Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 4, Thursday

7:15am: We're all up and doing our normal summer morning routine: cereal (TJ's Honey-Os), TV (SpongeBob), couch, checking email and FB. Zoboomafoo comes on on PBS.


7:45am: Open the catch-all drawer and it's like a bomb went off in the rubber band container. I guess Maya was looking for a blue rubber band and dumped everything out. Ask her to put everything back but there are so many rubber bands that I ask her to sort out the dirtier ones and put them in a ziploc so I can, hopefully, give them back to the postal delivery person.


8:00am: Mama Mirabelle comes on but Maya decides playing on the iPad is a better way to spend her time. She uses apps for coloring, tracing numbers, "playing" music, and playing games. Ian reads Pendragon #9, Raven Rise in his room; he's really loving the series. I'm back at my laptop working on this project (uploading photos and typing blog entries).

9:00am: Getting into a routine of having Maya work on a few pages of her packet everyday. At this rate she'll be able to finish by the end of the summer, which is a relief. Really noticed that even a week without schoolwork and her brain gets lazy and forgetful.


10:00am: To take a break Maya watches the Cat in the Hat. I tell Ian to get dressed and pack his lunch to take to his aunt's. When the episode is over the kids play by throwing a ball at each other and squishing each other. Fun!


10:45am: Leave to drop the kids off at my in-laws'. Can't wait to get my hair lopped off! Take a "before" picture first.


11:30am: Haircut time! Julie, who came recommended by my sister, is great with my hair. I rarely get my hair cut so I don't mind shelling out a few extra bucks to get it cut by Julie.


12:30pm: After setting aside the 10 inches of my hair, Julie does a great job giving me a cute bob. My head feels light and summery! Drive to the nearby Japanese market to pick up some books (including a travel guide to Kobe on sale) and food.


1:15pm: Pick up the kids. Maya and my SIL painted their nails. Looks like they had a great time. It's so nice to have family around. Get home, unpack the groceries and head to my room to read my new books and take a power nap. (Notice a pattern in my afternoons?) Let the kids do whatever and watch whatever. I'm happy to report they don't give each other any problems, which means they don't give me any problems. (I bought three bags of Karl; one of them I ate on my way to pick the kids up (what? I was hungry) and the kids got into another bag, so we only have one left!)

3:30pm: Remind Ian to write the birthday card for his friend's party. Drag myself out of my room to wrap the present. Drive him over to his friend's house down the street at 4:00pm.

4:05pm: Take Maya to TJ's with me to pick up some staples: milk, bananas, granola bars, half and half. I spot vinho verde and buy a bottle. In the frozen dessert section I find something that's new to me -- peach pops -- and decide to try them out. I let Maya get coffee ice cream, her current favorite flavor.


4:45pm: Remember that I need to pick up a book at the library. Walk over there, telling Maya we can only stay for a little bit because we need to clean up the living room before our friends come over for dinner. Maya checks out another Pokemon video.

5:15pm: Get home and clear the living room of the laundry, tidy up the dining table, and clear the kitchen counter. Steep some mugicha. Just opening the package and getting a whiff of the barley smell makes me close my eyes for a moment to savor memories of summers in Japan.

6:30pm: Rupert comes home. Maya and I have just been hanging out in the living room, peacefully. It's so nice when we're all pleasant to each other ... and it's quiet.

7:00pm: Our friends R and A arrive. They're visiting from Atlanta. We've missed them since they moved away from Los Angeles several years ago. We order food from a local Mexican place and send Rupert and Maya to pick it up. It takes them awhile to come back with the food because the restaurant's busy.

8:00pm: Go pick Ian up from the birthday party. Seems like they had a great time but I'm just eager to get back to my food and conversation with my friends.

8:30pm: Get R, a computer science professor, to take a look at our wireless set-up. Rupert hadn't been able to set up the the wireless printing and we hope R can help. He patiently works on the problem and manages to figure it out. Hooray!


9:15pm: The kids get ready for bed. But, first, the requisite group photo. After the kids go to bed we hang out and talk. Eat peach pops; they're not bad and actually have real peach chunks in them.

11:15pm: R and A leave. Rupert and I continue to hang out on the couch. I upload photos, surf the web, etc.

12:00am: Head to the bedroom. Make the mistake of browsing through the Kobe guidebook. Can't put it down for half an hour. Turn the light off at 12:30. Good night!

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 3, Wednesday

sometime between 6:00am and 6:45am: Maya wakes up. She was doing "nothing," according to her.

6:45am: Ian wakes up. The kids watch SpongeBob.


7:13am: When I wander into the living room the kids are watching Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Ian started watching this show recently (much to our chagrin) and I wonder if it's because he's mentally getting himself ready for middle school (in a weird TV-land sort of way).

8:00am: Maya wants a turn with Netflix Streaming but I refuse to let her watch another episode of Horseland or SpongeBob. She reverts to Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, a show from the 80s we watched repeatedly before. The kids watch the Star Wars episode.


8:30am: Time for work! Ian needs to stay on schedule for his Cryptography class (and it's a long-ish assignment today); Maya keeps working on her Language Arts packet; and I'm emailing (trying to get permission to access the wireless at work so I can use my iPad (which I'm hopefully getting today) in my library) and catching up on internet stuff.

9:00am: Maya's reached her limit for working on one thing and heads off to color and read. Ian's still working on decoding stuff.

9:30am: Renew my subscription to Saveur using an amazon gift certificate I received from one of the kids at school.

10:00am: Pay bills, check online accounts (yay -- our BofA account is working again on the laptop!), call our health insurance provider to see why my automatic credit card payment stopped (annoying!), load the dishwasher, and field some questions from Ian.

10:10am: Ian finishes today's assignment and takes a break by playing a baseball video game.

10:35am: Maya needs a snack so she eats a Rice Crispy Treat my dad made.

10:45am: It was inevitable: Pokemon video time. Tell the kids our plan for the day: drop off old linens at the animal shelter, lunch (Ian chooses Marmalade Cafe over CPK), and then to buy an iPad. I call the Apple store to see if they have the iPad I want; I literally let the phone ring for 5 minutes before someone picks up. Yay -- they have the one I want in stock!

11:00am: Ask Ian to wipe down the old baby gate we're giving away to a neighbor. In the meantime Maya and I pull old sheets and towels out of the linen closet; she gets bored after a minute and walks away. I pack up a lot of old stuff (especially baby sheets and towels) but the closet still looks completely full. I know we don't need this many towels and sheets but I have a hard time getting rid of things that are still usable.


11:15am: Head out of the house. I let Maya use the camera in the car and she loves it. The kids take self-portraits.


11:30am: Drop off our donation and take some time looking at the dogs and cats. There's an especially cute puppy and some cats in the room right off the lobby. Maya has been asking and asking to get a dog but I've been steadfastly refusing. But if there's one way to sway me, it's to make me actually see the animals. (No picture-taking allowed inside so we snapped a picture as we were leaving.)


11:45am: Head to Marmalade Cafe in El Segundo for lunch. Normally I wouldn't spend so much money on lunch, but Ian had a free kids meal certificate from school. The kids play Tic-Tac-Toe while they wait for the food to arrive. (Ian and I order burgers, Maya gets chicken fingers.) See a student from Robinson sitting at the table next to us; I think this is the first student I've run into this summer. Remember that we have one extra errand to run afterward: we have to get a birthday present for a party Ian's going to tomorrow.


1:30pm: Make it to the Apple store after getting short with Maya for already complaining about being in the car for "so long." We only have to wait a few minutes for them to bring out an iPad for us to buy. The kids play games while we wait. Maya's game is in German so we keep telling her, "Gut, Maya, gut!"


1:40pm: Maya wants to go to the fountain in the mall before we leave. I let her throw a few pennies in to make some wishes.


2:00pm: Shopping at Target. The kids pick out a set of Pokemon cards for Ian's friend and then we buy a few ingredients for tonight's dinner. I'm getting progressively more tired and cranky. <-- This is called "foreshadowing."

2:30pm: Make it home and the first thing Ian wants to do is call his friend. I tell him that's fine but I'm not driving him over there. He asks if he can ask his friend's parents to pick him up. No, of course not! Then Maya starts badgering me to use the iPad, even though I told her it would take time to set up. Finally, I lose it and yell at both of them. I feel bad, yes, but there's only so much I can take. I apologize later but I explain to them how frustrated I was.


3:00pm: Register the iPad and start syncing apps, which is very time-consuming. I don't want to deal with the kids so I let them watch TV while I do this.


4:00pm: Maya starts drawing her version of the Crabby Patty Secret Formula.

5:20pm: I start making dinner, penne with crumbled Italian sausage.

6:00pm: Eat dinner without Rupert, even though I know he's coming home soon. I want to eat before Maya gets cranky and I need to let my stomach settle before going to yoga. Maya eats three helpings of pasta. Ian, as expected, picked out all of the onions. I read the newest New Yorker while eating.


6:30pm: Rupert comes home as I'm finishing dinner. Another episode of Brady Barr is turned on. We play with the iPad a bit. Maya decides Ian shouldn't use it because of his sweaty hands.

7:15pm: I brush my teeth, change my clothes, and head out to my yoga class.


9:30pm: Finish yoga; I feel great. Text with my hairdresser and my sister-in-law to see if I can leave the kids with SIL so I can get my haircut tomorrow. Success!

9:45pm: Rupert's watching So You Think You Can Dance when I get home. I should shower but I get sucked into the TV. Lady Gaga is throwing shoes.

10:00pm: Still need to shower but Rupert's new guilty pleasure, Love in the Wild, is on. It is a terrible show but we watch the whole thing (partly to see the bloody injury, but we weren't impressed with the amount of blood).

11:00pm: Finally shower. Wash my long hair for the last time; tomorrow at least 10 inches of it is getting cut off.

11:30pm: Back to the couch to play with the iPad and download a couple more apps. Bring it to bed and upstage Rupert's much-smaller game of Solitaire. Check out the Kindle app; I like that I can read in the dark and the photos are in color. Rupert thinks my new-ish Kindle is now obsolete. I don't think so; there's a time and place for each.

12:35am: Finally go to sleep.

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 2, Tuesday

7:30am: Rupert leaves for work; I'm still rolling around in bed. Check my email and FB on my phone.


8:00am: Maya wakes up and immediately takes advantage of Ian not being home: turns on Horseland on Netflix Streaming.


8:15am: Ian and Alex come back and go to Ian's room to play Legos.

8:30am: I begin uploading yesterday's photos to flickr. Maya finishes watching TV and goes back to working on a drawing she started yesterday.

8:45am: The boys are back to playing video games.


9:20am: Put away dishes from the dishrack, but I have to wait for Ian to put the dishwasher dishes away so I can load it. Yes, it would be easier and faster if I unloaded it but it's not my job! Maya finally gets hungry enough to ask for breakfast and she eats two strawberry Eggos again. I munch on a chocolate chip one while putting away dishes and making my daily ice coffee.

9:40am: Notice Maya's finger nails are like claws. Finally do something parent-like and cut them.

9:45am: The boys are finally finished with their video game, giving Maya a chance to watch a Pokemon video from the library. Ian and Alex linger on the couch and watch with her. But I make Ian unload the dishwasher before he sits down.

10:00am: Load the dishwasher and wash dishes.

10:30am: Work on yesterday's Week in the Life post.

11:00am: At last, the TV is turned off (but probably not for long). The boys continue to talk about Pokemon (for 45 minutes!) on the couch.


11:10am: Maya starts working on her summer packet worksheets. I mentioned to her that Julia is way ahead of her and that seemed to motivate her a bit; nothing wrong with a little competition, right?

11:30am: The boys help themselves to chips to energize their Pokemon conversation. They leave the itty-bitty crumbs in the chip bag and return it to the counter. Ever heard of a garbage can?


11:50am: Maya gets frustrated with doing work so she goes outside with the boys. It occurs to me that I could easily be doing a load of laundry. Throw in a load of lights. Ian and Maya request chicken nuggets for lunch; Alex doesn't want anything but I tell him he has to eat. They go outside for awhile to play (from what I can tell from where I'm sitting inside) some kind of hybrid baseball Pokemon battle game.

12:00pm: Glance at the sidebar on my blog and I realize I haven't updated it in years, probably. Make some quick changes. Remember that I wanted to email my principal about the upcoming school year. Get an automated reply that she's on vacation until August 16. Guess work will have to wait.


12:45pm: Lunch for the kids first. Then I make myself some instant noodles. The kids are watching more Pokemon.

1:30pm: Ian and Alex leave to go back to Alex's. I love these summer days when they don't have anything to do but live at each other's houses. I briefly ponder how old my son is getting to be: I let them walk back by themselves to Alex's house where his teenage brother will be supervising them. No adults and I'm okay with that. Testament to how good these kids are.

1:45pm: Maya is back to her worksheets but she's whining the whole time. Totally lose it and yell at her. Send her to her room to cry. Hear her sobbing that she wants to do homework but I'm pretty sure she's not up to it in her current condition.

2:00pm: She comes out of her room and asks to watch TV but I turn her down. Instead, she sets the timer and sets to work on her coloring book. I guess she set the timer so that she can ask me again about the TV in a bit. "Why is this taking so long?" she asks and turns it off.


2:30pm: Empty the dryer and sort the laundry. I should fold clothes too, but I'll wait until I finish the next load. Head to my room to read the next chapter of The Story of Charlotte's Web: E.B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic.

3:00pm: Nap for 20 minutes while Maya is in the living room playing with her Pillow Pet. And I know she snuck a piece of candy; I can hear her sucking on it all the way across the house! But she was good enough to try again with her worksheets and completed a couple more.

3:30pm: Let her watch SpongeBob while I take a shower.

4:00pm: Start another load of laundry. Maya finishes watching SpongeBob and I'm really finished having to watch SpongeBob. Help Maya fix some mistakes on her worksheets.

4:30pm: Maya is back to her coloring book. Contemplate finally responding to an email my father sent me on my birthday three weeks ago. Not that I don't want to email with my father; it's just that writing in Japanese is difficult and time-consuming.


5:00pm: Turn on some music (Adele's 21, my favorite album right now) and open up my email. The Japanese typing is slow-coming but it's getting done with some breaks, including prepping dinner at 5:20pm.

6:00pm: Let Maya watch more TV; she's hungry and I need to keep her preoccupied while dinner is cooking. (Dinner is my version of Kheema curry with eggplant and garbanzo beans.) While the curry is on the stove I finish the email to my father. Rupert comes home at some point.


7:00pm: We sit down to dinner without Ian who's eating over at Alex's (probably a good thing since this is his least favorite kind of curry). Rupert again chooses to watch Brady Barr.


7:30pm: After dinner Maya asks for a Game Night; she chooses Simpsons Sorry! and she wins. I read my book instead. Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel series is on TV in the background.

8:00pm: Ian calls to say that he's staying a bit longer because they're watching Rango. Rupert and Maya go to pick him up around 8:30 and the kids come home to get ready for bed.

9:00pm: Half watch MasterChef and half read my book while Rupert does work on his laptop.


10:oopm: Nothing good on TV so turn it off; read and work in silence for awhile. And can't forget to eat dessert: ice cream for Rupert and sherbet for me.

11:00pm: Doze off on the couch and wake up at 11:30 to go to bed.

Observation: Maya and I spent the entire day in our PJs, which means we never left the house!

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 1, Monday

12:19am: Rupert's making noise coming to bed and wakes me up briefly. Note to self: tell him to close the bathroom door more quietly. Back to sleep.

7:17am: Wake up. Everyone else is already awake, watching TV.


8:00am: Make the kids turn the TV off and do something else. Ian goes to his room to read and Maya decides to play with her Little People toys and makes up a story about a family with a farm. While I have a moment of quiet I catch up on my emails, resend my James and the Giant Peach virtual peach to Sawa in South Africa, and then load the dishwasher.

9:00am: Give Ian a writing prompt based on a New York Times article on a Japanese baseball player. Send him to his room to write/type so Maya can watch SpongeBob after she finishes playing in her room at 9:30. Ice coffee time for me.

10:00am: After Ian finishes his writing prompt he goes to shower. Maya needs a snack and asks for Eggos; she actually eats two.

11:00am: Off to Borders to see if the liquidation sale prices are any better. Unfortunately, most of the books are still only 10% off. Ian buys another Pendragon Before the War book, Maya chooses a drawing book, and I find a Bad Kitty stuffed animal and get a copy of Ghostopolis for work.

12:00pm: Hop back on the computer after getting home and order the tickets to see the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA with S&D. Lunchtime for the kids: Ian makes himself a PB&J sandwich (practice for middle school) and I heat up a beef burrito for Maya. I eat Maya's leftovers and a piece of corn.

1:00pm: The kids keep each other occupied by torturing each other on the couch. Alex comes over to play and the boys immediately begin to play the Wii. Maya heads to her room to play with her doggie stuffed animals. I relax by reading Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai in bed.

2:00pm: I take a power nap for 15 minutes while the kids do who-knows-what. The mail comes and Maya brings it to me; my copy of Comics Express (to help kids in Joplin, MO) arrives.

3:00pm: I keep reading in bed (a profile of Wilkie Collins in last week's New Yorker and the introduction to The Story of Charlotte's Web: E.B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic). Maya is drawing in her room but, oddly, is not using her new drawing book. Ian and Alex are playing outside but wander back in to play more video games before heading over to Alex's house.

4:00pm: The boys leave having first asked if Ian can spend the night over at Alex's (what a surprise *sarcasm*). Maya and I go for a bike ride (Maya riding, me walking) toward Cabrillo. Coincidentally run into Julia so the girls play for awhile. Get to catch up with Teresa and we both lament how difficult it is to get the girls to work on their summer packets. Agree to tell our girls that the other girl has finished her packet!

5:00pm: Manage to pull the girls away from each other around 5:30 so I can go to the market to get ready for dinner. But, first, I have Maya water the plants, a chore Rupert assigned her before going to work. Head over to TJ's to get some vegetables to go along with the fish nuggets I found in the freezer. Maya chooses green beans and salad.


6:00pm: Maya watches Backyardigans and snacks on pretzels while I pre-heat the oven. Surprisingly, Rupert gets home. I send Maya to pick cherry tomatoes from the front yard for the salad. During dinner Rupert chooses to watch Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr. I find him slightly annoying; he's like a big, spastic kid. Apparently, that's what Rupert finds entertaining.

7:00pm: I rest for a bit before getting ready to go to yoga. Wonder if my pork "It's All Good" shirt is inappropriate to wear to yoga. Wear it anyway. Monday and Wednesday nights are my favorite class: YogaBlend 1/2. Sure enough, it gives me the workout I want/need.

8:00pm: While I'm gone, Rupert and Maya go to Yogurtland for a special dessert. Maya is trying to explain to Rupert that Hello Kitty is going to be there; Rupert is confused. They bring home Hello Kitty bowls and spoons and Rupert diligently washes them so they can be saved. Rupert is also kind enough to bathe Maya (something I was supposed to do during the day but forgot to do).

9:00pm: Class goes a bit late so I don't get home until 9:30. I am blissfully exhausted, but my lower back feels a bit strained. Probably shouldn't have done the Bow Pose.

10:00pm: Lounge around on the couch and in bed while I wait for Rupert to come to bed. Fall asleep a few minutes before 11:00pm.

Week in the Life 2011 :: summer edition

The scrapbooking part of my life has been on hiatus for what seems like years. Despite the lack of physical evidence of my chronicling of our family life, I've tried to diligently keep up with the photo-taking and -posting on flickr.

Thankfully, Ali Edwards is hosting another Week in the Life project, which is a great motivator to get me to record our everyday life in a more organized way. I did this project once before in 2008. Again, there's no actual scrapbook of this project (photos were printed but never put together in an album ... story of my life), but I'm happy that I have something to look back on to see what our everyday life was like. It's "only" three years ago but we're all in a drastically different place in our lives than we were then.

I'm glad Ali chose a week during the summer to do this year's Week in the Life; summer life, obviously, differs considerably from our more regimented school year life. Because we have nothing concrete planned for this week I'm not sure how many pictures I'll have from day to day, or if anything "exciting" will happen. But that's part of real life, right?

Gobble, gobble! In 2010, we are thankful for ...

[Thanksgiving at Rupert's parents' house: November 25, 2010
back row: Rupert's grandparents
front row L to R: Rupert, (crazy looking) Ian, Rupert's brother A, Maya, Rupert's sister L]

Maya, what are you thankful for? "My world."
What should Mama be thankful for? "Family?"
What is Ian thankful for? "Me."
What is Daddy thankful for? "His mom."

Ian, what are you thankful for? "Netflix for Wii, our home, my books, my DS."
What do you think Mama is thankful for? "Your computer?"
What do you think Maya is thankful for? "TV, her family, her bed, her toys."
What do you think Daddy is thankful for? "Finishing his final."

Rupert, what are you thankful for? "I don't know yet."
What do you think Ian is thankful for? "Video games."
What do you think Maya is thankful for? "Crayons."
What do you think yucaree is thankful for? "Books."

What am I thankful for? "I'm thankful for a daughter who wakes up in a good mood, a smartypants son & a husband who can't say "no" to me."
What do I think Ian is thankful for? "Video games and his buddies."
What do I think Maya is thankful for? "Sparkly things, preferably in bead or sticker form."
What do I think Rupert is thankful for? "What little peace and quiet he can get."

'Cause I only blog when there's something in it for me, I mean, my family

Cathy Zielske shared a TodaysMama/GameStop giveaway and there are at least three members of this family who could find fifty things (minimum) at that store we would want to buy. So filling out this meme seemed like the least I could do if it means a chance at a Chanumas (that's Christmas + Chanukah if you're not aware) surprise.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? I wish for time with family and not so much emphasis on the material stuff. It would be wonderful if my children also gained better insight into the true meaning of giving.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? We go to my parents' house because that's where the chimney is and we all know Santa likes to come down the chimney.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? Free time; I want "me time" ... or a decadent family vacation to Spain.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? Luckily, we live near our families, which means we get to spend a good portion of our winter vacation with family.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? Hmm, good question. I don't recall ... Yahtzee?

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? We have Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house (usually prime rib with my mother's fabulous Yorkshire pudding) and open one present.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? I would probably want to take my family back to Japan. There's enough of a Christmas feel (and wintery cold) and we'd be around my extended family.

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? Xbox 360 250GB with Kinect (of course); Nintendo DSi XL Plus One Bundle; Rock Band 3 Keyboard Bundle

Looky What I Made :: Gathered Clutch

To round out my crafting-for-BIL's-wedding urge, I made a purse using Noodlehead's gathered clutch tutorial. It is really quite cute and not as hard as it looks to make (like I've said before, I'm not much of a sew-er). Sure, it took me most of the day to sew, and I really should've been working on the wedding programs, but it was totally worth it :: it matches my dress, the materials cost less than $8 (with fabric left over), and it's big enough to hold most of the stuff I need for the evening.


I included the optional divider pocket and card holder; I like having compartments for all of my stuff. I modified the card holder so it has one wider pocket for my iPhone (sideways) and another pocket that's big enough for a credit card/key card (or lipstick for those who are so inclined). With the divider I have space for my point-and-shoot camera and a change holder.

I'm glad I bought more fabric to make another one for the fall; it's going to be brown with a retro-looking apple and pear fabric for the band across the middle.

Looky What I Made :: Ian's necktie

Rupert's brother is getting married next weekend in Sebastopol; the entire family (especially the bride's mother) has been working up a storm to pull off what is, no doubt, going to be a phenomenal wedding. Rupert is a groomsman, I'm the stationer, Maya is the flower girl, and Ian is the (quite possibly the world's oldest) ring bearer.

My mother-in-law took Ian shopping for a necktie but they weren't able to find anything in the wedding colors. So I decided to get a little ambitious and make one. After what seemed like forever at Joann looking at fabric, Ian and I decided on a dark brown with some pink and fuschia circles -- just right for the wedding without overwhelming the bridal ensemble with too much more pink (the flowers, bridesmaid dresses, and the groomsmen's ties are fuschia).

I made the tie using the Purl Bee's tutorial, which was really easy to follow. Believe you me I am not an expert sew-er but I managed to hand-sew the tie in a day. I believe the tutorial is for a boy younger than Ian (who is almost 10), but I think it's just long enough. If you're thinking about using the tutorial I wouldn't make it for a boy taller than 4'8" without making adjustments to the pattern.

And I managed to figure out how to tie a tie (this tutorial helped); at least now I know I can tie a basic four-in-the-hand tie if called to do so.

[I'll post pictures of Ian wearing the tie after the wedding.]

Wurstkuche

Friday night, 6pm.

Rupert and the kids went camping in Long Beach for the night so I went out with my "local BFF," Sidney. Since I rarely get out of the house for grown-up socializing, I had no idea what to do. Sidney emails me the link to Wurstküche in Downtown. Sausages :: what's not to love?

Wurstküche is practically next door to where I worked over 10 years ago. Gosh, east of Alameda has changed quite a bit since then. The restaurant (and its prices) definitely embodies the yuppification of that area.

What I ate :: Rabbit, Veal & Pork seasoned with white wine ($7.50); Klein (small) Belgian Fries with Bleu Cheese Walnut and Bacon dipping sauce ($3.50); Nesbitt's Peach Soda ($3.50); Toasted Apple Pie Ice Cream Sandwich ($4.50), not pictured.

I really wanted to like the place. Fancy sausages, french fries with dipping sauces, and fun sodas (I'm not much of a drinker so I like having alternatives) are right up my alley. You'd think this place fits the bill perfectly. Unfortunately, I can't give Wurstküche a hearty two thumbs up (sorry Sidney).

My suggestion? If you want to actually taste the sausage, skip the bun and push whatever toppings you order off to the side. The rabbit, veal, and pork sausage I ordered is mild to begin with; the sauteed onions and peppers totally overwhelmed the flavor of the meat. I could've been eating who-knows-what-in-a-casing and it would have tasted the same as my $7.50(!) fancy sausage. Frankly, the bratwurst I buy at Bristol Farms for $3.50 a pound is tastier and juicier, and there are sausages that are way better than Bristol Farms'. So that should tell you where I rank Wurstküche's sausage. (Sidenote :: as we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed a bumper sticker on the store next door proclaiming Wurstküche over-priced and over-hyped and I might have to agree.)

I gotta say, though, the fries were quite tasty -- just the right amount of crisp, creamy, and salty. But next time (if there is a next time) I'll choose a different dipping sauce; the bleu cheese, walnut, and bacon sauce didn't taste like any of those things. The Nesbitt's soda wasn't anything to write home about; the fake peach flavor, crazy pink color, and the $3.50 price tag weren't worth it. Bad choice on my part. They do have a big selection of beers that sound interesting ... anyone want to comment on the selection, flavor, and price of the beers?

The one thing I would write home about (if I had to) is the sole dessert they serve, an apple pie ice cream sandwich (with oatmeal raisin cookies). Yes, it's $5 and it wasn't big enough to share (well, I didn't share), but it's the one thing I'd consider going back for (but I probably won't).

We ended our Downtown jaunt at Yogurtland in Little Tokyo. Sidney is a big fan (it's her one dairy indulgence now that she's going dairy-(almost)-free) and I'd never been so it seemed like the right dessert to have. Uh, yeah, my second dessert. Considering all the money I spent on dinner (and first dessert) I'm definitely more enthusiastic about the $3.10 I spent on a fairly decent-size portion of all kinds of fruity yogurt with mango and mochi toppings. Is Yogurtland over-hyped? Maybe (I'm no frozen yogurt expert). But it's definitely not over-priced (the constant line of people in the store proves that).

There happens to be a Yogurtland down the street from my house (even closer than Pinkberry) so I know where I'll be going from now on for my fro-yo fix (Rupert thinks the term "fro-yo" is stupid ... it probably is but I use it anyway).

Wurstküche :: 800 East 3rd Street, LA 90013 | 213.687.4444 | www.wurstkucherestaurant.com

Yogurtland :: 130 South Central Avenue, LA 90012 | 213.687.0733 | www.yogurt-land.com

five years

Oh, wow ... I haven't blogged since the end of March! Uh, hmm, I guess I didn't have much to say these last four months. And, once again, I missed my blogiversary; August 10 marks five years since I started writing this blog. Despite my recent absence I still care about having my own personal space to write and share stories about my family and myself, so I don't envision this blog shutting down. I just need some inspiration + time to write about something new. Hopefully that'll happen sooner rather than later.

Playing tourist in my hometown

Running errands with my mom in Downtown LA (she dragged me along so she could drive in the carpool lane!), we decided to ride the newly reopened Angels Flight.



It's quite cute and pretty rickety, but well worth the 25-cents.

While I was at it I took a picture of the view from (500) Days of Summer ::




Now, to get my hair cut ... I deserve something for hanging out with my mom on my week off, right?

What I made for dinner :: Chicken Thighs Braised in White Wine

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Ian is a S-U-P-E-R S-P-E-L-L-E-R!

[Ian and his classmate F getting recognized as spelling bee qualifiers at last week's school assembly.]

I'd like to take a moment to brag about my son, the speller. Unbeknownst to us, the students at Ian's school (grades 3-5) took a written spelling bee qualifying test awhile back. According to Ian there were 60 words on the list (apparently they were 8th grade-level words) and they were allowed to miss 12 to qualify for the district spelling bee. There were many classes that didn't have any students who qualified; Ian's class had two qualifiers! In the end, three fourth graders and four fifth graders qualified out of a student population of over 400.

Today was the district-wide spelling bee for grades 4-6, so the qualifiers from Ian's school, the qualifiers from the other elementary school, and the 6th grader qualifiers from the middle school gathered together at the middle school library. There were about 15 kids there and we thought it would take awhile for the spelling bee to finish, but the first round knocked out more than half of them.

[Round 2]

Ian moved through the rounds (with a nice, clear voice, which was helpful to those of us in the audience; some of these kids are so quiet!) until it was just him and a 6th grader in round 4.* The word that knocked him out in round 5 (German words)? Rucksack. Not knowing the word or much German pronunciation, but recognizing that there are words in German that use -ch, he spelled it "ruchsach." I looked it up after I got home, but I think the German -ch is a soft sound (if there's anyone proficient in German out there, please let me know).

Even though he didn't win, I think it's pretty impressive that he made it so far, especially since he didn't study or practice at all, except for his usual reading. Rupert and I went into this with the attitude, which we shared with Ian, that this was for fun, to see what a spelling bee is like, and that there will be other years for him to try again (not that I didn't get nervous during the spelling bee!). Still, Ian was disappointed with his mistake and shed a few tears afterward. It was wonderful to have a supportive group of teachers and friends who shared how proud they are of him and his classmate. This was the first year fourth graders participated in the district spelling bee and they did so well.

We're really proud of you, Ian!

[Ian with his teachers, principal, and classmate/fellow spelling bee-er after the spelling bee.]

[Coincidentally, the winner's mother? I came in second to her in the fitness challenge two years ago. Weird, huh?]

* Ian did a funny thing in round 4 and asked for the pronunciation of the word "chagrin" and the moderator gave away a huge hint, which I'm not sure Ian heard but a bunch of us in the audience did. I'm not sure it was entirely kosher, to be honest, but the end result was the same, just one round later. Ian should've asked for the definition or the etymology, but what more can you do for pronunciation but say the word over again?

Taking a break from blogging

As if you hadn't noticed, my blog postings are few and far between. I'm just too busy with other stuff and I don't have a whole to say right now. So I'm going on a blog hiatus until the itch to write comes back.

In the meantime, feel free to follow me on twitter (see sidebar) or tumblr (yucaree.tumblr.com).


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