Scooter's Going to Top Gun!!
more to come...

Three Funerals & No Wedding
Fluffy commented the other day, "Do you know that I've already been to three funerals and not one wedding? Why is that?"

Wow, that's really sad. I guess we're so old that no one's getting married and they're all starting to die off?

Granny Vest
Lisa bought me a Liz Claiborne vest a long time ago. I never wore it because I never had anything to match it. It's knitted, with rows in various light, country-kitchen pastel colors. I finally wore it a few weeks ago with a plain white shirt and jeans. I asked Fluffy afterward if she thought it looked nice, and she said, "Well, it's okay..." And I asked what she really thought, and she said it was kind of grandma-like.

Sorry, Auntie Lisa, but I think it's going back in the closet for another 20 years.

Go Scooter!
The jogathon was last week Friday. Fluffy asked Scooter if he heard her cheering for him when it was his grade's turn. That's so cute. They fight like crazy, but they still come out to support each other.

More Insurance
I had this really weird dream the other night. Scooter, Fluffy & I were in a hotel in New York, way up on one of the higher floors. We had a really nice suite; in fact, it looked like an apartment. Anyway, we were watching our big screen TV when all of a sudden there was a loud, long, thunderlike noise. Then there was a big flash of blue light that came in through the edges around the front door. We looked out the big picture-window glass walls and saw all these planes flying really low over the city. Kind of reminiscent of 9/11, but the planes looked like old Japanese war planes. In my dream, I thought, WWIII? I told my kids to put on their shoes,and grab a few things for me to throw in a backpack. I was telling them to make sure they tied their shoelaces tight so their shoes wouldn't fall off when we ran, and things like that. (they wear their shoes so loose that they always fly off their feet when they run)

I woke up suddenly and thought, I need to make an earthquake kit. After all these years in SoCal and we still don't have any back-ups for an emergency. We have a kit for each kid at school and at the Y, and it seems so redudant to store so much food and water that we'll toss out at the end of the year, and clothes that won't fit when we finally get them back. To store another bag full of food, water and clothes seems like such a waste. But the alternative... I guess it's just another form of insurance.

My Gifted Children
Had our parent teacher conferences for both kids. Scooter's was the same as usual. Above average, but not stellar. Kinda shy and a little lazy. Has potential. Gee, sounds like me when I was a kid. Probably what they say about most kids. Fluffy on the other hand has her teacher confused. She's lazy on certain projects; then she turns around and writes three pages when the teacher asks for one paragraph. Teacher thinks Fluffy might be bored. She said she's within the top two or three in the class, but she's not sure if she's gifted or just high-achieving. High-achieving? My kid? Ha ha ha ha ha! Anyway, now Guido is hot to have her tested (when has he NOT asked about having the kids tested?) for GATE, which really is a moot point since there's no money in the budget for a GATE program.

So I kind of gave Fluffy the gist of the conversation, and now she is on a roll to prove how smart she really is. So cute.

I also think Scooter is a lot smarter than he lets on. Sometimes I think he's afraid to shine I don't know why. Kind of a fear of success. That, and laziness. After all, look at his parents.

Or maybe he really isn't that smart. After all, he did set the microwave on fire.

Honor the Dead Possum
I was backing out of the driveway to take the kids to school and go to work. As I got to the bottom of the driveway and onto the street, I looked out my window and right there next to my door on the road was a huge dead possum. Naturally, I screamed, and the kids scrambled over each other to try and see it. Fluffy started rambling about how "we need to have a funeral to honor the dead possum, and all the possums will come and they'll get run over, and we'll have more funerals to honor those dead possums, and more possums will come and they'll get run over, and it's going to be really hard to drive with all these dead possums on the road." She is so weird.

Rancho Cucamonga Grape Stomp
Spent the weekend in Cucamonga at a soccer tournament (yes, it's as far is it sounds). It was raining HARD the first day. This is one of those that's bad no that's good things that Fluffy likes to do. Scooter had a fairly early morning game. It was raining really hard, but they didn't call it off. (that's bad) About halfway there, our car started to break down. We had to come back home and get our other car and Scooter missed the entire game. (that's good because he didn't have to play in the rain) We had a break, so we went looking for lunch and couldn't find the pizza place where everyone was meeting. That's bad. No, that's good, because we ended up with another family at their in-laws' house and had a much better time than we would have had at the pizza place. We watched Napoleon Dynamite, and now we all talk like him.

The afternoon game was a little drizzly and cold, but not nearly as bad as the morning game.

The next day was much nicer. Fluffy caught a ladybug and whenever she put it on the ground, Guido or I would accidentally step on it, and Fluffy would have to rescue it again. It was a pretty tough ladybug. We ended up having a funeral for it.

Arsenal played on the opposite field which was right next to a big, grassy hill. And you know what you have to do when there's a big, grassy hill - you HAVE to slide down the hill. Fluffy was having a blast rolling down the hill, so I finally joined her and we slid down on our rain jackets. I'm sure I looked like an idiot. I was the ONLY parent doing it. When the boys were done with their game, they all slid down the hill until they got yelled at by their parents. Then I felt really bad for being such a bad influence. But not that bad, because Fluffy and I had fun.

Arsenal took third place overall and got medals. Some of their games were brutal, and even when they lost and tied, those were the best games they ever played.

I LOVE WATCHING SCOOTER'S SOCCER!

Mom Dilemma
In my monthly Drumbeats article, I wrote, in part "...Busy as we are with Olympics, Ice Dogs hockey and our upcoming Mall Rat Scavenger Hunt, we added another monthly Rainbow get-together – Potlatch Parties! Although Nikki’s potlatch idea never really took off...it did launch an interest among the girls...Jax drew pictures, Lor made a birthday card for her teacher, Fluffy made paper crowns, while Jo attached patches to her vest, Vi knitted a poncho, and I cut out tiny paper doll clothes. It was a great way to wind down from the busy weekend, help our kids with their projects, enjoy grown-up company, and get a few tasks out of the way at the same time. Efficiency and satisfaction rates are high this month..."

Whenever moms say they are too busy to join us and people ask how we have time to do all these things, that's how. We just squeeze 'em in wherever we can.

Our stay-at-home counterparts think we're neglectful of our children and selfish for putting our careers first. Pfft! What career? It's a job, a means to an end, the "end" being food, clothing and shelter. Oh yeah, and saving for my kids' college education. On top of my "day job," I cook, clean the house, do the laundry; I've sewn Halloween costumes, baked cupcakes for the class on the kids' birthdays, cooked for their school potlucks; I've been soccer team mom, basketball team mom, room mom, banner maker, party planner; I've read to them since before they were born; I check their homework; I go to all their games and most practices; we ride bikes together, play tennis, picnic, do science experiments, play with Legos & Barbies, cook, sing, and talk about everything; I take them to school every morning and I kiss them goodnight, every night. I still wish I could spend more time with them!

It's true, I don't have time to volunteer at school on a daily basis. I haven't created elaborate scrapbooks for future reference. My house isn't very clean, and my cooking skills suck. When my kids are grown and off on their own, it won't be the memory of a clean house or a really good pot roast that makes us smile. I hope we'll have much more than that. And we won't have to look at a scrapbook to remind us of the good times we shared; the memories will be forever etched in our hearts and minds.

Drinking Air
I love the way Scooter and Fluffy describe things. We had this really GOOD Italian bottled water (can't remember what it was called, but it must have been expensive since we had it at that extremely overpriced restaurant in Las Vegas). Scooter loved it and was trying to describe it. "It's like drinking something that isn't even there. You can't even feel it going down. It's so smooth. It's like it's invisible!" I love that!

I Can See Your Underwear
Scooter keeps bugging me for boxers. Since I don't have guy parts, I don't really know this, but I figure they should have a little support, especially when you're a kid running and jumping all over the place and all. So we compromised that he could wear them to sleep, but he has to wear regular briefs during the day. He loves wearing them. Loves the freedom and the cool breeze, I guess.

We went to Target to buy more this weekend. He was so embarrassed to be seen with them. He tried to hide them in his jacket. When we got to the checkout, he was all embarrassed again, and the checker, who was young and cute, told him, "Oh, you don't have to be embarrassed," and Scooter was so embarrassed, he practically crawled into the bins we were buying. He's so cute. He runs around the house nekkid, but can't be seen carrying a package of boxers.

The Way It Should Be
It was a pretty laid back weekend. Although we did have a few things to do, it wasn't the usual mania.

Fluffy had a swimming refresher and Lindsay's bowling birthday party to go to on Saturday. Scooter and I ran errands and watched TV.

On Sunday, Fluffy had softball team picture-taking and a late-afternoon practice. (She also had a basketball game, but we skipped it this week in order to do our other activities.)

In between those softball obligations, we went to the Cheyenne Olympics at Victor, where our tribe ran the wheelbarrow race. It was a very small turnout this year. We had our traditional Rainbow potluck. That is one thing that we never skimp on - the food! I missed doing the obstacle course this year, but it was also nice to relax a little this time. The obstacle course is such a huge event. I guess the fact that no one did it this year tells me how crazy we were to volunteer to do it for the last two years. Anyway, this was our last year of Olympics, since we are moving up to Trailblazers next year. I had really hoped that Fluffy and I could do all the Olympic events together, finally, since we never got to do them in the past because of the hectic obstacle course. But Guido brought Fluffy back from picture-taking so late that she ran off with her friend Thea and I didn't see her all afternoon. Boo hoo!

When we got home, Scooter begged Guido to set up the Playstation (I don't know how to do it), and we did Dance Dance Revolution until I couldn't stand up anymore. Boy, that's fun!

Then we went to Target to buy huge plastic bins so I could continue tidying up the house. It's an ongoing project. On top of that, one night I tickled Scooter, and he fell on me, and we both fell into one of the bins and broke it, so I needed a replacement.

I cooked dinner, for a change. I finally discovered how to make the broccoli taste good. Instead of cooking the chicken and pasta and throwing the broccoli in afterwards, I browned the garlic in sizzling oil, tossed the broccoli in, and then tossed in the chicken and pasta. The broccoli tasted like garlic. Yum!

Before the kids went to bed, the four of us played marathon Uno.

What a nice weekend.

Blabbermouths
My kids are always telling anyone who will listen, "My mom is 44." I really don't mind, because there are a lot of older parents these days, and at least I don't look 44. But I really hate it when they say, "My mom weighs 180 pounds." (which is NOT TRUE)

Paper Rainbow
Looking back now, I have had this obsession with paper for a long time. I just didn't know it. I also have a lot more paper now, along with all the accoutrements, like pens, stickers, punches, scissors, tape, glue, how-to books, and more bins to hold all the stuff.

I never thought about it until now, but I realized that I've always enjoyed doing stuff with paper. When I was a kid, I loved making paper doll clothes. Never mind the dolls. I just wanted to design clothes. So I thought I must like clothes.

I also always loved writing. Not just writing in the sense of creating stories. I actually like the act of handwriting. When I was in elementary and middle school, my friends and I would practice and compare our handwriting. (I took a lot of grief when I mentioned that at work recently.)

A few years ago, out of boredom, I started making little notecards and paper fan pins, and eventually I sold them in stores like Papyrus and Card de A. It was nice to sit in front of the TV in the evenings and make pretty things.

Then I met Guido and who had time to make stupid cards and pins?

Then this whole scrapbooking thing started. Part of me wanted to get creative again. But I never had the time or space or money to take on something as intimidating as a scrapbook, so Scooter's and Fluffy's pictures have accumulated in boxes since 1994.

In the meantime, I'd make little birthday cards and birthday party invitations, and everyone loved them.

Yes, this is a long story, but there really is an ending. Which might really be a beginning.

Well, now this scrapbooking craze has taken on a new shape and it is called paper crafting. All of a sudden the thing that I love to do has a name!

Last week I started cutting out these little shapes and stuck them on notecards, and my co-workers loved them, and they even asked if they can buy them! I'm not sure if I want to sell them to co-workers, but I have amassed a pile of cards and I'm not sure what to do with them, besides give them away.

I pounded the pavement years ago selling my notecards and pins, and while it earned me a little extra cash, it was definitely not worth the investment. However, with the internet, I wonder if there's an easy way to get these cards out there. But I don't want to deal with legalities and taxes and copyrights and licenses. I just want to make cards.

I know hardly anyone reads this site. But if anyone wants a free card, please write to me in a comment with your address and I will mail you one.

And this is the end. Or the beginning.

The Paper Rainbow.

The Local Dump
I don't think I grew up poor or deprived of anything, but I've always seemed to hoard things, from the time I was a kid, whether it was socks or stickers or money. My stash kind of thinned out as I moved from home to college and on to several apartments in different cities. I travelled fairly light. I didn't (and still don't) own any real furniture or appliances.

When we moved from Gardena to Torrance seven years ago, we went from 1200 to 1800 square feet, and I just didn't have enough stuff to fill the new space. But now, oh my god, there isn't enough room to move. I've invested a small fortune in bins, which are filled with all kinds of crap, all in anticipation of ... what? I dunno. I have loads of pens and paper, toys, clothes, boxes, spare bins, shoes, purses, bags. However, I haven't saved anything of REAL value, like money, or even food and water in case of an emergency. Am I crazy or what? Anyway, this paper hoarding in particular leads to something else. Read the next entry.

Come Out with Your Hands Up
George the Plumber came by one day to replace our ailing water heater. I had to swing by home to let him in the house (I was at work). I pulled up on our street and there was a police car, halfway on the street and halfway in our driveway. I parked across the street and went running up to our driveway. Apparently, this police car had been cruising our neighborhood, and when the cop saw this plain, white van backed up to our garage door, he thought it was a burglar, and he greeted George the Plumber with his gun drawn!

It's nice to see our Torrance police keeping an eye on things.

The Year in Review
I wrote a little newsletter, printed about 80 copies, and never sent it out. So no one got to read this, except you, my three faithful readers:

Greetings from So Cal!

I think the house is still where I left it this morning, and my car hasn't floated out of the parking lot yet, so I'll assume life is still good.

Guido is building rockets and bombs at PatriotMissles.com (oops, was that a secret?) and Wild Flower is still conjuring up lies and half-truths for Pen Maker. Really, in this industry, Pen Maker's claims are the most straightforward and honest because management is so paranoid about lawsuits. So buy Pen Maker instead of Sanford (Sharpie - blech!) or Pilot (Dr. Grip - boo!) and maybe I'll get raise this year!

Scooter is a fifth grader and enjoying an extended soccer season on two teams this year. He also plays basketball. And he's pretty smart, too. He's one of those guys who doesn't put in a lot of effort and makes good but not stellar grades. He'd be awesome if he had some follow-through, but considering the gene pool, we're not expecting much.

Fluffy is in the second grade and discovering that reading is a good thing, now that we've finally wised up and stopped force-feeding her all the books that Scooter read and let her choose her own girlie books instead (e.g., Lizzie McGuire - gag!).

Fluffy & Wild Flower are still doing fun stuff together in Rainbow Maidens (Indian Guides), like tie-dying T-shirts, ice skating, Christmas caroling, and camping. Whoda thought we'd actually enjoy sleeping on the ground under a thin sheet of nylon?

During spring break, Wild Flower, Scooter & Fluffy took a road trip to Gold Country. The kids were tortured with visits to museums and old mining towns, then rewarded with a tour of the Jelly Belly factory and all the spaghetti-flavored jelly beans they wanted.

Fluffy had started referring to her Hawaii grandma as "that lady in Hawaii," so we made a long-overdue trip home this summer. Scooter caught a fish and both kids learned how to make fire at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We got lost in a gigantic pineapple-shaped maze. We ate Zippy's chili and zip-paks.

After spending almost a year in a nursing home, Guido's dad finally went to that big mah jong table in the sky. It turned our holiday season a little sideways, but the Bunny Clan recovered enough to meet in Las Vegas for a post-Christmas, pre-New Year diversion. We made a detour to Hoover Dam on the drive home, just to make sure it's holding up in anticipation of the big rains.

Hope you're all happy, healthy, and enjoying life to the fullest. And if you see flames leaping out of your microwave oven, your kid might be conducting a science experiment!

Need Bigger Allowance
I was paying for my stuff at Target and Scooter ran off. I found him typing on a computer keyboard. I asked him what he said doing, and he said with a laugh, "Applying for a job." He's ten. I wish he could stay little and cute forever!

Talent Stalkers
Just today at lunch, Vickey and I were talking about how we have been approached by talent scouts quite a few times now (for our kids, not ourselves, of course) - at the mall, at Target, at McDonald's. Well, tonight someone called our house and asked specifically about Scooter. How in the world did someone get Scooter's name and our home phone number? I'm kind of annoyed that someone would actually track him down like that. Did someone get a copy of our school yearbook or the soccer directory? I don't think I like this.

And what's the deal with all the talent scouts in Torrance these days? I have to admit, when I was looking for a job, I answered an ad to be a talent scout, as I felt I had a lot of access to kids since I had one in public school and one in preschool, and we spent all our weekends at youth sporting events or Chuck E. Cheese birthday parties. So I can understand why we run into scouts at the same kinds of places I would have scouted. But I am still incredulous at the appeal of Torrance. (Did I mention that the Spy Kid and his brother live in our general neighborhood and went to the same school as my kids? We've run into them at the mall, 7-eleven, Target. They're in middle school now.)

Turkey Tournament
Scooter played in his first select soccer tournament and it was fantastic! We missed the first day, as we were driving back from San Francisco. The team lost that day. But we won both games on Saturday and advanced to the semifinals on Sunday. We lost that game, but all the guys got medals for placing fourth overall. Not bad. The coach said that's the furthest a select team of his has ever gone.

I convinced Penmaker to help sponsor our team, and they paid for duffel bags for the entire team! I had to write a proposal to justify the expense. In theory, this bit of advertising has the potential to reach thousands of people over the next six months. Not bad for a few hundred dollars. And it promotes goodwill for the company.

Our coach is funny. At each game, he had all the boys line up their duffel bags along the sideline with the Penmaker logo facing the other team (the logo is on both ends).

The boys also got really nice logoed jackets (parents paid for). They look like a real team, and a fairly affluent one at that, with the matching jackets and sports bags.