An autobiography in 5 chapters (it's short, really)

I saw this and really liked the simplicity and depth:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS
by Portia Nelson
I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in.
I am lost ... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place but, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit.
My eyes are open I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.

PS It doesn't really have anything to do with anything going on right now, so don't strain yourself guessing. I just saw it recently. Unless it would be low abdominal strength which really doesn't warrant poetry.

Dance music

Ah, the boys love dance music. They are both very good dancers and they'll tell you themselves. "I've got a lot of moves," says Owen. Their favorite music is "rock and roll" which is anything with a fast beat including hip hop. Owen is also working on his human beatbox technique. Maybe he'll be in a group called the Skinny Boys.

Their dad has started the custom of driving to school, parking in the lot, unbelting them and then turning up the rock and roll for them to dance in the car to. They love it and demand it when I take them to school too. This morning's rock and roll song was a club song that repeated "Another night out, another dance floor." Owen stood up on the back seat and spanked himself to the laser beats and Aldo looked around in the car seats for dropped snacks.

I can't think of another song that reflects my life less and now it's stuck in my head for the rest of the day. I am googling "silly putty how to remove from clothes," and roasting a chicken for dinner.

The boys also love to sing the song "Oh, hot damn. This is my jam. Keep the party into the A.M." I've tried to change the lyrics to "Eggs and ham, apricot jam. Eat your breakfast in the A.M." but it's not taking.

Non-naptime conversations

Ah, the little ones are growing up so fast and are talking more and more. Owen and I have our best chats during our "rest times" which are not naps, but take place in my bed with our heads on pillows. Today he wanted to talk about "when he gets big," so we talked about how tall he was going to be (like Daddy) and how many dogs he wanted (8) and how many children (9) and what kind of person he would marry. He said that he wanted me to choose "his new mommy" which is what he calls his future wife. I'll have to remind him of that later. For now, I just told him that he would not find a new house or get married or have children until after college. Just trying to plant that seed in his brain now. He thought maybe he'd have all girls because we had all boys and my family was all girls. He's thinking some deep thoughts.

Aldo wakes up early and jumps out of his crib to toddle out to see what's available on the counters. And then he comes in to see if we're awake (we usually are but pretend to be asleep until the last minute.) I offered him an egg and pumpkin pie for breakfast (his stated favorite food) and he said, "That'd be cool." Funny little two-year-old.

That global warming thing

'Tis the week before Thanksgiving and it is still so hot here. Not just "unseasonably warm" but "record breaking heat" hot. It makes it hard to think holiday thoughts. I'm waiting for the eBay shipment of four footed pajamas that we need for the winter, but it's starting to seem like winter will never come. Like the Heat Miser has a grudge against us or we're living in the opposite of Narnia waiting for the White Witch to save us from the wildfires.

We've got the wading pool up in the backyard and the kids were playing with squirt guns today (or as non-weapons Mommy is trying to call them "water squirters." It is not catching on.)

I'm in the process of making the ever popular photo calendars, but there is a serious dearth of scenes autumnal or wintry.

A few more pictures because I'm new to Picasa and am figuring it out. Here's me and Mark at the best cupcake and coffee store in DC. There may be one better, but they're closed on Mondays so this one wins by default.
Here's the Newseum, one of the newer museums and not one of the free ones. It'll cost you $20 to see this view and a whole lot of news articles, pictures and films. We spent 4 hours here.
We practiced posing using everything I learned from watching Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model. Look for us next season as the older plus sized models.

New and old friends

I met these guys shortly after arriving in DC. They seemed friendly but a little stressed.

And these are my hosts and guides. They have a beautiful apartment with an amazing view of the Washington Monument in the Adams Morgan area. We've been walking a lot through the trees and museums and cupcake shops and cafes. We are in the midst of conducting an unscientific ranking of cupcakes and have a few more species to capture and catalog. But I can say already that the Baked and Wired latte is the best I've had since San Francisco.

We've visited the Portrait Gallery which has great exhibits including a collection of genre mixing hip hop portraits complete with family crests and an inner courtyard that had a Hogwarts like ceiling that reflects the current weather. And had amazing Peking duck (better than any duck I had when I lived in Peking) with other old friends whom I'm not sure I can name because they work for the government:

But the most amazing thing about being here is all of the things I've almost forgotten about life without little children. We use multiple pieces of breakable dishes and can leave them on the table. We can walk more than a block without one of us asking to be carried. We can wander through museums without anyone shrieking to see how well the echo carries or jumping off the couches or pretending to shoot the exhibits. We can linger in cafes and restaurants and have actual conversations. We can shop. I'm soaking it all up with the fall air.

The conspiracy against packing

I'm packing for a 5-day trip to Washington DC to visit a couple of old friends. It's a little tough to concentrate because I'm still getting over a cold and have that cottony head feeling. I keep hoping that another cup of tea will help.

And the dog goes off like an oversensitive car alarm every time her nemesis, the tightwrope walking squirrel goes by. The boys are entertaining themselves which is great/scary. I love that they can play together without something electronic but it can very easily devolve into small dangers. Like when Aldo sat on Owen's head because they were hiding under the covers on our bed. Or when Aldo refuses to believe that the Magic Grow transportation vehicles capsules aren't vitamins.

It sounds like this:

Harriet: Bark Bark Bark Whine Bark Woof Woof Woof
Me: It's just a squirrel. How many times do we have to go through this?
Harriet: Bark Bark (jump) Whine (run around in circles)
Aldo: Mouth closed, suspiciously quiet, one red capsule missing
Me: Spit it out! Not food! Spit it out!
Harriet: Bark Whine
Owen: Spit it out Aldo!

I guess that's why Magic Grow capsules are labeled 4+

I'm flying Virgin Air which is new for me. I studied their website to try to figure out what I was supposed to bring to fully take advantage of their in flight entertainment system. Isn't Linux Lucy's little brother on Peanuts?

And now that I've acquired a handbag, I want to be a handbag user and take it as my carry-on. But it won't fit my laptop, so...?

But the biggest roadblock for me is not being able to picture the weather. Low 60's during the day and 40's at night. That sounds cold to me in San Diego, but is it long sleeve cold, sweatshirt cold, jacket cold or hat and everything cold. In the midst of Santa Ana's, it's hard to even imagine wanting to wear socks. I think I have a pretty good imagination, but I really have no concept of cold when it's hot. I may be borrowing a lot of clothes from Janet.