Barbie Dolls or Dump Trucks?

That feeling in the pit of your stomach

Sometimes you get that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. You know, that one that tells you that something isn't right. It usually is dead on and we usually ignore it anyway because we don't want to think that anything around us isn't going how we want it to.

I say listen to it...we must have it for a reason.

I can think of better ways to spend the money

Go on, take a look...What do you think? Guess how much. I dare you.

and I quote-

Pamper your favorite pet with this luxurious eating station from Versace. The magnificent Barocco pet bowl is made of fine porcelain and boasts ornate scrollwork and lavish gold leaf edging and accents. Elegant as well as functional.  

Are you curious yet? Check out costco for the real price.

I really like this ride at night...

As some of you readers konw we have passes to the infamous D-Land.

I'm always impressed by the stupidity of some of the people who visit the park. It amamzes me that these people can find thier way out thier front door let alone the complex twists and turns of a disneyland ride line...

I love Pirates of the Carribean. It has always been one of my favorites and last night we went, yet again. If you have never been to Disneyland let me just tell you that the whole ride is inside (a key point father along in my story) and mostly in the basement of the french quarter. Disney is great at using space wisely. It is dark the moment you step thru the doors from the outside. It is supposed to look  like night all the time.

We walked in sat down and took off. As soon as we left the loading area the girl sitting behind me turned to her friend and said,

"I really like this ride at night, its dark in here."

Now I know Disney is known for great scene making but c'mon, its not that good. especialy since you can see the air ducts in the ceiling if you bother to look up.

I think I was especially annoyed because they kept touching me too. I rarely make it a point to be touchy feely with strangers. But they braced themselves during the whole ride like they were getting ready to fall out. SO i kept getting poked in the back. I kind of figure if they don't put seat belts on the ride, it isn't going to be doing any loops.

But I had fun on the Buzz Lightyear ride (I am a "space cadet"-yup, thats what my score said) and I got to see fireworks (oooh, ahhh) and of course I went on Star Tours because the wait is never very long and I really like the ice comet part of the ride.

And the munchkin? She hung out with grandma and grandpa. Mom and dad got to have a date!

Some days she's all smiles. Some days she's more mellow. But she's always beautiful.

Beauty and the Beast

Malia hit the nine month mark. Well, she actually did it about a week ago but you all see how often i post.

She's getting big. We had her dr's appt yesterday and her stats are 27 1/2", 18 1/2 lbs and her head is the right size around. I don't know the exact numbers because quite honestly the doc said"looks good" and if he's not worried, neither am i at this point.

And we got a new greyhound for those who didn't know.Sierra is a 2 year old fawn with lots of energy. She reminds me a lot of Ziggy. Not just how she looks, but some of her quiry traits. Including spinning in circles in the family room and crawling into your lap. Both of which sem like fairly common dog things until you seea 60 lb greyhound trying to be a 10 lb jack russel terrier.

Well, duh...

Laguna Beach is falling down, falling down, falling down...

Grrr....but I'm not amamzed, $$$=news.

At this point in time 7 houses have been completely destroyed and several others are on their way to ruin. I wish I could feel just a little more pity. But I don't. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a monster, I am sad that these people have lost their homes.

This is a problem that speaks to greed and stupidity. These people built homes (expensive homes) in an area plagued by fire, landslides and flooding, but the view is spectacular. Insurance companies won't even cover them because its a preventable disaster (ie-don't build a home on a falling cliff). Now they will ask FEMA for my tax dollars to help REBUILD!@!#*! WTF?!? And I bet the city will be sued for allowing them to build there, which they we warned against in thre first place.

I have heard the argument about the homes being passed down in the family. Thats nice. But its still greed, plain and simple. They ar sitting on thier decks overlooking the canyon thinking, "hmmm, maybe if I hang out here another year my 1200 sq ft shack it will be worth $2 million instead of $1.5 million" Do you think I'm joking? I know OC is expensive, but $1.5 mil will buy a very nice piece of land that isn't falling off the canyon wall.

OK, rant over, just don't ask me to donate to the Laguna Beach victims fund.

Yes there is already one of those set up there. It took all of 4 hrs for that to happen.

When did we secede?

I was relaxing at the spa today and sometime between the pure relaxation massage and the savannah surrender (go ahead and laugh at the name but it was an hour of pure heaven) I overheard some woman jabbering to her friends.

Now I didn't hear the whole conversation and I'm mostly just glad that I didn't have to listen to her all day. Somewhere while she was dominating the conversation among her friends she threw in this gem.

"We were invited to a wedding in Pennsylvania but I've never been out of the country so I don't know If I want to go."

enough said.

Go Ahead, be jealous, I won't stop you...

I am tooting my own horn! I am proud of myself. I have officially earned enough $$$ in my venture to buy myself all sorts of presents!

1. Photoshop CS2- $600 worth of photo editing fun. Do I need it all? Yup! I've always wanted it and I finally have it. And even cooler? I think I have the newest version even before Brian's dad. Not that its a contest or anything, but he always has the coolest toys.
2. I took the plunge and got myself a tablet. I was a little nervous since some people said it was a bit hard to get used to but after 45 min I was in love. I've drooled over them for way too long, now I think I'm set (until the next cool toy comes around...)
3. My very own table. You might laugh but after going to several boutiques and fairs and trying to track down one of my own. All hail Costco.

And what's next? I need to do 10 photo sessions (or 20 announcement orders or 4 photo art books...) for the 20d camera body I want. And I can't forget the lens that I drool over everytime I pass a camera store. And give me a BH catalog and about an hour and I could come up with 50 or so other things I can't live with out.

Hey, I'm doing this for fun! What I make I was told I get to spend on toys. I think that's fair.

Role Reversal

I woke up arond 4 this morning to Malia nursing. I was a little surprised. Not that she was nursing, but that she was there.

I asked Brian and he told me that she woke up around 2:30 crying and hungry so he brought her to me. I never woke up. I gave her a boob and she fell asleep next to me.

Hmmmm...and I thought it was the dads that could tune out the cries in the middle of the night.

Just for Jen...

And everyone else who wants to see more Malia pics...

and a few things she's up to...

• crawling...at least very close. She gets up on her hands and knees, rocks a few times and launches herself forward. Its not pretty but she gets where she wants to be going.
• babbling...da,da,da,da was first (which made he daddy very proud) and now we have moved on to ga,ga,ga,ga  ba,ba,ba,ab and working on ma,ma,ma,ma. She also enjoys blowing raspberries immensely.
• pulling up!?!...yes she is learning already. She will be cruising soon which means that nothing will be safe and I might have to learn to keep my house clean. I don't know how I will manage. 

She is 7 months old today! On one hand I can't remember life without her. On the other hand it only seems like yesterday I was fumbling with the carseat buckles and looking at awe how small she was. She looked so tiny in her crib before and yesterday we fianlly had to take out the bumpers and lower the mattress to deter her escape artist antics just a tiny bit longer.