And now for something completely different....

OK this has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but for the first time I just saw this pic of Frank Zappa with his parents at their house. Nice color scheme, eh?! Enjoy.



Wow, iconic musicians had parents too just like you and me! Who knew?
What year do you suppose this was taken? 70's? 80's? Boy was he skinny.

Elf Update 11/21/08

Today at Beka the owner told me he likes my work and thinks I fit in well with the team and he wants me to stay long term and become a full fledged full time employee with real wage, benefits, etc...

But this wasn't an actual job offer because it all depends on how the business goes over the next couple of months. sigh.

But still it was a big pat on the back and made me feel like this:

Happy Birthday Honey Bunny!

Everybody, sing!

Happy Birthday to Ken.
Happy Birthday to Ken!

Happy Birrthday to KE-en!

Happy Birthday to Ken!

Our friends, Jeri and Charles cared for Audrey all day so that Birthday Boy and I could:

Go out to lunch.

Go to the movies.

Go out to dinner.

It was a lovely day.

Report from Barf City

Today marks the first Barf Free Day of the last four days -- yay!

We almost reached this milestone yesterday, but too much fluid was consumed too quickly and, boom! projectile emission! On Thursday, Lorie got the same cooties that Audrey had. And, Ken came home from work to drive us to the pediatrician to get looked over. Audrey had managed to keep 4 teaspoons of water down for an hour, which was encouraging, and we decided that a shot for her to prevent further vomiting would be overkill. We got a plan from the doctor (more incremental feeding and fluids), and then Lorie ran into the bathroom across the hall to hug their toilet.

That'll hopefully be the only pediatrician visit where I get wheel-chaired back to the parking lot. :)

Elf Update 11/12/08

I've been working at Beka for one month now and I love it! It's very satisfying work. And with unemployment the highest it's been in 14 years I'm happy to have any job! Last week on Monday they started me full time and bumped up my pay to what they had originally advertised the job at. I guess I should explain that: over a month ago I responded to their full time want ad, but the economy was tanking so they told me they weren't hiring anybody. I went back a week later and offered to VOLUNTEER there just to get wood shop experience! That perked up the owner's ears and he "hired" me part time on the spot but insisted on paying me something for administrative reasons. OK by me! So my first three weeks there were part time in the afternoons. By Monday of last week they decided I and the economy were good enough to warrant full time at the regular pay rate. I'm amused that this job went from there to not there to unpaid to part time underpaid to full time regular pay!

Thankfully they've moved me off the tedious noisy dusty and slightly dangerous grunt work like cutting up long boards into shorter boards or drilling the same hole in 50 pieces or rounding the corners off countless blocks on a table router. Lately I've been doing more skilled labor like assembling and boxing easels, theaters, and garages (which are sold by a different company called Back To Basics). It's detail oriented and methodical work which suits me quite well. Plus in these quieter assembly areas we listen to good music or NPR on the radio. Everyone is very nice at Beka. I'm making myself as indispensable as possible with the hopes that they keep me on past the Christmas rush.

So much more in my head, but it's late and Audrey got us up at 1am today crying and throwing up. I took a short nap after work which I never do. Lorie's even more tired since she's been dealing with Audrey's illness all day.

Oh, and I have a cold.

New vocabulary

Here's an arty photo.









Latest vocabulary:

All die -- all done
Hallo
Mark - milk
Sam - Read me Green Eggs and Ham again, mommy

Latest favorite songs/rhymes:

If You're Happy and You Know It
Pat A Cake
Pop Goes the Weasel
ABC song

Halloween 2008

Trick or treat!

Shmoo was a Lion. You can see how thrilled she was.











We were joined by our friends, Ari and Terri, and their children Marie and Noah.











And, our friend, Heidi, and her son, Connor.










And, now for the Action photos.











One thing I didn't get action photos of was Audrey, apparently, consuming some quantity of one of my lipsticks. What I thought was, at first, chocolate smears all over her cheeks, chin, nose, and fingers turned out to be Lancome's Bordeaux matte lipstick.

Nothing a thorough wipe-down and phone call to the Poison Control Center couldn't clear up!

At The Playground

It's dirty work, but it's gotta get done.

And, I'm The Shmoo who can do it.






But, first, some sustenance.


I find this clip funny. It's that look on her face right at the end of it...