Tuesday with Tim #2

Hey! It’s everyone’s (new) favorite time of week again: Tuesday with Tim! The advantage to writing a blog – rather than giving a speech—is that I do not need to wait for the applause to abate before continuing. So please, continue the cheering, I’ll go on.

First of all, congratulations to Chris for winning the Create-your-own-Backstroke competition (read the inspiration for last week’s post). As many of you will soon learn, Star Wars quotes and references will almost always get you onto the list of finalists when I’m running a competition. Honorable mention goes to Liz for her early and applicable entry. And in May the strength is and you, too.

I find that the disadvantage to writing a weekly post is that I feel pressure to really deliver something noteworthy. If I were to just post willy-nilly (like some other posters on this blog… not mentioning names…), I could sweep an inferior post under the carpet the next day, and any previous misstep would be forgotten. So, I guarantee* to do my best to satisfy my horde of adoring fans (*guarantee is not a guarantee).

For this week’s challenge, I would like us all to commemorate Mr. T’s 57th birthday. Now, before you all say, “But, Tim! Mr. T’s birthday isn’t until May 21!” I know… But if we do the challenge then, it will just be one of many such celebratory events, and it will be white noise. You’ll thank me come May 21…

In order to honor the gold chain-adorned pop-culture force that is Mr. T (b. Laruence Turead), I invite you all to write a haiku to/about him (for those of you not still in high school, remember that a haiku is a poem featuring a 5/7/5 meter… more here and here). You can discuss his adventures in the A-Team, his fighting prowess in Rocky III, or his mad vocal stylings in Be Somebody or Be Somebody’s Fool—all is fair game. If you’re feeling particularly creative, sonnets will also be accepted (more on that here).

For inspiration, check out these videos. The winner will receive—from me—the satisfaction of knowing that he/she is somebody, and not somebody’s fool—a fool for whom Mr. T would undoubtedly have great pity. My entry:

Pityer of fools,
his gold chains are inspiring.
Mister among men.

Good luck!

LIZ.

This is my friend Liz.

I met her in Utah. Now she lives in Indiana.

She's one of the coolest people in the world, for many reasons.

One of those reasons is that she appreciates the real Jean:

Liz, you realize that my freakish image is going to haunt your computer room now. :-)

(Hahahahahaha......)

Recent Happenin's

Here's a recap of recent happenin's 'round the Anderson household! (Since apostrophes are used to substitute for missing letters, does that mean you can arbitrarily remove letters and replace them with apostrophes? 'R wou'd th't ge' c'nf'sin'? I d''t 'no', ma'b'. Haha.)

Blankie Shawl

Yep, Weston still loves his blue blankie. He loves to drag it around the house, but when he does, he usually steps on it and trips over it. So, Tim and I have taken to draping it over his shoulders in order to keep it out of his path. He really likes his blankie shawl. (And as you can see, he's over Orange Ring now, and he's moved on to Big Green Blocks.)

"Look at this face. Would YOU LOOK at THIS FACE? Is this a face you could die for??" (If you can name the movie, then you get 100 Teamies.)
Eaton Canyon

A bamillion of my friends have been blogging about their visits to Eaton Canyon, so I thought I'd crumble to peer pressure and blog about it, too. Eaton Canyon is a few minutes from our house, and it's basically this rocky wash in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, where a stream runs and where there are lots of trails.
We explored the local flora:

And we snapped a couple sticks:

And we enjoyed some of that good ol' bonding time:

Look at the wee one in his little overalls!! (Thanks Danielle!)

King Taco

Another night, we headed to King Taco for dinner. This is definitely a place that we will miss when/if we leave Pasadena some day. It is hardcore delish Mexican food.

Tim munched on his sope:

This is what I ALWAYS get -- a chicken sope and a chicken tamale:

YUUUUUMMMMMM (but watch out... that cabbage spills all over the place!)

And Weston enjoyed his baby bites of quesadilla:

Ariel's Grotto

On Tuesday, Tim and I had a date night at Disneyland. Ariel's Grotto is one of the few remaining restaurants at the resort where we hadn't eaten yet, and since our current passes are expiring in less than a month, we knew we had to go.

Ariel was standing at the base of the spiral staircase, taking photos with dinner-goers. (Tim and I knew it was going to be a character dinner, and we were wondering if Ariel would be in her "land ho!" form, or if she would be in her mermaid tail, flopping around on the floor after the frightened children and grabbing onto tables and pulling herself up for photos. As it turned out, she was in her land form. Probably makes more sense.)

Anyway, after watching for several minutes, we realized that she was only taking pictures with kids (almost all girls), so we declined to have our picture taken. Although, a teensy little bit of me wanted that picture with Ariel (the teensy little bit that used to sing "Part of Your World" incessantly and had all the lyrics memorized). But, this sufficed:

Below is the restaurant interior.

(This overlooks the lake in Paradise Pier, which is not so much a lake right now, but a huge dry pit full of scaffolding for the new water show that's coming next year.)

I got a picture with Belle:

And Timmy got a picture with Snow White:

Lemme tell ya, those princesses are a hoot. They're ALWAYS in character. You NEVER hear them speak colloquially or refer to anything outside of their characters' fantasy worlds. They always maintain these musical, high-pitched voices and flowery, sweeping motions. It's classic ... but also a little awkward when you're a grown-up (haha).

After the "appetizer tower," our dinners arrived! We tucked in:

Isn't Tim SO lucky that he chose ME as his eternal companion?

And finally, the lovely dessert plate, complete with a white chocolate seashell and a white chocolate mini-Ariel! (It did not taste like fish, fortunately.)

Tuesday(s) with Tim, #1

First, the disclaimer: This is Tim writing, not Jean. I realize that my participation is rarely witnessed on this blog, apart from our photos—more often than not as a display stand of sorts for our darling offspring— and in an effort to supplement my photographic presence, I hereby declare my intention to do a weekly post on Tuesdays. I choose this day for two reasons: 1) I do not have classes on Tuesday, so theoretically I have more time; and 2) I am a sucker for alliteration, and while Thursday also begins with “t” it lacks the ring of “Tuesday with Tim.”

Now, my weekly posts will rarely feature pictures of our family, and if they do, they will not be the types of pictures that jean usually posts. Rest assured loyal viewers (one in particular, and you know who you are…): photos of the baby will return. Probably tomorrow. Or even later today.

My post today is inspired by several sources, the most influential being “Star Wars Episode III: The Backstroke of the West.” For those unfamiliar with that title, it is a poor translation from English to Chinese back to English featured on a bootlegged DVD copy of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Check out the movie's opening title sequence here.

As you can see, hilarity is sure to ensue when translating between languages, and now YOU can participate in such fun!! Not enough exclamation points? You’re right!!!! Such fun!!!!!!!! Okay, so your mission—should I choose that you accept it (I do)—is to (step 1) come up with a common phrase, movie quote, scripture passage, etc… and (step 2) go to an online language translator (babelfish is the best one I’ve found for this game). Then (step 3) paste the phrase and select English->Chinese. Then (step 4) paste the Chinese back into the first frame and select Chinese->English. Finally (step 5) paste your new phrase into the comments for this post.

I know I said I’d never go against the advice of Mr. T again but for an example, I’ll use a classic “Yo Momma” joke:

“Yo mama so stupid when your dad said it was chilly outside, she ran outside with a spoon” becomes “Very stupid Aunt Yo, when your daddy said that it is shiver exterior, she has run outside and the spoon.” Get it?

So post the line/phrase you’ve chosen and the retranslated line/phrase in your comment, and there will be a prize for the best translated comment: I will buy the winner’s favorite candy bar (if readily available—don’t be obscure) and eat it in his/her honor. What? I never said the winner would be the one getting the prize… Enjoy!!!!

Bragging

Would you guys indulge me for a minute? No one likes bragging, I know. Feel free to roll your eyes and/or dry-heave at my lameness. But I have something to share.

This is it, folks. THIS. IS. IT.

I am a Ranger First Class. 408,500.

This is the best score that I have ever gotten, and probably will ever get, on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster ride at Disneyland. Tim and I have been studying the ride over the past few weeks, figuring out the best ways to aim and the best targets to aim for. And somehow, it all came together for me. Most of the credit goes to Tim, because he let me have the lefthand seat (better for shooting), and he held Weston on his lap so that I wouldn't be distracted. Plus, it didn't hurt that the ride stopped in one of the rooms, and that I was able to repeatedly shoot at a triangle (the highest value target).

Anyway, I'll shut up now. But in the future, I'll continue to do my best in the cosmic effort of defeating the Evil Emperor Zurg. Together, as teammates at Star Command, we can all make it happen.

And go away, "ZachD." You and your stupid score are ruining my celebration.

Why Weston Is A Doggy

It has recently come to my attention that my baby (seemingly human in appearance) is actually a doggy. Here's why:

(1) He begs for food. Oftentimes for breakfast, I'll pour myself some cereal and sit out in the living room by Weston's toys to eat it. Weston always stands by my legs, puts his hands on my knees, and stares at me expectantly. If I give him a little nibble of cereal, then he's distracted momentarily, but as soon as it's gone, he's back in my face again with that precious, expectant look. And it doesn't matter what I'm eating -- he's equally delighted with Cocoa Pebbles and bran flakes. He even enjoys the spoonfuls of milk when the cereal is all gone. It doesn't matter; what matters is that it's what I'm eating, and that he gets to have a taste of it.

(2) He loves to go out. Whenever we're about the leave the house, I always sit Weston down and put on his sweater and his shoes. That's the giveaway -- as soon as he's back up again, he walks to the door, puts his hands on it, and eagerly waits. He loves going outside, and he knows when it's coming. You can almost see that little tail wagging under his clothing.

(3) He freaks out over other doggies. Weston is absolutely obsessed with (other) doggies. If he sees a dog when he's in the stroller on a walk, then he starts gasping and squeaking and chuckling and reaching out for it. If he's on his feet and sees a dog, then he all-out squeals and tries to run after it. If Weston is lucky enough that the doggy's owner stops and lets him pet it, then his eyes light up and mouth explodes into a grin and he guffaws and laughs and touches it and pokes it and grabs it and... he's just in heaven.

So, yes. Weston is a doggy. I love my little Doggy Weston. :-)

Yep... More Birthday Festivities!

So, guess what we did to celebrate Tim's birthday... YEP! We went to Disneyland!! Haha! Big surprise. Tim didn't have any classes on Tuesday, so we packed up and drove down to Anaheim. There are several reasons why it was phenomenally awesome for him to celebrate his birthday at Disneyland: (1) the birthday button and the bamillion "Happy Birthday!" exclamations that he got from it; (2) the baggie of free, freshly made tortillas at the Mission Tortilla Factory; and (3) a free gift from Walt Disney himself!! It turns out that if you're already an annual passholder to the resort, then the special "free on your birthday" promotion translates into another freebie (either a pack of Fast Passes, or a gift card, etc.). So, Tim opted for the gift card, which was valued at a one-day, one-park admission (or $69 in his case!). Hooray!! Thanks, Zombie Walt!

Here's Tim with his birthday button and his sweet $69 "Fun Card" (this was taken after several previous attempts at a pleasant picture, which resulted in Tim's specialty -- the completely contorted face with the tongue sticking out every which way):

Looking dorky (in that lovable kind of way) in front of the giant "celebration" display on Main Street:
At Disneyland Weston gets to do a lot of strollering, but he gets to look around at all the fun and magic (sometimes while eating peas to boot, meaning a complete fun overload):

We went on a bunch of rides, but I only took pictures of "It's a Small World"...

... and of Weston reaching for the boats...

...which is funny, because all of a sudden, this big entourage arrived (and totally cut in line), and it was Tom Bergeron (the Dancing with the Stars dude!):

He hopped into a boat with Chip & Dale, and a photographer took pictures of them from the front, I suppose for some sort of promotion or advertisement:

Anyway, later we dined at the Wine Country Trattoria, and the weather was so beautiful that we asked to sit outside. Tim perused the menu very carefully and very snobbishly:

And Weston played with a napkin (simple entertainment for simple minds, as my mom always used to say -- yes, at me):

It was a tasty time:

And our table happened to be right at the edge of the patio, where we could watch the passing "Pixar Play Parade"! The Bolt float was the preview:

Colorguard. YES.

The actual parade began shortly after that:

"Likey. Gimme."

After the parade, it started getting chilly, so we decided that it was time for Weston to don his Jedi outfit (formerly his Yoda outfit):

Putting Weston in his Jedi outfit was also one of Tim's birthday wishes -- look how happy he is!!

A Message to the Timster

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

I love love lovey lovey love you so lovey much. :-)

Really Great Things

1. Citrus. I bought a huge thing of mandarin oranges at Costco on Saturday. They were in a mesh bag with a blue label that said "Cuties," and they were indeed too cute to pass up. I like them so much that I put them in a big bowl and took a picture of the bowl in the sunshine. Don't they look so yummy? Anyway, we now have a mandatory "One Orange Per Day" policy in our household. Oh, and if anyone in the five-county region feels the slightest cold coming on, then you know where to head for your vitamin C fix.

2. Ice cream. We scored a free ice cream at Cold Stone this weekend, thanks to the Timster's upcoming b-day. The best creation ever? Cake batter ice cream with cookie dough, chocolate, and caramel. Oooooooooohhhhhh yum. We brought our treats home and snuggled on the couch and ate it after Weston was in bed. I believe that the ice cream snuggle is the best snuggle around.

3. The Big Heads. I forgot to mention Weston's one-year stats: 24 lbs 10 oz and 31 1/4 inches long. Oh, and a 49.25 cm head circumference. After the pediatrician re-measured his head (which she always does because the nurse's measurement seems inaccurate), she remarked on its large size and asked, "Do you have a big head?" I said, "Um, I don't know, maybe. My husband kind of does." (It's true, we've chatted before about his giant noggin.) So, Weston has a big head. And so do Tim and I. You can now refer to our family as the Big Heads.

4. Dreams. A couple of nights ago I dreamt that I was friends with gingerbread and that we were hanging out. And I don't mean gingerbread men, or anything that even resembles a humanoid shape. No, I mean squares of gingerbread cake on a plate. We were friends, and we were hanging out, about to go somewhere. Yep.

5. Funny videos. First there's David, whose dad videotaped him just after a dentist appointment:



And then there's Chad (the lesser-known Vader), who was also videotaped after his dentist appointment: