Youthful, Childlike or Immature?
Last week my boss Jill told us that a general rule is that people perceive themselves to be 15 years younger than their actual age, so when we target a segment of the market, we need to adjust accordingly. Well, that certainly explains a lot! All this time I thought I was just immature. Now I know I'm normal!

Oh, that's 15 years YOUNGER? I thought it was fifteen! Oh well, normal is relative.

Imelda
Macy's is doing away with their children's shoe department, so all the shoes are on sale for really cheap! AND the Del Amo store is the clearing house for all the other Macy stores, so we get all the stuff from the other stores!

So Fluffy & I went shoe-shopping with Lauren & Vickey after work on Friday. I got six pairs of shoes for Fluffy and two for myself (I can fit in kids' shoes) for under $60! I'm wearing a pair of Mary Janes today, and I feel like I'm ... well, kinda stupid wearing my daughter's shoes.

Paradise
Scott always comments on how Scooter is the more sensitive of the Bunnies, while Fluffy is the wilder, meaner one (which is true).

We went to Hawaii when Scooter was five, and he couldn't get over how blue the sky and ocean were, and how clean everything was. Same thing when we went to Tahoe this past winter and he admired the blue sky and snow-covered trees, "If I could live here, that would be the life!" After this summer's trip to Hawaii, Scooter has been on this kick to move there. This weekend, he said he wants to move to Hawaii because the people are really nice and you can go to the beach, and he started weighing which is more important to him - being able to ski in California or go to the beach in Hawaii. He finally decided, "Here there's snow only part of the time, but in Hawaii there's nice people all the time." He's such a sweetie!

Readaholics Unite!
I haven't spent nearly as much time with my children as I should or would like as far as academics, but one thing I have really pushed on them is reading. Even before Scooter was born, I read to him everyday. As soon as he could walk, we took weekly trips to the library and borrowed as many books as we could carry out of there. Both kids got library cards in preschool, as soon as they were able to write their own names.

Scooter loves to read. Fluffy hasn't had as much attention, but she's probably still a little ahead of her grade level. They both see me reading all the time (if I would just save as much money as I spend at Borders...) and we take books with us wherever we go. One night, the three of us were sprawled on the bed, reading our own books. Guido walked in, looked at us, and left. Poor Guido. I'm sure he feels left out of our special club, even though he'll say he prefers to watch WWF wrestling than read with us.

Wait Long Enough, and It'll Be in Style Again
June 1976.

Music pours out of the open windows of the community center. Liquid Space, a band comprised of kids from local high schools, is playing songs by Earth, Wind & Fire and the Doobie Brothers. Fuzzy posters glow under black light lamps. The pulsing strobe light makes everyone's movements jerky and robot-like.

Guys are sporting striped OP and Hobie shirts; girls are wearing puffed sleeve dresses or baby doll tops and hiphugger jeans. Everyone's got fluffy hair.

Unlike the dances held in the high school gym, we're allowed to wear shoes on this dance floor. 4" wooden platform shoes.

This is not a scene from That 70s Show. It's my high school sophomore class potluck / dance, held at the Puunene Clubhouse on Maui. Why this scene popped into my head this morning I'll never know. But it's a nice memory.

Summer Daze
I keep telling Scooter and Fluffy to stop growing up so quickly, but they just don't listen! I can't believe Scooter is ten and Fluffy is already seven. Scooter still screams like a girl, but I'm sure that won't be for long. He still has little traces of the little boy, like when he was going through his goodie bag from Bailey's birthday party this weekend and said, "There's a froggie in there." Not a frog, but a froggie. He's so cute!

Fluffy and I are in the middle of a huge love affair right now. She always wants to sit right next to me, if not on top of me, and she wants lots of kisses. We have matching slippers with flowers & sequins, and we went to Costco one day with matching Clikits purses. I'm sure I look ridiculous, but I love being best friends with Fluffy. In a few years she won't want to share her Valentine's "love hearts" candy with me, and I'm sure she won't even want to go shopping with me, let alone dress up alike.

I can tell they are really enjoying this summer vacation. No Marymount summer school this year; instead they've gone to a myriad of specialty camps. And when they get home, they just kind of cruise until I come home. We eat a casual dinner, and if we're not out running errands, then we sit and watch That 70s Show. Scooter really needed a break like this after such a hard year in 4th grade (and the prospect of an even harder 5th grade).

A Dog, A Cat and A Turtle
Sitting around the Marketing Department conference table after lunch...
FF: I saw three dogs on the freeway today. I think someone left them there.
WF: Did you see "Homeward Bound?"
FF: They were just watching the cars go by.
SS: Did anyone see "Good Boy?"
WF: Wasn't there a beagle in that movie? Wasn't a beagle the star of the movie?
SS: I don't think it was a beagle. It was a Benji-type dog.
MK: Snoopy's a beagle.
WF: But Snoopy doesn't really look like a beagle.
SS: Don't beagles have kind of squared off noses?
FF: Somebody dumped them there. How'd they get there?
SS: You know how your dad says, "If you don't settle down, we're pulling off the road and letting you out? Well..."
WF: Did you see "Homeward Bound?"
FF: Why were they on the freeway? I think someone left them there.
WF: In "Homeward Bound," they had to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.
MK: Snoopy's a beagle, right?
WF: Did anybody see "Homeward Bound?"
MK: You know what would make a good movie? A dog, a cat and a turtle.
WF: My friend had a cock... A cockatiel? A cockatoo?
FF: Oh, I thought that was it. Your friend had a cock.
WF: No, she's a girl.
WF: So, my friend had a bird... Is that Darth Vader on your watch?

Impropriety
I guess the big news in our neighborhood is that our school's PTA president just got indicted for having sex with some high school boys. I don't have a very strong opinion one way or the other (OUTSIDE of this case is another story). Although it may be legally wrong for an adult to get it on with a teenager, those boys were practically adults (16 and 17), and I'm sure they knew what they were doing. But she IS an adult, one with a lot of visibility and influence in the community, being PTA president, soccer coach, and booster club member, so she SHOULD have to live up to a higher standard. She goes back to court on the first day of school. Wonder what it will be like for her FIVE kids?

Funny that it should come out the same time that Mary Kay Letourneau got out of prison. If SHE could have sex with a TWELVE-year-old boy, many times, and even have a couple of kids with him, and spend only 7-1/2 years in jail, Mrs. PTA will probably get a slap on the wrist.

The big question now is this: Who is going to handle the gift wrap fundraiser when school starts in a month? (am I shallow or what?)

Happy Birthday Fluffy!
Celebrated another Fluffy birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. Unlike a lot of other parents, I really like that place. It's very convenient, fairly affordable, and they have SKEEBALL!

Fluffy had an assortment of friends from school, Rainbow Maidens, basketball team, and a couple of oddball ones that don't fit into any of those categories.

After opening presents at home, we went to Lauren's house to swim in their pool, and then to eat dinner at Koraku.

What a great day!

The Ultimate Role Model for Young Girls
Scott went to Toys R Us in search of a boy Barbie for Fluffy's birthday. All he could find was an expensive Rollerblading Ken with too many accessories. Therefore, we came up with the following suggestions for Barbie and Ken line extensions:

Sexually-Active Barbie
Crackhouse Barbie
Gangsta Barbie
STD Barbie
IBS Barbie (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
Incontinent Barbie
Nip `n Tuck Barbie
Liposuction Barbie
Botox Barbie
Bulimic Barbie
South Bay Barbie (minivan and overextended credit)
Viagra Ken
Male Pattern Baldness Ken
We-Ho Ken
Mid-life Crisis Ken (fat, bald, driving a Porsche)
Pussy-Whipped Ken - oh wait, that's redundant

Dashes are our Friends
For a copywriter, my grammar and punctuation skills aren't so great. So I need to keep looking things up in my Chicago Manual of Style and New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage. I spent a good part of the afternoon reading up on dashes and hyphens. I went to share all this wonderful information with the graphic designers. Boy, did I take a beating in there.

"So I was reading up on dashes and I think..."

"Where the hell do you read up on that kind of stuff?"
"Were you saving the racy stuff, like semi-colons, for the weekend?"
"NERD!!"

So has anyone read "Eats Shoots and Leaves" yet?

Granny Wild Flower
Technically, I'm old enough to be a grandmother. In theory, Fluffy could be my granddaughter instead of my daughter. So I told her to start calling me grandma once in a while just to see how people react.

So, anyway, I went to Trader Joe's recently to buy some wine and the cashier asked me for I.D. I told her, "Oh, you're kidding! You're really going to be surprised." She took a look at my license and started asking the other cashiers, "How old do you think she is? You'll never guess!" Then she told me that it's good to look younger so I can date guys ten or fifteen years younger, and they're way better than older guys. Hmmm...

Fluffy is Seven
My little fluffball is seven. It was kind of a non-descript birthday day, since she had to go to summer camp and I had to go to work.

I brought cupcakes to her basketball practice, and we sang a lackluster "Happy Birthday" before everyone ran off.

We went to Ruby's (her favorite restaurant) for the annual birthday macaroni and cheese.

Happy birthday, my fluffy-headed friend!

Love-Love
This morning, a client gave Vickey tickets to the JPMorganChase tennis classic, so we ditched work for a couple of hours (an extra-long lunch hour) and drove down to the Home Depot Center in Carson. Wow! We had some great seats! We actually wanted to see Serena Williams play, but she was scheduled for later in the afternoon and we had to get back to work. But it was still fun to be out there in the middle of the day, when everyone's supposed to at work, pretending to be part of the privileged set. Ha ha!

We had so much fun that tonight we took our families with us to watch more tennis. Tickets in the general admission section were only $5. I was stuck in a late meeting at work, so Guido took the kids, and I caught a ride later with Vickey.

Those women tennis players are STRONG. The daytime players were serving around 80-95 mph. The nighttime players were serving over 100mph and it was good!

Countdown to Cheese
Fluffy's been counting the days to her birthday and party. Two more days to birthday, eleven more to party. She can't read yet, so I can say that Scooter and I bought charms for her bracelet. And I got her a Groovy Girl. And a fancy headband. And that's it, coz her party is going to cost me $500. I can't believe we indulge our kids that much. I never had a birthday party when I was a kid or as an adult. I did get to invite two friends to eat dinner with us at Kula Lodge when I was ten. That was as extravagant as it got.

This Blog-Builder Sucks
What the hell happened to all my entries for July?! This sucks!

Okay, my July entries are back. This sure is unreliable.

The Grove
Fluffy had another basketball game yesterday. Afterward, we drove up to The Grove to shop at Nordstrom. People think I'm nuts to drive so far just to shop or eat, but I love going on little adventures. Life in suburbia is good, but a little boring.

Parking was a b*#%@. I drove around and around, using up precious free parking minutes. In the meantime, I spotted quite a few slugbugs (our own little game). I finally parked in the very last spot on the roof!

We spent too much money at Nordstrom (but got free parking for it), hung out by the dancing water fountain, then went to Barnes & Noble to read books.

What a nice day!

I love hanging out with Fluffy!

World Team Tennis II
Since the kids just wrapped up a week at tennis camp on Friday, we got up early on Saturday and walked over to the tennis court with our racquets and a bucket of balls. Boy, even at 8:30 in the morning, it sure was hot. It was still fun. I don't think they learned very much in that one week of camp. I had given them a crash course the previous Sunday night, and they were at about that same point this weekend. Oh well, I guess if we keep going, they'll get the hang of it.

Found out that Nordstrom's anniversary sale started the day before, so that's where we spent Saturday afternoon! Fluffy has a lot of new clothes for school now. Got some shirts and shorts for Scooter, but he likes Quiksilver and even the sale price is pretty high, so he didn't get very much.

That night we went down to Hyatt Newporter for a World Team Tennis match. Actually, Scooter did learn something - what a volley is. So we kept calling it everytime they did a volley or a smash. We didn't get to see any really famous tennis stars. Maria Sharapova is on our team, and Anna Kournikova plays for the other team, but neither one was there. It was still very nice to be out at night.

Akai Swim School
Took both kiddies to Fluffy's swimming lesson yesterday and let Scooter swim on his own while Fluffy had her lesson. Fluffy can kind of swim now. She can actually move forward while horizontal. But she has to stop when she needs more air. And to push her hair out of her face. And wipe her eyes (which she keeps closed anyway).

Scooter still has good form, but he is so out of shape. He got tired swimming across the pool just once, and anyone familiar with Akai knows how small the pool is. I thought all the running around he does everyday would keep him in shape, but I guess not.

Every year I have the same complaint about Akai. It's just a social club for the lifeguards. I watched yesterday as they all chatted with each other at one end of the pool and were oblivious to the kids in the pool. They tease and flirt with each other while kids are forcing each other's heads under the water, and every so often they stop to yell at someone, and then return to their flirting and chatting. Last year Fluffy said a couple of them were even smooching. I guess they can afford high liability insurance; we pay about a hundred bucks for a total of 45 minutes of personal instruction. (Figure it out: 9 30-minute classes, 6 kids in a class = 5 mins a day for 9 days = 45 mins) Family members are allowed in the pool, but it costs $3 pp each time. What do public pools charge?

Polynesian Cultural Center
Gee, it's rains every single #@%*ing day.

We walked down to the International Bazaar or whatever it's called to buy overpriced trinkets. Fluffy bought a slipper necklace (and one for Lauren, too). Scooter finally got a necklace, but not kukui nuts or puka shells. The vendor was kind of B.S.ing us until I said I was from Maui. Then she said the puka shells are really clam shells. And she dropped the price for us. By then Scooter decided he didn't want puka shells and got this other shell necklace that looks kind of like broken pieces of shells. Maybe it reminds him of shark teeth. He's always intrigued by shark tooth necklaces.

We headed out to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, and took the scenic route, around Hawaii Kai. Around the Crouching Lion it started to rain really hard. Since we had already paid a fortune for tickets, there was no way we were going to turn back. The scenic route took longer than Guido thought (even though I told him it would take a long time), and we got to PCC kinda late.

There's a bunch of villages, and each village has activities and shows at set times. It's impossible to see all the shows, do the activities and see the IMAX movies if you're also planning to do the luau. You can use your pass to come back within three days, but realistically, how many tourists are going to drive all the way out there again.

Anyway, one of the guides was nice enough to tell us to make sure we visited the Marquesas since that island group wouldn't be featured in the night show. We also visited Samoa, where Scooter and Fluffy learned how to make fire by rubbing two sticks together. (It really does work, but the trick is to use two pieces from the SAME TREE and peel the bark off the sticks.) And we visited Tonga.

We threw spears at a coconut tree, and Fluffy and Scooter went fishing. Scooter caught a big fish.

The luau was pretty good. I always wondered how they cook a whole pig without it falling apart under all those rocks. Duhhh... They wrap it in chicken wire and put it on TOP of the hot rocks and cover the whole thing with banana leaves. Neat.

The night show was really good. Fluffy was literally sitting on the edge of her seat. Of course, everyone went wild when the Tahitian dancers came out. Scooter loved the fire dancer (of course). I'm always partial to the Hawaiian dancers.

We drove home through town instead. I am so lame. Is it Likelike Highway or Pali Highway where you go through the Wilson Tunnel? Well, anyway, that's how we came home.