Happy New Year!

All my family is busy playing a new round of the game BLOKUS and I have escaped to the back bedroom/converted office. I am not a fan of games that don't require much interaction. In fact, I prefer games where the whole object of the game is to interact. Games that require a long duration of stratagem leave me bored and frustrated within the first 5 minutes. I want a game where my whit and charm are assets, not distractions. Someone said we were going to play "4 Men on a Couch" and then nothing happened. So I came to the place where my occasional bouts of whit and charm are actually appreciated by you, my cyberspace audience. Lately I haven't felt witty nor charming, so that would be the real reason I haven't written in a while. In fact, I think the term to express my current state of mind is "cranky-tired" a term used most often to describe an overstimulated toddler, but is, in fact, a true description of my current self.

So, on to more pressing matters.... HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Here we are in the midst of about to be 11 cranky-tired kids (which would be another reason I have escaped to the back bedroom) trying to bring this new year in right. And this little bit of quiet time has caused me to reflect on the past year and all our accomplishments:

• We moved 3 times in 4 months -- a feat I wouldn't wish on anyone
• We were homeless the whole month of July -- which made moving into our teeny, minuscule new abode a little less foreboding
• Claire somehow potty trained herself in the midst of all the chaotic moving -- and anyone who knows my history with potty-training our Alex knows that I had no hand in this accomplishment
• Alex started kindergarten -- finding a new passion for letters, numbers, and, of course, Monarch butterflies
• We made the metamorphosis from a normal, job-holding, income making, two car, medically insured family into the new unemployed, full-time student, one car, state funded insured family
• Cory thrived and the rest of the family survived the first semester of graduate school
• Cory found a passion for rugby and mass transit transportation
• Kelli has actually seen the light in the advantage of getting 5 loads of laundry done at one time

I remember coining the phrase "We'll do great in 2008" at this time last year and now I know that was way too high an expectation. I am glad to say I feel less pressure with the new phrase "We'll be fine in 2009!" I think we can accomplish "fine." "Fine" is right up my alley.

So our goals in 2009, you ask? Well, without consulting any member of my family, here are my projected goals for them:

Claire: Learn to be a more independent girl so she can be a BIG help and be more willing to share her "momma"

Alex: Learn to be a little more self-entertained and not so much of a bullying big brother

Cory: Find a great internship this summer that won't take him too far from home and will also allow him to take some time off, especially in the month of June

Kelli: Stop being so cranky-tired -- I am in my second trimester after-all. Yes, baby #3 is on its way!

Surprise!!

Next Week Will Be Better, Right?

It is almost midnight in the land of destitute abyss. I haven't seen a living soul outside of my family in over 36 hours. And when your family is either A) studying for finals B) hacking up what sounds like a hair ball or C) just getting over pink eye/dripping green ooze from her nose/throwing sleep-deprived tantrums -- it isn't necessarily fun. I actually got a nap in today. Thank you, Cory, for doing the impossible task of putting in a movie, falling asleep on the couch for 4 hours, and letting the kids run rampant so "Mom could have a little rest." I did manage to grab a 45 minute snooze before Claire came in to my darkened bedroom to first, hand me her stuffed dog so I could "sleep better" and next, to hand me her yellow Snow White underwear that she couldn't quite manage to get back on by herself. But, a nap is a nap, so I cannot for the life of me fall asleep right now. I know the consequences of taking more than a 15 minute "power snooze" and, like most Sunday nights, I either stay awake "working" on the computer, watch late night TV, or simply take a Tylenol PM that lulls me into a land of blinking lights and crazy dreams for 8 hours. I don't feel like being drugged up tonight and my last week's experience of watching "Sophie's Choice" (the most depressing of movies I have ever encountered at 2:00 a.m.) has left me wary of Turner Classic Movies. So, I find myself here "working." I don't have the energy to find my camera to download pictures of Nana and Papa's visit last weekend, so you'll have to deal with my rants of this week.

And what a week it has been. The weather was beautiful the week before, really. All you needed was a jacket and to not stand in the shade to be comfortable. But the weather has taken a turn for the worst. I blame all of my family's sickness on our brisk late morning walk to school last Monday. The wind was howling and we had to walk with our heads down and bodies leaning forward into the wind just to get there. I envisioned my little family as pioneers crossing the plains and know for a fact that I would not have made it. I would have made a bee-line for any place warmer and probably settled in the south where they sat on their porches drinking mint-juleps and complaining of the humidity. (I've watched Gone With the Wind.) The Lord certainly knew what he was doing when he made me born in this time period of air-conditioning and heat and portable DVDs. (Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm tired and have no purpose in writing.) Back to the weather.... It's COLD!! I think the weatherman even used the term "blustery" to describe it and there have been reports of snow in the Bay Area. I keep reminding myself that we could be in Michigan or New Hampshire and I say a little prayer of thanks. Well, the snot from Claire started running on Tuesday and then the pink eye was discovered on Wednesday. We were immediately quarantined (okay, I'm exaggerating -- Claire just couldn't play with her friends for a while and we are lucky that the dreadful eye disease did not spread to any other member of the family.) But, just as Claire started to feel better and (maybe the term should be she looked less contagious) Alex starts this hacking thing on Saturday afternoon. Now the only way to describe this cough is to say that it is a steady, unalterable, monotonous tickle that sounds like he has hair caught right in the back of his throat. This isn't a new cough, we just haven't heard it since he got his adenoids taken out 2 years ago. And it is unstoppable. No drug can penetrate it, no amount of steam from the shower can defy it. It just keeps on coming. So, last night we missed the ward Christmas party where Alex was to play a shepherd, we stayed up all night comforting the tired-of-hacking child, and today we missed church. At least 3 of us did. And with the rain coming down, the wind gusting, and no sign of the sun, it feels like a ghost town in our little student housing village. Hence the "destitute abyss." But, with the advice from a friend, we gave Alex some chamomile tea with honey, borrowed a working humidifier, and rubbed him all over with Vicks. He happens to be sleeping at this moment. I don't know if it is the combination of treatments or the fact that the tickle in his throat got as tired as he is, but he's asleep. And things are looking brighter....

Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to venture outside of our 1002 sq ft tomorrow. We're out of toilet paper and eggs, so one way or another I'm going to see a real human being. Maybe the cashier at CostCo would like to join me for a hot dog value meal and a slushie so I can get some adult conversation in....

Our own Thanksgiving Story

This Thanksgiving we found ourselves more in common with the original Thanksgiving story (meaning the pilgrims and the Indians) than we have in years past. So join with me now as we put our own twist on the customary Thanksgiving story.


We the Wiltbanks, hereafter referred to as the Pilgrims, were a wandering and lost group in our new land. Aboard our teeny red Hyundai, we have traveled far to escape the persecutions of unaffordable housing and glass-ceiling jobs to gain a higher education (so hopefully we can afford any dang house we want) and have landed on Berkeley Rock in the fall of 2008. Although this new life is full of bright prospects and new opportunities, the Pilgrims felt slightly lonely and farther away than ever from the comforts of their homeland -- be it Arizona or San Diego.


As with all Thanksgiving stories, there are the kind and helpful Indians. Enter the Nicolaysen Family in our little story. As with our earlier counterparts, the earlier settlers (us) would not have made it the first year without the generosity of the Nicolaysens who, although not related to us (and not even slightly Indian) they are just like family. The feast was arranged to commemorate the 4 months of us simply "making it through." And it consisted of all the traditional foods: turkey (soaked in brine to bring out the best possible flavor), stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green jello salad -- all of which was not made by a single pilgrim. Mother Pilgrim (me) did, however, bring a humble offering of home made rolls, which I must admit turned out well.

Not only did the Indians in our story provide us with a bounteous meal, the Nicolaysens opened their doors to us where we spent a blissful 3 days in the comforts of a real home. We, the Pilgrims, were amazed at all the luxuries at our fingertips: the guest room was literally the size of our apartment, there was a fully-equipped and stocked kitchen, and there was a lovely downstairs theater room that was the gathering spot for the children when they were not playing dress-up (Claire) or kung-fu masters (Alex.)

No wonder Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! Food, food, and more food, accompanied with good friends and my own little family. Some how I don't think Thanksgiving would have been quite as lovely if I had attempted to cook a turkey myself or if it were spent in the confines of our already cramped and much too familiar abode.

Thank you, thank you, Nicolaysen Family!!

I will quote the not so famous words of Abraham Lincoln in his Thanksgiving Proclamation:

"[All our blessings] are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."

AMEN

Birthdays!!

This is the week-o-birthdays in our house -- Claire's was on Thursday and Cory's quickly followed it on Saturday. Ever since Claire was born, her birthday has overshadowed her father's. I still don't think I'm forgiven for being in the hospital for her birth on his special day. I tried really hard this year to make both of their days special yet equal. Let's see how I did:

Claire:

Allowed her to wake up whenever she wanted -- which was conveniently for me at 8:30

Cory:

Allowed him the same privilege which he stretched until 9:50 am.

Claire:

Woke up to a living room full of balloons with which to toss up and hit and throw around and be merry with.

Cory:

Woke up to those same balloons with which to step over, kick away, and mutter under his breath about.

Claire:

Her first present was a new play-dress that she immediately put on to see how it twirled -- a test she does with all her dresses. It passed so she deemed it worthy to wear.

Cory:

Didn't have to get dressed at all if he didn't want to -- a luxury of having a birthday on Saturday.

Claire:

Got a special outing with just her and a friend of her own choosing. After talking about it all week and anticipating a trip to Fairyland in Oakland, we were disappointed to find out it wasn't open due to their new blasted "winter schedule." We made do with a little kid's museum close to home and it was just as exciting because best friend Sydney was there.

Cory:

Got a special outing to wherever he wanted with whomever he wanted (thank goodness he chose me and thank goodness for friends to watch the kids because he chose to NOT have them be invited!) We went into the city yet again for a visit to China Town.

Claire:

Had her choice of Happy Meals from McDonald's (a rare treat for a non-fast-food enthusiast mother) and she chose Chicken McNuggets, of course, which came with a toy that won't stop singing "I want to Move it, Move it..." over and over again.

Cory:

Had his choice of meals in China Town and he ordered the Peking Duck which I now have officially decided that I don't like. Bring on the lemon chicken, the orange chicken or even the sweet and sour, but my philosophy is the less authentic the better. I did, however, do my best to eat with chop sticks and think I would lose a lot of weight if those were my only utensils. It takes me so long to eat and I only get down 2 bites before I have a cramp in my hand and have to take a break. Maybe I'll try a chopstick diet. Cory enjoyed the duck, however , and proclaimed it the best he's had outside of Beijing.

Claire:

As she ordered, she got an all pink cake with all pink frosting -- with sprinkles on top. (how girly!) and she help me make it so it will receive no rewards for appearance.

Cory:

Got a doughnut cake as conceived by Alex. 3 tiers of doughnuts with candles all over it. A dream come true. Did I say we're on sugar-overload over here?

Claire:

Her big present was a little Dora tricycle that I searched and searched for on Craig's list. She has been the only little girl in our "neighborhood" without some wheels and has been forced to push along her play grocery cart at lightning speeds to keep up with the little kids. Now she can ride in style. Thank goodness for Craig's list for our budget's sake.

Cory:

After I searched and searched on Craig's list for a big bike, went to the "shady part of town" for a used bike sale, and went in vain to Target for a road bike, I gave up the search. He has to settle with a subscription to Wall Street Journal. That's almost as cool as a bike, right?

Claire:

Got the movie "Sleeping Beauty" that is "just like Sydney's" and we watched it and twirled our dresses with Aurora.

Cory:

Requested a trip to Blockbuster where he could pick any movie he wanted without any comments or input from me. I guess he hasn't appreciated my choice of movies from NetFlix lately. What grown man wouldn't want to watch Dream Girls on his birthday? He chose an artsy/surreal film called "Across the Universe" and I am keeping my promise not to make any comments on it. In truth, I don't even know what to make of it. I was never into the psychedelic Beatles songs and a little weirded out by the whole experience.

Claire:

With all her day's activities she never got a nap which made for the after-effect of the sugar let down even more dramatic. I think I have a picture of her throwing a tantrum with a birthday crown on her head -- classic!

Cory:

After waking up at 10:00 in the morning you would think that a nap would be out of the question. But he opted out of my "take the kids bowling" plan in order to take a luxurious snooze. 2 1/2 hours later he emerged! And that's classic Cory.

A few pictures of the festivities:

Claire and her new bike!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Cory blowing out the candles of his "doughnut cake!"

Catch Up!

From my journal writing days I remember that if I happen to miss writing for a considerable amount of time that it is no use to go back and try to catch up on the time lost. I get so hung up on trying to recover the past that I give up on the present and words don't come so fast or so fluently. So the two week lapse of blog entries is just that -- a lapse. Too bad because we really had a great time those past two weeks. I feel bad that the world will never know that

• we had our first family guests over for a visit (thanks to my cousin's husband's training in San Jose.) We had a blast discovering our new surroundings like we were tourists. Thanks for the great times, Kwissi!!
• Halloween was a success thanks to our cousins' visit (don't get me started on my feelings about this absurd holiday that I would rather not recognize but do so for my children's sake.) Having people around who actually like the day was a great change.
• We had a soaking wet adventure the day after Halloween in the city (aka San Fran and now pronounced si-tay by our family) and Claire has a hacking cough to prove it.
• We earned out second "warm fuzzy" prize -- an ice cream party -- and we don't mess around when it comes to ice cream. Check this out:

We're now working on our next prize of going to see Madagascar 2 in the theaters.

• And Daylight Savings Time came as complete surprise to us. That will probably be the only time we will ever have the privilege of parking in one of the 10 parking spaces that comprise our church's parking lot. I guess you can take the girl out of the non-time-changing Arizona, but you can't take the non-time change out of the girl! This week has been dedicated to getting my children to stop waking up an hour earlier. I think we achieved that today when they came into our room at 8:45. Well done, kids -- you each get 4 warm fuzzies!!

Well, so much for trying to play catch up. See, it never works.

Our Week in Pictures

Here is just a visual update of what we've been up to. In between finals and some sickness, we managed to have some fun:

One of the benefits of living here in diversity-land is the opportunity to experience so many different cultures. Our neighbors from Israel were celebrating the Jewish holiday Sukkot and invited us to join in the festivities. There is Claire sitting in their temporary housing called a sukkah where they eat, drink, and be merry (and invite friends over for dinner) for 8 days.

I think we've mentioned that there are great parks here in Berkeley. But we now found our favorite (or at least Alex's favorite.) Check out this huge concrete slide built around this incredible tree. That's Alex walking up those steep/precarious steps.
And here's Alex coming down. He's definitely our thrill seeker. He even went down on a piece of cardboard so he would go even faster!!

Now that they have studied Monarch butterflies at school, Alex is obsessed. Here are Alex and Claire saying goodbye to the last of 3 butterflies that his class raised from caterpillars. (Do you see it on the pink flower?) And now that's all Alex will talk about. We've at last convinced him that he cannot have a pet butterfly, but now he says he's going to ask Santa for a Monarch butterfly toy. Where in the heck do you think Santa could find such a thing!?! (Any suggestions?)

Halloween is in full swing already around here. Claire was going to be Tinker Bell and we even have a borrowed, hand-made costume ready for her. But she screamed the moment she put it on. Then she was going to use Alex's costume from 2 years ago and be a frog which she wore around for a few days. But, her "best friend" Sydney decided to be a ballerina, so Claire of course changed her mind again. We'll see what she decides to be on the actual day.

Here we are at the ward Halloween party. At the last minute, we all decided to dress up. Cory is a Suns fan, Alex is a pirate, Claire stuck to the ballerina gig for once, and I borrowed Cory's uniform and came as a rugby player. This picture was taken right before Claire had an absolute meltdown and we had to step outside and talk about how the "shadows" weren't going to get her. Halloween can be very traumatizing for a little girl -- I remember.

And yes, I did allude to Cory and rugby. He has joined the business school rugby team to add some flavor to this whole school experience. Here is pre-game, confident Cory right before they played for the first time.

And here is post-game, newly enlightened, dejected and bruised Cory. His injuries included a crack to the head, a bloody nose, a scraped and bruised leg, and a feels-like-it-but-isn't cracked rib. And after all that, not one game won. But, that's not the point is it?

It's about the camaraderie, the fellowship that men can only achieve while interacting in such a barbarous, bloodthirsty, ruthless way. Go Bears!!

San Francisco in 3 hours or less...

This was fervid, flustered, frenzied finals week here in Berzerkeley. It was a crazy time full of lots of cramming, juggling, and sleep depravity. (And, Cory was probably stressed, too.) But we survived it, all of us did! So in commemoration, the adults in our family (Cory and I) decided to celebrate by having a night on the town. Now, I'm not just talking about this little town of Albany where our address resides, nor the bohemian metropolis of Berkeley. No, I am talking about THE town across the bay -- San Francisco. Thanks to a babysitting swap we were kidless last night (that is to say, between the hours of 5:00 - 8:00) and we have been dreaming of hitting San Francisco sans children. Oh, the places we'd go, the things we could do without 2 rugrats trailing behind! Well, it wasn't as carefree as we would like and the frantic-ness of the week seemed to carry over into our relaxing time. But we did it. So, here is the breakdown of our night:

5:00 - 5:10: drop kids off at their "Friday Night Party," expressing gratitude and good wishes to our poor friends who will spend an evening with 8 children under the age of 5.

5:10 pm: give each other a high five as we speed off to the nearest BART station. We'll be going into the city in style. There's nothing like public transportation!

5:11 pm: come to a screeching halt at a traffic light that could have been avoided if Kelli were driving.

5:11- 5:15 pm: proceed to argue about which streets are the best to take and why a particular BART station was picked by Cory

5:20 arrive at BART station just to find out that the train we wanted left 2 minutes before (which would have been avoided if Kelli were driving, as Kelli pointed out) and that the next train would arrive in 13 minutes.

5:20 - 5:31: stop talking all together

5:32: Kelli apologizes for being a "nag" and decides to leave the "I-told-you-so's" at the bench in the station.

5:33: happy, loving couple enter the train bound for San Fran (and we get on, too)

5:37-6:08: enjoy a pleasant ride full of comments on our fellow passengers and give each other another high five when we hear a crying baby that doesn't belong to us.

6:08 arrive in downtown, making sure to check the schedule for returning trains and find out that the last train back to Berkeley leaves at 7:18. That gives us an hour and 10 minutes -- we realize we have to make this fast!!

6:10 emerge from the underground train station to a world of bright lights and lots of shopping. A Nordstrom's! A Macy's!! And the biggest Gap in the world!!! What, no time to shop?!? What, no money to shop?!?

6:10-6:20: blend into the massive wave of people strolling down the streets, contemplating where to eat. We pass a Blondie's pizza (which is FAMOUS and right across the street from the Gap) and it is in the running, but Cory wants to see more options and we already decided that since he is the one who actually took 3 tests 3 days in a row, he can decide the menu. Meanwhile I am sending him subliminal messages of "choose Blondie's, choose Blondie's"

6:20 Cory decides he wants Thai food (bye, bye Blondie's) and we rush across the street to the one we saw one block away. Rush inside and find out they only take cash (like every other restaurant in the city) and I remember seeing a Wells Fargo ATM another block away.

6:25- 6:35: wait in a ridiculously slow line for the ATM machine and while waiting plan the fastest legal way to get cash out of it: Debit card in hand in correct insert position -- check. PIN ready with fingers nimble to type it in -- check. Amount of $40 agreed upon and request "no receipt" -- check. The planning paid off and we made it in the record time of 24 seconds!! Another high five!

6:37: arrive at the restaurant that is the size of our apartment (TEENY) only to find out there is a 5 minute wait.

6:45: sit down to eat at a table the size of our computer screen (cozy, but no time for romance.) We're ready to order since we conveniently used the waiting time to decide. I have decided to let the waitress decide for me since the menu, although complete with pictures, is still incomprehensible to me.

6:46: ask waitress which is best noodle dish, she says #16 and I order it. Cory confidently orders chicken pad Thai.

6:50 one dish arrives which I assume is mine, even though it looks nothing like the photo in the menu and I start to eat. It is the most delicious concoction I have put in my mouth all week. The next dish arrives which turns out to be what I actually ordered, but pales in comparison to what I have been chewing. Cory graciously suggests that we share both plates.

6:50-7:00: scarfing is well under way. Eat, eat, no time for chopsticks, a spoon would be better, just shovel it in!

7:00 with mouths full and without even breaking bite, we compliment the chef and ask for the check, adding that "we are in a bit of a rush."

7:05 We are out of the restaurant in record time. Only 13 minutes to book it back to the BART station, buy tickets, find right train, and make it before the doors slide shut.

7:12: Take a quick picture of a trolley to prove that we were actually in the city that night. (see picture above)

7:13: Cory is giving change to a homeless dude. What?!? Very altruistic and all, but we're in a hurry!!

7:14: buy the tickets back in same lightning speed as we got cash from the ATM machine. We are pros!

7:15: Cory runs into a fellow Hass classmate that Cory has been impersonating from the first day of class and I have to meet him to find out that he actually does do a great impression of him, complete with an accent from Portugal. We exchange pleasantries and run down the stairs

7:17: We find the right train with a minute to spare. What, we can actually stand still?

7:18-7:49: Sit down to go home. The amount of food we inhaled hits us and we sit in a stupor. We have enough energy to talk about the pregnant-looking old man, the very obvious transvestite, how young the college kids look and act, and how we can improve in our efficiency when we attempt to tackle San Francisco again.
8:00 Pick up our now darling little angels (it's amazing what a little time away can do) who haven't even been phased by our absence. Alex is actually ready to get out a sleeping bag and stay the night.

So, we made it!! And it feels like such a blur that it doesn't feel like we went at all. Thank goodness for the picture and the indigestion -- our 2 souvenirs from that night on the town!!

Back to Reality!

I've officially fallen off the wagon. I had such a good routine going. Our home was like a well-oiled machine. People were fed, bathed, and to places on time. I was on top of the laundry and the dishes, nothing was too piled up and I found time to exercise in the morning and relax in the evening. All that has changed. I don't know if the falling off occurred due to my weekend trip to San Diego, my incessant reading of the last book in the Twilight series or a combination of the two. But, it has happened. My once clean sink (at least first thing in the morning and right before bed) has turned into a dumping ground for all that's dirty and I have only washed that which was necessary out of it. My exercise routine of going to the Village gym 3 days a week has turned into 3 minutes of jump 'n jacks during the commercial breaks of The Biggest Loser (Jillian said it was better than nothing.) And the weekly menu that I created for the month and used for one week has turned into anything last minute that requires a heaping of ketchup to taste decent. And the weekly blog writing has turned into hours of reading other people's more interesting and harmonious blogs and playing mindless computer games. I know that the first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem. So, next week I'll dust off that dust-pan and try, try try again.



My trip to San Diego was a success. After seeing the great price on Southwest to fly in-state it was hard to turn down an opportunity to go. And Cory practically dared me to do it -- so I did. I traveled to San Diego by myself with no purpose other than getting out of town and enjoying time with some old friends. But now that I'm officially homesick for San Diego, was it worth it? Yes it was. And because we learn a little more with each new experience, this is what I learned through my recent travels:

• Southwest is a dream airline to fly on when you are alone. The cattle-driving line up was transformed into the ice cream square on my way to a fiesta in Dora's Candyland. The service of cran-apple juice and peanuts was like a full-course meal and the waiting area seats in the airport felt like a luxurious cloud to rest my weary head. Traveling is so nice when you are not the quintessential example of unruly children/exasperated mother of which I am accustomed to being.
• Which dessert is the best at Claim Jumper? Well, after trying them all in one night at one table I can honestly say that The Brownie Finale is my favorite. I love that everything is fat-free on vacations.
• And it is so much better being mistaken for a Senior in high school than being mistaken for a senior citizen. (No, little Drew, I am NOT your grandma.)
• The Jamba Juice on Carmel Mountain Rd. in San Diego is tops in customer service. Did you know that they will make you flavors that are NOT on the menu? Well, I do. And if we had stayed there long enough I think they would have created a new flavor named after me....How does "Kelli's Caribbean Cooler" sound?
• And there were tons of new things I learned about my friends and many, too many things they learned about me while playing "Loaded Questions." But as long as you don't use it against me, thanks for the laughs, Misha, Mamy, and Darcene!!
• The Gap jeans that used to be my favorite are not my favorite anymore after wearing them for 3 days in a row. Fashion takes a hit when you are trying to travel with only a carry-on.
• Pedicures and nail polishes are not meant to last for 3 whole months (the amount of time I've been away from SD.) So I should probably realize I can A) find a place up here to have them done or B) do it myself.
• And finally, San Diego still feels like home. We'll see if we ever get back there!

Well, on to a bigger and better week and Back to Reality!! My "to do" list has grown proportionately to my procrastination, but I think I might be up for the task. "Breaking Dawn" is over, thank goodness! (nice resolution and all, but way too time-consuming) and I had my week of recovery. Monday here I come!!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

You thought I had a transformation -- check out Claire!

Actually, I just need an excuse to write so that up-close shot of me from the last entry will be replaced by something much cuter!

I moved on from my hair, but hair still seems to be the hot topic around here. Check out the conversation I was priviledged to catch this morning:

I had just finished Claire's ponytail off this morning with a good amount of hairspray.

Enter Cory.

Cory: Hey, Claire, can I use some of that after you.

Claire: (giggles) No, Dad!

Cory: Why not?

Claire: Because you have funny hair.

Cory: (egging her on) My hair is funny?

Claire: (clarifying) You have really short hairs.

Enter Alex

Alex: (authoritatively) No, Claire, Dad doesn't have no hair.

Cory: (feigned surprise) WHAT?!?

Alex: Yeah. Dad has no hair. But I have hair.

Claire: (defensively) I have hair.

Alex: (to Claire) Yeah, I have hair, you have hair, and Mom has hair. Dad has no hair.

Claire: (talking to no one in particular, maybe her new "friend" Roo) Claire has hair, Alex has hair, and Mama has hair.

End scene.

Thank goodness none of us are too sensitive around here!

Bye, Bye Blonde!

As poor students we have been forced to forgo most of our previous luxuries in life. The latest to go is far more personal than all the rest. Say goodbye to the too-expensive, nice salon acquired, sun kissed highlights....And say hello to my#7 medium, mocha-brown new do!




What have I done?!?!






I am easily swayed by 3 words -- "untried," "unprecedented," and most importantly "cheaper." Those three words have never served me well when ordering from a menu, so I have no idea why I risked it on my hair! But from wanting to explode out of the salon chair to wash out the bright purple chemical to scaring myself every time I looked in a mirror, after 3 days it's starting to grow on me. I will always be a blonde at heart, so this change is totally temporary. But, do you think I can pull it off? Say hello to the more economically friendly, brown-haired me!

Alex vs. Claire

No, it isn't a competition. Just a random sampling of what my kiddos are up to lately. Enjoy!

Alex:
He figured out that he could bug his sister just by looking at her. It's a powerful tool only used by the most proficient of big brothers.
Claire:
Figures that everyone who looks at her is doing it to bug her. The phrase "Stop looking at me!" is hurled at everyone under the age of 5.
Alex:
He thinks he can speak Korean and tries it out with any Asian he encounters. He has a theory that if he speaks out of the corner of his mouth and yells (yes, yells) some gibberish in their same intonation that our little Korean neighbors can understand him. I can't decide if they feel this is totally offensive or not, but we're trying to break him of this practice.
Claire:
She thinks that if Alex isn't yelling at her than it's great and joins in with the gibberish. There is a lot of well-intentioned yelling going on around here.
Alex:
He soaks in any information he gets about bugs. This being an area I try to avoid, I am no use. Thank goodness that's what kindergarten is for. He's added the word "aphid" (pronounced ay-fid) into his vocabulary. Since Alex has been known to make up words I ignored him for awhile until he used it quite frequently and in the same context each time. Only after the teacher sent home a cheat sheet of ladybug facts did I find out that an aphid is a pesky little insect that ladybugs love to eat. I guess I shouldn't have taken offense to his earlier comment of "Mmm, this dinner smells like aphids."
Claire:
She is now obsessed with Disney princesses. (It goes to show that nature beats out nurture.) She is either pretending that she is a princess or that one of them has come over for a playdate. I never know if she is talking to me or not when she and I are the only ones around. Case in point: I put a dress on her and she twirled and said "Now I'm pretty just like you." I was flattered by the comment (when I was still in my bathrobe and had no makeup on) so I said "thank you." She looked at me with disgust and said, "Not you, Mom. I was talking to Princess Jasmine."
Alex:
Acts like discipline is a new tactic in our house and pushes the limits any way he can. My ingenious "put your hands on your head and listen carefully" talk is becoming a lost art on him. But he is motivated by the whole "oh no, you lost one lightn'ing mcqueen, do you want to lose another one?" routine. Thank goodness he has 5 of them, but insists they are not complete without each other. It's very effective.
Claire:
She's really getting into the whole discipline thing and mocks me constantly. I overheard her say to another one of her make-believe friends, "Simba, put your hands on your head and listen carefully! There will be no screaming in the car or on the horse. Understand?!?"
Alex:
He is really enjoying kindergarten. I no longer have to bribe him with gummy bears to tell me about his day. He has really taken to his teacher's ways of teaching him how to write letters and numbers. He loves "homework" and you can catch him muttering "big fat belly and walk away" when writing his now-favorite number 2.
Claire:
She really enjoys time to herself while Alex is at kindergarten. She can play with all her animals and dolls without fear of having them thrown across the room or stepped on by an whirlwind ambush that is her brother. I caught her in the act of playing the other day and captured it on video for all of you who have wondered what she does while Alex is at school. I am blessed to have at least one of my kids be self-entertained.

Alex:
Is a really good helper around the house. I am definitely not a task master (and really struggle with thinking of jobs that I would be willing for my kids to help me with) but he does the normal things like make the bed, put away the silverware, and dusting without complaining and with some finesse. He has even started sleeping on top of his covers so he won't mess up his bed, a strategy I remember using myself when I was little.
Claire:
Struggles with helping because she is so easily sidetracked. Before she starts her "job" I have to put on the "Mamma Mia" soundtrack at her request (I have taught my children well!) But today as she was "helping" me, she threw down the swiffer duster and said, "I'll dance and you dust." It was a fair trade, I thought, seeing that she wasn't helping in the first place. One day she'll be as good at dusting while dancing as her mother is.
Alex & Claire:
Alex loves, loves, loves his cars and Claire loves being a girl. So they have combined their two passions and have invented a hair salon for all the cars in the house. They take a bucket of toy cars, squirt bottles, spray gel, and combs outside and make each car look real spiffy. I love to see them use their imaginations and actually work together on something. Those moments of mutual pleasure are few and far between, but this "car wash" thing has been building bridges this week.

Why is it the times when they are most apt to get along is when they shouldn't be? Now that they share a room, bedtime is at 7:30 but more often than not they are still up playing and laughing at 9:30pm. Why is it that they can't ride 15 minutes in the car without someone hurting someone else but they can spend 2 hours joyfully not sleeping?

In order to promote the getting along times we have incorporated the use of a warm-fuzzy jar -- a compilation of ideas from my elementary school days. The idea is they can add a warm-fuzzy (a little puffy ball) to the jar when I catch them doing something nice. When the jar is full we can have a special treat as a family. We already went to a "pizza party" at the famous Zachary's Pizza here in Berkeley (I looked around for a local Chuck E. Cheese or something more kid-friendly and exciting but I couldn't find one and pizza is pizza, right?) Now we're working towards an ice cream party. We'll let you know if that ever happens. The way things are going it won't be for a while.

The Update

Okay, this is a REAL blog -- enough of the social soapbox that I'm apt to crawl upon. This entry goes out to the grandparents and faraway friends that would like more details of what goes on and how life is in our new place. I think I can summarize things by creating two categories:


Things we've gotten used to:

• The train -- we hardly ever notice it anymore unless it's right when we're trying to fall asleep and the horn blares for a continuous 30 seconds until it fades into the distance.
• Not having a dishwasher -- I really never expected to get used to washing all things by hand, but there's something very soothing about the white noise of the running water and the fact that I'm left alone for a half hour because nobody wants to help me with the dishes. Occasionally I find a spot on my glass (or some dried-on food on the bottom of a plate) and it's a little disconcerting that the blame can't be placed on an appliance -- I am the appliance!
• Being a ONE car family. Cory can probably count on both hands the number of times he's ridden in a car since we first moved here. He takes the city bus to and from school every day, bless his heart! And, thanks to the close proximity of the school, park and any friends' house, I rarely drive either.
• 1002 sq ft of living space. When we first arrived here I thought it would be impossible to function rationally in such tight quarters, but we have survived. And as long as I remember this is TEMPORARY and our family doesn't grow, it will be fine.

Things I'll never get used to:

• Not having a washer and dryer! The laundry room is just 2 doors down from our place and, yes, I can get 5 loads of laundry done at once, but I hate, hate, hate the fact that I have to pay money for doing a household chore that I hate doing in the first place! At the beginning of this month I went to the bank and got $50 in quarters and it better last through September, because I will NOT pay more than $50 to get laundry done unless I'm paying someone else to do it for me.
• NO garbage disposal. You know what they say, you never appreciate something until it's gone. So, if you have a garbage disposal go to your sink right now, turn on the water, and flip the switch to give that puppy a crank for me. I never knew how annoying soggy, leftover cereal could be until I couldn't just wash it down the sink. Claire has been banned from cereal in the morning due to her tendency to never finish a bowl.
• And I will never get used to Sundays in Berkeley. Our ward is far from conventional. I am starting to look forward to the riveting theological debates in Sunday School and Relief Society, but I will never get used to the many women who wear pants. That's it, call me "old-fashioned!" (and if you happen to be one of those women who does wear a pair of trousers or culottes, please don't take offense and stop coming. Better to come to church in pants than stay at home in a dress, I always say)

And for those of you who NEED a visual update--


These are the geese who live in the soccer field of Alex's school. We walk past them everyday. Pretty cool, huh?

Alex and Claire at Park Day today. Every week we go to a different park, there are so many to choose from!

And this is the view from the park that overlooks the bay. It was a gorgeous day today!

Faux Mother

Talking to my friend the other day I coined a new phrase: "faux mother", you know, like "faux leather." Really, I can be quite creative, if I do say so myself, and this term would be amusing if I were not using it to describe myself. Definition, please?

faux-mother [foh muhth-er]

-noun

a female parent who is just waiting for the skills of organization, ingenious discipline techniques, and savvy decorating ideas to suddenly come to surface without much effort on her part and one who doesn't pretend to have or desire such skills

see also, plother as in "play mother"

This realization came to me as my friend was informing me that she was off to can pears that day from fruit that had been harvested from her own trees. You know, the exact thing my own mom used to do when I was little. The smell of homemade pearsauce simmering in my kitchen is something my children will never experience, I am sad to say. Neither will they know the feeling of putting on an original Halloween costume made just for them.

But, in my attempt to become closer to my own ideal concept of a "real mom" I have enlisted the help of a new kid-friendly schedule and an old-fashioned alarm clock. The moment I became a mother (or more realistically, the moment I was put on bed rest while pregnant with Alex) the alarm clock has become a mere decoration on my nightstand. But at the beginning of this school year and in commemoration of the fact that I now have a kid in school, I actually set it to wake me up at the wicked hour of 7:00 am. (And it's really earlier than that because I always set my clock ahead at least 10-15 minutes.) And there's really no reason to wake up that early because Alex is in afternoon kindergarten and the kids don't wake up until 8:30. So, by the time they're up I am showered and dressed and even have some alone time in the morning so I can face them fresh and ready! (Not a new concept for the born-to-be-mothers out there, but an epiphany for me.) Cory thought it would only last for 3 days, tops, but I've been doing it for 2 weeks now -- only one more week to go until it's a habit. (3 consecutive weeks or 21 days make for a habit, so says my own far-from-faux mom.) Now if I fit exercising and scripture reading into this whole equation it would be perfect. But you know what they say about running faster than you can walk....

I'll keep you posted on the more advanced skills of sewing, canning, and freezing. But in the meantime I'll stick to what I know -- singing silly songs, reading bedtime stories, and just plain wingin' it.

A Long Time Coming...

After 4 years apart, the roomie reunion was in full force this weekend up in Grant's Pass, OR. And can you believe it, we still have the same taste in clothes -- this coordination of dresses for church was NOT planned!!

It was a struggle to make the trip -- have I mentioned my two kids are not good travelers? And road construction for half of the 6 hours did not help at all. But I would have crawled there on my hands and knees to see you, Erica!! Okay, maybe that's a tad bit dramatic. I would gladly endure another 6 hours in our cramped little car that has no DVD player, help Claire pee on the side of the road again, and drink another disgusting strawberry-banana smoothie from Jack-in-the-Box to see you.

We had a blast reliving some of the most memorable times in our 4 years of rooming together, some of which are better forgotten. And our husbands were good sports to go along with the fun. Now, some things you should know about Erica and I -- we were engaged 2 weeks apart, married 2 weeks apart, and our first 2 kids are both 2 weeks apart from each other. (She really messed up when she went on to baby #3 -- didn't she know I wasn't ready?) Well, the close proximity of the ages of our children made for a great weekend-long play date for everyone.

Alex's greatest moment was discovering that fruit came from TREES and not just the local grocer. He kept running in to tell us he had found a pear, then a PLUM, and, oh my goodness -- an APPLE!! I think that's when we were officially named the "city folk."

We found a stage in an outside amphitheater (where Willie Nelson was to perform that night) and we used it for our own private Talent Show. This is Claire taking a bow after her riveting rendition of "Part of Your World" otherwise known as "Ariel's Song" in our family. Once we learn how to get movie-clips off our video camera, I'll include it.

This is Alex and Claire being "de-city-fied" by Owen.

Well, thanks for a wonderful time, the excuse to see gorgeous scenery, and the abundant amount of Tillamook ice cream that we consumed, Jed and Erica!! Let's not let another 4 years go by again!!

School Days, School Days, Dear Old Golden Rule Days

What a day!! It was Cory's official first day at Hass Business School of Berkeley AND it was Alex's first day of kindergarten !! These pictures were taken right before they left to their respective schools. Let's just assume that Cory didn't leap and run all the way to his school like his son. (But I bet Cory was leaping on the inside.)

You hear of moms crying just as hard as their kids as they leave them to try out the murky waters of kindergarten all alone? Not me!! I was thrilled to put an end to (at least for 3 hours and 20 minutes) the constant bickering and fighting that have become the soundtrack of our home. After a full morning of screams, slamming of doors, and public embarrassment on the one errand I was forced to do, I was more than ready to fling him into the arms of his new teacher. And I almost got rid of Claire, too. She thought it was her school and sat right down with the rest of the kids. Only after a head count did the teacher notice there was one extra head.
It would have been so easy to sneak out and not admit she was the 2 yr old younger sister. She could hold her own with all those 5 yr olds -- I'm sure of it.

After school was over I only could get out 2 comments from the new student. #1 He liked the fruit snacks I packed in his backpack. And #2 Ollie the Otter is his school mascot. (And that information I got only by bribing him with gummy bears.) Cross your fingers that we all survive this school year.

Alex is 5!!

Today is my little boy's birthday. We had a great day -- full of his favorites. It all started with breakfast at Denny's. For a boy who LOVES pancakes, it's a dream come true. Then a back-to-school party was already scheduled at the park so I didn't even have to plan anything for him to get a chance to play with the new friends he has made here. And then it culminated this evening with cake and ice cream with some neighbors. This birthday was all about CARS! Lightn'ing McQueen is where it is at for this guy. And for this special occasion, I did something I have never done before -- I decorated a cake!! I know, after 5 years of being a mother that shouldn't be confessed. But, remember I have no decorating skills whatsoever.

I think it turned out okay, right? My 5 yr old was impressed. Thank goodness his expectations are low.

And enjoy the little slideshow I put together. Our little Alex has put us through A LOT (compiling these photos brought many bad memories back) but there are many good things we like to remember. We love you, Alex!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My Obsession

Is it corny or what that I'm addicted to the Olympics? I have been losing sleep trying to actually stay up to see the end of a competition or to see what's coming up next. In our past life (when I had a DVR) I would just record it and watch it at a more convenient time. But, those days are gone and, as we like to put it, "we're watching TV like animals" (meaning commercials and no pausing or fast forwarding -- my kids didn't know what commercials were until we came here -- Claire actually told me that the TV was broken when one came on -- and don't even get me started on not being able to pull up a past episode of "Backyardigans" at any hour, day or night....okay we'll call this segment the "Basic Cable Blues".) Enough of the tangent -- sorry, I'm sleep deprived! But I have this love/hate relationship with the Olympics:

• Really, how many preliminaries/quarter-finals/semi-finals must we endure before a race/dive/match will actually count for a medal? We are constantly asking around here "Is THIS one for REAL?"
• What's up with the scoring for women's (I mean little girls') gymnastics? It was a "rip off", to quote Bela Karolyi (yes -- I stayed up to watch his interview with that head NBC guy)
• And what's up with snotty, southern lady who comments during all the diving events? Seriously, it's like listening to Nancy Grace give a legal analysis on every move those divers make.
• But the best comment that will go down in our house as the best of this year's Olympics (I know it's too early to tell) is when a commentator was speaking of Michael Phelps and said, with all the emotion he could muster, "He has done something that has never been done before, and perhaps will never be done...[pause for dramatic emphasis] before." I still get the giggles thinking of his faux pas.
• And do the beach volleyball players HAVE to wear bikinis in order to perform well? And is the see-through-white mesh that they wear absolutely necessary?
• But the best thing is to find all the obscure events that they don't broadcast on primetime NBC. Just go to CNBC or MSNBC at random times and you can enjoy events such as doubles ping-pong (I mean table tennis), women's clean and jerk weightlifting, trampoline jumping, and we just stumbled upon speedwalking tonight on MSNBC (my personal favorite!)

Well, I better run (no pun intended) they're about to show the "Farewell to Gymnastics" Extravaganza -- I can't miss that!

Out and About

Up until this weekend, I was telling Cory, I could have been anywhere in the USA. This little bubble of student/family life could be happening in any other great American city. We could have been in Colorado for all I knew. I had ventured far enough from this little house in order to find the grocery store (Lucky's or Safeway -- neither of them double coupons so does it really matter?), Target, Costco, and IKEA. You know, the essentials. Oh yeah, and I have also been close enough to Berkeley campus to drop Cory and his cronies off at the Business School and to see the people who used to live in trees who now just live on the sidewalk. (I guess living in the actual tree broke some public code but camping out on the sidewalk is just fine.) But they are important enough to be close enough to the campus to hear a lecture and to get police protection around the clock. Sometime when I'm brave enough to stop I might include a picture. So, anyway...this weekend we decided to discover our new city.

On Friday we went to the Oakland Temple that doubled as a reunion spot with the parents of my roommate from BYU. And as Erica's mom said, "We were more than just roommates." I was trying to figure out the female equivalent of "my brotha from anotha motha" but I just can't. But here's to you, Erica, my third sister! It was a blast from the past. A lot has changed with me in the last 10 years from seeing them last....it's crazy to reflect on that. But we had a great time visiting our new temple and hope to go one day without the kids. We hope to do a lot of things without our kids. Please pray for a good babysitter to emerge sometime.

Claire enjoying the flowers on the beautiful temple grounds. I think she picked more than she smelled. Woops!

NOW on to SATURDAY:

Our adventure continued as we ventured into the big city of SAN FRANCISCO! Too bad we didn't think to go on a weekday to beat the weekend rush into the island. It was crazy on a Saturday afternoon to get over the bridge. Although we live maybe 10 minutes away, it took us a full hour and half until we actually got over and found parking. Next time we'll be taking the BART. And let me tell you, our kids aren't the best travelers so it was pure torture to be trapped in a car with them for that long, crawling 5 miles per hour. We decided next time we go they are not invited so Cory and I can actually enjoy ourselves. But we had a good lunch, enjoyed seeing the sea lions, and had fun "roller-coastering" through those streets that San Fran is famous for.

The famous Pier 39.

Who doesn't want food from a VW Bus?

That face should be on commercials!

I've Caught the Creative Bug!

This is a test of the creative broadcasting system! Remember, this is only a test! Hopefully it worked -- let me know!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

First Impressions

Well we've been here exactly one week. I tried to pay extra attention to things around me when I first arrived so I could give an accurate description. But now I try not to notice so much so the reality of living here doesn't settle in. Nevertheless I have some very memorable first impressions:

• When we first opened the door into our new abode I really thought I had walked into a janitor's closet. Yes, that's what it feels like. All industrial and basic and cave-like. But it's a janitor's closet with a very nice table (ours) that barely fits.
• What kind of floor is in our new closet-like kitchen, do you ask? Just look at your neighborhood grocery store or even Target. We must have the same decorator. It's beautiful. You've heard of floors that always look clean? WE have floors that always look dirty -- fabulous!
• Did we move to a foreign country? We go to the park and NO ONE is speaking English. I know I experienced the "melting pot" that is San Diego, but this is 10 times more extreme. The kids have already made friends with some Korean (I think) children who they just chase around and growl at each other. I guess the game of being annoying is the same in any language.
• There are many, many smart people around here -- and I am not one of them. One of our neighbors and Cory's classmate just happens to be a family doctor and a mother of three with incredible ambition. I am feeling only slightly inadequate.
• There is a train that goes right by our apartment. Not a little one, a HUGE train. The first time it went by while we were outside, Claire dropped everything and ran to me in a panic. We have since gotten used to the sound and rarely notice it when it races by, late at night with the horn blaring.
• And it's freakin' cold here! All last week we were bundled up in jackets (if I had a parka I would have used it) and we have turned on the heater in our house -- in the middle of August!
• The ward and fellow families here are great and very supportive. In our one week here we have already been to a barbecue, had 2 playdates, gone to an enrichment night and a girl's night out, and been asked to dinner twice. People really know what it's like to be new and away from anything familiar and they rally around each other. That almost makes up for the cramped space and the terrible linoleum.
  
  

Something is missing -- maybe a cabinet or two. This is right above our sink and somewhere that would be great to have more space to store things. When I asked the maintenance man why they failed to install cabinets there he said, "well, don't you have enough cabinets already?"

And there is something else missing (besides the dishwasher and garbage disposal) -- no cabinet doors under the sinks! Not even in the bathrooms! It's hideous and now I have to really go out of my comfort zone and put up a curtain to hide our trash. I'll let you know how the project goes.

Alex and Claire think that this is our backyard. There is one advantage of living on the bottom floor -- an escape from the cramped quarters.

Welcome!

I have been hesitant to start this whole blogging thing. With all the "professional" blogs out there it is a tad bit intimidating. Too bad I have so many talented and creative friends out there who I picture turning up their noses in disgust at this very amateurish attempt to join the throng of bloggers. But if you all remember that this is being written by someone who cannot scrapbook, sew, or craft anything to save her life, then we'll all get along fine!

Stay tuned for some pictures once we settle into our new place and I can actually work from a computer that belongs to me....