what to watch?

around the age of 10 our family tv a 20" zenith was in the shop for a week but it felt like a whole month. our current television is broken and not even sure any of us miss it. we're debating replacing it which at first excited me. the prospect of simplifying our lives but on closer inspection it gets more complicated. there's always the computer, laptop, ps3, hulu, netflix, downloads and iphones. missing the simplicity of my family's 20" zenith.

what I'm watching right now (via hulu, netflix and the power of a download)....

lost... I've got to know how it ends and desperately hoping I'm not disappointed. (abc)

bones... I could watch david boreanaz all day. (fox)

fringe... it's by jj abrams and I like a good mystery with some sci fi thrown in. (fox)

modern family... need a good laugh to even it all out. (abc)

united states of tara... refreshingly unique. (showtime)

caprica... I'll never give up on battlestar galatica. (syfy)

glee... do I even need to say anything? (fox)

reruns (first time for me)...
arrested development & the wire

show i want to watch but can't find via the internet. need a real tv for this one...
american pickers... the reality show follows frank and mike as they scour the country's junkyards, basements and barns for hidden gems. (history channel)

Treats

At that moment in time they had only one thing on their minds. Bryn picked a vanilla cupcake and Zoe a surprising vegan brownie. They got to have some much needed girl time.

Speaking of girl time we are looking forward to Alice in Wonderland.

Mad Men 2

A new twist on some old time favorites. Not pictured are the clam cuddles, marinated mushrooms, yummy blue cheese veggies and chocolate trifle.

Traditional shrimp cocktail.

Fennel Salami Rolls with Boursin

Macrona Crusted Cheese Ball

Miz Mooz

Olympic Provisions and my new boots.

Sentences

It's been a discouraging year for Bryn (and mom) and her homework. I'm not a fan of homework for elementary students and then to have homework that doesn't correlate to what you're learning in class is infuriating. Not quite over it yet. I do encourage daily reading and studying spelling words (spellings tests also get me going - better not to ask). Bryn who I would describe as an always creating artist refuses to decorate her weekly homework. You're suppose to make it look nice and make a creative border. A definite sign that Bryn is not engaged. I dread her homework each week but my favorite is the sentence writing section. The assignment is to pick 5 spelling words and write a sentence for each of them. Bryn's personal goal each week is to come up with one sentence with 5 of her spellings words. Therefore, she only has to write one sentence. She can't always do it, but she's never had to write more than 3 sentences. Technicalities.

I stood on the ridge of a large cliff with a kitten. (3)

I saw a large clock in my pocket. (3)

My father invented the other English alphabet in a flash. (5)

The squeaky water balloon went splash. (3)

I wore sunglasses while doing homework and throwing a football. (4)

Are people simple and little? (3)

A pilot ate lemon with a camel. (3)

A mouse and it's shadow ate up all the peaches and cheese. (4)

A series of sentences:

I broiled thousands of giant gumdrops.

I made a choice to stop broiling the giant gumdrops.

I am proud I stopped broiling the giant gumdrops.

Car Time

Starting in October to better survive carting kids to and fro we started listening to children's books on CD. So far we've enjoyed all of them.

A Wrinkle in Time

A classic that I had never read before.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Originally written in 1938. Fun.

Eddie Dickens Trilogy

I tuned out for most of these books but the kids loved them. Read by the author who inserts side comments about the book. Interesting.

The Miraculous Journy of Edward Tulane

Listened to the entire book in one day. It was a very long day. A very heart warming story. Perfect for the holidays.

Clementine's Letter

Eat Me

California Carnivores in Sebastapol was a success.


Low and behold venus fly traps are rather hardy and don't mind freezing weather. Bryn has $20 burning a hole in her pocket and a venus fly trap is on the top of the list right now.


Watch out Grandma............


Pitcher plants were very beautiful and very prehistoric.


A must in every alien movie.


Sundews were my favorite. Looks like the morning dew on every tentacle (or stem?).


Butterwort are nature's fly paper? Reminded us of aloe plants.

Summer Nights

new/old summer finds.....
phoenix.
johnathan richman.
andrew bird.
dan deacon.
emiliana torrini.

2009 summer playlist is done.
great dj. the ting tings

waking in vegas. katy perry

i gotta feeling. black eyed peas

bad things. jace everett

jungle drum. emiliana torrini

lisztomania. phoenix.

kind of a girl. tinted windows

hello. tristan prettyman

kids. mgmt

electric feel. mgmt

summernights. rascal flatts

that summer feeling. johnathan richman

egyptian reggae. johnathan richman

still listening to 2007 and andrea's 2008.

Summer reading is here again (saying that with a little skip). I read some pretty dark books this winter like Cormac McCarthy's The Road and I'm in need of a fun summer surprise.

I'm a little nervous about topping last summer. First of all there was the entire Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer . You couldn't ask for more entertaining poolside books. The best was when there were 4 moms and a few teenagers sitting around Grant pool last August all with hardcover Breaking Dawn in their laps. I also enjoyed Stephanie Meyer's adult book Host with her creative stories about life on other planets through the eyes of the Host.


Early last summer I also read the fantasy world of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series.


Ohhh... then there was Scott Westerfield's Uglies sci-fi series where everyone gets turned into supermodel pretty at the age of 16 and how it begins to fall apart. You really can't put it down. So good there are spin offs. A whole new language waiting to be discovered.


To top off the summer of young adult fiction there was Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The second of 3 comes out this September and I almost wished I hadn't discovered the series until they were finished. How she can take such graphic themes and spin them for young adults was/is mind boggling. Looking forward to reading the books again in a few years with Bryn and Hunter.

After last summer I almost needed young adult fiction therapy. The staff at our local children's bookstore knows me by name now.

Desperately, trying to find my groove this summer. Trying out Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. How boring is this cover? I love creative covers and knowing that the publisher, author, editor and all considered the creativity of a book is important to me. Boring.

Did not like Sarah Water's A Little Stranger. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls tops my summer list. Looking for a few good summer suggestions.

To my surprise I found myself jumping up from my lawn chair to take a picture of the trombones of this middle school marching band. Trombones before the flutes? Has it ever been done before?


To my surprise I was jumping out of my seat again when I heard the sounds of the fluttery flutes behind the percussion of this middle school band. I'm not in touch with the trends and fads of marching bands (especially since I don't know why they still make them wear polyester band uniforms) but I'm impressed with the creativity. It was a sweet treat added to a very hot and sticky day.

Hunter's 4th grade class studied Oregon this past year. It's also been Hunter's dream for the past 4 years to travel in an RV. In 3 months we're packing it all up and taking a 10-day trip around Oregon. As an Oregonian there are places I haven't visited yet. I think I'm more excited than the kids. We've been trying to figure out how to document the trip and thanks to my friend Alison A. we are all set.

At the Oregon 150 Challenge they have hundreds of places to see and visit this summer. I can't believe how many adventures I've never heard of right in the Willamette Valley. We are signed up and ready to hit the road.

Did I mention I'm REALLY exited?

what a day.....

muffins for moms at preschool (not muffin top moms)

bryn's class play

library duty (read my favorite kid's book june 29, 1999 by david wiesner)

2 sets of dinner voila meals delievered

sean's lasik eye surgery

max and zoe over for a sleep over

alameda brewhouse for dinner

baskin robbins to follow (of course)

visit from grammy

what we thought was the world's longest hopscotch with 105 squares (10,001 world record)

short circuit for friday night movie

4 sleepy children off to bed without a peep

a great day.

ZooZoo

Many times in the past I've purchased stuff at one of the kid's school auctions and then never used it. Within one week of Gray's preschool auction I've successfully used 3 items. A beautiful necklace and earrings, Pokemon stuffed animals in the Easter baskets and 2 tickets to see Imago Theater's new ZooZoo. Waiting to be used are a laptop lunch box for Bryn (b-day gift), cute baby girl outfit (gift for friend) and an overnight and dinner at a downtown Portland Hotel and restaurant.

Sean and Gray used the ZooZoo tickets last night and it was reported that Gray giggled through the entire performance. Apparently, Imago Theater has combined the best of Frogz and BigLittleThings for ZooZoo. The kids give all 3 performances a big thumbs up.

4 more days....

Americans... still believe in an America where anything's possible - they just don't think their leaders do. - Barack Obama

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. - Barack Obama

If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress. - Barack Obama

There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America. - Barack Obama

Why can't I just eat my waffle? - Barack Obama

ETSY 2008

Is there anything that's not on Etsy? Here are a few of my favorite 2008 ETSY purchases.


t-shirt for gray by evaseva


red cape for bryn's american girl doll by 3 crafty ladies


print from one of my favorite artists. yellena


armwarmers by feetingfrenzy


amy butler for my itouch! how cool is that? mamadama designs

Here's a list of my favorite places to browse on Etsy. I wish there was one favorite to share but I love them all. Each of the artists amaze, excite, evoke, tease, and energize me in different ways. Enjoy.

John W. Golden

House of Telsa

The Wicopy Shop

Hula Seventy's le shoppe

Melissa Moss

Carambatack Design

Paintings by Cathy Nichols

Here's my 2007 Etsy list .

Does he get the girl?

The last one I promise. The love sick evil scientist just melts my heart.

Dr. Horrible - Laundry Day

The awkward Dr. Horrible singing on Laundry Day.

The Sing-Along

While embroidering today (pictures to come) I watched the web exclusive superhero spoof Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog produced by Joss Whedon on Hulu. Neal Patrick Harris is perfect for the role of Dr. Horrible and Nathan Fillion (of Firefly who popped up in Lost and Desperate Housewives this past year) is great as the self absorbed hero.

Here's a clip of Dr. Horrible singing the song "Brand New Day".


I'm not a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan but I love Joss Whedon. After my month of young adult vampire stories I started watching Angel which turned out to be adult enough and perfect to watch (or listen to) while crafting. Hands down Firefly and Serenity are my favorite Joss Whedon creations.

Breaking Dawn...

fini - not sure what else to say - enjoy

Stern Grove

Rosalie Stern was a visionary who has recently made my life a more colorful enjoyable place to be. In 1931 she bought a piece of land now called Stern Grove in honor of her late husband to be preserved as a park where the public could enjoy high quality admission free music. 71 years later the people of San Francisco are still enjoying her vision.


We kicked back and even grooved a little to Sambada and Voices of Latin Rock.


Gray's advice....
1. Music starts at 2pm. You must get there at least by noon or you're in the trees on the hill with the pot smokers.

2. Bring warm blankets and coats (because it's San Francisco).

3. Bring yummy picnic food. We envied the ladies who were eating their three-layered chocolate cake in the trees on the hill.

4. It may be the only place in North America where there is only 1 men's bathroom stall and 10 women's stalls. So plan ahead.

It's a must if you're in San Francisco on a Sunday in the summer. A great place to people watch and feel like a local.