Lantern festivals look super cool

I've been staring at a blank blog post creation page for 30 minutes.
Time for bed instead.

Bitches be bitches, yo

A woman in Australia received a hand-written and mailed letter from some of her "friends" on Facebook, who wanted her to stop posting so many pictures of her new baby daughter. It was a super mean-spirited letter, saying all kinds of things like: everyone has kids and yours is no better than ours; we don't care about her new outfits; can't wait for you to go back to work so you have less time to post; and she's six months old, big deal. The letter itself was about 300 words of petty bullshit, and then they didn't even have the balls to sign it.
Here's my thing: There are very real ways of not seeing posts from people that bother you. And you can actually enact these ways without the other person knowing. That way, you manage to clean up your feed and make it less annoying for you, while not hurting someone else's feelings.
We've all done it. I've got a few friends that share too many articles on politics, and horrible news stories. I know someone who posts way too many inspirational photos. And another friend who just shares too much of their personal business for the world to see.
Guess what. I don't know what these people are up to now because I don't follow them on Facebook anymore. Technically, we're still "friends." And I still would like to know how they're doing now and then, so I check their pages when that curiosity arises.
The beauty of Facebook is that you can choose to engage, or not -- be informed, or not. There's no bylaw saying that you have to read and react to everything that shows up on your feed.
These "friends" of this lady obviously aren't really friends of hers, since they sent this in the first place, but also they're being so chickenshit about it by not signing the letter. Also, if she was really good friends with them, she would recognize the author's writing style. It seems super distinctive.
My advice for this lady is to clean up her friends list, and purge the people that don't contribute to her mental, psychological and emotional good health in consistent ways. Also, fuck them. Post pics of your kid if you want.

Sand is pervasive, and evil

Do you remember how I can be totally neurotic?
And how my neuroses can sometimes be forced upon my family in loving and supportive ways?
And how I fear the exponential growth of neuroses as generations continue?
Well, this is fun.
Sydney's class was given a school project today, in which they are encouraged to become engineers and inventors, and come up with a new and awesome invention. An invention of any kind, really, and it doesn't even really have to work. But the idea needs to be there, and the intent behind it needs to be practical. This is a project ripe for imagination and creativity. And for coming up with something that will make the world a better place.
Sydney's idea is for a machine that will remove sand from shoes. This is, of course, directly related to my intense hatred of sand on a playground, and how she doesn't like having to take her shoes and socks off on the patio so she can shake out the sand without getting it all over my floors. We've got a great system for this, and she's very much in the habit of doing it.
That she figures that this exercise requires some kind of machine to make it easier on her is amusing. But, when given all the problems in the world and all the creativity in her head, she would choose to focus on one of her mom's many issues is endearing, and slightly troubling. I suddenly fear that she will go through life trying to constantly figure out how to make my peeves less troubling on me.
Again, forcing my neuroses in loving and supportive ways, apparently.

Garden update: Yay!

APPLE SEEDLINGS: Our five apple seedlings are more than an inch tall now, and they seem to be very happy where they are. Each of them has five or six leaves on them. I'm being crazy vigilant about weeds growing in their pot, but haven't seen any yet. And should I be concerned about birds? Probably not, but this is how my paranoid brain is obsessing over these little plants.
GARDENIAS: Check out my gardenias, you guys. They are out of control! Oh my gosh, there about 12 flowers, and still another four or five buds ready to bloom. They smell so good, too!
PLUMERIA: I've got leaves on each of my new plumeria limbs, and they're growing quickly. I hope I get flowers off them this season. What I do absolutely know is that I'm going to be sure and cover that plant next winter.
RANDOM PURPLE TREE: Our tree has a plethora of purple blooms on it right now, making the bees in our area very, very happy.
All good things, and who would have thought that they would do so well in the desert.

Rashes are bad, bad, bad

So, this rash on the backs of my legs has been pretty much consuming my life. I've been so uncomfortable. My legs have been so swollen. And ugly. And red. So yucky.
I've been applying lotion, but it's only made it feel worse.
But then this morning, Brian decided to be a doctor, and found a nice, little topical steroid cream for skin irritations in his bucket of tricks. I've used it twice, this morning and tonight, and already, it's feeling less irritating, and less painful.
So, between my leg rashes, and Cooper's decision to vomit all over the house the entire weekend, it can come as no surprise to you that I've been too tired and annoyed with the universe to blog.
Other than that, we had an awesome weekend. Sydney and I saw a movie, we had yummy lunches, and most happily, we spent some time at Top Golf. I can totally see Top Golf becoming our go-to Sunday activity. It was so fun for all of us.
Every day is better though, and I'm at odds with how crappy and fantastic our last couple days were.

Things about today:

Thing 1: I got a job interview for Monday afternoon. That's about all I'll say about it, since I'm trying not to get too happy or excited. Someone may want me to be an editor again. Isn't that weird.
Thing 2: I've acted on Cooper's potential food allergies by picking up some limited ingredient food in both kibble and canned form. Tomorrow, I start moving the boys over to a new food type. Here's hoping it goes well. I'm sure it will, but what I mean is that I hope the change works for Cooper and his issues.
Thing 3: I've got some weird rashes on the back of my legs that appeared this afternoon. They are right behind my knees as well, and even better, are swollen. I'll slather them in Sydney's skin ointment stuff, so that should help, I hope. Because I'm super uncomfortable.
Thing 4: Brian and I made the ultimate sacrifice and took Sydney to Peter Piper Pizza for dinner tonight because of a school fundraiser. The place was packed, and there were children everywhere. Honestly, it was bedlam. And as we shared our salad, Brian looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, but this is the worst date ever." I had to agree, but it actually was nice to let Sydney blow off some steam with other kids, and for us to sit and have conversation together.
Thing 5: My afternoon was consumed by my new Summer Movie Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly. It's always such a treat to get that issue, because I can plan and map out my entire summer. I've got May through August covered now!

My garden runneth over with AWESOME

You guys, there is some serious awesomeness going on in my backyard right now. No kidding, the place is going bananas! I've got FIVE apple sproutlings. My wisteria is blooming like crazy. The roses are all over the place. My gardenia has no less than 12 buds on it. And the plumeria is growing new leaves again.
The fifth apple sproutling is hidden behind the larger one on the left there in that picture. ... My wisteria smells so good, and even the one right next to my front door, that gets no direct sun ever, is blooming on steroids. ... My rose bushes have been blooming for a couple weeks already, and the pink ones smell so strong. Honestly, they're the best plant to have right next to the area where the dogs poop. ... Last year, my gardenia had one bud that blossomed and bloomed. This year, it's spread out over a lot of space, and there are far more buds on it. Apparently, it just needed a bit of time to settle in to its space. ... The plumeria is a bit more of a success story. The weather over the winter frostbit the ends of the limbs, and killed all the leaves. The ends were burnt. I was super nervous that it wouldn't come back to me, but there are two fresh growths on each side of the burnt ends, where new leaves are growing and beginning to sprout. I have my first returned leaf; it's about an inch long. But the rest of the leaves will be popping out soon, I think.
I am so happy to wander into my backyard, and I get so excited to show Brian and Sydney any new changes and growths happening. The apple trees are my personal favorite right now, though.

Cripes, just give me the large popcorn

I don't even know where to begin with the randomness of my day today. ...
I got into an argument with the concessions girl at the movie theater because I was given a large popcorn by mistake, she took it back, dumped the large popcorn in the trash, and gave me a new medium bag of popcorn. Does that make any sense to you, at all? In a perfect world, deal with your error and let me have the large popcorn. But at the very least, pour what fits of the large popcorn into the medium bag. But don't waste an entire large bag of popcorn. That's something the devil would do.
If you find yourself in need of a paper nurse's hat, I'm your girl. I now know how to create such a thing, as I had to make one for Sydney's oral report on Florence Nightingale. She's supposed to dress as the person she's reporting on, and I did my best with her Crimean War-era outfit. She wouldn't let me put blood and bloody hand prints on her apron though, as she said that the post-surgery and war look would be "inappropriate."
Furious Seven was a super-awesome movie, and I was so giddy to have a Date Day movie worth my time. It's the beginning of summer movie season, which is my favorite of all movie seasons, and I can't wait to dig in to what is going on this year. Furious Seven rocked, but honestly, it's all about Avengers 2. I can't wait for that film.
Tomorrow is a day of replacing power cords in my home. We are very, very, very in need of a new charging cable for our phones downstairs. Also, as I discovered as I went to power up my Nook for reading, the Nook's power cord is official kaput. It's been super sketchy since Cooper chewed on it a few months ago, but up until now, it's still performed well. I'll be visiting Barnes & Noble, I guess, to see what they've got for replacement cables. I'll bring it into Target with me too, though, in case there's something there that will work.

Spring must be here; the sweaters are folded

Hello!
My name is Kimberly, and today, I would like to introduce you to Neurosis #249, "Folded Sweaters."
They don't actually have to look like this all the time. During the winter, in fact, this portion of the closet is a clusterfuck, all kinds of sleeves and torsos hanging over the side and this way and that. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and the separation of Kimberly and Brian is tenuous.
But once spring comes around, and the sweaters go into hibernation, I have to fold them. I must fold them. They have to be folded perfectly, and stacked as such. There is a very separate space for mine and Brian's sweaters; they are stacked by sweater or sweatshirt; those worn more often are at the tops of their stacks; and fabric density is taken into account. The sweater algorithm is not a complex thing, but for me, when spring arrives, it is a necessity.
The best part is that they will look like this for a full six months. Perfection for a full half-year. Good stuff, people. Good stuff.

Oh my goodness, how cute is THAT?

ITEM!: It's that glorious time of year, when all the Easter decorations go to bed, and there are no holidays to decorate for until Halloween in October. Six wonderful months of my house being my house, with no fancy stuff going on. It's so clean ... of clutter, of course. Not actually clean.
ITEM!: There are three more apple seed sprouts in our apple seed pot outside! That adds up to four awesome apple trees in training growing in my backyard, and I'm beyond excited for this to continue. Sydney and I are checking their progress regularly. It's getting warmer though, so it's about time to switch up the watering schedule in the yard, so everything stays healthy and well-watered. Long live the apple trees!
ITEM!: I sent in my resume to another editor job last night. Also I found TWO eyelashes this morning, upon which I made a couple wishes. So, I've got that going for me. Until then, I'm still living the dream of unemployment, friends.
ITEM!: And let me tell you. If you are interested in a wormhole of cute, do an image search of "sleeping bunny." You see my winner over there, but there was no lack of adorableness going on there.

Bunnies abound, and chocolate is the best

Easter is Easter, and because of that, I let my kid eat as much, and whatever, candy she wanted out of her Easter basket all day. I didn't put the brakes on her until 7 p.m. And she motored through a chocolate bunny, two boxes of Nerds, countless Hershey kisses, and several handfuls of M&Ms. I was, honestly, super impressed with her fortitude and determination to eat as much as she could before the Freedom Candy Train pulled into the station. And bonus: no stomach ache at all, and she still ate real food, as well.
I had only one Hershey kiss, a single lemon Oreo, and a York peppermint patty as my snack today. This is woefully lacking in Easter goodness. But don't cry for me, Internet-ia. I bought, and hid, a couple of those little Baby Binks chocolate bunnies for my own personal enjoyment. I shall destroy one tomorrow, and feel good about myself for doing it.
Happy Easter, friends!

Do they still work without a disco ball?

Sydney and I are having an issue. When she wants to ride her scooter around the neighborhood, I don't have anything to do with her so I can keep up. My bike is in the backyard, thus making it inconvenient to the scooter situation, as well as then it's me going too fast. I can't run as fast as she scooters, so that's not an option. I don't know how to skateboard. And I won't have her riding around the community with no supervision.
So. Roller skates? It seems like a no-brainer solution, but I wonder about riding around in the street, and the inevitable rocks and twigs and shit that I'll run into and over. If you search, there are "outdoor" roller skates, but who knows how well they really work with "the elements." I think they would be fun, since I always thought so, and I know they'll be good on my ass and hips. My concern over the obstacles is overwhelming, once considered alongside the expense of the roller skates, which can be quite high. It would be just like me to eat it on the pavement my first day on skates, and then give up on them entirely.
But I need something that I can do to scooter around the neighborhood with her. There are actual adult-sized scooters, which would be good too, I guess. They're kinda pricey, though, as well.
Roller skates would be super cool.

Buttercup, Buttercup, Buttercup

Brian told Sydney yesterday that I had wanted her middle name to be Buttercup.
She was very vocal about it, and beyond thankful that Brian's veto power was strong enough to have it not be Buttercup.
My heart is broken.
What I'm discovering is that my kiddo has far less of a sense of whimsy than I do, and it's a bit disheartening. She wasn't having any of Buttercup being her middle name, and went on a lovely little tirade about how much smarter Brian was than I when he said no to it. I pointed out that it's a great middle name, and honors a lovely movie. She was unmoved. I said that it's one of my favorite movies of all time, and I had at least not demanded her first name be Buttercup. She failed to see the positive side of that, as well. I even made a super sad face, but she was unfazed.
I'm sure I'll be bugged about this for the rest of my life, but I still stand by it. Buttercup would have been an awesome middle name.
I guess it'll have to do for the next puppy's middle name ... male or female. I don't care. Someone is going to have Buttercup as their middle name.

And we have apples!! After a fashion, of course...

Well, there it is! Do you see it? Right there; the little green leaves? Pretty awesome, right?
Sydney and I are so exited to present our little apple seed sprouting up in the soil! He's the first of a few sprouts (we hope), as we planted several seeds in the pot. And we're so damn excited that I Instagrammed the thing and plastered it on Facebook so everyone could share in our glory and delight. There is a second sprout ready to break through on the other side of the pot, and I now have more hope than ever that we may see some real apple action.
Of course, Sydney thinks we should have apples within the next few months, or even a year, but I've tried my best to explain that it'll probably be several years, and we won't be able to move and travel with the tree once it gets to a certain size. (In the long run, I guess this may not have been such a good idea.) ... But until then, we will love, nurture and protect our little sproutlets.
Oh, don't worry, I'll keep you updated.

And happily, no April Fool's

ITEM!: This April is going to be pretty awesome. I've got a couple little trips planned, and plenty of time hanging out with family and friends. It will all be good stuff, and I'm excited to get to it.
ITEM!: I finished the Princess Bride book, by Cary Elwes. It was just as easy to read as I figured it would be, and was light on the brain, as well. I've only got two books on my Pile right now, though I discovered another to be purchased for the Nook. I'm at a loss as to what I should read next. Maybe I'll let Sydney or Cooper choose for me.
ITEM!: Brian and I watched Into the Storm tonight. I recorded it from HBO or something, and it's been sitting on the DVR for a week or so. Anyway, let me tell you something: it is not a good movie. The characters spend the entirety of the film saying silly things, taking a really long time to make decisions, and doing ridiculous activities. There are logistical holes a mile wide, jarring continuity issues, and so many weird things afoot. This movie gets labeled as "I watched it so you don't have to."
ITEM!: I almost forgot to pick up my kid from school. ... I'm a good mom.