1/1/11

Sitting Pretty,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

Back from Tahoe in San Francisco. Time for new year resolutions.

Live with less clutter. A big challenge with Parker and Piper but since storage is premium in the house this can make life easier. Plus, we can learn to appreciate what we have not what we don't.

Write every day. I got pretty lax last year so now's the time to change that. At minimum I need to find an hour a day.

Organize my work zone. Along the lines of writing more, I need a dedicated work space. With Piper, I just blocked off and stopped using areas (like my desk) in order to prevent curious hands from grabbing stuff, which has left me with no place to work. It's time to reclaim my spaces and figure out a better way to address Piper's grabby hands.

Make more progress on my genealogical research. I've got this membership to Ancesry.com. I need to use it or cancel it.

A picture a day. Along with the past, I need to better record the now. I've been guilty of taking less photos of kid #2. It's time to correct that.

Lastly, a list of resolutions wouldn't be complete without a weight loss goal. I've just made it into the pre-Piper pants. Time to get back into the pre-Parker pants. :)

Well, that''s it for now. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fourth of July

This Fourth of July we headed up north to visit Luxi and Niko and check out some bay area fireworks. But before that, we stopped at a picnic hosted by one of Joanie's friends. The food...awesome! Especially the Dr. Pepper chicken wings! (Yes, I will eventually post the recipe.)

Parker, of course, ignored the food and made a beeline for the toys. I got a kick out of the toy vespa. I'm sure all you Eddie Izzard fans are thinking of one word...Chao!

I have no great pictures but the fireworks for the evening were AWESOME! Joanie got got us into the Fort Mason Officer's Club where we watched them shoot fireworks over the bay. Probably one of our top 5 fireworks experiences. (Number one being Roswell, NM...in my book, that is.)

NOTE: The wing recipe was basically a bottle of Dr. Pepper and a bottle of BBQ sauce (Trader Joes Kansas City BBQ Sauce). Mix with wings and bake. I also found this recipe at Dr. Pepper Museum...

Dr Pepper Wings

• 2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. White Pepper
• 1 tsp. Black Pepper
• 2 tsp. Salt
• 2 tsp. Garlic Powder 
• 2 tsp. Onion Powder
• 2 tsp. Paprika
• 1 tsp. Dried Thyme
• 2 tsp. Dark Soy Sauce
• ½ Onion, finely diced
• ¼ cup Dr Pepper
• 3 lbs. Chicken Wing Sections (about 24)

The day before: In large zippered bag, combine all seasonings, the Dr Pepper and onion, mixing well. Add chicken and expel air from bag. Mush chicken around in the bag to distribute the spices and liquid. Marinate overnight in refrigerator.

To bake, turn on broiler. Line a raised cookie sheet with foil.

Place wings on foil and broil about 10 to 12 minutes on each side until crisped and well done, with no pink juices.

Serve hot. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Buy the Dublin (Dublin, Texas) hot spices for the wings, you can notch the “heat” up. 

PS: I finally downloaded my camera to my computer and discovered a bunch of photos from Fort Mason. Here they are...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

If we can stay up long enough for it to get here.

Even with the incentive of driving the car, even Luxi fell asleep.

Actually, the adults did manage to be awake for midnight and check out the various fireworks displays across the city.

Christmas

We arrived in San Francisco super early in the morning, which could explain why Parker was the last to wake up. But early birds and late risers alike have to agree that there's nothing better than Cbristmas morning. Even better when Santa can find you no matter where you are...right Parker?


By the way, lessons learned this Christmas:

• Micro playsets may be too micro, which means you'll never get past day one without missing a part or two.
• When breaking out that cupcake maker, read the instructions first and avoid the mess of trying the bake the frosting mix.

I love this

I'm so proud of the uterus I made!,
originally uploaded by juanita.

My sister's friend had a hysterectomy and, so she wouldn't miss her uterus, my sister made her a new one.

I see a future in the body parts trade for my sis!

You know, Joanie, Parker will be losing his first tooth in a couple of years. He just may need a new one to keep him company while waiting for the replacement to grow in.

Luxi's First Keep Out sign

luxi's first Keep Out sign,
originally uploaded by juanita.

I love this!

''This sign was discovered on Luxi's bedroom door. She says that it states Niko can only come in to sleep at night. The sign appears to charge $1 for such a privilege.''

You go, big sis! And don't forget the nickel's bigger than the dime and therefore worth more trick.

Eureka!

Okay, next time we go to the bay area, it looks like we need to stop in Livermore because they have a light bulb that's been burning for 100 years now! Honest Injun!

The 4 watt bulb is 107+ years old. It was installed at the fire department hose cart house on L Street in 1901. Shortly after it moved to the main firehouse on Second. In 1903 it was moved to the new Station 1 on First and McLeod, and survived the renovation of the Firehouse in 1937. During it's first 75 years it was connected directly to the 110 Volt power line, and not to the back-up generator for fear of a power surge. In 1976 it was moved with a full police and fire truck escort to its present site at Fire Station 6, 4550 East Ave., Livermore, California. It was then hooked to a separate 120V power source with no interruptions since.

It's recognized as the oldest known working light bulb by Guinness Book of World Records & Ripley's Believe-It-or-Not.

Why has it been running so long? Well, it supposedly has a perfect vacuumed inside. Congratulations to the Shelby Electric Company for making a great light bulb out of handblown glass and a carbon filament.

And what has become of the great craftsman institution that made this bulb, you ask? They're out of business, of course. Sounds like they needed more repeat customers.

Cutie Patootie

eating a flower,
originally uploaded by juanita.

Not sure if you've noticed from my sister's slideshow to the right but she's gotten a new dog. Her name is Kinda of Foxy -- Foxy for short -- and what a cutie she is! Looks like the Trillos need to schedule a trip up North to visit little Foxy...oh, and the rest of the family. :o)

PS: The red dot on her nose if the remnant of a recently eaten flower. Soooo, cute!

Christmas 2007

Let the Christmas festivities begin!


On the Saturday before, we headed over to Thommy & Geoffrey's place for a delicious holiday brunch, brought to us by the other Chef-Boy-Ardee in my life...Geof. Parker also got to check out Thommy's Christmas Express that circled their tree. And we opened gifts, of course. Chris got the ''The Dangerous Book for Boys'' and Geof and Thommy got the equally ''dangerous'' ''Space Academy, The Complete Series'' and ''Beverly Hills 90210, Season 2'', respectively.


The next day, the party moved to Tehachapi. Unfortunately, not all of the Trillos has arrived yet but, since we were heading up north the next day, the kids got to open some of their presents...TWO DAYS EARLY! WEEE! Parker opened a Hot Wheels race track set and didn't open the box as he discovered that running your car over the picture of the track was just as fun. (No worries, he would find out the truth when we finally assembled the track a couple of days later in Tahoe.)


On Christmas Eve, we made our way to the Bay Area, first stopping as my sister Susie's place so even more cousins could collide. The newest one, Susie's little baby, Brian, brought the number to a round six. Of course, getting all six in one picture proved to be tricky. In the end, the best I could get was one which featured half of Parker's face, right up front on the left. You can't even see Jason's face...but, they're all in the picture so that's got to count for something.

By the way, regarding the huge Hot Wheels bandage on Parker's head, have no fear, he didn't injure himself. He was just feeling a bit grumpy on the way up (it's a lot of traveling even for big kids like me and Chris) so I slapped an obnoxious bandage on his forehead. He loved it. But that meant I couldn't remove it for the rest of the night.



Christmas morning...FINALLY! Luxi was up first to check out all that Santa has left for them. Begrudgingly, Niko and Parker woke up (with encouragement from Joanie). But once all the kids woke up, it became a madhouse. Thank goodness we were at Joanie's. There was chocolate to be had, tea parties, doll play, gun play, and of course a bunch of absolutely loud drumming. Holy crap! Parker loved it. And again, thank goodness we were at Joanie's. What a way to rock out the old year.

That said, WE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PLEASE NOTE: Chris will kill anyone who buys Parker drums for his birthday.

Susie's Shower

On Saturday, Parker and I headed north to attend a baby shower for my sister Susie, who's due in mid-June. This was Parker's first plane and likely to prove to be an interesting experience, especially with the current packing limitations.

I was hoping to get Parker to drink some juice when we took off to help his ears equalize, but he, of course refused. However, surprisingly, he didn't seem to have any ear issues. I guess that's another benefit of the ear tubes.

During the flight we kept busy with coloring and books -- yes, that's a washable marker so I'd have one less thing to worry about (Excuse me, is that your baby writing on the window?) -- especially with my trusty back of baby wipes at my side.

My mom picked us up at the airport and we headed over to her place to check out her digs that she would soon be leaving (But we just got here!) as she was in the process of buying a different apartment in her complex -- with more light than her current rental plus she's on the top floor.

Plus, being in the same complex, she continues to have access to all the community features -- especially the ones important to Parker -- the playground and the pond that's filled with ducks, geese, and turtles. At first Parker was a bit shy around the ducks. But soon he was tormenting them just like any other kid would.

My mom isn't the only person with leaving on the mind. My sister is moving a couple blocks down the street to this little beauty that's currently in escrow. It's a pretty cool house but what they're really buying is the view. Pretty nice, huh?

That said, the kids made the most out of the old digs -- bouncing around and making a total mess, like kids do. I also got them to help me wrap the gifts I had for Susie's shower (wouldn't that sucked if I had wrapped the gifts in LA only to have them unwrapped at the airport?) plus they helped me craft a cool pop-up card -- the artwork being a Luxi original. (Or maybe Niko did it...hmmm, I can't remember anymore.)

On Sunday, we headed over to the shower -- a quaint little brunch at the home of one of Susie's friends. It was outdoors, which meant the kids could roam free with little concern for breaking things. Susie looked great and she seemed really excited about her little one. Looks like we'll have to plan to visit again really soon when Little Liu arrives.

While in the neighborhood, we also stopped by Fay and David's to visit another little one, Stephen. What a total cutie. (Of course, no so "little" when compared to our little guy Parker. Hey! He's growing, just at his own pace.) Plus, Parker was excited to see a wooden stool that had an inlaid puzzle that he could play with. BONUS!

Monday, we pretty much hung out until it was time for us to catch our flight out of SFO. Joanie had a meeting that morning so Parker and I hung out at a park (I believe it's Yerba Buena). It was a pretty cool place but will no trees on the playground, it was pretty hot. Thank goodness they had a bunch of water features so Parker could kick off his shoes and cool off.

After a quick lunch with Ahmah, we headed for the airport. This Parker another opportunity to check out the airplanes. This time, though, I think he has a better understanding of what was soon going to happen…we were going to hop on one of those babies and take off.

This time, though, we're homeward bound.

As nice as it is to get out of town, the time away from home only makes you appreciate it that much more.