Am I a 12 year old boy?

So I was  following the ticker on uefa.com for the Germany vs. Italy Eurocup Semifinals and came across this quote:

"... team look vulnerable on the counter here as they have just two defenders back. Everyone else is upfield for the Mannschaft."

No I won't lie. I was snorting and giggling like a dateless dork.

And all it means is team or crew. Did you know this?

Validation for Ignoring My Kid

Harrigan sends me an article which he says is, "right up your alley".

He's right. I live for this kind of stuff. It's where I find my soapbox.

I love talking about entitled behavior, entitled adults and spoiled and indulged children. I'm righteous ... but to a point. As we all know, I am Tiger cub mom. Not a true Tiger Mom. I'm soft and squishy around the middle since The Kid came out and I will never have visible abdominal muscles.

They are lurking there somewhere underneath. I'm just not as tough as I would like to be.

I'm angry sometimes. I'm tough without rationale at times. These are all hypocritical and a waste of time and do not deserve any validation in parenting, except for the fact it's bound to happen. However I use them as parenting tools probably more than I mean to, more than anyone should.

Anyhow, I say all this stuff to him how he needs to do more, and he has to prepare more as he grows up. But it was all just words to him.

I hate the idea of talking and explaining things that in my opinion should be expected of you. You live in a house, this house is shared space, do your part and clean up. Starting block, would be, take care of your own crap first.

I don't mind getting him water when he's thirsty ... if I'm closer. But it shouldn't be expected that I'm going to do it, because you asked me to do it. You should try to do things yourself. Sometimes one try isn't good enough. If you can't reach, what can you do to reach it? Pull over a chair? What? If someone thinks for you all the time, you don't think for yourself. If someone does for you, you don't do.

We are rational this week. I know when he gets something and he gets away with something it's because I'm being lazy. I am a lazy beast. I am.

I think the starting point is letting kids find something to do on their own. If you're bored, find something. My mother used to say, "Only boring people get bored." She said it a lot when I was growing up. 

I think he reads because we ignore him. (Well we're reading or knitting when we are ignoring him at least right?) Seriously if I can't expect him to find something to do on his own for fun, how I can I expect him to pick up his clothes or make dinner?

Weekend Recap

It was a good weekend. Fun times, solid sleep and a relatively happy household. Highlights:

Weekend kick off cocktails with littlesnoopy.  We went to Heaven's Dog for happy hour and had a lovely early evening of chatter and snacks. The salt and pepper jalapeno chicken wings are really good and not greasy. The siu mai dumplings tasty served w/Sriricha and hot mustard, but no soy. The steamed spicy wontons? meh, will not be ordering those again. I was sad to go home, but knew for the sake of sobriety and a 9am soccer practice I should.

France vs. Spain quarterfinal viewing at the Peacheys after soccer practice. Good times, except for the beatdown The Kid and I took from the other children for being France fans. And France couldn't find the back of the net or turn on the pace and energy.

Impromptu Date Night. The Kid was whisked up by his friends for a group sleepover with pizza, ice cream and a movie (spoiled!!). So the Manfriend and I had the evening to ourselves. It was kind of precious how he offered to go out, since I know he is exhausted on Saturday and usually prefers to fall asleep by 9pm. Ha! Anyhow, I really didn't feel like being out and about. So we read and watched an old Japanese horror movie, Battle Royale and made pork belly fried rice together and ate at a NINE pm. We were crazy. We also were both snoring by 10:30pm. I gave up when I ripped out the left side edging of my cardigan.

More zumba shake it on Sunday morning. The class was packed and despite an early bedtime I was still tired, but Rossy (pronounced Rosie) has such an amazing energy that it's hard to care. I always feel better after I go.

England vs. Italy Eurocup quarter finals viewing. I had my first bacon butty sandwich. Hot pots of tea and mimosas also accompanied this fun viewing. One family brought their England flag. It was a frustrating match, despite how adorable Joe Hart looked in the goal. Another favorite (of mine) ... eliminated.

Mother/Son book club is in full effect. It's informal, but I appreciate it. The Kid said, "You should read my book Mom, I bet you would like it." Well why the heck not? He's excited about his book. More importantly he wants to share and that is like a comet. Enjoy it while you can. So I started reading "The Red Pyramid" by one of the authors the kids seem to really like, Rick Riordon.  I give him an update where I'm at, and what parts I think are funny. He wants to know what parts I think are scary or the creepiest monsters etc. Good times.

Bad home dye job. The color? Jungle brown.

I decided to start a side project, like this for fun. The Manfriend and I often discuss what would be good supplies in case of the apocalypse. I'm not saying it's brilliant, but it's fun. Too many Mad Max movies as kids? Anyhow something new.What would you pack for the apocalypse?

And now we move onward. Another week of summer. New camp, a professional soccer match, a hair cut and I hate to say it, I'm going to have to cast on something new...

Missing Pieces

Today I left the house in a bit of a hurry. The Manfriend was taking The Kid & The Brothers to camp which meant all I had to do was walk my lethargic butt 3 blocks to work.

I left my knitting at home. The kiddie cardigan in lavender.

I thought it's okay. I'm going to lunch with friends. There won't be time to knit.

But maybe there will be.

I felt so lonely.

Family Quotes: Day Camp & Life Lessons

"Mom, there were THREE people in class that I wanted to partner with. I didn't get any of them."

"Did any of those kids end up paired together?"

"No, none of us."

"Well, perhaps the instructor wants you to make new friends and work with a new team."

"Mom." he says exasperated working his next sentence into a huffing staccato, "They partnered me with a space cadet and a crazy person!!"

(They're probably thinking they got partnered with a snob.)

I got him to talk about the characters and story they came up with, to try and focus on the positive. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but he did express his disappointment once more.

"Sometimes you have to work with people you don't want to when you're a grown up. It's good practice."

"Ugh"

(No kidding. At least they pay me.)

It's true I have taken photos of food.

HM often asks me how a meal went. I tell her the truth.
My mother often reminds me when cooking, it's always best to clean as you go, so you can enjoy your handiwork. I tell her the truth. I do.

Sometimes I'm secretly pleased with my success. So pleased, I've been known to document it. Here's a few old favorites.

Cheese plate. Ah HM, thanks for the good influences and ideas. Pat on back to self for buying the sandwich plate on sale at Macy's -- to hell what the household thinks of my "blue and white" problem.

I had another one from Christmas but the flash messed up the chicken in the background. So I refer you to Thanksgiving. The first one with my mother and stepfather and The Kid ever.

Easter's Herb Slab "Pizza"

The wide shot (is that what you call it little snoops?)

And that my dearies, will have to do for now :)



Tuesday Morning in the Woods

Tuesday morning, the boys brought me coffee in bed from the Continental Breakfast in the lobby. Can I just say, I love coffee in bed.

Since I actually picked up during our stay (for a change), it didn't take us long to pack and we were off to Armstrong Woods by 10:15 am. It's just outside of Guerneville and has hikes of different levels. It was sad though, because the campsite is closed indefinitely due to the bad budget :(

There was a school field trip there, and we couldn't help but tease The Kid that we should just let him join them. We had a pretty nice little walk all on our own though.

* I love when your child blocks your body fat. Good job Kid!

What was that?

*He's part thespian on his father's side.

I can tell you we were pretty hungry after our easy little walk. So before we could truly enjoy our tacos in Santa Rosa, we ate all the chips on the table first. No pics of our greed sorry.

We took our time coming back to the city. The boys acted as if we had been gone ages and stuck themselves in front of the t.v. and video games while we did 4 hours of laundry. All too soon back to work with sunburns, and neglected knitting.

Memorial Day Weekend Was Memorable

If any weekend doesn't start off chockful of zipping around it's surprising. Friday, the 25th was the last day of school (!!Can you believe it??) and I took the day off to make some snacks for The Kid's pals, and to go laze around on the playground and the park afterwards. Saturday was East Bay family fun with my sister and her son. Somehow it turned into a shopping trip with Dad as well.

Who knew a man was so picky about his cargo pants?

Who knew men were often between sizes as well?

Sunday morning was Zumba-free so I packed as quickly as I could and we were off to the Russian River.

May is not exactly a hot month for the river, even in a dry year like we've been having. It has been windy and partly cloudy quite a bit in Northern California. However, we are lucky to usually get at least a few hours of warm and where we were staying was far enough inland we knew it would be warm enough without rain.

We checked in to the Rio Villa just before 3pm (the proprieters are so nice) and the spot was jumping with families and friends that had already spent 2 nights for the three day weekend and were setting up for their last evening on the River. Many of these people come every year. They were really kind.

After we unpacked, the boys headed off to explore and check out the public beach via the private lane and I went to knit in some sunshine.

The place was lovely. Even better, a nice woman came by and said, "Oh I wish I brought my knitting!" (She had a book with her) But like all true knitters, she excused herself and came back with this amazing reddish pink hexagonal summer top! I didn't have my camera with me, otherwise I would've asked to take a picture.

This nice lady "A" was very kind and we sat together and chased the sun, moving from chair to chair as we knit and we discussed our favorite projects.

See our lovely view...

And this is where we were sitting...


This picture shows another nice knitting spot just in the front (remember, I am not very good at the photos)

As people began queueing up the BBQs we made our way into Guerneville and ate at Boon Eat + Drink. Dinner was absolutely tasty pants. I loved the simplicity, but also the lovely use of flavors that balanced and brightened. Yay!

The next morning as everyone packed up to leave, we packed up a picnic lunch and went to rent a canoe at the local public beach. It was windy, but we thought, a few hrs paddle upriver, a little lunch and a few swims, then let the current takes us back.

Well ... the wind was strong, so even the return wasn't as easy as it could've been. Most importantly it was FUN! The Kid wanted to row, so we switched spots on the way down and I had to sit at the bottom of the canoe and occassionally grab the oar to help out Dad. It was awkward, but since I'm short, sitting in the front on the edge of a metal bench was awkward too. Now it was just awkward on the bottom of the boat, with a wet crotch. ugh. ha!

By the time we got back we were ready to turn in the canoe. It was when we went back to our rooms did I realize that I had a 4-hr canoe sunburn. Mom is always the one who is lame about putting on and reapplying. And my burn just shows my girth, where I can't reach ;)

After a shower we had the grounds to ourselves. There were only 3 or 4 other rooms taken. The Manfriend  went to market and we made kabobs (Onion, Mushroom, Tomato, Pepper, Meat). The best thing about them is you don't have to buy a bunch of individual seasonings. Olive oil, one mixed grill seasoning, some paper plates and new skewars which we needed anyways, charcoal and TADA! I highly recommend for a BBQ on the fly or unprepared grilling venue.

This is where we prepped, in the cute little kitchenette area:

Cute no? I had to divide the room up in half. But look! natural light!

Well I will save Tuesday for another post. Technically the Memorial Weekend ends with Monday right?