love...summergirl

Reassurance

2011-08-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

splash mountain. aug 2011.

A couple of days ago, I was sitting on the couch reading a quick column in a magazine about parental worries. Specifically, the editors surveyed a group of parents and asked them,

"What have you stopped worrying about as a parent?"

The answers were all across the board and pretty cool.

Then on the next page, they asked kids,

"What should your mom stop worrying about?"

The answers were hilarious and insightful.

For the heck of it, I asked Hannah, who had been coloring at the coffee table right next to me,

"Hanny, what should mommy stop worrying about?"

Without looking up or missing a beat she said, "Work."

She sounded almost irritated about it.

Something to think about...but not worry about, I guess?

xo,
Sum

Hannah, I mean Amber, I mean Hannah...

2011-08-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

So much of Hannah reminds me of my sister, Amber.

Both my mother and I use their names interchangeably.

I'm not consciously sure why this is,

but it doesn't really matter.

They are both pretty wicked.

xo,
Sum

brewski

2011-08-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

How cool did you feel as a kid when you popped off the top of a root beer and then drank it right out of the brown bottle?

Grandpa John teaches Hanny how to get it done. Yep, those are her ballet clothes.

Guess what?

It's still awesome.

xo,

Sum;)

hello kitty

2011-08-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

Guess who went to the Macy's sale

and wore her new duds out of the store?

4 1/2 never looked so cool. 2011.

She did have to keep taking off her hat

because it was making her head sweaty.

That's what sequins in August will do to a gal. Am I right?

xo,

Sum;)

take that tv guide

2011-08-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Tell me you've seen the Friends episode when the Guys challenge (and eventually defeat) the Girls in a trivia battle over who knows who better. It includes the following bit
(roughly recreated from my memory):

Ross asks, "The Guys get TV Guide delivered every week. What name appears on the address label?"

Rachel, "Chandler gets it! It's Chandler Bing!"

Monica, "No!"
Ross, "I'm afraid the TV Guide goes to, 'Chanandaler Bong.'"

Chandler, "That's Miss Chanandaler Bong."

So rad. Even showed that episode in my class at UCSD. Yes, it was a rad class if I do say so myself. ;)

(click here to see the YouTube clip of this bit. magic happens around 2:25. clip includes "the lighting round". i majored in lightning round.)

Transition to real life...

once my sister ("Amber Neilson") received mail--not sure what piece of mail exactly--addressed to "Aubrey Priesen".

Awesome. Sometimes we still call her that...ok, lots of times we still call her that. What up Aubrey!

Today, I got this:

not sure he'll answer to this...do you think the "A" is silent?

Yep. That's two vaccine notifications for our two cats: "Belle" (on the left) and "Tucker"(on the right).

How's that? "Belle" and "TUCKER".

TUCKER. T-U-C-K-E-R. or in this case, "P-U-A-G-R".

I mean come on.

(pause, because i seriously just choked from a coughing attack triggered by laughing so hard at "PUAGR".)

We are pronouncing it "Poo-uh-ger".

The "PUA" makes me feel like it's Hawaiian...but the "GR" makes me think, perhaps Russian.

Then again, when I say it, "Poo-uh-ger" it sounds oddly Indian.

Here's my question, when I take Belle and "the other cat" in for the aforementioned vaccinations, do I sign him in as "Tucker" and then risk having a complete laughing conniption after I have to point out the error on the reminder card...because, seriously, I think I will laugh so hard again that it'll be an issue. OR do I sign him in as "Puagr" and just play it off like, "Yeah, we like exotic names for our animals"?

ahahahahack hack hack hack,

Sum;)

ps What is Chandler Bing's job?

thanks hub

2011-08-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

my very own sunday.

Sometimes a girl just needs to be left alone with her thoughts and guilty pleasures.

my flowers.

But, sometimes a girl doesn't know how to ask for that...luckily for this girl, i married a man who knew better. He brought home flowers for Hanny & me on Friday afternoon.

hanny's flowers on her nightstand. i love her.

Then he took my little love up to visit some of his family members for the weekend.

and

left me

all

self.

And let me assure you. It was glorious.

I read. I wrote. I watched chick DVDs.

Painted my fingers & toes.

I even went to an old school

Latin Catholic Mass.

There I am.

I missed me.

Take a break from your life

and find yourself.

xo,

Sum;)

it's summertime

2011-07-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

and i know that because we got photobooth crazy

at the del mar fair.

observe, if you will, my method: smile nicely for 1st photo then try to progressively make the most awkward & physically bizarre faces you can. too bad these photos don't have sound, because i assure you it was a cacophony of weird. case in point, the bottom pic: hub is actually making a turkey gobble sound/beak. me? i'm saying, "eeehhhhhhh" like an elderly deaf woman and sweet hanny is perfecting the raspberry "pptttttttttttttttttttt". oh we are glorious. i'm thinking we should be on the side of the machine as a demo.

really...this kind of artistic mastery...it's a gift, i think.

xo,

sum

ps i'm gonna try and upload some more pics soon & btw...have you been watching So You Think You Can Dance? I have. and i've got some thoughts. you? ;)

sharing

2011-06-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

Julie & Me. 1st day of 7th grade. 1990.
After this pic in front of my fireplace we walked to the school bus stop.
My bangs are so rad it hurts.

Yep.
It's been 2 months to the day since I last bloggy-wogged.

I'm sorry about that.

But, ya know...I didn't disappear.

I just got real busy with life.

And.

The real reason I haven't blogged is because

didn't

know

what

say.

So there it was.

The mid-blog existential crisis:

What do I want to blog about?

What's the purpose of the blog?

Does anyone really read this anyway?

If you chop down a tree in the middle of a blog that no one is writing...does it make any sound?

Can you chop down a blog tree?

Clearly this is not good blogging.

Though I am intrigued by the idea of a blog tree...not like a family tree...but a tree that grows forth from the blog. That emerges from the screen and drops lovely apples in your lap while you read and comment on the brilliance of including a blog tree.

I will work on the tree.

Really, I will.

In the meanwhile,
I've realized that I wasn't writing the blog,
because I didn't like the blog.

It wasn't service-minded.

And, in my heart, I want to be service-minded.

But, it's something I have to consciously work towards.

So, I want a blog that also works towards that.

But, what service can I provide via blog, that doesn't make me feel like I'm bragging or just showing off? I read blogs by lovely women who share all sorts of lovliness/craftiness/goodness,
but when I contribute in this way I feel like I'm posturing a bit.

I don't like to posture.

It hurts ma'back.

But what I do like to do, is share.

And, what I really like to share is knowledge.
It's my favorite thing to receive and fave thing to share.

Not in a know-it-all way

('cause I do know that i don't know it all...Lord help me).

But, in an excited,

"Look what I found out!" kind of way.

Like when you discover something as a child and you can't wait to tell everyone else because what's the point of learning/discovering something awesome if you can't then share it with someone else.

Is there a greater thrill than learning something new?

Yes. Sharing that something new with someone else.

This is probably why I went into academia.

My lectures are basically one long,

"And did you also know this?! I know! Can you believe it?!"

So, that is what I will be doing on this blog
from now until my next crisis.

Learning and sharing what I've learned.
****

Today, I learned that: my girlfriends have really good ideas about how to take on goals.
My current goal involves the last 9 pounds of pregnancy/post-partum/food addiction weight that I'd like to leave behind. My girlfriend, Julie, reminded me today that she lives down the street from me now and she can meet me halfway between our houses and we can run in the mornings before the hubs go to work and the babes need us to be moms.

A note about "meeting halfway": This is the 2nd time Julie has lived down the street from me. As children/pre-teens/teens we lived down the street from each other and we'd always call each other and say, "Meet ya halfway?" And then we'd walk down and meet at the streetsign pole on the corner halfway between our two houses. Then when we were done playing/chatting/whatevering, we'd say, "Walk me halfway?" and then we'd walk again and say goodbye at the pole. We haven't met at the pole in at least 15 years.
When she moved near me a few months ago, she texted me,
"Hey. I live by you. Now we can meet halfway again.".

***

The thing about goals is they seem really far away sometimes.

But, that's when you need your friend(s).

Because, I bet if you ask, your friend will "meet ya halfway"

and then it's not quite so far.

xo,

Sum

hop

2011-04-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

We saw it.

When going to see Hop, it helps to wear butterfly wings, bunny ears, & bring a Dora Backpack.

We liked it.

Ah!

Hanny got the t-shirt.

It says "Hop til you Drop". She did. 2011.

Love it,

Sum;)

ps I have some thoughts brewing around in my head that I will get to blogging about soon. Or do you prefer the Hannah photo-blog as of late?

rapunzel

2011-04-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Like many little girls Hannah is obsessed with the Disney movie,

Tangled.

Hannah dressed up as Rapunzel (complete with fake hair braid) for her cousin. Louise's, princess tea-party. That dang braid took me about 20 minutes to fanagle into her hair...then she told me it was too itchy after about 5 min. I put big purple flowers in her hair, too, but I'm not sure where that pic went.

Grandma Mickey (my mom) bought the video for her

& I think we've watched it 8 times since Tuesday.

Hannah tends to over-identify with the heroines in Disney movies.

Example, yesterday she sat at her bedroom window

& loudly beckoned

"Helloooo?"

to all who passed by below.

She was pretending to be locked up in a tower.

Hannah as Rapunzel...or perhaps as her true self. 2011.

Thank goodness she didn't throw down her hair.

xo,

Sum

sleeping bag

2011-03-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hannah loves sleeping in her sleeping bag.

But, who doesn't?

Recently, she devised a sleeping bag for one of her best pals,

Barbie.

one of my old socks finds new life as a Barbie sleeping bag. 2011.

stay cozy,

Sum;)

obstacle course

2011-03-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

Hanny likes to surprise us with new games & inventions.

Today, she unveiled an

obstacle course.

Hub & I were quickly recruited as competitors.

It began with a path made out of bendy straws, a votive candle, a little green glass jug, princess straws, & a Cutie:

Then, the course itself.

Obstacle Course Challenge. 2011.

The challenge begins.

Hanny explains the rules:

"don't step here, it's a mud pit."

"if you win. you get TWO prizes!"

Hub takes the challenge.

"Blast! Stuck in the mud pit!" Hanny eventually pulled him out. phew.

Mommy boldly takes the challenge:

"Success! Made it to the landing zone!" and even managed to take a pic to commemorate the glory.

Mommy completes the course in record time. Naturally.

Hub tries again:

"Yes!"

And he makes it!

hooray!

For successfully completing the course, we won...

fabric cupcakes!

Number One!

See, no course of obstacles is too difficult

with the right coach & teammates.

xo,
Sum

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

I hope your day

is full of luck

the mantel. 2011.

green treats

mixing up green cupcake batter. yep, that's a christmas nightie.

hey! it turned green!

ta-da! green-ish cupcakes!

and friendly leprechauns!

the sign we made for the front door after hannah decided leprechauns were scary & she did not want them to come to our house & do some tricks (they did turn her toilet water green, just to let her know they had been there...but then they obeyed the note & went to bed...or so i'm guessing). i apologize for the missspelling of leprechaun. my notepad lacks spell check.

lovely lass ready for the day. she named that bear Sprinkles. and, yes, she is wearing a bun & a pony tail in her hair because she also decided it's st.patrick's day/crazy hair day.

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun,

And find your shoulder to light on,

To bring you luck, happiness and riches

Today, tomorrow and beyond.
~Irish Blessing

Have a lucky day!

Sum (& Hannah)

ballet class

2011-03-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hannah finally started dance class.

Pre-Ballet/Tap.

I say finally, because she's been beggin' to go.

Hannah & friend, Ella, ready for 1st day of dance class. 2011

Actually, she was a little peeved when I told her

it was ballet and tap because,

"I only want to do the ballet part.

I don't know how to tap dance."

*Not sure why she thinks she knows how to do ballet, but ok.

Magically, once she got those tap shoes on,

she was feeling quite tappy.

Our one problem arose

when we realized that she was the only little girl

not in a ballet skirt.

My defense: I read the dress code for the studio &

it said, pink leotard, pink tights, hair up.

It did not say skirts were ok for the little ones

& I know ballet studios can be quite strict.

So we left ours at home.

Thus began the epic poem I like to call,

"But, I didn't have my skirt"

Our heroine is: Hannah

Our villian is: Mommy

Mommy's hamartia: hubris in the form of following directions too closely &
not bringing ballet skirt, "just in case"

Hanny's tragedy: having only the sides of her leotard to hold onto while the other ballerinas swished their skirts from side to side*

*see blurry pic below

Hanny's lament: "Mommy! Why didn't you know that I could have my skirt? Mommy? Why didn't we bring my skirt? Mommy! Why? Why didn't you know? WHY?"

Mommy's attempt at redemption: "We'll bring it next week."

Hannah's resolultion: TBA.

Epilogue: Daddy, "Hannah, did you have fun in dance class?" Hannah, "No. Mommy forgot my skirt."

The end.

Our tragic heroine the moment I realized that her not having her ballet skirt was going to haunt us forever. Please, excuse the camera phone through the one-way mirror photo, but you get the jist.

Excuse me while I go bang my head on the nearest ballet barre.

Merde,

Sum;)

the treasure

2011-02-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

I thought the hutch couldn't be beat as #1 salvage steal.

But, two weekends ago, a rival emerged from the

depths of our dumpster.

I give you

the treasure:

the treasure sans its drawers & hardware.

the drawers out & ready for primer...hub & I may or may not have used some swear words while removing the hardware.

Here's how she came into our life:
I was throwing out our trash & saw the edge of this beauty poking out of the garbage.

I quickly hailed Hub to come help me get it out & inspect it.

We found it to be very heavy (a good sign to me) & only superficially nicked & scratched (another good sign to me as I like that sort of thang). It worked well, wasn't really that dirty, damaged, or stinky. And, unlike the hutch (which was $40 on CraigsList) the treasure was FREE! In other words, I needed to get that thing into my house asap before the person who put it in there saw me claiming it & tried to take it back...or unfairly judged me for taking their trash.

It sat on our patio for a week until I

had time to scrub, sand, & repaint it.
*by "I scrubbed it", I obviously mean me and Hub...or, rather, mostly Hub, under my direction. ;)

Hanny is the one who dubbed it "the treasure". She asked where it came from & I said, "I found it!"

She said, "Like a treasure!" (Note: she really likes Dora the Explorer's Pirate Adventure Movie).

She also likes to tell people, "We saved it from the trash!"

Indeed.

After utilizing some elbow grease, Hub's power drill, light sanding, much scrubbing, & some very, very light pink paint (at Hanny's suggestion), here's how she looks now. just in time for Super Bowl Sunday:

the other side lifts open to store bigger things, like yoga mats & Guitar Hero gear.

Hannah demonstrating basic features of the treasure, i.e. it's a coffee table that holds snacks.

close up of aforementioned "snacks". Hannah made the shrimp hearts on her own, & then told Hub not to eat them.

The treasure served us well in her coffee table debut

during our 3-person Super Bowl party.

She has since expanded her credits to include:

Dance Stage

Diving Board

Photo Shoot Locale

Barbie Land

Game Board

& Cat Sun Lounger

Did I mention, she was free & I had the paint already?

The Treasure: Queen of the Freegan Finds

Long may she reign!

xo,

Sum

whatha...

2011-02-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

ella, hannah, & mav. trying to make up for the lack-of-blog. feb 2011.

it's February!

I've neglected the blog.

I'm sorry.

But, Hanny, Hub, & I are still here.

We've been prepping for Love day next Monday.

We've been keeping it real & awesome...just not real awesome on the blog.

Sorry peeps.

I know this isn't much of a post, but I had to do something because,

damn, that unitard picture could not lead the blog anymo.

Cutouts are so 2000 and late.

I'll post something rad, soon.

xo,

Sum;)

junior year (reflect)

2011-01-20T18:58:00.000-08:00

oh 1995...a big year for unitards & jazz boots.

junior year: clear braces & basically the same hair i currently rock... whoopsie. don't hate on my paw print socks & kaepa cheer shoes.

lately i've begun to feel like things have gotten a little easier for me.

they really haven't, though,

i've just gotten a little more capable.

like your junior year of high school

(or college for that matter).

it's not that things are easier, in fact,

in many ways there is more on your plate,

but, somehow, you hit your stride & things don't feel so heavy.

truth is, "things" are just as heavy as they always were,

you're just stronger by year 3

***

cut to a couple of days ago

when hanny & i were having our first play date

with a lovely little girl from her preschool

& her mother

(who, it turns out, went to the same high school as me,

just a few years older!

isn't that always the way?

seriously, who needs facebook?

god sprinkles those whom i need to see again back into my life

without my cyber-forcing the sitch...

do you think mark zuckerberg has

a personalized license plate? eee-gats.

do you think it looks like this: FACEBK1.

that wasted 2 minutes of my time to come up with

that stupid thing. again, i say,

"NO GOOD CAN COME OF

PERSONALIZED LICENSE PLATES."

sheesh. now i'm all stressed out...)

anywho.

we're on our play date and the other mom

& i were chatting about weight

(baby weight, losing it, regaining it...super)

and i mentioned gaining 15 pounds or so after i graduated college.

she replied, "oh yes, freshman 15."

I said, "No, i had just graduated."

she said, "I know, you were a freshman

in that next part of your life."

this is when i knew i liked her.

(live in person conversation...suck on that zuckerberg)

i have also always viewed my life

in 4-year increments.

i thought i was the only school-nerd who did this!

that got me thinking, reflecting if you will...

(hence the recap/reflect/reboot payoff promised in this post...nice)

on the 4 year milestones of my life.

Here's what i found:

1996: graduated from high school

2000: graduated from USC (undergrad)

2004: got married

2008: finished PhD

kinda creepy, huh?

***

now, of course i had hannah in 2006,

which wasn't during one of the 4 year "marker" years

as considered above.

but, when i think about it,

having her was like that

fork in the road

at the end of sophomore year

when you decide what path you're gonna commit to

for the foreseeable future:

"am i gonna go for a 4-year university

or 2-year community college then transfer?"

"AP or regular history?"

"Varsity sports team or more social calendar events?"

...

"kids now or wait until i'm finished

with grad school & we have a house?"

it's a foundation laying decision

for the future course of your life.

it's when you ask yourself,

"what do i want to do after this phase of life is over?"

"who do i want to be in the long run?"

in other words, it's a biggie.

i wanted to be a mom when i graduated.

and i am...

and that's a whole other series of

"freshman 15" & "graduation" moments. ;)

***

it's 2011.

if we're buying into the 4-year increment theory,

that puts me in my junior year of

this 4-year, post-PhD, stay-at-home mom phase of my life.

good news: I've found my footing & am no longer an awkward newbie.

bad news: there are big tests, reviews, & applications during junior year (SATs, Qualifying exam, etc.)...tests make me panic.

i guess this is when you accept that you're not gonna drown,

but, you start to worry how you'll measure up amongst the other swimmers. where you question your choices

& mean little doubts creep in.

it is at this point that i resort to one of my fave

philosophies, handed down from my momma:

do all that you can do then give it to god.

i also usually get a big-fat-diet-coke (bfdc)

& watch many friends dvds at this point,

but i digress.

***

so,

junior year it is.

getting excited to graduate into the next phase

(we got our sights set on buying our first home in 2012...yikes!)

but not before getting in & playing hard where we're at.

after all, i don't wanna miss out on

senior year, it's the most fun.

anyone wanna have an awards banquet with me?

we can get trophies & everythang a'la the Dundies. ;)

gonna throw those caps in the a-yer,

Sum;)

p.s. yes, yes, i am aware of the hypocrisy of my facebook critique, seeing as i am a blog writer

& thus also a contributor to cyber connection.

good news: on the blog we don't have the pressure of "friending" each other. we can just cyber co-exist,

like eaves-dropping on the bus or in the post-office line. what? i don't do that...

bad news: i wish my blog had "like" buttons, because, girl, you know i love me a gratuitous thumbs up icon.

wait at tick...what's that?

summer "likes" google images. she would also "like" a billion dollars. touche zuckerberg. ;)

sparkle

2011-01-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

hanny applying shiny lip gloss after lunch at red robin. 2011.

when hannah is part of your life

every day has a little more sparkle.

i hope you had a restful

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day

and found some time to

appreciate the varied gifts

others bring to your life

simply by being themselves.

click here to enjoy a compelling interview with dr. maya angelou

about dr. martin luther king, jr.

xo,

Sum

wiener is spanish for hot dog

2011-01-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

thar she is. 2011.

grandpa john, hanny, sum, & wiener mobile resplendent in orange & yellow. 2011.

coloring a picture of the wiener mobile. 2011.

sticking the picture of the wiener mobile on the wiener mobile. i'm trying to move past the "hungry side" sitch i got going on in this pic....my left side done ate up my vest...cute.


this does not help my animosity towards personalized license plates...

it's not everyday you get to pick up your daughter

from preschool with the words,

"Let's go baby, we're gonna pick up grandpa & go see the wiener mobile!"

Hannah asked me, "Why is it called a 'wiener'"?

I said, "Wiener is another name for a hot dog."

Hannah, "It's Spanish."

Adios hot dogs,

Sum;)

daisies

2011-01-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

These are for you.

i hope you like them.

xo,

Sum

recap

2011-01-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

let's pretend

that I totally planned on beginning my 2011

blog posting in 1-11-11...because i'm totally

on the ball & clev & super cool...

yes?

are we all pretending?

great.

let's proceed with the holiday recap.

(this is the 1st of a 3 part series

I am calling: recap/reflect/reboot

do you love it?

are you still pretending? good.)

and away we go.

our holiday was fab, perhaps one of our best!

and...

(drum roll)

i got a new camera!

thanks in-laws!

i guess it's technically for john and me to share...

but mostly hannah & i have taken 99% custody of the thing.

we hand it to hub when we want him to take a picture of us

and he happens to be there...does that count?

and we're pretending...

(that should be read in the same tone as a campus tour guide saying, "and we're walking...")

i'm still figuring the camera out,

it's not that it's so complex,

i just reject instruction manuals in all forms.

i'm not stubborn...just a kinesthetic learner.

and we're pretending...

so, here's a photo gallery

(i use the term loosely)

of our holiday:

hanny, grandma lori, & great-grandma. christmas day 2010.

our house. day after christmas. hanny at her new art easel from santa. 2010.

artist at work. 2010.

best part of day after christmas. alone time with new toys! 2010.

oh, did i mention i got new uggs? from great-grandma & great-grandpa. we've begun to refer to their home as "house of dreams" because you dream of things you want. you go there. and those things somehow become part of your life. "house of dreams!"
and hanny got Cootie game from auntie.

other fave gift. new red mug. from hub. yes please. 2010.

some holiday decor:

the hutch. 2010. still the best $40 craigslist find eva.

hanny & i made a gingerbread house. oh, that's a pool behind the gummy arches under the window. um hm. 2010.

nativity. it snowed in bethlehem this year. i heart jesus...really, i do. 2010.

santa & his spirits. get it? it's the wine rack? spirits? i've been told that jokes are less funny when you explain them. not sure if it's true, but i have been told that. something to consider in 2011.

and now,

the hanny cam:

hanny's first subject: tucker. he is a grump. note her feet in lower right corner. i like to think of it as a cool autobiographical artistic choice. 2010.

tucker2. it is likely he bit her after this picture. he is the devil. however if you are in the market for a stripey, slightly diabolical cat let us know. seriously. we'll even give you a carrier for transporting him. he'll no doubt enchant you with the sweet sound of hissing & spitting from inside the carrier as you take him home. then he will attack your legs in the middle of the night. maybe he'll even lunge at you whilst you blow dry your hair. we declawed him so we wouldn't kill him, but i think it just made his teeth sharper. honestly, just let us know & he's all yours. you'll love him. maybe he'll love you. he clearly hates us. 2010.

hub's pj pants. 2010.

hub. 2010.

the caterpillar. this was intentional. 2010.

picture of a picture. "metapicture". 2010

shane & david from the upside down show. 2010.

belly-girl. the sweetest cat in the world, though slightly unwilling photo subject. 2010.

baby alive. much more willing subject. 2010.

hannycam montage: "study of the nostril." 2010.

new years eve:

Trattoria Acqua in La Jolla. our fave. 2010.

hanny took this pic of us.

and this one, too. 2010.

so that about sums it up.

except that...

my sister is engaged!!

YAY!

aub & burnsy. dec 2010.

she's engaged to Brandon.

he asked my dad first.

he proposed on the pier.

probably get married in 2012.

they are super in love & a very happy match.

ok, girls, i know what you wanna see:

isn't it gorg? obvioulsy she is quite smitten. i took this pic while she was getting a mani curtesy of her matron of honor...oh, that's me. yay! i'm thrilled to be "of honor", not so fired up to be a "matron". i'm married, so i gotta be a "matron" instead of a "maid". does this mean i have to wear long sleeves & a shawl? i think this means i have to give a more tasteful toast at the wedding then i was planning...crap...;)

congrats amber & brandon!

xo,

Sum

Barbie Girl

2010-12-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

On December 5

Hannah turned 4 years old!

On December 11

we celebrated her birth with a

Barbie Carnival.

Not sure what a Barbie Carnival is?

Neither was I, but we made it happen.

Enjoy the fruits of our carnie (carny?) labor:

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

On arrival, each kid
(we had 26 kids---plus 33 adults---in attendance!)
got 10 tickets for playing games.

Each game "cost" 1 ticket per turn.

They also got handled boxes with their names on them for holding their prizes.
Games included: bean bag toss; ring toss; fish bowl toss (for goldfish crackers, not real fish...sorry kids, you're welcome parents); Pin the Glasses on Barbie; & knock the cans down.

Judging by the full prize boxes, I think we had lots of winners!

the game booths featuring my sister (in trucker hat that reads "Hannah's Aunt", nice) & bella (tush to camera in denim shorts) as Carnies 1 & 2. Carnies 3, 4, & 5 were my brother, my mom, & Amber's (trucker-hatted sister) boyfriend, Brandon, respectively. FYI, carnies were numbered randomly. Yes, the carnies are donning Home Depot aprons for ticket collecting. They were $.77 each. Love it.


crepe paper canopy

Barbie Carnival in action.

Gaming.

Mady taking on the bean bag toss game.

birthday girl getting her game on.

Beer/Wine Garden.

Can you have a carnival without one?


Laney (w/Bristol); JulieK; & Lindsay enjoying the Beer Garden...the Byszewskis in the forefront, obviously they hadn't found the beer/wine garden yet. ;)

Bouncy House

The Bouncy House. Sponsored by Grandma Lori & Grandpa Doug.

Note: we rented the bouncy house from all star jumpers and they were awesome:

clean jumper, good price, & polite workers!

tutus were made for bouncy housing.

gift time:

sizing up the loot.

hannah opening baby alive from great grandma kay, who also gave me baby alive when I was a little girl!

rapunzel pillow.

one of her fave gifts: rapunzel wig from auntie amber


the rapunzel wig makes for difficult bouncy house maneuvering

Cotton Candy Face. My parents rented a cotton candy machine for the party & my dad served up many, many fresh cotton candy cones. They were delish. So was the pink cotton candy that laced my dad's arm hair all day long ;)

Adelyn, McKenna, Madyson, & Hannah discussing current events. Jacob, always the gentleman, pushing.

head carnie sum in barbie-t that i got at target 2 years ago. bril.

barbie pinata:

it was shaped like a purse.

Hannah requested a pinata for her "biesta."

Gotta love Dora en espanol.

no tree branch, no worries. just hang pinata from hub on high.


Kids getting ready to pull open pinata (rather than smack it with a bat...mediocre results, i ended up ripping the bottom off & pouring out the candy)

me, the moment i realized that throwing the candy in the air for the kids was not a good plan...notice the sucker about the bonk hannah on the head...yes, it hurt.

happy birthday hanny!

Special thanks to Grandma Mickey & Grandpa John (my parents)

for loaning us their awesome fairgrounds.

Can't wait to see what 5 brings...Hanny has mentioned race cars.

Start your engines.

xo,

Sum;)

ps hopefully I'll get some holiday posts in before 2011...hopefully!

4 years old!

2010-12-14T12:33:00.000-08:00

Celebrating our 4-year old family!

On December 5

Hannah turned 4 years old!

We celebrated with a Barbie Carnival!

Party pics coming soon...

xo,

Sum

happy thanksgiving!

2010-11-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

moshy fam. thanksgiving 2010.

Hope your holiday was cozy & filled with love!

xo,

Sum

pop

2010-11-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

waiting...

show time!

today, we as a fam are grateful for the air popcorn popper!

we've been wanting one for awhile & my mom graciously lent us hers for a spell.

It's the very same one that I enjoyed in my younger years

& ya know what?

The thrill of the anticipation while the popper gets going is still fabulously fun!

Does anyone not scream when it starts going?

How about when the hot kernels fly out & pop in the bowl causing the other popcorn to catapult all over the kitchen?

I think the screaming helps the flavor...hannah thinks its hilarious. ;)

She also loves to take handfuls of fresh popcorn &

sing Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree in full voice.

I'm gonna try to scoop up a popper of my very own on Black Friday...

which, I prefer to call Bright Yellow Sunshiney this Day is Amazing Friday.

xo,

Sum

POST EDIT: I just got a call from my mom & she said that the popcorn popper is ours to keep! oh girl! Bright Yellow Sunshiney this Day is Amazing, just got more amazing! ;)

imagination

2010-11-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

Today I am grateful for imagination.

Specifically, Hannah's imagination.

Today, after we were out for a very long time doing errands,

I came home & had to finish some work.

I told Hannah that I was sorry but she was going to have to play by herself for a little bit, while I worked.

She kind of grumped, but then sashayed off to her room.

I could hear her playing away in her land of little girl make believe.

Then she came back into where I was working,

put her hand on her hip & said,

"So...what do you think?"

Here's what I saw:

sorry for the blur...camera phone...but you get the jist, yes?

Well, Hanny...I think that was time well spent.

Carry on, love, carry on.

xo,

Sum;)

inspired

2010-11-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

Today I am grateful for inspiration.

Inspire-to give rise to.

Inspirit-put life into, animate; encourage.

I like these words. I didn't realize that "inspirit" was a word, but now that I do, I think I will use it a lot in my personal journal wherein I list my private goals.

***

After I "woke up" shall we say, from post-partum depression about a year ago, I found myself in a foreign place. Mostly, because I didn't know what my goals were anymore. The person and identity I had tied my kite to, where no longer the same. For those of you who have not suffered with mental illness, let me assure you that it is a very, very sad day when you find yourself no longer being able to trust your own mind. You think things like, "Well, I think I want to start that project, but maybe I just think I do, and what I really want is something else...but I don't know what that thing is or even how to try & guess at what it might be and begin to look for it."

You also make a lot of mistakes. 

Only, you don't know they are mistakes until they have blown up in your face. Life without mental illness can be like this too, I suppose, but for me the difference, is in recovery. Specifically, the ability to recover from life's mistakes. I lost my ability to roll with the punches. The punches knocked me out. Down for the count. That's how I felt a lot of the time. Down for the count. And I would lay there, down, and wait for the sensation to return to my body and my mind to tell me what to do. Only, it wouldn't come. So, eventually, I'd drag myself up off the floor & keep going...without a map or even a clue as to where I should be going.

This next week will mark one year of my being off of meds

(Effexor XR if you wanna know).

Because of the psychosis I was going through right after I had Hannah, I had to be put on these meds in an effort to numb out the delusional instincts & obsessional thoughts I was having. It worked. But, the funny thing about meds, is that they don't just numb out the bad stuff. If they're gonna numb out your instinct to snap your baby's neck, they are also gonna numb out your instinct to stand up for yourself.

Obviously, the trade-off is worth it.

But, as the psychosis went away & my mind got rid of those scary signals, I was left with neutrality.

My mind was a blank slate. Not in an exciting way. In a terrifying way. 

But, my spirit knew me better than that.

My spirit knew I was made to stand for something. To have an opinion. To take action.

My spirit knew, but my mind was dormant.

So, I would try things on my mind...in the hopes of waking my mind up a bit.

"Maybe I don't like strollers & I only want to wear my baby."

"Maybe I do need help organizing my home."

"Maybe I'm done with academia & I want to craft for a living."

"Maybe I want to live in another state."

"Maybe I won't eat meat anymore."

But, none of these things inspired my mind to join the fight.

They lacked inspiration. 

They were edifices. Me pretending to have an opinion. My posing instincts.

I did not feel fake or like an impostor. I just felt lost.

I tried on other people's lives or ideas, not because I wanted to be them,

but because I hoped the actions would ignite my inner fire again & I could reengage in my own life.

I wanted an anchor to tie my boat to. A sense of self to draw from. 

Each time I would try on one of these life goals, ideas, stances I would hope with so much force that this finally would be the thing that would unlock the door back to myself. And when they would not, I would feel devastated. I felt forever destined to live next to my life. Like walking next to a glass-paned wall that you see your reflection in, but can't get through.

Last November, when I weaned off my meds. I felt like my head had been ripped open.

Now, instead of my being inaccessible, my mind spilled out all over my floor in an unending flood of mess.

Everything set me off.

I started to feel again.

And I felt a lot.

I was embarrassed over some of the things I had done, said, & felt while healing.
I was pissed at people who I felt used my suffering to make themselves feel better; who preferred the sick me over the healthy me.

I was frantic over what I felt was time lost while I was "away."

I was overwhelmed by everything.

I felt very behind.

I was confused by the life I woke up to, it wasn't a bad life, just slightly off some how

& I needed to tinker with it to get back on track.

I also felt emotions very deeply, much stronger than I had before my break, and in many ways I still do.

I felt something else, too. Strength.

Strength of spirit. And slowly, quietly, it became accessible to me, again.

In January of this year, I set out to unearth myself.

I found out that I wasn't so different than the dream I had for myself.

I wasn't a complete mess. 

Despite my illness, I had managed to finish a PhD, teach, create, help my husband, & raise my daughter.

I was relieved to excavate these truths.
They became my stepping stones, my rocks to anchor to.

Sadly, one of the things I also dug up was a food addiction.

I have joked about my being an "over consumer" before.

I over consume food, tv, & commerce (i.e. I shop).

So, I researched addiction.

I came across some passages on GOOP, Gywnth Paltrow's website, a site which I had never read before.

She had posed a question to several "sages" from various spiritual philosophies regarding addiction. Specifically, she asked, "What causes us to be open to this enslavement (to addiction)? And how do we begin to undo it?" What I found there changed my life.
(Click here if you wanna read them for yourself.)

One of the most significant lines for me was from Michael Berg, co-director of the Kabbalah Centre.
He said, "Addiction is simply a misguided yearning of the soul.(...)
Realize these yearnings are coming from a true place (our soul) telling us we need to do more, and we can do and be more."

I had never thought of this before. I knew I had lots of impulses. Most creative people do.

But, I had generally felt like I had to sort through and separate the good ones vs. the bad ones.

Good ones= picking up trash off the ground, giving a dollar to a homeless person, giving my husband a hug.

Bad ones= eating 2 extra cookies, watching a real housewives marathon...again, diving into blogosphere for eons.

But, when I viewed even these "bad" impulses, or yearnings as misguided directions, I could change.

I could catch myself & instead of saying, "stop that." "don't feel that." "don't think about that."

--All those things we do when we depend on that undependable notion of will-power--

I could ask myself,

"What do you really need?" "What are you really feeling?" "What do you really want to do?"

And, it turned out, what I really needed, wanted, & was feeling weren't that scary.

They weren't things or thoughts that were going to kill me or take me over, like I thought they would.

I wanted things like, "a nap"; "5 minutes of quiet"; "a job"; "exercise"; "comfort"; "to mourn the loss of two babies via miscarriage"; "to buy a house".

Obviously, I couldn't do all of these things the minute I identified them.
But, they gave me a clear direction.

They let me say to myself,
"Ok. What can you do to get through this minute & get a bit closer to that desire?"

And that quick mental break, that quick check-in, would stop my obsessional behavior (i.e. over consuming).

I remember one evening around 5:30PM, I was standing at the checkout stand at Target with a whiny Hanny, a tired/hungry me, a tired hub on his way home, an un-made dinner as it was still in my cart, & a bitter wench of a woman in front of me. Finding myself at capacity, I grabbed a Butterfinger bar to throw on the conveyor belt to give myself some relief. That was the plan.

But, I caught myself.

I asked myself, "What do you need to get through this moment?"

I answered, "I need that woman ahead of me to pay & leave, I need to order Hannah to quiet down & stand still next to me, I need to pay for these groceries, & I need to get home."

I looked down at the Butterfinger in my hand, and on instinct I said,
"Well, this isn't going to help with those things. This is gonna just be one more thing I have to do."
And I tossed it back on the shelf.
As Cynthia Bourgeault said in her GOOP submission about addiction,
it was "like taking off a raincoat once the sun is shining."

And I paid for my stuff & I went home.

This is how I began to listen to myself. To hear my own voice. To hear the yearnings of my soul.

As a Catholic, I believe the soul is where my most pure self dwells. It's where God speaks directly to me. It is the part of me most in touch with a pure state of being. Why would I want to misdirect that? If I believe God is good & by extension, my soul is good, then I can trust those yearnings from my soul.

I began purging all things from my life that encouraged me to listen to a voice/authority other then my own voice/spirit.

I threw away my scale. I should say that it took me 3 weeks of thinking about it to throw out my scale. And, the morning that I did I went back 3 times to crawl back in the dumpster to dig it out. I left it in the dumpster & I had a full blown panic attack in my apartment. Pacing, shaking, & crying. I panicked, "But how will I know if I'm doing well?" "How will I know if I'm good enough?" "How will I know if I've lost enough weight?" Then my spirit reminded me that I know if I'm bigger or smaller. I have jeans with a button after all. I don't need a number to make me feel happy if I know I ate too much cake or sad if I know I'm healthy. I calmed down. I was going to have to trust myself & my common sense. I could also go buy a new scale if I couldn't deal with this. I have not bought a new scale. And my trip to the gyno last week tells me I'm down 20lbs. And I'm down to a size 10 jeans, comfortably. I have set no final weight goal, per se, & certainly no time limit. I know how I feel in my body when it's functioning at its best. I will aim for that & be grateful for what it can do now that it couldn't do in January.

It is now November again.
And I can hear myself.

I am grateful for my journey.
I am more compassionate.
I am a mother.
I am a wife.
I work to honor my soul's desires for goodness, joy, & fulfillment.
I am humbled by a wondrous God who whispers so benevolently to my soul.
I try again.

My mind has been inspirited. 

And I am well.
And very grateful.

How are you, friend?

xo,

Sum

ps i absolutely had no intention of writing this post. i had another idea entirely when i sat down today.

guess my spirit had other ideas. i'm grateful i could hear it. ;)

my jam

2010-11-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

photo courtesy of google images...though i do sorta wish my exercise class had matching unisex bike tards. hot.

Today I'm thankful for Flo Rida's song

"In the Ayer" 

featuring will.i.am

for multiple reasons:

1. It made my workout rock at the gym this morning.

Seriously, when you're in an otherwise hellish exercise class at the gym (hellish in a good hard workout way, not hellish like zumba) and you're exhausted & you've dropped a few f-bombs under your breath & you're thinkin to yourself, "for sure the teacher is sadistic & no way can i do another set of freakin' lunges & shoulder raises & i just might storm out right now & go get a Starbucks" ....but, then...wait a minute...what's that i hear pumpin through the speakers?...it's will.i.am & he's calling to me: oh hot damn, this is my jam...& you involuntarily start bopping your head to the beat & then you think

"oh hot damn! this IS my jam! bring it on teacher friend! bring it on!" 

and you go on to workout in such awesome fashion that you're pretty sure the gym manger is going to ask you to star in the next 24hour fitness commercial. oh hot damn.

2. It taught me new vocab:ayer . That's phonetic hip hop for "air".
As in, "make me throw my hands in the a-yer."

Uh-may-zing.

3. It's put a pep in my step as i do all of my mundane monday stuff around my house...unloading the dishwasher used to be boring but now..."oh hot damn..."

4. it gave me the zest to post two days in a row. thanks flo.

Here's the link to the video: my jam

*you have to sit through the 10sec commercial...it's worth it.

I'm not responsible for what happens if you listen to it and have a
spontaneous dance party or a fierce knee-repeater session

in the middle of wherever you are.

oh hot damn.

sum;)

p.s. i've listened to my jam 3 times while writing this post. let's go for 4...oops make that 5 while i googled an image...
pps i suggest listening to the song & then reading this post, or for max effect, read the post while listening to my jam. happy monday.

I fell back...

2010-11-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

where did the summer go? hannah watching splash mountain. 2010.

I am grateful for Daylight Savings Time and

turning clocks back one hour.

That extra hour is like nature's snooze button...& i love the snooze button.

It really is a great invention, yes?

yawn...

Sum;)

it all began with pumpkin carving...

2010-11-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

today, i am grateful for memories.

picture memories.

aren't cameras amazing? really, aren't they?

as you know, my camera battery, & thus my camera, has been MIA for a spell now.

this caused me great stress.

probably a disproportionate amount.

although, i'm nothing if i'm not disproportionate. ;)

my stress came because of my fear.

(i find most of my stress comes from some sort of fear)

each day I worried,

"oh no! i'm missing all of these memories!

how will i document these moments of/for hannah?"

i couldn't find the right battery charger at target or best buy

& i can't afford a new camera at the moment.

stress...stress...stress...fear...stress...worry...stress...

but as with all things, God finds a way.

I am never without an option,

because with Him, I am never without.

this time, i found Hub's camera phone...& wait for it...

the "vintage camera" application on said phone.

What?

This is amazing & so much better then my normal camera!

i know it's just a camera/camera-phone.

i know it's a stretch to draw

some larger spiritual conclusions

from cameras/camera-phones.

But, i did it anyway.

Here's what this experience taught me:

when i feel like my plan or idea of how things should be has been lost 

i must find another way.

i must take inventory of what i have, not what i think i need, and find my solution within what i've already got.

check out what i did with what i already had:

ta da!

jack.


pumpkin pancakes.


with chocolate chips.

my halloween mug. it's my fave.

welcome to our haunted house.

hanny painted happy faces on the rest of our pumpkins.

the red on white combo was a little gory...

halloween hutch.

the mantel.


pez dispensers.

oh, & hanny decided to forgo the Daphne costume at the last minute.

the wig was too itchy.

the rule was she didn't have to be Daphne, but any new costume had to be made from things we already had.

we had pink tights, pink leotard, & a pink skirt (thanks grandma mickey!).
once again, we found a solution within what we've already got.

she made a fine last-minute ballerina.

pic here.

xo,

sum;)

gratitude

2010-11-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

halloween 2010.

my november project is quite simple & hardly unique given the season:

it is to remember, always, to be thankful.

i will try to post as often as i can this month with a mind towards gratitude.

i am very blessed.

i bet you are, too.

thanks friends,

Sum;)

ps more halloween pics to follow!

halloween fairy

2010-10-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Today for preschool, Hannah wore this:

the halloween fairy. october 2010.

Her school wasn't having a "costume" day for Halloween or anything.

But, ya know I love halloween

(and i think I'm rubbing off on her),

so she decided to wear her

Halloween Hello Kitty t-shirt & sparkle skirt.

It needed some pizazz.

So, she added butterfly wings, bunny ears, & a wand.

And waddaya get?

The Halloween Fairy!

Then i told her, whilst doing her hair:

"Honey, if the kids ask what you are, you can tell them, 'I'm the Halloween fairy.'"

Her response, "No mommy. I'm just gonna be myself."

Herself, in wings & bunny ears, I guess.

Word.

xo,
Sum

ps as soon as we walked into preschool she put her wings, ears, & wand into her cubby & didn't look back. Not sure why... Guess sometimes you don't need to mess with awesome. ;)

patchwork

2010-10-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, guess what?
It's October 27th...Halloween is almost here!

And we've been patchin' it up big time.

Here are the highlights:

BATES NUT FARM

polka dots + pink cons + purple backpack=pumpkin patch, yes?

face paint. check.

wall climb. her idea. she climbed 8 ft.

look how happy i am to have a starbucks & be at a pumpkin patch...good lord, i look drunk with joy...


ABOUT THIS PIC: hanny made bffs with a little girl at the patch. that's her in the orange sweater. let's call her "lucille". they met on the big slide & rode choo-choo style at least 5 times. after multiple, "ok, see you later. have fun!" attempts, it became clear that hanny wasn't gonna be coerced away from her new bosom buddy. it was ok while still at the slide, but when the girls decided to take their friendship into the rest of the patch/farm, hub & i had that awkward dilemma of "do we yank her a away or follow behind making stupid smile faces at lucille's dad who is also following behind the girls making stupid smile faces back at us?" Imbeciles that we are, we stumbled along behind, and did that weird side by side talk that parents do with other parents when they don't know each other but their kids want to share holidays...i imagine it's not dissimilar to the "urinal" type of talking men do..."just look straight ahead, don't make eye contact." lucille was with just her dad at the slide. i blame him for following our lead into the pit of awkwardness...isn't it clear hub & i are complete morons & can not be counted on for social know-how? eventually when we met up with lucille's mom (who had missed the joining of the our tribes since she was with the rest of their group & baby son and not at the slide), she gave a quick, "who is this?" to her husband & then promptly demonstrated the only social grace amongst the 4 adults by saying goodbye to the rest of their group & leading us to the pumpkins where we did more awkward side by side parent talking whilst pumpkin picking...the girls of course were oblivious to the buffoonery. i think i was normal by the end...though, i'm sure lucille's father got a firm talking to in the car. something along the lines of, "next time i ask you to take lucille to the slide, just do that. do not bring back a creepy weird couple & their kid to our church group's outing, k?" "yes dear." ...... it is possible that i've made most of this tidal wave of awkwardness up in my head & maybe in fact, i was only a complete nerd in my head & totally acceptable on the outside. maybe after we parted ways (and re-met in the pumpkin check out line 10 minutes later to engage in more awkward "guess we're not done with each other yet" waving) lucille's mom said, "what a nice little family. the parents were totally cool & normal." probably not, but maybe she did.


the slide sans "lucille". Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch

Joined the Varty Party again this year for a trip to this awesome patch.


Hannah & Corinne...getting big!

Braving the Haunted House. Side note: Once she got used to it she went so many times that I just sat inside & started checking my email on my phone...some people might have thought i worked at/in the haunted house.

The Tale of the Hay Bale Horse by Hannah Moshy

you sit on it. it sits there.

you decapitate it.


you realize it's just a mop in a bale of hay. the end.

hanny on the "you walk" pony ride. What's a you walk pony ride? well, that's when you put your child up on a pony & the worker hands you the rope, points to the muddy loop & says, "you walk". right. got it.

STU MILLER'S PUMPKIN PATCH

in SAN MARCOS

petting the bunnies.

another big slide...that's hanny sliding into the finish. nice.


mommy! can i go again? you know it.

So, there ya go.

Our Patch-Work.

I'm realizing that there are very few pics of actual pumpkins. oopsie.

sorry team...

ever since i've had to rely on my camera phone i feel all sorts of confused.

We've also scoured two Trader Joe's patches & have gourds & pumpkins up to our eyeballs.

i'll post some pics of our bounty when i post pics of our spooky home decor.

stay creepy,

Sum;)

hills that is.

2010-10-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

not an actual housewife. just hanny in costume option 1: Daphne from Scooby Doo.

So the Real Housewives moved to Beverly.

It totally feels like country came to town.

Like this season began and I said, "Oh that's rich and famous."

Case in point:

the og OC cast held oranges in their hands in the shows opening credits.

The New Yorkers got golden apples,

the Hot-lanta crew grabbed peaches...

what did the NJ cast hold?

(hold for googling...)

Ok...so that was 30 min wasted on the internet...to find out that I think they're holding nothing?

Is this the case? They're just standing in front of a map of New Jersey?

Guess it woulda been weird to have them holding self-tanner & gold-plated hair spray cans, yes?

And my rigorous research seems to suggest that the DC "housewives" seem to likewise be holding zilch...just standing in front of a fake capital building? Sounds about right...

Which brings me to my point about the Beverly Hills Housewives.

What are they posing with?

Huge Diamonds.

Yep.

Hub happened to catch a minute of the premiere episode of RHBH

(like that?) and after a silent minute remarked,

"It's like all the other housewives just got served."

True dat hub.

And now a riddle, "Which weighs more: a pound of peaches or a pound of diamonds?"

If we do San Diego Housewives, I hope we all get to hold margaritas & wear flip flops.

Although, it's not like I'd be cast as I am under 40, have my original face, and am an actual housewife. ;)

xo,

Sum;)

the peanut & the eye.

2010-10-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

shower cap & curlers. 2010.

Hannah has begun asking to take showers instead of

or in combination with her evening bath.

To be sure, they are assisted showers.

Meaning she either:

1. showers with me & I scrub her down before allowing her

to play a little in the shower/bath while I dry off.

-Or-

2. one of us (Hub or I...usually, Hub) sits at the edge of the tub/shower & washes her as per a usual bath,

only instead of being rinsed off in the bath water,

we turn on the shower head & she rinses off in the shower.

After we turn on the shower,

she likes us to close the shower curtain

while she faux washes her hair.

Oh, and she sings.

The other day, it was bath time

& she said she wanted a shower.

I asked her if she wanted me

or daddy to shower her (sometimes we take requests).

She said, "You, Mommy."

Me, "Ok."

Her, "I don't want to take a shower with Daddy. I don't want to see his peanut."

Me, "(stifle guffaw...don't look at hub...bite lip...)

Ok, honey.

(...breathe...still try not to laugh hysterically)

But, I didn't mean that you would take a shower with Daddy...just that he would wash you."

Her, (considering...) "Ok. I want Daddy." (happily skips down the hall towards bathroom.)

Me, "Ok." (mouth silently to hub with very raised eyebrows, "your peanut?!")

I'm not sure why she was concerned about this. 

Hub has never showered with her...

well, not counting when she was circa 6 months old

& I handed her to him whilst he was in the shower, yelling,

"Ew. Oh my gosh. Take her! You must wash her. Now!"

after she had a slightly spectacular

poop-explosion-out-the-diaper-up-the-back-sitch...

man, I'm glad those are over...

but, again, no co-showering with him as a toddler or preschooler.

If you must know, Hub's actually quite a modest guy.

Not really a "naked family" per se.

Regardless, I guess it all worked out.

She seems to have gotten over

what ever momentary concern she had and

Hub remains lead bather.

Which brings me to the second awesome

Hannah shower story of this post:

One fine evening in the recent past,

while partaking in aforementioned faux hair washing,

Hanny stuck her head out the shower curtain & hollered,

"Daddy!" 

"Can you please point the shower eye at me?"

The shower eye?

huh?

Oh, the shower head.

I get it.

She thinks it looks like an eye.

Ha, ha hahahahahahahaha.

ah, so rad.

wait a tick...

Does she think the shower is watching her?

I really wonder sometimes,

what is going on in that little head of hers?

Whatever it is, it's awesome.

And hilarious.

Keep it clean, friends, keep it clean,

Sum;)

the p

2010-10-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends.

I'm still here.

Just been wicked busy.

And speaking of wicked...did ya notice?

It's Halloween time!

All. Month. Long.

Hanny & Halloween Minnie

Last year, I took on the Pumpkin Patch Challenge.

It was pretty great.

But, this year,

I've taken on a new challenge &

I'm hoping I can count on your support.

Here it is:

Put the P back in Pumpkin.

Yep.

That's it.

That's my personal October campaign.

Arduous, I know, but that's how I roll.

I'm aiming to get as many people as I can to

put the p back in pumpkin.

The second P, to be exact.

Please don't be offended...but, well...

there are in fact TWO (count 'em, TWO) Ps in pumpkin.

Did you see 'em?

How about now?

PumPkin.

(There is also a "D" & no "M" in sandwich, but I digress...)

Why do so many people say, "Punkin"?

No, really.

Why?

Why do they?

It's confounded me for many years...and this is the year

I will take it on.

Will you join me?

Will you commit to putting the P back in pumPkin?

Will you?

boo to you,

Sum;)

she's got the look

2010-09-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

My daughter really likes to pick out her own clothes.

She likes clothes that are fun & very colorful.

i think the only color missing is green.


those are minnie mouse high heels.

When I asked Hanny about the purple tights

(I had recommended white)

she told me, "Purple goes with everything."

Clearly.

the fashionista at petsmart. who knew they sold accessories?

I like to do her hair in two buns.

She likes to tell people she looks like a panda.


flip flops with leggings. that's how we do it in socal. That's also how we do it when we're running late for preschool.

She also likes to take a purse & 3 stuffed animals on the car ride to preschool.

xoxo

i like hannah...a lot.

xo,

Sum;)

goodness...i love fall & sc

2010-09-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

Usually it's super hot & summer-y

well into septiembre here in SoCal...

i used to bum out so hard when i'd read awesome mags like

"ym" & "seventeen" & "teen"

and all of their back-to-school ensembles would feature layers & loafers & scarves & what not...

yeah...not so much in SD.

But, here it is...September 7 & its very blustery outside.

oh i love it.

confession: I was not all that bummed that

it wasn't super sunny this summer.

I actually liked it.

I'm sorry...please, don't make me turn in my flip-flops.

Hub gets to travel to New York & Boston for work this month

& I'm so jealous.

I love the east coast.

Did I ever tell you about the time I went to Salem, MA for Halloween?

at the house of 7 gables. obviously, during my poncho phase.


salem, 2004. married 1 month. check out those lucious side burns on hub. holla!

It was so so wonderful.

I felt like I was in a book...

I am aware that (a large) part of the novelty of all things "east coast" is that I'm, by all accounts, 100% west coast.
I think I broke it down in my first blog entry about
why I chose the name "summergirl" for ma'blog.

Anyhoo...I love fall.

And it starts in September & back to school.

I'll be teaching drama at 3 elementary schools this fall.

And, Hanny's back in preschool...with new leggings to boot!

But, of course, ever since fall 1996, September has meant really one thing in my heart:

SC FOOTBALL SEASON!

fight on hanny!

Oh, we love it.

Saturday morning, stumble out of bed to start the coffee to get back into bed to watch College Game Day.

Wearing cardinal & gold all day & smiling really big at other people displaying their Trojan Pride.

"Fight On, Friends!"

We used to be all-star tailgaters.

But, ya know, kids will slow ya down a bit in that arena.

But, in our hearts, it's game day!

Fear not friends, one day the kids will be older, & the red easy-ups will fly again!

flyin our colors at home...until we tailgate again...

In the meanwhile,

here's the tour of our SC decor.

pom poms on the hutch

swap out flowers for cardinal & gold mums (yep...that's pizza port for dinner)

more flower swaps


you know it

sc gnome, ready to roll.

And, despite some less than stellar alumni happenings you may have caught wind of (oh, reggie...)

it's still

a great day

to be a Trojan!

Fight on!

Sum

we felt like a crown

2010-08-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

Today Hannah found an ad for princess crafts in one of her toys.

So we went here & chose this craft.

*It called for craft foam, but we used felt.

Here are our results:

cheese

we already had the wand, which has taken up residence in the bathroom as of late...

blurry pic thanks to camera phone...but you get the jist, yes?

Very sparkly.

xo,

Sum

candy & heaven

2010-08-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

my wish list...

1. when i die, i'd like to wake up in a place that smells exactly like hannah's clean hair

and

2. for halloween, i'd like a huge, bulging, gotta-sling-it-over-your-shoulder-and-lean-forward-'cause-it's-so-heavy bag of candy that tastes like sugary hannah kisses.

thank you.

i'm very grateful for this sweetness in my life.

xo,

Sum;)

p.s. nope, no new camera...just a new camera phone.

geometry & auto mechanics

2010-08-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

This morning...

Hannah was playing around on a

much-to-small-for-a-3yr-old

ride-on car.

She flipped it over

(intentionally)

& said,

"Look Mommy! A hoxagon!"

Me, "A hexagon?"

Hanny, "No. A hoxagon."

Me (ever the fool), "What's a hoxagon."

Hanny (ever the wise sage), "It has dark sides."

Me, "Well how about that. I didn't know that."

Hanny, "Yes."

She looks closer...

Hanny, "And look! A plotsagon."

Me, "What's a plotsagon?"

Hanny, "It's on the insides of cars."

Me, "Ok then."

Now you know.

Who says girls can't excel at math & auto mechanics?

My girl rocks!

and...
in lieu of new pics of Hanny
(still no camera to speak of...boo)
I offer you an old pic of me:

oh, i scanned this baby in from one of my childhood photo albums.
i definitely think i spot both a hoxagon AND a plotsagon on my rad shirt.
oddly...it took me longer to get ready in those days than it does now,
that bang wave didn't construct itself my friends.

xo,

Sum;)

Fan-tack-u-lous

2010-08-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hanny just came in here

(I'm doing some work on the computer)

& asked me to help her put her

polka-dot nightgown

on her

"gorilla friend."

He's almost as big as she is

with reeeeeeeeeeeeeealy long arms

with hands & feet that velcro together.

sorta like this...

image found here

My brother got it for her outside of the

Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.

um-hm.

After we dressed him

(yes, it's a him...but no name as of yet other than "my gorilla friend")

in the polka-dotted-nightgown with the pink spaghetti straps

she declared,

"He looks fan-tack-u-lous."

Indeed he did.

Note: in the time it took me to click over to ma'blog

& type up this little story

hannah has changed her "gorilla-friend"

into a different, more sparkly nightgown,

because,

(wait for it)

it's "more sleevy-ish".

uh-huh.

the second dress has longer sleeves

& thus is the preferred frock for the gorilla.

and scene.

xo,

Sum;)

yep.

2010-08-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

sometimes google images just knows what you need to find...

xo,

dr. awe-sum

ps i found the image here.

let's go fly a kite...

2010-07-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

So,

my camera battery charger is still MIA.

But, I found some pics on my computer

from last month that I never posted,

so, we're in luck!

One day not too long ago,

in a place not too far away,

Hannah decided she wanted to fly a kite.

And I decided it shouldn't be that hard to make a kite...

what with my multitude of craft supplies

& the handy online tutorial...
not so much.

Getting ready for what turned out to be no lift off.

Check out that multi-colored ribbon tail.

Aimee Z. do you recognize the spool of thread/yarn you gave us?

Well, let's just say, visually the kite was adorable.

But, aerodynamically it sort of lagged...a lot.

And, it should be noted,

that it was not particularly windy

that one day not too long ago

in June...

But that didn't stop us from kite-ing it up big time.

Below are

Hanny's Top 3

Techniques for Kite Flying

*wind & a willing kite, optional

technique #1: just run, run, run & maybe the kite will take flight....or maybe it'll just drag on the ground like a limp rag.

technique #2: have daddy throw the kite in the air paper-airplane-style as you run & maybe then it'll take flight...or maybe it'll nose dive into the ground.

technique #3: Just have daddy run after you holding kite in the "would be" flying position while you pretend you're a kite flying ace...excellent.

This last picture makes me laugh & laugh & laugh....& sigh

....& laugh.

Hope you're up where the air is clear!

xo,

Sum;)

p*nche camera battery...

2010-07-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

dude.

seriously.

where is my camera battery charger?

i can't blog without pics can i?

i think i left it at john's grandparent's house a couple of weeks ago.

dang.

guess i'll just have to use the poetry of my words to make magical pictures for you...

hannah's latest thrill has been making "oobies".

(pronouced "eww-bees").

Oobi is a show on Nick Jr.

obviously, costume budget is high...

note: Hannah LOVES Nick Jr. (how do you think I'm able to blog right now?) and the video games on their website. Though, I am leery of their ad, "It's like preschool on t.v." hmmm....preschool sans slide & physical human beings, & other kids...but, ya know, preschool...

From what I gathered, Oobi is Tella Tubby weird.

But hanny loved it & told me she wanted to make an Oobi or two.

an oobi or two.

luckily i was a hoarder (i mean eh-hem, "over consumer") of craft supplies a couple of years ago

& had a supply of googly eyes on hand.

um...have you ever google image'd "googly eyes" before...creepy town

we glued them to our hands a'la Oobi to make hand puppets

hanny decided the Oobies needed noses

another shout out to my Michaels obsession...& enter puffy balls.

lookie what i found...puffy balls online here.

We glued them on to our hands as well.

Voila! 4 Oobi hands. 2 big, 2 small.

*This is when I realized my camera battery was dead...boo.*

so, i'll tell you a subsequent story in lieu of pics...

We used Elmer's glue to make our Oobies.

click here for a recipe for elmer's glue homemade slime

I've not tried it. I spied it while google imaging the glue bottle.

Or "cow glue" as hannah calls it
because there's a picture of a cow on the bottle.

Remember when you were a kid & you would get Elmer's glue on your hands (intentionally or not), let it dry, & then peel it off like flaky sunburned skin?

Yeah,

hannah didn't know this trick, so when she found some dried glue flaking off of her shin an hour or so later,

she began screaming, "I'm ripping!"

the following is a snapshot our our dramatics:

Me, "Honey, it's just glue."

H, "No its not, I'm RIPPING!"

Me, "Honey, it's just dried GLUE."

H, "Oh! I'm ripping, i'm ripping..."

(Imagine the Wicked Witch lamenting, "I'm melting, I'm melting...")

Me, "No you're not. Let me get it & I'll show you."

H, "NOOOOO!"

Me, "It won't hurt. IT'S JUST GLUE!"

H, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Me, (pin her down, peel off the glue swatch)

H, "Ahhhhh!"

Me, "look, you're fine. it was just glue"

H, "Nooo! It hurts!"

Me, "Look!"

H, "I'm not bleeding."

Me, "No, you're not honey, because it was JUST GLUE.

Mommy wouldn't rip your skin off."

H, "hmph hmph." (goes back to watching Nick Jr.)

Me, (under breath) "good lord." (dispose of glue/skin).

Yeesh.

Anyhoo, after that I gave her a pile o' scrap paper

& she has made literally dozens of Oobies on Paper

& scattered them all over our house.

Maybe you will get one in the mail...

Maybe hanny needs an etsy shop to sell these babies...

Each Oobie on Paper includes:

two googly eyes

one puffy ball nose

& a smile drawn on with a marker.

These supplies are set up in my office on a large box along with the glue & a small hand towel for wiping gluey hands, lest we repeat the "ripping" incident.

I've tried to clean up the station

& she firmly tells me,

"No Mommy. That's where I do my work."

and scene.

xox,
Sum;)

ps if you have my camera battery charger will you please, tell me? thanks.

oh-hoh those su-hu-mer ni-ights...

2010-07-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

you gotta love playing in the ocean...especially when you'd usually be getting ready for bed at this time!

xoxo,

Sum

do you think you can blog?

2010-07-19T00:56:00.000-07:00

Nope.

Not really.

Not in an orderly & predictable fashion anyway.

So, let's just pick up like I didn't drop the ball these past few weeks, shall we?

groovy.

eh, hem...

So You Think You Can Dance.

Oh I love it.

Oh I really love it.

Love the All-Stars.

Love Cat.

Love the top 10 dancers.

Love Travis as a choreographer.

Love it.

I've got lots of thoughts on this season &

I have organized my thoughts so far into 3 sections entitled:

"Highlights", "Conundrums", & "Nigel, Make it Stop".

Enjoy.

Highlights:

Pasha's cha cha jeans.

nothing comes between me & my Calvins...except a dance belt.

Twitch & Alex's "get outta your mind" hip hop routine.

what just happened!!

The "Behind the Choreography" & "Behind the Look" features on Fox's SYTYCD website.
Jose's love for all-star Lauren after they danced contemporary together.

ummm...where's lauren?

Every season, the token warm hearted hip-hop boy will fall in love with the ethereal female dancer he first experiences contemporary dance with: Hok & Jamie; Dominic & Lauren/Sabra; Legacy & Katherine. It's so sweet & silly & I giggle with delight each time it happens.

NOTE TO PRODUCERS: I have noticed no such infatuation triggered by tap...

The dancers calling AdeChike just "Chike". Yes, please. I love me some nicknames.

what up chike!

Travis's pieces.
All-Star Ade's faux-hawk/tilted pompadour. Holla.

Conundrums:

Anya & AdeChike's lime green costumes.
All-Star Mark seems to get more & more buff each week...how is he doing this?
Two dancers being eliminated with "injuries" in two weeks...hmmmm...
Mia's middle finger jewelry: it's gets bigger & more medieval every week. Do you think jewelers pay a product placement fee to adorn her long digit? Is it simply an homage to Mary's fallen pinkie ring?
Kent. What's the deal there?

whoopsie kent...

He's such a gorgeous dancer, but sometimes I feel like he's just on temporary leave from his real job as a counselor at Bible camp. Not that I'm sayin' he can't (& shouldn't) do both...I'm just...well...what's the deal with sweet, young, Kent?

Similarly, why does Billy always look like he just woke up?

Nigel, Make it Stop:

Adam's fake cry.
"Nappy Tabs". Um...it's Napoleon & Tabitha, thanks.
Filming tappers above the waist.

mind the elbows, doll!

Dear mr. or mrs. camera operator, could you please aim to film down so we can avoid shots of that freaky side-lean-bent-elbow-"my arm just fell out of the socket & I broke both my wrists"-flapping-thing tappers tend to do when mercilessly hoofing their lives away? I'm sure I'm just ignorant on the finesse of tap, but really, all that shaking...it's discomfiting.

Phew...it's exhausting watching & talking about dancers dancing.

Here's what else I've been doing & hope to blog about, but probably won't:

1. Finished the Twilight Series. FYI: team jacob.

2. Co-hosted a baby shower for my friend Marie.

3. Finished 2 weeks of swim lessons.

Hanny highlight: the last day when she got to jump off the diving board

& got a piece of laffy taffy with her certificate of completion.

4. Took Hannah to see Toy Story 3 with my dad. So cute.

I am also:

5. Refusing to discuss the calamity that was the Glee season finale.

6. Looking forward to moderating a panel at upcoming theatre conference.

Probably should do some brain stretches, since I'm not sure Yo Gabba Gabba is enough prep.

7. Melting. Seriously, I was in the devil's oven (aka Temecula) on Saturday & at one point i frantically looked down the front of my sundress because I was sure my petal (sticky-nipple-cover for when you're not wearing a bra) slipped off & was hovering somewhere near my belly button. Turns out it was just a big drop of sweat that I felt oozing down my torso. Not sure which is sexier...

8. Getting down with my bad self.

So, that's it.

I'll try not to be a stranger!

xo,

Sum ;)