Woods Valley 2004
We had our last Rainbow Woods Valley camp this weekend. Even though I took a day of vacation, I got a late start and didn't get to the campgrounds until it was dark. They put our tribe way out in the farthest corner of the park. Really nice, putting moms and daughters way out there with the bears and coyotes, and worse, far away from the bathrooms. I was ready to leave the park and find a motel when the Hardgroves found us. We had dinner with them at Papa Bear's, and then we shared their tent since it was too dark to put up mine. The next day we set up my tent before everyone else arrived.

It was a pretty laid-back day. We set out food and snacked all day long. We held the nation craft activity (foam hats) in the morning, and in the afternoon we went to the Thunderbird area to make ice cream! Fluffy said it didn't taste that great. But it was still fun making it. In the late afternoon, we played bingo.

Our campfire turned out to be really nice. They didn't allow fires this year, so everyone lined up their Coleman lanterns and made a nice little stage. Our skit was a series of knock-knock jokes.

I have to say thank you again to the Hardgroves for prompting me to put everything away before we went to bed. I always like to live out of my car anyway, because I don't like my things getting dirty, and I don't like a lot of junk in my tent. But I'm also lazy about putting things away, and I like to leave out things I know we're going to use again. However, that night we put away just about everything. The only things I left out were one chair (to sit on to put on my shoes), my cooler, and the Coleman lantern (it was too hot to put away). The only things in the tent were the air mattress, two sleeping bags and one tote bag (and the inflatable potty).

Somewhere in the middle of the night, it started to rain, and it never stopped. I am so glad we had the potty, because there was no way I was taking Fluffy out in the rain to use the bathroom.

It rained and rained and rained. I didn't sleep at all, because I was so worried about the tent leaking. That's a pretty good tent! Even though my stakes came loose in the mud, and the tent kind of caved it around us when the wind blew, it never leaked.

I kept looking out my window to see if anyone was up. I heard roosters crowing. Finally, I heard someone from our tribe starting to load up their car, and that was my cue to get up. I carried Fluffy to the car, packed up the air mattress and sleeping bags, and asked the Hardgroves if they had any room for my other stuff. I rolled up the tarp and tent onto one huge bundle and they threw it in their truck with my cooler and soggy chair. That mud was so gross. Thank goodness I had extra towels and throwaway tablecloths to line the car.

I slid the car down the mud road, and went to eat breakfast with the Hardgroves. Instead of going to the pumpkin patch like we had planned, we went shopping at the Carlsbad outlets.

When we got home, we hosed down everything on the sidewalk. What a camping trip!

Good Mourning
It took a month, but the valet parking is finally up and running at our school. Is it just me, or is it always that disorganized at the beginning of the school year? I don't remember it being so chaotic in prior years.

Anyway, directing the valet parking is a perk reserved just for fifth graders. And there were Scooter's friends, lined up on the sidewalk, waiting to open doors to let kids out. Teddy was looking especially serious about the whole thing. I can't believe those are the same little kids who started kindergarden with Scooter just a few years ago. When Scooter was getting out of the car, I threw my arms around him and wailed, "Oh, my little baby, you're growing up too fast!" (that's to make up for him laughing at me last night when I burned my fingers on a towel I heated up in the microwave for him)

Wahhh!! What am I going to do when he and Fluffy leave our house for good? I'm going to be so sad and lonely. I'll have to take in little street urchins and torture them with my hugs and kisses.

Death Pals
I commented one day that a friend said that we are soul mates. Scooter asked, "Are you sure you're soul mates? Or death pals?" What the heck does that mean?

Too Much Information
I am so glad I live only five minutes away from work. Today I had to go home and change my pants. Whew, to think I almost wore the beige ones today. Anyway, I told my officemate, a 37-year old GUY, that I had to go home for a little while, and he said, "What's the matter? Weren't you wearing a mommy diaper?" I guess he HAS been listening when I ramble on about this and that after all. Oops!

Belly Flop
In my never-ending quest to embarrass myself and whatever family members happen to be around... Scooter and I were kicking a soccer ball back and forth as we headed to the soccer field for Fluffy's game. I now know that I should not wear floppy rubber slippers and run after a soccer ball on a grassy field with a big beach bag slung across my back. I tripped, my bag went flying over my head, and my entire body hit the ground all at once. I had grass stains, not only on the knees of my jeans, but on my pockets and all over the front. Fell down right in front of a referee and all the parents. Someone should have videotaped it. I'm sure it could have been worth some money.

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).