Honest Scrap

Holly at Unschool Days has given me an award!

It's an "Honest Scrap Award," given to bloggers who:
1) write soul-bearingly, thus exposing themselves to possible ridicule
2) have blogs that are "brilliant" in either content or design

Thanks Holly!

So, now I'm supposed to write "Ten Honest Things About Myself" and then pass the award on to another blogger who will do the same. Here we go.

Ten Honest Things About Me:

1. I recently sampled the very first bounty from my very first vegetable garden. It was a cucumber and it was the worst thing I've ever put into my mouth in my entire life. Bleck!

2. I love eating plums because of the way the juice explodes from the fruit on first bite and drips all over your face and hands. But my favorite fruit is the apricot. (Can you tell I'm hungry?)

3. I met Warren en route to a Grateful Dead concert at Shoreline Amphitheater when I was 20. By the end of the weekend I knew he was "the one." Our son is named after Jerry Garcia.

4. My favorite book is I Capture the Castle and my favorite movie is Il Postino. Or La Fille Sur le Pont. Or The Princess Bride. Or Amelie. Actually, I guess I don't really have one favorite movie.

5. I just finished reading "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." I loved it!

6. I don't have very many close friends in Los Angeles. They all seem to move away a year or two after getting to know me. (Coincidence?)

7. Jerry had a bike accident in 2006 in England. He was taken to a hospital in Scarborough. Warren was eight hours away in London. I had asked the doctor (who had the most beautiful green eyes, by the way) if Warren should come up from London and he said to wait until we knew the extent of Jerry's injuries. I'll never forget the moment when the doctor finally said, "Your husband should be here." It was the scariest moment of my life. But, in a way that accident turned out to be the greatest gift. I can never take Jerry's presence, or his laugh, or his beautiful face for granted after coming so close to living without him.

8. I was in two Miller's Outpost commercials when I was in college. Remember Miller's Outpost?

9. When Jerry was going to the Waldorf school I was in charge of costumes. The day before the big yearly fair I was looking for one particular, very important, costume, but it was gone. I'd been searching for nearly an hour when I asked one of the teachers if she had any suggestions on where I might find it. She told me to "talk to the gnomes about human babies." Sometimes, she said, they hide things. Telling them about human babies will often convince them to give it back. I wanted to punch her. But, instead, I went back down to the costume room and looked (silently--I wasn't about to talk to any stupid gnomes about any stupid babies) for the costume again. After about 30 minutes of searching, I threw up my hands and said, aloud, "Fine. Human babies are really cute. They have cute little toes, and ears and they smell really good. Happy?" No response. Then I turned around and noticed a bag I hadn't seen before, shoved into a corner. The costume was inside.

10. I'm an eternal optimist except for the hours between 2 am and 5 am when, if I happen to be awake, I'm certain I have inoperable cancer, or that people I love will die (soon), or that we'll never find a way to dispose of all the garbage we create, or that I might get buried alive... And except for when I get too happy. A moderate amount of happy is fine . But too happy is what happens in movies right before someone dies. Too happy makes me nervous. But, really, in general, I'm a very happy person. I swear.

And now, just to stir things up a bit, here are Ten Dishonest Things About Me:

1. I'm very neat and organized.
2. I love horror movies.
3. I love shopping for clothes.
4. I have never smoked pot or dropped acid.
5. I meet deadlines well before they approach. (Never ever the day of. Or the day after.)
6. When someone tells me to do something I automatically want to jump up and follow their suggestion. For example, when it's late at night and I'm falling asleep on the couch and Warren says "You should just go to bed." I'm always happy to follow his advice. I don't stay on the couch on principle even if I think going to bed is actually a very good idea. That's just stupid. I would never do that.
7. I'm perfectly at ease in large groups of people that I don't know and never feel the urge to run and hide.
8. I hate camping and would never in a million years consider going a whole week without taking a shower.
9. I hate sweets. Especially flourless chocolate cake with hazelnut sauce and creme brulee.
10. I don't understand these people that say they're "learning all the time." Seriously, what is the deal with that? You put in your time at school and then you're done. You don't have to learn anymore, so why waste your time? I already know everything I need to know.

And now I'd like to pass the Honest Scrap Award on to (drum roll, please).....

Zayna's Garden. Woo hoo!! Zayna is always honest and funny and she writes lovely poetry to boot!

France - Week One

Yes, after many weeks of blog neglect I am finally posting photos from our first week in France. Here we are arriving at Charles de Gaul on day one. We took the bullet train from there to Tours, then caught a taxi to the house.

We spent the first day in a jet lagged haze. On day two we ventured across this bridge into town.It goes over the Loire river.First stop: a little creperie at Place Plumereau in the medieval center of Tours. This is me and Jerry.Here's Warren and Summer, our 15-year-old niece.

We wandered around and stumbled upon this museum of glass art. The art was similar to stained glass, but layered.
There was a tiny chapel under the museum.We found some Roman ruins just off Place Plumereau.On day three we went to Amboise. It's a small town on the Loire where Leonardo DaVinci spent the last few years of his life. Warren and I had been there before and we knew Summer and Jerry would love it. This is the chateau in Amboise.
This is one of the towers of the chateau.Here's a little street in the town center.As we walked along the road on our way to Clos Luce (da Vinci's house) we saw lots of houses built into the limestone cliffs. When they excavated for limestone to build chateaux they were left with hundreds of miles of tunnels and people ended up turning them into homes.This is Clos Luce. The house is beautiful but the best part is the garden.It had a pond where we rode a paddle boat modeled on a daVinci design.
A rare photo of all four of us.
This is part of the garden.
Here's a wider shot of the same thing.
And another one. Okay, so I liked this part of the garden a lot.
There was steam coming off the pond.
This picture is taken in the exact same spot as a picture taken on our previous visit to Clos Luce in 1994. I'll have to dredge up that photo and place them side by side for a comparison. More fat. More grey. More wrinkles. I wonder what else will be different...
There was a cool play ground. That's me and Jerry
There were models of daVinci's inventions all over the garden. This is a tank.
Here's Jerry at the cafe.
The next day we went to Futuroscope, a theme park built in the 80s. I took this picture from the car on the way there.
You've seen this one before but I like it so I left it in.

I like this one because you can see Warren in the center but then if you look on the sides you see me and Summer taking the picture.

We spent the next day at home because Jerry was sick. Summer and I walked to the bakery in the morning and brought home a special treat. Does that look tasty, or what?
Later in the day we went for a walk along the river.
Then we came back to the house and played Blokus.

That's it for now. More France photos coming soon!

Caught Up In The Madness Of CARS

I know I should be working on that first France post, but we did something yesterday that I have to tell you about because it's 5:30 am and I can't sleep until I get it off my chest. We bought a new car. Not "new to us" like we usually do. New, new. As in 2010. I think we're insane. Yes, we just took a trip to France. Yes, my husband is now unemployed (and, hours earlier had turned down a nice long job on Gulliver's Travels starring Jack Black). And yes, I love, love, loved my old car.

We call her Roxy. She's been with us since before Jerry was born. Roxy is a 1990 Volvo 760 Turbo Wagon with over 216,000 miles, a broken gas gage, air-conditioning that works moderately well at the best of times and not at all at the worst (and that's just since we had it fixed a few weeks ago), a headliner that falls on our heads, an antenna that refuses to go up, a cassette player (no CD) that no longer works, and other assorted "character"istics. She also features prominently in a host of cherished memories, starting with bringing Jerry home on the day he was born. I didn't always love Roxy though.

When we found out I was pregnant (an earth-shattering surprise for which I was totally unprepared) we figured another car was in order. At the time our cars were both two-door: a crappy little Hyundai and an Acura Integra. (Funny story: two weeks after Jerry was born we paid off the last $2000 on the Integra loan and that very night it was stolen from right in front of our house. Can you believe that!?) Anyway, we were going to get rid of the Hyundai, keep the Integra for Warren (or so we thought) and get me a new, bigger car. Warren and I both agreed on the bigger car part. But what shape that car would take was a huge bone of contention between us--huge. It was only matched later (surpassed, actually) by our disagreement over whether Jerry should be circumcised or not--I was against, he was for.

What was the problem? Warren wanted a family car. And not just any family car. He wanted the ultimate soccer mom mobile--a Volvo station wagon. I was 26 or 27 at the time. I knew I was having a baby. I knew this event would make me into a, you know, m-m-mother (though I think I didn't fully comprehend the reality of that fact until I started having contractions nine months later). But child birth and child care was about far as I was willing to go in the motherhood department. There was no way in hell I was going to be seen driving a station wagon. What did I want to drive? A 1967 convertible Ford Falcon, of course. It was the perfect anti-mom mobile. It would say, "Sure, I have a kid but I haven't lost my cool!" Warren wouldn't even consider it. He was infuriatingly unreasonable! But he won. (I won the circumcision war, though.)

That's how Roxy came into our lives. She was Warren's car for a long time, but eventually I started driving her and our relationship developed from there. It was kind of like an arranged marriage--the love came later. And now, after nearly 15 years of devoted service, I'm sending Roxy to her death. That's right. We're taking advantage of the "Cash for Clunkers" program, which means she'll be crushed, shredded, put out of commission, euthanized, obliterated, smashed to smithereens...

I feel so guilty. And I can't bear to think of what our mechanic will say. It's not so much what he'll say as the look on his face. I can see it now. He'll look at me, take a deep breath, shake his head and walk away. He won't even want to talk to me anymore. Or maybe he'll shake his head and say "Colleen, the Prius is like a tin can compared to the Volvo. It's not safe." And I'll respond by putting my fingers in my ears and saying "La la la la la la la." Because, yes, we bought a Prius. I'm going from a tank to a tin can and I prefer not to think about that thank you very much.

I can't believe it. I can't believe we actually bought it. It's new! And all futuristic! The Volvo didn't have keyless entry--the Prius doesn't even have a key!

We had been thinking of getting a Prius for a while, but we always thought it would be Warren's car. He was the one that wanted a Prius. I really only wanted Roxy. But yesterday afternoon, after my parents called to tell us the House had approved another 2 billion for the CARS program (they hate poor Roxy), I started thinking about keeping the Prius for myself. I couldn't think of another car that I'd be willing to replace Roxy with. And I knew I'd want to take the Prius on long trips and if it were Warren's car he'd be all uptight about the car getting dirty and covered in dog hair. So it seemed like the best idea to just, you know, keep it for myself. And, by the way, you know how I wanted a convertible before Jerry was born? Guess who ended up with a convertible? Warren. Granted, he only had it for a year, but he did drive a Saab convertible after making such a big stink about me driving one all those years ago. (He says I always bring that up, but I don't.) That's not why I'm keeping the Prius for myself. I'm just saying...

Anyway, I'm still in shock. I actually tried to talk the sales guy into letting us take Roxy home last night (under the pretense of wanting to clean our stuff out of the car) so we could have one last night together, but apparently once you commit your car to death you're not allowed to drive it any longer. So we had to clear her out and leave her there. And now there's a spanking new Prius in our driveway and I'm still trying to figure out how it got there. I blame the jet lag. And my parents. (Why not?)

It was very fiscally irresponsible of us (we haven't had car payments in years!) but it's the right thing to do, environmentally speaking, so maybe we could say the two things balance each other out. Right? Please say yes.

Anyway, it's done. I no longer drive a "clunker."

R.I.P., Roxy. We'll miss you.

We're Back!

It's 5 am and Jerry and I are wide awake. We arrived in Sacramento late last night after almost 24 hours of travel (if you count subway and layover time). I did start to write one post while we were in France and managed to upload a bunch of photos but I ended up getting really sick and never had a chance to put them in order or write about them--so that post is still waiting to see the light of day.

So, yes, I did get sick (three solid days worth of the worst flu I've ever had). I also fell down the stairs the first night there (curse those steep and twisty European stairways!). And I guess the Fates like book ends because when we got off the airplane in DC I ended up being unable to walk and had to get a wheelchair to take me from one gate to another! Warren, that ever sensitive husband-o-mine, laughed and video taped the whole thing. But that's another story.

Really, I just wanted to say we're back and we had a great time and the house was terrific. I'll post some photos from the first week in the next day or two.

In the meantime, here's a picture of Jerry and Summer harassing Warren. It was one of their favorite past times while we were there. And it was really fun to watch.

Ahhhhhhhh!!!

We're leaving tomorrow! Anime Expo (with four kids in tow) today, breakfast with our neighbor, then pack and leave town tomorrow, 4th of July party in Sacramento on Saturday and a flight out of the country bright and early Sunday morning. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast!

This is how swamped I've been: I was having a facial the other day (more bliss) and I feel asleep during the massage. I started dreaming of To Do lists! Isn't that crazy?

Anyway, I've got two hours before the kids show up for Anime Expo and there are screens to be washed and plants to be watered. Gotta run! My next post will probably be from France!!

Bliss

We interrupt this month of mayhem to bring you three hours of absolute bliss.

In truth, I'm the one who got three hours of bliss. But I'll share it with you. Granted, it won't be as blissful for you as it was for me. Yesterday, in between working for Sol (my 93-year-old friend), taping notes all over the house for the painters, taking Jerry to Jackson's house, taking my car back to the mechanic (for the third day in a row!), picking my car up at the mechanic, picking up Jerry and Jackson from computer class, and going to the pharmacy to pick up more drugs for Jerry's strep throat and double ear infection(!!), I managed to spend three hours with one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, Zefra, at a spa in Koreatown. We soaked, and steamed. We were scrubbed and massaged. We got masks. Our hair was washed and conditioned. And when it was all over we were lovingly dried off and dressed in a robe. I think the park I love best is when the masseuse ties my robe for me. I feel so taken care of! Ah.... I'm starting to feel relaxed just thinking about it.

Of course, as soon as it was over there were calls from Jackson's dad and the painters to return (I only had five missed calls to Zefra's nineteen!) and the car to pick up and a drive across town to look forward to. Still, I managed to carve out three hours to be with my friend and to be pampered and I was very pleased with myself.

Prior to Zefra's visit, I was beginning to think that I might be a lazy, or maybe a flaky person. I expressed this thought to her and she laughed out loud. Really hard. So that made me feel better. I think it must be the only time being laughed at has actually made me feel better. She said I should make a list of all the things I've been doing over the past six months. Things like settling one grandma's estate, moving another grandma from an apartment to assisted living, getting the interior of the house painted, toilets replaced (have I told you how much I love our new toilets!?), weeds pulled, window replaced, vegetables planted, blah, blah, blah. It's too boring to keep going. It did make me feel like maybe I was being too hard on myself. I've been doing a lot. And I've still managed to take Jerry to the Maker faire, be in the delivery room at the birth of my niece, have drinks with the homeschool moms at Mom's Night Out and write a blog post every now and then.

I even cleaned my office the other day. Would you believe I found a desk and a floor in there? I had to move a bunch of boxes of my grandma's papers and I almost started crying. That's one of the things that was making me think I might be lazy. I avoid working on her estate as much as possible (which isn't much) and I thought it was because I'm a flake but it turns out dealing with my grandma's estate reminds me that she's dead. And that's something I prefer not to think about. I haven't even cleaned out her purse yet. I think I might save it for the anniversary of her death. Silly, I know. But, hey, it justifies putting it off a bit longer.

Let's get back to bliss, shall we? I did make a reservation to stay near Carcassonne for Bastille Day and I booked two nights in Beynac where we will have our very own private tour guide (for four hours!) to take us to the cro-magnon cave drawings at Fonte-de-Gaume and the place where the very first human bones were discovered!! Yippee!! I am so excited about this I can't stand it.

The one week countdown begins tomorrow. That's right. We leave L.A. one week from tomorrow for Sacramento, where we'll drop off the dog, have a 4th of July celebration at my mom's and then catch an early flight to D.C. before crossing the Atlantic to Paris. We arrive in Paris July 6.

I'm On A Roll

Posting three days in a row! Can you believe it?! Of course, I don't have all that much to say today. I will, however, show you pictures of our guest room which has just been painted a color that I love, love, love! I couldn't be bothered to change the lense on my camera so I can only show you small bits of it. Here's one corner:
And here's another. Isn't it lovely and peaceful and serene? It's called "pure aqua" by Behr. Did I already mention that I love it?
And this is our new window. I couldn't photograph the entire thing because Jerry didn't want to be in the photo and he was sitting on the edge of the couch.
The living room got a new paint job as well but I'm just luke warm on the color. I suspect it would look better if we had a new couch but that's not going to happen (I'm on the lookout for a slipcover, though!).

I'm starting to plan some excursions in France and am really looking forward to visiting the cave paintings near Sarlat. I'm even thinking of hiring a guide but it's pretty expensive. Still, I think it would be so much more interesting for all of us if we had our very own cro-magnon expert! I'm also trying to figure out if there's a way we can spend Bastille Day at Carcassonne, which is far from Tours but they have a big celebration and we wanted to go there anyway (because we love the game!). So I might tie those two things together. I'm kind of conflicted about it, though. On the one hand, I want to take advantage of the fact that we're there and see all the things I want to see (or some of them anyway). But on the other hand I don't want to go overboard on hotel rooms when we have a house in Tours that we're not paying for! But four nights in a hotel might be reasonable...

Anyway, today is the day I'm taking the Volvo (we call her Roxie) in to get the air conditioning fixed. We've been living without air conditioning in that car for over two years now. But since we'll have to drive through central California on July 3 to take Patsy (the dog) to my mom's before we leave, I'm really hoping it's fixable. We tried to fix it once to no avail. So please keep your fingers crossed! Roxie is an old lady with over 200,000 miles under her belts and she deserves a little cooling off now and then--so do her passengers!