Dame Folle

Merry Chrismas!

2007-12-26T18:44:00.001-08:00

Here is the Ott Clan on Christmas Eve...

Dorothy

2007-11-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

a.k.a. Nicole
Check out the ruby slippers, Tinman's heart and Toto.
(I had to 'paint' on eyebrows because they were so light compared to the wig!)
Fun night!
Ciao!

Friends ala White Stripes

2007-09-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

We had Back-to-School Night this week at Nic's school and her teacher started off her presentation with this very appropriate snippet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az8UDe6UQGQ

(just copy and paste the URL to see the video)

Enjoy!

First Day

2007-08-27T20:05:00.001-07:00

Nicole started kindergarten today and she made the whole process easy on all of us. She has been wanting school to start for weeks and made getting up this morning at 5am a breeze because she was so excited. On the way to school, she pulled her 'backpack on wheels' most of the way, and when I was pulling it, she was hopping, skipping and humming on the way there. At drop off, she put up her things and went directly to her seat next to her friend Hibiki (who she has met before because his dad works for Jay!)

Here are a few photos from this morning. I apologize for any poor quality as I had to borrow this camera from Margaret (thanks Marg!) because I have been unable to locate my camera since moving.

Fashonista

2007-07-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

For a 5 year old, Nicole is really verbal and learning new words everyday. Occasionally, she gets a word wrong here and there. When we were at Costco and I was picking up the latest JK Rowling book she exclaimed, "Hey, you are getting the new Harry Hotter book!" I giggled a little, but not too loud so as to embarrass her too much, and corrected her that it was Harry Potter. In addition to being into vocabulary she is really into what she wears and seems to know what is in and what isn't (as well as telling me what I should be wearing). Today, she was wearing an adorable dress that was smocked/gathered on the bodice, tied on the shoulders and then was straight to the hem. When her cousins came today to swim, she decided to fill them in on her outfit and said that she really liked it because it had a 'vampire' waist. I corrected her, of course telling her it was 'empire' not 'vampire'...at least she tries to use new words even if she doesn't quite get it right.

Kids & Pets

2007-07-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Terry, is turned 40 today (no, I am not that old, I just have a very convoluted family). At milestones like these, my sister Ginny (Terry's Mom) takes loads of time finding old photos and reminiscing by telling old stories. For my 40th, she put together a CD with music and old photos and is doing the same for him. Here is a photo that she decided to send us commemorating how our home was always filled with kids and their pets. You should be able to tell which one is me by picking the one who looks the most like Nicole.

Happy Birthday Terry!

Happy Birthday Nicole!

2007-06-17T03:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the cake was supposed to look like a castle, but I was rushed to finish it...tasted great anyway!

Bad Day

2007-05-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

Nic says that if you sing this song, then it will make your bad day go away...I think she is right!

Turn up your speakers, follow this link, read below and imagine Nic dancing around to the music...it will make anyone smile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIcFgl6zf3A

Daniel Powter
Bad Day
Where is the moment we needed the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to gray
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee you go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces every time
And I don't need no carryin' on

Because you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Will you need a blue sky holiday?
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on

You had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day

(Oooh.. a holiday..)

Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong

(yeah...)

So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Tang

2007-05-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

Nicole and I listen to Veggie Tales CDs in the car on a regular basis, we know the words backwards and forwards. Of course, from time to time, Nicole will ask me what a word means. At the end of one of the CDs, one of the characters exlaims, "Can I get a refill on my Tang!" Intrigued, Nicole asked me about Tang. I explained to her that it was an orange drink loved by many people including my best friend Sonia and that it was used by astronauts in outer space because it could be easily mixed in water. I eventually bought some and she has actually taken a liking to it which is fun since mostly all she drinks is water (and the occasional apple juice, sip of coke and gulps of tea). Tonight, after waking from a little snooze, she said she was thirsty and would like some Tang. After helping me make it, she asked if she could watch an episode of the Backyardigans. At first, I said no because we needed to eat dinner and get ready for bed since it was getting late, to which she responded, "Well, now that I have my Tang, I have to watch the Backyardigans because they are going to Mars!" How could I refuse such logic?

Passed Out!

2007-05-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy weekend!
(photo taken at 5:30pm Austin time, Sunday)

Jimmy

2007-04-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

I went to see Jimmy Lafave at one of my favorite Austin venues, the Cactus Cafe. He sang one of my favorite songs which I dedicate to Nicole....

Never is A Moment

In the vastness of this world
Baby you are so unique
From your pouty little mouth
To your pretty little peaks
From your head down to your toes
You are beautiful devine
And there never is a moment
That you are not on my mind

Circumstances cast our fate
Maybe wrong and maybe right
Though you're dreams and miles away
I try to reach you through this night
If you hear music in the wind
I hope my melody you'll find
Because there never is a moment
That you are not on my mind

All my love,
Momma

Legoland

2007-04-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

I have not had enough time to post anything about our trip to Disneyland and Souther California because I have been so busy. I did however find time tonight to scan the photo taken on the Dragon Roller Coaster Ride at Legoland just north of San Diego. We had a BLAST!

Love is Blind...

2007-04-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

or in this case, doesn't have a sense of smell. Two nights ago I was tucking Nic into bed and she kept asking me to snuggle with her for a little bit. I told her I would only for a few minutes because I had to take a shower. The weather here in Austin is like a roller coaster with the temperatures going up and down and up and down. Tuesday was one of the temperature upswing days and I was sticky and stinky. As I was about to climb out of her bed to shower, Nicole pulled me close and said, "Momma, you don't have to take a shower because you smell pretty as a rose!" Poor kid, I would hate to get a dozen flowers that smelled like me the other night.

Sharks 3-D

2007-03-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

While Nicole and I were waiting on our breakfast this morning I was leafing thru the Austin Chronicle as she colored a beautiful pink and yellow daisy. I came upon an ad for Sharks 3-D at the IMAX and just for fun asked her if she would like to see it (of course I knew that she wouldn't). What did surprise me is when she said, "No, I wouldn't really like that, but if they made Kittens 3-D, I would definitely want to see that!" Anyone with IMAX connections, please send in the suggestion.

Best Valentine

2007-02-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

Nicole told me on Valentine's Day that she never wants to live away from me because she would miss me too much...she made us both cry. She is so beautiful and loving. I told her she would always have a home with me even if she had ten babies..she quickly responded that we would need another room for all the cribs and that made me laugh.

Rascal Flats

2007-02-10T07:27:00.000-08:00

Nicole is amazing at remembering lyrics to songs. Lately we have been listening to Majic 95.5 because there really isn't anything played on that station that she can't hear. Since they do a good bit or repeating songs, it is funny to see how quickly she picks up on songs. The most recent one she has been humming to and reciting parts of the song is Rascal Flats. You can see the video of the song here: http://music.aol.com/artist/rascal-flatts/429157/main and click on "What Hurst the Most" (In-studio).

In Her Shoes

2007-02-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

I was watching In Her Shoes tonight to pass some time hanging with Benji dog and Cameron Diaz's character read this poem...

One Art

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

-- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.

Elizabeth Bishop

Meat Part Two

2007-01-23T21:55:00.000-08:00

...So I was telling some friends about Nicole's 'meat' comment at the princess party last night. After hearing that Nicole's favorite food is meat, the father turned to Nic and said, "Well, Nicole, that would make you a carnivore." To which Nicole promptly corrected him by saying, "Nope, I am and omnivore!" Who teaches her this stuff?! (Just Kidding).

Palace

2007-01-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

Nicole attended a birthday party at My Party Palace, http://www.mypartypalace.com/, this weekend. At "The Palace", little girls arrive and choose a cute little princessy party dress, shoes, jewelry, wands and tiaras and after they change they get a turn sitting at little makeup vanities to have their hair, nails and faces done up. Nicole looked adorable and of course had to pose (I have no idea what she is doing in the second pose) for a few photos including these:

The fun part came when the 4 year olds walked down the little pretend catwalk while the 'moderator' said a few things like what the "Princess'" favorite color was or favorite food. When it was Nicole's turn, the answer pink as her favorite color was no surprise, but when it got to the part about her favorite food, the answer of meat caused most of us to burst into laughter. I have no idea where she gets it, but being born in Texas sure doesn't hurt.

Snow Days

2007-01-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well, we are on day 2 of no school due to the weather. Nic has been very excited about the snow and ice that has kept us in the house for the past couple of days. We made a "snowman" that got covered with ice over night and you can see some accumulation on the deck and backyard toys.

Tinkerbell

2006-11-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

I have been horrible about posting... just haven't felt like it, but I did promise to post this picture of Nic from Halloween.
She had a great time Trick or Treating but got tired after about 10 houses and just wanted to be at home to greet and treat all the other revelers.

Buckeyes

2006-11-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

I think I have decided to be a Buckeye this year and return to my roots....of course it doesn't hurt that UT lost tonight to KSU to make that decision. Nic and I will make some of the chocolate, peanut butter candy buckeyes to celebrate the conversion and cheer for OSU against Michigan next week.

Cousins on the Beach

2006-09-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Dogs and Spoons

2006-07-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, Nicole's uncle Andy decided to teach her the phrase, "That dog don't hunt" to be used after any sentence that had a lie or tall tale included in it. Nicole used it quite often at first and even would ask me to make up some untrue statement just so she could respond with, "That dog don't hunt!". Having a three year old armed with this phrase and knowing when to use it was a great ice breaker and/or party trick. The phrase eventually wore out of it newness and was not used. Recently, Nicole and I were visiting my friend, Sonia and her family when out of the blue, Sonia made a random nonsensical comment and Nicole responded with, "That spoon don't scoop, Sonia!" My jaw dropped and I had to ask her, "Where did you learn that, Nic?" and she responded, "I made it up!" Either she is pretty darn smart or a pretty darn good liar...That dog don't hunt, Nicole!

Pink

2006-07-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Just a cute photo of Nic 'in the pink'.

Singularity

2006-07-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

I randomly found this post while skipping thru blogger.com and it just kinda stuck with me:

"As these things happen sometimes, the last three books I've been reading have dealt with "The Singularity." Two are fiction and one that I've mentioned earlier, Radical Evolution by Garreau, is non-fiction. The Singularity seems to have become a meme these days.

As simply as I can describe my own understanding, The Singularity is the point (date, year) when the accelerating curve of technology, which asymptotically approaches vertical, becomes vertical or close enough that no individual or organization or computer system can keep up with it. More knowledge has been added to the world in the last ten years than in all the rest of human history. Think about that.

What I find more interesting is that in all three books the authors have suggested that rather than a singularity what we really will have is a discontinuity. Obviously time must continue. The question is how does time continue after knowledge or computing power or human/machine ability becomes close to god-like? The math answer is that the X-axis doesn't stop there, but another curve (not sharing a point on the X scale with the first curve) picks up from Y-value zero and now asymptotically approaches some Y value that describes some fixed limit (or geometric increase) to knowledge, computing power or human capability. Visualize a hyperbolic curve where X and Y (or something close like Y= 0.01X) are the normal tangents to the curve.

So life will go on after everyone says "What the hell?" and some guy will climb into the technological equivalent of a '53 DeSoto and wonder how to make it faster as he drives off to his job calculating actuarial tables using a slide rule."

Talk amongst yourselves...

Cousins

2006-07-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Coming from a large family (my mom and dad had 8 children together, i have one aunt who had 10 children, a great aunt who had 10 children, you get the picture) it isn't difficult to find cousins or siblings from my family hanging out together on a daily basis. It is a common joke that if you throw a dart at a map, we probably have at least one relative within a very small radius of that dart. One neat phenomenon occured just a little over 4 years ago...Alexa, Nicole and Kali were born within 6 weeks of one another to myself and my sister-in-law, Stacey, and my sister Erica. The girls don't get to spend a whole lot of time together, but we did have a sleepover at our house and so I was able to get them to finally relax after their bath to snap this photo. I hope this friendship will continue for a long time to come no matter what distance comes between them.

Smile!

2006-06-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

FOUR!

2006-06-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Nicole turned 4 this weekend and every year I take a photo of her in the same pink dress next to the same table and chairs to show how much she has grown. Check out the progress so far!

Mermaid

2006-06-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Nicole turns 4 this weekend and the theme for her party is mermaids. She loves mermaids and often immitates them when she is swimming around in a pool. This photo was taken by my friend Sonia at her pool and shows Nicole doing her best mermaid immitation. I am so excited because she is progressing so well in the pool. She has even taken off her floaty a good bit lately and the best part of watching her swim around is that she keeps her derriere in the air even when the rest is under water. I will try to post the video showing this soon. For now, enjoy the mermaid swim photo!

Alive?

2006-06-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

This quote by author Graham Greene is really making me pause and think about things...I found it on the website, http://childofdivorce-childofgod.blogspot.com/

"Always I find when I begin to write there is one character who obstinately will not come alive. There is nothing psychologically false about him, but he sticks, he has to be pushed around, words have to be found for him, all the technical skill I have acquired through the laborious years has to be employed in making him appear alive to my readers. Sometimes I get a sour satisfaction when a reviewer praises him as the best-drawn character in my story: if he has not been drawn he has certainly been dragged. He lies heavily on my mind whenever I start to work like an ill-digested meal on the stomach, robbing me of the pleasure of creation in any scene where he is present. He never does the unexpected thing, he never surprises me, he never takes charge. Every other character helps, he only hinders.

"And yet one cannot do without him. I can imagine a God feeling in just that way about some of us. The saints, one would suppose, in a sense create themselves. They come alive. They are capable of the surprising act or word. They stand outside the plot, unconditioned by it. But we have to be pushed around. We have the obstinancy of nonexistence. We are inextricably bound to the plot, and wearily God forces us, here and there, according to his intention, characters without poetry, without free will, whose only importance is that somewhere, at some time, we help to furnish the scene in which a living character moves and speaks, providing perhaps the saints with the opportunities for their free will."

I can't decide which type of person I am...the one that God has to push around or the one that is alive...

N-i-c-o-l-e

2006-06-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

Nicole is very proud of the fact that she can spell her name verbally and on the computer. Well, this weekend she can add a third way...she can now officially sign her own name! I am so proud of her...what makes it even cuter is how she sticks out her tongue when she is writing it which is her 'sign' that she is concentrating really hard.

Proof of her work:

My Little Pony

2006-06-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

Nicole attended a birthday party for her friend, Hanna, this weekend and the theme was My Little Pony. Well, not only was the house decorated with a bunch of My Little Pony paraphernalia, http://www.hasbro.com/mylittlepony/ but there was an actual live pony there, too! Nicole was one of the first and then one of the last ones to ride the pony. She was grinning from ear to ear everytime she was on it and her face just lit up when the pony handler sped the animal up to a trot.

In addition to the pony, the garage was converted into a mini petting zoo filled with an ark full of animals including ducks, bunnies, lambs, goats and chickens. Nicole was one of the few children running around holding and picking up animals. It didn't even phase her when one bunny had a little accident on her shirt. Her favorite animal though seemed to be Binky, a two week old lamb (I think it was a lamb anyway).

It was a great party, but unfortunately I won't be able to bring any live mermaids to her mermaid themed party this year.

Danskin

2006-06-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I participated in the Danskin Triathlon http://www.danskin.com/triathlon.html that benefits breast cancer research. Just to give you an idea of how I did, I have decided to rename it from triathlon to triathLONG....

Of course I can't complain about the distance especially when you compare it to an old friend who competes in ironman length triathlons (http://www.michaellovato.triathletesonline.com/index.cfm?pp=1) and finishes up his races with a marathon run!

Seriously though, I did as well as can be expected on very little training. Although pulling Nicole in the bike cart while riding up hills in the neighborhood sure did help I didn't do it quite enough! The swim part is the easiest for me since I used to swim competitively. I really must buy a road bike to prevent all those people from passing me on my little hybrid bike and the only way to improve the run is for me to train more. I am hoping to make this an annual event so I have a year to make improvements.

I will try to decide if I am going to post any of the photos once they come out...don't hold your breath though.

Noodles

2006-05-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

Nicole has fallen asleep next to me and her arms are like noodles. I love it when she falls asleep so hard that she no longer seems to have bones in her limbs...it is fun to pick up her arm and watch it fall to the bed...

Best Friends

2006-05-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

If you ask Nicole who her best friend is, she will remark without hesitation that it is Bella. Nicole met Bella when she was a year and a half at Triumphant Love Lutheran Child Development Center. The girls are about to turn 4 this summer and Bella's mother and I are already talking about making sure they go to the same elementary school together. I don't want to engineer who her friends are, but these two are on track to set a new record for friendship that I have with my very best friend Kim. She and I met when we were about 2 or 3. (The story of that fateful day is a little blury in my mother's memory which no one can blame her for since she had 8 kids when all was said and done). Anyway, it has been my friendship with Kim, that has survived despite my family moving across the country, going to different colleges, and living in different states that sustains me on bad days. Come to think of it, most of my friends I have known for many, many years and I give them equal credit for supporting and loving me....I just want to be sure that Nicole has that same great friendship(s).

Booster Seat

2006-05-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize how sad I would be the day Nicole moved from a 5 point harness carseat to a booster, but I am. She is getting so big so fast and she is definitely not a baby anymore. Milestones can be so bittersweet when it comes to children...

Remote

2006-05-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Many mornings I try to get dressed before Nicole wakes up, but I often find myself doing other things and then have to keep her entertained while showering and drying my hair. Yesterday, she was asking me to go thru some of the features of her favorite video, Veggie Tales Easter Carol, just as I was about to dry my hair. I figured that the number of clicks to move through the list of previews wouldn't be too difficult for her to be able to follow so I showed her the two buttons she would need and voila! she had it figured out in no time.

Now I am a little worried that I have created a monster....

Paris Finale

2006-04-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

I know you have been anxiously awaiting to hear how our trip to Paris ended, so here goes....

On our last day in Paris, we of course had to spend loads of money on gifts for friends back here so we treked on over to Galleries Lafayettes, the Parisian version of Macy's, Bloomingdales or other regional department stores. On Stacy's directions, we took a bus to the front of the old Opera where we took photos and got cash from an ATM.

Alise, Nicole and I spent a good bit of time in the touristy section of the store buying up all kinds of trinkets for family and friends. It took us almost as much time finding our way out of the labrynth/store as it took us to pick out gifts (I think this is their way of keeping you trapped inside so you have to be bombarded by images of stuff that you 'must' have and buy...coming soon to a theater near you "Escape from Galleries Lafayettes!"). When we returned to Stacy's, we had another yummy lunch then packed up our bags so that we wouldn't have to do it late at night or too early in the morning.

From that point on, we were on a sprint to see how many more things we could fit into our stay in Paris. We walked to a cafe that served some fantastic hot chocolate. Stacy and Alise bought the kind that you mixed at the table...it came with two miniature pitchers one with hot melted chocolate and the other with warm milk. It was fun to watch both of them mix the concoction at the table and discuss the best way to do it. I ordered a chocolat chaud avec chantilly so Nicole could eat up the fresh whipped cream. After this brief but worthwhile stop, we wondered around a bit, were turned away from Jardin de Luxembourg (it closed up before we made it there), bought some galette sablees (the original shortbreads that the girl scouts are trying to imitate) and stopped to drink a vin chaud while Nicole napped in the Jeep stroller. Finally, it was time for a last great Parisian meal and we settled on a restaurant, La Durer, named after a French artist that is located in Montmartre. I had been there many times before most notably the last time Jay and I visited Paris. The french onion soup was sublime! Even Stacy ordered some of the soup ignoring the thought that there might have been beef stock included that would normally offend her vegetarianism. I honestly don't remember what I had as an entree because the soup was too memorable. I know we had dessert, too...probably ice cream.

We sleepily made our way back to the apartment and into bed to be ready for our journey home. Truly the only notable thing to mention about the trip home is that Nicole was a dream traveler....she was so well behaved that I got numerous compliments about her behavior that I am sure surprised everyone....I think she handles the hours of traveling better then I do.

We interupt...

2006-04-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

...this program...
I need to finish my posts about the trip to France, but Nic was pretty funny yesterday and it does relate to the trip. Nicole was quite impressed with the Louvre and still talks about the highlights of the Louvre, the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Victory. While driving in the car yesterday after dropping Jay off at the airport she called from the backseat saying, "Momma, who am I acting like, now?" I told her it was difficult to figure that out since I was driving and didn't want to get into an accident. She was persistent and asked again when I was at a red light. Upon turning around, I saw that Nicole was sitting perfectly still with her hands crossed in front of her with a half smile on her face...her impression of the Mona Lisa. Next, when I could look again, she was trying with some bit of struggle to shove her arms behind her back and gaze off in the distance...this was her Venus de Milo. The funniest thing was when she said to me, "Momma, how can I act like I don't have a head or arms, because Winged Victory doesn't have a head?!" One look in the review mirror revealed that she was trying to scoot her shoulders higher then her head in hopes that it would miraculously dissappear between them. I told her that spontaneous decapitation was out of the question. She of course asked what that meant and I told her she was too young to understand at this point...

Nutella Day

2006-04-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

We started the morning walking around Montmartre on another wonderful Stacy-guided tour. (It was this morning that I got the full affect of what the Cosby’s had seen the night before upon exiting the metro…way too many neon signs with the word ‘sex’ in the title!) I was determined on this day to eat a crepe with Nutella and brought Alise down with me. She was pretty impressed and had a worried expression on her face when I mentioned she could probably find Nutella at any grocery store in Austin…it is pretty addicting. Nicole rode another fanciful carousel at the base of the Sacre Coeur cathedral and then we visited a pretty church right near the Metro stop, Abessesses. Due to the fact that we were really ‘burning the candle at both ends’ it was not surprising that Nicole was ‘running out of candle to burn’. So after a quick successful walk in search of a quant restaurant, La Durer, that Jay and I enjoyed several years ago, Nicole and I returned to Stacy’s for a nap while Alise and Stacy visited La Conciegerie, Sainte Chapele and Notre Dame. It was the ladies' turn for a night on the town, so after I dropped Nicole off with the Cosby’s, Stacy, Alise and I headed for dinner at Closerie des Lilas. Many travel books describe it as THE place to eat since several famous, and infamous, people have dined there. One of the reasons I wanted to return was to get another taste of the steak tartare that Jay and I had eaten on recommendation from a Parisian friend. I split foie gras ravioli with Alise then ordered the slab of raw beef. Alise had some succulent beef in a rich wine sauce and Stacy had some pretty tastey fish. (I would say the ravioli outshined the steak tartare on this visit). We had some decaf coffee but we were way too engorged for dessert…good thing because they brought us some tiny tartlettes and dried mango anyway…just enough sweet to end the meal. Alise and I retrieved Nic from the Cosby’s place then rode a taxi back to Stacy’s just in time to harass her for a few minutes before slumber.

Late to Bed, Late to Rise...

2006-04-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

Today we started out slow because we didn’t go to bed until after midnight (including Nicole). We had a nice breakfast including yogurt, hard-boiled egg, café mocha and toast. Nicole had the usual, PB & J and yogurt. We took our time getting dressed and had the pleasure of our tour guide Stacy again today. We took the Metro over to Bastille where Stacy bought some dance tickets. After we found an ATM, we also found a patisserie which was a first on this trip to Paris. Stacy and I both had éclairs while Nic had a huge meringue and Alise ate a peanut/honey/praline type tart. From there we walked to Place des Vosges where Nicole played with some local children climbing monkey bars, sliding, playing on a teter totter and just blowing off some steam. Stacy decided to find a café to sit and write letters while Nic, Alise and I visited the Carnavalet or Museum of Paris. It was a fascinating former private residence that had some really lovely decorated rooms. I especially like the shades of pink, green, blue and yellow that were used alternately much the same way I would like to decorate Nic’s room. We met up with Stacy then went in search of nourishment. Since it was Saturday, the Sabbath, and we were in the Jewish part of Paris (at least one of them) we had to wander around a bit until we came to a dead-end street and chose the Café to eat some lunch. Nicole and I ate some of the best hamburgers I have ever had. The meat must have been ground on the premises because of how fresh they tasted. After that much needed food, we meandered down this street and in search of Centre Pompidou or Beaubourg. Once you get close it is not hard to identify the museum by its bizarre architecture that makes the building look like a cross between intestines or a building without an exterior. The fountain is really cool, also because of the sculptures inside of it...one if which is funny because it depicts a mermaid, which Nicole loves, with water shooting out of one of it's breasts...good thing Nicole didn't understand because she would have been talking about it incessantly on the bus, on the metro or anywhere she could get an ear to listen to her.

It was getting late and we had to head back to Stacy’s in order to pick up a few things to head over to the Cosby’s to shoo the parents out the door and out to have fun. Since the Chinese food place that was recommended was closed, I picked up various things such as grilled chicken breast, ready-made rice, veggies for salad and some bread and Nutella to make a feast of our own. When Monica and Doug returned I realized I had mistakenly sent them out the wrong metro stop. I am sure it was a shock for them to walk out of Pigalle and be bombarded with neon signs about sex (Sexorama, Sexodrome, Moulin Rouge, etc.). I meant for them to exit at Abessess which would have been more like being surrounded by hip SoCo in Austin instead of the strip in Las Vegas. Nonetheless, we had a great time hanging out with the kids and didn’t leave the hotel to return to Stacy’s until after midnight…another late night and late morning…

Paris: Day Three

2006-03-31T21:01:00.000-08:00

Before we left Austin, I talked to another mother from Nicole’s school who was heading to Paris over most of the same days as our trip. We tried to meet up with them twice since our arrival and since we kept failing in that task, we decided to meet up with Monica, Gus and Cecelia Cosby at their hotel (and thanks to Stacy for her advice on taking the bus there…great views!). Coincidently enough, it was the same hotel Jay and I stayed in several years ago. After a visit to their spacious-by-Paris standards room/apartment we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. The kids seemed to get a kick out of the view from the top especially of the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards, we walked down the Champs Elysee and decided to eat at a very crowded McDonald’s. The food really tasted the same as that in the US…but it was interesting trying some of there French fry sauce, aka. mayonnaise. We stopped at the Gap while walking towards the Louvre in search of some shoes for Cecelia who has such narrow feet that it is difficult to find her shoes in the US. We persuaded Monica to bring the kids along to the Louvre and we saw, in rapic succession, the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa and the Appollo Gallery that houses many beautiful royal serving pieces as well as several royal crowns and jewels. We were all amazed at the detail of each piece of service ware and the size of some of the precious jewels that adorned the royal crowns and brooches. Nicole and I left Alise to wander the halls of the Louvre alone while we went back to the hotel with the Cosby’s. After a snack of cheese, pistachios and fruit, Cecelia and Gus went down with little fanfaire for a nap while I had to coax Nicole into one. After she finally fell asleep, I visited with Monica and her husband Doug and had some yummy wine. When I realized it was 7:30 and I told Alise I would return around 7 or 8 I unfortunately had to wake Nicole from her nap and quickly dress her to return via metro to the Louvre. We were only about 15 minutes late and easily found Alise waiting for us in the pre-determined location in front of Information. For dinner we stopped at a local market and stocked up on some more goodies to have another picnic at Stacy’s apartment (see the pattern here?). We got some peas (Nic’s request), sliced turkey, sliced proscuito, sliced salmon, capers, grapes, bottle of some Haut Medoc red wine and blue cheese. It is fun to realize that Stacy and I have eaten meals like this in Austin, Barcelona, London and now Paris! No great photos for this day...hard to find one that compares to the art we saw in the Louvre.

Le Deuxieme Jour a Paris

2006-03-30T19:15:00.000-08:00

We were determined to do a lot of walking because we knew we were going to be eating a lot of rich foods and personally it was the only exercise I would be able to get to be even a little prepared for the Capitol 10k which I am “running” (running being loosely applied to what I would be doing while others whiz by me around downtown) upon return to Austin. It is good that we wanted to do a lot of walking especially since we didn’t know our way around perfectly. We turned right instead of left when heading to the first museum. We had already walked several blocks in the wrong direction when we realized the Musee d’Orsay was in the opposite direction. We spent a decent amount of time looking at the Impressionist exhibits but we were unable to see the Cezanne/Pissarro special exhibition because so many of the other visitors had the same ‘novel’ idea in mind. Go figure! I was able to snap a picture of Nicole next to one of Degas’ sculpted ballerinas and she paid enough attention to my descriptions of light and color of Monet’s Rouen Cathedral paintings to warrant a compliment from another visitor. The other American was impressed with Nicole’s ability to 1) pay attention to what I was saying about how different colors make the picture seem to take place at different times of the day, 2) understand it and 3) seem to be interested. At one painting Nicole exclaimed while taking a breath in and holding her hand to her mouth, “That painting is soooooo beautiful!” She makes me so proud. Our next adventure was to the Musee Rodin but not after a quick lunch at a local bistro. Nicole made friends with the waiters at the restaurant near Musee Rodin and Les Invalides. The watiers were amused by her disposition and she was amused at their accents and the fact that they spoke French. Nicole was so happy to be able to get out of the stroller and run around the gardens and really seemed to delight in the sculptures. Alise and I had to laugh when Nicole exclaimed from time to time at one of the sculptures, “Look! He is nakey!” (Remember her current obsession is related to her bum and unclothed body in general as noted in post #1) After viewing the Rodins, we decided to forego Les Invalides (maybe the third time will be the charm for me and I will actually get inside this monument) because Nicole was getting restless and wanting to go see the Eiffel Tower. As with many things in Paris, it was a pretty short walk from one site to the other. We enjoyed the view from atop the tower, but decided the cold was enough and took our first metro ride of the trip back to Stacy’s abode. For dinner that night, we ate at a very unique restaurant, Aux Artistes. Alise, Stacy and Nicole started their meals with a yummy potage (soup) de vegetables while I voraciously ate my pate de campagne. For the main meal, both Stacy and Alise ate trout meuniere, I mistakenly ordered Nic a steak frite (better described as steak tough) and should have just shared my boeuf bourgignon (she ate some anyway). For dessert Nic and I had some yummy-whole-egg-heavy-cream ice cream. Mine was a rich almost dark chocolate and Nicole’s was like eating delicious but raw yellow cake batter. We had wanted to go to a restaurant I have been to several times before called the Polidor, but, thankfully, Stacy’s concierge dissuaded us from going to that part of town. When Stacy spoke with some friends who did go there we found out that the student demonstrators were in that part of town and that tear gas was in the streets and seeped its way into the restaurant…this would have been a bad thing for us especially with Nicole. Thanks goodness for a concierge who is a bit on the nosy side.

Day One & Two - Follies Paree

2006-03-30T04:11:00.000-08:00

Now that I am finally over jetlag _and_ kinda caught up with work and home, I have decided to start posting about our trip to France.

We took off from Austin a little delayed, but we were gracious to the flight attendants for giving us the bulkhead seats. Nicole was very well behaved and actually spent most of the flight watching Wallace and Gromit, The Curse of the Were Rabbit. Since our flight to Chicago from Austin was pretty uneventful, the flight from Chicago to Paris had to have a few ‘speedbumps’. First, we weren't so lucky on obtaining bulkhead seats on the 8 hour flight _and_ we had a couple of rambunctious kids bordering on obnoxious sitting directly behind us. Their antics ran the gamit of troublesome behavior, including kicking the backs of our seats to screaming for what seemed like hours (Nicole on the other hand slept for at least 5 hours). Second, airplane food is airplane food, nothing to write home about. Finally, when we arrived at Charles De Gaulle, we had to endure the unfortunate situation of having to park the airplane quite a distance from the actual terminal. This meant that we had to deboard the plane onto a moveable stairway then onto a bus while trying to cart several carry-ons and a groggy three year old. Thank Goodness for Alise!

Places we visited on our first day:
We walked around with ‘tour guide extraordinaire', Stacy. (Alise and I decided she could do this for a living.) We started the tour from her apartment around St. Germain de Pres, Ile de la Cite, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. We ate lunch (Alise and I had croque madames or grilled ham and cheese with egg on top for you not so cultured readers ; ^ ) ) at Bistro Marguerite, rode a beautiful carousel, walked around the Louvre and then rested in the Tuilieries gardens where Nicole played with a petit bateau on the fountain waters. After that we walked back towards Stacy’s in search of food and a few household supplies. Alise and I ate a great picnic like dinner that included smoked salmon, toast, cornishons, olives, blue cheese and yummy wine. After getting both of us, meaning Nicole and I, (Alise took care of herself and Stacy was out) ready for bed, I was exhausted and fell asleep quickly to dream about pastries, foie gras and pate to come.

This is one of my favorite photos from the first day. I am not sure what Nic was up to although it has something to do with her latest obsession, her derriere.

Vacation

2006-03-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

Well, Nicole and I are off to France, so I may or I may not write anything for a little while...feel free to read previous posts which should take you all of ten minutes.

A Bientot!

Starbucks

2006-03-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite 'news' stories in the onion, http://www.theonion.com/content/index, is about a new Starbucks location opening in the men's room of an existing location.

You can read about it here:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29030

I bring this up now because I was at Starbucks yesterday and the story often pops into my head as I stand in line to order my crack-laced coffee concoction that just feeds my addiction to Starbucks (I swear they lace there coffee with cocaine or something to keep the addiction strong). Another thought is that I wonder if anyone has ever done a study of the personalities of individuals and whether or not anyone can predict what type of person correlates to the coffee order. I figure that we study all sorts of things to determine someone's personality including numerology, horoscope, and birthdate so why not a coffee order?! My brother-in-law, Andy, says he orders hot chocolate...he believes that it signals a 'loner' type and I said it was showing how he hadn't matured (you know, because children drink hot chocolate). I wonder what this theory says about me. Lately, I have gotten into ordering a tall cinnamon latte, that is the easy part, but, it must be half decaf, blended milk (essentially 1/2 whole and 1/2 non-fat milk,) 1/2 the pumps and light whip. It either means one of two things, I am high maintenance like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally or that I am trying to control my crack addiction (joke) and diminish my Starbucks habit. Damn you Starbucks!

BC

2006-03-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

I love reading Sunday Morning comic strips. Usually, if I buy a paper on Sunday morning, I read the Parade, leaf thru the ads and then read the funnies. One of my favorites is Baby Blues for obvious reasons...that being that as a mother, I can relate to the content. I also read BC. One time there was a short strip about golfing where in one of the male characters is trying to teach the female character how to golf. The female character says, "Let me get this straight. The object of this game is to get this little ball, into that little hole, hitting it the fewest possible times." "Yes! Yes!" exlaims the male homo sapien. "Then why do it at all?" she innocently asks. Fast forward to night, as drawn with the moon and stars out, and the man is repeating, "Why---do it---at all..." Which brings me to my point...why write a blog at all? This is a question I am constantly asking myself as well as who the hell cares what I have to write. Do I really think that one day I will get paid for it like www.dooce.com? I guess if I continue to post and even sometimes post funny commentary or just things about life that strike a chord with someone out there, then that is the point of writing.
More on this topic later....

Passport

2006-02-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

In two weeks, Nicole and I will be crossing the pond to visit France. A few months ago, we had a great time in London so I am really looking forward to seeing Nicole's reaction to the new sites that she will encounter and how she will react to hearing people speaking French instead of English. For now, enjoy her passport photo.

Do You?

2006-02-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight while driving home, Nicole decided to inform me about reflectors that are mounted on the road. These little reflectors, she tells me, are placed there to make sure that you don't go over into the other lane and get into trouble with other cars. I asked her where she learned about them and she said, "My dadda told me." She went on to say, "You don't want to get into an accident with another car, do you?" and "You don't want to drive where you not supposed to, do you?" I thought this little addition of 'do you?' to her sentences was cute and asked her where she came up with that and suggested it came from her dad. She agreed. As we walked in the door, I said to her, "You better pick up your toys, you don't want Benji to get them, do you?" Guess I better look into the mirror next time to determine where she gets most of her expressions.

iPod

2006-02-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

In the gym today I was actually using my iPod while working out (yes, I was actually working out _and_ using my iPod that sat around my desk for several weeks). I got to thinking about music and why things like the iPod is so popular. In my opinion, and what holds true for me, is that music can be that easy escape, either transporting you back to happier times and places or forward into your dreams...anyway, I kinda needed both of those things today and the iPod was happy to oblige.

Cheney

2006-02-14T05:48:00.000-08:00

I can't do better than this....
http://homepage.mac.com/asboisseau/iblog/thedailygrind/index.html

Dreamland Forest

2006-02-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

One of Nicole's favorite cartoon characters is Dora the Explorer. She has a Dora backpack, Dora play schoolyard with figurines and this great Dora book about a sleepy owl.

Normally, as we read stories, we sometimes go off on tangents about different topics that directly or indirectly relate to the story. In this particular case, we talked about how owls are similar to bats in two ways, they are both nocturnal and they both have excellent night/dark vision. The latter comes in handy for the owl when they have to go through a dark tunnel to make it to Dreamland Forest. The owl saves the day with his night-vision-goggle-like eyes to bring the group to safety. After making it through the dark tunnel, they arrive at their destination, Dreamland forest, where owl will presumably be able to catch some zzzzzzs. The publishers of the book overlooked a fact that I guess they thought most toddlers would not catch, but our 3.5 year old Nicole recognized it and said we had to tell Dora. Can you find the error in the picture below?:

That's right, the nocturnal owl who is only supposed to sleep during the daytime is sleeping at night! Oh the horror! Nicole advised me that I must tell the people who publish the book (not in those exact words mind you, she is smart, but still has some learnin' to do) that they are wrong and should correct the image to reflect the owl sleeping during the day and not at night.

Dark

2006-02-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has children past at least the age of talking can understand how tired one can get answering all the questions a young child can ask. For those of you non-child bearing individuals, think of the scene between John Candy's character, Uncle Buck, and Macauley Culkin's character in one of my favorite John Hughes movies. In this scene Macauley Culkin rapid fires a slew of questions at John Candy searching for clues into the life of Uncle Buck. Nicole is no different from other children at 3.5 years old and always wants things explained to her. One night while driving home from my mother's I mention to her that we need to make a trip to Target to purchase a couple of gifts for some of her cousins. When I also mentioned that it was too late to go to Target because it was dark out and that the store was closed, she seemed to accept that reason. Tonight, when I mentioned we would be making aforementioned trip to Target she matter of factly asked, "Well, what is on the windows, then?" Because I was unable to see the connection between going to Target and the windows I asked her what she meant and she remarked that "if Target is still open then it can't be dark out because if it were dark out then Target would be closed, so, what is on the windows?"

Still Here

2006-02-07T04:54:00.000-08:00

I don't have much to write about tonight...especially since the Super Bowl and its much hyped commercials were both rather bland. There were truly only a couple of plays worth noting and I can't even remember what happened in them except both of them had to do with bad calls by the referrees.
Of course, the other reason I probably can't think of anything to post is because I am still recovering from a night out with my brother and his wife (and in need of repairing all the damaged brain cells in my short term memory). We attended a formal builder sponsored casino night at the great Driskill Hotel (http://www.driskillhotel.com/) and enjoyed yummy food, free drinks and 'free' gambling. Chris and Cari were drinking Crown & Coke but the drink du jour for me was a dirty martini...they went down way too easy...all 7 of them. I was good at interspersing water in between the olive, vermouth and vodka concoctions, but since I rarely drink more then one glass of wine at any given dinner, or stay out past 2a.m. for that matter, recovery has taken a little bit longer. I am including a shot of the three of us pre-party...probably should have taken one afterwards to show how much were were dragging by the end of the night...but at least we didn't get a wasted as some of the older people at casino night still trying to relive there glory days. Of course you will have to take me at my word with no physical evidence to support this.

Akumal Barbie

2006-02-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

Every morning before school, Nicole and I go through a ritual of deciding which toy(s) she can take to school that day. Some days it is the My Little Pony or the little stuffed dog and panda bear that we bought in Richmond, or any number of other toys and stuffed animals that she has to choose from. This day, she chose the cute Barbie doll that Pedro (grandfatherly name for Pete, the spousal unit's father,) and Susan, (Nic's step-grandmother, Pedro's wife) surprised her with on our family trip to Mexico. Susan had come up with the cute name of Akumal Barbie because of the little beach acoutrements (towel, surf board, jam box and recreations Starbuck's coffee cup) that came with her and after the quaint beach location we spend some vacations. After dropping Nicole off at school I went to my hair appointment, ran a few errands and then returned to pick her up. I gathered her belongings from her cubby, signed her out and returned to find her outside with a group of other children. As I approached Nicole, she exclaimed, "She got a haircut!" and I replied, "Yes, I did!" thinking that it was unusual for her to notice because it really was just a minor trim. Nicole quickly corrected me stating, "No, Momma. Bella gave Barbie a haircut!" I looked at Barbie, who appeared to be unchaged from the front view, only to turn her around and find that there was a considerable amount of hair missing from the backside. I have named this new do the "reverse mullet". Do you think this style will catch on in Hollywood?

Exhibit A & B:

Fortress

2006-02-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

When you have a baby, anyone who has will tell you, that there comes a time when you have to babyproof your home. There is all kinds of paraphernalia for this task including cabinet door locks (from simple plastic hooks to a little more complicated magnetic devices that require a manual to figure out how to use,) baby gates for staircases, baby gates for entire rooms, electrical outlet covers, door handle thingiemebobbies and window blind chord contraptions to name a few. Since our house is a two story, we chose to put a gate, not only at the top to keep Nicole from tumbling down the steps (ala Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind), we also put one at the bottom to keep her from climbing up to the top, then falling, you get the picture. Two obvious items that are good for babyproofing your home are pack-n-plays, (its ancestor is the playpen), and cribs...these are both great for keeping babies in a confined location. Unfortunately, there comes a day when babies become toddlers and find ways to climb out of cribs and therefore have to graduate to a bed. After making this transition with Nicole, I knew there would be times when she would not stay in the bed after having been bathed, read to and kissed good night. Since I had decided early on that I wouldn't subscribe to the Mommie Dearest philosophy of bed straps I figured that closing the gate would at least prevent her for a) performing a Scarlett O'Hara and b) deter her from coming down the stairs when she was supposed to be in bed sleeping. One night after the aforementioned routine, I decided to watch some Tivo'ed programs with the spousal unit. We naturally chose a program that wasn't for little ears but soon heard the pitter patter of little feet down the upstairs hallway and just as I realized I had forgotten to close the upstairs gate we heard her little voice exclaim, "Momma, you left the gate open so I HAVE to come down!" So much for constructing the fortress...

Side Effects

2006-01-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

I just finished ready this article about FDA Drug approval for Chronic Constipation. You can read about it here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060131/ap_on_he_me/constipation_drug

The last line about the side effects makes you wonder if the ends justifies the means, no pun intended. This drug also makes me think about the food additive, Olean, the one that was found to cause severe cramping and uncontrollable discharge. Hey, instead of paying for this new drug, just buy a bag of chips with olean, and voila, problem solved!!!!

Happy eating and happy pooping!

Bandwagon

2006-01-30T19:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I have decided to give this blog thing another try...I have titled this post 'Bandwagon' because I figure everyone else has a blog going, so why not me? I definitely struggle with doing this for many reasons such as, Who cares what I have to say? Don't I have anything better to do with my time? Will I be able to write things that are witty, interesting, or just bland? just to name a few...

It is funny, I can come up with a bunch of topics to write about or talk about except when under pressure. I give my brother-in-law all kinds of ideas to write about and here I sit with writers block. I promise to start writing down the ideas as they come to me so that I can share it with the world!

Good night for now!

PEACE

2005-03-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

...comes sometimes with ease. It is amazing that following extreme times of mania and bitterness, one can feel a great deal of peace. I guess that is what happens when one decides that their own destiny and sanity is dependent on themselves and their actions rather then those of others.
Peace

2005-02-28T07:47:00.000-08:00

2005-02-23T21:08:00.000-08:00