Freebie List

...just so we are clear.

Robert Smith
Brandon Flowers
Trent Reznor
Evan Dando

1999

I wish I saved every typo I have made on essays, emails, and comments on other blogs.

my favorite ever is busty. instead of busy.

I am so busty today! (hurried email to male co-worker)
That same co-worker informed me of my common mistake. It also happened to be the same year I started the pill and was, infact, rather busty.

to stay the way it's been

This month wraps up our first summer in California. No better way to close than with a package of Mother's Wafer Cookies (california original since 1914- as noted on the packaging).

It also marks one year of me doing this. What you are reading. The pictures you view. This website.

It began with a purpose- to encourage my hobby of taking photographs. It quickly developed into a place to toss my thoughts and experiences. And post pictures other people have taken. Oh, and occasionally talk about candy. Or music. Or a band called The Candyskins, which is excellent Brit Pop by the way.

Anyway- thanks for hanging out in the back seat. Not sure where we are going or where we will end up, but you can rest assured I have a glove compartment (which isn't accurately named and everybody knows it) full of treats.

it takes all kinds

I enjoyed peeking into the subculture that is auto racing and its enthusiasts. Some camped out for several days, others parked plush RVs on hillsides designed to invite viewing in comfort.

The course was the size of a small town and reminded me of childhood play outdoors when we would create tracks with our fingers in the dirt and move the matchbox cars around them until the street lights illuminated.

Many of the patrons were to be expected. Others seemed vastly out of place. The vendors were spread across the terrain selling things from food to Race Girl T-shirts to custom toy cars.

The usuals were prepared with hats and sunglasses and earplugs. Their children equal in equipment + shooting ear muffs. The older, long-term enthusiasts were easily identified as their forearms bore rough skin, similar to that of a brown leather couch. I imagine they had stories of every race that ever was- the crashes, the records, the deaths. They held the history of this hallowed ground.

Walking around I began to wonder if it was a Styx concert. Then the teens arrived throughout the afternoon and then it felt more like a mellow punk scene squished into a Monster Truck Rally. There were also non-classifiable people wandering around. Maybe we fit into this mix, just completely out of place.

I enjoyed the old race cars on display, they provided many photo ops.

The cars actually racing were breathtaking. You see and hear it on t.v., but seeing it in real life was like seeing a movie star cross the street next to you on a busy New York morning.

They were lower to the ground than you could imagine and fast doesn’t properly explain how they flashed past me. I could smell the tires gripping the asphalt at turn 7. This is truly an amazing sport. One I never appreciated before the weekend. This doesn’t mean I am an avid fan or that I will make much effort to attend again. Just feeling grateful to have caught a glimpse of a world that gives a lot of other people incredible excitement. I can appreciate people being totally into something I will never love or fully comprehend.

Because that thrill is how I feel about music.

tired

nacho raceway

Today we are going to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. If we did not have a child my thoughts would be:

AWESOME! I can't wait to see a crash. I hope they have nachos.

---

Since I DO have a child my Unfun Mom Detector is extending from the back of my neck and I have slight anxiety of how the hell is this going to work. I packed a lot of snacks, toys, water, camera, books, inflatable clown, and space shuttle service.

I am hoping he will just end up enthralled with the fast cars the whole time. And not notice the earplugs we have to cram into his little ears.

megan

I love that feeling after you eat bacon. You know..the one where it feels like someone is running circles around you with duct-tape as it wraps tightly around your ribs coupled with the feeling of a fire poker trying to make its way out of the left side of your chest.

love that feeling.

glug

If I could put sprinkles on a store and eat it up with a tall glass of lemonade, it would be Glug Baby. Shirts I would wear. My next purchase for Zane is the shirt with the record player on it.

http://www.glugbaby.com/

oh six

2004: superman
2005: vampire
2006: dragon slayer

That is the toddler costume in the running for the moment. Dragon slayer. Those pesky dragons, we hate them in our family. Can't slay enough of them.

Pirate and cowboy are also acceptable options for 2006.
I can't seem to catch the cutesy vibe for halloween costumes all other moms on the planet seem to enjoy.

I always wonder if it's one of the many tell-tale signs of me being The Crazy Mom. When he is an adult and complains about all the things his parents didn't do right, will the costume selection be part of the festivities?

"...and in the car, no, no childrens music. I had to hear indie rock nonstop my whole life.While the other kids played with Big Wheels I had this old skateboard that practically killed me. All the other kids, they wore fuzzy farm animal costumes. Me, I was a blood-sucking vampire! THIS was my childhood!"

sic tricks

by my 2 year old. he pulled my board out of the closet when i wasn't looking and went nuts.
--
If only I knew photoshop I could have had him dropping into a 6 foot half pipe!

I heart Bill

Can someone make me a shirt that says 'I heart Bill'?

He is our new maintenance guy and by george not only is he punctual and efficient, he has ordered us a brand new dish washer that will be installed next week. We didn't even need it.

{insert blinking lights here}

It's seriously like I just won at Plinko on the Price is Right.
----

I am especially excited to see the broken, green dish washer in the garage will get a buddy.

The Lemonheads. new album. September.

Until then:
a) Angels and Airwaves. Guys from other bands (Blink-182, Offspring, Box Car Racer, etc.) creating good stuff. Atom Willard is awesome on drums,

my hero of the week.

b) Mates of State. Pleasant, yet not so rockin'. Good for mellow housecleaning. Or a dinner party. http://www.myspace.com/matesofstate

i saw this

and my heart completely stopped.

ORGANISM

I can't hear or says these words without blushing. How do other people use them in normal conversation without giggling?

When will I ever grow up?

please?

Hey I have a great idea for gym etiquette. How about lay OFF the perfume? Or choose a treadmill not next to mine. Especially when I am at the end of a 30 minute running session and cannot move to the other side of the room to avoid asphyxiation.

And guess what else! Rolling around in a puddle of Walgreens Rose perfume and then dumping patchouli over your head does not make a great combination. In fact, neither is a positive aroma.

In addition- you didn't even break a sweat while walking s l o w l y on your treadmill and talking to your fancy make-up friend. So the armpit swipes of deodorant would for sure suffice. Perhaps you had your period and feared the fishy odor, in such a case a simple light body spray in nether regions would ease your fears.

.....just in case my coughing and turning purple didn't give you a clue.

porcelain doll bride

apple juice

It's perfectly alright to have juice boxes for your child boarding a plane. People throughout the airport will tell you it is not alright, but it really is. So don't throw them away.

Metal hair barretts, on the other hand, will make the process a little prolonged. In addition to that cute little skirt with the metal decorative danglies attached to the ends of the draw string.

Those items will cause much detailed search of you and child. In addition to much staring and complication keeping a toddler close without being able to hold him for several moments. And then he grabs the metal detector wand while you are being patted down and then it's worth it.

AFO (a fire outside)

I forgot what Arizona in August felt like. Stepping foot onto the steamy asphalt caused the soles of my shoes to soften, then smolder. My face withered and about 3 gallons of water gushed from my forehead. I was speechless until I heard the cicadas clutching the thirsty branches in the scorching sun. The screeching of these beetles made the exact sound I would make if I had to describe the feeling of the desert in the summer. An alternative description would be H E L L.

Besides alternating between the state of a grape indoors and that of a raisin outdoors, it was a week full of fabulousness:

Wedding extravaganza
with the best wedding music that ever was
Meeting my newest nephew
Waiting for my newest niece- still brewing
Belated birthday celebration for the boy
Mexican food
Eyebrow waxing
Aunt Rae Rae's *NEW* drivers license
Pita Jungle
More family visits
Swimming
Bahama Rama Mama
Goodbyes
Terrorism Scares
Stomach Flips
Wishes for rental car
Plane ride home
Zero explosions

Except the sparks from the lovebirds.

no place like home

Damn you, Nordstrom, for not having these in stock today. Don't you know I am attending a WEDDING this weekend and this was an integral part of the outfit scheming?

things i hate

spiders
dirty dish water touching my skin
flying on an airplane
giving blood
needles (unless it's heroin)
just kidding, mom
talkative cashiers
spider webs
bees
wasps
spider webs touching my skin
too many remote controls
crumbs on the bottom of my feet
bad children's music
the dog on Oswald called Weenie

update:
ants
earthquakes
fish eggs

speaking of Jones Soda and DM...