The skin thing

Here's the "before," from two weeks ago.


And here's yesterday:


I don't think there's too much difference, but as I said, I wasn't worried much about lines or discolorations. I just had one spot that was a little dark. It's still there, but it may have lessened a bit. As far as I'm concerned, my skin looks and feels good. It's not too hard to remember to put the lotion on in the morning, and it doesn't make me feel greasy or make my cosmetics smear (not that I wear cosmetics often, but I will more when school starts). So for me, it's a success. If you're interested, it's the Olay Definity, and it's fragrance-free (in case you, like me, gag at the smell of Oil of Olay).

Fairy Tale Town, in Zadie's words.

Zadie had a great time at Fairy Tale Town. I should have taken her more this summer -- it's only 4 bucks and we could have stayed for hours if it wasn't nap time. Direct quotes follow:

"Baby in castle!"


"Baby wide da horse!"


"Baby drive train! Woo woo!"


"Boat!"


"Heee!"


She did have some trouble distinguishing between the park's attractions and its facilities.




Zadie, did you like Fairy Tale Town?
"Uh-huh. Uh huh."

School is starting

Yeah, this is my last week off. I am bummed. It's not that I don't like my job -- I do. I like the kids, I like my coworkers... I have great hours and good pay and benefits. But in many ways it's even harder to go back this year than it was last year. Last year, I stayed in the house a lot with the baby, who wasn't walking or talking or doing much. This year, we've been having a blast! We've been to the park, the zoo, the wading pool, Fairy Tale town (this morning -- pictures later), Art Beast, and out to many lovely breakfasts. We've taken cuddly naps together almost every day. We've had long talks. We've sung songs and danced.

Last year I was worried that I would miss a lot at work. Ultimately, I don't think I did. She still called me "mama" the first time. She took her first steps while I was watching. She tried out a lot of new words in front of Grandma, but then she would say them at home for me, too. So it's not so much that I'm worried about missing "firsts" anymore -- just that I've really enjoyed the huge amount of time we've had to spend together and I'm going to miss it.

We've talked about whether I could be a stay at home mom. We probably could afford it if we stripped everything to the bare bones, but we'd be losing a lot. For example, we probably wouldn't have money to visit our family in Oregon. And you know, staying home with her is partly fun because of all the breakfasts and zoo trips and stuff. We'd more or less have to give all that up if I didn't have an income. And we're lucky to have my mom watch her while I'm at work. Having the relationship she does with her Grandma and Boompah is very important and she is definitely enriched by it.

It makes sense on many levels for me to work. And I think she would thrive at home with me, but she does with her Grandma, too, so there's nothing she's losing. It's not a second-best choice. Still, I just miss her while I'm away from her. My least favorite days are the ones where I have a meeting, get home at 5, hurry to cook and eat dinner, then get her ready for bed at 7:30. That's so little time with her. And she's a really cool kid and I like her. So if I seem a little bummed this week, now you know why.

Drumming and reassurance and new pictures.

Did you ever see Parenthood? I am so destined to be the Steve Martin parent with the kid who puts a bucket on her head and runs into walls.


Zadie reassures Mina.


She was pretending to drive while I got some paint off my car door. I should have realized she would also find my lipstick.


I don't know why she looks so cranky -- she was THRILLED to have these earrings on.


Here she is carrying Elmo in a sling. I wasn't sure she'd be into it, but she carried him around for AGES like that.

Dear former mortgage broker,

You contact me far too much. I have had twelve emails from you since mid-June. You sent me two pieces in the mail this week alone. You tried to add me as a Facebook friend. Listen, I have every intention of dying in this house, but if I ever need another mortgage broker, I'll call you.

Thanks,
CM

The Zadie chronicles

Today in the Zadie chronicles, we head to a friend's house. Zadie peers into the pantry and brings out a bowl. She rushes to me with it saying "poo-poo, poo-poo!" It doesn't click for a minute, and then I realize that the bowl, which is green and has froggy eyes that pop up, resembles her potty. As soon as I can make the connection, she has put it on the ground, plopped her ass on it, and is still saying "poo-poo!" I imagine that was appetizing for the owner of the bowl.

Car, house, baby

I forgot my service agreement for my car expired when I paid off the car, so now I have to pay full price to get it serviced. Next time I won't go to the dealership, I can tell you that. I have been putting it off anyway, because the dealership moved from its handy location across the street from my job to way the hell out in the next city over. But when I called, I thought it was due for its 55,000 mile service, which the lady said would take an hour. I was wrong, and it was due for the 60,000 mile service, which is much more expensive, and they said would take 3-4 hours.

There were two options, one for around $300 and the other for $400. For $400 they did more, but they also gave me a rental car. Since I didn't want to hang out on Auto Center Drive with the baby for four hours, I took the $400 option. I'm especially glad I did now, because it's been SIX hours and they still hadn't called me. I called to ask what was up, and the woman who answered the phone said it appeared to be "on hold" and that the service guy needed to talk to me. Uh-oh. Dolla bill signs flashed before my eyes. But apparently, she was wrong -- it's just taking a long time, and he'll call me back when it's done.

I'm kinda bummed because I wanted to go to Fairy Tale Town, but I was waiting for the car because I didn't want to have to leave to go get it. Oh well, another day, I guess.


In other news, the house across the street that the crazy lawn lady owned has been repossessed by the bank and is up for sale. The number of people coming by to see it has been astounding. Sunday was especially busy. I o to a realtor who was showing it this morning and he said there are already several offers in. I'm just crossing my fingers that the people who buy it will live there, not rent it out. The rental next door to it is full of frat boys, and now there are always a thousand cars parked out front.

Speaking of crazy lawn lady, I thought of this as I drifted off during our nap today:

Your lawn so perfect
after you were gone I pulled
an unnoticed weed

Here are some pictures from the last couple days. By the way, she does all this dressing up herself. I put the tutu on her, but other than that, it's all her.

So... stuff.

Not too terribly much is going on. I got a call from work last week telling me to come in three days this week, which I am bummed about because I was really trying to make the most of the remainder of my vacation. Of course, that also means I haven't done ANY planning or putting my room together, and I really need to get on the stick.

The baby is hilarious. All day long she wants to drive the car, ride a bicycle, wear lipstick, wear earrings, clomp around in my heels, go into the neighbors' houses, ring our doorbell, make the car horn honk, drum, climb... she's just a bundle of energy. She hung out at my dad's house yesterday and had a blast. In fact, when I went to leave her, I asked "Can Mommy have a hug and kiss?" "No!" she quickly replied. She was already too busy playing. Every time I say something stupid that I would probably prefer she not repeat, she picks up on it immediately and it becomes her new favorite thing to say. Last night I made the mistake of calling milk "booby juice" and she said "Booby juice booby juice booby juice!" I was afraid Michael Keaton was going to appear. ('Cause of the movie Beetlejuice? Remember?)

The other night we had some friends over and made sushi. It was awesome -- Sweetie made several appetizers and all the fish and I prepared all the veggies and rice, then we made our friends make their own rolls. Zadie especially loves edamame, tamago, and the bowl of rice crackers we had out. I also made ginger syrup for drinks, so I had a couple ginger-tinis. Delicious!

I still can't post pictures of the finished bedroom because Z Gallerie still hasn't called me about my pillow shams. I am beginning to wonder if I'll ever get them. I paid for them on July first, and I keep getting estimated dates that they will arrive farther and farther in the future.

Last week I took Zadie to Old Sacramento. She thought it was okay, but clearly not as fun as the zoo or park. Still, we saw a boat, a train, and the old schoolhouse. I'm trying to rein in my frivolous spending on the baby, so I did NOT buy her the doll or the bonnet they were selling in the old schoolhouse, or the squishy, neon-pink pig with wheels that the toy store had. But I wanted to.

She's insane for a show called Yo Gabba Gabba right now. Along with gum and lipstick, it's one of those things you have to keep out of her sight and spell when you talk about it. I actually like the show -- it's not educational in the way Sesame Street is with letters and numbers, but it's got character education stuff, like "Don't bite your friends" and "you can't always get what you want, and it won't help if you keep on asking." Plus, there are lots of guest stars and every episode has a dancey-dance segment.

Something is wrong with my wrist. I either have another ganglion cyst or I'm giving myself repetitive motion strain. If it's the latter, I'm going to feel hella stupid when I go to my doctor and have to say "Well, it's either from Guitar Hero or playing Farm Town on the computer."

My bed gets gritty. Does your bed get gritty? There are only a few options, and I can't imagine what is true. Either everyone gets grit in their bed, or it's just me. If it's just me, where is it coming from? Cat dander? Dry skin? Stuff I'm tracking in off the floor? Is one of my stuffed animals leaking grit? Does my leaky boob milk dry and become grit? Why, oh why is there grit in my bed?

Okay, the kid is up now, so I'd better run. Not sure what we're doing today. Fairy Tale Town sounds fun, but I really need to take the car in for service. Bleh.

I've had better days

Zadie wouldn't take her nap at her normal time, so I decided we'd go on an errand instead. She fell asleep on the way there, so I just sat in the parking lot and let her sleep. She had a shorter-than-normal nap. Which seems to have led to...

A crappy afternoon! She wanted some "gum" (mints), so I gave her one. She asked again, so I gave her another. Then she whined and fake-cried for one. I said "say please and I'll give it to you." She whined and cried and yelled "baby gum!" about a thousand times, but wouldn't say please*. I didn't want to give in and teach her that throwing a tantrum works, so I didn't give it to her. She continued being a whiny butt for about an hour.

We got home and I went to change her diaper and her bootie was a little red, so I asked if she wanted to run around naked, and she said yes.

I checked my voice mail, and there was a message from work saying I have to come in three days next week. No times, no location, nothing.

Zadie climbs up on my lap to nurse.

I call back and leave a message asking the principal's secretary to call me, asking just how mandatory these days are. Did I mention that next week, when all three days are, is the only week all summer when my mom isn't in town to watch Zadie?**

I start to post a message on Facebook about the crappy day I am having, and as I am typing, I get peed on.

I get the call back, and the secretary says they are pretty mandatory. The principal apparently got mad at someone else who said they couldn't come.

*I know that might be a lot to ask of many 16-month-olds, but Zadie has said "please" in context many times before, so she certainly knows how.

*Not that I don't trust my dad, just that A) He and my step-mom haven't had a baby around all day in a long time and B) Zadie is pretty routine-based and can be really cranky and obnoxious when she doesn't have her routines, like naptimes, in order. As evidenced by today. I'd probably be leaving them with quite a handful.

Health Care

I don't usually get political, but what the fuck, America?

I'm hearing people at town halls and online saying "Medicare works perfectly for me. Government needs to keep its hands off health care." But... wait... Medicare IS government-run health care.

I'm hearing outright lies, like that we'd lose our private health insurance if "Obamacare" goes through. But that's not part of the plan at all.

I'm hearing people talk about death panels, when the truth of it is that they were simply going to offer end-of-life counseling.

And then the democrats, bless their wussy little hearts, TOOK THAT PART OUT because people misunderstood it.

People are criticizing the forms of health care in Canada, the UK, Switzerland, etc., when polls of the people, statistics about things like diseases and longevity, and anecdotal evidence all seem to support that those systems work just fine, better than ours.

The radio DJ (whom I should never listen to) this morning was aghast at the fact that in Great Britain, they apparently diagnose things by telephone to reduce crowding at the hospitals. He was horrified, outraged. But, um, I have private health insurance and I've been diagnosed by phone several times.

Our system sucks for so many people. Private insurance regularly denies people for having pre-existing conditions, however slight. I know there are a million examples, but my own is that I wasn't able to get insurance when I was doing an internship because I have asthma. Well-controlled asthma that does not require medication.

To get medical care without insurance is a quick way to bankruptcy. During that brief period that I was uninsured, I got pneumonia. To be seen by a doctor and get a prescription would have probably been five- or six-hundred dollars. I lucked out because my mom has connections and only had to pay about $100 for the prescription.

When people buy insurance not through an employer, it's often more or less a scam. I read a story recently of a couple who purchased insurance with a special rider to cover maternity, labor, delivery, and post-natal care. But then they received a bill for almost everything. The fine print specified that it covered all those things -- up to $2,000. They were responsible for everything else, which totaled something like $16,000 for a birth with no special interventions.

I guess I understand what the idea is -- I've got mine and screw everybody else -- but how does that correlate with the people who are constantly harping on how this country should be built on Christian values? It's so hypocritical. The people who stand up at these town hall meetings and say "This isn't the country I know" just dumbfound me. I mean, the idea that Obama is pushing something on the American people that they don't want is precisely how this country has worked for at least the last eight years. Unlike Bush, what he's doing isn't illegal, immoral, or unconstitutional. I wouldn't want to restrict anyone's freedom of speech, so if people want to show up at town halls and question what's going on, they're welcome to, but shouting down the Senators? Bringing guns to presidential appearances? People are acting fucking crazy. I reiterate: What the fuck, America?

She's killing me today!

All within the last hour:

She demanded "Mama cry!" I fake boo-hooed for a few seconds, and she started patting me on the shoulder and said "It's okay."

She was humming quietly while playing with her magnetic letters, so I said "Are you singing 'ABCD?'" She sang "A b c d... d x o x o e. Yay!"

She followed Sweetie into the bathroom, then clapped and said "Yay" while he peed.

It's kind of awesome having a kid.

Self-image, prepared two ways

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Originally uploaded by countmockula

I'm trying an "age-defying" lotion, so I thought I'd post a picture of my skin on day two of using it, and then in a while I'll post after pictures and see if there's any difference. It's supposed to help minimize discolorations and wrinkles. I don't think I have any wrinkles yet (except my forehead thinking line), but I am starting to wonder about a discoloration. Under my right eye (I don't think you can see it in this shot), there's a spot that I'm always thinking "Did I fail to get all my mascara off? Is there a shadow?" So maybe that will lessen. I am pretty lucky -- I've never had serious acne. I mean, I break out, but little stuff, mainly. And I've never smoked. I have, however, spent way too much time in the sun without always wearing sunscreen or a hat, so I worry about the eventual skin damage I might see. Right now, it looks pretty okay, except for the billion moles.

So after feeling pretty okay about my skin, I have another paragraph. Yeah, I am HATING my body. I recently discovered that I am fatter than everyone else in the whole universe. I am fatter than the five-month-pregnant lady at work. I am fatter than the neighbor who had a baby three days ago. I am fatter than every single human I have seen since I left Boone, Iowa. I am fatter than all the mothers on the playground, fatter than everyone at the wading pool, fatter than the people who cross the street in front of my car, and fatter than the people whose cars I cross the street in front of. And I have no good excuse. I haven't gone to the gym, I haven't regulated my diet. I'm lazy and I overeat. I keep meaning to do something about it, but I haven't. Just a confession, I guess.

Demon voice and more...

Here's Z practicing her demon voice. Excuse the dead air time. My favorite part is when I tell her to say "I'm silly." She's a regular comedian already.



Yesterday morning, she said "BABY SOCK ON!" in demon voice about eight times in a row, and then I grabbed the camera. This is what ensued.



As always, she does stuff better before the camera turns on. Also, this one is mostly me. You may want to skip it, in fact. Why am I posting it? The song is Van Morrison's "And it Stoned Me."

Good morning, fair-to-middling afternoon

This morning I took the baby out to breakfast. As we were leaving the house, I saw two people walking some dogs and pushing a baby carriage. I smiled and waved. Then as we drove past, I realized it was our across-the-street-and-down-a-few neighbors who have been expecting a baby, but to my knowledge, hadn't had it yet. I pulled over and jumped out of the car. "I'm sorry -- I thought you were just some random neighbors!" I said. I fussed over little Miles, who is gorgeous, and then Z and I went to Cafe Bernardo and had a lovely meal.

At home, I texted Sweetie to see if it would be all right if I used some of his yummy sauce to make a casserole for the neighbors. He said sure, so I went to the store for the other ingredients and came home and made it. I also wrapped a little onesie Monkeygirl had made and burned a baby-friendly CD. We took our nap, then took everything over to the neighbors.

Then we had lunch and I tried to tidy up the house (Zadie's new hobby is pulling things out of drawers and spreading them around like the clutter fairy). I have been waiting on some pillow shams from Z Gallerie to finish the bedroom makeover. I purchased them on July 1st, and they originally told me they'd have them in mid-July. They didn't. Then they said they should get them on August 9th. Well, I tried to call them, but got a weird noise on the phone, so I went there instead. Nope, they still don't have them, and now they're thinking August 23rd. Am I overly cranky or is 7 weeks a long time to wait for some stupid shams I've already paid for?

When we left, I was in a parking lot I don't usually use, so I looped around a couple times trying to find the exit. I did, and I turned around to take J street towards the freeway so that I could go to Ulta. Well, J street was completely blocked off with police cars, so I had to go onto I instead, which is a one-way in the wrong direction and it sent me into Old Sacramento -- a fun destination, but not where I was heading today. There are also only a few ways out of it, and I made my way to one of them. I finally got back on to J street, but traffic was so heavy that by the time I reached one possible turn, I was worn out and cranky and decided to just go home. But on the way home is Big Spoon yogurt, so Z and I (and Elmo) shared a peanut butter-chocolate yogurt, which was a happy end to the rest of the fiasco of an outing.

Tomorrow I'm dropping off the baby at Mom's, and I think I'll go back-to-school shopping. I had planned on being back to my normal weight by this time, but it just hasn't happened, so I think I need a few more things to see me through the fall at least. And then of course I'll finally go to Ulta, too. I feel like I need something age-defying, with Alpha-Hydroxy acids and an SPF. I have been pretty lucky with my skin -- just occasional breakouts and a crapload of tiny moles and freckles, but I'm worried that all my sun exposure is going to come back to haunt me.

Today I am thankful for

Baby barrettes. When we were in Chicago, Zadie REALLY wanted another girl's barrettes. The girl took them out for her, but they wouldn't stay in her less-than-ample hair. At Target we found these tiny ones, and they stay in. Zadie is thrilled.


Tomatoes. We got tomatoes from our CSA. Then we got more tomatoes from our other CSA. Then we got more tomatoes from my dad. It's so many we couldn't use them up just in salads and sandwiches, so Sweetie made a huge batch of marinara sauce for us and I oven-dried a bunch. Now we have a plethora of tomato products to use for pasta, pizza, lasagna... And of course, some of us just like to eat them plain.


Haircuts and good causes. Today Deeda Salon was raising money for a Thai orphan to go to college. Haircuts were only $30. I was desperately in need of a haircut, so I called in. I thought I got a great cut, and it was cheap enough that I was able to donate a little more to the college fund. I also may have found a new stylist (I loved my old one, but she no longer works at a salon). I'm going to try to schedule a time for her to do my color, and if I like what she does there, I'll stick with her.


Good shoes. I've had these shoes for about five years, and they served me very well. I picked them up at a shop in Berkeley and have worn them frequently ever since. I even just told Monkeygirl that if I could buy them again, perhaps in teal, I totally would. They broke yesterday. Rest in peace, shoes.


Guitar Hero. I've been avoiding writing this because having bought the game may seem both indulgent and immature. But DUDE! I've been having so much fun! Almost every night after the baby goes to bed, Sweetie and I play. We went through most of the set lists on easy and have both now switched to medium. I know it's silly, but we used to sit in separate rooms and play on the computers, and now we are standing together, working towards collaborative goals (with a little healthy competition), high-fiving each other after good performances.

My kid. She makes me laugh and smile every single day. Most of her "ready set go" sprints end with a hug from me as the finish line. Could you ask for more? (Yes, she's "reading" this book upside down.)


My husband. He makes marinara. He plays Guitar Hero with me. He is a dad, not just a father. If I want to go have band practice or get my hair cut, he may grumble, but he'll watch the baby so I can have some time to myself. He rarely gets annoyed with me, even when I am annoying. He is absolutely diligent about cleaning the house, watering the garden, weeding the decomposed granite... he's a true partner, and I really appreciate it.


My mom. Not only does she watch the baby when I'm at work and whenever else I ask her, she still runs errands with me on Sundays, takes me out to dinner, and mindlessly begins folding my laundry when I have a pile on the couch. I don't know where I'd be without her.

My stepdad. He's not a hugger or anything, but he shows his affection in other ways. For example, before our recent trip, he bought Zadie a purse (she loves purses) with toy lipstick, compact, cell phone, and keys so she'd have something to play with on the plane. And that evening at the hotel? I found out he'd packed a care package for me, too -- some Hershey's dark chocolate truffles and chocolate-covered espresso beans. And when he picked us up, he had a cup of cold water and two baggies of snacks for her.

My dad. He doesn't care for Zadie on a day-to-day basis, so it sort of took her a while to warm up to him, but now she's nuts about him. He watched her the other day for me and ever since, every time I pick up a phone, Zadie goes "Grandpa? Grandpa!" and demands to be handed the phone. She even talks to him on her play phone. I know he'd watch her whenever I asked, too. And of course, he does all the dad stuff for me, still. In my garage right now are several of his tools, his wheelbarrow, and a pressure-washer I borrowed. (I'll give 'em all back, Dad!)

Sweetie's family. They may be far from us, but we know we have their love and support.

My friends. I may not see you all as much as I'd like, but you enrich my life.

The band. I know I was complaining about them the other day, but I got to thinking -- how many people used to play an instrument and have put it aside? I'm lucky to even get the chance to play.

My house. I live in a great house in a great neighborhood with a great yard and great neighbors. How lucky is that!

The list is much longer, but it's hot, so I'm getting this sweaty laptop off me. Obviously this is in no particular order, because baby barrettes don't trump, say, the baby. Thanks for reading!

Picture post - my punk trick rider.

1...


2...


3...


She asked to wear my fake hair thing.


A sarong doubles as a chador.


I like this facial expression.

A ghastly tale

We have several small stuffed animals we sleep with (I know it's weird, but I don't care) and they have clothes, buttons, jewelry, etc.

Last night, the baby woke up at about 12, and I got her back to sleep and crawled back into my bed.

I woke up about an hour later with something poking my hip. I assumed it was Blondie the white tiger's earring post, so I lifted my hip up to sweep her out from under me. But instead, another stuffed cat was hanging from my ass. Suspended. I carefully lowered myself down and felt around for what was going on.

I felt a safety pin. Clearly, it had opened and stuck me. I tried to determine which direction it was going (harder in the dark than you might think) and pulled a little. It didn't move. I pulled a little in the other direction. It didn't move.

At that point, I panicked a little and thought about waking Sweetie. But I decided to put my big girl panties on and take care of it myself. I walked to the bathroom, clutching the cat against me so it wasn't dangling, turned on the light, and inspected. The pin was in my hip all the way to the spirally part. I pulled it out and went back to bed.

I am considering a "no-safety-pins-in-the-bed" rule.

A lot of video clips

New cuteness

Drinking "coffee" (steamed milk).


Walking the catwalk in the swimsuit competition.


Lipstick.


Zadie and Sweetie at the river today.

The backyard!

Well, I promised you bedroom makeover pictures before yard pictures, but there's been a hold-up with the pillow shams, so backyard it is!

Here are the before photos.






And here are the after pictures!






And for good measure, here's the porch.




A list of everything that changed is:
extended the flagstone
tore out the lawn, replaced it with decomposed granite
built planter boxes
power-washed the old flagstone
painted Zadie's Adirondack chair
got rid of a few pavers and statuary I didn't like
hung the spirally thing from the bedroom outside on the fence
I think that's it...

Zadie sings

This is the silly song "Bobby-O" by Kimya Dawson. Check out her face when she sings the "Oh!"

The dirt.

I had some guys come rip up my lawn. They dug it to a depth of two inches in most of the space and four inches in another section. Then they laid down weed-control fabric and decomposed granite in one section, and crushed rock, sand, and flagstone in another. They filled in between the flagstone with mortar, and now it's done! I have to clean up very well, but then I'll post pictures of the new, improved backyard.

However... when you tear out an entire backyard, you are left with a big giant weedy pile of dirt. It was in the street. I initially talked to the guys about taking it to the dump. One of them only had a small pickup, so it was going to take more than one trip. Still, I said I'd prefer if they could haul it away.

I also had a lot of extra materials leftover -- a pile of rock, a pile of sand, a pile of granite, and several pieces of flagstone. One of them asked me what I wanted to do with that. I said it was no problem, that I could probably get rid of it all on Freecycle. "Oh, so you've got some company that will haul it away?" I explained a little about Freecycle, and that was the end of the conversation.

A few days later, the other guy was there by himself. He said "Chris said you had some company to haul off all that stuff out front?" I explained briefly about Freecycle, and that was the end of that.

But wait!! "All that stuff out front" meant, in my head, the leftover supplies in the driveway. But when he drove off after finishing that afternoon, I realized it had meant, in his head, all the leftover supplies and the big weedy pile of dirt. Which was still sitting in the street. Which had, in fact, been sitting in the street for nigh on three weeks.

Uh-oh.

We weren't sure what to do. I had called the city and found out they were not doing street pick-up in my area because we now have yard waste bins. I checked into whether they would come do the once-yearly collection, but that has apparently been suspended due to the budget.

My next thought was that we ought to simply borrow my dad's truck, shovel the dirt into it, drive to the dump, pay the dump fee, shovel the dirt out, and then give the truck back to Dad. But, you know, that's a lot of work. And we are very lazy.

I put an ad on Freecycle with the headline "OFFER: Big weedy pile of dirt. 95819." But no one emailed about it. I can't imagine why.

We also considered shoveling it into our yard waste bin, but that would probably take four or so weeks, since the pile was much bigger than the bin. And although my neighbors like us, I don't think they like us well enough to tolerate a big (but slowly decreasing in size) weedy pile of dirt in front of the house for nearly two months.

Since I am borrowing a pressure washer to clean the backyard, Sweetie suggested just blowing it to bits and washing it down the storm drain. I seriously considered this, but what a waste of water! I'm sure someone would report us to the city, what with the new water regulations in place.

I had finally decided on the dump run, but Sweetie really, really didn't want to do it.

Today after we went to the park, I laid down with Zadie for a nap. About an hour into it, she twitched and rolled off my arm, so I got up and came out to the living room to play Farm Town on the computer tidy the house. Anyway, soon I heard a huge truck. It stopped in front of the house. Behind it was one of those yellow claw trucks, and by the time I saw it, it already had some of my big weedy pile of dirt in its jaws! There was a guy standing on my lawn supervising. I ran outside and shook his hand. I guess they do street pick-up sometimes after all.

Bye bye, big weedy pile of dirt!

Lemon face

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Originally uploaded by countmockula

Last night Zadie insisted on trying a lemon. I discouraged her and told her they were sour, but she said "try, try!" So I cut one into wedges and gave it to her.

Sweetie had overheard us, so he went running for the camera, hoping to catch the (we assumed inevitable) sour face. But no -- she liked it. She ate the whole thing. She did say "sour," but she kept eating.

The kid's got a weird palate -- at dinner on Sunday at Tres Hermanas, we gave her chips with salsa on them, and then she grabbed the salsa spoon and started eating spoonfuls of their (pretty hot) salsa. But then last night I put chili paste in our stir-fry and she said "too hot! Too hot!"

Playing bass

is kind of dissatisfying right now. I won't go into another whole long post about why Jeff the Arrhythmic drummer sucks, except to briefly say a few things.

Two of the things I like best about playing music are learning and mastering new songs, and writing my own songs. Jeff is impatient and ADHD, and he can't stand us playing a song more than once. Which, of course, means we can't really learn new songs very often, because that requires going through them more than once. Instead, if we want to try a new song, we have to play it through once and hope we get it, because lord knows, we're moving on after we try it.

It's not just Jeff that inhibits my songwriting, although he's a huge part of it. Songwriting definitely involves trying a song more than once, which, as we've seen, is out. But with my old band (Gynas, I miss you!), I could come to the group with a melody and lyrics and maybe a bass line or part of one, and we would work together to come up with guitar and drum parts, finding out what worked and discarding what didn't. I had a lot of creative control over my own songs, but they were all a collaborative effort. WIth this band, though, if I want to write something, I need to show up with a COMPLETE song, guitar chords and everything. Which, because I don't play guitar, is a challenge pretty much beyond me.

There's another non-Jeff problem, too. About a year and a half ago, my uncle invited this other guitarist to come play with us. So now there are three guitarists (a little much in my opinion, but whatever). And the new guy is really very good. But that is its own problem, in a way, because my uncle and the other guitarist are really impressed by this guy, so if new guy wants to do a twenty minute solo in the middle of a song, they just raise their eyebrows at me and go "Yeah! Sweet!" But, well, I find twenty minute solos a little boring. And we have limited time to play, so when we play every song with a twenty minute solo in the middle, that means we only get to play five or six songs.

So, you may find yourself asking, why don't I find a new band to play with? Well, first of all, I really like my uncle and the other guitarist, and I enjoy spending time with them. The whole band has been really cool about accommodating me and my scheduling needs (ending before Z's bedtime when I thought that might work better, and now starting after her bedtime). Plus, I'm not very good, and my uncle and the other guitarist are kind of at my level, or at least don't seem to mind that I'm not very good. I think it would be hard to find another situation like that. Can you see the Craigslist ad? "Mediocre bassist seeks mediocre guitarists and drummer to practice infrequently around my toddler's schedule. Practice at your place. No interest in playing shows."

I guess I need to manage to have a better attitude about it all. Jeff has certainly improved (although he still doesn't count and gets off beat a lot). New Guy is good, so I guess if I was into guitar solos I'd really be impressed. I do like getting a chance to play at all. Any other suggestions for ways to look at the bright side? (Besides the fact that this is the only thing in my entire life I'm dissatisfied with, and that I basically lead a charmed life and should be thanking my lucky stars rather than complaining...)