Happy Birthday, The Spawn!

My adorable, brilliant, obnoxious, friendly, affectionate, immodest, beautiful daughter turns 4 today.  We've been celebrating all month, so she already received many of her presents including those jammies she's wearing.  For this morning's mini-party, I raided the dollar store for balloons, giftbags, teeny presents, etc.

We've already had a lovely time with Sean at Kid's Castle and Mike at the Zoo, but tonight we dine at her favorite eating establishment: McDonalds.  It's not the food. Of course, it's not the food.  It's the treehouse.  I must admit, that as play areas go, this treehouse is truly wonderful and I would have adored it at her age (and older) as well.  But ugh, McDonalds. Here is the transcript of our discussion about it:

Me: Where do you want to go for dinner for your birthday?
The Spawn: McDonalds. We already went to McDonalds and they have a treehouse. I go on the treehouse all... by... myself. McDonalds. We'll eat at McDonalds.
Me: Where else would you want to go?
The Spawn: Hmmmm... I think McDonalds.
Me: What would your third choice be?
The Spawn: [short pause] McDonalds.
Me: If you couldn't go to McDonalds, where would you want to go?
The Spawn: We could go to McDonalds.
Me: If McDonalds were closed, where would you want to go?
The Spawn: I have clothes.  See?

Because I value what is left of my sanity, I stopped there.  Happily, I love me some McDonalds Monopoly, so it won't be a total sacrfice on my part.


I have work to do and cupcakes to bake, so I leave you with this balloon tip:  Heart shaped balloons don't blow up to be hearts.  Balloons don't work that way.  Instead, they end up looking like double-nippled boobies.  The Spawn thinks it looks like a pig.  Judge for yourself.

The Kindness of Stranger(s)

On Sunday, Mike Schramm, The Spousal Unit, The Spawn and I went to the Boo at the Zoo.  We had a great time.  We saw some Bears and Tigers attack pumpkins and were pretty much The Spawn's minions.

After several hours at the zoo, I discovered that the car keys were no where on my person.  PANIC! 

Well, actually we didn't panic.  We just made our way to the car to see if they were in the ignition (hopefully not with the car running like that one time).  Nope, not in the ignition.  Not on the ground. Not in my pockets. Not in my purse. Not not not.  No car keys. 

Sure I could call AAA, but then what?  We get let into a car that we can't drive home?  PANIC!

Not really.  Before I had a chance to involuntarily roll up into the fetal position, The Spousal Unit saw the keys under the visor for the sunroof.  There was also a note on the windshield.

My keys seem to have fallen out of my pocket and on to the ground while we were costuming our mini-witch.  Some EXTREMELY NICE PERSON put them under the visor and left a note saying where they were.

The stress of the missing keys actually only lasted for about 5 minutes and then, because of our hero, we were able to just continue on with our day like nothing happened.

Thank you, stranger who saved our Sunday!!!

I'm a sad panda

My mom passed away in May and hit me hard again yesterday.  This morning, this was my first conversation with The Spawn:

The Spawn: Mommy, you're not dead.
Me: Uh, yeah.
The Spawn: Daddy isn't dead either.
Me. No, he isn't.
The Spawn: But Oma is dead.
Me: Yes.
The Spawn: And we're never going to see her... again.

So, yeah, still hitting me hard today.  Yesterday, Sholazar Basin cheered me up a bit.  I think getting the Hemet Nesingwary Achievements will help some more today.  Go, Freja, Go!

I feel myself succombing to fangirl rage

I have been a big fan of Entertainment Weekly for years and even though paper is definitely out, I am currently subscribing to their magazine.  They are funny, well written and don't seem to take themselves too seriously.  They also employ one of my fave writers: Whitney Pastorek. 

But I will not be re-subscribing to the magazine because it just isn't for me, literally.  They have a section where they recommend things to watch on TV in the upcoming week.  They include basic cable and the premium channels as the selections. But, for the most part, they recommend shows that I guess the hip people want to know about.

For this past Tuesday, after an issue that mentioned Jon and Kate multiple times, they recommended Hell's Kitchen (consistently in the top 20 ratings), and the season premieres of The View, The Tyra Banks Show and 90210.  There was no mention that I could find for my most anticipated season premiere: Sons of Anarchy.  What is the point of recommending shows that everyone is already watching? 

If you haven't seen SOA, do it.  It's not just "that biker show".  It's The Godfather, but with a Motorcycle Club. And yes, I know what making that comparison means.  The performances, direction and writing all deserve major accolades.  No, it isn't a politically correct show and yes, it's about as close to R rated as TV can get, so don't watch this with your little ones.  But if you like deep characters, quotable dialog ("Jesus is just a guy who mows my lawn.") and well paced episodes stuffed with coherent plot -- please, please watch this show.

Sorry, EW.  I will still read your site occasionally, but you'll no longer get my subscription revenue.  I'd rather you take a risk in recommending shows that aren't getting the publicity they deserve as opposed to having you tell me about Jon and the Housewives of 90210.  Meanwhile, I anxiously await the next episode about SAMCRO.

Disneyland

I don't have enough in me to write anything right now, but here are a couple pics of The Spawn.

I'll be watching Melissa's new show

I'm a pretty big fan of cooking reality shows. My favorite is Top Chef, by far, but I recently have been watching this year's The Next Food Network Star. I love that show because they aren't about the drama and keeping contestants around for drama-related ratings. They want the best TV personality and they don't pull punches. They also do their best to set the contestants up for success.

Though I agree with The Spousal Unit that the winner, Melissa d'Arabian, can be a bit on the annoying side at times, I will be watching her show eagerly. From all I've seen, she is a home cooking genius -- and I don't use that word lightly. She takes an intelligent approach to cooking that really speaks to me and I need the tips and techniques she'll be showing. Her four step chicken, the mnemonic for remembering the flavor layerings for ratatouille, her kid-friendly vegetable strategies -- I need them now!

I'm so excited she won and look forward to watching as well as buying her books when they eventually come out.

Favorite quote from the show is from Alton Brown: I was counting and you smiled exactly zero times.

Couch City

The Spawn is really going to love SimCity when she's old enough to play. After spending a day or so building this lovely couch city, Spawnzilla just destroyed it. Thankfully, she didn't go the fire or flood route...