Project #36

Our home is currently being repainted. I hate picking paint colors. When we decided to paint the rooms in our last place from boring white to X colors, I agonized over the paint colors for about 6 months. In the end, we decided on 7 different colors and we finally got it painted weeks before Sarah popped out, which was good, because I was not fond of the idea of having our newborn get high on paint fumes. Because it took us so long to choose colors we both liked and that evoked the specific mood we wanted to express in each room, we naturally leaned toward the same colors again when we moved into our new, old home, which was also a blank slate with walls covered in dingy white.

So, now that we are getting the exterior painted, we thought long and hard about changing the look of our home. Would it be the cool house that makes people stop and look? Would it be the house that makes cars stop and repulses passerbyers (hopefully not)? Would it be the one that looks classic and tasteful? The house was previously painted in various shades of gray (remember we have a 50s home) and although gray would not normally sound like an attractive color, we gravitated toward gray again. You know, it's funny, but you see families that have a certain theme color - they own cars in that color and even dress in the color. We are becoming the gray family. Not only is our home being painted in 2 different shades of gray, we also own 2 cars in different hues of gray/silver. But I love our gray home. Even though the colors are relatively the same as before, the house looks like it got a facelift.

I love that we live in a 50s home. Before we moved in, only one other family lived in our place. It's heartwarming for me to imagine the kids who grew up here and played here. I'm told the owner's son used to play war with his plastic military soldiers on our massive lava rock wall. It sounds cheesy and corny, but I can physically see and feel all the love and care that went into our home. Many of the new housing developments I visit lack that character, not just because it's new and unlived in, but because there was no heart put into designing the house. I hear that older homes are built to last as well. For one thing, the lumber that was used back then was harder and taken from more mature trees. Our home has withstood earthquakes and every stage of a family's life. It's amazing that we wound up in this home, because we originally had lost it to a higher bidder. But more than a month after we thought we had lost it, we received a call that the other people backed out. What was their loss became our gain. There is an amazing amount of emotional energy that goes into a home. It's not only where we hang our hat at night, it's where we feel safe enough to rest our heads and find refuge from the heat, the rain and the cold, and where we build the majority of our memories. When we demolished our old wet bar in the family room for the show reDesign, we found an old dateplanner from April 1956 behind the boards of the old cabinet. It was like an episode of "If Walls Could Talk." I would love to sit and hear all the stories our walls would tell if only they could - about tough times after war and prosperity in the horizon, birth after birth, bad days at school, learning to ride bikes, favorite hiding places, feuds and make-ups, anniversaries and birthdays, and letting go of little hands so they can grow up.

Childhood ambition: To grow old and gray
Fondest memory: Being loved by my owners everyday
Sountrack: Crowded House
Retreat: Anywhere away from the valley heat and in the shade
Wildest dream: Be on the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Proudest moment: Closing escrow
Biggest challenge: Recovering after the earthquake of '94
Alarm clock: The sprinklers
Perfect day: A barbeque on the patio on a cool summer evening
First job: Samuels' residence
Indulgence: A fresh coat of creamy, new paint
Last purchase: A fresh coat of creamy, new paint
Favorite movie: Home Alone
Inspiration: The 50s
My life: Is my family
My card: Is American Express

You take the good, you take the bad...

I'm back from THE City. She was good. She didn't change too much and she still had so much to share. Our trip was packed to the brim. Did you expect any less? I think I am BEGINNING to realize that this may not always be the best. Seven days of travel is a bit of a stretch for two toddlers, especially in the city that never sleeps. I don't know how to even begin describing the amazingly satisfying trip we lived through. In many ways this trip mirrored life - there's the good, the bad and ... the miscellaneous. So, I thought the best and most efficient way of describing our journey would be to divide it into 3 categories.

Highlights from our trip:

• Children's Museum of Manhattan - a whole floor devoted to Dora and a water play yard
• Missing my 10 yr reunion, but getting the skinny from Suzi
• POP at the Bronx Zoo - hitting all 7 major rides/exhibits at the zoo and getting our money's worth
• Picnicking at Bear Mountain, which I kept calling Big Bear because I'm from SoCal, and sharing unwanted carbs with the geese.
• Good food - Good enough to eat brunch, NY deli, Gameok (best gakktugui kimchi in the world), Vietnamese, endless Italian, and of course Cha's meatloaf
• Not wanting to grow up at the world's largest Toys R Us, riding a ferris wheel INSIDE the store, and a Barbie mansion almost as big as our home
• Exploring Central Park - John Olmstead you are a genius
• Getting my Costco fix
• Being Cha's sous chef and catching up with New Hopers
• Adult conversation after the kids were down
• Natural History Museum - what is real and what is fake?
• Horse-drawn carriage around Central Park and taking in the skyline, which poked above all the trees
• 24-hour Mac store and the kids being brainwashed by Cathy Imo
• Getting ready to go out at night at 11, just the ladies (like the good old days)
• The 1/9 train uptown
• Broadway shake, new and improved fries, and kauwfee tawk among girls
• Enjoying Cuban food overlooking the dock at South Street Seaport
• Riding the Staten Island Ferry for free. "Hey, we're in Staten Island... Ok... Hmmm... Well... Time to get back on the ferry."
• Seeing Lady Liberty

Lowlights:

• Watching half of King Kong and never getting to the part with the gorilla
• Being outnumbered and overpowered by a swarm of toddlers, and tranquilizing them with Dora
• Jenny and Jimmy's encounter with a raccoon on the Sawmill, losing a bumper and an unfortunate visit to the ER
• Crazy, cacophonic, impromptu "jazz" at the park
• Learning that I can no longer buy tokens for the subway (and getting puzzled stares from the MTA attendant)
• Crosstown traffic and ridiculous parking fees
• Missing the Zephyr
• Suffering the wrath of missed naptimes
• Taking it all off and taking everything apart at the security check with 2 toddlers in tow

Randomness:

• Being regular again after a shopping trip to Target (now I know of 3 things that can make me go: bookstores, the internet and Target)
• Meeting colonials who think they're still living in the 18th century and talk about slavery a bit too much
• Fighting off mutant sheep with ram's horns and dog's tails, sawing lumber, cleaning lavender, milking angry cows and thrashing wheat
• Learning the difference between a heifer, a cow, an ox and a bull; and witnessing an adult try to explain the concept of neutering an animal to a group of kids
• Paying money so we can be suckered into doing work, again and again; do they have child labor laws in NY?
• Getting hit on by Billy Joel
• How many NYC public workers does it take to change a lightbulb in the train station? Seven. Two to climb up the ladders, one to clip his fingernails, and four to blow their whistles when the train comes.
• Learning from Queen Latifa and LL Cool J that you have to live your life to the fullest and not waste anything.
• Gaining sage wisdom and discovering that we are all cut from different cookie cutters.

Priceless.

What is the purpose?

I've been reading a book that another mom recommended to me. I'd rather not mention the title of the book, because I'm not sure how credible the book is yet and I'm embarrassed to tell people that I'm reading a book that might possibly be bogus or completely lame. You know you do it - when you see people hanging out on the street or at the doctor's office or airport and you check to see what book they're reading, you think to yourself... "Ah, they're one of those." We grow up being taught not the judge a book by its cover, but does anyone ever remind us not to judge a person by their book? I digress.

Anyhow, in said book it goes on to mention how children at the toddler stage are very curious and how everything they do has a certain purpose. Even ripping open the packaging around a toy and taking apart mom and dad's gadgets teaches them how things are put together. Does this make me a bad parent for stifling their curiosity and their young blossoming minds, because I won't let them destroy my home? Give me a break. I still haven't figured out what kind of lessons they are learning from tantrums (the kind with flailing and kicking body parts), screaming like banshees and annoying the heck out of their sibling over and over. Perhaps they will say that they need to express their emotions fully so they can learn how far they can drive their mother to the brink of insanity and the edge of reason. Ugh. Tough week.

Ok readers, I'm off to New York for a brief vacation. I'm done packing, but I still have a million things to do. This was my day: wake up to my alarm (kids yelling "I'm hungry!"), feed the kids and the fish, sort and wash 4 loads of laundry, finish packing, weigh suitcases to make sure they are under 50 pounds, repack suitcases, make lunch, break up fights (repeat every 10 minutes), bathe sweaty kids, put kids down for naps, bake cake for mother-in-law's birthday, make frosting, messily slop on chocolate frosting while fighting off chocoholic kids, take a shower, wrap presents, create 3 handmade cards, rush to meet in-laws for dinner, fight traffic on the I-5 and arrive only 5 minutes late, drop by Costco, hang out for dessert at in-laws', put kids to bed, clean house, fold laundry, wash dishes, blog, send emails, go to bed??? A mother's job is never done. And the saga continues tomorrow: not get any sleep tonight, run errands in the morning, go to a birthday party, pick up husband and bags from home and head quickly to the airport in order to catch the 5 hour flight to NY. Please God, please let there be no traffic all day in LA. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to maneuver the city with my girls and a double stroller. Can it be done? Stayed tuned to find out.

Party Girl

Okay, I seem to have a reputation for being somewhat of a party girl at our church. I hope not in a bad way. Am I the only one on this earth that thinks that it's not ridiculous to drive almost 2 hours each way for a second visit to Legoland, only 6 days after our first trip? The second time was free. We just had to fill up $50 worth in gas in the Odyssey.

School's out for summer and I'm ready to hit the beach, the city and whatever else this and any other town has to dish up. Bring it. In fact, the favorite pastime in our home lately is checking travel websites. Our latest vacation featured an incredible $99 rate at the Omni in San Diego. Whenever we see a good deal, Joe and I look at each other and think, "Hmmm, how can we take a vacation so we can seize another great deal?" I guess I like to think of myself as an opportunist rather than a "party girl." A party girl is a mere hangout slut who is willing to go anywhere and do whatever it takes to have a good time. For me, having a good time involves careful planning and optimal timing. Just call me the party geek.

The only drawback to my method of having fun is that I tend to pack it in, and those who happen to be on board my crazy ride through Wonderland often get dragged behind as innocent victims with no one to hear their cries. I am changing though. For one thing, my children force me to slow down. Darn naps. As a result, I have discovered that hotels can be a vacation in and of themselves.

Our next trip will be New York. I am so excited. When I think about seeing old friends, and what I want to do and see while I'm there, I get so anxious and then the party geek in me starts to come out. What do you think, Cha? Should I bring the karaoke mic with me or not? NY and I are like old college buddies. We have a lot of memories together and my life is forever changed by knowing her. Now I want my girls to get to know her and love her the way I do. For me, places are like people. Each place expresses its own persona and its own distinct style. Even the people who live there speak to their places in a different way (like in New Yo-hk) and respond disparately to they sights, smells, sounds and feel of their place. Just look at the differences in the way people drive in CA, NY and TX. Even the slow Southern drawl or the rough NY accent personifies the people. Is it that certain places attract particular types of people or that those places produce people with certain characteristics? Maybe both are true. I grew up in Texas where the Southern hospitality rubbed off on me, but I always itched to get out and was attracted to the prospect of going to NY for college. And now? I'm kicking back on the west coast with my permed hair blowing in the sea breeze. And I'm trilingual. I speak valley girl, manhattan, and hick.