My favorite photo from Christmas. My sister in law introduces Boots to Big Bird.

The other day I ran into Jackie, who was looking at a Time magazine and when he saw me, made voices for the people in the magazine asking each other if they'd heard the new B&S. Oh Jackie!

the ole grey mare is given a fright

Saturday night I went out for a friend's birthday, and someone in a leather jacket with a Misfits skull on the back was standing behind me, and when I turned around and saw it, I just saw the skull and not the whole jacket, and I gasped! I make myself laff and laff sometimes. Really trying to live up to my sometime username I guess. Like the next night at the tamale party when a small child tore through my sister's house screaming, blood dripping from his finger leaving a red blot trail behind him, I had to leave and stand outside in the rain just to get away from all the (shudder) blood. Now when I think to myself that I should've gone to nursing school, I will then tell myself No you should not have. Nightmare professions for me: flight attendant, nurse, what else...

So Boots is now one year old, I can't believe it. He has so many new toys that are scattered all over the living room. I like the phone that says lines from Toy Story. I'll miss my Bootsy if my brother's new job is in another country again. But maybe I could move to Holland with them. I wonder what I could do in Holland.

peppermint mocha coffee and sunshine

Of course I get sick the week that I have a ton of papers to grade! That's what I get for giving my sick nephew so many smoochies.

Oh, we did not see Jens Lekman last weekend on account of terrible freeway traffic and an unexpected wait to be seated at Palermo. I was a little bummed. We went to the Big Foot Lodge instead, which is kind of like going to Frontierland at Disneyland, but with drinks and usually cool tunes.

That was the night before my birthday. My actual birthday was disappointing, to say the least. I've always loved having my birthday close to Christmas because it's my favorite time of year, until now. It seems like there are holiday parties or other things happening on my birthday, or everyone just had other things to worry about. Maybe I'm just too old for people to make a fuss over me. It was a very Sixteen Candles birthday.

I show Boots my passport, what I look like

This morning I was a little sad because my little Pickles is sick, but he's back from the doctor now with some baby medicine.




And now I can get excited about seeing Jens Lekman tonight! I hope he plays Shirin.

we are secret celebrities!

If your sister ever asks you to watch a movie called Gretchen, just don't do it. It was NOT Sixteen Candles meets Napoleon Dynamite like the introduction says. It's more like misery meets Napoleon Dynamite. Halfway through (and I thought it would never end) I started feeling sick, is it real or not? Maybe I'll find out tomorrow.

My birthday is almost here and for once I don't feel like doing anything. If I had a party, who would come? It would be a scene out of a children's book with different kinds of little animals sitting around a big tree stump having a tea party. I don't know why I thought that - my friends aren't little critters!

I have a good feeling about this new lead. I sound like my dad. It was sunny and I drove with the windows down, and ABBA came on right after The Beach Boys. All good signs! When I got home I watched Boots walk around the house and throw balls everywhere. We have a baby gate for the stairs now and I can just see myself forgetting that it's there, running to go down the stairs and flipping head first over it and down the stairs. I don't know how mothers do it. Bertita told my sister she is always tired. I'm always tired to begin with. If I had a baby I'd probably die. Or pass out, with my baby pouring syrup on my hair as I sleep. And then my husband would walk through the door and be like, WTF, and my eyes would have dark circles around them and I'd still be on the floor and I'd look up with blank eyes and say I NEED A VACATION.