New Kitty!

We are still extremely sad at the disappearance of Buffy, our beloved kitty of seven years, but decided to make a trip up to the shelter to take a look. It is "kitten season" after all. We looked sadly upon the MANY animals who sat neglected in their cages and choose to adopt a super cute black and white kitty which we will be picking up on Thursday. I will post pictures of her when we comes home. The kids are stoked and both Mauricio and I happen to be cat people so we're stoked too. We're leaning towards the name Lola.

Woo - Busy!

Let's see, we finally got around to assembling the trampoline. What a frickin' nightmare that was. Actually let me extrapolate on the nightmare it was - FOUR hours of pure hell. Well, maybe not that bad but I woke up sore this morning. That should tell you something right there. The kids of course were delighted and had no idea about the suffering that their father and I had to endure to bring such smiles and bouncing in to their lives. I don't remember having such luxuries when I was their age. I hope the appreciate it - yeah right!

Then, we went to the first of two parties this weekend which took place at a park Saturday Morning. Then we hosted a party for my sister and as per her request, I cooked her favorite dish of authentic fettuccine carbonara. I also made bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes I got at the farmer's market and basil from my garden along with fresh green beans and salad also fresh from my garden. It was a nice feast.

Finally, last night after assembling the trampoline, I dredge up just enough strength to make grilled rosemary lamb brochettes, collards from the garden with bacon, caramelized onion focaccia and roasted garlic fingerling potatoes. For dessert I made a Babcock peach cobbler with peaches I picked up at Saturday's farmer's market.

Belly Dancing 101

I've signed up to take belly dancing again. I took this class many years ago and really loved it but since I'm rusty AND losing all this weight, I've decided to give it another go. Also, I love the traditional attire that goes along with belly dancing. I can't wait to look at costuming!

Nine Years

Yes folks, it has indeed been nine years today since Mauricio and I said "I do". The exact date of the occasion was June 6th, 1999. In total, we've been with each other for over 11 years but nine of them we've spent as husband and wife. And, I'm happy to report that we are more in love and appreciate each other more today than we did even way back when. Time has taught us to be better friends, lovers, spouses and parents.

To commemorate the occasion, we will be going out to one of our favorite restaurants in Oakland tonight, Luka's Taproom & Lounge . Luka's has a D.J. spinning most nights in to the wee hours and a 1,200 dance floor above their pool hall. After enjoying a plate of fromage and fresh shucked oysters on the half, we intend to adjourn to the dance floor to enjoy the groove and each other.

Starring in Tonight's Salad We Have...

chive blossoms, lovage leaves, nasturtium blossoms, Chinese rose radish, breakfast radish, garlic chives, red oak leaf lettuce, lolla rossa lettuce and key lime lettuce.

Cowboy Fence?

For those of you wondering what my neanderthal neighbor was referring to when he said cowboy fence. Here for your viewing enjoyment is a picture of my neighbor and what he described as a "cowboy" fence:

Ass Smacking Intervention Part I

So last night we sat down as a family and held an intervention for Jason. Jason has many issues. Most are just par for the course and others are not. The issue we felt compelled to intervene on was Jason's incessant ass smacking. We became fed up to our eyeballs with Jason smacking us in the ass and apparently, to our mortification, we learned that he's been smacking girls in the ass at school as well... This simply pushed us over the edge. In an effort to connect the dots we reflected on our own actions. In reflecting we realized that Mauricio smacks me in the ass a good deal, but that's o.k., it's different... but how do you explain how it's different to a 5 year old on a ass smacking rampage? Anyhow, we did out best and I think it went pretty well. We all told Jason that our respective butts' were sore and fed up and he got a good cry out of all the pressure and attention that was so intently focused on him. We hugged him and told him we love him and daddy promised that he wasn't going to smack my butt (in front of him) ;) again. So why does my title say Part 1 you may ask? Because. I've got a little knuckle head for a son and even though I sensed sincerity in his words last night, I know he'll be back... which is why I'm already in the process of titling the next post on this subject.

Lawn Obliteration Day!

We have made an appointment with our garden Man, Abel, to remove our lawn promptly and to replace it with raised beds and xerescape. This will be taking place within the next two weeks. We've also drawn up plans for the raised beds and drip irrigation system that will be installed. There is however one major sticking point in our plans... well, actually two. First off we have three gorgeous birch trees which form an off-center birch circle in our front yard. The tree's well being is of the utmost priority to me so they will not be adversely affected by our plans. The problem is that they create a shady spot from sunrise until around 10:30 a.m. on a portion of the lawn where we intend to build our raised beds. This still gives this area a good 6 hours of solid sun but it needs to be taken in to account, nonetheless. Secondly, we intend to fence the area tastefully to achieve some amount of privacy but also to use the fence in a practical manner to support vines which will bare edibles such as grapes or kiwis. Unfortunately, our gun toting, SUV driving next door neighbor is an ass. He says on the portion of yard that borders his, he wants us to build a "cowboy fence". WTF!? A cowboy fence. He then proceeds to apologize that he has no money to contribute to building said "cowboy fence". He boldly states that any sort of "picket style" fence is out of the question. This lack of class and etiquette takes a serious set of cow balls,. Anyhow, these issues will be surmounted one way or another and soon we will have over 700 sq. ft. of new garden space devoted solely to growing our own organic, sustainable food.