Story Time

I haven't been to the library since the days of the card catalog system and the paper pocket in each book that gets stamped when the books are due. For you young-ens its before the computer was invented.Who knew it could be so exciting and you could get so much for so long. The librarian had to give me a quick lesson and bring me up to date but I was amazed you can check out 30 books at a time and for 3 weeks! I think that's very generous. I'm guessing I probably won't need to buy books for a while when I can use the library. As you can see below I checked out an assortment of topics including potty time. Obviously I have no idea what I'm about to get into with potty training and the questions Grant may ask when the author has to write a page about our little hole.

Sensory Board

I'm always searching for new ways to play with Grant and I found this idea on Pinterest.com  I was worried that I was going to go through the time and money for Grant to take one glance at it and run on by to something more interesting. Surprisingly he loves it! He can turn, spin, flip, slide, open, twist, lock, push, etc. Lots to keep him busy and figuring out. It cost about $30 to put together because we only had the lock and combination lock in our home.  But if you search your house you may find all sorts of things you can use and bring the cost down even more. 

Bimmer

So if you've been following my blog you remember "Can't make this stuff up" where we finally sold the Jeep. We made some fat cash and were able to pay off Dave's Dodge Charger SRT8 with the money and we paid off my car in November. We were feeling good, no car payments! I would say the night we paid his car off was the night Dave blew his car engine. Dave has an addiction for modifying his cars.  Over the years I've heard super charger, chips to increase horse power, X-pipe exhaust, staggered wheels, and the list goes on of car jargon. I just found out this is the 3rd engine in his driving career that he's been able to max out the cars potential. The engine set us back almost all the money we had earned selling the jeep.  Then a week after Dave's car was being rebuilt my car at over 200k miles decided to die. We went from having 3 cars to no cars in a matter of a couple of weeks, when it rains it pours.  I searched Yelp.com which I do for a lot of things and found a 5 star mechanic that deals mostly in BMW's and while we were discussing bringing my car back to life we spotted this beauty.  It didn't make sense putting anymore money into my car, there was a laundry list of things that needed to be done.  It's been 9 years since I've bought a car and this is the best one yet. Its loaded with CD changer, DVD but the best find is hidden on the flip side of the navigation screen.  Its an old school cassette player. I think that's my favorite part, reminds me of the beloved 80's.  Happy Mothers Day to me, Love Dave.

Reminds me of a cozy den 

Perfect for standing diaper changes on the go 

Cattle Call

Its a cross between being on a thrilling roller coaster ride at an amusement park or being one of the cattle herded on the farm.  You get the call that you have an audition, well Grant has the audition and that's the roller coaster. Woo Hoo! Pick out the perfect outfit, dab in a little hair gel, and grab a few toys to excite on the spot. I get so thrilled every time thinking one day we may see Grant in a magazine or a billboard, internet or anything. Its just for fun and all money earned goes into an account set up and required by law to protect minors. What I seem to always forget is that when I get there its really like being on a farm, thus the expression cattle call. 100's of kids Grants age, boys and girls, every nationality and the cutest darn things I've ever seen! I try to get Grant acting silly, I might even be guilty of a sugary drink just before go time. But no amount of prep work can prepare Grant at this age when walking into a room with a person he doesn't know holding a news reporter size video camera and a TV. All of a sudden he's mesmerized  stunned, and wondering whats going on. Its all very quick, no warm fuzzies and specific to what they want you to do. You have about 30 seconds to hit or not hit the mark and its over.  Hoping and waiting for a call back. So I find myself wondering, would it be easier to hit the lottery?  I hear California now has Powerball!

The Carseat

I love this picture, I took it from a blog I'm reading. While I go through all of these things and they aren't funny at the time its happening I look back on this picture and laugh at all my friends that are going through the same thing or will be soon.  Grant is the Twister and mostly The Rod and every time he does The Rod I think about this picture and want to Karate-chop him. Today has been eventful so far. I left the step stool out and when I came back in the room he was on the top rung turning the light off and on in the kitchen.  Then a few minutes later I heard the water running and he had climbed up on his stool and turned the water on which doesn't seem  like a threat. However, if the hot water is on he can burn his hands not to mention we don't need to be wasting water. So if I had another comic strip to share it would be the death grip on the sink so that I'm not able to pry his lil hands from the sink while simultaneously screaming NOOOOOO!!!!! Then its the old fashioned heater built into the wall that he wants to turn the switch on and thank goodness I'm there for that before he gets burned. I'll be placing tape over the switch to avoid future run ins. I find myself spending more time walking from one end of the house to the other getting nothing done except chasing Grant to make sure that the keys he won't let go of don't end up in a hiding spot or he hasn't done a double back flip off the lazy boy chair onto the ottoman, or whatever else he can think up.  I can't remember the last time I've had a chance to style my hair. In fact today I have bed head pulled up in a pony tail and then hid my face with some aviators and went to The Grove while nearly escaping being caught on camera with Mario Lopez and Extra TV.  Good news: Dave bought me a GC to the Burke Williams Spa for my birthday and I'm going this Sunday. Calgon, take me away!

Can't make this stuff up

7 months ago we blogged about prepping our jeep for sale and now we want to share the drama of a story with all its twists and turns. Some of you probably thought we were out of our mind and wanted to slap us every time we told you the newest drama. And some of you know our jeep from Hawaii and are snickering. Its ok, I laugh too when I think about the temperamental beast. I’m certain you thought it would never sell but made for great gossip and to secretly laugh at our expense. I would laugh if it was you…haha! In September a broker who we’ll call Sam (all names changed to protect the ridiculous) contacted us in search of an engine for sale, for his customer in Tahiti. Oh what a perfect home for the jeep. Once an islander, homesick and ready to live the good life again where it can rust away in paradise. He came and looked at the jeep as we were not selling the engine alone.  What an easy sell, he loved it and was contacting his buyer in Tahiti to send the funds immediately.  Since the money was coming internationally it would take at least 10 days as it jumped from bank to bank and exchanged to American dollars.   Each week we heard "the money is on its way" but no wire number was ever provided. A month went by and we had lost hope that it would sell but at the same time didn't really care because its so much fun to drive.  The rumble of the 383 stroker engine is enough to get the heart pumping and the grin going.  And the head turning cat calls on the street is unreal. Then the buyer from Tahiti got a hold of our email address and started asking questions about the jeep.  We answered politely until he wanted to purchase parts for the jeep and have them shipped to our address for Dave to install.  We thought for a moment of charging him for the installation but it just seemed too fishy.  The money still wasn’t here and why couldn’t he install what he wanted after he bought it.  One of the items on the list was a mini chain link steering wheel. You know the kind you see on a fuchsia colored Cadillac with a hydraulic lift on the show Pimp My Ride. That’s where we drew the line!  The jeep is no longer for sale, this is a hoax, one of our friends must be pranking us for the last several months. Again, the buyer went dark and we didn't hear from him for months. We then found out his business partner was dissolving their partnership and he wouldn't be able to purchase the jeep until he was free from him. The money months later was still "on the way", longest wire transfer ever. Finally in February the same buyer still wanting the jeep received the funds! Great, we are selling the jeep! Happy dance!!!! The buyer had since moved from Orange County to Las Vegas and we had moved as well so he was going to fly here and pick up the jeep. Just when you thought 6 months later nothing else could stop the sell of the jeep he got stopped at the airport by TSA for carrying cash on him in excess of IRS requirements to report.  They confiscated his cash! Yes, you heard me right, he was at the airport ready to fly and buy when TSA took his cash. (You can't make this stuff up right?) He had to hire a lawyer to prove the money was wired and there was a paper trail and he won. However now the IRS wants to audit the poor guy who just claimed bankruptcy recently and now all of a sudden has a whole lotta cash in his pockets.  When his money was returned weeks later do you think they gave him his cash back? Of course not which added additional days to clear funds again. So as not to go through another adventure of having his money swiped again by the highly trained TSA agents he got in his car at 4am and drove out to Los Angeles with no trailer or transport service to take the jeep with him. Who drives 4 1/2 hours to buy a jeep with no plan to take it with them? Oh! and the best part! The buyer in Tahiti who wired the funds to buy the jeep isn't returning the brokers call and is supposedly going through a divorce cuz his wife knows the other guys wife, following me? So this man just bought a car with someone else’s money and is unable to reach the buyer because his is not returning his calls. However, he said he'd buy it from us because we have been working this deal for 7 long agonizing months. Sam is a man who does business like they did in the old days on a hand shake and a promise. So he bought the jeep and Dave drove it to Sam’s sister in laws house and there it rests until it gets transported to Tahiti. Mahalo or whatever they say out there!

Left: Grant in July when we put it up for sale    Right: Grant in April when it finally sold to the originally interested buyer.

Japanese Gardens

Its been a bit cloudy in the Valley lately so I wish I could of taken these pictures on a clearer day.  We discovered the Japanese Gardens at the Sepulveda basin which is maintained all from reclaimed water.  Beautiful serene place, wild geese flying about, coy ponds, lily pads, a perfect place for a wedding. There is an admission fee of $3, a small gift shop and a tea house where tea and cookies are offered.

The Tea House

Souvenirs, cheater chop stix for Grant and a set for us.

Not stroller friendly on a damp day