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December 28, 2007

Damage Control

Karsten told me tonight "Henry told me there isn't a Santa. The parents buy the presents now. His parents told him this. Henry doesn't believe in miracles either. "

No! Not at six years old. Too soon! Too soon!

Fortunately Karsten is a creative optimist. "Santa must have died."

I told Karsten I would look it up on the internet to see if maybe Santa got hurt on his sleigh on Christmas. He did eat the cookies we left for him so it must have happened after he left our house. Now I'm searching the internet for some sort of evidence that will bring back the magic of Santa.

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas enjoyed theirs. We had a lovely time and now I just want to relax -- after I find out what happened to the big guy.

Posted by jana at 10:36 PM | Comments (2)

December 20, 2007

Stained glass anyone?

I found this glass artist, Joby Shimomura at Tiana's holiday craft show. I grabbed her card and finally looked at her site. I think had I known about her while we were remodeling I would have commissioned a piece for our bathroom. Maybe a simple starfish? I love her work and her prices are so reasonable. Great stuff!

Posted by jana at 8:34 PM

December 19, 2007

The birth of another new blogger

My friend Jolynn has joined the world of blogging. Being that both she and her husband are English professors I am sure their blog will be witty and free of grammatical errors -- unlike my own tense switching; definitive splitting (just learned about this grammatical no-no when Greg was on a drunken rant); and other bad things I do to the English language. I shudder to think she might be a reader of this blog.

With that said, I'm excited to track her 6 month stay in London with a toddler in tow.

Posted by jana at 10:25 AM

December 18, 2007

Santa Claus

Mom confessional. I am not one of those super organized moms.

The plan was to go see Santa when Karsten came home from school on the bus. But uh-oh, his pants were in the washing machine. And uh-oh, Britta's shirt to wear under the outfit my mom made for her was in the wash too.

Ok kids, time for an early dinner while your clothes dry!

When dinner was over I went to get the rest of the kids' outfits. Karsten's shirt was in a wrinkled pile on his floor. There were some scuffs on it but heck, I figure those wouldn't show up on camera.

Britta's dress had a chocolate stain from the party she wore it to on Sunday. No biggie, they were on the back, no one will see them in the camera.

Of course Britta had rejected the nap idea today. After an hour in her bed I let her get up. So when she decided she wanted to wear a dress, not a skirt and shirt I said, "okay" and went to find a decent dress. I let her put on her dress from last year. I figured as long as she could sit just right then her underwear/tights wouldn't show. Good.

Then the shoes... neither of the kids' dress shoes would fit. No matter. I put Britta's painfully small shoes in my purse and let her wear fitting shoes to walk in. When we got to Santa's lap I pulled out Britta's fancy shoes and Andy sat her on Santa's lap so she wouldn't have to walk in several sizes too small of shoes.

Karsten forgot his list for santa (being unorganized might be heriditary!) but it must have been etched in his memory because he was able to repeat it verbatim:

Harry Potter
transformers
good guys and bad guys bionicles
star wars legos
Ratatouille, the movie
Underdog the movie

Britta's list was simpler:

A crown and a costume like Ariel (the little mermaid)
The Little Mermaid music

To some readers the trip to santa might seem like a debacle but I'm quite pleased with the outcome. Isn't the outcome all that matters anyway? But I admit, I do wish I were one of those super-organized moms sometimes.

Photos coming as soon as I upload them.

Posted by jana at 10:23 PM

Dear Gym

We've been together for 13 years but it is finally time for us to take a break. I froze my membership today. I think you should know that I plan to see other gyms during this time.

We've been through a lot together. Remember the time 12 years ago when I was almost buff because of you? That is not an easy task when your adolescent nicknames were along the lines of "Bones" and "Skeletor." You have seen me through two postpartums and ample times my butt has started to expand.

I admit, I am sill attracted to you, Gym. I love the sparkling mosaic tiles in the pool and your beautiful paint colors. I plan to buy a punch card so I can still visit you for meaningless booty workout calls. But I plan to get most of my physical needs met elsewhere. I admit, I've been fantasizing about other gyms.

Sure, I could have been more diligent in visiting you more often. But you let me down one too many times by not hiring decent aerobics teachers, especially on Saturdays, my one day I always and forever visit you. And then when you fired my cousin from teaching the cycling class for a silly non-compete...really, how could you?

So for now, we're officially on a break. I know the timing could be better. It is right before the holidays and both my gut and my butt are tag teaming against me, but it has to be done.

I hope we can work it out, but just a warning, the new Gym in the neighborhood sounds like it has a lot to offer me.

I am sorry it has to end this way.
Your formerly devoted member,
Jana

Posted by jana at 10:06 PM

December 16, 2007

Pink Angel

Britta was in her first Christmas pageant at church this morning. Before we left the house she let me know she wasn't going to wear her angel costume and if I put a pony tail in her hair then she wouldn't wear the halo either. Karsten wasn't planning on being in it at all either until we started fussing about how cute Britta looked in the pink dress my mom made her. He suddenly decided he should be in the pageant too.

Britta kept her word. She was the only pink "angel" in the chorus. I managed a ponytail and saw she did have the halo on her head. I was glad to see she caved just a little.

She stood up on the stage and attempted to sing the songs with the bigger kids. Karsten did a great job singing and looking quite angelic in the full angel costume. After the performance was done the kids started filing off stage. Britta stayed on the stairs mesmerized by the baby Jesus in the manager. Finally she and Karsten ran out into the audience to sit with us. I told the kids I was proud of them, especially Britta for her fine first performance. I'm not sure she knew what she was getting herself into.

Posted by jana at 10:28 PM

Picnik saves Christmas

Every year I make a calendar for the relatives for Christmas presents. Every year I wait to the last minute.

Fortunately this year I used picnik to edit my photos and it went so much more quickly. Photos that were originally unexciting suddenly look so much more interesting. And better yet, I cranked this puppy out in 1 evening.

After 18 years of using Photoshop I'm hooked on picnik. I'd say that is quite the endorsement.

See photos from the calendar here. Spoiler alert if you're on my calendar gift list.

Posted by jana at 10:23 PM

December 14, 2007

Britta-isms

#1

{Toot}
Andy and I couldn't help but snigger at Britta's fart.
Britta: That was my butt talking.
More giggles from us.
Me: What did your butt say?
Britta: My butt said, 'that's not fair!'
Then we really had to laugh. She's supposed to use the word "bottom" but we let it slide.

#2
Britta is the Mommy Whisperer. "Mommy, I have to tell you something in your ear." I have to crouch down on the ground to hear her. She parts my hair, sticks her nose in my ear and then whispers, "MOOOOMMMM. Moooommmmmyyyyy. [insert whisper that I can barely hear]." She then pulls away and looks smug. "What did I say?" I repeat back whatever odd sentence I think she may have whispered. She continues whispering until I get the sentence right. It is actually a fairly entertaining activity that goes on about six times a day.

Posted by jana at 3:07 PM

A sign: A visit from the car fairy

I've been trying to stay strong this year. I haven't blogged about it but this has been one of my toughest years ever for several reasons. I'm married to an entrepreneur which sometimes causes me to live outside of my comfort zone. I've had to stay strong for the family especially in the financial area which isn't easy when working as a part-time designer. I am the Angel Investor in one enterprise called My Husband.

We always seem to be on the brink of something amazing or something devastating. The car situation seemed to tip the scales towards the downward side. Fortunately a few bright things have happened which keeps my hopes up that better things are in store for 08. Good Lord, I am an eternal optimist.

I haven't had to look for a car at all. At one point I almost surfed on over to craigslist. I made a little status update regarding that on facebook and voila, jfew offered up his Subaru Tribeca for sale. Interesting! Next I whined about my car to my hair dresser and voila, her husband the mechanic wanted to sell his Prius. Yes, yes, a hybrid! That's what we want. We started figuring out how we were going to pay for the car besides my preferred method of a big wad of cash when viola again! My neighbor, the manager of a fancy car dealership shows up at my door last night with a previously owned hybrid by an 82-year-old man at my doorstep last night. They'd read my blog about the death of my subaru. I love the power of social networks.

So yes, I'm feeling the pain of being an investor in a risky venture. However given the option of living with someone being content to live an ordinary life just doesn't cut it for me either. I liken it to prozac. Sure, it might make my life less painful but I wouldn't be able to feel the potential highs or unfortunately the lows. Andy goes for what he wants, works hard for it and is a passionate leader. How could he fail? As the ultimate salesman he told me, "we live a life rich in adventure." Nice, but I'm ready for some cash.

Posted by jana at 10:49 AM

December 11, 2007

Leavenworth: the miracle road trip -- well almost

I started typing that title but then remembered there were a few snafus. Britta had a few "accidents" and blew through all of her clean underwear by the second day of our 3 day trip. Not sure how I could forget that.

I also forgot my snow boots. Which by snow boots i am referring to the rain boots I bought in 1989 but still wear for both snow and rain.

But back to the title. We had a relaxing weekend with my parents and my brother, his wife and their baby in Leavenworth. Yes, family + vacation finally equaled relaxing. It has taken us awhile to get to this point but with the kids now being 6 and 3 I can finally relax a bit (see previous post).

Karsten loved playing in the snow and Britta loved "taking care" of Baby Kaj. Andy was the family bartender. I tried picking up crocheting. In typical fashion I started crocheting thinking I would magically remember how my great-grandma taught me as a child. By the time we got to Leavenworth I showed my mom my bizarre creation. I showed her what I was doing and she said, "you're crocheting and knitting at the same time! I've never seen anyone do that before." She showed me the right way to do it. At first putting my hand in a "rock on" position didn't feel right.

The roadtrip home was the most amazing part. On the way home I didn't hear one "are we there yet?" Not once. We owe it all to Old Yeller the audio book rented from the library. We were transported back in time to the days when people had to castrate their own pigs and a flea dip for a dog was a bath in bacon grease. Those were the days.

I finally got my groove on with my crocheting. Driving through the snowy mountain pass, crocheting and listening to Old Yeller seemed appropriate too. My great-grandma crocheted and also lived in a life I could only see remnants of... like her sleeping with a gun next to her bed in case of coyotes. Or my grandma cooking us the biggest meal ever like we had just come in from working on the farm. And the gi-normous plant she had growing in the middle of her dining room. And now I'm rambling. Good night readers.

Posted by jana at 9:49 PM | Comments (3)

Fall of 6 and 3

I was so flippin' cold today it seems like it's gotta be winter already.

This fall I realized my life had suddenly gotten easier. The kids both started school which means for the first time in six years of motherhood I could have a bit of time for myself. Britta now has friends and even has had two play dates with her preschool friends. So far no one has invited her over yet but I'm waiting for that very special moment. I'm wondering if I would need to stay and wait before I leave before she feels comfortable with me gone. Karsten never even glanced behind him when I'd drop him off at a new house. With Britta it may be a different story but that's okay. As a mom it is nice to feel needed on occasion.

The $15 or so I spent on Karsten's Halloween costume has been worth every penny. Spidey makes an appearance almost daily at our house. I should have bought every super hero costume I could find.

Also Karsten has started drawing his own comics. He has created Spider Cat, theme song and all. Today he told Andy, "I'm going to stay in all of my recesses at school so I can draw comics. I want to be famous!" Andy said, "Wanting to be famous is nice and all but I think it is a good idea for you to run around too." I'll have to upload one of the Spidey Cat comics for oogling.

Posted by jana at 9:25 PM

December 6, 2007

Tea: Second batch

Follow up tea post. I am on my second round of personalized chinese herbal tea. Yeah, still nasty. No puking, just the sputtering, nose wrinkling kind of nasty.

Brenda went with me this time and was fascinated. She grabbed some of the herbs to examine and said, "OMG, what is that? What if you're drinking worms? Well it's not like you probably haven't drunk a worm before."

Why more nastiness? Because this stuff is awesome. I feel like new woman and I didn't even realize I felt badly to begin with.

The bad thing is that now I have to brew it twice a day. This herbalist cold speak english and told me, "your pulse is still low. You need to get strong." OK!

And for the record: Although I have a proper appreciation for tequila, I have never drank (drunk?) a worm.

Posted by jana at 10:06 PM

new hair cut

Since the blogosphere helped me decided on getting my hair cut I feel I owe a follow up photo.

I'm not liking the color of my hair but I can try and get that fixed next time.

Not quite "Heidi" but at least it is a little different than what I had before.

Posted by jana at 10:00 PM | Comments (2)