Birthday

Its Sunday. The day after the day after my birthday. I meant to say that. We had a party. It was fun and helped shake off my birthday blues. Perhaps it was the wine, perhaps it was my party dress, but more likely it was a house full of friends that did the trick.


Before the party, Aiden had to go to the ER, which got downgraded to an appointment at pediatrics since he was struggling with breathing a bit. Apparently, his Albuterol had expired. Oops. Turns out they say he's got asthma. Now, here's the thing, the doctor took about 15 minutes to check him out, no testing, nothing. Basically, he got a Saturday afternoon, "sure want to get the hell out of here" checkup.

So, I was a bit tense at the beginning of the party not really knowing if Aiden would come back home with pnemonia or some other awful diagnosis. When I heard asthma, I was relieved since I could process that later and he seemed (and still does seem) fine.

There were lots of people, food, music, fun. As usual, its always hard to get around to everyone so I just decided to try and enjoy myself instead of stressing about doing it right. I think I succeeded. Towards the end of the evening, Bear and Zac started to play,

others joined in. The kids and I just kicked back....and enjoyed the closing of the party...


Today, we cleaned up cupcake residue around the house, put the closet door back on (kids are strong), picked up the marbles and went....oh yeah, we are home.

Birthday lunch

Mondays with Max

BZ is a big fat winner

BZ won two Emmies last night! They were for his music on two promo pieces for KPIX, our local CBS affiliate.

We got all dressed up for the big award ceremony last night and finding something to wear wasn't easy. I don't think I've shopped for award-ceremony wear in a while, a long while. I chose poorly and ended up pulling my silky wrap shirt back together all night long.

I found myself envious of all the other women with their shiny cocktail dresses (that stayed on) and their strappy sexy shoes. At least if I was going to dress impractically I could have felt good about it.

BZ rented a tux and then switched out the shirt for one of his stage shirts, very red and textured. He looked cool dude-ish.
I suppose I should mention BZ's fantastic idea to take BART on an evening that was one of the hottest all year. Oh yeah, and we sat stuck to the seats in a car with no air. For some reason it didn't occur to us that we could have moved. Probably since I was working hard at my resentment toward the whole public transportation thing while wearing a ridiculous outfit. That and trying to find air to breath....aren't we supposed to arrive in a limo?


In the end, practical BZ saved us lots of potential traffic and a hefty parking bill at the Palace Hotel. We also were lucky enough to experience lots of attention from BART riders which is always really nice late at night.

No breakfast in bed

We had a busy but nice weekend. Friday started out at Kaiser pediatrics to uncover the mystery behind Max's horrendous two-day headache. No answers but at least it wasn't the swine flu/H1N1. Nor was it a head injury. Just some sort of weird virus that gives a nasty headache and extreme exhaustion.

Lucky for me, Max woke up Friday afternoon refreshed and mostly back to his old self making it much easier to leave him with a babysitter, with the least amount of guilt. Friday night was the Blame Sally CD release party and BZ got to play backup on a bunch of songs so I really wanted to be there.
Backstage, where I was not allowed, yes, I am a wee bit bitter (long story), they had hair and makeup people for the Sallies. Someone had a brainstorm and suggested BZ get his hair done too. He was game and within no time, his hair was straight. And brushed straight down on the sides of his face. Nice. Kind of a 70's metal look. Or, more like a bad wig on a transgender fellow/woman. Here's the thing, BZ has beautiful hair whether it's straight or curly, and, he's a good looking guy, but they styled his hair like a girl. And, that didn't work so well on his head. Next morning it looked a bit better after sleeping on it.
The concert was great, I mean to say, Blame Sally was fantastic, it was a near sold out Palace of Fine Arts (that place seats around 1000). I am so happy for Monica, she has worked so hard for this....
Anyhoo, went to a kid birthday party on Saturday afternoon and stayed into the evening drinking Margaritas getting an early start on Mother's Day. And, good thing since on Mother's Day, I got exactly 20 minutes of Mother's Day attention, from 7:40 am to 8 am. I'll take it where I can. And in addition to the candle holder from Aiden, the flower pot from Max and his two beautiful cards, I also ended up getting new cushions for our patio chairs. Now I know this isn't standard and I should have probably gotten breakfast in bed, but really, breakfast in bed would probably lead to more laundry and perhaps be more trouble than its worth (I'm remembering the baked pancakes from a few years ago).

I don't need no stinkin' pancakes, look at my chairs!!!

New York

I love a good surprise. On a very last minute whim, I booked a ticket to NY for a weekend to surprise my parents a week after their 50th anniversary. There was a dinner party planned for them and I didn't want to miss it.

I arrived late Friday night, almost midnight, Auntie Evelyn picked me up at the crazy hip new Jetblue terminal and we returned to her home in Harlem. Evelyn lives in this tiny spot of Harlem Renaissance history that has mostly been frozen in time. She lives on Jumel Terrace across from the Jumel Mansion, which now has classes for kids on all sorts of things like gardening, and anything to keep them interested and off the streets. The mansion itself is now a museum.

You might be able to notice in the pictures that the streets are still cobblestone. How cool is that? Apparently not very since they don't get quite the attention they need and it can really mess up the bottom of a car on the bumpy parts. I still think its cool.

These houses aren't as nice as the ones across from the mansion which really are the most amazing brownstones from the late 1800's (didn't get a good photo though).

On Saturday, I visited with my old friend David in Chelsea and we had a great time catching up. Always good to be reminded of your past 15+ years later. It was as if no time had past.

Finally, Evelyn and I took the subway down to the restaurant in the late afternoon, getting there crazy early to prepay the garage for my parents. but of course, since my parents are always about 5 hours early to everything, "just in case," they were entering the garage as we were leaving. My dad drove right by me, but my mom was standing right at the entrance to the street. It seems in retrospect, that I could have walked right by her and not been seen but I was stunned and couldn't move. She looked right through me even though I was two feet away and finally she sort of recognized me in an equally stunned way. After a quick "I love you" hug, I ran off to hide from my father.

When my parents arrived at Cafe Des Artistes, they sat at the bar waiting for Evelyn, who they were supposedly meeting for dinner. The maitre' de offered to bring them to their table which they declined, saying they would wait. The maitre'de got grumpy and insisted that they sit and brought them to a table for two, which they found confusing. Luckily, a few minutes later, Evelyn and I, along with two of their oldest, closest friends came in, this is finally the surprise part, and yes, they were surprised. Just like my mom, my dad looked right through me, as well as his best friend from college, not even seeing us. We discussed later that the term for this was "cognitive dissonance." I only mention this since the discussion was led by a tipsy therapist, old friend of my mom's from grad school.


I know, crappy picture but we're still waiting for the real photos to arrive. My parents are on the far left, Dad in front, my mom sitting next to me. It was a perfect dinner. Great old stories, lots of laughing and very happy parents. As shy as my mom can be, she really loved being celebrated. By the way, the restaurant is so beautiful, the food is great and well, it was indeed perfect.

I spent Sunday in Nyack doing what we usually do together, eat, buy yarn, discuss books, watch 60 minutes. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but did not want to go to bed since that would mark the end of the day and my return home.

We left the house at the crack of dawn Monday morning, got to the airport with PLENTY of time to spare. Boy, I sure wish I lived closer.

Fruit strip

Monday afternoons I pick up Max from school and we go to our "special
place," a cute little cafe on the way back to the car.

So great to hear the after school stories, just us.