Mean Girls
When I picked up Fluffy at school today, she introduced me to her new friend Ashley, who "says the A-word and calls people 'Twerp.'" Nice.

Then we saw a former friend, Nikole, whom Fluffy absolutely adored last year, but this year, "She calls people 'asshole' and 'stupid' and 'twerp.' And she didn't think I was listening and she told Ally, 'Fluffy doesn't have any style!' What is she talking about! SHE doesn't have any style either!"

I could have said something like, "Well, sometimes people put other people down if they're jealous of them or feel insecure," or even worse, "You should probably feel sorry for her if she has to make herself feel better by saying things like that." Instead I said, "Well, what do you expect? Her mother was either drunk or stoned when she brought her to your birthday party."

Groovy, Man
The Rainbows met at Sami's house for our first tie-dye event. It was so much fun! Sami went all out, with T-shirts and washcloths for all the kids. I thought Sami was crazy to invite us to do this at her house, but it wasn't as messy as I thought it would be. We were able to do everything in the backyard. I guess these days it's all chemicals and none of the boiling on the stove.

After we tie-dyed, we made Indian drums out of coffee cans and leather. Fluffy, Lauren & Jexenia already made theirs at the Pow Wow this past spring, and they came out so nice, we bought kits for the rest of the tribe. The drums will be used in our skit at the Woods Valley camp.

44-Year Old Cheerleader
Did I mention our soccer team actually looked pretty good this weekend? I guess I jumped the gun when I said we sucked after our first game. Well, maybe we still do suck and we were just lucky. Our guys did look a lot better. They ran a lot harder and were more aggressive than the first game.

I made myself pom-poms for both teams, and believe me, I used them. Especially at Scooter's game, where the stakes are higher (regional playoffs, Commish Cup tournament). I set up my camp chair at every game right on the edge of the field, as close to centerfield as possible, but I never sit in it once the game starts, because I'm jumping, screaming, and running back and forth trying to get the best view of what's going on. (I also have my camera and try to take pictures in between the screaming rampages, and the refs and coaches always get in my way.) So anyway, after one screaming, jumping, pom-pom waving streak, I looked around and noticed that I was the only parent standing up. All the others were in the shade, sitting in their camp chairs like adults.

You only live once. And I am enjoying it to the FULLEST! Even if it embarrasses my children. Poor Fluffy and Scooter. I say that a lot, don't I?

Wacky Doodles
[This is gross] Fluffy gets these huge balls of wax in her ears. We've had the doc remove them a few times, but this time she said first we had to try to get it out ourselves using some over-the-counter stuff. So yesterday, Guido filled Fluffy's ears with this stuff and had her walking around the house holding cotton balls in her ears. Fluffy knows how to make a really sad face, and she kept using it as she asked if she still had to keep the cotton balls there. Scooter was roaming around the house with ice on his face (from yesterday's soccer elbow). They both looked funny.

After a while Guido tossed Fluffy into the bathtub so he could flush her ears out with water. Scooter and I followed them into the bathroom with a bag of cheetohs so we could watch the show. Scooter kept saying that the water was going in one ear and coming out of the other. Guido finally threw us out of the bathroom and locked the door.

Later on Scooter was taking a bath and started screaming his head off. He got a little ball of wax in his mouth.

Smile and Say Cheese
Last year right before school picture day, a kid grazed Scooter's face with his shoe when they were on the jungle gym. It left a nice reddish-purple streak on Scooter's face, which showed up nicely in the pictures.

Yesterday at soccer practice, Scooter got an elbow in his face. Poor bunny. One side of his nose swelled up a little on the outside and a lot on the inside, to the point where he couldn't breathe through that side. (I also looked up his nose and saw that it was almost completely blocked.) At least he can breathe today, but guess what? Today is picture day!

Goodbye Cheyenne Nation!
So after leading generations of families through a successful parent-child program, the YMCA is renaming Indian Guides to Adventure Guides, and basically eliminating anything Indian-related. Maybe I don't know enough to know that I am degrading a nation of people who were here before anyone else. IS it offensive to Native Americans? I'm trying to put myself in their shoes. Would I be offended if a group of haoles started a club and immersed themselves in the "Oriental" culture, if lunch at Yoshinoya Beef Bowl was considered an enriching, cultural experience? Well, since moving to the mainland, I've discovered that Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Okinawan, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Thai are all the same thing. Am I offended? Nah, because haoles are stupid. I WAS a little annoyed that our neighbors thought we were related to the former owners of our new house (they were Korean and we're Chinese / Japanese). From a teacher and a human resources specialist at that. Again, haoles are stupid. But we Indian Guides have had real Native Americans come and teach us dancing, terminology, how to respect nature. We hold campfire and chapel (another no-no, God and church aren't for everyone), and stress family, sharing, charity, good citizenship, respect and harmony. What's not good about that? And why don't want Native Americans want to be associated with that?

Okay, I do have a suede vest with beads and fringe. Maybe that's not proper, respectful Indian garb. Then there's that gawdy red, white and blue feather headdress, and the headband with pink and blue feathers. But I never wear them!

Well, no matter what they call the program, I'm glad I had a chance to be a Rainbow Maiden with my best friend Fluffy, and I'll be forever thankful to the YMCA, no matter what all the other Towers parents say about "those Y kids." And I love my YMCA friends, even though most of them are haoles (and not ALL of them are stupid).

At Long Last, Soccer Season!
Soccer season is finally here! The kids have been practicing since August, and they each had their first game of the season this past Saturday. Unfortunately, both teams lost. At Fluffy's level, it doesn't matter much because they all get trophies anyway, but Scooter's division goes on to regional and area playoffs. I'm afraid we'll never have another Rapids team.

Once again I got suckered into making the team banner. I used sparkly felt this year. I thought it looked pretty nice. It has kind of a "survivor" look to it, with the dark, jagged letters against the tan background. Then I saw photos of other teams' banners in the Kicker, and I guess we won't be winning any prizes this year. The worst part of making the banner - getting reimbursed by all the parents. I hate having to chase after people for money.

School's in Session
Hmm...I haven't been very good with the updates. I seem to slack off just when the most important things are happening, like the first day of school, soccer season, etc.

School started and it was kind of like no big deal. I guess for the poor kids being shuttled from one camp to another all summer long, school is just another stop along the way. Scooter has the same teacher, since he is continuing in the 4th/5th combo, and we really like her. Fluffy has a very nice 2nd grade teacher.

Boy, did we luck out! We found out that the teacher from hell, Mrs. DiVincenzo (or Bitchincenzo, as I like to call her) is back from her extended maternity leave. Maybe she'll be kinder to kids now that she has one of her own, but we really don't want to find out. She was by far the worst teacher we have ever known, insulting kids and their parents right in front of the class, refusing to let kids use to the bathroom to the point where one kid pee'd in his pants, sending kids to detention without even trying to find out what happened, and outright lying to parents.

Fluffy's class is in one of the portables way out in the boonies, at the far corner of the school yard. I hope it doesn't rain much this year, coz it's a long haul out in open to get to her classroom. Well, having a covered walkway doesn't guarantee you'll stay dry since the roofs all leak anyway. Hmm, I seem to recall last year some kids had to be rescued when it rained and the school flooded and the kids couldn't get out of the classrooms. What a great school. Gotta love that Torrance school district!

Scooter Makes Me Laugh
It's amazing how kids continually do and say things to make you so proud of them (sniff). Pau Pau (Chinese grandma) was shaving Gung Gung's (grandpa) face with an electric razor, and Scooter asked her, "Do you use that razor to shave your armpits?"

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?