S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W

Our property sits across the street from a rental property by the same name.  At first, we thought it was managed by the same company.

When we moved in, the kids from that property were riding their bikes and running all over this property, because hardly anyone lived here.  I'd have the windows open on a hot day and find a little girl staring through the screen who would then ask if little AC could come out to play.  (We didn't have blinds at the time.)  It was a little annoying to have so many kids running around, but not too bad.

One weekend--as luck would have it, the weekend big AC was on his yearly Vegas trip--things got out of hand.  There were older kids running around, sitting on the back benches smoking out, and yelling obscenities like there was no one around.  What to do?  I was home alone with little AC.  I was furious with big AC for leaving me, and I wasn't sure what could be done.  Finally, I saw one of our neighbors come out his back door barefoot and tell the kids off.  But some of them trickled back to the front of the property, where our house is.  I glared at them through the window, and about 15 minutes later, they started ringing the doorbell and running off until I opened the window and yelled that they'd better cut it out or I'd call the cops.

A few days later, we noticed the kids would fill up bottles of water using the exterior water spigots and have water fights.  The little girl who'd become friendly with us was using ours and we asked her to stop, but the spigots for the empty houses were still being used.  I emailed the management company as an FYI, and I was surprised to hear back that there had been several complaints about these kids who were not supposed to be on the property in the first place.  Additionally, they were sending a memo to the other property's management (!) telling them that their residents were trespassing on private property, and that we should call our security company or Boston PD if we caught anyone trespassing!  That was a big relief.  And it was a bigger relief when 3 kids came running over here as a group of other kids yelled from across the street, "You're not supposed to go over there!"

Now that it is snowing, some of the residents across the street have the nerve of parking in spots that have been shoveled out for our property!  Additionally, since the snow keeps them from parking (illegally--there are 2 "No Parking Any Time" signs along the street) in front of their apartments, they now pull in front of our place and wait for whomever they are picking up.  This was the last straw, so I emailed our management company again (they probably think I'm some Nosy Nellie at this point).  They confirmed that this should not be happening, and that they'll have our building engineer (AKA maintenance man) tell their management company about the problem.  Whew!  In the meantime, I feel like a scarecrow: I try to turn on lights so they know someone is in the house, I make it subtly known that I am looking out the window.  I'm scared that something will happen or that they'll figure out I said something.  In the meantime, since it's only been 2 days since I got that email, I wonder: should I call security?  Or should I wait till that memo goes out to them?

Sigh.

We Are Family

Our first non-immediate family guest is planning a trip to visit us. I should be excited but I am dreading it.

My oldest cousin--she's 55--is planning a trip for October with her mom (my dad's sister) and husband. She didn't really ask; she just started emailing and saying they were hoping to see us in October.

Now she is in full planning mode. We've never been really close; I didn't get to see my cousins on my dad's side very often growing up and he gets irritated with his own family sometimes. However, she's really nice and took the afternoon off to be there when my dad had bypass surgery (or was it stents? It's so hard to keep track).

But I am picturing days of awkward conversation and the task of feeding and entertaining them. (Not to mention all the cleaning beforehand.) My aunt is awesome but really getting crotchety as she enters her late 70s. She had back surgery a few years ago, so I warned my cousin that our house has stairs leading to the bedrooms. As for my cousin and her husband, they are the opposite of AC and me: super-religious and conservative (as in, global warming is a Democrat hoax). We haven't personally discussed the latter with them, but were told by my other cousins (her brother and sisters) about it in disbelief.

I'm hoping they'll stay less than one week. Meanwhile, maybe I should start stocking up on liquor to cope...

NB: friends who follow this blog are ALWAYS welcome. I think it's actually less stress and more fun when friends visit!

Hazy Shade of Winter

Sorry if you started to read this and realized something was weird--I accidentally hit "send" from my phone before I was ready!

Christmas Day was a partly sunny day, which began lazily, had little AC opening gifts around noon, and ended with our dinner at Buca diBeppo in nearby Dedham. There was a decent crowd--not too full but not empty--and the staff was really friendly.  We sat right outside the Pope room, and the funniest thing I heard all night was when the party who had reserved that room arrived:  "What better place for a Jewish family to spend Christmas than in the Pope room!"

I ordered little AC's dinner with the appetizers, but it wasn't served till after our main course! Luckily she nibbled from our appetizers--though my heart broke when she took big AC's calamari and ate a fair amount. The waiter explained they burnt her first pizza so another one was coming. Finally he and the manager apologized and comped our dessert (chocolate chip cannoli, which little AC also enjoyed). Big AC thought the meal was good overall, but I think my taste buds were tainted by the cold I've been fighting since Christmas Eve.

  Le sigh. Wait till she's old enough to know what she's eating...

The chocolate chip cannoli is the creamiest we've tasted thus far here.

As we were getting our coats on to leave the restaurant, the older women at the table next to ours told us that they didn't even realize there was a kid at our table, since little AC was so well behaved!  And once they learned she was 2 and a half, two of them said "Oh! She's big for that age!"  We had averted a couple of potential fussy moments by using food as a distraction (ha ha), especially given the delay in her pizza arriving, so that was nice to hear.

Later Christmas night, big AC told me he had just read the news about a storm heading our way--it was coming at us with at least 12-18" of snow on Sunday!  I was devastated.  It was the last day that parking would be free at Fanueil Hall!  (Normally it's almost $40!!) Not only that, I had been avoiding the Christmas crowds and thus had mentally reserved Sunday not only so we could visit Faneuil Hall but so that I could find a birthday gift for my dad and ship it out Monday.  I hopped online myself and found out not only were we bracing for a big storm, it would turn into a BLIZZARD.  The only glimmers of hope were that 1) it would happen on a Sunday, when big AC is home and 2) though people were being cautioned to get off the streets by 3PM, the blizzard would be at its worst between 11PM and 4AM.

Here's a picture taken before noon of the street in front of our house.

I wish I had a camera when big AC left for work this morning.  He was all bundled up, but since the sidewalk hadn't been shoveled yet, and the snowplows were barely making a dent in the snow, he looked like a big bear, lifting his legs high to get through the snow!  And then a big gust of wind swirled snow around him and another person on the sidewalk.  As much as I hate being stuck inside due to the snow, it's kind of cool to watch. The streets are much quieter than normal, and the blizzard warning is in effect till 6PM tonight.  There's hella flurries falling and swirling in the wind.  We were supposed to return some movies to the library today, but according to the website it's closed because of the storm.  We'll see how much we've been dug out by tomorrow.

Hope you all had a nice Christmas!

Pour Some Sugar On Me

Since I've been a temporary stay-at-home mom, I've had more time to experiment in the kitchen by cooking up healthy meals for the ACs.  I've also had time to indulge my sweet tooth by baking.  (And oh, what a sweet tooth it is.  One day my father-in-law saw how much sugar I added to my coffee and warned me I'd give myself diabetes someday.)  When we used to have organic fruits and veggies delivered back home, I'd make French-style apple tarts almost weekly because of all the apples we received.  The tarts were yummy but could get boring after a while.

Now that little AC is eating almost everything that we do, I've had to monitor the sweets that we have in the house.  Therefore, when baking, I try to keep it simple.  I stumbled upon this recipe for Sweet Beet Cookies, which are delicious. They are ridiculously easy to make, and for me, the most time-consuming part was grating the beets and stopping to measure how much I'd grated so far, which isn't really a big deal. The recipe states that you'll end up with 50 cookies, but for some reason, each of the 3 times I've made them, I haven't made more than 18!  Since I didn't get a lot of dough out of the recipe, I thought it would be fun to use my new gingerbread people cookie cutters.  The color of the cookies against the black skull platter keeps the Halloween spirit alive for me.  :)

Big AC loves these, and can eat most of them in one sitting (and I probably could, too).  Little AC will nibble an arm, and then decide they make nice toys and take them over to her play area to be forgotten.

For Thanksgiving, I had some leftover canned pumpkin, so I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, using dark chocolate chips by accident.  (I thought I grabbed the semi-sweet bag from the pantry.)  I thought they were pretty good, but big AC thought the flavors competed against rather than complemented each other.  However, it should be noted he doesn't really care for dark chocolate.  And little AC preferred to pick the chocolate chips out and leave the pumpkin part of the cookie for Mama or Papa to finish.

Got any easy dessert/baking recipes to share?

 

Mother Mother

I was so excited to pick up  my mom on the night of November 3 to begin two whole weeks with her!

We took her to the Arnold Arboretum and the outlets at Kittery, Maine.  Naturally, she found some great bargains at the latter.  She really enjoyed taking little AC to playgroup with me, especially since she could watch her through the two-way mirror.

Unfortunately, the Sunday after she arrived, my stepdad called to tell her that he wasn't feeling well.  (Many of you know that I really do not care for my stepdad and only tolerate him for my mother's sake. Big AC and 99% of my mom's family feel the same way.)  Then Monday he called to inform her he had been hospitalized and then released later that day.  The next day I overheard her telling big AC that she might ask me to find a flight back before her scheduled departure on the 17th. Thankfully, things seemed to get better, so we kept going, despite the cold rainy weather. I even braved The Christmas Tree Shops with her (it's like Big Lots, from what I understand) and she "only" took 1.5 hours!

Alas, any good time needs to be ruined by my stepdad. (That's why I do not look forward to the Xmas holidays at all.  He ruined so many of them when I was growing up.)   He called her late Thursday night and told her that he tried to go to Safeway but instead got really bummed out and sat on someone's stoop and cried and cried.  And that he felt hot and cold.  Naturally, my mom freaked out and asked me Friday morning to find the first flight back for her.  After a day at Jamaica Pond, feeding ducks and geese, we took her back to Logan Airport, five days before her original scheduled departure date.  (My cousin texted me to assure me she'd picked up my mom at SFO, and that she saw my stepdad--he didn't look good at all, and it may be a prostate issue.)

To console ourselves, we drove from Logan to Quincy, where I'd found a -- gasp! -- Filipino restaurant.  I didn't think there would be much for me to eat, but the pancit, steamed rice, and FAT veggie lumpia (see image below) totally hit the spot.  Who woulda thunk Filipino food would be our comfort food in BOSTON?!

Poor little AC was so confused.  She cried and cried when my mom walked to security, and keeps asking for her.  I am not only sad that she had to leave so soon, I am feeling homesick all over again.  It's cold, already in the 40s, and there isn't much sunshine.  

At this point, I'm considering renaming this blog "Cry Me a (Charles) River."

Express Yourself

Did I mention that little AC has speech delay?

Around the time she turned 2, I noticed that she maybe half a dozen words in her vocabulary.  I mentioned it to her doctor at her check-up, and she referred us to Early Intervention services.  (Early Intervention: sounds like something Lindsey Lohan and Amy Winehouse could have benefited from when they were younger.  But I digress.)  After an assessment, her speech delay was confirmed and it was determined that her speech was at the level of a 16-month old's.  I asked what caused this, and was told that our move probably caused her little brain to focus on new surroundings and push the "need to learn to talk" to the bottom of her priorities.

In late August, a case worker, RY, started coming weekly for an hour to play with little AC and work on speech with her.  Literally, that's how it's done--whatever little AC wants to play with, that's what RY does.  They'll color, or play with her musical instruments, or roll/bounce balls, and RY will repeat one or two words that pertain to their activity: "circle,". "loud/soft," etc. Then, in early September, a spot opened up in the Tuesday/Thursday 1.5 hour playgroup for little AC to further work on her speech (though more so through listening to the other kids or teachers), as well as her social development.  The odd thing is IT IS WORKING.  At first, you wouldn't think that just playing with someone for an hour a week and then hanging out with 8 other (mostly quiet but active) kids and 3 teachers would have an impact.  But she is now putting together 2- and 3-word sentences, and even asking "What's that?"  Her pronunciation isn't perfect yet, but since I spend 24/7 with her, it's easier for me than big AC or RY to figure out what she is trying to say. I don't feel comfortable with her playing with other kids who can really talk, because they wouldn't be able to understand her, but it's progress! RY called it a "word explosion," and that's the best way to describe it.

The downside to the home visits is that I need to make sure the house is somewhat presentable by noon every Wednesday.  Luckily, RY is pretty mellow and little AC really likes her, to the point of asking me almost every day for her.  And the cool part of playgroup is that they have a parent's lounge with two-way mirrors, so I can watch her as she plays or READ or play with my phone for 1.5 uninterrupted hours twice a week! 

She's been mimicking "cool" and "wow"--constant words in my vocabulary--so maybe I'll start throwing out "hella" before she hears "wicked."

Lights

For the past seven days, I have been miserable. Today I realized why.

I. AM. HOMESICK.

I miss my friends. I miss the Bay Area. And I really miss working at Stanford, even though I had outgrown my job there.

*sob* *sob* *sob*

Breaking the Law

I've inadvertently left supermarkets with unpaid items a few times since we've been here. Twice it happened when I had little AC in her "big" stroller, which has a basket under the seat. I like this stroller because it has a tray for her snacks while we shop, and if she falls asleep, it reclines. Additionally--and most importantly--it's the easiest way to carry the items for which I am shopping. But if I take more reusable bags than I need, stuff can hide! Once, I was trying to rush and left a jar of pasta sauce in there! Another time, little AC was in a regular shopping cart, and the cashier was so smitten with her that even though she had all 3 items on the conveyor belt, she only charged me for 2 items! I have felt so guilty when I get home but cannot bring myself to go back.

In a different case, we were breaking the law unknowingly. We were driving along a street in a bad neighborhood and all of a sudden, there were two motorcycle cops standing in the right lane. I thought they were diverting traffic, but one pointed at our car and yelled "Pull over!" I looked at AC and said, "Did I interrupt a funeral procession or something?" (The cops were wearing white straps crisscrossed over their dark uniforms, straps like the kind I used to wear as hall monitor in elementary school.) The cop walked over to us and demanded, "Where's your sticker?" and pointed at the windshield. AC and I looked at each other blankly, before we stammered, "S-sorry officer, we just moved from California--what sticker are you talking about?" He said, "You have them out there too! You know, your inspection sticker." AC said, "Do you mean for smog inspection? We don't have stickers back home, it's just reflected on the registration." The cop looked puzzled at this point, but regained his tough attitude and asked for license and registration. He pointed out on the registration that it said "If this is a newly acquired vehicle, inspection must be performed within 7 days of registration." I said, "Newly acquired--this car was bought in 1999!" He stormed off and came back with the ticket and said, "If you want to appeal it the instructions are on the back." And with that, the ordeal was over. Turns out that "newly acquired" means "newly acquired into Massachusetts." Luckily, the ticket was only $50, and unlike California, you can pay it without fixing the infraction first. So we finally fixed the problem last week...about a month and a half after the ticket was given.

Did I mention the cop was wearing a do-rag? What cop wears a do-rag?!

You/Belong in a Zoo...

Tuesday, August 3 was National Night Out. In Boston, the Franklin Zoo hosted the event by offering free admission, free food, and entertainment. A random woman (we don't know if she was a volunteer) took one look at big AC and said, "free food is by the lion exhibit." He thanked her and then said to me, "is it that obvious [that he likes to eat]?" Little AC got several coloring books and crayons, and boxes of sidewalk chalk from Target, which was (unfortunately) one of the sponsors. Sadly for me, the free food consisted of hot dogs and your choice of Doritos, plain Lays, or smartfood popcorn. Outside the zoo, Boston PD had several of their Harleys for kids to sit on for photo ops and to play with the sirens. They also had the SWAT vehicle below. Little AC got inside but did not want to come out-- she kept saying she wanted to drive it! Pictures of the inside were not allowed "for counterterrorism reasons." There was also a bomb squad vehicle with a bomb detonating robot and suit on display, and coloring books, stickers, and crayons were distributed from a Boston EMT gurney next to an ambulance. Given the majority population that attended, big AC and I couldn't help but sadly wonder if this would be some kids' only interaction with the good side of BPD...



Sent from my iPhone

Closing Time

It's been 3 weeks since we signed closing documents on the house. It was a very frustrating experience, because we found out that our contact at the bank went on maternity leave and did not bother to tell us. The only thing her voicemail said (at her office and on her cell phone) was that she was out of the office, and to contact her assistant. For those of us who have been made the point of contact when bosses are out of the office, we know what that means: double the workload, less time in the day. Now we are finding out that we were supposed to do not 1, but 2 walk-throughs prior to closing, with a final walk-through 30 days after moving in. Which I need to follow up on, because we've found irritating stuff: the A/C did not work (and we discovered this during a heat wave where temps hit 100 for the first time in almost a decade), and none of the outlets in little AC's room work! AC is getting frustrated with the things we are finding. The reason this whole transaction was so rushed was the deadline for the first-time homebuyer tax rebate.

Anyway, here we are. The day we moved in, a group of kids from the apartments across the street ran over to greet us, and immediately asked if they could come in! Apparently, everyone on that side has been curious about these houses. We finally made it over to the little playground over the weekend, but I won't be taking little AC there anytime soon. It's MUCH smaller than the playground we had at Alterra at Overlook Ridge, it's been tagged (with a sharpie, not a big fat tagging marker), and there was pee on one of the slides the day we went. Ugh.

Aeroplane

Little AC and I traveled home for 10 days to consolidate our 2 storage units into 1, and to see family. (We also wanted to take advantage of her flying free before she turns 2.) Our flight out was fine; the flight attendant kindly arranged for us to have a row to ourselves.

Our flight home was a different story. Murphy's Law was in full effect:

• Full flight. We checked our bag and learned that there was a ...
  
• 30-minute delay, preceded by...
• Security line so long that the ticket agent said it could take an hour to get through. (Luckily we were shepherded into a family line and got through in 15-20 minutes.)
• Our original flight was for 1:50, but we didn't board till about 2. We pre-boarded (which I'm guessing they did because there were a total of 4-5 kids on the flight), so we were on the plane as the rest of the passengers boarded. Then, for whatever reason (the pilot did not say), we were on the runway for a good 30-45 minutes...
  
• Little AC was already tired, which I'd planned on so that she could sleep, but since the plane was not moving, she couldn't understand why we were boxed in. She began to cry and thrash about, and nothing could calm her down--not a lollipop, not her activity cards, not ANYTHING. She was like this for a good 20-30 minutes. She was That Kid. Finally, at 3:05, the plane took off and like magic, she fell asleep.
  
• Little AC slept for an hour or two, and then woke up in a good mood. Great, I thought, the worst is over. WRONG. About an hour before landing, maybe 90 minutes, a foul smell started wafting around. Yep, nasty diaper, but there were lines for both bathrooms and I know she would run up and down the aisle, given the chance. So....
  
• She got fussy. She thrashed a little and banged her head on the tray table, which caused the girl in front of us to glare at me again, as if I had any control over little AC's behavior at this point. The only thing that calmed her down was a cup of ice.
  

FINALLY, we started to descend. I made the mistake of asking her if she should see papa out the window. She started to yell loudly, "PAPA! PAPA!" As soon as we got off the plane we headed to the bathroom, and when she saw big AC a huge smile broke on her face and she started running toward him. He ran toward her too. Despite the awful flight from hell, that moment made it all worth it.

What's Going On

I can't believe it's been 4 months since our big move. At the same time, it feels like time is moving too quickly---it's Sunday evening, and before you know it, it's Friday again, and another week has gone by, and what have I accomplished? What new adventures have little AC and I encountered? As a temporary stay-at-home mom, I have minimal things on my list of must-do items but with an active toddler, sometimes even making a few phone calls can be a challenge.

I've been trying to get little AC out to the playground more often so she can not only get some fresh air and exercise but also some interaction with other kids. There's one little girl, aged 14 months, that we've seen about 3-4 times, so it's nice for little AC to have a little friend of sorts when we make it out there.

In bigger news, we have put in an offer for a 3BR/2.5BA townhouse in Boston. It's a new community; the original plan called for 300 units, but once the economy tanked the plan was revised to 20 units! AC saw an ad for the property on the medical area's shuttle, and we toured it almost a month ago. Truth be told, the route that Google Maps gave us was very ghetto, to the point where I finally blurted "Where the f*** is this place?!" Once we turned onto the street that leads to the property, things got better. It reminded me of Junipero Serra between Hickey and Serramonte. And once we arrived, we were delighted to learn that the property is up against a wildlife sanctuary, in addition to being "green." It's relatively close to the subway system, about 1/4 of a mile, and close to the zoo. The area surrounding the property is known as the Emerald Necklace, designed by Frederick Olmsted, who incidentally shot down the idea for a park (which is now Golden Gate Park!) in San Francisco.

Whether or not our offer is accepted, I have to formally launch a search for daycare for little AC, as well as resume my job search. I've dreaded doing this so far because deep down inside it means this is officially our home. However, AC has said a few times that we could be here as little as 5 years...I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I don't do well with change at all. In fact, when we put in the offer, I got a little sad, because I started thinking that I was just getting used to our new apartment, especially with spring finally here: I'm getting to know the walkable area around here; AC is starting to get into his workout routine with the on-site gym; and we're getting into a routine for our weekly grocery shopping.

(Then again, I'm sitting here listening to a couple fight somewhere down the hall, and I think to myself, "Our own place may not be so bad...")

Stay tuned to learn whether our offer is accepted!

Anniversary

I am one day late posting this, and am rather bummed about that. Yesterday was our TEN-YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. 10 years! We could hardly believe it. I didn't get to post on the actual day because we were anticipating a big storm and thus I was trying to get as much done before it hit. We managed to get out of the house just before 10. I managed to stop at an Italian bakery I'd been wanting to try; I got 2 slices of rum cake, and even got little "Happy Anniversary" plastic signs and candles to spell out 10 (one 1 and one 0) on the slices.

Unfortunately, AC left work late, so we had to pick him up at the T station. He was waiting in the downpour with a single red rose. Sweet! Since we were hoping to either eat out or have dinner delivered, we decided to stop on a restaurant on the way home. The easiest place at which to stop was Applebee's. Not what we would have picked, but the winds were picking up and the rain was coming down hard. Surprisingly, it was pretty packed, and almost all the tables that were occupied had a kid.

By the time we got home, around 8, AC was exhausted, so he fell asleep watching DVR. So much for the rum cake.

Weather permitting, we plan to do some proper celebrating this weekend in Boston. There's a book sale at the French Library Alliance Francaise of Boston, so we're hoping to not only go there but to find at least a proper French cafe nearby.

Brain Stew

It's funny how I thought that being a stay-at-home-mom would give me more time to blog. But alas, I was wrong. So I must take this opportunity to throw out some stuff that's been stewing in my head since my last post (which I started writing 1/19 and JUST got around to posting!!):

• For some reason, most public restrooms don't have toilet seat covers. Ugh.

• One day, when AC first moved to the Bay Area, we were heading to the City. It was an autumn day, which means that even though the sun is out, there's a nip in the air, especially in the City. But AC refused to believe me. So he left in nothing but a t-shirt and shorts. Needless to say, he learned his lesson. But obviously I didn't, because twice I've looked out and seen the sun shining brilliantly and told little Artie, "we're going to the playground today!" But as soon as we get outside, it turns into a 5- to 10-minute brisk walk around the playground because the wind is blowing and I've forgotten that I'm watching the sun from the comfort of our 68-degree apartment. So when AC asked me what I think of our move so far, I say I can't answer that yet because the weather is clouding my judgment. (And if we base it on the weather, I HATE IT. It's too cold to take the little one out sightseeing via public transportation. And I'm a cold person by nature, so this weather kills me. Sometimes even with the heater on I still sleep in my robe for extra warmth.)
• Up until recently, I was having nightmares about our move. The basic premise of my nightmares was the same: I had to be out of someplace by a certain time, whether it be my office/desk or our apartment. Our move was that bad. I can't talk about it yet without still getting riled up.
  
• We live in the same city as the NECCO headquarters. Did you know that NECCO = New England Confectionery Company?
• The upstairs neighbors sound like they are running a Bela Karolyi camp. You can hear 1 or 2 kids jumping and running around, sometimes as late as 11:30PM. But I can also hear frequent crying and angry stomping (like an adult angrily stomping). And one day AC came into the bedroom and said it sounded like a kid was getting "beat down" (as in disciplined hard) upstairs. So now I'm convinced that there is child abuse going on. Sometimes I lay awake composing a letter to the authorities in my head. But then I wonder if I'm overreacting. One day I took the elevator up there on our way home and walked slowly past the apartment but I couldn't hear anything.
  
• I've started cooking. Yes, ME. The one whose greatest cooking accomplishment was a perfect steamed artichoke and steamed rice in the rice cooker. (The latter is what I made for AC the first time he came over to my place. Just rice.) So far I've become a pro at stir fry, but I've tried other recipes too, which AC has praised. That means a lot, coming from a great chef like him. :)
  

More Than a Feelin'

One of the associate directors at my old job told me that Bostonians aren't friendly. For the most part, that is false, but we've noticed Whole Foods locations here (we've been to two) are an exception. The staff aren't friendly at all. The second most recent trip to the Charles River Plaza location near Mass General was a bummer for several reasons: paid parking lot and unfriendly cashier. On top of our massive grocery bill, we paid 10 bucks for parking!! We were only in there for about an hour. AC said that he said hi to the cashier and the cashier did not respond. The cashier was a punk for another reason: he did not mention that parking was validated with a $5 purchase!! I discovered this when I read the bottom of the receipt once we were home. Ugh.

The thing that drives me so crazy here is the roads...we live right off US-1, which is, for you Bay Area readers, like El Camino Real with a 50MPH limit. The exits are not all off-ramps--imagine you're speeding on El Camino at 50MPH and need to stop for gas. You simply signal and turn into the gas station, right off the road! And if you need to get to the other side of the freeway, good luck figuring out what exit will have a chance for you to turn left over the freeway. It took me 5 tries before I figured out that it wasn't the first Main St. exit, but the next one... yes, two exits named Main St. but with different cities after them. And the first 4 tries I couldn't turn left or make a U-turn--I had to find a street to turn right so I could make a U- or 3-point turn and THEN another left to get back on the right track!

And don't get me started on the rotaries...you're driving along when all of a sudden you come up to a rotary. You know, a roundabout. But with exits. So you yield to oncoming traffic, jump in when you can, and good luck if you need to cut across to take the next exit from the rotary you just entered! It is crazy and scary the first time. Visit me and you'll see what I mean. Sometimes I add sound effects if traffic is a little heavy.

One thing I do like about the parking here is that some lots have a spot next to the disabled ones for expectant mothers or parents of infants. My 20-month-old chubster is more of a toddler, but if it's the closest spot and it's open, I take it.

The Final Countdown

The 26th of December, we shipped out our stuff. I actually got a lump in my throat as the movers started putting stickers on all our boxes and furniture. This is it!

And then the 28th arrived. Our flight was at 10:15 PM. The cats were at my mom's, hiding in her bathroom. And at 7PM we were STILL throwing stuff out. So we threw out what we could, threw the rest into storage, took some stuff to my mom's (mind you poor Artianna was hungry again at this point, and luckily I had an apple and cheese snack pack to hold her over) and headed into the City on fumes! I parked on the sidewalk, got the cats, threw stuff into my mom's house (wait till she finds that bottle of Grey Goose on the table) and took off. By now it's 8:30 or so. We still need gas and to return the rental car. We stop for gas, and then Art drops me, Artie, the cats, and 5 of our 6 bags at the terminal with a cart and goes to return the car. I ask if I can check us all in, and the lady kindly says yes but Art will still need to go to the counter (skipping the line) with his ID for his boarding pass. Since JetBlue is at the international terminal, you can't take the carts with you through security. So Art is hauling one cat, one rolling carryon, and the car seat, while I am trying to get Artianna to walk while I pull her carry-on, the diaper bag, and the other cat. We get in separate lines (it's now around 9:40) and start taking off jackets and shoes. And then they tell me that I need to take the cat out of the carrier and carry her through with me and Artie. We make it through and I am trying to run but of all days Artianna decides now would be a nice time to walk and look at the big shiny ads. Meanwhile, people are stuffing toys in the diaper bag that keep falling out. I keep saying, "C'mon! Run, Artie, run!" I have no idea where Art is at this point. (His delay was taking all 3 laptops out of the carryon so they could be checked by security. In addition to taking the cat out of the carrier for the same process I went through.) Naturally, we're at the last gate, which also happens to be downstairs. I figure if I can get us all onto the moving walkway, I can run ahead, put down the cat and suitcase, and catch Artie as she comes off the walkway. Well, she came faster than I expected, and she didn't know to step off so she kind of fell off the walkway face first. As I ran to her I dropped everything else....meaning the cat. One woman saw me and felt so bad she pulled the suitcase to the elevator for me. We got on the elevator (all this time we are hearing, "Final Boarding Call for JetBlue passengers Arturo Contreras, Nancy Contreras....") and when we got off, I tried to get her to run again but she wouldn't so as I'm calling behind me I run to the counter and a nice older woman picks up Artie and brings her to me! As I'm telling the agent "my husband is on his way--he's right behind me" she assures me the flight won't leave without him. Finally, poor Art is running down the escalator, dragging the car seat, and muttering, "TOLD you we shoulda driven."

We were the last ones on, but we made it. We hardly even slept on the flight. It goes without saying that we were zombies once we got settled into our apartment.

Do They know It's Christmas?

The baby's first Christmas has come and gone. Christmas eve was nice and quiet, despite my stepfather irritating the hell out of me. It was a very small dinner: Mom, Stepdad, the AC's, and me.

Christmas Day was a larger affair. There were 18 of us at my dad's condo. Not sure why he wanted to host the event--clearly, he didn't think through the logistics: fun-loving people, with a few kids in the mix...people who love to laugh loudly...

My dad looked tense the entire time. He was trying to be a good host, even though my cousin G had coordinated everything. After we ate, it was time to open gifts [we do Secret Santa]. However, before opening gifts, my dad insisted we play an icebreaker....4 questions that he uses in business presentations as icebreakers. It's a known fact he hates my cousin L's husband. So when the husband asked for clarification, or called out the answer--I can't remember what he said--my dad said, "Oh shut up, you pompous ass." I happened to be sitting next to the husband with the baby on my lap and I couldn't believe my ears! Kudos to the husband for staying calm and ignoring the remark!

[My dad did apologize later.]

The kids [aged 7, 9, and 10] were getting a little rambunctious, and my dad asked them to settle down so the neighbors wouldn't complain. It was in the early afternoon. Who would call the cops on Christmas Day in the early afternoon? The neighbors probably weren't even home!!

And the grand finale:

As my cousin G was cleaning up, she accidentally knocked down one of my dad's many glass dolphins and broke it. Big AC looked up to the sky with a smile and said, "It's a Christmas miracle. There is a god."

Adventures in Babysitting

It's been more than 9 months since my last post. Wow! Amazing what a baby does to your blogging. ;)

We've been trying different transportation methods for my mom to watch little AC. So far, it seems the best is having big AC take her via Caltrain/BART before work, and for me to pick her up the same way after work. We can then meet up with big AC on Caltrain and go home together. However, we had one crazy week earlier this month:

Monday. I happen to mention to a colleague that I am taking BART. Colleague offers me a ride from 22nd St. Caltrain, as she drives right past my mom's house. Big AC picks us up from Millbrae.

Tuesday. Big AC drives to Millbrae and takes the baby on BART only. After work, a friend and colleague whom I'll call Rollie is with me, and he lives near my mom. Big AC tells me to pick up the car and then him. Rollie overhears and asks for a ride. We make our way to SSF and I call big AC as we get off the freeway. The call goes to voicemail. So we wait...and wait...till finally 30 minutes later AC emerges and says he'd been waiting for my call. Meanwhile, Rollie'd hoped this would be a quicker way home.

Wednesday. I think we waited for big AC at my mom's for a long time.

Thursday. Big AC drove to work. He calls as I'm heading to the City and says he'll pick me up from 22nd St. Rollie is with me again and helps me text explicit directions to the station. For some reason, big AC ignores the freeway I texted and gets on 101 from 280. I'd said 280 to Cesar Chavez!! And his logic was, The only Cesar Chavez exit I know of is off 101!! Needless to say, he got lost, was mad because I couldn't un-lost him [as if the iPhone doesn't have GPS!!!], so after an hour I decide to catch a cab to my mom's with Rollie. SO EMBARRASSED. I figure, at least tomorrow I work from home and we can save gas/reduce carbon footprint since big AC can walk to the train...

Friday. Big AC walks to train, but then calls me for a ride to work. Due to a fatality, all trains are stopped.

*sigh*

I feel guilty for all the ice caps we melted that week.

Teenagers

Just like the song by My Chemical Romance ("Teenagers scare/the living shit out of me...).

I went to Whole Foods today. I was picking up just a few things, and was at the refrigerated beverage section. While I looked for a small bottle of OJ, I heard voices behind me talking about Red Bull. I glanced over and saw the typical Peninsula wannabes: three white trash kids trying to be black. I glanced at my cart, and figured that it wasn't in their way--and I'd be moving quickly. I grabbed my OJ and quietly walked away, only to hear "bitch" as I walked past one of them! I threw him the dirtiest look I could and kept walking. But as I walked, I got angrier--why didn't I talk back??? I guess I was so shocked that anyone--even a kid--would treat me like that; I was speechless. I got one more item and when I got to the register, the cashier said "how are you tonight?" I blurted, "Okay, other than some teenagers over there called me a bitch for no reason!" She looked apalled and said, "Whatever!"

I was boiling mad by the time I got to the car, even though I kept trying to calm down for the baby's sake. When I picked AC up from the train station, he could tell something was wrong, so I told him what happened. He said, "Maybe they were talking to each other. Maybe they weren't talking to you. Were they big?"

I can't help but go through the fifty responses I coulda/shoulda/woulda but didn't.

Baby Baby Baby

I've been receiving the most interesting comments, questions, stories, and suggestions. Our receptionist is a sweetheart, but lately, I want to avoid her because the focus of most of our conversations is my pregnancy. One day, I wore a full-blown maternity blouse [the kind that ties in the back]. Unfortunately for her, I was having a bad day--and it wasn't even 9AM yet. She saw me and squealed, "Oh my god! She's wearing a maternity shirt!" I muttered "Yeah yeah yeah" and went into my cube, as I'd just had a difficult meeting with my boss. She didn't get the hint and proceeded to stand at the door to my cube [oblivious to the fact I was facing my computer] and tell me about the hideous maternity clothes from twenty years ago. Somehow, I finally said that it's the attention I don't like, but before I could explain what I meant, she was on to how I should like the attention because once the baby comes no one cares about you!

Friday, she came into my cube and said, "Oh this one time--" and she started laughing with no sound--"I was so out of it when I was pregnant..." and launched into a "pregnant women can be absent minded" story.

When I first revealed that I was expecting, amidst all the usual "Will you find out what it is?" etc., she actually said, "You're not going to name it Art Jr. if it's a boy, are you?" What if I was??

There's a new woman who works for a project in our department. A colleague and I have deemed her a little weird. When someone said to her, "Have you heard the news?" and told her I was expecting, she said, "Oh! What is this, your first, second, third?" Actually, it's my fifth, and I make a big deal every time I'm knocked up because it's a miracle!!

Friday, she heard me describing a colleague's outfit as I mocked it. She hollered over the cubes, "That skill [describing an outfit] will come in handy when your child gets lost playing under the racks at Target or Ross!" Funny, I don't recall mentioning I shop there....

Yesterday, my mom said that one of her cousins from the motherland had sent me advice: "Eat everything so it will be healthy. And don't go on a diet!" Sorry, lady, the US is at least one step ahead of you on that one...who the hell doesn't know that you shouldn't diet when you're pregnant?!?! It's common sense!