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November 30, 2007

Advent Calendar

Last year I wrote about creating more family traditions on the website 43things.com. I documented our advent calendar adventures there.

Unfortunately there's no love coming from the robots at the co-op this year and the "post to blog" feature is still broken.

So I'll just write about it here, on my own blog and ditch the whole community effort part.

Time to plan out the month of December on little scraps of paper again. I've seen some amazing advent calendars out there this year. Mine is one I bought at a Christmas market in Germany so it is cool in its own way for me.

The best thing I've found about doing an activities based advent calendar is that it forces me to get organized. We have the "visit Santa" day all figured out so I don't freak out on Dec. 24th that I've forgotten about it. The activities are generally pretty simple but the little bit out of the ordinary is what makes the whole season special for the kids. It makes me focus on them instead of my usual panic shopping.

Now what to write?

Posted by jana at 4:01 PM | Comments (4)

November 28, 2007

I can hardly type this

I'm in the market for a (gulp) new(ish?) car. Current car has a cracked head gasket. And no, we're not talking about That Car that always gives me trouble. Now I'm talking about my old standard, practical mom car that fits in my garage.

I so loathe car shopping I'm considering fixing it.

But let's not talk about it anymore.

Posted by jana at 10:31 AM | Comments (1)

November 27, 2007

To Heidi or not to Heidi?

Potential new hair style? Getting my hair cut tonight. Will see if I can get this 'do past The Committee for Jana's Hair. I may veto it too if stylist tells me it would be a hair style requiring actual styling by me.

Update:
The deed is done. My hair has a new style. Hurray! Although I am no Heidi Klum. Also should remember not to be the last hair appointment of the day so the hair stylist actually will want to take some time to try and "style" it. The real test of whether or not I like the new haircut will be after I style it myself.

Thanks to Ray for immortalizing The Heidi 'do in graphic novel style. Awesome

Posted by jana at 10:13 AM | Comments (4)

November 24, 2007

Gut-o-licous

Bad idea: donning a bikini after scarfing 10,000 calories in a 48 hour period. And really, what am I doing wearing a bikini at 36 anyway? Unless you're Demi Moore and can afford the proper "maintenance" I read that bikinis all need to be retired at age 30.

Said bikini was bought after spending 3 months sweating on daily basis while living in Amsterdam. Slowly my pants that needed a belt to keep them up now look as if belt is purely to create decorative flap out of my belly to hang over the belt.

I liked telling myself that really I was just getting in better shape by going to aerobics and doing lots of squats. My butt was getting bigger because I was just getting healthier. Sounded good but I didn't really know for sure. It was highly possible my butt was getting bigger because I spend so much time sitting on it.

Don't worry, I'm not getting all Nicole Ritchie on you. Really I just want to know: am I healthier or unhealthier? Until recently besides my shrinking clothes I had no body metrics to know for sure. I decided to get some metrics. I went to the doctor and allowed the nurse to take a few vials of my blood for testing my true health.

Here are the results:
Glucose: 81 (normal is 60-99)
Cholesterol: 155 (normal is 130-199)
HDL (the good cholesterol): 55 (40-59 and anything above 60 is "butter" -- ha ha)
LDL (the bad one) 92 (around 100 is normal)
Triglycerides: 42 (50-149 is normal)
Thyroid: no problem
BMI: 18 (18.5 to 24 is normal)

In addition to me finally getting some metrics so I have a baseline of my health I also want think these numbers could be used for a bit of "healthy" competition. Where do other 36 year old women score on this chart? I have not been able to find this info anywhere. I see a social network of cholesterol levels in the future. I'm game.

Posted by jana at 12:35 PM

November 21, 2007

My black Saturday

Lots of fun stuff going on December 1st.

Tiana is hosting a craft show of local artists with:

Jewelry, Ornaments, Baby gifts, Original Art, Hand Blown Glass, Tasty goodies, Cards, Handmade Photo Albums, Knitted goods, Accessories, Home Decor and more!

Another one of my neighbors will be there selling works of art with found ceramics and glass from the beach here.

The show is in Normandy Park.

The second show that day is a benefit for Art With Heart. It is called A Very Sheri Trunk Show at Studio 3 in Seattle. My friend Amber is debuting her clothing line, Girl Crush. I'm excited to see Amber's clothing line launch. I wore one of her dresses to a wedding and it was my favorite dress ever. Ever.

If anyone wants to meet up let me know!

Posted by jana at 9:34 PM | Comments (1)

November 20, 2007

Kute Kaj

Here's my nephew wearing the shirt we gave him. I thought a Star Wars shirt quite appropriate since we have two generations of fanatics living under our roof. And I'm not talking about Britta or me being the fanatics.

This "little" guy is now 4 months! If I recall correctly the shirt label said "12 months." My dad said it best: "it takes two Kleitsch babies to equal 1 Pierson baby."

Posted by jana at 11:26 AM | Comments (3)

November 18, 2007

Weekend projects

Project 1.
I framed the photo of Andy and Lupe in Mexico. The whole inspiration was from finding this beautiful Volkswagen van hot wheels that was Andy's when he was a kid. I scored in getting mother-in-law that always finds such cool things -- and then keeps them. The van found its way to our house via a box of Andy's old legos. When I was putting the legos away this rolled out and made its way into a frame.

I tried finding some sand to put in the bottom of the shadowbox but when I walked the beach at 10pm I couldn't see any fine white sand. Maybe later.

Project 2.
New comforter cover! The kids and I spent the day at my parents house and I used my mom's serger to make this. I probably should have waited for better lighting to take the photo but oh well, gotta do these things while I can.

The pattern is from Swedish textile designer Lotta Jansdotter's book. My mom had checked this book out at the library for me but I had to return it before I started the duvet cover. Fortunately it was easy enough without directions. Well, easy enough because my mom really knows what she's doing and doesn't mind helping me. Thanks mom! Here's another photo of it.

Posted by jana at 9:59 PM | Comments (1)

That college fund?

Yeah, that college fund is really going to be needed for therapy for her to get over all the bad things I'll be doing to her in the next 15 years.

Here I am cutting my little girl's hair. No, I have no clue how to cut hair.

Posted by jana at 9:49 PM | Comments (1)

November 16, 2007

My original puppies

Here's a photo I justed edited on picnik.com.

This is back in the day when my dog Lupe could get air under his legs. He could jump and climb stairs with ease. When he stood up his legs didn't buckle under him. He didn't have any "accidents" when he woke up in the morning and couldn't make it outside quickly enough.

It's tough times watching my first born grow old. This photo is from a trip we took to Mexico in 1994. I had never had a dog before but figured if I was going to be spending a few months on the beach while Andy windsurfed it might be nice for some companionship. Lupe has been the most easy-going companion I've ever had!

Don't go thinking this is a "goodbye Lupe" post because there's one thing I've learned about this geriatric dog is to never underestimate his desire to keep on truckin'.

Also, if you look really closely you can see Andy still had a fair amount of hair here. Yep, these are my original puppies.

Posted by jana at 2:49 PM

November 15, 2007

I'm having a party

One of my friends is selling skin care by Arbonne. I tried out the anti-aging stuff this summer and was like, "ooo, this is good stuff!" Gotta think about this anti-aging stuff now as my friend reminded me. My friend likes it so much she's probably going to quit her job at a the largest software company in Redmond to concentrate on selling it full-time. Now that is product endorsement!

So if anyone wants to come to my girlie party it is on Sunday, December 2nd. Let me know so I can send you an invitation.

Posted by jana at 9:04 PM

The "Millennials" Are Coming, Morley Safer On The New Generation Of American Workers - CBS News

Here's an article that scares me to death as a parent. The "Millennials" Are Coming, Morley Safer On The New Generation Of American Workers - CBS News   A little snippet:

Today more than half of college seniors move home after graduation. It's a safety net, or safety diaper, that allows many kids to quickly opt out of a job they don't like. "There once was, if not shame, a little certain uneasiness about being seen to be living at home in your mid 20s, yes?" Safer asks Mary Crane. "Not only is there no shame with it, but this is thought to be a very smart, wise, economic decision," Crane says. "Well, that would suggest that they probably had pretty happy childhoods," Safer says. "And who couldn't be happy when you're growing up in a world where there's no failure?" Crane points out. And dear old mom isn’t just your landlord; she is your agent as well. "Career services departments are complaining about the parents who are coming to update their child's resume. And in fact, you go to employers, and they're starting to express concern now with the parents who will phone HR, saying, 'But my little Susie or little Johnny didn't get the performance evaluation that I think they deserve,'" Crane says.

Not that I'm scared of my kids moving back home after college... I am sure it would be nice to have them back in the nest for a bit. I am scared of raising my kids in a society where there is no failure and where having to work hard isn't part of growing up. I'm not sure how I'm going to work on this with my family but I think it is time to start figuring some things out before I raise a kid like the ones mentioned in the article.

Blogged with Flock

Posted by jana at 12:43 PM | Comments (1)

November 14, 2007

My girl

I can't help but smile when I see this. Here is Britta's very first official school photo.

Posted by jana at 9:57 PM | Comments (1)

My tea

Andy suggested a photo of the stuff I am boiling down to drink. He was busy picking up the little bits and pieces trying to figure out what the heck it all is.

All I know is I'm reconsidering my comparison to childbirth or doing without chocolate.

Usually I don't have to make choking noises when I drink.

Posted by jana at 9:53 PM

My sentence

Today I went to see a chinese doctor/herbalist in the international district. First he took my pulse on both wrists and looked at my tongue. Then he picked up the phone and called a translator to have her ask me some questions. After passing the phone back and forth a few times the translator gave me my diagnosis and prescription.

"Your pulse is low. You are low energy and run down. You have not healed up from child birth yet. Your body needs to heal and get strong. Cook these herbs in 4 cups of water for 1 hour. Drink 1 cup of the tea for 7 days. Come back again 10 days before your cycle. And you are not to eat chocolate."

So now I'm cooking up the prescribed nastiest smelling tea that is stinking up my house. Really stinking. The fan is on but I don't know if our house will recover.

Pausing my post so I can go strain the tea into my cup and see if I can down it. Ok, I'm back but I'm waiting for it to cool down so I can chug it.

I'm okay with drinking the nasty tea. But what I'm worried about is "no chocolate". No chocolate? Really? Why not just remove one of my fingernails? It would be less painful.

You know though, I think this doctor might be right about me not healing back from childbirth. The truth is I didn't think you could ever heal. Wouldn't that require rest? Relaxation? Vacation time? Not worrying every second about my family?

Okay nasty tea, cure me. I need it.

Olp. OLP. sputter. glech. Tea is worse than imagined. But not worse than childbirth.

Posted by jana at 9:00 PM | Comments (3)

November 8, 2007

Look ma, no helmets!

trioBike COMMANDO / TRI-DENCOM / trioBike / Shop / Funktionalley / trioBike COMMANDO / TRI-DENCOM / trioBike / Shop / Funktionalley Cool bike for sale. That could almost be me -- except my kids would be wearing helmets!

Blogged with Flock

Posted by jana at 4:18 PM

Gonics

David Betz designed these shirts for your puchase.

Models (from left to right) are design gurus: David Kendall, Tim Ross and David Betz.

Gonics

Blogged with Flock

Posted by jana at 5:43 AM

November 7, 2007

Group hug

As it turns out Karsten really did need a hug yesterday as much as I did.

Here's an email from my mom (she helps in his kindergarten on Tuesdays):

As you know I went up to K's class today. His teacher talked to me a bit about him. It seems he was having a bad day today and told her he didn't like school. She said she talked to him privately and he seemed to cheer up a bit. He came in crying from recess while I was still there and said some friend told him he didn't want to play with him. His teacher handled it well and suggested he ask someone else to play with him. She said she was concerned because K is usually so cheerful, but that he had cried twice today.

It is really hard not knowing if your kid has a good day or a bad at school. Or really what even went on at school besides, "we did some stuff" which is what I usually get when I try and piece his life together. Reading this email from my mom made me sad as I wondered who said what and who could have possibly not wanted to play with my son? (Who wants to go with me to egg their house later?)

Anyway, I wish I could protect my little guys from the hurt. I figure if they know I always love them that might be a little bit of a shield.

Posted by jana at 9:15 PM

November 6, 2007

swoon

Me: Come here Karsten and give your mom a hug.

As he's hugging me I said, "sometimes the best thing about my day is a hug from one of my kids."

Karsten: Mom, do you know what the very best thing in my life is?

Me: What?

K: Having my mommy in it.

------

I'm not making this up. My day now is that much better.

Posted by jana at 7:31 PM

My friends are having a virtual garage sale

And basically I want to buy everything.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=Virtual%20Estate%20Sale%20. I told Laura and Jesse I'd buy anything in their house they didn't want.

Remember that organizational jihad I threatened two posts ago? Not gonna happen, although I could tell myself buying their shelves will help get me organized. Yeah, right.

Those shelves are gonna rock in the playroom!

Posted by jana at 2:31 PM

I was on NPR (KUOW)

I called in to give my idea for a "green business plan" and I was on the air.

My idea was to recycle hospital waste (i.e. pacifiers and surgical equipment) by selling it to hospitals in developing nations. Hospitals could partner with universities for training. The hospitals make money from their waste and developing nations benefit from better tools.

This was one of my ideas for hospitals that I had when my kids were in the NICU and I saw how much waste is going on at the hospitals.

Anyway, the guest speaker didn't have a comment because it was out of her area of expertise.

Oh well. Feeling like one of those dorky people who call in to radio stations now.

Posted by jana at 1:33 PM | Comments (1)

November 4, 2007

Little weekend projects

Karsten's new desk area is slowly coming together. There's still more to do but the main thing is he can do his homework here.

Little cat "art" I cut out from a vintage book I bought at a garage sale and then framed.

I made a valance for Britta's room. The curtain rod needs a bit of tweaking before it will hang quite right but that is a project for next weekend.

Britta's room is morphing more organically than I had anticipated. I feel like I should have put more thought into how it should look. I guess the second child always gets ripped off in these things.

Posted by jana at 8:50 PM | Comments (1)

2 reasons my house will never be clutter free

I've been threating I'm moments away an organizational jihad. My mission: to clear out 50% of what is in our house.

Reason 1 while my mission will not be accomplished any time soon:
I got two boxes of Katie's 1970s doll house furniture.



Tell me I can part with this kitchen? I almost want to frame it. Also in the box, mini Renaissance art and more gothic furniture. The doll house rivals my taste in electic.

Reason #2
I was at my mom's house and she was about to get rid of a huge bag of things. I took a peek and found my favorite childhood book in the bag.

Roses are Red. Are violets blue?? A first book about color. I searched and can't find any copies anywhere. The "first book about color" makes me realize I should have seen my future as a designer coming long before my sophomore year in college!

Here's a sample page.

I should photograph more of the pages because looking at it just makes me happy.

I've tried reading this book to my kids and they don't care for it. So sad...but I'll keep reading it anyway.

Anyway, I'm not sure I can part with any of this crap.

Posted by jana at 8:36 PM | Comments (3)

November 1, 2007

Britta and Kaj

Who is bigger? My 3 month old nephew or my 3 year old daughter?

Britta loves the Baby Kaj.

Posted by jana at 9:32 PM | Comments (1)