My Night With Oscar

Yes, it's late, but I know I won't have the time with the wee one running around in the morning, so I figured I best write my Oscar comments now and lose a few more minutes of sleep. First, this was a lonely Oscar night without my BFFs here. I texted back and forth with Mikey a few times, but it's just not the same as giggling and gossiping with the crew in my living room. Maybe next year ladies.

As for the awards show, I really loved Hugh Jackman as the host and loved the new format. It was different and fresh. The comments from past winners for the acting nominees totally made me tear up all night long. Yes, I'm that weepy and emotional during the show. I also got totally choked up when Heath Ledger's family accepted his award. How tough that must have been for his mom and dad to go up there. They held together better than I did though.

For someone who doesn't get to see many movies any more, I am so stoked that I got to see the big winners: Slumdog Millionaire for Best Picture, Heath for Supporting Actor in The Dark Knight (well-deserved because he made that movie and was the creepiest villian in a long time), Penelope Cruz for Supporting Actress in Vicky Christina Barcelona (which I highly recommend...too bad the hunky Javier Bardem wasn't nominated), Sean Penn for Actor in Milk (Sean is one of my all-time faves and was brilliant in this role), and my favorite Kate Winslet for Actress in The Reader (I loved this movie! Not my favorite role of Kate's. Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is my fave, but I did love her in this role too.).

I didn't get to watch much of the red carpet hubbub since Inara was still up and I had to get dinner ready, so no comment on dresses besides I loved Kate's dress. I want to be her friend. She seems so genuine. Plus, her husband director Sam Mendes is cool too! Enough gabbing about the movies. Off to dream land I go.

Painting portraits of Inara Grace

Last week was a rough one for me, for various reasons. It was primarily due to Inara's 5 days of diarrhea and the diaper rash from hell. I swear I've reached my poopy diaper quota for the next few months. This week was a total 180 in that she and I had a great week together. Every day she does something new, which are the positive things I need to keep focused on to get me through the rough days. So let me paint a few portraits for you to imagine and hopefully get a chuckle out of.

I've been going to a morning exercise class two days a week with my shadow in tow. She does well in the stroller for the first 30 minutes as long as I keep her snacks coming. You see Inara's new rule is whenever she's sitting in the stroller or a shopping cart for an extended period of time, she must be compensated with snacks. Her snack of choice this week was graham cracker sticks. For the second half of the exercise class, it's time for the kids to get out and play. However, Inara can be found glued to my side. She loves to watch the other kids playing, but rarely ventures out to join them. Instead, she uses mom as a human jungle gym. She loves to jump on me when I'm doing ab workouts, which makes for a very difficult exercise routine. I do my best and try to maneuver around her. I know this is partly due to the get mommy game we play where I lay on my back and she jumps on my tummy. So it's only natural that when she sees me laying down, she thinks it's play time. When we leave, she always says bye to the other moms and kids, and she loves to give her friend Owen a hug. She will even take the binky out of her mouth to give him kisses if he's accepting them that day.

Since Monday was a holiday, Shawn joined us girls at My Gym. It's been awhile since he's gone, so it was a surprise for him to see all that she can do now. She loves to walk up the slide. Yes, walk up the slide. Then go down. Then walk back up. Then go down again. She also loves playing on the trampoline. She hasn't quite figured out how to bounce yet, but she bends her knees really really fast, which makes her think she's bouncing up and down. Inara has figured out how fun climbing on anything and everything is. The funny thing is she really doesn't do much climbing at home. I'd like to think that she rationalizes climbing with My Gym and not at home. Only time will tell on that theory.

One of our nightly rituals after dinner is play time with Daddy and bath. She loves to hide in the tent from Daddy. She will direct me to hide with her. Once inside the tent, she says "Shhh. Hide." Then Daddy has to come find us. She loves doing this and has even on occasion asked me to hide with her during the day. The only problem is Daddy doesn't ever seem to come find us. Perhaps it's because he's working. After playtime, it's time to move upstairs and get ready for bed. She has grown to love taking a bath and even asked to do this during the day now as well. She has figured out splashing in the water is lots of fun. She recently learned how to pick up the cup with water and pour it on her face. She gets a big giggle out of doing this too. While most nights Shawn gives Inara her bath, I at least get to watch from my office chair while I try to get some work done, which is usually short lived because watching Inara is much more fun than reading joke emails.

Besides being my shadow, Inara also loves to be my helper. She's becoming quite the mimic of mommy. For instance, today as I was vacuuming she was walking around dusting. She gets such a thrill out of helping me, and of course, I encourage it. For awhile now, she's loved helping me empty the dishwasher by putting her cups away. I think she'll be a big helper as she gets older. I know she watches me clean up all day long, so it's only natural that she starts doing the same. The other day she even went as far as cleaning up her own crumbs. She was eating a snack in the living room and spilled a few crumbs on the ottoman. She went to the drawer and got a dish towel, wiped the crumbs off (which of course meant they went onto the carpet but so what), and put the towel back in the drawer. I was so impressed with this that I praised her and even made sure to tell Daddy about it when he got home. I love watching her in action doing such things. It truly shows just how much she is growing and learning too. This age may have its challenges, but I must remember to focus on all the amazing leaps she's made as well.

Slumdog Millionaire

Just got back from seeing Slumdog Millionaire. Figured if I see any movies before the Oscars I better see this one since it seems to be the top contender for Best Picture. I see why. I loved it! This was exactly what I needed to see too. It made me cry, laugh, and bite my nails in suspense. The acting is great, especially the little kids. I wanted to adopt the 3 of them; they were so darn sweet. I loved the music too! I walked out of the theater dancing. Although I haven't seen many of the big nominated films, this is my pic for best pic. I have seen Milk and The Reader and hope to watch The Wrestler, which Jason downloaded for me, and I'm going to rent Changeling on Tuesday. Can't wait to watch the Oscars on Sunday!!!

I'm obsessed with my house

One bad thing about being a new home owner is I want to always do things to my house. There are still pictures that need to be hung, rooms to be decorated, accent walls to be painted, etc. and I'm continuously thinking about which project to start next. It doesn't help that I'm obsessed with HGTV, and when watching shows, I think, "Heck that seems easy. I bet I could do that." Which I then follow up with, I'll just wait until my dad visits again so we can do that project together. Ha ha. Maybe that's why he hasn't come to visit again: he knows I'm gonna have lots of work for him. Not really, because I have to pace myself since I don't have all the money in the world to do all the things I want to do.

One great story about our house though is we just bought a dining room set. We've had an old crappy set for quite awhile now, and when we moved in, we agreed that we absolutely were going to replace that set as soon as possible. Friday Shawn got a wild hair that we should go window furniture shopping. I think this was also spawned by the fact that Thane & Kristi just went window furniture shopping. So Saturday afternoon we went and looked at a couple places. We then found a set we really liked, and Shawn said he'd go back on Sunday to order it. He called me from the store Sunday to say he found another set he liked better, so I needed to come down and take a look at that one too. I still loved the first set better, so we got it. We got a table with a self-storing leaf, 6 chairs, and a side buffett, something I've always wanted and now that our dining room is so big, we finally have the room for one. Hooray. The best way to describe the look of the set is rustic, Tuscan, maybe even a little farm house. It has natural dings and dents, which I thought would be perfect with kids around. The seats are solid wood, no upholstery, again good with kids around. I took some pictures of the set and will have Shawn put them up this weekend. The label that came with the furniture states the pieces are made from reclaimed timbers to create a genuine old world charm. The finish is created by hand rubbing high performance polishing oils to create a genuine aged patina. Basically, it's awesome!

Now I can't stop thinking what I want to do next in the house. I think I'm gonna try spray painting the chandelier in the dining room because right now it's gold and I think a matte black would look a lot nicer with the new furniture. I still really want to replace the other chandeliers, but again, I have to pace myself financially. I can't wait for garage sales to start up again this spring, so I can go look for other items I want to get for the house. I really want a cool piece of art to go above the buffet and still need to find something to go in the art niche along the stairs.

This weekend we will be getting the bookcases and desk we bought from the previous owners of the house Thane & Kristi bought. You see, the previous owners are moving to Pennsylvania and wanted to sell all their furniture, so the Tomlinsons went through and picked out some of the items we thought were in the best condition. Along with the bookcases and desk, we also bought the futon for the basement, so Shawn can have a place to sit once he gets a new tv so he can play his video games downstairs and not drive me crazy any more. Can't wait for that new tv to get worked into the budget. Ha ha. Anyways, so now next week I'll work on getting my office organized. Of course, this is all worked around Inara and her napping. Wish me luck that this project doesn't take me 2 months.

As I stated earlier, I'm obsessed with HGTV. I love the shows What's My House Worth, House Hunters, Property Virgins, The Stagers, etc. So I thought I'd share this fun quiz with you all. I took the style quiz on HGTV.com, which Eetung had told me about. She is a fellow HGTV addict. Here's what my style is according to the quiz:

Your style is Mid-Century Mod
Open, airy, organic spaces, all about form and function. Sophisticated and sleek yet approachable, alluring.

This coudn't be more accurate. I love simple, sleek, nothing too gaudy, and functional. And I hate cluttery, kitschy, and please no Southwest or country! Ugh! If you're interested in taking the quiz, here's the link. You do have to sign up to be an HGTV member first. http://my.hgtv.com/style-finder/stylefinder.esi

I'll be sure to write once my next project is completed or we get more work done on the house.

Inara's 17 Month Birthday

This weekend Inara turns 17 months old. Since my week is pretty busy, I thought I'd do her birthday update today. I'm babysitting Avery tomorrow and Saturday and my friend Jill's little one, McKenna, on Friday, so yes, the week is pretty busy.

So what's new with Inara? SO MUCH!!! Some big news is Inara has more than just 2 teeth...FINALLY!!! Unfortunately, she has had about 5 teeth come in all at once, which makes for some discomfort for her. Her two top front ones are peaking through. She has several on the side that have broken through as well. Nights have been off and on in that she's been waking up more than usual, but it's understandable. At least, she will be able to chew her food better now though.

Inara is learning more about herself. I taught Inara to hold up one finger when someone asks her how old she is. Today, I'm so excited...she said her name for the first time. Hooray!!! I pointed to her and asked "who's this?" She replied, "Nar." I pointed to myself and asked the same thing and she replied, "Mommy." I then pointed to her again and asked, "who's this?" She said so matter-of-factly "Nar." I am so proud of her. This one will go in her baby book for sure!!

Inara's hair has gotten so long and I'm debating whether to cut her bangs. I want her hair to grow one length though, so right now her bangs get in her eyes as I'm letting them grow out. She had finally gotten used to having a ponytail and actually looks forward to it every morning. I sit her on the bathroom counter and do her hair. I then stand her up and say "Look at how cute you are." She then has to kiss herself in the mirror. Needless to say, the bathroom mirror has smudges all over. It's so cute watching this morning ritual though and worth the messy mirror.

She loves her tumbling class on Wed afternoons. She is getting really good at bending her knees so she can bounce on the trampoline. Inara climbs on all the tubes and stuff they have out. She's also getting to like swinging on the gymnastic rings and bars. The one skill she's picked up that I'm super excited about is she's great on the balance beam. This is so important to me because I have HORRIBLE balance and hope that my kids don't pick up that trait. So we practice the balance beam every class, and she's really good at it. She can even walk on the beam and kick the balls we've place on it as she comes to them. Hooray for Inara Grace!

Along with our weekly tumbling class, I've been trying to consistently take her to the Thursday morning My Gym class. It's awesome thinking back at how much she has grown and improved from when we first started her in My Gym almost 6 months ago. When we started going, she couldn't crawl yet. Now she RUNS all over the place and tries to do things on her own: climbing on the ladders, getting onto the trampoline, climbing over the tubes, and even walking up the slides. It's incredible seeing how much she's grown in just a few months. She has even gotten better about letting the teachers pick her up and do different activities. She's not one to sit very long during circle time. That's understandable because the toys are way too much fun. I do love watching her clap during the songs, and she's starting to get the hang of the arm/leg movements during the Hi Hi song.

Remember back to when Inara would only grunt and couldn't say any words? She's improving a ton lately with all her new words. One of my favorites is avocado, which sounds more like a gutteral gurgle, but I know what she's trying to say. The same is true for Africa. Grammy gave her a little monkey that says a few words, one of which is Africa, so Inara started saying that. I figured why not introduce her to continents and countries, so I'll just start listing various countries, and she tries to say them. It's pretty funny how these words come out though. In our StrollerFit class, we sing songs and say words, so she's now being introduced to months and days of the week, which she tries to say but nothing quite sounds right yet. She does say baby very clearly now, but sometimes it can be mistaken for binky, which she has just started saying this past week. I'm still working with her on names. She says A for Avery, O for her friend Owen, Whit for her friend Whitney, Pay-pee for Spanky, Ist for Kristi, Yak for Jack, and now says Nee Nee for Grandma Nee Nee so clearly. Hooray. She's been saying Pop, Mommy, and Daddy for quite some time now. She also said Kylie very clearly one day, which surprised me because it's not a name I practice often, but I swear she got it from the times we've talked to Kylie on the webcam. Oh, and she says Yace for Jason.

She's started getting a whole new slew of animal sounds too. She says ribbit, tweet, chomp-chomp for alligator, and quack. I also ask her how a squirrel eats, and she holds one hand up to her mouth to eat like a squirrel. It's super cute. She definitely knows a ton of animals since I can lay all her flash cards out in front of her and ask her to show me X and 90% of the time she'll point to the correct card. It's awesome to see her do this. She also says vroom for car and started saying truck the other day. She can even point to things in books. We have a Little People farm book that we read all the time. She can point out the balloon, the orange juice, hat, sun, and a ton of other things. Like I've been saying all along, she may not be able to say a ton of words, but the kid knows a lot.

Inara's newest obsession is dancing, thanks in part to the toy mom got her for Christmas. She loves to listen to the songs, bend her knees and turn around to dance. When she hears "Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes", she points to her body parts. It's so cute. The other night she surprised me when Shawn was reading her the Little Teapot book, and she put her arm on her hip to form the teapot handle, then shook, and leaned over for the "pour me out" part. I've sang that song to her for months, but this was the first time I've seen her do the motions. So cool! She also still loves watching the Imagination Movers on Disney and we now listen to the Disney Choo Choo Soul CD in the car. One of my favorite things is she knows the introduction song for Movers so well that she can be occupied doing something, but turns around at just the right part to wave at the character Nina. She also loves to clap when songs are over. Music is so important for kids. I think we're going to enroll in a music class next through the rec centers here.

As for food, as many of you have already heard, the kid loves cheese! Most days, I have to argue with her "No More Cheese!" I think she'd eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've gotten her eating quite a few vegetarian/soy products, like veggie patties and soy corn dogs. Usually, she will push meats away when we try to feed them to her. I can give her a bite of chicken mixed with other things, and she will more often then not, pick out the meat and hand it to me. Some of her favorite things to eat are edamame, quesadillas, grapes, kiwis, scrambled eggs and tortillas, tomatoes, oatmeal, and daddy's homemade banana bread. She loves daddy bread as I call it. At breakfast, whatever cereal Shawn and I are eating she wants too. So we end up sharing our bowls of cereal with her. But her absolute favorite thing to eat is Mac & Cheese, particularly the one from Noodles & Co. She can eat a whole small serving herself and will still ask for more afterwards.

Although Inara has been thriving lately, I've been a bit down in the dumps. I know a lot of it is self-inflicted mommy anxiety. I'm the kinda person who loves to accomplish lots of projects each week and likes to feel successful at accomplishments. I love to keep a clean house and cook nice dinners every night. I love getting time to scrapbook. I love (and really miss reading). Unfortunately, most nights I'm so exhausted that I'm crashed my 8pm. Yes, I'm old and pathetic. Some days I get absolutely nothing done and that's a hard shift for me. One week it was impossible to get any laundry done, so one Sunday I had 8 loads to do. Shawn said there was no way I could get them all done, and he was right. Things like that drive me crazy though because I hate projects and chores to linger and because I feel that's what I do for my family while Shawn brings home the bacon. I know as a mom of an active toddler I have to learn to let things go, but this is difficult for me at times and sometimes even depressing. But I have to remember that Inara is my number one priority and if things don't get done, so be it. Honestly, that's a hard thing to accept for me, but I'm really working on it. And when I do just let my to do list go and sit down with Inara, I find myself enthralled by her and instantly remind myself this is what my life is about right now, not cooking gourmet meals, doing crafts, and keeping a clean organized house. So be it. Because look at this amazing daughter I have to help me see the world anew again. Happy 17 Month Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Second guessing

It's no real surprise I've started second guessing our move to Colorado for the first time given we are approaching the one year mark. Yes, Colorado has plenty to offer us, but there's a lot of sacrifices that came with the move. The biggest being my family, especially my parents and brother. I miss them so much. I hate that I can't just pop on over to see them and mooch free meals whenever I want. I miss my dad stopping over to check on me and bringing me fresh fruits. Oh how I'll miss the big batches of strawberries. Also, my grandpa was diagnosed with cancer this week, and I feel bad that I'm not there for my mom. Not that she needs it because we all know what a rock my mom is. I hate that I don't have my brother here to take me to the theater. I have been thinking about going to a play in Denver to get me a little culture, by my self of course. Mikey, please hurry and move here! The second biggest is my best friends. Yes, we've started meeting people and, hopefully, growing friendships, but it's impossible to replace 8, 10, 15 year friendships. It's almost Oscar time and I hate that I'm going to see as many of the Oscar nominees by myself. I know some of you may be saying, "But Marisa, you got a house." It's a beautiful house and I love it, but it's big, which means lots of cleaning. And with a toddler running around making messes all day long, it's hard to keep up with it. Hence, one of the reasons I'm all about taking her out of the house as often as possible so she doesn't destroy my house. Our apartment in HB had many problems, but guess what, it was a heck of a lot cheaper in the long run considering we now have a mortgage. In the 10 years I've been with Shawn, I've never seen him crunching as many numbers as he has since we bought a house. Owning a home ages you with all the bills and things that need to be done. It's like having another job, I swear. True, we have more space for Inara to play in and no shootings happening down the street from us and we don't see the cops on our block on a daily basis and I don't have to walk in the alley to get to my laundry room, but don't all these things build character? I do see the benefits of our move. Plus, owning a house is a tax benefit. I get it. But with homeownership comes adult responsibilities and who likes those? Also, if we were still back in CA, I could work a couple days a week to give me a little break from mommy duties, and I'd have a built in babysitter like Lisa has had for years: Mom and Pop. As if they would ever turn away the chance to watch Inara. I miss having them here to help out with her in times of desperation. For example, I went to get my eyebrows waxed yesterday (the first time in over a month may I add) and got to lay there fo 15 minutes listening to my daughter whine and scream and say "Mommy! Mommy!" as many times as should could in a short span. Yes, Mom and Pop are invaluable. As much as I will say it's impossible to replace long lasting friendships, I will tell you it's nearly impossible to replace my parents (aka the world's best babysitters...I mean parents). And darn it I thought moving to CO was going to give me seasons...what's with all the sunshine and where's the snow? I feel like I'm in HB again. Except I don't hear police sirens screeching out my window or smell cigarette smoke coming from my neighbor's front yard. Instead, I hear my daughter banging her toys and yelling "Mommy" as I steal away for a little creative writing for the day.

My Trip to New Orleans

I have to start this blog off by telling Elizabeth how sorry I am for her loss. As some of you know one of my BFFs, Elizabeth, lost her sister Wendy last month. Wendy was shot and killed by two 15year old boys and one 14 year old boy during an attempted armed robbery in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Because Elizabeth is like a sister to me, I flew to N.O. to be there for her at the memorial the community had planned for Wendy, and I'm so grateful that I was there because I learned a lot: Wendy was an amazing person that was taken too soon, and although we may stereotype that all people in N.O. are "bad" people after hearing about this and other horrible events, we met some truly wonderful people.

I flew in Friday evening and stayed up late that night with Sierra and Elizabeth to hear what had been going on with the detectives and the suspects and to hear about the people they had already met. Saturday morning we went to pick up Cami and Joanna at the airport and headed back to The 9th Circle, a bar we came to frequent the short time we were there. You see the owner, Irish Mike, was Wendy's best friend and although there wasn't that much of an age gap between them, she had asked Mike to give her away at her wedding. Yes, Wendy was planning her first wedding and had finally found love. That's probably the part that gets me the most: it's wrong that she had to be taken (and so violently) as she was about to start a new life with a man she loved. They had even decided to buy a house in Georgia. It's hard not to hate the boys who took Wendy from us and all the people who loved her.

Saturday afternoon was the Second Line parade. Wendy wasn't much of a church-goer, so the community memorialized her by hosting a parade in her honor. This was the best "funeral" I've ever been too and I've been to a few in my days. The band played music as we walked the streets behind the horse-drawn carriage and danced in the streets of the Quarter. Instead of a sad memorial, a Second Line Parade is supposed to be a time to celebrate one's life. Basically, it's a party in the streets. Now that's the way to go in my opinion. I don't want people to be sad when I die. Instead, I want people to drink, party and remember all the good times we shared. And that exactly what the people of the Quarter did. Whether they knew Wendy or not, people came to celebrate. I swear though there must have been close to a thousand people in the parade. So awesome to see! Especially since we all know that's what Wendy would have wanted. After the parade, everyone went back to one of the bars Wendy worked at called Aunt Tiki's for a late lunch. People came up to Kris and Wendy to introduce themselves and tell them stories of how they knew Wendy and what she meant to them. It was funny hearing some of the stories because Wendy was known to be a rebellious woman who took no shit and freely spoke her mind. (Boy, do I need to take a few lessons from her life.) Late that night Elizabeth, Sierra and Joanna went to the drag show that some of Wendy's friends put together to honor her. I heard it was a blast. Unfortunately, I was exhausted and knew I couldn't stay up til midnight, so I took Cami home and crashed that night. Hopefully, Elizabeth will write stories about it on her FB page to share with everyone. :-)

Sunday we got to spend more time with Kris (Elizabeth's older sister), Kris's boyfriend Speedy (aka Israel) who I came to love (Kris, don't let this one get away...he's awesome!), Elizabeth's aunt Marcy, Irish Mike, and the girls. I had asked that while we were there if one meal we could try some Southern food. I got my wish. I was polite and tried what Irish Mike ordered for us to try: fried pickles (which I've had before at The Counter), chicken livers (they aren't so bad covered in the sauce they're served with), turkey neck (which was like tender dark meat), greens (collard and mustard...not my cup of tea), and I ordered candied yams (which I already love) and crab cakes. I was proud that Elizabeth even tried most of these considering she generally doesn't like to try new things. But she did and Irish was proud of her. At least she didn't order the spaghetti and meatballs. Ha ha. We then had to go back to Wendy's apartment so Elizabeth could pick up some things she wanted to keep. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for Elizabeth, but she's such a rock and didn't breakdown as much as I would have (or did for that matter it seems like). We then walked around the Quarter a bit and saw a few art galleries and antique stores, but since everyone told us not to walk the streets pass dark, we headed back to the hotel early. We ordered room service for dinner (which was way overpriced and not very tasty) and Sierra and Elizabeth washed some of their clothes because they reeked of smoke from all the bars we'd been into.

It was great to be able to see my girlfriends, but obviously I would have preferred if it had been under better circumstances. I knew I had to be there for Elizabeth and am so glad I went. It was weird being away from Inara for 3 1/2 days and I missed her greatly, but this was a trip I knew I would regret if I didn't make it. I'm also so glad that I got to meet Irish Mike. This man is a godsend. He did a lot to help Elizabeth and Kris out and he's vowed to represent them during the court trial. I know I couldn't be in the same room as those punk kids, so I'm so grateful that he's doing that for them. He is seriously one of the nicest guys I've ever had the chance to meet. I know how close he and Wendy were, so this has been a difficult situation for him to, but he was so strong for Elizabeth and Kris. He was rather protective of them too. For example, during the parade, we started going by the corner where Wendy was shot and he warned them in case they didn't want to see it. The whole day he kept telling people this was not a day for politics but a day for remembering Wendy. He's like the big brother the girls never had. I can't say enough great things about him. Plus, he's from Ireland, so you know he's cool. He also told us funny stories about his previous career: he was an artificial inseminator for dairy cows. That's just plain crazy, but it sure makes for some good stories. It was hard to say good-bye to him, especially since he has to constantly hear about Wendy on the news and see the street memorials everywhere for her. My heart breaks every time I think about Elizabeth, Kris, and Irish Mike. I just wish there was more I could do to ease the pain. All I can do is offer my help any way I can. I love you guys!!!