Ode to Dad

He keeps watch over the kids So we can go out. He never makes fuss, Not even a pout. He takes us for ice cream Each Monday night. He puts smiles on faces, He makes everything right. He works very hard. He gets the job done. He never complains. He's A number One. Thanks a whole bunch For all that you do. I hope that you know How much we love you.

Tuesday's With Isaac

"Mom I love you more than I love my yellow ninja. What do you love me more than?" "Gilmore Girls." "You do?!" (Ear to ear grin.) "Do you love me more than scrapbooking?" "Of course I do." "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

It's Good to be Home

In a few short days, I will have to head east, back to Montana, back to reality. The time has come to scramble, to get everything done on my California To Do List.

In the short time I had to grow homesick in MT, I day-dreamed about visiting my favorite establishments not present in my new town...

1.) Chevy's (done, just today).

2.) Round Table.

3.) Mervyn's.

4.) Macy's.

5.) A real mall (I've made it to Arden, but not the Galleria).

6.) A real Old Navy (yes my town has one, but it's half the normal size).

But I'm surprised at the stuff that wasn't on my list that I'm enjoying the most, and thankful I'm here to do it.

1.) Fixing dinners side by side with my mom.

2.) Driving my brother here and there.

3.) Spending time with my sisters (which topped all lists).

4.) Attending Paige's championship softball game.

5.) Lounging by the pool with Jody & Beck and having our boys back together.

While I miss my husband greatly, I wish I could say that I was looking forward to going home. Let's face it folks, I am home.

Parking Lot Rage

I grew up in a home without prejudices. My parents, especially my dad, set a wonderful example of equality of races. The *N* word was absolutely forbidden, maybe even more than the *F* word, and I never heard either spoken by my parents. I hope that I am setting the same example for my own kids, though I have felt a little concern because in the last two years, the towns we have lived in have not had a whole lot of diversity. All the more reason to move back to California.

But yesterday's experience left me un-easy, and left me wanting to confront people, even though they appeared to be threatening. I am visiting my family and friends "at home" in California, and my mom and I were stopping by a near-by grocery store. I should mention, that this grocery store was not in the getto, but in an up-scale neighborhood, where the home prices are $400,000 to $600,000 (maybe even higher). In the crowded parking lot, a maroon-colored Suburban packed full of young, black men got extremely angry with me because I wouldn't 'let them in' to the growing traffic back-up. Truth be told, I tried to let them in, but when I put the car in reverse, the car behind me didn't get the hint, and I was stuck. Once the cars started moving, this Suburban was then able to pull behind me and express their anger. They were screaming at me, honking at me, waiving their arms at me, and need I mention flipping me off?

I was not at fault. They didn't have the right-of-way. These were just impatient boys who should be used to tolerating traffic, after all, they live in a valley with millions of commuters. I wanted to jump out of the car and shove it right back on them. What was their hurry? Were they trying to impress each other with their attempt to scare me? Were they trying to maintain an image?

Though I took the safe route by staying put in the car and continuing to drive through the crowded parking lot, I wished I could have pointed out how 'out of line' they were, how idiotic their behavior was, and that they were just plain stupid.

My TV Heart is Full Again

I have a new love.

Many of you are aware of my obsession with the beloved F*R*I*E*N*D*S that left me empty and abandoned after the finale last season. And I'm sure that I've already complained to you that it came at a horrible time, I had moved away from my friends and family and then turned 30. All without my F*R*I*E*N*D*S.

I hadn't grabbed hold of anything since, though Will & Grace have helped me along. But thanks to ABC Family Channel re-runs, I have discovered something so wonderful, I'm just plain giddy. Gilmore Girls is an hour of heaven that I hadn't watched sooner because it had been in the Thursday-8pm timeslot, obviously a time that my TV was fixed at NBC. But now my TV-watching-calendar and my heart have room for 60 minutes of sheer entertainment.

As I catch up on past seasons, I try to balance the new episodes, and even watched the season finale just a couple of weeks ago. The fast-paced humor mixed with a hint of drama keeps me absolutely absorbed. I already have a few favorite lines from their genius dialog:

"For people who spend $40 at the Clinique counter, how do we not have any tote bags?"

"I never knew so many foods came on a stick!"

I had never been so impressed as yesterday when they used my phrase of 15 years "Freak-of-nature".

This show truly is genius, I hope it's around for a long time.

Don't You Mean Lactose Intolerant?

My Maddie (8) is a princess that loves to be down in the dirt. I would never take credit for how well-rounded she is, in fact, I envy her. I could never express my feelings of love, admiration, all the cheesy things a mom would say, but this girl is golden.

She has a great vocabulary, and is becoming a good speller and reader. But in this day and age, there are a lot more words and phrases for us to keep up with. Maddie mixes them up in the most wonderful way. We have labeled them Maddie-isms...

She rinses her mouth with flurox.

When I offered her young guest a glass of milk after a sleep-over, Maddie was surprised that her friend accepted it. She turned to her playmate and said "aren't you a paleontologist"?

Our puppy got in the car after a morning rain. When I complained about the smell of wet dog, Maddie mentioned that our black-lab puppy, Benny, smelled like her grandmother's chocolate lab, Fudge. I said, "well, sure they smell the same, they're both dogs". Maddie replied, "and the same religion".

She saw a car for sale, and wondered why anyone would want to buy it because the "roof been had chipped off". I then explained that it was a convertible.

Oh, how I wish I had written these down from the beginning. There are some that date back to when she was 3. Like the day she came home from pre-school, so excited about the birthday pupcakes a classmate's mom brought in.

As summer begins, and we'll be together so much more, I look forward to her unknown comedy.

Call Me Co-Dependant

It's a very strange time of my life. I hate that I am 1,000 miles from home. I hate that I'm away from my family. I miss all of our girls-nights-out. This list is miles long and depressing, and not the point I'm trying to make.

As hard as it is to be away from 'my life', I've really tried to create one here. But the more I do here, the further away I feel. I want to share everything we've seen and done here with my family back home. We've seen wonderful things, even been to National Parks (plural). While I feel so thankful to be able to do these things, and appreciate that David and I are able to give our kids these opportunities, I wish my parents and siblings could join us.

I wish they could see the antelope walking through our neighborhood.

I can't take them back for my first time at Mt. Rushmore, but I'll be there for theirs.

They won't believe that I saw a billboard for "The Testicle Festival" in western Montana.

I'll never be able to fully explain the lightning/hail/flash flood storm we got caught in yesterday at Bighorn Canyon.

My family used to be part of my every day life. There are so many things (bad & good) that are now part of my every day life. I wish geography would allow me to have both.

PS How Senior Citizen am I? We now carry the card that allows us to enter all of National Parks in the US for free. Not to worry, I'm still 30.