Friday, July 25, 2008

I’m more impressed with JetBlue after a lengthy phone call with reservations.

Got the email notice today about online check-in. So I started the process and when I got to the seat confirmation page I nearly had a heart attack. Beau, Jesse, and I were in completely different rows. They had Jesse in the middle seat two rows in front of Beau, who was on the other side. I was about 10 rows behind them.

Dear Lord, help me.

So I explained that an 18 month old can’t travel by himself and the nice lady agreed. About 10 minutes on hold later, she came back with new seats for us on both flights.

Oh, yeah, she checked our return flight and those seats had been changed as well.

They have no idea how it happened since the system says that I made the changes. I made no changes after I booked the flights and we selected our seats at that time. That was back in March.

Oh, and our flights are FULL. This is going to be fun.

Progress made in the Cali-vacation planning and preparation:

1. We attached the car seat from my car to the stroller-conversion-thingy. It was super easy to do once I was able to figure out what the instructions really meant. Must make luggage tag to attach. Remember plastic ties to keep it folded.

2. I decided to borrow my parent’s umbrella stroller instead of us buying one in CA. It means one more thing to schlep in the airport, but it’ll save a few bucks that we really don’t need to be spending. Must pick that up tonight.

3. Mom will have the new pockets on my Mei Tai today so that I can pick that up tonight. I was going to carry that onto the plane, but it will be packed because with deeper thought I realized that I probably won’t wear Jesse at all tomorrow.

4. Rethought the idea of taking a PB sandwich on the plane for Jesse, remembering the whole peanut ban because of allergies thing. Punting to grilled cheese, which I’m hoping can be warmed in the microwave on the plane because who wants to eat cold grilled cheese?

5. Must do one small load of laundry to finish packing. The weekly temps in the central CA coast area are going to be in the 60-70s. The weekly temps in the Santa Barbara/Simi Valley area are going to be in the 90s. How do you pack as lightly as possible for those variances?

6. Beau is about to take Annie to the kennel for her vacation. I cannot tell you how much “we’re: looking forward to not having to wake up at 5:00 am to deal with the crate mess du jour.

7. Mp3 player status - 6 books, 200 songs, 2 sermons, 15 photos of The Cutest Boy Ever. Fully charged and ready to go.

8. Verified that package mailed to Uncle W arrived yesterday. Woo! Thank you, UPS.

9. Spare key delivered to cat checker-in-er yesterday.

10. Iron clothes that need ironing even though they will need re-ironing after being smushed in a suitcase for about 12 hours.

11. Prepare meal and go have dinner with CootieMom and CootieGirl at parents’ after they arrive this afternoon.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

This column is laugh out loud funny.

How To Make Fun of Obama

I wonder if Obama would laugh at it, though. I don’t see self-deprecation in him much.

[Oops, forgot to include the via - Thinklings]

It’s the top of the hour, which means news time on talk radio.

So the news reader just made sure we all know that the DOW is DOWN 108 points! Oh no!

Really, it’s 11am. There are 5 more hours of trading. The day could end up up.

I’m sick of the doom and gloom news. 

Just talked to the Chief - to remind him of my vacation next week. He immediately let me know of the plan to interview the candidates for the promotion and that the interview team will be he, the new Assistant Chief (who started Monday), and my boss. They were thinking of doing the interviews the first week of August, which would be right after I get back from my trip, but that maybe they would push it another week so that I have a chance to recover and get back into the groove. I told him knowing of the possibility ahead of time will make it easier to deal with if they decide to do it that first week.

Having two new people evaluate and interview will be interesting. It means real objectivity in the selection, so I’d have a hard time getting irked if they don’t pick me.

So still a few more weeks until we know the final decision. *sigh*

Today marks the 6th anniversary of my blogging life. On one level it’s weird to think that something like blogging would become such a regular part of daily life. And yet on another level, blogging has become such a part of my daily life that I can’t imagine that life without the blog and the blog world I inhabit.

The one thing I cherish from the past 6 years is the people I have met, either online alone or in person. You all are a blessing and I’m grateful for the way you have integrated into my life. You have seen a lot of changes over the years - from my single girl days, to when I met and married Beau, to the challenge of pregnancy and the birth of sweet Jesse. I’ve been a part of two wonderful churches in those years - involved in youth ministry at one and the worship/music teams of both.

I wonder what the next 6 years will look like in blogging and how any life changes that occur will impact how I blog. I guess we’ll just have to see, right?

Thank you, faithful friends and readers, for your loyalty and continued presence here. I appreciate you.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I have a parenting question at WC for you experienced parents.

My new favorite humor blog - CakeWrecks.

[via granny]

Jesse has adopted a book from Beau’s office that when in the basement he carries around. It’s an old hardback that is missing the dust jacket. The linen cover is a lovely aqua color.

Yesterday he decided to gnaw on the spine. Quick thinking Beau snapped the picture below.

When I got home, I went up to get him from his nap to find this blue stuff around his mouth.

Silly boy.

[x-posted]

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

I think I forgot to post the recipe to my Mom’s delicious zuchini casserole a few weeks ago. I made it again last night. This batch was much better than the first. So here’s the recipe, slightly modified by me:

Zucchini Imperial
Serves 6-8

4 cups cooked zucchini (sliced)
1 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 medium onion, small dice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Crumb Topping
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1-2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Mix all but the crumb topping ingredients together well. Pour into greased casserole. Sprinkle top with buttered bread crumbs. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until custard is set.

I had bought four large zucchinis over the weekend and sliced them all up. This made two casseroles. I was planning to freeze the second one, but then our next door neighbors gave us some spare ribs that they grilled, so we gave them half of the second casserole.

Aside: We’ve come to really love our neighbors and the one thing that makes me sad about possibly moving out of this neighborhood is losing that.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Apparently, I’ve been living under a rock and missed this one. Beau saw it a while ago, where it was my first time to see it today.

Via my mother by email.

Beau has a poll here. Go vote, will you?

It is hard to believe we leave on Saturday for California. I’m so not ready. That said, a lot has been done to prepare:

1. Mail is on hold starting on Saturday.

2. We have a friend scheduled to come check on the cat.

3. I have a full mp3 player (thanks, Dad! - it’s actually only half full and I have 5 books and about 100 songs on there).

4. I mailed a package with Jesse things to Beau’s uncle on Friday. I was assured that it will arrive by Thursday.

5. Jesse is mostly packed. Because we’ll be in both hot and cooler weather areas, we’re packing two sets of clothes. Layers. Although for Jesse we’re including long and short pants as well as long sleeved shirts and a fleece in case the evenings get cold enough. I have yet to pack a thing for the adults.

6. Jesse’s diaper bag is pretty much ready to go with only enough diapers to get through day/night one, jarred food, two small milk cartons and two bottles of Pediasure, disposable utensils/sippy cup. Another carry-on tote bag contains two boxed meals for toddlers, the DVD player, DVDs and CDs (in a small case to save space), books for Jesse. To be added to that tote are his Moo-Moo and a blanket for the plane. The third carry-on tote will have to contain the stuff that both Beau and I want to take on the plane. This is where the tiny mp3 player is crucial for space saving. We’ll probably have additional Jesse things in there, too.

7. The car seat/stroller adapter thingy needs testing. We need to actually practice attaching the car seat to the thing so that when we get to the airport it isn’t a frustrating battle.

8. My Mom is adding pockets to the Mei Tai child wearing carrier that I bought. This means that I can wear Jesse without having to deal with my purse. We plan to buy an umbrella stroller once we’re there, so we’ll have that, too.

It’s going to be a busy week.

No doubt the book is better than the movie, but The Kite Runner (movie) is one of my favorite movies in the past few months, if not this year.

After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.

From his first words, Hassan broke my heart.

The movie is hard to watch at times. The cinematography is beautiful (it was filmed in China) and brutal. The story is compelling - two boys living in a harsh country whose lives are torn apart by one pivotal incident and then a war, and then the man who returns to his homeland as an adult to find that things are worse.

I highly recommend the movie, with 4 stars out of 5.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

I bought Shane and Shane‘s Pages CD a few weeks ago and finally gave it a listen the other day. They write beautiful songs and their musicality is a gift.

Today’s Song of the Day is Healed.

Healed
by Shane and Shane

When I think about the Lord
How He saved me, how he raised me
How He filled me with the Holy Ghost
How He healed me to the uttermost

When I think about the Lord
How He picked me up and turned me around
How He set my feet, on solid ground

It makes me wanna shout;
“Hallelujah, thank you Jesus,
Lord you’re worthy of all the glory
and all the honor, and all the praise!”