Everyone's happy we're home

* Well, I did the drive again today, but somehow I feel a bit less creaky than last Sunday. Who knows though, that could be very different tomorrow morning.
* My dogs are incredibly content and happy right now. Everything is better when Mom is home!
* Sydney was so happy to get into her own bed tonight. I need to figure out something to do with all her dinosaur stuffed animals, because she's decided that she doesn't want them on her bed anymore. Damn. Her bedroom is just too small. I don't have a corner to shove them all into, or even a chair. I will need to get crazy creative.
* We put up all the "spider webs" outside finally. The webbing has been sitting on the chair in the living room for a week. It was a family event, and we were all very pleased with the finished product.
* I'm easily distracted by my need for a pedicure over the last couple days. I shall wait until all the paychecks drop, and then will visit the salon.
* Also, Oliver and Daisy need baths. Like, badly. I'll put that on this week's list, I suppose. My list for this week grows exponentially the longer I sit and think about it.
* The dark side of Saturn looks creepy, doesn't it? Also, I have a whole lot of television to catch up on this week.

Toms are more comfortable. They are!

Life lessons I learned at 19, but choose to ignore at stupid times:
Don't listen to Mom when it comes to shoe choices.
Backstory ~ When I was 19, and Julia invited me to go to London with her for a couple weeks while her grandfather was being elected mayor of his borough, my mother insisted that I get new shoes to wear, because my worn-in shoes were (I paraphrase), "probably too worn-in and comfortable." So, here I go, off on a couple-week trip to walk around London a lot, and Paris for a weekend, with brand-new shoes. Short story: my feet hurt; I grew blisters; I dreamed about my comfy shoes in my closet; and I cursed the woman who made me leave them there ... EVERY SINGLE DAY. It was one of the most uncomfortable trips of my feets' lives.
Since then, I tend to ignore Mom a lot when she has qualms with the shoes I select for pretty much anything.
But sometimes, I ignore this hard-fought knowledge, and I end up suffering for it.
Current story ~ I chose my Toms and some flip flops for the couple days in Disneyland. She was all, "Oh, Kimmie. Those won't be comfortable. There's no support." I'm all, "Whatever. I'm wearing my Toms." I changed out the flip flops though, for my Vans. Monday, in the Toms, was fine. (Of course, at the end of a day like that, everyone's feet are sore, so mine were as well. Not from shoe, but from use.) Tuesday, I wore the Vans. I bemoaned the loss of flip flops because I knew it would be warmer outside, however soldiered on. But then, after a couple hours in the Vans, I remembered why I really wanted the flip flops. The Vans aren't super comfortable after a few hours. My feet slide too far forward in them, and my toes ache. This is merely bothersome for a while, but then it makes every step ache a whole lot. Also, it makes for a non-amiable Kimberly.
As I changed from my Vans back into the Toms at the end of the day, I reminded myself AND MOM that I should really just stop listening to her about my shoes every time she has a comment or concern. Her opinion leads to unfortunate foot pain.

On the road of life

Every time I make the drive from Phoenix to California, it gets harder. Not mentally, because it's still super fun to strategize my driving among all the big rigs and slow drivers. But physically, because my body is more and more ... creaky ... by the time I make it to Mom's house. My butt hurts, my hip is a bit cramped, my back is twinging, and my legs are stiff. Also, the bridge of my nose and my head above my ears hurt because my sunglasses are just thatmuch too tight. And I do honestly think it gets just a bit harder, and I get more OLD every time I do it. That's not to say that I will stop doing it, because California is its own reward for making the drive. But just to complain because sometimes I really, really feel 40.

I have a complex belief system

Brian's question for me tonight, as we watch Ghost Adventures: "How can you be such a skeptic about ghosts and magic, but you can't sleep with the closet door open?"
There's an internal logic there that I can't explain. I've never been able to sleep with the closet door open. It has to be closed. In fact, every closet door in the house must be closed.
Come to think of it, the only closet ever allowed to be open overnight was the one in Boston, because the door couldn't close properly anyway.

Hopefully, no more car stuff

ITEM!: We finally took care of the last bit of car business today ... and now I have a new water pump. We ended up going to an independent VW shop down in Phoenix to have the work done, since their estimate was about $400 less than the dealership quote. They did the work quickly, and the car's running fine and there's no check engine light anymore, so it seems as though all is well. I'm not a big fan of taking my car anywhere that's not a dealership, but the cost was a very real factor with this particular repair. The shop has a ton of positive reviews online, so I felt relatively confident in my decision.
ITEM!: Gravity is a good movie! Of course, it's my love affair with space that makes me a sucker for all these movies, but this was really good. And I've got a weird gripe, but I don't want to be a spoiler, so I'll just keep it on the down low. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the film.
ITEM!: I'm watching Hawaii Five-0, and I got a ridiculous giggle out of the guys from Lost on screen together. Jorge Garcia and Daniel Dae Kim (Hurley and Jin) just shared screen time, and it made me super happy. Also, because I'm watching Five-0, there was a commercial to vote on key plot points for a future episode. So, I took a couple seconds just now to do that. But really, I miss Lost.
ITEM!: One of my favorite conversation exchanges with me kid goes as follows. Me: "Tomorrow's Saturday! What does that mean?" Sydney: "It means you get to sleep in." Me: "Yes! That's right!" Sydney: "Huh." The secret not-fun is that she still wakes me up crazy early for a sleeping-in day to bug me about stuff like an app on the iPad, or the weather, or food.

Cooler weather, I feel you

I say excitedly, "It was finally cool enough to have a HOT drink at Starbucks this morning!" Our windows were open all day, and the air conditioner didn't go on at all. I was able to wear jeans ... unironically ... and it was glorious. In fact, Sydney wore long pants to school today instead of shorts.
The weather gurus say that tonight and tomorrow morning will be the same, though the daytime highs should creep up a bit over the next few days. Still, that's the mid-80s, so really, there's no complaining about that.
In addition to getting the hot drink, I also stopped at a different Starbucks. My usual shop is right by the freeway, and seems to take a ridiculous amount of time to get something no matter the time of day. The shop I visited today is along the way home from dropping Sydney at school. It's a walk-in store, with no drive through, but that's no big deal. It was pretty awesome though, to walk into the store at 8:35 a.m., and have only two people ahead of me in line, and then to get my drink quickly and to be out in a matter of minutes. I think I may have a new "my Starbucks" now. I love stopping for a drink after dropping the kid, and this new "my Starbucks" will make that easier and better for my life.

That's my boy!

So, how's this for feeling the effects of parenthood?
My oldest child.
My dearest heart.
And don't judge me, but my favorite bedtime cuddlebug, will be a teenager.
Yep, believe it. Oliver's birthday is tomorrow, and he turns 13. I mean, really. Look at that puppy face over there. What a sweet baby, right?
Those 13 years went by in a blink.
He's the best dog ever, you guys.
I love him. :)

Keep a weather eye out

This water spout was photographed in Florida. It's super, super cool, I think. One of my random Bucket List tasks is to experience every kind of weather. So far, I've been in blizzards, earthquakes, coldest days on record, rain storms that last for days, freak hail storms, and summers' heat in the desert.
I'm a little nervous that I may have missed out on ever being in a hurricane by leaving Houston. And I'm nowhere close to being anywhere close to a tornado. (I'm okay with never seeing a tsunami in person, though. The Impossible scared me too much.)
Granted, I won't come across much weather living in the desert, but it's still a goal. Also, isn't that water spout cool?

Pick a picture, write a post

This is Blarney Castle in Ireland.
I've been there. It was 1982, and, if you can believe it, we went there for a trip while the Olympics were in Los Angeles, so we wouldn't have to deal with the world's traffic. (Given the chance now, I would totally stay put and check out the events. But alas, at nine years old, I was not consulted too terribly much on these things.) Mom, Howie, Gramps and I spent some time driving around Ireland, and then spent a few days in London. The trip is still among my favorites of all time.
Biggest regret: not toughening up and being brave enough to flip backwards over a large hole in the floor high above the castle grounds and kissing the Blarney Stone itself. I knew at that moment that I should totally do it. I knew, as we walked away, that I should totally do it and be a tough kid because my chance was slipping away.
If I could kick that girl in the butt right now and tell her to frickin' do it, I would. I'm still quite disappointed in my nine-year-old self. I don't have very many stories about me chickening out on something, and I hate that this is one of them. Oh, if I knew then what I know now. And if I could stop that girl. Blast it. Regret.

Candy starts with "c"

Halloween candy in the house!
I swear; I have no idea why I continue to buy the 3 Musketeers. They are too good, and I eat them too quickly. We also bought Snickers and -- what Sydney picked -- Hershey's Kisses.
My current irritation: Fun-Size bars are smaller than they used to be. In fact, I think they're smaller than they were just last year. Fun-Size bars used to be rectangular. Now, they're, like, square. They're slimmer than they ever have been before.
I feel ... cheated. It's for damn sure that they cost the same as they did last year ... if not more. But how does one bitch and complain about something that is totally and completely voluntary to buy? I mean, if it bugs me so much, I can just not buy them, right? Sure. Because that's so easy during the month of October. October is made for little candy bars. It's the entire reason behind little candy bars. I wouldn't dream of disrespecting the month of October by not buying little candy bars.
So, I'll buy them, and eat them. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.

I had some pilsners

I really enjoy day-drinking. It's a good time, and makes a day awesome. Unfortunately, it makes the afternoon and evening kind of awful when you don't follow through and keep drinking.
Brian, Lisa, Brad, Sydney and I ventured out to the Tour de Fat (Fat Tire Festival) today. It was a lovely time watching the bike parade, checking out the random games and activities, and of course, drinking some Fat Tire. I was done when I was done, but I still found myself taking an uncomfortable nap once we got home. And I continue to yawn even early this evening. Thankfully, the bottles of water and some dinner made for a better time while we watched football.
But my body is creaking tonight. My feet are sore, and they feel stretched out on the bottom. I got a bright sunburn on my shoulders and face, which is too bad. It didn't even occur to me for a moment to put some sunscreen on myself or Sydney or Brian. We're all a bit crispy. My back is aching a bit because I stood so much all day. My head hurts because of the, previously mentioned, day-drinking.
But all in all, this is such a great beer festival and so much fun, that all my issues tonight are totally worth all the fun we had today. Looking forward to next year!

Bins, bins and more bins

It cracks me up how, in my life, one irrational task can lead to another irrational task, and yet another irrational task. So, I got my garage somewhat organized today. What I discovered, is that I really need to pick up a couple more bins at Target. I need another Halloween one, I think, but definitely a Thanksgiving bin and an Easter bin. Probably two Christmas bins, too. The extra cardboard boxes aren't cutting it in my holiday-neurotic organizational stacking Tetris brain, and bins will work better for that.
[ASIDE: It's a fact, I just need a storage unit. There is no way I'll be able to stack all these boxes in a way that is pleasing to my eye when I drive into the garage. I moved stuff around, but it still bugs me, and now I don't know what I can do to make it better. END OF ASIDE.]
And I won't have time to try again until next week, if even then. So, I'll either get used to it as it is now, or I'll have to hate it, and let it bug me, for a while. My compulsion to have everything look exactly right in my head is going to drive me insane.

An organized garage is an empty garage

I've finally caught up on my work for the week, which means I can finally take some time tomorrow morning to do some work in my garage. I've been unhappy with the state of things in there for a while, and I'm super eager to move some stuff around to make different and better use of the space in there. I could probably go through My Steps To Reorganize The Garage for you, but that would be incredibly boring.
Also, the plumber is due in the morning, to fix the upstairs toilet that has leaky bolts in the bottom of the tank, thereby leaking water all over the bathroom floor. I would like to state how nice it is sometimes to only be renting a house, so when something like that goes wrong, all I have to do is call the landlord, and they take care of it, and pay for it. It'll also be super nice to be able to use my bathroom again.
Also, I was a productive mother today, by visiting the pediatrician's office, filling out the request to have Sydney's records transferred, and making her wellness appointment for this year. It was nice to check the place out again. But the best part was making the appointment, sucking it up and taking the mid-afternoon spot because nothing else was available before or after school for months, and then discovering that the Monday for which we scheduled the appointment is Veteran's Day, and Sydney has the day off anyway. Win, win, win.
Unfortunately, my own doctor's appointment for this afternoon was canceled because a baby decided to be born, so I need to go back on Tuesday morning. I find myself wondering if my private health insurance premiums will go down now because of the Affordable Care Act, or if we're stuck with it as it is. My premium should go down to match Brian's, right? And will my birth control pills be covered? I'll be happy to not pay $33 per month for those, if I can avoid it. I suppose I have my own questions. I'll call our company next week and see what's up.
Quite obviously, tonight's is a stream-of-consciousness post. It's all over the place.
I think I'll drive down to Qdoba for lunch tomorrow.

Pigeon in a fountain = happy bird

I'm not complaining about the weather here, since, of course, it's not Houston. But I am looking forward to keeping my windows open all night and all day. As it stands right now, I can open my windows about 10 p.m., but they need to be closed about 11 a.m. because the air has warmed up so much. I know it's just a matter of weeks now before I will be able to have my windows open all day long. And I'm eager for it. That's the best part about October: the end (somewhat) of summer.

How do they get so dirty so fast?

Alright, well, we didn't buy any Halloween candy today, much to Sydney's chagrin, but my house is all decorated for the holiday. So, by that measure, it was a productive day.

Do you think that maybe if I left my reading glasses next to Brian's sink every night, in the morning he would wash them after he washes his own glasses? I'm inclined to think no, but I may try anyway. I foresee laughter at my perceived laziness, but really, it's all about letting the guy with the real experience take on a task that I don't like doing. Besides, he does it, like, every day, where I really only wash my glasses when they're too gross to see through.