A week ago I decided I am terrified of the dishwasher. I read some article about the majority of home fires starting in appliances (dishwashers, washer-driers, toasters). I did the math and concluded that a fire in our dishwasher would immediately block the door to apartment, the only real means of egress (there are fire escapes but they are down the hall), leaving us to perish or -- best-case scenario -- be airlifted off our deck by helicopter. (We would send the kids off to safety first. I envisioned Babygirl and LittleMan, all strapped into one of those harnesses, swinging over ... [READ MORE]
Love and a Little Crazy
March 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Have you ever found yourself standing in a basement room at 5am, gearing up for two loads of laundry and a two-mile run before breakfast, wondering when, exactly, you started sprinting through life? 5am is not really a reasonable time to do anything besides sleep or drink coffee, and yet here I am using it, milking it, this precious hour before people wake up and start needing things. When did the rest of my life get so squeezed? What (misguided) choices am I making that drives me to this point? I like to think I am a good multi-tasker but lately I wonder if I'm actually really ... [READ MORE]
In the Wind
March 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Inspiration board design by Cori Magee for The Eagle's Nest With a click, with a shock, Phone'll jingle, door'll knock, Open the latch. Something's coming, don't know when But it's soon, catch the moon, One-handed catch. - Something's Coming, West Side Story I'm on the verge of something but I don't know what it is, exactly. Some new adventure, some new chapter. Maybe it's a few things. Maybe some will fail. Time will tell. But I know I'm itching for change. I'm ready. Best keep everything else simple. Streamlining my look with a simple shirtdress on The Eagle's ... [READ MORE]
A Chance Encounter with a Dragon
March 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment
We wear red for the Lunar New Year. LittleMan's class stages a parade in the school gymnasium. It is a wise system: the littlest children wear the dragon, so it cannot frighten them. (LittleMan is too tall, so he follows and bangs a tambourine.) All weekend long the firecrackers snap and pop on the streets near our apartment, Grant Avenue being just a few blocks up the hill. There are random outbreaks of live music. We do not go to the parade itself (Mommy is slightly agoraphobic like that), but the city is alive with it, this midwinter celebration of beginnings and endings and good ... [READ MORE]
Minimalist Mommy Fail
March 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Live simpler. Shop smarter. Look better. It sounded logical enough. Inspired by Project 333, the idea is to "shop your own closet" to create a capsule wardrobe for one month, and share the results with the group. February seemed a good choice, being a short month. My friend chronicles the genesis of the idea on her personal blog, here. All the participants have wound up structuring their challenges a little differently, depending on climate (polar vortex in the East, drought in the West) and priorities (even with a broken foot I have 7 pairs of shoes on my list...addicted). I opted ... [READ MORE]
Surprise Shark Attack off the Port Side
February 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I am not sure what it says about us that we have taken to ordering toothpaste off the internet, in bulk. I have mentioned before that I live above a Safeway, where there are any number of delectable toothpastes on offer (Berry Bubble, Fruit Blast, Bubble Mint), but instead of hopping on the elevator when the toothpaste runs low, we log onto AmazonPrime and wait two days for the Grape Sparkle to come. Actually, the latest incarnation is Groovy Grape, which doesn't have artificial colors or Disney characters on the tube, because we're all organic like that, apparently. But who am I kidding? ... [READ MORE]
Funk
January 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Occasionally, in those sleepy, random-thought moments , I have stared at my feet and pondered the usefulness of toes. Like baby teeth (they hurt, then they fall out) or the appendix or tonsils (why?), toes seem purposed for little in the human body (besides the big toe, which is good for balance I suppose). But the rest of them? My little toe, in particular, is so tiny that it seems destined to vanish as evolution progresses. And besides, they get in the way of fabulous shoes. There you have it, folks: Jaime's Theory of Evolution -- The End of Toes. Unfortunately, as fate would have ... [READ MORE]
