Flight of the Conchords is sheer brilliance. It's about two New Zealanders who are best friends, live together in NYC, and have a band called Flight of the Conchords. They break in to song on the show - the songs are hilarious.

Tonight's episode has Bret dating Coco and Jermaine going along on all the dates. They write her a song called "What You're In to" and they both sing it to her on one of the dates... here are some of the lyrics, they just get more weird from there...

Bret: If you want me to, I will take off all my clothes for you, I'll take off all my clothes for you, if that's what you're in to

Jermaine (deep voice): how bout him, in the nude? If that's what you're in to. In the nude in front of you. Is that what you'd want to view?

If you haven't seen it, you should. Jermaine is also in a movie called Eagle vs. Shark which is supposed to be pretty funny too.

7-7-07

Watching the Live Earth concerts. Amazing. I can't believe the incredible lineup of artists.

Duran Duran, Bon Jovi, the Beastie Boys, Metallica... all bringing me back to my teenage years. And Linkin Park, tapping into my inner metal head. I forgot how much I like them.

Aside from enjoying the music, I took a little bit of action... I finally changed a few more lightbulbs over to CF. I had bought the CF bulbs a while back but, as things go with our household, it takes forever for us to actually take action. Sad really. I will buy more and I promise to install them within 3 days of purchasing them!

I also went to Green Girl Guide and signed up for their newsletter. Got a $5 off coupon for gDiapers, which I am going to give a try.

I don't do as much as Jenny - who is a beautiful shade of green these days - but I am trying. Especially for Lauren.

The Live Earth website has some great stuff, including some great short films and some beautiful wallpapers.

Had a great trip to NYC. Visited:

Uniqlo - the coolest t-shirt display ever. Got a couple cute ones

Eleni's - got there after 6, stuff was half price, bought a stupid amount of cookies (I'll have the tub and a couple of face creams, two of those dresses, and and a couple of those dad shirts)... I also bought a gorgeous pink cupcake that was as tasty as it was adorable, and a couple mini cupcakes for Jenny that barely survived the trip.

Fat Witch - upon leaving Eleni's in the Chelsea Market, I found Fat Witch next door. I had heard about them on Oprah, I think they were one of her "Favorite Things". I really wanted to like them, but I guess I have to question Oprah's taste because I don't like these brownies AT ALL. Maybe Oprah had one after many days of dieting and that's why it tasted like the best brownie ever. I'd take Pillbury over FW any day.

I also grabbed some pizza, knowing that you pretty much can't go wrong with any pizza place in NYC. The problem was this... the pizza was searing, SEARING hot. Normally I'm impatient because I can't wait to sink my teeth in to the deliciousness. This time, I couldn't wait because I needed to get in a cab to the airport. I bet the pizza would have been delicious if it hadn't been so hot as to take of 3 layers of skin inside my mouth.

Am sitting at Laguardia watching

Am sitting at Laguardia watching bolts of lightning light up the sky and losing hope that my flight home will leave on time.

The Big Apple

Originally uploaded by
ljc@flickr.

I am going to Manhattan tomorrow - a one day trip, but will have some time after my meetings... I am overwhelmed at the possibilities. Suggestions are welcome... shopping, eating, seeing... I will be up near 49th and 8th, but I can hoof it or cab elsewhere.

Jenny's Fear

Hubby is a golf fanatic - and thus hoping to go to the LPGA. Between the four of us (Jenny and our hubbies), we got 4 tickets... but Aaron was going to be out of town this weekend, so we were trying to figure out who could go with who and when.

I said that though hubby and I would like to go on Saturday, we did not have anyone to watch Lauren (HINT, HINT)... here was Jenny's reaction as an attempt to offer to babysit...

uh, I used to watch Hannah, but now I'm outta shape. I'm scared to watch her by myself. I guess I could... it would have to be at your house... not my house of death... knives and stuff laying around...

This is why I love Jenny. Because she says things like "house of death" =)

Plea to Paris Hilton

Paris, Paris, playing dumb,
Got in trouble, to jail you've come.

Money can't buy everything,
it can't buy class or the ability to sing.

Why can't you do something redeeming?
Show Lindsey and Nicole how to have a life with meaning.

Help the poor instead of helping yourself,
put your selfishness and excess on a shelf.

Get out of jail and grow up a lot,
and show people what you've really got.

Use your influence for the greater good,
I'd be happy to hear about THAT on CNN, if you only would.

I got hubby a SkyCaddy Golf GPS device for our anniversary and Father's Day combined (that little sucker was expensive!). Now for those of you who don't know my hubby... he is not the excitable type. No dramatic flare from this boy. But after over 20 years, I can read the tiny signs... and he LOVES this gadget.

It would best be described with an analogy a-la SAT test.

SkyCaddy Golf GPS Gadget is to hubby as meeting Colin Firth in person and having him say, "would you like to have tea and crumpets with me? I find you fascinating!" is to Tina.

Sephora comes to town

Finally Sephora opened in Rochester at Eastview Mall. I share Jenny's sentiment... it won't be so special anymore with it right here, 15 minutes away (as opposed to a plane ride away)... but it is nice to have access to some of my favorite products - Benefit, Philosophy, Aqualina...

I went on Sunday and bought myself a couple little things, including some Oscar Blandi dry shampoo that looked interesting. It smells HEAVENLY and seems to work good, though you look like you aged 10 years at first until the powder gets worked in.

Also sniffed some Marc Jacobs Orange perfume, liked it, sprayed a little paper stick, wanted a sample but, alas, no one was around... so all I have is a great smelling little paper stick. The more I sniff the little stick, the more I like it. A SAMPLE WILL BE MINE!

Lauren started daycare last week, it's been a trying time. On day 1, she seemed pretty happy to be there, "auk, auk" she demanded when we entered class (translation: let me down so I can walk)... saying "Hi" to everyone... smiling alot. Things went downhill over the week... each morning she was less willing to let go of Mommy and crying like crazy as I tried to leave...

And naptime is not going well either - Lauren is not one of those kids who just falls asleep when tired. If she's out and about, she will fight sleep tooth and nail. She doesn't want to miss anything. So naptime, on a cot, in a room full of toys and people, is just not going well... which = cranky, clingy baby, who needs to be in bed early.

And the clingyness is weird.. after 16 months of relative independence (hers and mine) - to suddenly have her "attached to my hip", I'm not sure how I feel. I like the extra attention a little (she likes me, she really likes me), but not when I'm trying to actually DO something, such as cook at a hot stove.

So, we can only hope things will smooth out as she gets more comfortable with the situation.

Aside from that drama, this girlie is becoming quite entertaining. She's communicating well and soaking up new things. She seems to know over 30 words... and over 10 signs from her Baby Einstien video. She likes to golf - she actually hits the ball with the club - and she loves to dance.

This week she also started singing... "ee eye ee eye oh" and "twinkle twinkle"... and she does the hand gestures for Itsy Bitsy Spider... and she says "wow" and "uh, guys... uh, guys"... she is so funny.

But now I gotta stop swearing. Dammit.

--------------------------------------

I love this pic from our visit to my Mom's grave for Mother's Day.

Yay Blake!



On a musically related note, I finally got my very own iPod. How late am I to the game?!! I did use hubby's iPods a bit (even inherited a shuffle but didn't use it much), so I'm not totally lame, but pretty lame. I'm just not one to listen to stuff while working, I find it a bit distracting (but I will certainly try it tomorrow).

So far I've mainly grabbed songs we had already downloaded - so most of them are older - but did add a couple - the new Maroon 5 and Augustana... and of course my all time favorite songs - Battleflag by Lo Fidelity Allstars... and subscribed to several Podcasts...

I'm sure I will be spending many hours and dollars on iTunes buying music! Here's what I have so far for music and podcasts...

- Saw Martha Stewart today, she is amazing

- Heroes was awesome tonight

- Need to buy a new phone, can't decide. I've been a flip-phone girl for many years and an LG fan for most of that... but I am torn between the adorable - but would have to get used to the slider and touchscreen - LG Chocolate Strawberry:


or the newer - flippy LG VX8600



It's not pink, but I can buy a skin for it...

I really want a phone with a higher mega-pixel camera, but the Samsung 3 megapixel phone is megabucks.

Any opinions?

My Sis just called me after dancing the Tango with Bob Lonsberry tonight. She says they "redeemed themselves" with the Tango, so she's hoping they don't get voted off this week so they make it to round 3 for the Tango.

So please go and vote for Sherri & Bob =)

My Sister is dancing on Dancing with Rochester's Stars on Channel 13. I haven't seen it live, but I watched it on the internet. I'm not sure she's very comfortable with the whole TV thing, but either way, it's kinda cool.

On a side note, I'm really ticked off at American Idol... The "Idol Gives Back" was great in what they did to raise money - I donated - but it was super cruel to do the "fake" elimination thing...

I mean seriously, the whole reason they didn't vote anyone off was because they didn't want to do that on a "charity night" but apparently they didn't mind still putting them all through sheer hell - especially Jordin. It was pretty shitty and I have to say, they're probably lucky that I had already called in my donation. I mean weren't any of the producers THINKING about how bad it would look? They should be arrested for cruelty to animals... not that I consider the contestants animals, I just think that phrase embodies my level of anger (keeping in mind how much I love animals)...

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long... time just flies... so here's a recap of the past couple weeks:

- San Fran/Emeryville: Jamba, In-N-Out Burger, cupcakes, sunshine, cool work environment and people, IKEA, missed Lauren

- Easter: dysfunctional family was semi-normal

- The Namesake: awesome movie

- Ben & Jerry's: yum

- TV: The Tudor's is better each week, Sanjaya is FINALLY gone - Jordin is kicking ass but Blake is pretty cool, hurry new Heroes, Betty's getting a little too self righteous, Bones & House good stuff, need to catch up on my Sopranos and Entourage...

- Laughing: this video with Will Farrell talking to his "Landlord" is very funny... kind of disturbing... but funny.

- Lauren: more words - up, walk (auck, auck), bottle, outside (sigh), signs (milk, more), and FIRST STEPS - caught on video... as she has the remote in hand and is heading to the TV - yikes, like Mother, like Daughter... is it genetic or environmental to be a tv addict? (I do try to keep it off most of the time when she's up)

I watched the first two episodes of The Tudors on Showtime on demand this weekend. Apparently Henry the 8th - before he got fat - was a young, athletic stud who had his way with the ladies... many ladies... apparently perfect fodder for a cable series... and the casting, well, let's just say, the King and his court are a sight to behold.

Johathan Rhys Meyers, Callum Blue (who I found cute but annoying in Dead Like Me), and oh so sexy Henry Cavill, who plays the Duke of Suffolk. I kept thinking I'd seen him before and, sure enough, he was the handsome traitor in Tristan + Isolde, which I watched last week.

So apparently... Middle Ages + Good Looking Men = TinaTV

And while I really hate to get addicted to yet another TV series, you can bet your 15th century guillotine that I will be watching The Tudors.

Nice Bunny

Nice Bunny
Originally uploaded by tina.

We took Lauren to the portrait studio last week where she got to have her pic taken with a bunny. I thought they were going to bring out a whole (herd? gaggle? swarm?... I looked it up) drove of bunnies, but alas, just one lucky little 7 week old who seemed to be very familiar with having his head grabbed.

I bought the rights to 15 of the images so I could plaster her picture on everything under the sun without paying quite as much as they wanted to rob me of... the rest of the pics are up on my gallery

So on a separate note, Little L certainly seems to be learning alot of words... though often I can't be positive... as in "did she just say that?"

Here are words I am positive she has said, in context, and others have witnessed:
+ sock
+ shoe
+ cheese
+ eyes
+ Os (Oscar)
+ brush (both for hair and teeth)

Here are words I'm pretty damn sure she has said but have not been independently verified:
+ bath
+ glasses
+ Mama
+ Dada
+ Papa

Here are words I think she said, but brief, fleeting, unsure...
+ Jenny
+ necklace
+ outside
+ eggs (while we were coloring easter eggs)

yes... I love you pancake

yes... I love you pancake
Originally uploaded by ljc@flickr.

Lauren has been trying all kinds of new food lately - pancakes, peas, cannelini beans... she will basically eat anything I put in front of her... which, according to stories my parents told me... was not unlike me when I was little. Now, however, if it is healthy I am likely to assume dislike... which I know is bad... I'm trying.

She loves to feed herself though and gets ticked off when she can't... but I can only take so many episodes of teeny tiny pastina all over the place... I'm a hypocrite because I am not a neat person... apparently if it's MY mess it's ok... but I get a bit stressed about sticky gooey come-back-later-and-try-to-figure-out-what-this-was type things...

Hubby has been watching alot of Giada De Laurentiis on the food network... Everyday Italian and Giada's Weekend Getaway... for at least two very obvious reasons (Pollo con Fenditura anyone?)... but I don't mind, because it has inspired him to cook.

He's made Calzones... Italian Sausage... Poached Pears... Refried Spaghetti... Fried Ravioli... and his now-signature dessert, Nutella Ravioli - dollups of Nutella put into a won ton wrapper, deep fried, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. (I don't like Nutella because I despise hazelnut flavor, so he makes me straight up chocolate ravioli - YUMMY).


Here are some pictures of the entire Nutella-Ravioli-making process...

Here's something I never thought I'd say... I have something in common with Dick Cheney. We both had blood clots in our legs. It's safe to say any similarities end there.

On a separate note, here's an adorable picture hubby sent me saturday night while I was out with my sis celebrating my cousin's 40th birthday.

We went to this restaurant/club that, though it's a different name now, was the hotspot we used to go out to in the early 90s.

I think all the same people were there... with the same hair... and the same clothes... listening to the same music. Not that there's anything wrong with that... I just prefer to have moved from Queensryche to My Chemical Romance... from Motley Crue to Maroon 5... from Mama's Boys to Guster... but there will always be a special place in my heart for Judas Priest... I mean seriously, they rock!

Lots of Laurens

At the mall, I wheeled Lauren's stroller up the the three sided mirror. Suddenly, there were like, TWELVE Laurens. She didn't know what to do, she was so utterly amused.

I made cookies for our Cookiepalooza work event last Sunday. Peanut Butter Blossom cookies with peanut butter filled kisses. They were yummy, IMHO, though I only got one vote for best tasting...

then the peanut butter salmonella crisis hit... look for Peter Pan starting in 2111... hmmm, I remembered that I had just bought a new jar of Peter Pan with which to make the cookies... but I wasn't too worried, because I was pretty sure that cooking the pb would kill any lurking salmonella...

But on Friday, I checked my peanut butter just to be sure - AAAGGGH - it was Salmonella Butter.

So I really made Toss Your Cookies cookies.

Luckily, so far, I am not being sued, but my hubby, who ate alot of the cookies, declared that he thought his throat was closing up and that he "went online and he had every symptom". But then I found out he ate some of the raw batter! No wonder he got sick!

Lauren had her 1 year follow up visit at the eye doctor today. For four months after she came home, we had to go almost twice a week! She had Retinopathy of Prematurity (bad eyes?), but it started to get better.

She was an angel today, very cooperative with the doctor. He said that she had a "very good disposition". He also said that she might need glasses before she goes to school.

According to the new In Touch magazine, the Sally Jessy Raphael look is back in, so I tried out the look on her. She looks very intelligent, don't you think? If she grows up like someone else I know who wore Sally Jessy glasses when they were young (you know who you are), I'll be very happy.

Happy Birthday Lauren

Lauren's party was a big success yesterday. She had her first true taste of sugar (as in PURE SUGAR mixed with BUTTER) and, needless to say, she loved it. She was trying to shove it in with both hands!

As we opened her presents, I had LOTS of help. From 2 up to 12, every kid at that party was ready and willing to tear into those gifts, even if what they opened were tiny little girl clothes. As they opened what was essentially an entire wardrobe that Lauren's Grandma got her, they squealed, "they're so tiny - they look like Build-a-Bear clothes!"

---

So to continue the saga of what was happening a year ago... Sunday Morning, I was still on the Labor & Delivery floor, recovering from the night before, mostly calm and sleeping. At 9am, a nurse rushed in and said, "roll over, the baby doesn't like that side". Apparently Lauren's heart beat had dropped and wasn't coming back up... then more nurses... I was bleeding too. Then a swarm of doctors and nurses... time for an emergency c-section. I was in a bit of shock. I looked over at Chuck and said, "I love you Honey", as they wheeled me away.

They had me out cold and had the baby out within about 20 minutes. Lauren was born with an APGAR score of 1 and a collapsed lung. They performed miracles and got her stable. She needed lots of blood and had to go on a respirator. She was 2lbs 2oz. She would spend the next 7 weeks in NICU.

As for me, I would end up having additional 3 hours of surgery. The placenta was attached too deeply to the uterus (placenta accreta) and I was losing a lot of blood. The doctor had been at Church, got paged, and arrived just in time to put a ton of stiches in and prevent the need for a hysterectomy. I got 7 units of blood that day. I think he brought some extra help from Church.

Those several hours were easier on me than they were on Chuck. He saw his tiny, frail baby - a bit deformed from being smooshed in utero without fluid for 5 weeks - being wheeled by to NICU... and had to keep signing consent forms for my surgeries and blood transfusions... and, for a time, I'm sure he thought he might lose both of us. Jenny came to the hospital and really held it together for Chuck. Later, at home, not so much... but she was strong for us when we needed her most.

I remained unconscious until about 9pm that night, when I woke up with a breathing tube in my throat, unsure of what had happened. Chuck told me the baby was doing ok, so I was relieved. He didn't give me a true picture of her situation, knowing that there was nothing I could do and worrying wouldn't help her or me.

But, as you can tell from the beautiful picture above, Lauren improved. I had a couple set backs with blood clots and a near mental breakdown, but I got better too. And through it all, Chuck was a saint, taking such good care of me and Lauren.

And all this struggle was worth it. Slowly, the stress diminshed to the normal level that every parent has over a child... the fun is now growing each day as she does new things, starts to talk, and forms her personality.

We will never forget the difficult start, but we pray that the good times will far outweigh the bad.

A year ago today, I was in the hospital, 29 weeks pregnant. After 4 weeks on bedrest at home, my water had broke Christmas night, and I had laid in the hospital for 5 weeks in a constant state of worry that I'd miss signals from my body that things were going awry. They kept telling me, "oh, YOU'LL KNOW"... but on that day last year, I didn't REALLY know, I just felt a little off and wasn't feeling the baby move much. Sure enough, when they put me on the monitor, I was having contractions... and with each contraction, a big dip in Lauren's heartrate ( a decel, as they call them). They moved me over to the Labor and Delivery floor, where they monitor you constantly. Chuck and I watched the monitor for hours, focusing on the number for Lauren's heart rate, anxious to see it go back up after each contraction. The contractions got further and further apart. They almost sent me back to my room, but decided to wait until morning... thank GOD they waited. If I hadn't been being monitored, Lauren would not be here today.

While Lauren was playing with the newspaper (yes, I was letting her wreck the place), I noticed that she kept leaning over. Then I spotted the pic of President Bush and realized she was kissing his picture! She continued to do it over and over again. It was hilarious. I grabbed my camera, figuring it would be, at the very least, interesting as part of future history.

I'm not sure what drew her to it, I haven't seen her do this to a picture before... regardless, I opted to have a bipartisan response and find it adorable.

Brave or Stupid?

And now for my next family story... about my older brother who lives in Vegas...

He was coming out of a grocery store a little after midnight one night last week... he noticed a seedy looking guy, so he was wary as he walked up to his truck... sure enough, the guy ran up to him, pulled a gun and demanded money.

Here's where a normal person would have handed over their wallet. My brother is not normal.

So he grabs the guys arm (the one holding the gun) and "swoops" the guy - body slamming him to the ground. The guy got up and ran away, but before he got too far, he turned around and pointed the gun and my brother and mouthed "pop"... as if to tell my brother that he could blow him away but is choosing not to...

My brother ran in to the store, told them to call the police and about the tempted robbery, only to find out 2 other people had been robbed earlier that week. The police arrived quickly but couldn't find the guy. So my brother's been trying to get the market to step up security and catch the low life.

DRAMA.

Crazy Aunt

Have I ever mentioned that I have a crazy Aunt? I think she was normal at one point in life (if you call taking the doll clothes my Mom had stolen from the five and dime and sneaking them back into the store normal), but then she got in a very bad car accident, almost died, and had to learn to walk and talk all over again. Since then, she has been a little off, in the I-bought-you-a-singing-stuffed-rose kind of way.

So the other night, in the middle of the night, 3am-ish, she went to Wegmans to buy hot dogs for the next day. When she got home, she found that she could not get her coat unzipped. This I can relate to - I have a puffy coat and a puffy vest from the Gap that have gotten stuck before. Once Jenny & Aaron had to fight with my pocket zipper - of which my cell phone was trapped - for over a half hour before my phone was freed. I haven't zipped the pocket since...

so anyway, it was 3:30am and Aunt Del was stuck in her coat. A normal person might decide to sleep in the coat and deal with it in the morning, but not a Crazy Aunt. Crazy Aunt heads out to the nearest police station for help. She couldn't find a doorbell at the police station, so she went to the fire station. They had a doorbell. She rang it (remember, it's about 4am now). A fireman opened the door and she said, "I can't get my coat unzipped".

I'm sure this fireman was thinking one of two things... a) this lady is crazy or b) this lady has been watching too much late night cable and is trying to get lucky. Either way, I'm sure he was worried. So he woke up his partner and another Firefighter showed up, bleary eyed and sleepy.

Together, they tried to unzip her coat, but couldn't get it. They pulled out the heavy artilery (pliers) and freed my Aunt from the confines of her puffy coat... and sent her on her way.

I couldn't make this up if I tried.

Am I terrible or what. Just seems like no time to blog. Or nothing exciting to blog about. But this weekend was good. Went to Vegas to visit dysfunctional brothers, who were actually mostly normal for the few days I was there, and to hang with Jenny.

We went a little crazy and even played some QUARTER slots ;-) My personal faves are the nickel video poker machines, five bucks can last over a half hour. That's alot more fun than dropping 20 bucks in the span of, oh, about 3 minutes. That's when I get a sick feeling in my stomach and walk around angry for the next hour. But $5 for half an hour of poker... it's worth the money in entertainment value. I actually hit four Aces twice on this trip, won about $40, not a windfall, but better than losing. I then popped some of my winnings into the Megamillion machine ($3 a spin) to try to win $11 million... but as I'm sure you can guess, no such luck.

Little L had her 1 year follow up at the NICU today. I can't believe it's been a year since the ordeal! The first couple months were very rough, but the little one is doing so well now and is so much fun. She tested very well today and is not developmentally delayed for her adjusted age (9 mos). Whew. We got lucky (and blessed) with this baby, in many ways.

They say she should be talking soon. I'm sure that will be fun too, until the day she says, "I HATE YOU MOMMY". Though honestly, I never even had an INKLING to say that to my Mom and I don't think Lauren will say it to me. Though I am going to be much more strict than my Mom, who was letting me drive her Dodge Charger 2.2 around without a license when I was 15!

Grinchy

Ok, I know I'm feeling Grinchy today but for some reason, after many many years of watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, today I just could not suspend my disbelief.

It was all fine, until Rudolph returned to Christmas Town, found out his parents and Clarice had been gone for months looking for him... then seems to know exactly where to look for them... and within no time, finds them in the clutches of the Bumble, about to be eaten.

OK, they've been gone for MONTHS but Rudolph HAPPENS to find them JUST at their moment of PERIL. And if that's not stretching it enough... Yukon Cornelius and Hermie also HAPPEN to arrive at Bumble's cave JUST at Rudolph's moment of PERIL to save everyone.

And I'm sorry, but given Bumble's SIZE differential, I think they'd STILL be afraid of him, teeth or no teeth. I'm sure he could still GUM them into little pieces should he so desire. I've seen my grandmother eat without her teeth and she still manages to put away chicken wings.

... And then there's Santa's 50 pound weight gain in 1 day. OK, I've had my pigout days, but with 3300 calories needed per pound, that's definitely impossible.

... but I do love the "Charlie in the Box"... and that they save the misfit toys... and King Moonrazer is so kindhearted and handsome...

ok, I can't do it. I can't be grinchy about Rudolph. I LOVE Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Attack of the 50 Foot Baby

Girlie is crawling like crazy, especially to get things she shouldn't have (like the camera).

She also loves to pull herself up to standing and will crawl over to us for a boost.

NPR had a great story about music for kids (not your typical heads, shoulders, knees & toes type songs).

They played the Wee Hairy Beasties, a group of former punk rockers. They have a song about Tiny the Newt... it's a 13 second song.. and I've had this funny line stuck in my head for days:

"I got a newt named Tiny, he's Tiny 'cause he's my newt"

heh heh, my newt - minute... heh heh.

Gotta get it for Little L.

Crazy Jumperoo Kid

Lauren in her jumperoo, aka, pooperoo - as it gets things moving...

Trying my first YouTube video blog... Lauren fake giggling...



PS... finally uploaded some more pics

I know everyone's probably in crazy shopping mode - except for you few nuts who are done with your holiday shopping - so I thought I'd post again one of my favorite sites for finding deals and coupon codes - Style For Free.

PS - let me rant that those Black Friday early bird specials really piss me off. It's so unfair to us night owls. For once I'd like to see a store have a ridiculously good sale from 11pm to 3am ONLY!! I'd so be there!

Bad Blogger

Girlie is doing great. Crawling. Babbling. Tipping the scales at 16.5 pounds!

I will do my best to keep this blog up to date!

Jenny found it very amusing that this turbo tortoise was named Tina.

It's not the first time. When I was taking an Macromedia Director class at RIT, there was an entire semester where "Tina the Turtle" was in a new sample program each week.

Kazakhs are Cute

When in Toronto, we watched the Borat movie. It was so wrong, but hilarious. It didn't really need to be about a real country, most people seeing the movie probably don't even realize that it is... but that doesn't stop the Kazakhs from getting ticked...

Today I caught a bit of an NPR story about how the country is responding to the movie... part of which included Ten Borat "Facts" that embassy spokesman Roman Vassilenko is disputing... my favorite being this one:

Borat says: The traditional Kazakh beverage is fermented horse urine.
Vassilenko says: The traditional Kazakh beverage is fermented horse milk.

OK, I'm not sure they should have responded to that because any kind of fermented milk just sounds gross.

Oh, and Vassilenko is pretty damn cute, so just having his picture up on NPR should be a boost for Kazakhstan PR.

I'm having trouble deciding what to dress Littl L up as for her first Halloween. This is a big decision. You can't go back.

I think I'm partial to the lobster costume, though I'm not sure why... but I also like this very cute shark costume... "Knock, Knock. Who is it? Candygram".

I think we will get her a guitar, then the lobster costume and call her "ROCK LOBSTER!"

Squidsoap

This Squidsoap is ingenious... not only is it a really cute soap dispenser, but it puts a little ink mark on the kids hand when they press it... the ink mark washes off after about 10-15 seconds, so the grubby little germballs wash their hands well enough.

I'm going to get one for my grubby little germball niece, Mya! And when my own little germball is older, you can believe she will be getting inked.

When I had time, a while back, to actually surf the internet, I found some great sites for really cool baby clothes. I haven't ordered anything yet, but I will.

I found these ones, that I find especially funny, at THE Retro Baby, MY Retro Baby, and at Jolie's online.

Little L got a tooth! She was super cranky last week, then a spec of white showed up bottom right. I don't think the crankiness is over, I'm sure the bottom left isn't far behind.

This kid definitely takes after me, she loves to sleep late (slept well even through the pain of teething) and she's definitely going to be a foodie - any other time she looks off at other things, but if you're eating something, suddenly you are intriguing and worthy of her attention. Pizza and beer seem especially interesting to her. At first this frightened me, but then I realized... she will be well prepared for college.

The film fest was great, one of the best years in terms of movies. We lucked out and got to see Borat... it was so wrong, yet so right. There were no close encounters of the Colin kind, but seeing Will Ferrell and Zack Braff within yards was exciting.

And the crepes, my GOD, the crepes! I'm almost ready to drive 3 hours just to get a crepe.

We are going to the Toronto Film Festival this weekend, I think it's our 6th year. It's the one time I have a little more luck spotting celebs, as opposed to when I'm in LA. Like a few years back, when I SPLURGED for 1 night at the Mondrian, a celeb hotspot hotel, in hopes of getting on an elevator with a Cindy Crawford or a Johnny Depp. Nope. Here's my luck - shopping on Melrose and Danny Bonaduce walks by. Mind you, this was BEFORE his come-back with his reality show and before he and his wife started selling this really cool clothing, Countess Couture. My younger sis-i-law didn't even know who he was. Later that night, at the Skybar, I was sure I there'd be A-list elbow rubbing. Nope. Guess who's there... Danny Bonaduce!!

But in Toronto two years ago, we had the ultimate encounter. Colin Firth, my favorite actor, was suddenly three feet away, waiting to be seated at the restaurant we were at! And he looked at us, probably to see what we had eaten and if it looked appetizing. I always try to sneak a peek at other people's food. Anyway, he is adorable and it was so exciting to see him so close. We later saw his film Trauma, which was excellent too.

I wish this were him on the phone with ME, enjoying our banter immensely.

I too, like Jenny, am very excited about the launch of the Kodak blog - A Thousand Words.

What Jenny doesn't say in her post is how much she did to bring this baby to life. She not only set such a great example with the success of her blog, but she worked tirelessly to document, design, promote, administer, coordinate, tweak, present, setup, educate... and many other things... to help make this happen.

I am proud of Jenny and I know everyone will LOVE her posts. I'm ready to ride that coat tail straight to Martha's house for brunch =)

I have been tagged by Jenny. Here are the rules:

List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets or your kids*. Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Don’t forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

*Jenny changed it to include offspring, because I don't currently have any pets, but I have a child that I like to dress up like an animal.

1) Lauren has over 40 little red dots (hemangiomas) all over her body. We call her various nicknames, like "Dotty", "Little Red Dotting Hood", and "Red Buttons". Someday I will tell her that they were kisses from her Guardian Angel, Grandma Barbie.

2) I have issues with belly buttons. I don't like to touch them and barely like to think about them. I was in my 30's before I could even SAY belly button out loud.

3) Ironically, Lauren has a herniated belly button. It's like a little balloon. But after some time, I've grown used to it... maybe even a little fond of it. But thank GOD it should go away when she's about two. Otherwise, I'm going to start saving for umbilicoplasty.

4) Lauren makes this wierd noise, kind of like the sound of static - "kghkghkghkgh"

5) We have a little video monitor on which we watch Lauren in her crib. The camera has a little green light on it, so she looks directly at it a lot. It makes her eyes look solid black, so she looks like a little alien baby. Then she makes her "kghkghkghkgh" sound into the camera. We are greatly entertained by this.


I’m tagging:
1. Lisa
2. Greta
3. Lucky Olive
4. Tinybaby
5. Bean of Hope

Ode to Pluto

Pluto, Pluto, how can it be
They stripped you of your title
why can't they see
that you will always be a planet to me

Jenny got me hooked on the show Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, a show on Discovery Channel where he goes and does, well, dirty jobs. I didn't watch it initially because it just looked too gross. Bugs and sewage and stuff. But the more Jenny talked about how funny he is, and made me watch the HILARIOUS episode on harvesting big clams called geoducks (gooey-ducks), the more I felt compelled to watch it. In the new episode he shaved Alpacas. They spit on him, too funny.

I went to the website and took the What Dirty Job Suits You test. I got these results:

You dabble in the depths of disgust, but only after making sure that no one is watching you. You are torn between your natural instinct to get down and dirty, and society's rules of order and decorum. In other words, you are likely to pick, scratch or rub in the privacy of your own home, but never in the light of day.

CAREER RECOMMENDATIONS: Long-haul trucker. Strange uncle or aunt.

Hubby says that's good - I ALREADY am a strange aunt.

Jenny appropriately bought Lauren a little tee that says "LITTLE SLEEPY HEAD"at Old Navy this weekend.

I went picture crazy again, more pics are up

I wish I had a pet so I could tattoo it.

On thursday my Sis and Mya (my 4 year old niece) decided to put a fake tattoo on Lauren. The conversation with my niece went something like this:

Mya: we put a tattoo on Wauren
Me: What?!
Mya: it's a baby bu-er-fwy
Me: uh oh, Uncle Charlie might not be too happy about that
Mya: it's just a reawy tiny tattoo
Me: I know, but Uncle Charlie (abruptly cutoff)
Mya: BYE

We were watching tv Saturday morning when, in the background, I heard a familiar song... I started singing to Lauren as she began crying...

What's-a matter you? Hey! Gotta no respect. Hey!
What-a you think you do? Hey!
Why you look-a so sad? Hey!
It's-a not so bad. Hey! It's-a nice-a place.
Ah, shaddap-a you face!

Hubby was astounded, "You know the words? You've heard this song before?"

I thought everybody knew the Shaddupa You Face song. Maybe just Italians? Either way, I'll teach it to him because it's alot of fun to sing, especially to a crying half-Italian baby.

Quite a few years ago, my Mom bought my Gram a Cabbage Patch doll. We were visiting Gram this weekend. Lauren met "Johnny". She was confused. Was it a mirror? Was it her twin? Was it her new boyfriend? Someday we'll tell her the truth about "Johnny".

I became a Peetnik today. It's Jenny's fault. She got me hooked on Peet's Major Dickason's coffee when she innocently brought me back some as a souvenier from her trip to CA last month. So as I ran out, I found myself in dire straights. But now I'm a Peetnik, so it will all be ok. I will have the coffee delivered to me automatically each month. Whew!

If only Jamba did the same thing. Yet another thing Jenny got me addicted to, among many others... her home-made Bugogi... Lay's Lime & Cracked Pepper Potato Chips... I thought they'd be gross, but they were YUM YUM YUM. Then my sis came over and was dipping them in tuna fish. Again, I thought "super-gross", but tried it and BINGO, another top 10 food addiction.

Jenny also did the near impossible, got me to like salad. She found a secret weapon - Emerald Nuts Glazed Walnuts - throw them on some lettuce with some Craisins and Honey Balsamic Vinegar dressing - and it's a salad I really like, not just feel socially obligated to eat.

There are many others, too numerous to mention. I suppose I've done the same to her... we're always excited to go to a city with a Cheesecake Factory and chow down on the likely-laced-with-crack Chicken Madeira! And going west always means we start singing our favorite little ditty, "In-n-Out, In-n-Out Burger, In-n-Out, In-n-Out Burger"...

Little L is getting so strong, she is already trying to sit up on her own, so I ordered her a Bumbo chair. I hope it comes soon, I can't wait to see the little one try it out. I hope she doesn't flop forward and do a face plant.

I'm reading this book called Secrets of the Baby Whisperer : How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby. I figured if the Dog Whisperer can help so much, this might be a good read. Bottom line: babies need structure. So I'm trying to follow the author's E.A.S.Y. plan - Eat. Activity. Sleep. You (as in ME time, which is a joke, because ME time usually involves doing laundry, dishes, or, if I'm lucky, actually washing my hair).

We were doing pretty good with the E.A.S.Y. plan on Sunday until, just as I was about to give Little L a bath (an Activity), hubby called - his truck had crapped out nearly in the middle of a major intersection. I had to pack up the kid and drive out to get him. $650 later, his truck is fixed, for now. Little L took it all in stride though, not too much Birth Control Crying out of her.