When I grow up...

In no particular order, here are the things I want to do - at this time - when I grow up:

• Design and sell expandable/retractable, multi-purpose furniture for small spaces.

Lord knows, I've lived in several small spaces over the last 9 years. And, each time I move into one, I search and shop for furniture pieces that'll work in the space I have, yet will accommodate the functionality(ies) I want. Case in point, I'd like to have six to eight people over for a sit-down dinner. But, I've tended to live in spaces that haven't had dining rooms.

Yes, this has posed a problem.

But, I've usually had other space I could use (by moving furniture around, or into another room) to accommodate a larger table for a dinner, just for a day or an evening, say. And, I've wished I could find a table that would do for my everyday needs, yet would expand sufficiently for a larger group. I know I'm not even addressing the need/space considerations of additional seating here, and I know there are folding tables one can buy from office supply stores (though, I haven't had storage space to keep one around), but let's just stick with the table idea for the moment. Why can't someone design and sell a table that can seat two, yet unfolds/expands to accommodate six or eight people? It could have a pedestal base that would expand, and leaves that unfold or unstack to assemble into a larger dining surface...

For that matter, Ken and I both have had ideas for modular furniture: cushioned cubes/ottomans with storage that could be interlocked together to make a daybed for a guest, for instance. Add in my infatuation with power tools and woodworking, and there could be a heady potential here!

• Become a Personal Organizer.

I hanged out today with my friend Jeanne, who told me there is an organization called the National Association of Organizers. One can actually become certified to go in and organize other people's stuff. Cool.

• Be a professional artist/photographer.

I keep hunting for art/artists that "speak to me." Both in canvas and in photography. It's not been a systematic, exhaustive search, but it's been over many years. I like this painter's work very much, which makes me happy. And, I like reading her blog. But, the last time I remember seeing a painting in a gallery that made me go, "whoa, I wish I could take that home" was in Paris almost 7 years ago. Of course, it cost something like $9,500, too. Yikes. But, I still think about it. I still roll my eyes all over it, savoring its details from memory.

I do the same thing with a painting I saw in a gallery in Sedona, AZ. even longer ago. It was $6,000. And, it was acrylic instead of oil, which I usually don't cotton to; but, it spoke to me. I didn't think I'd get tired of looking at it, finding new things in it. To boot, it depicted ocean waves crashing on a cliff outcropping -- and, I don't vibe to ocean scenes usually at all. But, this one depicted a spot on the Normandy coast of France, and I've visited there - that spot. It was a magical experience; I liked being reminded of it.

So, I think, maybe I need to make my own art...?

• Be a published author. Go on a book tour.

I like travel. I love bookstores. I admire writers. What's not to like?

• Do all of the above, and still bake cookies, pies and cakes with Audrey. Revel in Play-doh when the time comes. Do somersaults and eventually, cartwheels together. Visit our friends and family in CA, NV, AZ, TX, CO, MD, and IL at least once every year!

Whew, I'm worn out! Ha ha.

I can't believe it's pushing midnight. Gotta sign off, go to bed. XO

I was born 35, okay 37, okay really 39+ years ago today

Today was my biirrthhday! My birrthdaayyy! My biiirrrtthhday!

I had chocolate cake. And pizza. And Chinese food for dinner. And, some cafe mocha, with a little bit of whipped cream. Just a little, you know, because that stuff's fattening. Ha!

Ari and Terri and kids came over today to take me for a pizza lunch. They were the makers and bringers of the tasty "Deepak Chopra" chocolate cake, made with bananas and applesauce and cocoa and whatnot. Who knew ol' Deepak had a cookbook? Their daughter, Marie, made sure it was covered in fresh whipping cream with sprinkles. Quite delectable.

Ken presented me with an Aspiring Writer's Journal from the Creative Kidstuff toy store, and two Wallace & Gromit movies on DVD. Awesome.

Oh! And, a beautiful cyclamen plant from my in-laws (with balloon!), and a superb acapella rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" on my voice-mail and then on the phone from my mom.

Good times.

It's a white Christmas here

A snowy Christmas day walk along the mighty Mississip...

Abundant gratitude

Been so distracted for the last million weeks, and when I do check in here, I've tended to list my struggles. So, with this post, I'd like to wax poetic about all the great things in my life:

My family kicks ass. The whole kaboodle -- on my side, and on Ken's side.

My husband kicks ass. I love watching him with Audrey; it makes me all warm and gooey inside to see her eyes light up when he picks her up.

I'm besotted with my kid. And, with being a mom. This is a beautiful surprise to me, for which I am tremendously grateful.

Our good friends, Ari and Terri, and their two children have moved to St. Paul. Ari just arrived this past Friday. It's SO good to see them, play with their kids, hang out at Terri's mom's house (Darlene, who's lovely... In addition to the blessing of their friendship(s), Ari has been an artistic soulmate of mine. It's just so damn fun to see him in person again!

I've made some new friends here in St. Paul, including Dana, who has a fab sense of humor and often reminds me of my Dallas-based friend, Vicki, through whom I met her. They both have hearty laughs. I love women who laugh heartily. Guffaws are cool, too. Plus, Dana likes talking about restaurants and food like I do; and, she's hard-pressed to resist dessert, chocolate, and/or coffee. Woman of my heart, no? Other great new friends include another fellow foodie, Jeanne, Lisa, Sarah and Elizabeth (former neighbors at our temp apartment), and fellow writer/class attendee Carey.

Life is good.

I love getting holiday cards and emails from friends, especially the ones with photos and/or recap-the-year letters. They're narratives, little stories to savor. Fun, fun.

Ken's starting a month-long temp job on my birthday, next Thursday. He's psyched, and I'm psyched for him. He'll get into a rhythm, meet new people, and be in a position to help students, which I think he'll like. He really likes helping people, and he's good at it.

I'm grateful for our good fortunes and good health. Our new house has lots of light and a good vibe. Our upstairs neighbor is quiet. Thank you, Universe.

We're in a great place this Christmas, and I'm looking forward to the new year.

I wish you all joy, abundant joy. And, love. Always love.

Audrey's latest accomplishment

We can't deny it any longer: at 8 months, Audrey has learned to crawl.

Lord help us.

Not quite Bah, humbug!

Hello, hello.

Feeling pretty out of it, generally. I don't really mind the cold; although, I do want to stay in bed longer and more often, just because it feels SO GOOD to feel so toasty under the covers.

Still don't have my Mac hooked up. Hope Ken works on computer-moving tasks tomorrow. Hint, hint.

Christmas is only ten days away, and I'm feeling some stress about it. Feels like there's a looming deadline ahead of us, but we're still not settled enough to face it well. Ken wanted a Christmas tree, but I just don't see how we can pull that off in the next ten days. We still have boxes in the living room -- where would we put a tree? Plus, it would mean MORE STUFF to acquire. Tree stand. Ornaments. Lights. Blah blah blah. I'm not up for it. It just seems like more boxes to sort and unpack and repack and find a home for down in our "Silence of the Lambs" cluttered basement.

I bought us a shower curtain at a thrift store Friday night. It's still hanging by only three rings on the shower rod in the bathroom. Isn't that pathetic? On the flipside, Ken hung some more shelves yesterday, so I was able to put up some framed photos. Which made me realize that I don't have any physical photos of The Shmoo. Which made me feel a little poopy! I've got a photo album I bought a couple months ago to put in all Shmoo photos, but I haven't been settled enough to get the photos developed. In fact, I think I may be missing her final, official birth certificate...? Gotta find that box... And, then there's the refund monies from the hospital and doctors that I still need to check up on, AGAIN. Gotta make those phone calls.

Plus, Ken keeps giving me crap about changing my cell phone number to something local. And, I haven't changed license plates or my license, yet.

All these things have been necessarily back-burnered during this move. I have an amended tax return and accountant's bill to figure out and mail off. We still haven't gotten anywhere, yet, with drawing up a will, or figuring out life insurance either...

Agh! I'm feeling stressed! I'm really tired of feeling displaced. I'm not wanting to feel zen about stuff right now. I just want all our shit to be in all its places! Jesus Pete.

And, my hair looks funny. I need a haircut. And, I feel fat.

And, the radio station keeps playing Howard Jones every day. I like Howard Jones fine, but really, "whoa, whoa, whoooa, whoa, whoa, whooaooh" is not something I need to hear every day. They don't even play one of his other, like, two pop hits; just that one.

That's what I'm going to do on this blog. I'm going to note the pernicious playing of Top Hit 80s tunes that plague the airwaves here.

On a final, whimsier note. Watched "Scrooge" last night, the 1951 and best filmed version, in my opinion, with Alistair Sim as Scrooge. I just love how giddy Scrooge acts Christmas morning when he realizes he's still alive. And, Sim is just fabulous. Love him, love him.

new pics

Added some pics to the last post and here are some more:

Current state of the front yard.












Exploring food.

Still discombobulated, but getting there...

We're drowning in moving boxes.
Every time I unpack a box, either a new one magically appears (okay, not magically, b/c for instance, we've just purchased a coffee table for the living room and a dinette table and two chairs for our kitchen, which were delivered today), or my feat is unremarkable against the drifts of boxes still stacked up in corners, under tables, behind the sofa, etc.

What's that saying about the last 20% of any job takes more than 80% of the total effort...? But, I can look to my right and see the glorious shelving that Ken put up today - yay! Our tv is sitting on it, and we were then able to move the lateral file to its more permanent spot on a far wall. Sigh. Progress.

Appropos of nothing -- I'm amazed, bemused, and sometimes appalled by the fact that the main pop radio stations here STILL PLAY SONGS FROM WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. Seriously, I've heard more Loverboy and Pat Benatar here in the last couple months than I have in the past 15 years since I left the Midwest. And, it's not just the chart topping singles from them either; I'm hearing stuff on the radio from Def Leppard, The Romantics, and John Mellencamp that I haven't heard on the radio since 1984. And, I'm not feeling that this is a good thing.

Thank God, I've found the local NPR/College radio station. A little Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, a little 60s and 70s soul music, and music selections from this century blast out the auditory crud that threatens to clog my brain day after day while driving around on errands.

And, iced or hot mocha from Dunn Brothers Coffee helps a lot, too.

My mom came to visit last week. Had a lovely, lovely time. She and I had big fun at a local, famous-in-foodie-circles spice store called Penzey's Spices. When Ken and I left LA, we gave away all our condiments, oils, vinegars, spices, etc. to our neighbors. We weren't going to move those two pounds of salt AGAIN. So, I stocked up on the basics at this store: basil, minced shallots, thyme, garlic, paprika, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon (Vietnamese -- have you ever smelled different cinnamons next to each other? Vietnamese smells different than Mexican, which smells different than Chinese. It was like wine tasting, only with spice), pumpkin spice (ever had tofu pumpkin pie? It's VERY tasty.), fines herbes, etc., etc.

That's the report at the moment. Lorie, out.

We're back online at the new house

yup. Comcast finished about an hour ago. We're going to continue to use Skype as our home number for cost savings. We bought a Skype - enabled handset, so we can send and receive calls without having to keep our computer on. Call us sometime: sixfiveonethreeonefoursevenzeronineseven

Snow's Here!

Things have been a little chaotic lately with trying to move our stuff across town (still not done), settle into our new home, locate and buy furniture/appliance things we need (like a little microwave), and deal with two snow storms. Call me "The Shoveler." Oh, and Lorie's mom Sue just flew in yesterday during the second storm. She'll be visiting for a few days.

'Fraid we haven't been very good at taking snow pictures (we now have at least a foot on the ground), but here are two shots out our front window (left is Fri. 11/30, right is Sat.12/1 at the beginning of the first storm right after the containers were removed.):












Our upstairs neighbor feeds and waters the wild animals daily, so there's always a show in our front yard day or night. Daytime: gigantic grey squirrels, ducks, pigeons, little brown birds, crows, bluejays, rabbits. Nighttime: fast little skittish flying squirrels, mice, and probably rabbits again.

Friday 11/30, the day before the snow started, we got the last of our heaviest items out of those red shipping containers with the help of Jason, a nice 20-something who lives next door. Gladly paid him $40 for the short work as we were out of options trying to get friends to help, and ready or not, the shipping company was scheduled to retrieve the containers the next day (12/1) as early as 8am.

First Real Snow Due Tomorrow!

As Lorie and I make the final few trips shuttling our stuff from apartment to duplex, we're getting frequent reports on the radio that our first real snow will start tomorrow, Saturday! I'm so excited to see real snow after so many years. It's expected to begin around noon and continue into the evening dumping six to nine inches. Not much by local standards I'm sure, but it's only the beginning of the season. It's been below freezing for a few days now so nothing will melt for a while.

This year could be my first white Christmas since I was maybe seven! We have to get a real tree for our new living room - right in front of the big front window. People around here REALLY decorate their lawns - especially the mansions along Summit and Grand. Anyway, the next pictures we post could be of me making a snow angel, or more likely, shoveling snow off the walk at our new home.

Oh boy!

Moving Day 1

Our containers arrived this morning. In the freezing cold. Yep, it was WAY cold today. :)

Ken and I managed to unload one of the containers ourselves. We've got half a couch in the house now! Yay!

I talked with our current neighbor this evening, Sarah. She's in grad school. I asked her to think of any strapping guys she might know who'd be game to help Ken out (for money) with the other container tomorrow or Thursday... There are a couple heavy items in that one that, I think, are beyond just him and me.

Audrey had her first nap at the new house today. She's such a great baby. Not that she didn't have a couple freak-out moments, given the unfamiliar surroundings. But, she settled in for her nap with her soft cow blanket, her bunny, and her binky and noise machine chirping summertime crickets.

News Flash! Audrey likes macaroni and cheese. And, chicken. And, beef. And, she even gamely tried some roasted red pepper this evening. She's quite our Food Adventurer.

Below are some photos of the new place:









Almost time for bed for me. I'm pooped.

Thanksgiving trip photos

Will upload these quick, before Audrey awakens from her nap.

First up, my niece, Alyssa, was a super helper with the baby the whole time.

Audrey really enjoyed her cousins. This was the first time they had all met.





This is their dog, Rocky. I love this dog.
















Here's Rocky, trying to hide behind Audrey.

Then Audrey says, "You can't see me!"




















Uncle Shane says Rocky is "like a horse."

Back to Basics

Did a face plant onto the sidewalk in downtown St. Paul today. The pads of my hands hurt from breaking my fall. I guess the curb was higher than normal...? The nice thing was, about three people were at my side within seconds and helped me up. One or two of them even offered stories about their own tripping experiences to alleviate my chagrin and embarrassment. That was my experience of "Minnesota Nice" today.

Take Us To Your Leader

Going through old photos.



Our cats are from space.


Don't tell anyone.

Audrey's first tooth

Don't wait for the video on this one, but, yes, she has her first tooth. I noticed it last night. It's on the bottom gum, in the middle. And, yes, she can sure chomp down with it! :)

Honey Bunny Birthday

Today is Ken's birthday! He's 35 for the fourteenth, or twenty-first, or third time -- I forget. It's been a while that he's been 35. About as long as I have been 35, too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHMOOPIE!

The Joys of Writing Class

Had a really upsetting experience at my writing class tonight. In short, one particular classmate (who's known to be ornery and outspoken and contrary, so no big surprise, right?) really took issue with the weaknesses in my draft essay and held nothing back in describing them all to me. He used the term, "tautological." Me, the walking dictionary, I'm not even sure if I spelled that right. He accused my essay of going around in circles. That it took no risks. That it didn't offer anything personal for him to invest in.

His subtext was quite clear. YOU WASTED MY TIME WRITING, IF YOU CAN CALL IT THAT, THIS INCONSEQUENTIAL, MUDDLING PIECE OF CRAP. And, then he spit on my shoes (that aside is for you Steve Martin comedy album fans).

Another classmate was also earnestly impolitic in his assessment and assertions of my draft's weaknesses. Do any of you remember that scene in the movie, Amadeus, where the Emperor critiqued Mozart's opera as having "too many notes?" Well, I remember this classmate asserting that I used too many words, or something to that effect.

I didn't say anything, I just nodded. I mean, he's perfectly entitled to dislike my writing style. It's just that the way he put it out there, there was nowhere for me to go in responding to him. What do you say to someone who's essentially saying, "Why didn't you write it differently?"

I'm not saying they're not accurate. It's a draft. I'm trying something new. I'm struggling with it. And, it's probably stupid that I'm struggling with it. If I'm having such a hard time crafting this piece of writing, maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree: either in terms of subject or style, or both. Here's the classic one -- maybe I'm getting in my own way. I'm trying too hard. Agh, hell.

I can be flip about describing all this right now, because I've gotten past the tears-are-welling-up-I'm-going-to-run-from-the-room moments at class, followed quickly by the I-think-I-might-throw-up spell which lasted all the way home until about 15 minutes ago. There was also a brief and intense period of time this evening that I contemplated burning my draft essay. And, maybe burning anything else I had handy. All those binders of all old notes and journal entries. Throw them on the pile! That file of old letters and writing exercises that I've moved from DC to Austin to LA to St. Paul, gone. Purge the world of my weak, stupid attempts to create something in writing that might be entertaining, inspiring, provocative, informative, whatever.

Where are any fucking matches?

******

I'm not gonna do that.

I know their comments weren't meant to come across as personal assignations. But, they did. Our class is new at this work-shopping thing. There are rules that people are supposed to adhere to, so that participants feel safe bringing their works-in-progress out into the light. The first ten minutes of my session tonight just veered off the rails before the instructor could aright anything. By that time, I was definitely not feeling safe. I was feeling stupefied.

I'll get over it. It just brought up a lot of my insecurities.

Damn.

Be our NetFlix friend!

I'm not exactly sure what we can do once we're Netflix friends, but we can be if you click here. I think at least we can see what each other's movie selections are and how we each rated the movies we've seen. Other than that? Let's find out.

Home Movies - Capturing Spontaneity, Not

So, Audrey makes these adorable coos, gurgles, trilling noises, etc. She'll be on a long roll of Audrey-isms when we realize, 'wait! break out the camera!' But by then it's too late...









We like to call this one, "I grow weary of you:"


Damn, she's cute. :)

Home movies

Okay, I'm getting better versed in iPhoto. Let's try inserting some clips here.

First off, we have Audrey-in-the-park action:




Next up, we have a clip from our visit to the Como Conservatory:



This was a cool little afternoon excursion. I want to remember it as an option when the weather gets really cold. There are three different greenhouses/ecosystems to walk around in, and I noticed gobs and gobs (that's the official horticultural terminology) of orchids everywhere. I've never been a big orchid freak, but seeing so many there triggered a new appreciation of them in me. They really are fascinating flowers and in such intense, fun, wowie-zowie colors.

Gonna post more clips in another entry. This downloading stuff takes more time than I expected.

Ketchin' up with Ken

I've pretty much recovered from that third slap in the face from Microsoft. For now I've decided to postpone getting the MCSE and just concentrate on getting work. I've LEARNED enough, just can't PASS the friggin exam!

On Friday I had a very nice interview with Teksystems, a "staff augmentation" company. Not a temp company. John, the guy who interviewed me, was very clear about that. As far as I could tell, the only difference is Teksystems usually gets their people longer assignments, not just a few days. So, I could be on my first assignment as early as this week. I want to "augment" for a while, working at different places around the metro area to get more familiar with the employment scene here. John said it's a good market for IT people right now, so that was good news. Until he said that, I had no idea what the market was like.

On another note, last Wednesday I volunteered at a local Boys and Girls Club playing boardgames with caffeine and sugar-fueled ten year olds until about 8pm. I thought it would be a fun activity to take my mind off the exam I had just failed earlier that day. I heard about the opportunity from a boardgame group I joined online. One of their regular activities is to volunteer at the B&G Club every Wednesday night, and since I'm no longer studying I could finally attend. It was fun! I played Connect Four all evening.

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy

I've been obsessing over real estate listings. I started innocently enough with little jaunts to the real estate listings on Craigslist. But, now I've gone whole hog to The MLS Online. I can search listings through Google Maps on it, for God's sake. After Audrey goes to bed, I've found myself spending HOURS clicking on different sections of the Twin Cities to troll through maybe 50 listings a sitting.

I'm sick, I know.

On the other hand, it's saving us on gas money, right? I've looked at listings in West St. Paul, Highland Park, Mac-Groveland, Maplewood, Roseville, Richfield, Bloomington, Eagan and Inver Heights and Mendota Heights. That's a lot of miles I haven't put on one of our cars.

I do this obsessing thing. When we lived in our small 830-square-foot-built-in-1937-house in Austin, I'd spend HOURS playing with my DIY architectural drawing software. I knocked down walls, put up new ones, added floors, changed roof lines... I eventually started using the software's little furniture and appliance icons to populate my floor plans, then I could hit the 3-D icon and "wander around" my rehabbed cottage in virtual reality. I did this a lot. I'd go into 3-D to "feel out" the space as I'd designed it, and then I'd pop back out to 2-D to MOVE A PRETEND SOFA, and then I'd pop back into my virtual living room to see how it felt/looked.

I'm sick, sick! I know.

I've ignored my essay-writing. I've ignored the blog! I've probably exacerbated my back spasms by sitting so long (albeit with a heating pad) in one place. My eyeballs are also probably fixin' to pop out of my head... And, Ken's only seen the side or back of my head for multiple evenings now.

I can't help it, I want a nest. And, after looking at probably a hundred listings over the last ten days, here's what I want:

A master bedroom that will accommodate a 4-poster king sized bed (Ken wants king size) and one or two dressers.

A bright, happy bedroom for Audrey.

A guest bedroom on the main floor.

A sunny room/space for my office (for all the writing I'll accomplish once I'm not obsessed with real estate listings).

A family room/games/media/family computing (future homework) space.

A room ("cave") for Ken.

Dining area or eat-in kitchen that will accommodate a long, rectangular knotty-wooded table.

A kitchen with roomy counter space.

Big, sunny yard (garden, garden, garden!).

2 car garage.

So, that's what I've told my Guides. I figure I don't need to figure out the "how," just the "what." Now it's up to them and the rest of my homies in the Universe to put this dwelling in our lives. I can stop trolling listings.

Except, I haven't looked at listings in Minnetonka, yet... :)

BURN IN HELL BILL GATES

I FAILED THIS EXAM FOR THE THIRD AND LAST TIME IN FACT I DID MUCH WORSE THAN THE FIRST TWO TIMES I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FREAKIN PROBLEM IS ARE THE EXAMS GETTING HARDER WITH EACH RETAKE I DON'T KNOW BUT THAT'S IT I'M DONE SMASHING MY HEAD AGAINST THIS WALL NO MCSE FOR ME FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE I'M SO FRUSTRATED AND DISAPPOINTED SURE I CAN SEE SOME POSITIVE LININGS IN THIS CLOUD BUT RIGHT NOW TODAY I WAANT TO WALLOW IN ANGER AND DISAPPOINTMENT BURN IN HELL BILL GATES THAT'S IT I'M SWITCHING TO APPLE

First Snow!

Today was blustery, chilly, overcast, and at about 2pm we got light snow flurries for a half hour! I even caught a snowflake on my tongue. Wasn't trying to. I just had my usual stuffy nose mouth breathing slack jaw and a snowflake just blew right in.

The change in weather today made me happy.

We were out doing an errand at the time and I realized that going out with Audrey is only going to be more of a hassle as the weather gets harsher. Colder weather just means more stuff that we're going to have to remember to bring for her and for us. It already takes us forever to get out of the house and we STILL manage to forget something every time we go. That's only going to get worse as we have to add hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, sweaters, boots, serious coats, long johns, extra blankets, earmuffs, shovels, ice picks, .... ugh.

I think in our new house we're going to have to setup a big "staging area" table next to the front door.

MCSE Update: Exam 6 of 6, Part 3, Preparation

I've been studying again for my third attempt of this last exam. I'm scheduled to take it in 2 days: Wednesday at 9:45am.

Lots of ideas, little useable output!

Been working on this essay. Working, working, working. Free writing. Going back, moving things around. Free writing some more. Bitching, in words, about free writing. Bitching, in words, about the circles in which I seem to be spiraling while trying to finish this damn, argh, essay.

The horse is dead now, tonight.

Hopefully, will awaken to new, happy, fresh horse tomorrow to beat!

Isn't that a dismal metaphor? Ew.

Send me your relaxed muscles

This morning, my back went out. Poof, whoosh, and I was down on the kitchen floor! Fortunately, Audrey was in the exersaucer, and Ken was home to pick her up and carry her the rest of the day when needed. Man, it was abrupt and pointed. There would be no negotiating with my lower back muscles and the entire gluteal group. I'd had a little hint of protest from them all a few days ago, but I was feeling all workout-y and drive-around-busy and go-to-this-baby-story-time event-y, go grocery shopping-y, you get the idea. I was really busy most of last week; it kind of surprised me.

Today, was another story. I'm hoping I'll awaken tomorrow to greater functionality.

Many months ago, while I was still pregnant, I alluded to a book idea. I still have the idea. That's all I'm going to say about it, but the fact that the spark is still there is hopeful to me.

Oh, went to a lovely meet and greet at the MN IFP office last Friday. Looks like I'll be teaching some workshops there during their Winter quarter: one on how to conduct auditions, and one on how to write a business plan for an indie feature. Cool!

Class notes

Just back from my writing class. It's called, "Forms of the Essay." I'm pretty jazzed.

On one hand, I get kind of antsy as we all analyze an author's essay; how her sentences are structured, what her word choices were, etc. I think to myself, 'all this analysis is a) sucking the magic out of the work, or b) assigning too much forethought to the author's execution of the piece. Maybe her words just came out the way they did, because that's what she was thinking when she wrote them.' When writing reads effortlessly, I tend to believe that the writer writes effortlessly. Or, maybe that's just the way I'd like the process to work for me! :)

The fact that I feel resistance to these discussions tells me that I probably have something to learn from them. I'm enjoying this class because it's enabling me to free write without getting too tripped up in my head. But, perhaps, after I've generated a bunch of "raw materials," I'll find myself applying some of the techniques we've discussed as I whittle down some finished pieces.

It's lovely to feel all full of ideas.

Pumpkin Patch Kid

It's like my brain has erased the how-to info it used to have about how to upload photos to my Mac and then insert them here. Agh. Plus, in the last few weeks (?), iPhoto has updated itself, and now I can't find things in the newfangled fabulousness. Agh, again.

Okay, let's try inserting some pumpkin patch pics here:



Yep, that pic shows we were, indeed, amongst pumpkins.

Here's another one:



Most of the time when Audrey sees the little red light on the camera to prevent "red eye," something like this is the result:



But, here is a keeper:

Guess who's six months old today?

Our Little Shmoo was born six calendar months ago. Awwwww. :)

Waiting on Ken to download some little video clips we shot today of her talking. She's also been practicing her coughing -- as in, "ahem" or perhaps, "I say." Cheerio!

Check back shortly.

It doesn't have a round door, but it'll do

We signed a lease today on a two-bedroom duplex! We'll be on the main floor. A single woman with two cats lives upstairs. The lease begins Dec. 1.

It did not smell at all like cedar shavings. :)

In fact, although it is small (think our Austin house), it was bright and light and much airier than the other duplex we looked at, described below. Its rent also includes utilities! We'll be setting up/paying for only phone and cable. Coolness. It also has a fenced-in backyard. And, we can park our cars in back, off the alley.

We also went and looked at a two-bedroom apartment this afternoon for comparison. It was several hundred dollars less per month, and had very roomy bedrooms, but it did not include utilities. Plus, the building, itself, was in sore need of new carpets in the hallways (lots of stains) and wallpaper (peeling from the walls). It didn't look scary or anything, just neglected. And, it doesn't have an elevator.

I must say, we were so enthused about the duplex, that the apartment didn't stand much of a chance. :)

Yay for us!

Cedar shavings - smells like home?

We looked at a 2-bedroom duplex today. The current occupant lives very messily, and he appears to suffer from either OCD or a hoarding complex, or both. Let's just say there were a LOT of empty cans of orange soda and bottles of Mountain Ice bottled water huddled together in their own large groupings. In fact, the shelf behind the guy's headboard was neatly packed with upright empty plastic water bottles. Oh, and he's into electronics, too. There appeared to be a sound board mixer sitting in the dining nook in the kitchen, and coils of cables, wires, etc. formed little piles in corners -- around the numerous paper grocery bags full of broken down cardboard containers. The whole place had a slight smell of hamster cedar shavings, too. Not really odious, but a little gamey.

We're very tempted to take it.

We have a couple more places to check out in the next couple days, but this duplex is in a location that we're really keen on, and it's in the right price range. The management will clean it up, paint, change/remove carpeting, etc. etc. It also provides for one garage parking space.

Although, the neighbor has a bark-y dog and a 16-year-old son... ever since our Maryland condo experience with the teens downstairs who discovered Master P and the base dial on their stereo, we're a little leery of teeny-bopper neighbors.

On a different note, there's a Half Priced Books store around the corner from the duplex! Picked up some books on toddler development today.

And, finally, got the message tonight from my mom that my stepdad, Tim, came through his surgery successfully and is recovering satisfactorily. Yay!

Where o where is my hobbit hole?

Looking for our next dwelling to rent is stressful. Last night, I awakened at 2:30 a.m. to worship the Porcelain God. I'm thinking it was the chicken burrito from Chipotle, but it might've been some stress-related cooties, too? No, now that I think of it, it definitely was the chicken. Okay, so Chipotle is out as a fast food choice for me for, probably, the rest of my adult life.

Before Audrey was born, the most conflict and tension I ever felt with Ken was in looking for and landing upon a house to buy together in Austin. So, here we are in St. Paul, hungrily devouring this neighborhood and that one in drive-by mode, flirting with this listing and that one on Craig's List, and stopping each other short when we abruptly come up upon some miscommunicated preference or priority. Add Baby, and stir.

My stomach's getting oogie again just thinking about it.

I feel this sense of urgency. We signed a lease here at the sublet for three months; but, then there's this line in there about giving 60 days notice of when we plan to leave. There's been "wiggle room" to extend the lease until, say, January 15th, but if we plan to be out of here on or before Dec. 15, we need to send her a note saying so by October 14th. Which is, like, tomorrow or something.

Plus, we don't currently have local phone service, and we only get reception on our cell phones in LITERALLY ONE SPOT in the front left corner of our living room. It does not get better upon going outside in front of the building. In fact, it doesn't improve until we're several blocks away. Sigh. So, if we owe you a phone call, sorry. Phoning out is a pain in the ass right now.

Now, for some hopeful and happy thoughts: I drove by a side-by-side duplex this afternoon in the neighborhood we've targeted. I think the sign had just gone up, b/c I did not find this listing online. It's a 2-bedroom. We're going to view it Thursday afternoon.

Audrey is still gorgeous and fabulous and wonderful. She's "talking" a lot. And, "talking" includes testing the outer acoustical range of her voice with squeals and, my favorite, shrieks.

Ken just set up his computer today, so Grandparents, we're back in WebCamVille when you're ready.

Speaking of grandparents, my stepfather is going in for surgery this Thursday to have his intestines and such pieced back together after his big health crisis in May. Please send him your healing thoughts for the surgery and his recovery! And, lastly, Happy Trails to Dave and Jackie, who are off for the week on a trip. Have fun!

The DVD curtain rises...

For those of you have followed my exploits in moviemaking over the years, I'm wildly pleased to direct you here: http://www.jumpingoffbridges.com to check out the DVD release of "jumping off bridges," written and directed by Kat Candler and produced by Stacy Schoolfield and myself.

The site looks all polished and gorgeous, and it's very exciting to click on a link that takes one to a page where one CAN ORDER THE MOVIE for one's very own viewing pleasure!

Kudos to Kat and Stacy and their team in Austin for reaching this terrific milestone.

Our car has been found!

So today (Friday) around 2pm we get a postcard from the St Paul police department saying that our car was found! Yay! The postcard said the car was recovered and impounded THE DAY WE REPORTED IT STOLEN!!!, but they decided it would be best to inform us by postcard two days later!? That's two extra days of impound fees and two extra days of us going crazy changing all our online passwords and making god only knows how many phone calls while standing (not sitting) in the exact one spot in our apartment where we get halfway decent cell service so we could frantically close all our credit card accounts and checking accounts and whatever because all our personal paper records were in the trunk of the car when it was stolen. Really? A postcard was the best way to inform us? I guess they took down our cell phone numbers just in case something REALLY important happened with the case. Sheesh.

OK, OK, at least it was found and the damage didn't sound too bad. But what about our files in the trunk and the baby stroller, and the large cardboard box on the front seat containing we're not sure what? We rushed over to the impound lot and got our first look at the car:











Ouch. They also tore up the steering column and ignition so they could start the car with a screwdriver. But, and this was quite a relief, our files were still in the trunk apparently untouched! However, they ransacked the cardboard box and it appears something is missing, but we're not sure what was in there to begin with - probably a couple of nice Cuisinart pots - no biggie. Thankfully they left the family heirlooms that were in there from Lorie's grandmother. And they took the stroller from the trunk and a jar of baby food. We figure the carjacker was stealing for two. Baby needs a new front bumper!

Good news and bad news

The good news is we found a good Vietnamese pho restaurant today, and it's not very far from our apartment.

The bad news is that my car's been stolen.

No, I'm not kidding. Would that I were.

I find it supremely ironic that Ken and I moved here to raise Audrey in a more "wholesome" environment, and last night or this morning, some wholesome St. Paulian hoodlums made off with my '96 Honda Civic.

Mr. Cop said that old Hondas are the most popular vehicles to be stolen around here (I've heard that in D.C., too). The thieves are also known to have master keys to simply and quietly open locked car doors, which ours were. Buicks and Chevys are the next most popular. He said that they'll likely find our car within a couple weeks, if not sooner, probably abandoned in an alley. But, it may be stripped completely...?

To add to the fun, the Honda still had some items in it from our storage container, including two file bins with ALL our important files, past taxes, etc. in the trunk. Yesterday, we went to the storage facility to get some needed items and loaded them up in the POURING RAIN with SCREAMING HYSTERICAL AUDREY in the back seat. Mr. Cop said the thieves would likely ignore items in the car and trunk, but we've canceled all our credit cards, etc. this afternoon.

Pretty damn mind boggling. After all the places all over the country that we've driven that car and/or lived with that car, this is where we were parted from it by criminals?

Don't know, yet, what exactly we'll do next. Will talk with insurance claims person tomorrow re: details; they've been alerted to the police report, but the details person didn't contact me before their close of business today. But, really, I think I'd want another Honda for a car, their hybrid. And, do I really want to get another one while we're still living in this neighborhood and only have access to street parking...!?!?

I can just hear the hoodlums now, "Sweeet, another one!"

Now I Don't Feel So Bad About Our Flight

As this sad, mysterious, dead passenger story shows, it could have been a lot worse for me at LAX.

What Not To Wear

We are truly Official Residents now. We went to the Mall of America today.

It wasn't our idea. My best friend, Ora, is in town for her nephew's bar mitzvah. She brought along her 8-year-old son, Elias. To sweeten the trip for him, she promised him a couple rides at MOA, so we were happy to oblige today and be their drivers.

Yep, it's a big mall. And, yep, there are amusement park rides in the middle of it (INSIDE!), including a log flume water ride and two roller coasters.


Elias rode the water flume all by himself for the first time. Threw his hands up in the air on the big downward slide at the end and everything.



The sheer enormity of this coliseum of consumerism and all its throngs made me cringe inside my skin, especially on a rainy Saturday. Everyone was pushing a stroller, and holding a coffee beverage or fruit smoothie. But, it was a great place to watch people. Waves and waves of people eddied around us as Ora and Elias rode rides, and I sat with Audrey and Ken, while he fed her a bottle.

After the manufactured perfectionism of LA, folks here are starkly shlubby in comparison. I definitely saw at least 20 women who'd make great makeover candidates on the TLC show, "What Not To Wear." Bad perms. Mom jeans. Bad highlights. Garish, stripey highlights in three tones, a la Ginger Spice from ten years ago. And, this stripey thing goes for the men, too. Go figure? I don't know if people are just getting crazy with the Clairol on their own, or if there are salons that actually charge money for these do's. There must be salons, though, because there were just too many of them to account for only botched-up bathroom jobs.

A very popular and ubiquitous clothing choice is to wear some sort of jersey or sweatshirt with Minnesota written on it. This is true for both men and women. Come to think of it, I saw many couples in matching Minnesota shirts. Other locales, such as Notre Dame or Ohio State make more infrequent appearances. Saw a whole large family in Ohio State sweatshirts. With matching hats, natch.

While observing this phenomenon, I was reminded of visiting my friend, Jocelyn, ten years ago in Midland, Michigan. She pointed out, and I'll never forget, that all the stores there have the word, STORE, in their signs. Grocery Store. Clothing Store. Bait Store. Gun Store. Which made us both wonder, did people there really need the extra clue whenever they ventured out that, yes, indeed, this here is an establishment that sells things? Why, yes Bob, you can come on in and buy stuff here, because this is a store.

Maybe people here easily forget where they are? Or, maybe it's one of those things like one of those radio shows that give you $100 if they find you wearing their moniker on Tuesdays or something!

If Ken and I go out and buy Minnesota shirts tomorrow, I'm gonna be looking for the prizewinners' van to find us...

Me, too -- what he said

Like Ken said so well below, we're here.

Audrey laughs when she watches the breezes blow through the treetops.

The neighborhood we're living in is full of gingerbread and Victorian houses built in the late 1800s. Most of them are currently inhabited as up-and-down duplexes. Our building is red brick, with six units in it. When you walk in the front door of our unit, you're faced with LOOONNNG hallway, off which, to the left are all the rooms. The living room faces the street, and the kitchen is at the other end. That means a lot of traveling. As soon as you get to one end, you realize you forgot something at the other end. The hardwood floors creak. A LOT. Really, a lot. Ken and I both have tried walking gingerly, walking heavily, walking along either side's wall... nothing doing. Even the cats make noise as they walk. There is no way to travel anywhere in our apartment without making a sound explosion of cracks, creaks and floor farts.

We have more space, though, which is nice.

Still unpacking things. Containers arrived to storage facility a couple days ago, but we haven't visited it, yet. Didn't get the message until yesterday. Cell phone reception in our apartment, and outside in front of it, is marginal at best. There literally is one spot near our front left window in the living room at which I can get one "bar" of reception, sometimes. Also, sometimes I find myself in the Analog Roam realm in the very same spot where I've been in Regular Roamville before. Apparently, cell reception seems to be spotty throughout St. Paul...?

We've been driving around, doing errands, orienting ourselves. We both like the Mac-Groveland and Highland neighborhoods. There are lots of places to walk to like shops, restaurants, grocery stores, hardware stores... We veer from giddy "what if's" about buying a house sooner than later to our original plan of renting a house next, for a year at least, until we get better bearings... And, of course, we don't know where Ken'll work, yet. Or, how long it will take him to find a job. Plus, I've been reading back issues of the local bi-weekly newspaper, and the city is facing a major deficit and has just approved a 14%+ hike in property taxes for 2008. Yikes. Apparently, nothing was raised for over a decade, and now the state has withdrawn funds it used to give the city, and somebody's gotta pay the piper. They're raising city fees, etc. too. So, giddyness is tempered with whoa.

Ken's new study book should arrive next week, and I've set up a meet and greet appointment with a pediatrician for Monday. Opened a bank account two days ago. Joined the Y down the street. Met a couple of the neighbors by the mailboxes. We're slowly getting settled in. Will post pictures once we unpack my Mac!

We're now min-eh-SOH-uhns

We made it to St. Paul! But the sooner I can forget the stress of getting two cats, a laptop, and a baby with stroller through LAX's bottlenecked and asinine security checkpoint, the better. So I'm not going to write about that. The flight itself was fine. Cats and baby flew just fine. The iPod went a long way towards taking the edge off my LAX-induced foul mood. Sure is great to have all your music just a few clicks away!

Unfortunately, there were more hassles at this end transferring from one terminal to another, which you might expect would involve just a little indoor walking and/or a door to door tram of some sort. No. To get from baggage claim to the Alamo desk that had our minivan (as opposed to the Alamo desk in the terminal where we landed) we had to walk down many corridors, take a couple of elevator rides, exit the terminal into a huge empty/partially under construction parking structure following temporary "light rail this way" signs where we walked what felt like a mile (and every 20 feet or so there was a big gap in the concrete that caught the wheels of the rented cart I was pushing and threatened to tumble the cats from the top of our pile of luggage onto the concrete deck) , more elevators in brand new frigidly air conditioned spookily Muzak'd and deserted elevator lobbies, then waiting outside on a nearly deserted light rail platform for at least 10 minutes, taking a short (thankfully free) train ride one stop down the line to the main terminal. Getting on and off the train involved more wheel-grabbing gaps - by this time I was so pissed off at this entire ridiculously convoluted inconvenient transfer that I yelled "GODDAMNSONAOFABITCH!!!!!!!" as I kicked that f-ing cart off the train and probably startled some of those nice min-eh-SOH-uhns riding their pretty light rail train from Mall of America to downtown Minneapolis. Eh, they were probably tourists anyway. More walking and probably more elevators I don't remember, but finally we got to the Alamo desk that had our minivan. It was all one gigantic pain in my ass. Lorie seemed much calmer throughout the whole trip mostly just pushing the stroller and otherwise tending to Audrey while I dealt with the cats and all the luggage and the f-ing LAX security nazis.

I will never fly again. This country has gone overboard on the airplane security. Don't you realize that you're more likely to die in a car accident than at the hands of a terrorist on a plane? Even without this hyper security. But no one gives a second thought to hopping in their car and tooling around every day of their lives. Let's get some perspective people! Bushco is training us all to be mindless sheep as they shred the constitution, invade our privacy, imprison, torture, and murder people around the world, punish those who exercise their freedom of speech, and move this country closer and closer to a police state. [A couple of days ago I opened a Target credit card account. The clerk screwed it up royally, and while chatting with the three managers that were called over to straighten it out, they mentioned homeland security could potentially get involved! Because opening a store credit account got screwed up by a moron clerk??!] But don't get me started. If I can't go somewhere by driving or taking a train, I ain't goin'. Nazi homeland security and all the airports and airlines can go down the toilet for all I care. We need more rail transit in the US anyway. It's much more efficient than flying or driving. It's a moot point anyway since peak oil is going to price flying out of our reach soon enough. And don't argue with me about politics -- get your own blog.

Ahh, that felt good to vent a little. Sorry if I sounded crazy, but that's the state of mind that flying puts me in these days. Now you have a tiny idea of how I felt sitting on the floor Sunday morning waiting for our plane.

Where was I?

St. Paul is nice. It's already rained here in five days as many times as it rained in LA in 16 months! There's a nice chill in the air. Our apartment is in an historic neighborhood so most of the houses are big and gingerbread style with detailed paint jobs. Big trees (real trees, not palm trees) line all the streets and create a lush green canopy high overhead. Many cool things are within a short walk. Too bad it looks like we couldn't afford to rent a house right in this neighborhood (they're all too big!), and we don't want our next dwelling to be an apartment. We're sick of too-close neighbors -- not just the noise they make, but we're very self conscious about the noise we make in an apartment -- and that just sucks feeling like you have to tiptoe around and keep the music and tv turned down in your own home.

Looks like we're going to love living in the Twin Cities!

Lorie's been asleep for hours. Time to join her.

Still in LA

We're not entirely offline!
Lorie forgot about my wireless laptop and our neighbor's unsecured wireless router, heh heh.
Well, actually, he gave me the password. I'm sitting in our almost totally empty apartment on a beatup old chair that was here when we moved in using a cardboard box as a desk to hold my 7 year old laptop.











High class, bling bling LA livin' yup.

So we just met our second to last frantic deadline: renting a minivan today and packing all our "car stuff" into the cars in time for the trucker to arrive at 5pm and take them away. Once again we needed help at the last minute running stuff down to the cars. Our wonderful neighbor Ivy helped out. God bless people who work at home!

Our next and final frantic deadline will be this Sunday starting at 6am putting cats and baby and two suitcases and pack&play bundle, and diaperbag & laptop softcase into the minivan, returning it to Alamo, catching their shuttle to LAX, passing security, waiting, and getting all that crap onto the plane.

Did I say in a previous post that we'd have 6 days of "fun" in sunny California? HA! It's been about a 3:1 ratio. Three days of stress to meet a deadline, one day of doing maybe one or two fun things.

Midwest, ho!

Packing last computer today. Freight truck arrives today to pick up our cars for shipment. Making our last dash toward dismantling our LA lives. Will be offline for probably at least a week...?

Next time we blog, we'll be Midwesterners.

Celebrity sighting

And now, a frivolous moment from Lorie:

Yesterday, I sat outside with my iced mocha at Peet's Coffee and Tea in Larchmont with my friend, Nicole, and her 7-week-old baby, Audrey next to comedian/actors Andy Richter and Will Arnett. Andy Richter appears slimmer in person.

I soon felt this creeping self-awareness come over me as Nicole and I shared war stories about breastfeeding and which brand has the perfect nipples for bottles (I'm a fan of Dr. Brown's). I was thinking, everyone here is being totally normal about a coupla fairly famous guys gabbing over cups of Joe and sharing some of their own "office gossip." I overheard their conversation sufficiently to gather that little tidbit of intel. Not like I was trying to eavesdrop; I mean, we were sitting right next to each other. But, that proximity, plus the fact that they were fairly famous, made me suddenly acutely self-conscious about the subject(s) of our own conversation. Like, if I'm close enough to overhear snippets of your gabfest (which I could then, like totally, email to a gossip-monger website like Defamer or TMZ or something -- right ha ha), you two must be able to unwillingly overhear our ministrations about stretch marks on our boobs and what to do about baby gas.

Suddenly, I wanted to change the subject. Just until they left.

Aren't I a weirdo?

Passing the point of no return

Today I sold my entire CD collection. Over 400 discs. I've ripped them all onto my computer and loaded all those files onto a 30GB iPod. And today I committed to the MP3 format by selling the discs. For a serious music lover like me, this is a major milestone: making the transition from one recording format to the next. I bought my first CD around 1984 I think. 26 years.

I'm not sure how I feel about this but
The MP3 format is another step in the ongoing progression of recording/playback technology that takes the musical experience away from the human This progression is giving us convenience and miniaturization, but it's taking away...
...ah heck, I just don't have the time or patience right now to organize the essay that's swirling in my head right now on this subject. Maybe you can write it for me. What, if anything, do you think we're losing in this progression from vinyl record, to reel-to-reel, to 8-track, to cassette, to CD, to MP3?

The rest of this is alittle rough.

Amoeba Music record store...
"This is a great collection and it's in great shape!" he said that more than once. I was flattered and proud. He pulled out one particular disc from an obscure DC band. "This was a great band! I've been looking for this disc!" We reminisced a little about that band.

I was proud that he was impressed with my collection and how well I've cared for it. We agreed on the price and he went in the back to cut a check for me. While I waited I was so tired and sore from the last two days' of packing that I slumped over the counter in front of the tall stacks he had made of my CDs. My eyes wandered from title to title as random memories bubbled up. I used to play this disc a lot in college on my first CD player connected to my boombox (the same boombox featured in the movie "Say Anything.") This other disc has a major printing mistake on the cover. That one has skewed tracking: all the tracks start about 15 seconds into each song. Ooops -- that one still has tree sap sprinkles on the edge from 1987 when I used to keep my collection in milk crates under a potted ficus tree; thought I had cleaned all those! This one really gets my heart going. That one calms me down. This one takes me to another plane of existence with its mind-boggling art rock compositions.
These discs were my friends and companions; at various times my consolers, energizers, facilitators. "This IS a great collection," I thought.

The buyer came back. "Saying goodbye?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
He handed me my check and as I walked down to the garage... maybe I was just over tired, but for a few seconds there I felt like crying. Goodbye old friends. Your spirits live in this iPod, but your physical manifestations (the cool jewel cases, the paper flipbooks, and the slick plastic discs with their magical pits) are now gone forever.

I'd like to thank my musical parents and my three older musician/brothers for establishing a solid music appreciation foundation in me. Music has brought me intense joy.

Post Load

We've loaded the two containers (with the help of two amazing friends: Heather and Markell!) and what's left will go in our cars or to Goodwill. Tomorrow (today Monday 9/17) they pick up the containers and whisk them off to St. Paul. Lorie's asleep and my fingertips are pink and no longer have prints. Now's the time to rob a bank I guess! Less than half a block away I have my choice of B.O.A or WAMU. I better pick the former since we have an account with the latter. Pop Quiz: which bank do we have an account with? Some day I want to have a Hawiian-themed party with tiki torches where everyone wears Hawaiian shirts and we serve maitais and pina coladas and cook things on a hibachi grill and show Elvis island videos in the background like "Blue Hawaii." I went to a party like that once. It was fun. For someone who hates sun and sand (and friggin' palm trees) , I really love "island theme." Go figure. Maybe it's the late night beach bonfires that seem so appealing. With Gail March playing guitar and singing John Denver! Take a solo Ari! That would be the best. Did you hear OJ Simpson has just been arrested for armed robbery at a hotel? What's up with that freak? Another LA weirdo I guess. I miss our TV already, but talk radio is pretty good. I'm so relieved we're packed and loaded. Now it's just me and Lorie and Audrey and the cats and an inflatable mattress (and this iMac) and 6 fun-filled days in sunny California!!!! Let's hope I don't fall in love with LA over the next few days!

It's almost 2am. Can you tell I'm tired and punchy? I should go to bed now.

k


Bye bye LA!

Moving Day -- The Before Photos

MOVING DAY:


Ken scurried about all night like a field mouse last night and rearranged all our crap and took his own photos.



The view from the other direction.



And here, Audrey demonstrates the latest talent she has. Even at her age, I don't think I was ever limber enough to kiss my own toes.

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S.P. minus 6 days!
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The last big push

Moving containers are supposed to arrive this afternoon.

This is the current state of our home (and brains, too):


Tomorrow, we do the heavy loading, and the apartment will become mostly empty.

Tick tock, tick tock...

MCSE Update: Exam 6 of 6, part 2, DAMMIT!

DAMMITDAMMITDAMMITDAMMITDAMMITDAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!
Yup. Failed again.
DAMMIT!

What really pisses me off is I spent a week restudying this stuff and I got the
EXACT SAME CRUMMY SCORE TODAY THAT I GOT LAST TUESDAY!!!

DAMMIT!!
HOW DAMMIT IS DAMMIT THAT DAMMIT POSSIBLE!?
DAMMIT!!!

Obviously I can't claim unfamiliarity with the test format this time. I let the questions guide my scanning of the information, and that seemed to work pretty well. I didn't feel as rushed and didn't have to scramble in the last few seconds of any testlet to randomly fill in answers.

The exam covers four main topics or sections. On my first attempt I did pretty uniformly mediocre in all four sections. On my second attempt, I did significantly worse in the first two sections and significantly better (passing I assume) in the other two sections. So, that's sort of encouraging and discouraging at the same time, which is to say, "DAMMIT!!!!"

At this point I don't know what I'm going to do. Since this exam is all about being the "point man" who designs & implements new networks or major network upgrades (I don't really want to be the "point man", but I do want to work with the "point man") I could just stop here and work full time with the MCSA certification I earned a couple of exams ago. I've certainly learned enough to make good money right now. But I'm so close to finishing the MCSE!! So close! I could work full time and continue studying for this exam in my free time (joy!) - perhaps using a different book and training software for a new perspective. Or I could continue studying full time for this exam until I beat it, get my MCSE, and go out and get the best job possible. Since I have to wait 14 days before taking any exam a third time, there's nothing I can do about it here in LA.

At least now I can focus on preparing to move - there's still much to be done.


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S.P. minus 11 days!
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Movie review

Ken held down the fort today with our Little Shmoo, so I could go to the movies with my friend, Sara. Thank you, Ken!

We saw "3:10 to Yuma" and "Stardust." The latter just couldn't compete with the former for overall satisfaction.

I left "Yuma" with that wistful, sad-happy feeling -- where you finally, reluctantly get up to leave the theater after the film, though you're not quite ready to leave its "world," yet. I wanted to sit down somewhere and replay scenes from it over and over in my head. Christian Bale's face has a haunting quality. It's all angular and handsome without being too pretty. It's a terrific tableau upon which to watch his/his character's emotions and unspoken thoughts canvas across. And, Russell, well, he's Mr. Charismatic. His character isn't cuddly, but he is charming; and, he's a killer, but not without surprises. One totally can appreciate how his gang comes to follow him so loyally.

"Stardust" was cute, and fun - but, I thought it's pacing was uneven. And, its execution didn't live up to how well the script read to me when I read it at Paramount months and months and months ago. Cute just couldn't compete with wistful, man-that-was-a-good mano a mano action/character piece movie today.

Now it's time to take my ate-too-much-popcorn-and-now-I-feel-all-bloaty self to bed. :)

Bananas for bananas

I now have remnants of banana-scented baby drool all over my left cheek. Bananas were a big hit with Audrey tonight. She ate the whole tiny jar and then happily bounced up and down in my arms afterward for some burpin' and kissin' on Mommy. God, did I laugh. At one point, my nose was fully immersed in her open mouth while she clamped her fingers on and off on my neck. So much fun.

Had a Girls Shopping Excursion with her this afternoon. We had a leftover Macy's gift credit, and I took Audrey to search for a new sun hat (as her current one is going to be too small soon enough). But, lo! No sun hats at Macy's infant department! What sort of infant/baby department doesn't stock sun hats? Hell, there were muy expensive Ralph Lauren booties, but no sun hats. All manner of fluffy receiving blankets, but no sun hats. Infant sandals, but no sun hats! Losers.

I wanted to use this stupid gift credit TODAY, so I couldn't lose or forget the damn thing before/during our move.

Never fear. We handily switched gears and used the store credit to buy a warmish fleece jacket and pants - for the cold weather to come in MN. It's pink and green, with a hood. Should be good layering pieces. I was hoping to maybe score a snowsuit or something similar, but they "didn't have those in stock, yet." Big surprise.

Found a new sun hat on sale at Gymboree on our way out of the mall. Yay. It's three shades of pink, with ruffles, can you stand it? Ha ha.

Stopped off at Whole Foods for fancy eco-friendly diapers on way home. Saw Carol from "The Bob Newhart Show" over by the salad/hot food bar. I had no idea she voices Mrs. Krabappel on The Simpsons these days, among other things. D'Oh!

Oh, also compared sugar contents of different yogurts with this guy and his young son in the dairy aisle. We agreed that the Australian ones - Wallaby Organics - have the least sugars added to them. Aren't you relieved?

Picnic with Tracy and Lisa and Jack

...something completely positive...

Last week Lorie and Audrey and I had a lovely picnic with Lisa and Tracy and Lisa's nephew Jack (pictured). We spread out two large blankets in a small, clean park in Culver City and lounged around eating delicious vegan food that Lisa had made (yum!) and playing with Jack and Audrey. It hadn't really rained in LA for over 365 days, but it tried to rain that day of course! No problem. It only rained lightly for a few minutes and we were under a big lush tree so we didn't really get wet. Besides, Lorie and I love cloudy skies and ominous winds. Here's a viddy of Tracy giving some love to Audrey. Cuteness.



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Interview Update

I didn't get the job.

It's okay.

I'm disappointed; but, I had a niggling feeling... It really was one of the best interviews I've ever had, and I really enjoyed talking with them about what needed to be done, improved, expanded, etc. They said it was a horse race between me and one other candidate -- but, they went with the other one b/c he/she is more familiar with the local film community.

I went down to the pool to exercise this morning and said to my Guides, "Whatever decision is in our highest good for Ken, Audrey, and me, so be it." So, there you have it. It's in our highest good for me not to get this job, and that's okay.

Still, its time to go get an iced mocha.

MCSE Update: Exam 6 of 6, "The Danging"

dang.
dang.
dang.
dang.
dang.
failed it.

I mean I really failed it. 700 was passing and I got 506.

Ouch.

:(

But this score actually feels better than if I'd only failed by a few points. THAT would have really pissed me off, because I knew right away I'd answered a few questions wrong and those could have made the difference. But no, I failed this one with plenty of room to spare, so I'm strangely relieved! I went into this test feeling pretty confident, unlike some of the others that I passed, so something was up this time and I think I know what it was.

The format of this exam was very different from the other five. I've never seen it before. It was not just a string of 40 or so questions with a single countdown clock like all the others. This exam was divided into six "testlets," as Microsoft called them, each with its own countdown clock and about seven questions. Each testlet came with a tremendous amount of text and graphics describing a fictional company and their existing IT environment, as well as their desires/requirements for an upgraded network that I would provide.

I think my biggest mistake was in trying to read and absorb the multiple screens of information before concentrating on the questions. It was just too much information - much of it irrelevant to the questions! All that reading and re-reading wasted a lot of time, so on at least three of the testlets I ran out of time and clicked the remaining answers almost randomly so at least they weren't blank. Given more time I would have gotten many more questions right, but I felt a little flustered and rushed the whole time.

Adding to my unease with the format, at one point I clicked on a couple of prompts that I thought I understood, and "POP" I was back at the welcome screen for the entire exam! Agggghhh! When I saw this I thought I had just ended the exam prematurely! In a panic I ran out of the room to get the proctor. She came in, clicked a couple of things and I was on to the next testlet. Whew! But more time wasted and more unease.

Well, now that I'm familiar with navigating the information, next time I will let key words in the questions drive my scanning of the information, rather than trying to absorb all the information first. I think that will give me the time I need to calmly pull the knowledge out of my brain that I know is in there.

Given the firm deadline of our move to St. Paul and the retake policies of Microsoft, I expect to only have one more chance to pass this exam in LA. I'll probably study for another week - focusing on the computer-based practice tests, and retake this exam around Wednesday 12th.

dang. I'm so close to the end I can taste the impending pride and relief.


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S.P. minus 17 days
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Catchin' up with photos & videos

We fell way behind with the pics & videos.
Everybody's been getting in some quality Audrey time!
Here are some of the best images ...

Lorie's Mom, Phoenix, June 30:












Ken's Family, Maryland, July:






















Ken's Parents' 55th Anniversary Party, July27:


























Video of Audrey's first time in the "Portable Fun UltraSaucer Happy Play Center"
(about a week ago):





A Visit To The Pool With Friend Sara, three days ago:


















... all done!












Audrey's Screensaver O' The Week (8 weeks old - first road trip ):














Audrey's Pic O' The Week:












"Who Are You, And Why Are You Screaming At Me?!?!"

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