Thanks Moving Dude

So a Moving Dude came to our house today. Not the kind of moving dude that actually moves your stuff, but the kind that takes inventory of how much stuff you've got so he can tell the company what size truck they'll need and whether or not they need any special equipment to protect your stuff when they move it. (My guess is that his report was "Small truck. Zero valuables. They claim the dining room table is worth something, but I'm not sure I believe them. Maybe put a few pillows around it.")

So he's doin' his thing, prowlin' around the house, filling out some sort of list, and chatting with Shanti (I was in the bathroom listening in as I put on my makeup), when suddenly he comes to our TV cabinet and says, "No flat screen!?"

"Nope," Shanti replies.

"Not even one?" the moving guy inquires incredulously.

"Not even one."

"Man, I've got three, and one of 'em is 60 inches. I can't believe you don't even have one."

I cringed in the bathroom. Thanks for nothin' Moving Dude. Shanti has wanted a flat screen forever, and I've managed to hold him off, but now that you have just bragged in his face about how you have three and he has zero, well, I'm pretty sure I'm going to find myself in an electronics store is in the very near future, hearing my husband argue with renewed vigor about why he cannot be happy until he has a very flat, very large television set, and how all his friends have them, and shoot, even the Moving Dude has THREE. 

I don't have any new pix right now, so the photo above is entirely non-Moving Dude related--just a shot of Zeke and Daddy enjoying a little yogurt last weekend at the zoo. 

Resolutions Anyone?

Did you make any resolutions this New Year?

I did.

I make 'em every year. I'm really into New Year's resolutions. I usually make too many, but still, they help me focus on what I need to be doing. This year's highlights:

-Get my hemorrhoids fixed. I know...ick. But I've had these unpleasant butt accessories ever since I was pregnant with Zeke, and it's time to get them removed once and for all. I was hoping they'd just kind of go away on their own, but it's been 3 years now, and they've made it clear that a voluntary departure is not on the agenda.

-Embrace yoga. This one was on the list last year and did not happen, so it's been re-listed. I'm usually so comfortable with physical activities, but I fear yoga like other people fear skydiving. It looks like it takes a lot of patience and flexibility. I know it would be so good for injury avoidance though, so it's time to suck it up and go party with all the stretchy people.

-Go to bed earlier. I'm down to about 6.5 hours of sleep a night these days, and that's not cool. I just read an article about a study that showed that people who got only 7 hours of sleep are 500% more likely to catch a virus than people who have had 8 hours of sleep...and I'm not even getting 7! I want in on all that juicy immunity.

Oh God. Shanti just came in and told me that the dog got skunked. Gotta go. Midnight dogwash in the backyard!! Zadie smells so bad I feel like I'm gonna hurl...

Anyway, share your resolutions if you made any! Did any of yours overlap with mine?

We Love Global Warming!

Just kidding. We don't love it. But we'll admit to liking it a little on days like this past Sunday. That was some sweet sunshine we got our hands on. Pure and penetrating. Serious enough to merit ditching your hat, gloves, coat--and in Zeke's case, everything but underpants--by lunchtime. We knew it was going to be beautiful the moment we woke up, and decided it would be a flat out sin to spend even one minute inside, so we took Zeke to the SF Zoo, and then the beach across the street from the zoo. He counted the tiny jellyfish that had washed ashore, dug a few holes, then embarked on a major construction project that involved moving all the sand from the south end of the beach to the north end--one handful at a time. We were impressed by his ambition, but ultimately had to bring the project to a halt when it was time to go home. What an amazing day. 

Bike Mechanics

It's never too early to learn how an Allen wrench works--especially if you're a small bike enthusiast. 

This weekend Zeke got a little practice in with this essential tool when he and Daddy raised his bike seat. Just a few quick turns here and there, and he was back out on the road. Man, that bike was a great purchase. He's already ridden that thing to death, and he's still got a couple notches to go until he outgrows it. Of course, he may never learn to ride a real bike, because he refuses to use pedals now--even on his trike--but whatever. I figure peer pressure will take care of that when the time comes. For now he's happy as a lark, burnin' around the neighborhood like a madman.  

Yo Quiero Pan

This is Zeke at the Monterey restaurant we ate at last weekend. He has already polished off the giant roll I allowed him to eat while waiting for his meal to arrive. And now, although he has a perfectly delicious array of chicken and vegetables right in front of him, and has been told by mommy and daddy that he can't have any more bread, he's taking one last shot with our server. No words--just a valiant attempt to communicate through telepathy and facial expressions...

"Come on man. Hook me up with one more of those rolls. Please. My parents don't have to know. Just put it on the window sill behind my seat. I'll grab it when they're not looking. You can have some of my chicken if you want..."

And to Zeke's credit, the server got the message loud and clear. 

"Would the leetle boy like some more bread? I can bring some. Ees no problem."

No sir. Thank you for the excellent service though. Most wait staff are not perceptive enough to pick up on Zeke's extra-sensory bread-acquisition efforts (lucky for us). 

Really nice guy though. We left him a big tip.

Note: Photo credits for this post and the last two go to Shanti. And just in case I forget in the future, it's safe to assume that any time you see a high-quality photo on this site, it came from my husband--not from me. And I swear, this is my last post about the aquarium visit. Really. The very last one.

Bitey Bitey Thark

This picture is from last weekend at the Monterey Aquarium. Our amazing neighbors, the Fujiis, hooked us up with tickets for Christmas, so we decided to pounce on the first free day we had and scoot on down the coast for a visit with the sea creatures. 

The last time we went was a year ago, and although Zeke enjoyed parts of it, he was very scared of other parts, and overall probably would rather have avoided the entire experience. This time though, he was into the whole thing. Loved the fish, loved the otters, loved the Splash Zone where they let little kids play with plastic starfish and sea anemones. And we loved being there with him. I've never done the official guided museum tour where they outfit you with headphones and tell you what's going on in the tanks, but I can't imagine that it's half as entertaining as the toddler-guided tour. There are announcements, ("Look Mommy, that otter is licking his own butt!"-- shouted at a volume that ensured pretty much everyone in the aquarium knew about the butt-licking), there are warnings ("Tharks are very, very dangerous. They like to bite."), and there are tuna-alerts ("Tooo-naaaaah!" --every single time we saw a tuna). 

I was thinking we should actually record him and sell it to the aquarium so they could provide a fun, kid-specific option to the regular audio tour. Of course that would assume that the kids listening to the Zeke audio were in front of the right tanks at the right times, and that seems unlikely (maybe even impossible, since there was a lot of darting around). I'm guessing the most realistic outcome would be a bunch of kids shouting "Tooo-naaaaah! the whole way home in the car and a bunch of parents wondering who the heck was responsible for that stupid recording and how they might find those people and wring their necks.

So for now at least, Zeke's voiceover career remains on hold.

Happy New Year!

To hat or not to hat? That is the question young Zeke was faced with on New Year's Eve at the Wagerman's party.

Ultimately he chose hat, and seemed pleased with it. Much more pleasing however was that he got to: 1) Stay up until midnight, 2) Play with the "big boys" all evening, 3) Have hot dogs and ice cream for dinner. 

We thought he'd be completely wiped out and super cranky the next day (we stayed overnight at the Wagermans to avoid a late-night drive home), but surprisingly he was fine. Got up early and quietly lurked in Lori's kitchen until someone gave him Corn Flakes and a banana.  

I don't think he made any resolutions, but he did decide to get a jump on next year's holidays by announcing Halloween costume assignments for 2009. Apparently he is going to be a white dinosaur, I am going to be a cat-dog (lucky me...not sure where I'll be picking up that costume), and daddy is going to be a zebra. 

The Truth Hurts

Ugh.

I know that even under the best circumstances my eating habits are less-than-perfect. And I am painfully aware that my pants are a little tighter in the wake of the month-long stuff-your-face bonanza that was the holidays. Still, a new diet was not at the top of my priority list for the new year. (That's not to say it wasn't on the list at all...it's always on the list...it just didn't have a big red star next to it.)  

Then yesterday, as Zeke was heading to bed, he gave me a big hug, then stopped, giggled, and exclaimed "Wow Mommy. Your tummy is sooooo big!"

Brutal. And no, I'm not pregnant for those of you who are wondering.

Consider the list revised. Stars, highlighting, and exclamation points now accompany the weight loss resolution. 

Thanks Zeke! 

Jenna and Zadie

While we were having Christmas down in L.A., Zadie was having Christmas back at home with the Fujiis. This is her (on the right) and her not-so-good friend Jenna (the Fujii's dog) pretending to like each other for the sake of the photo. I don't know why these two can't get along better. Neither one has very many dog friends, but unfortunately there's a good reason for that--they both are severely lacking in social skills. They are the canine equivalents of the weird kids at high school...only they don't have the good sense to know they'd be better off forming an alliance. Anyway, this is their Christmas portrait, and they're still cute in spite of whatever their relationship may be lacking.