Updates of Various Natures

Update #1: FACEBOOK
Well, I guess the answer is, To Facebook! Thank you all so, so much for your very thoughtful and very helpful comments about Facebook. Thanks also for answering the poll questions. I no longer fear Facebook, and as some of you have probably noticed, I've gone ahead and joined. (To shame!!) No, but I think it will be fun... or, at least it will be another webpage to visit while I am mindlessly exploring the internets. But I also think that, sadly, my soul is a little more machine and a little less rage today than it was yesterday. :-)

Update #2: INTERNSHIP
(I'm setting the scene here: Picture Janine, the receptionist at Ghostbusters headquarters. Picture the scene where she's getting ready to go home, but then she picks up the phone for what turns out to be their very first ghost-busting job. Now picture what she says...) WE GOT ONE!!!!!!! Yaaaaay! Although we've experienced a few disappointments and a lot of waiting, Tim recently learned that he's been hired for a summer internship by Luxoflux, a video game design studio in Santa Monica. Whee!! We are thrilled! The pro's? It's a paid internship; it's in the area, so we don't have to relocate; and it's in video games, which Tim has been hoping for. The con's? It's in Santa Monica, which is a killer commute from Pasadena; AND we still only have one car, so either Jean goes carless for the summer (wide-eyed look of shock and horror on my face), or Tim carpools or takes public transportation all summer (painful groan on his part). We're working on it... but the point is that we have an internship. (Cue angelic choir!!) Which he is starting tomorrow/today. :-)

Update #3: WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JEAN ANDERSON?
Now that we know Tim is going to be spending his summer working and commuting and sleeping and commuting and working, I'm debating whether or not I should just travel a whole bunch with Weston. (And by "a whole bunch," I mean once, and perhaps twice.) After all, Weston's not going to see his daddy on weekdays anyway, and he can still fly for free. As for my part, I'm not working right now, although I will be rocking the motherhood gig on my own for the bulk of this summer. So, why not go mobile and transfer the operation to new locales? Nothing is for sure yet, but my first transfer may be to Pennsylvania in June. We'll see.

Update #4: RECENT ACTIVITIES AND THINGS OF THIS NATURE

The Aquarium

We went to the "Aquarium of the Pacific" last week (back when we were still celebrating Anderson Family Fun Extravaganza before Tim got a mini-job at a theme park design company, which has been occupying his time over the past few days). Anyway, there were many fishies there. And yes, I repeatedly referred to them as "fishies," not fish, when trying to get Weston's attention in my high-pitched mom-voice:

There was also an octopus, which we were lucky enough to see moving around in its tank, instead of being all boring and just huddling in a ball in the corner:
We fed sugary nectar to the birdies (not birds) at an outdoor display. I remained extremely calm and ever-attractive:

...while Tim completely FREAKED OUT and ran around like a lunatic:

Next we walked along a cute boardwalk by a marina towards "Shoreline Village," a waterfront shopping/dining area, and on the way we passed a sweet sailboat:

After we walked around Shoreline Village, visited some shops, and got a couple soft pretzels, we kept heading westward until we saw this beauty:

Overall, it was a really nice day in Long Beach. But for some reason, Weston was always much more eager to push the stroller himself than for us to push him in it:

There he goes again, that kooky ol' kid of mine:

Ikea

We went to Ikea last week, too. I visit Ikea frequently. I love it because of (A) the "family parking" (located right at the entrance to the parking garage); (B) the meatballs for me and 99-cent mac & cheese for Weston; and (C) the children's section, where Weston can play with all the toys and furniture:

The Park

Last week we also went to a new-to-us park, where Weston followed around a cute little girl in pink, and where we also nearly sweated ourselves to death because it was SO FREAKING HOT OUTSIDE (the mall quickly replaced the park):

Max

Weston's friend Max came over on Friday. Max had a great time playing with all of the novel new toys, and Weston had a great time following Max around and seeing what amazing new things could be done with his toys. At one point, they just sat across from each other and played with big blocks:

Weston started handing individual blocks to Max ("Da!", which means, "Here you go, Max"). Max kindly took them, and then he started handing them back, too. (It actually became rather comical when they would both hold out a block at the same time for the other kid to take, but would be unable to take the other block. Kind of a baby-block-impasse, haha):

They also enjoyed watching a Sesame Street DVD. I'm assuming that they enjoyed it; it's kind of hard to tell from this picture:

The Zoo

We went to the zoo, and Weston got to pet a sweaty, bored goat that was surrounded by its own droppings. Communing with nature is so magical:

A Haircut

Since Weston's baby mullet was reaching nearly to his bottom and his baby bangs were beginning to block his vision, we finally decided to cut his hair nice and short on Sunday... with scary buzzing clippers!! AAHHH!! Surprisingly and fortunately, it was fine. Weston wasn't so much scared of the clippers as curious. I must say, Tim did a fabulous job (and it didn't hurt that I was placing morsels of cupcake in Weston's mouth throughout the entire experience). The finished product:

What a cuddle-worthy little boy:

The Park

Finally, on Monday, we went to "Johnny Carson Park" (heh heh... only in California) in Burbank before picking up Tim on the last day of his temporary job. We clomped around in the grass, stared at and chased after other children, and enjoyed some thawed peas and a cold leftover pancake for dinner. Okay, it was pretty much just Weston who did those things. What a cutie that one is: