Another TIM & JEAN Sale!

This special discount is even better than the last one... FIVE blog posts for the bargain price of one!!!

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Questions of the Day:

(1) Why do Elmo and Dorothy always ask Mr. Noodle first, when Dorothy ALWAYS ends up deciding to ask someone else anyway?

(2) Am I going to die from drinking one of those little black floaty things in my Brita filtered water?

(3) If someone's husband does something funny during a very slow, solemn, reverent hymn at church, causing her and her husband to snicker (to the point of tears in their eyes) throughout the entire hymn, then does that mean that we’re they're going to hell?

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Auntie Status Change

Yesterday evening, my niece/nephew count jumped to THREE!!! My sister-in-law gave birth to Finn Ryan, measuring in at 10 lbs 1 oz and 22 inches long. WOOHOO!!! Congrats to Dana and Jay! Click HERE for a pic of the (big) little guy!

(Although the niece/nephew count comes to three at the present time, I fully expect it to total over 20 by the time all of Tim's siblings are done having kids!)

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Weston y La Cuchara

Given that Weston's 18-month appointment is approaching soon, and given that the pediatrician is almost certainly going to ask whether he still drinks out of a bottle (sometimes yes), whether he's brushing his teeth (umm... kinda?), if he's using a regular cup yet (nope), and if he's using utensils yet (nope), among other things, I decided that maybe I should try to tackle one of those pesky little "developmental milestones" in advance. Plus, I was inspired by this blog post of my friend Lisa's, which displays her awesome little guy's newfound talent of eating yogurt with a spoon. So, (big reveal here -- my Secret Motherhood Success Strategy!!!), I just copied her and did exactly what she did. (Surprise! What?... did you actually think I have any idea what I'm doing??) :-)

Overall, it seems like the test might have worked. Here are Weston's cute yogurt-with-a-spoon pictures:

And here are Weston's slightly embarrassing yogurt-with-a-spoon pictures:


(Hehehehehe!)

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A Request

On a much more serious note, I have a request for all of you. This comes from my friend Liz's blog. Liz's cousin, Janet Christiansen Abaroa, was murdered four years ago in her home when she was pregnant with her second child. Her six-month-old baby was asleep in the next room when it happened. Her killer has never been brought to justice (although some members of Liz's family are certain of who it is).

ABC Primetime is airing a special on the case this Wednesday, August 26 (10:00 PM EST). The more people who are aware of the circumstances of Janet's murder, the more likely the killer will eventually be revealed. Obviously, this has been a horrifying ordeal for the family, and the more I learn about it, the more I love Janet and the more I feel their pain. Please watch if you can!

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A General Update

Well, I'm traveling again! Tim and I are flying to PA on Tuesday. Because I just can't get enough of flying across the country with Weston on my lap, I'm (once again) flying across the country with Weston on my lap. Haha! Let me explain: the real purpose of this trip is that my mom and I are going to drive from PA to Ohio to visit my uncle and cousins for a few days. (YAAAAY!!!) Originally, Tim was going to stay in CA with Weston, while I flew out to PA and had my little roadtrip with my mom. Then in June, I ended up scoring a free round-trip airline ticket, which we decided that Tim should use to come out to PA also (because it's a lot easier and a lot more fun for him to watch Weston with the help of his family, than for him to watch Weston here in CA by himself). However, the free ticket was for a different airline than the one on which I was already booked. Therefore, I'm flying out with Weston on one airline, while Tim is flying out on another. (We agreed that I have a much higher tolerance for flying cross-country with a toddler than Tim does. Yippee for me.) Then, the morning after we land, I'm taking off to Ohio with my mom while Tim is staying in PA with Weston and his family. So, it's kind of a kooky trip, but it's going to be GREAT!

Anyway, we're considering skipping off to Disneyland this Monday before we leave and getting our new annual passes (and, of course, soaking in some of that glorious, sparkly Disney magic). It is so great to have Tim home again! Friday was the last day of his internship, and he got to enjoy a fun lunch out with a bunch of his coworkers, plus a free screening of District 9. (I have never heard of companies just taking all their employees to the movies. Is this normal? Maybe it's a video game thing?) Anyway, now Tim has a couple of weeks of vacay ahead of him, prior to the start of his final term at Art Center. Did you hear that? FINAL TERM!!!!!!!!

So, ta-ta for now, my fam-bots and friend-bots! Lots of love! :-)

Shout-Out to the Saz

Oh how I love visitors!!! I had the immense pleasure this week of seeing one of my long-lost BFFs, Shannon (aka Sazzy), whom I haven't seen in three years. Shannon was attending Georgetown when I was attending GW, so she and I saw each other at church and at YSA FHE's and at Institute classes (does that make any sense to the non-Mormons in the house?) and at all those other fun things, and naturally, we became good friends. Unfortunately, we've only seen each other once since I graduated from college (right after she moved to Provo, which was also right before Tim and I left). I say that we naturally became friends; here are just some of the reasons why I love the Saz:

-She is so easy to talk to, and therefore she makes people feel exceedingly comfortable in her presence. (Seriously. I could just as easily confide in her that I'm checking myself into a mental hospital -- which I'm not, don't worry -- as I could tell her that I had oatmeal for breakfast.)
-She is SO NICE. There is perhaps a smattering of people in my life who have truly struck me by their kindness. She is one of them.
-She is an immensely strong and faithful person. She served an 18-month mission to Brazil, and then returned to work at the MTC and become Relief Society President in her ward. I know that those are outward manifestations, but I know too that inside there is a very bright flame.
-She is exceptionally smart (she'll soon be working on her Master's in mechanical engineering).
-Going along with the above point, she is nevertheless astoundingly humble. (I'm not sure whether she realizes how awesome she is and chooses not to acknowledge it, or she just doesn't know. Maybe the latter.)
-She is excellent with children. (I wouldn't even think twice about leaving Weston with her for an extended period of time. She might, though.)
-She is delightfully funny (in both that she cracks jokes, and that she also brings about quite a bit of unintentional hilarity).

So, hopefully you're getting the picture about Shannon. Over the past week, she and two of her younger sisters took a mini-tour of California, complete with beach camping and city roving. They stopped by Pasadena for a quick visit with yours truly (yaaaaaaaay!), and I snapped a few pictures of the hijinks that ensued:

Here are Audrey, Shannon, and Laurel, when I asked them to pose for a nice, sisterly picture:
However, one of them (not naming names here, just saying the word Audrey) got a little cheeky during my photo shoot, which resulted in a lot of cracking up:

And finally, here's the nice, sisterly picture that I was hoping to get:

(I forgot to mention another favorite thing about Shannon. She - and her sisters, for that matter - are excellent subjects for photographs. They'll do anything, and they don't care if they look weird. That made it easy for me, because I usually prefer really goofy pictures of my friends.)

Anyway, we also got a very nice Shannon-and-Jean shot:

And then it was time to hit the town! First I took them to King Taco, one of Tim's and my favorite haunts:

Then we strolled around Old Town and looked at the shops. Along the way, a dude from ABC stopped us and asked if we'd like to be on a new show that they're airing. Apparently, it's something about answering people's everyday questions, so he asked us if we could come up with a question that we'd like answered. I went first and said, "I'm Jean from Pasadena, and I'd like to know how to get my toddler to stop hitting me!" (Yeah... if anyone has advice, you know what to do.) Shannon decided to go on camera too, and she asked her question about schooling while I snapped a picture. Brilliant, Shannon, brilliant!!

This was a girl's day out (+ Weston), so of course we had to do some serious shopping. We stopped at H&M:

Shannon and Audrey browsed the goods while Laurel and I (mostly Laurel - bless you) watched and chased and played with the Weston-Blur as he ran around the racks:

Weston did a little browsing of his own (with some style advice from Shannon):

Then (obviously) I took them to Dots Cupcakes. (FYI, everyone who visits me here will go to Dots Cupcakes. Danny C, we were sadly short on time, but that's even more reason for you to move to CA!). Another fabulous pose with the girls:

We wandered over to One Colorado to sit and devour our cupcakes, and I had to snap this picture of the pretty flags hanging overhead (which is totally unrelated to Shannon and her sisters, making for a slightly anti-climactic conclusion to this blog post):

Haha! But really, it was a wonderful time! I loved meeting Laurel and Audrey, and I loved seeing my Sazzy again. Until next time, girls!!! :-)

Grown-up? Me?

I’ve realized lately that Tim spends his days doing grown-up things like working and collaborating and getting deadlines, whereas I spend my days going to the park and the pool, attending toddler storytimes and music classes, and repeatedly saying things like, “Weston, where’s your belly button?” and “Weston, do you see the BIG truck?!” and “Weston, did you toot?”

Every morning when I drop Tim off at the gas station for work (I drop him off there because it’s right next to the train station, but sometimes I catch myself telling Weston that we’re “going to the gas station to take Daddy to work”), I kiss him and wish him well, and simultaneously say goodbye to adult conversation for the rest of the day. (That is, unless I’m lucky enough to see a girlfriend or two that day, in which case my adult brain is able to resume function temporarily.)

So, it was very nice to not only have a date night with Timmy last night, but also to have a date night where we went to an adult location and engaged in adult conversation with other adults. I think the slumbering grown-up inside me was awakened, because I was so excited about the evening, and I ended up having a really nice time (and realizing how much I miss hanging out with other grown-ups).

Admittedly, I was mostly excited about the fancy free food and beverages. Tim’s company had booked a swanky restaurant for its wrap party for the Transformers 2 video game, and luckily for us, Tim and I were invited to attend, even though he had joined the team at the very end of the project, and plus is an intern and not a regular employee.

(Even though the party was in celebration of the recent release of the game, Tim and I pretended that it was actually Tim’s farewell party, since he only has one more week of work before the end of this internship. While we were at the party, we decided that we probably should have brought a giant “WE’LL MISS YOU, TIM!” banner to hang up above the bar.)

Anyway, I readied for the evening by taking my typical prep routine to extreme measures: blow-drying my hair, applying foundation, and applying lipstick. (WHOA.) The last time I blow-dried my hair was probably four months ago, and the last time I wore foundation was a year ago for my friend’s wedding. Awesome.

The party was held at the West restaurant, which is on the top floor of the Hotel Angeleno in Brentwood. Like all trendy nightspots these days, the restaurant had only low lights and was therefore very dark; it had hip music thumping the entire time; and it had rectangular plates at the hors-d’oeuvres buffet. (Circle plates are SO last year, you guys. Haha!) Plus, almost everyone there was wearing black. So, it was very hard to see people. And hard to hear them. I guess a nightspot is only chic if you can’t see or hear the people you’re with.

Haha, I make fun. But the place was awesome – like I said, there was a lovely hors-d’oeuvres buffet (with things like seared ahi tuna on crispy wontons with pico de gallo, mini crab cakes with spicy chile aioli, truffled macaroni and cheese, and grilled marinated vegetables). Guess what Tim’s favorite item was? The French fries. (He was totally justified, though; they were very unique, yummy fries.) Plus, there was also an open bar (with specialty drinks like Megatron’s Kiss and Cybertron Sunrise in honor of the occasion). Of course, Tim and I didn’t partake of the alcoholic options, but we did drink more than our fair share of Shirley Temples and Diet Cokes.

We spent most of the time chatting with Tim’s coworkers, only some of whom I’ve met before. For the second half of the party, we sat with Tim’s boss and his wife in a cozy section of the lounge. It turns out that Tim’s boss is uproariously funny, especially when he’s telling stories about (A) his immense geekdom, which is slightly incongruous with his super muscular physique – not your typical video game nerd; and (B) his very bizarre experiences in his life drawing classes at art school. Haha!

But really, it was great to get to know so many great people, and to have an actual “adult” evening. They are few and far between these days!! It was also really fun to see what normal, trendy people do on the weekend. Usually Tim and I celebrate weekend nights by going to Souplantation or King Taco and then watching a movie, reading, or going on the computer after Weston goes to bed. (SO exciting, right??) But apparently, there’s this whole, fascinating world of bar-lounges, where people just sit in the dark on comfy chairs and pillows, sip their beverages, and strain to hear and see one another. It’s awesome. I WANT TO GO AGAIN.

In the way of a photo recap... there isn't much of one. It was so dark in there that it made picture-taking very difficult and very awkward. Here are a couple photos of the restaurant from its website (the lights must have been turned all the way up in these pictures, because it was WAY darker when we were there):

And here is the only picture that I have of Tim and me at the party (featuring my irksome perpetual slouch):

Tim also snapped this photo of me (below). For some reason, in the midst of all the booths and stools, there was this humongous chair. When no one was looking, I sat (well, lay) in it really quickly for a photo, but then started giggling when it took Tim forever to take the picture:

Things I Like

By Weston Anderson

Starting to plant the idea with my parents that I'm Mensa material by pretending to work on a Sudoku puzzle (heh heh):

Finding pictures of things in books, and then finding pictures of the same things in other books, and then getting really excited about it:

Unleashing the little Cookie Monster in me:

(That last one might negate my Mensa effort.)

Having a grand ol' time at Kidspace:

(I overheard my mom telling Kate's mom that she really hopes that Kate and I get married, so that she can project this picture of us really big at our wedding reception, and then everyone will go "Awww..." and then discuss amongst themselves about how adorable we are and how it was meant to be.)

And finally, saying an actual word:

(Addendum by Jean: Seriously, Tim and I think it is so bizarre that Weston says this. His vocabulary is so small right now -- mama, dada, hi, wow, uh-oh -- that we can't figure out why on earth he would choose his next word to be "doctor." You'd think it would be something a little more useful, like "food" or "more" or "blankie," but no, it's doctor. Go figure. We're also not sure if he thinks that "doctor" means mouse. I suppose we'll find out the next time we happen to see a mouse.)

I Love Mutant Fruit

(Now how can you possibly skip a blog post title like THAT?)

The other day I was at Costco, perusing the boxes of strawberries for the one with the prettiest, yummiest-looking berries. As I was examining them while Weston wiggled in the shopping cart, I thought I found a winner, so just to be sure, I flipped it over to look at the berries on the bottom of the box. And guess what I found...

BEHOLD!!! THE KING OF ALL STRAWBERRIES!!!

This beauty was hiding at the bottom, but once I saw it, I knew that I MUST buy that box.

I mean, seriously, can you say "no" to giant mutant fruit?? I sure can't. It's like winning a prize when you find one. They are rare gems that must be admired for their massive size and sheer awesomeness.

(FYI, that evening, after taking a few pictures of me holding the King of All Strawberries, I asked Tim if I could take a picture of him with it. Aaaaaannnnnnd this is what I got...)

Anyway, now mutant fruit can be added to my list of "Mutant Things That I Love." Already on the list?

Mutant vegetables:
Mutant animals:
Mutant trees:
And, of course, mutant people: