My Neighbor Totoro

I'm often behind the "cool stuff," but just in case you haven't heard about this movie- I think it may simply be the best cartoon/childrens movie I have ever seen. The movie was originally released in 1988 in Japan and is directed by Hayao Miyazaki, but it was rereleased by Disney in 2006 with English language tracks with the two main characters voices of Dakota and Elle Fanning.

It is nothing like the American cartons we see-- it's a lot slower paced, actually has a thoughtful storyline and is so creative. Maddie immediately loved it and is somewhat addicted to it (not a great thing), but it is definitely a family favorite.

Also- for those who have girls, it is nice to see a movie with strong female characters that they can relate to. (Doesn't it seem like every Disney movie released is very boy oriented, fast action scenes?) I'm sure that little boys will also love this movie-- it is adorable.

Breathe

Okay, now I'm going to be honest... (this is for my future posterity so they know that they can be human too... please don't feel sorry for me!!).

About once every week, I melt down. Probably because Steve is never home, I'm tired, and I need a break. Of course, this is not normal, but when your husband is building a house with a full time job and enormous church commitments, on top of everything else, I am happy that I'm not in a white jacket :)

Of course, there are people that are obviously worse off than me- and I'm so greatful for what I have, but life aint so easy all the time. I listened to a NPR special of a mom who basically is raising her family by herself, and has given birth to two children alone, while her husband is fighting overseas? Yikes. This is the story that makes me keep on going. But... on the days that I can't, I melt.

Today was one of those days, and Steve stayed home for the night. Maddie went swimming with him- so it was nice to just sit out on the lawnchairs and watch them play. Breathe.

Luckily, I really love my job and have been doing a lot of photoshoots recently, so these are great escapes... but still add to tiredness. I can't wait until the day that we all have robots in our homes like the Jetsons. That would be awesome and I guarantee you I will be first in line.

Here are the adorable pictures in the pool of the two loves of my life:

A can't resist

If you haven't seen the Saturday Night Live skit of Sara P and Hillary C- you have to check it out. Hilarious.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

A day in the life

of Maddie:

1- Play with soap. Scrub it in the spunge, and help clean up (or is it the other way around?) Spread water everywhere. This will keep her entertained for quite a long time.

2. Take a long nap (I love how I can count on about 1.5-2 hours each day). She wakes up so refreshed, and so am I (after getting stuff done).

3. Play outside. Almost everyday, we go somewhere because our little apartment is just a little too dreary. Our favorite parks involve 1) water, 2) sand, 3) swings, or 4) animals. And, we love to go with friends of course. Here are a couple of shots this week:

We loved to go to this park with a stream, but it's dried up. We searched the river bed with her little friend instead of playing in the water...

My friend introduced me to another great park this week- and I just love these photos:

Life is wonderful if you appreciate the simple things in life.

Palin

My friend alerted me to the latest Obama line..."She knows as much about pit bulls as she does foreign policy."

Albiet funny, the pitbull jokes are getting kind of old. More importantly-- What do people think about Palin?

I have to admit that I was seriously shocked that McCain chose a woman, but I think it was a brilliant choice. Aside from the benefits of bringing in "core" republicans, and maybe attracting the Clinton voters... I think it has rejuvenated their campaign in endless ways for so many voters, including myself.

Yes- I know I shouldn't vote for her because she is just a woman, but I definitely am factoring it in my decision. This is going to be a hard race for me... I started out very pro Obama, but now I'm wavering. And, I think that has a lot to do with Palin- which is why I think her appointment was such a great idea.

She puts life into what appeared to be a typical campaign- and definitely competes with the youth, fresh blood, non-washington type of politics that Obama has been espousing all along-- with the added benefit of Mcain's experience in foreign policy etc.

And- wouldn't it be historic if McCain did pass away and Palin was appointed President? Could she handle it? A small Alaskan governor? I'd like to think she could, but I'm not sure. But, to be fair, Palin probably has at least as much experience in politics as Obama does? Would you agree?

Yum!

A couple of months ago, I decided to buy:
And, I was not disappointed. I generally shy away from brands like Skippy (lots of fat, added sugars etc... but this is exactly what they claim it to be (at least I hope?). It is seriously the best peanut butter I have ever tasted... and it's pretty much just peanut butter, but isn't like the other natural ones where there is a cup of oil on the top and the rest of the peanut butter on the bottom. Yum. The only downside is that it isn't cheap, but I splurge... it's worth it.

Another good buy recently was the Trader Joes Strawberry and Kiwi juice. Again, it is pure juice... it is really scrumptious. Steve (and I agree) tend to stay away from drinks that claim to have no sugar etc. (It just tastes weird- with all of the added stuff they put in it.... I feel like I'm drinking straight chemicals.)

We always add 50% water to the juice anyway, because it makes it last longer, and we think juice is overly sweet.

And, finally, I have rediscovered my love of Salmon recently. I think the Costco Salmon is the best buy that I've found. I generally cut it into individiual servings, lay the fillets on a cooking sheet. Brush each piece with olive oil and seasonings, a little salt, put it in the oven (our b-bque is out of gas right now) on broil for 8-10 minuutes... and YUM. So good.

I always like serving it with rice and some sort of vegetable...

I don't have what it takes

I'm going to go out on a limb tonight and say that I am not a politician. I say this because I volunteered to call people for a proposition that Californians will vote on in November... and so far, I have had a horrible experience.

All I had to do is call random people on a list that I don't even know. But, I agonized over doing it for days. Not because I don't have opinions on the matter, but because I just don't like annoying people and getting hung up on, yelled at, or threatened.

Tonight I set aside an hour. "It's only an hour," I said to myself.

But- it was horrible. My favorite person I called tonight called me back (apparently getting my number from her caller ID), and wanted to know where I got her number, why I called her, that she didn't want to be bothered, and to never call her again... oh... and to take her off of the list that I have in front of me.

Whew. I understand where she is coming from- I don't like to be called and asked about things over the phone either, so I probably would have hung up to be honest? I guess I'm a bad person, but I'm not sure that I have the right stuff for this type of work.

So- I'm going to swallow my pride and finish the list I was given, but I don't think I'm doing such a good job or should be hired for the next round. I definitely have more respect for those who do put their necks out on the line for whatever they stand for... even if you're taking a poll on the phone.

Next time someone calls me, I'll try to be more patient.

Our favorite little sidekick

Each day that Maddie gets older, the more in love Steve and I fall in love with her. She has so many qualities that make us appreciate the small and simple things of life so much more than we did before. Before I forget them, and she turns 10, I thought I'd just share a couple:

1. She is a great little swimmer- With the help of her little floatation swimsuit, she can swim for about 1 hour and 30 minutes without me helping her get around. She jumps into the pool, she climbs up the steps, she kicks her little feet around, she ducks her head in the water... it is a lot of fun to watch her.

2. She helps us around the house- Aside from the fact that she is a little overly obsessed with soap and cleaning her hands, she is starting to help me carry things from the car to the house, clean the floors, put away her toys, attempting to sweep... it is really cute.

3. She loves facial cream? I have no idea why, but I think she is going to be a real girly girl in her love of lotion. Her love of putting creams on her skin and face has blossomed into a full time ritual, which we laugh at every morning and night.

4. She is so happy- I think she has been blessed with Steve's optimism and happiness- she hums in the mornings when she walks around, she laughs with Steve for 15 minutes without stopping... she is generally a really happy person. I hope this continues with her as she grows up.

YAY for Maddie.

A great Saturday

When I was a Freshman, I auditioned for a play I really wanted to get into. It was a yearly play that was put on by Stanford to make fun of the Berkeley/Stanford rivalry.

Back to the point- I heard that if you got in, they would wake you up at a horrendously early time by pounding on your dorm door and screaming that you come out. You put on your flip flops and march around with them all over campus in your PJ's to get everyone else that made it, and then they took you to breakfast.

Well, luckily, I did get into this play, and it was awesome!!! I loved every minute of them pounding on my door at 5 in the morning shouting for me to come out.

I thought I would suggest that a couple of my friend's girlfriends try the same tactic on her to celebrate the upcoming arrival of her next baby boy. We all look pretty awful (okay- I look really awful) because let's face it- it was too early to even think about brushing your hair or teeth... but here are some pics:This is right after we conducted the undercover work of breaking into their house and suprising her in bed?! Yikes. (Maybe we should have just pounded on the front door)

We took her to a friend's beautiful backyard and ate homemade breakfast and gave her little onsies...
The expectant mother.... Congratulations!!!!

After the early morning wakeup, I decided that I should probably go running with all of those calories I just shoved down... so Maddie and I went to the YMCA... then came home, took a nap and headed over to Shoreline in Mountain View to check out the Sailing and Windsurfing Classes...

It was such a beautiful day!!! Sadly, they won't let Maddie get on the boats until she turns 2, but I think I know what we're going to do on her birthday! She was so excited to get in the boats, and put on her little life jacket :)

After our day at the lake, we came home and I got ready to drive up to San Francisco. Steve was nice enough to sacrifice one night!!! THANK YOU. My super best friends from college were all in town- one flew in from Boston and the other drove down from Santa Rosa, and we met in the most DELICIOUS restaurant in the Castro: ZADIN-- http://www.zadinsf.com/. It was so yummy, and almost everything on the menu (except for 2 items) were gluten free.

What a great Saturday!!!!

Never take the train from the SFO airport

I am hesitant to write about this, but I thought I'd warn everyone and anyone to never never never take the train from SFO airport to the South Bay.

After a long weekend, and long trip on the plane, I realized my cell phone didn't work, and Steve couldn't pick me up. I don't memorize phone numbers any more, so I thought it would be a fun adventure to take the train home?! (Well, not really... I was a tad grumpy that Steve wasn't going to pick me up and didn't want to bother anyone, so I thought I would be a martyr and take the train home to prove that I could do it!)

Here is what the trip involved:

1. Take the air bus to the Bart station

2. Take Bart up one stop towards San Francisco to get to another line

3. Take another Bart train down two stations

4. Cross the platform to take the Caltrain south

5. Sit on Caltrain while it stops at everystop not even worth mentioning

6. Take a cab home

Total cost: $15

Exhaustion/Frustration: Not priceless.

Of course, this trip could be doable if you didn't have a) a 2 year old; b) a car seat; c) a big piece of luggage and backpack; and d) an umbrella stroller. But- it was a miracle that I got home in one piece.

We arrived in SFO at 10:00 am and finally got home at 2 pm!! Definitely not worth it. Next time, I'll suck it up, throw my pride aside and take a ride from anyone willing to pick us up :)

Labor Day Weekend

Maddie and I went to Salt Lake City for my friends wedding, and also took some extra days to see family. Here are a couple of highlights from the trip:


This is Maddie with her cousins... they are all pretty close in age, but Maddie is the youngest... so I'm afraid they had to put up with her throwing sand on them, taking their toys etc....


She loves playing ring around the rosies right now... and I just love this shot... it's just clearly childhood.

This is one of my other favorites.

As a great thanks to Steve's family, I was able to attend my friends wedding in the beautiful canyon without Maddie. It was a gorgeous setting under the trees...

This was one of my favorite shots because her parents were giving their advice/words of wisdom to them. It was really touching... I just love how Emily's dad is holding his arm around her mom.

What a beautiful couple. I was crying at their toasts. I can't remember an event where the toasts were so meaningful. I don't know if it was because they were both lawyers, and extremely talented writers, but their words to eachother were beautiful.... I hope they type them up somewhere special.

Maddie and I then took the road to Park City where we spent two days with my parents. She was spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. She spent her time playing in the sand, swinging on the playset, and swimming for hours in the afternoon.

Our hotel was really beautiful with picturesque paths everywhere... perfect for her to wander.

She really enjoyed herself :)

The hotel also had natural spas... it was so tempting for me because sitting in hot water is about my all time favorite thing to do. But- since I'm pregnant, I only put my legs in. But- Maddie loved it... which was surprising because the water was so hot. Once she got in one of these, she didn't want to swim in the big pool anymore... figures!