m one of those people who never sleeps well unless I’m in my own bed, so I have to say that I impressed myself with the great time I had throughout the whole experience. This experience included being awakened by the sounds of sirens and a helicopter in the middle of the night (we do live in central San Diego you know) and getting rained on (I didn’t bother to check the weather ahead of time). Highlights of the night included reading stacks of books by flashlight together and munching on the jiffy pop Brian prepared on the grill for us. At 5:30 in the morning we emerged from our tent, threw on our shoes, and ordered up some pancakes at a 24 hour diner.
On Sunday night when I was putting Oscar to sleep I asked him if he was happy to be sleeping in his bed again. He started to cry and told me that he wanted to sleep in the tent again. Next time it is his daddy’s turn.
When I wrote the 100 Things Post I was struggling a bit to get through the whole thing. Number 98, Coin a phrase, was more than a bit of a stretch. Did I really want to coin a phrase? Not really. Guess what I did, though? I’ve been writing occasional posts for the Volunteer San Diegoblog and it appears that my latest piece has done the job. Check this out this email I received today:
I was also able to knock off a few more from the list, thanks to my birthday:
74. Buy a rolling pin – thanks, Vicki
75. Buy a cast iron skillet – thanks again, Vicki
76. Buy a pancake griddle – thanks, Mom & Dad
95. Explore Los Angeles – thanks, Brian! We went for my bday weekend and I was able to check out Hollywood, West Hollywood, Downtown LA, LACMA & the La Brea Tar Pits. Fun to bop around a new place…made even better by leaving the kids at home.
The list is really working out for me. Seems pretty Oprah/The Secret-ish, right? Some of these things are on my mind because of the list and are easy to knock off, but #98 is pretty neat–I have to say.
What a night! What a morning! We are so proud in this house to have a new president after eight long, hard, greedy, misdirected years. America’s standing in the world is lifted. Malia and Sasha are getting a puppy!
Our joy and pride is tempered by the fact that Prop 8 has passed. California has legalized discrimination and along with our friends and neighbors, our hearts have been broken. Losing this issue by just four percentage points tells me that this issue is far from settled.
I got the ghost costume on Etsy. I just LOVE Etsy. The last several purchases I’ve made online have come from that site. Oscar’s costume was all stuff we had around the house. I was very pleased to see how proudly he wore it next to all of the other kids in commercially designed outfits.
Did you know that if he weren’t a software wizard, Brian would be a video editor? Check out his latest creation:
Anarchy…who are we kidding? Must be Halloween. Laurel is going to be a ghost for trick-or-treating tonight, but I thought I’d give her a day costume as well. How do you like this “Smells Like Teen Spirit” cheerleader?
I have now enjoyed this tshirt on both of the kids. Here’s Oscar’s first ever Halloween costume.
Thanks many of you for your warm reception to my 100th post. I’ve been tackling some of the easy stuff on my 100 things list. Since things are pretty quiet around here these days I thought I may as well give The Full Catastrophe an update:
15. Learn to cut my kids’ and husband’s hair – I trimmed Laurel’s bangs the other day
20. Figure out why people wear tshirts that say “College” – Thanks to Damon for giving me the lowdown on this phenomenon.
37. Buy only original art – I’ve purchased some pieces from Carrie’s illustration blog. You should, too!
63. Try a new restaurant once a month – We’ve hit up two places that are new to us this month. Sicilian Thing Pizza is great for quick cheap eats. The Studio Diner was surprisingly fresh & tasty for a diner. It is dangerously close to our gym, tempting us to undo all of our hard work with its fries and milkshakes.
74. Buy a rolling pin – Brian’s mom has promised to give me one of hers. Thanks, Vicki!
This blog seems naked without pictures of OJD & LTD, no? Let me fix that…
“No hair in my eyes!”
For my dad, here’s Oscar’s favorite part of his recent Saturdays.
You’ve heard it before, but one drawback about southern California weather is the lack of seasons. Of course we have seasons, but they change very subtly. Generally speaking, people look forward to October’s cool, crisp days. October in San Diego is still summertime. We turned on our seldom-used air conditioning last week.
There is also the threat of Santa Ana winds during October and dreadful wildfires. I’ll never forget the way the sky looked the morning after my 30th birthday–orange, black, and gray…nothing like the crystal clear blue of the Sierra sky in autumn.
The trees don’t do much here either. Liquid ambers are basically the only thing that change color, but their colors are pretty muted in my opinion. So that’s not exciting.
It isn’t all bad here in the autumn, though. The weather cooled off this weekend and it was such a relief. The cool down came just in time for our neighborhood’s annual block party–an excellent October tradition. Neighbors and all their kids, a giant potluck, free goodies like snow cones and ice cream, raffles, pumpkin decorating, bounce houses, and more.
We’re also glad for fall’s arrival to cook everything pumpkin. Yesterday it was pumpkin pancakes and last week we made vanilla pumpkin pie. Oscar, Laurel, and I are getting lots of baking practice in before Thanksgiving & Christmas.
Aunt Turtle is also a lover of pumpkin cuisine.
October always ends much stronger than it begins in SD. I’ll steel myself for the next heat wave (I do love the feel of the Santa Ana’s early in the morning, however) with the knowledge that my birthday & Halloween are coming soon. October really is the best month of the year, isn’t it?
Laurel has been up to her old tricks. You know…growing up so fast and acting so sweet. Her vocabulary is developing (Dada, Mama, This & That, Uh-Oh, Thank You) and she’s picked up on a couple of baby signs very easily. She signs “bye-bye”, “all done” and “eat/food” (she also blows kisses & gives high-fives). We’re going to have to introduce “more” and “help”, those were favorites of her brother. The signing is very cool, although she is an excellent communicator with her grunts and pointing. Check out this video of Little Toki doing her thing:
Let me begin by saying that this is not a Bucket List. I suppose it might be a Bucket List. I haven’t seen that movie yet. I’m far too young to think about kicking the bucket. This is just a list of some big things and little things I’d like to do in my life. It is in honor of post #100 of The Full Catastrophe. I’ll try to keep this site updated in case I get to begin checking things off my top 100. Wish me luck!
1. Go to the desert to see the winter wildflowers
2. Canoe around Catalina
3. Have a haircut that doesn’t need to blow dried and still looks good
4. Teach my dog not to bark at everything
5. Feed a giraffe
6. Scan all of my old pictures
7. Run a 7 minute mile
8. Join the Y Adventure Guides
9. Join a Board of Directors
10. Go on a multi-day river rafting trip
11. Earn a graduate degree
12. Take my kids to Washington DC
13. Go to South Africa
14. Go to South America
15. Learn to cut my kids’ and husband’s hair
16. Organize a girls trip with my mom & sisters in the next 6 months
17. Keep girls trips going so that my daughter and niece can legally join in the fun one day
18. Speak more Spanish
19. Serve on the pit stop crew of the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk
20. Figure out why people wear tshirts that say “College”
21. Own an electric car
22. Become a more comfortable snorkeler
23. Finish the green scarf I’ve been knitting for 10+ years
24. Do a backyard camp-out with Oscar this fall
25. Do a night of camping at the Wild Animal Park with Oscar and Laurel
26. Eat more fish
27. Go to all of the Balboa Park museums
28. Take the kids to the drive-in
29. Go to Murphys at least three times per year
30. Live in a house with a wrap-around porch
31. Spend a lazy summer at a lake house
32. Complete a ropes course
33. Bake excellent bread
34. Have a complete wardrobe
35. Be an educated bird watcher
36. Join the Talmadge/Kensington trash volunteers
37. Buy only original art
38. Fix our house’s 80 year old mailbox cover
39. Go to more tidepools
40. Fly 1st class
41. See the Northern Lights
42. Watch Born Into Brothels
43. Go to obedience training and train an obedient dog
44. Own a cat
45. Teach cat to use the toilet
46. Renew CPR
47. Learn how to use a defibrillator
48. Go to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
49. Go on a horseback riding trip with Uncle Terry and Aunt Peggy
50. Whisk Brian away for a surprise vacation
51. Go to the Hayden Planetarium
52. Go to the Rose Bowl Parade
53. Learn to play guitar
54. Try golfing
55. Play beach tennis
56. Learn to play chess
57. Learn to play bridge
58. Hike the Napali Coast
59. Hike Mare a Mare Centre in Corsica
60. Go to Bran Castle in Romania
61. Drink a prestige cuvee champagne
62. Grow enough tomatoes and strawberries to share with friends
63. Try a new restaurant once a month
64. Create 10 good playlists for my ipod
65. Finish our state quarter collection
66. Fly on a glider
67. Improve my posture
68. Build a haunted house with my kids
69. Pull off a complicated practical joke
70. Repair that family heirloom clock and put it on the mantle
71. Read Moby Dick
72. Start composting again
73. Call my sisters more often
74. Buy a rolling pin
75. Buy a cast iron skillet
76. Buy a pancake griddle
77. Clean my back teeth better
78. Celebrate Christmas without gifts
79. Hike the Camino de Santiago de Compostela
80. Teach my kids how to play cat’s cradle and Chinese jump rope
81. Try acupuncture
82. Wear red lipstick
83. Buy a beer for Oscar’s soccer coaches
84. Plant a camellia in my garden
85. Write a letter once a month
86. See Barack Obama speak
87. Make a Christmas wreath
88. Enter something in the San Diego County Fair
89. See the fall colors in New England
90. Be a grandma
91. Keep my desk cleaner
92. Eat more vegetables
93. Go to Black’s Beach
94. Try offal
95. Explore Los Angeles
96. Get a job that pays enough for me to follow through on all of these ideas
97. Be a big tipper
98. Coin a phrase
99. Witness a bad driver getting pulled over
100. Recognize my good fortune everyday
Lately, Saturday mornings have been reserved for Oscar’s soccer games. Today, however, we played hooky from soccer and headed out to the Marine Corp Recruit Depot (MCRD) to watch Anna race in the Boot Camp Challenge.
The Boot Camp Challenge is a three mile run and obstacle course held annually at MCRD. The participants run the perimeter of the recruit depot and have to complete various obstacles along the way including tunnel crawls, log climbs, and push up stations. Of course there are Marine Drill Instructors stationed at each of the obstacles to offer the racers “gentle encouragement”.
There were easily a couple thousand racers out there ranging from the hard core, elite athletes to the 3- and 5-person teams. Anna and her good friend Noelle entered with three other girls as “Team Tubesock”. Anyone participating as part of a team was required to cross the finish line as a team (leave no woman behind). All five members of Team Tubesock crossed the finish line with an impressive time of 32 minutes.
The kids and I are incredibly proud of our super-star athlete. In fact, Oscar is insisting that we make a gold medal for Anna later today.
Team Tubesock posing before the race.
This shot was taken just before the finish line. If you look closely you’ll see that Anna skinned her right knee pretty good during the race — an injury sustained while navigating one of the low crawl obstacles under heavy enemy fire. We expect her to make a full recovery.
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