Tag, I'm It

 I was tagged for this by Kys at Stir Fry Awesomeness (she is super awesome, btw), and in an effort to keep resolution # whatever-that-was (the one that says I'll blog once a week), here goes...

8 TV SHOWS I WATCH

• NCIS, the original
• Criminal Minds
• Fringe
• Bones (yes, my husband hates this too)
• Top Chef
• Intervention
• The Jersey Shore (this one is not by choice, but its a bad car accident with lots of carnage, you can't look away)
• Almost anything on the Food Network except Sandra Lee (somebody shoot her)

 8 FAVORITE PLACES TO EAT AND DRINK

• Our local sushi bar (no, I'm not telling you where that is)
• Oba Sushi (Pasadena)
• Boulevard (SF)
• Craftsteak (LV)
• Euro Pane (Pasadena)
• Fleming's
• Bette's Diner (Berkeley, CA for breakfast only, lunch is blah)
• Rutt's Cafe (Culver City, CA)
• Honorable mention goes to the Ritz Carlton San Francisco, which makes the best $11 cappuccino I've ever had

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO

• Wednesdays & Fridays (da Bug goes to daycare part-time)
• Paychecks.  Maybe someday I will get another one.
• Dinner out with the girls
• Massage
• Vacation
• Nap time, his and mine
  
• Spring in LA
• Our 5 year anniversary in Sedona with da Bug
  

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY/OVER THE WEEKEND (that's how uneventful my life is, I had to combine 2 days)

• Bug's fever broke
• Dim Sum with Mom, Judy & CJ's 100-year-old Great Grandma! 
  
• Caught up on blogs... twice!
• Rutt's for breakfast, only a 40 minute drive for a $17 breakfast
• At dim sum, a button on my shirt popped open and my belly pooched out.  Sexy.
• Bug Bath.
• Uncle Jayson's visit.
• Grocery shopping in the rain, aka "quiet time"
  

8 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT WINTER

• Its not really "winter" in LA
• Rain
• Growing garlic, as slow a process as that is
• Winter soups and slow braises
• Hot baths
• Hot chocolate
• Boots
• Still being able to grill (in boots, after a hot bath, with a hot choco in hand)... it is LA, after all

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST

• a mini food processor
• a touchless soap dispenser
• front yard remodel
• kitchen/laundry room remodel to attach the cabana to the main house
• closets.  oh dear God, please send closets!
• a job.  not high on the wish list, but its there.
• shoes.  more please.
• financial freedom, aka unlimited funds.

8 THINGS I'M PASSIONATE ABOUT

• Food (can ya tell?)
• the Hubs
• Gardening (sorta, see item 1)
• Clean feet
• Education
• Reading
• Writing
• Personal responsibility & manifesting your own life. Don't cry me a river, I don't wanna hear it.  Do something about it.

8 WORDS I USE OFTEN

• "That's a dollar" (into the swear jar, that is)
• Feracious (this is one of my favorite words.  Its a cross between "fierce" and "voracious")
• "Um.... okay...."
• "What is wrong with people?"
• "Are you a stinky bug?"  He usually is.
• "Do you have any cash?"
• "... the store..."  everything revolves around the grocery store
• "Okay, but..."
  

8 THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM THE PAST

• To leave it there.
• If its inedible, its inedible.
• Once you've taken off those rose colored glasses, you don't want to look through them again.
• Always double the garlic called for in recipes.
• Always halve the chipotle and/or adobo called for in recipes.
• Say yes to the epidural.
• Write it down, write it down, write it down!
• Some things don't change.  Move on.
  

8 THINGS I CURRENTLY WANT/NEED

• A snack.  Seriously, its late.
• Closets.  We tore the doors off ours to put in the new hardwood floors.... 9 months ago.
• A lime/lemon squeezer.  I wore the enamel off my old one.
• The final crown to replace this temporary (in my mouth, not on my head).
• Dots Cupcakes.  All the time.
• To lose 8 lbs.  These two are probably not going to happen together.
  
• A haircut.
• A massage that doesn't hurt.

8 PEOPLE YOU SHOULD FOLLOW

• Stir Fry Awesomeness (of course)
• The Crazy Baby Mama
• Orangette
• Bake at 350
• Prague Blog

I'm supposed to tag 8 people, but if you feel inclined to share... please do!

Secret Fast Food

A few months ago, after my friend Angela and I had finished a night yoga class, she got into my car so I could driver her to hers.  She hadn't yet shut the door when she said,

"You went to McDonalds?!?!"

In the front cup holder was a kid-size Diet Coke from earlier in the day.  I thought briefly about telling a white lie and making up an excuse.  After all, I live in LA, work in the film business, and with my Spanx can fake a size 4.   But the truth is, there is no explanation for a kids meal in my car, as the only kid in my car ever is my 7 month old, and he has yet to develop a taste for cheeseburgers. 

So I 'fessed up.  "Hey, it was that kind of day,"  I said.

What I meant was that it was the kind of day where the only chance I really got to eat was in my car, driving from one errand to another, feverently hoping the baby didn't freak out before we had gotten all our errands done.  You  know what I'm talking about, especially new moms - when you're home and he's awake, you feel the need to be with him all the time so he doesn't roll into the coffee table or the dog bowl.  When he is asleep you are busy washing or making bottles/ doing laundry/emptying the dishwasher/taking a shower/defrosting dinner/going to the bathroom/desperately searching for that last hit of meth so you can make it through the day.  By the time you've finished those things (and gotten in a good cry) he's awake again.

Angela's next sentence immediately made me feel better about being caught.  "I'm not a Happy Meal fan," she confessed.  "But have you had their McGriddles?!  Oohhhh..." then she rolled her eyes, licked her lips and gave a shudder.

See, we are not alone.

2010 To Do's

Its late.

Everyone is asleep and I should be heading that way as well.  The hubs is going back to that whole working thing tomorrow after two weeks off, and three cigarette-free days.  Here's to hoping tomorrow is day four.

The kid is finally sleeping quietly, after an evening of strange screeching, and an afternoon of napping that resulted in him waking up screaming for no discernible reason.  I am actually afraid the screeching is not really screeching, it's his precursor to speech and therefore now, his preferred way of communication.  The waking screaming part I attribute to his poor last night of sleep, given that his father had a nightmare at 3am and decided to bring the baby into our bed to comfort himself.  Like a live teddy bear that claws and kicks, that kind of comfort.

So its two weeks after my son's first Christmas, and three days into the new year, and I think I am supposed to be waxing reflective on the wondrous changes of the last year and all the things I plan to accomplish in the new year.  I'm supposed to be making resolutions, even though I don't really believe in them.  I'm doing neither of these things.  Please, I don't even have a picture of the hubs and the Bug in front of his first Christmas tree!  I'm thinking I forgot to buy thank you cards at Target today.  I'm thinking if I go to bed now, I can read for 20 minutes and it won't yet be tomorrow when I fall asleep.  I don't think over the last few months and marvel at the huge changes in my life... I guess I'm just living it because what is also really on my mind is how I have to clean this house since my housekeeper took January off to go to Belieze.

So here's my half-ass attempt, my long-term to-do list for 2010 (since I'm already done with the grocery list and the to-do list for tomorrow).

In 2010 I will...

• try not to eat dessert for breakfast.  This sounds basic, but is actually really hard for me.
• try to get my baby to sign.  It seems to be all the rage.
• pay down some debt.  Seriously.
• go back to work.  See previous item.
• lose at least 8 lbs to try to stave off the diabetes.  This doesn't sound like a lot of weight, but for some reason I can't get it off.  Maybe its the not exercising thing.
• blog at least once a week.
• actually follow the blogs I follow, at least once a week.
• get my website up and running and grow my readership.
• cultivate patience and grace.
• slow down and be present.

There it is, I put it out to the universe/blogosphere.  Now I can go to bed and read for 17 minutes.