scarier than a dark cave filled with monster, bats, ghosts and creepy eyeballs

As of Monday, Abby is officially a big kid. Kindergarten. Wow.

This is a huge transition. Preschool to elementary school. 3 days a week to 5 days a week. Afternoons to mornings. This is the hardest. Abby normally wakes up on her own between 8am and 9am and now I have to wake her up around 6am to avoid rushing her. And I still have to rush her because it takes FOREVER to get the girl out of bed. But each day gets a little better.

Abby is the kind of kid that needs time to warm up to new people and situations. I can tell she isn’t quite comfortable yet but she is enjoying herself nonetheless. She is all smiles when I pick her up. And she was OK with us leaving the classroom on the first day. It was 3 weeks before we could leave her alone at preschool.

Though there were no first day tears from Abby, there were a few from me. Not as many as I thought there would be and not as many as last year. But I spent the whole day in a cafe near her school “just in case”. Most likely just in case I freaked out and decided I wasn’t ready for her to be a big kid yet, I’d be close enough to run over and snatch her from class. But I refrained and everything was fine.

Truthfully, I love watching her grow. The bigger she gets, the more fun she gets. And I’m really excited for her to start kindergarten. I’m just lamenting the loss of time this means. Now that she has to get up so early, she has to go to bed early. I am not good with bedtimes. We’ve gotten into this after dinner routine of staying up late eating ice cream and watching Wonder Woman. We have to give that up most days now and I’m really upset about it. It would seem I may have more growing up to do than Abby.

The title of the post is a quote from Abby a few days before Kindergarten started about how scary it was to start kindergarten.But she got brave the day before and even told our friend that she was “super excited” about the first day.

She looks super excited to me.

secret hideout

Happy Monday to you.

Did you have a secret hideout when you were a kid? A place you went to be all alone? I did. A few actually. There was the ivy covered tree at the end of my block. This was the most cozy. There was the pathway that all the neighborhood kids called “the junkyard” but was actually just part of someone’s yard where they kept old lawn mowers and car parts (weird). This was the most secret because we weren’t supposed to go there. There was the fenced off gravel road behind my apartment building. This was the most adventurous because there was the promise of wild blackberries that grew at the end of the road but to get there you had to climb through a hole in the fence and you might run in to Bullet and Doobie, the resident dobermans.

I still have secret hideouts. Most are close to my office and I go there during lunch to be alone. I always leave the office at lunch but there are days that it is very important that I see no one  I work with and I forget that I am working altogether. I come here when it is nice out and I am tired. It’s a lovely little roof top garden and it is very close to my office so there isn’t much walking involved.

Do you have a secret hideout? Care to share?

 

 

bloom

I’ve been meaning to write a post about Bloom, the newest addition to our family. It has been hard for me to put my feelings about this little critter who very quickly worked her way into all of our hearts into words. And now I find it even more difficult to find the words to say goodbye, for our sweet little Bloom passed away on Saturday.

We are all heartbroken.

She was only with us for 2 months, but in those two months we placed dishes of birdseed on the dining table so she could share meals with us, we snuggled on the couch and watched movies with her (I didn’t know birds could snuggle), she made herself comfy in Abby’s doll house, she allowed Abby to play all manner of games with her and she gave us a piece of her mind when any of us tried to make her do anything she didn’t want to do. On her first day with us, Abby dressed up as Snow White and pretended that she was a woodland princess and Bloom was her special animal friend. She perched on Abby’s finger and played the part so very well. We did no expect a bird to be such a wonderful companion and a real part of the family. And we were not prepared to have to say goodbye so soon.

We love you and will miss you, Bloom. We are grateful for the time we had with you.

 

a walk in the park

Now that it is summer and I am not picking Abby up from preschool after work, I have been able to take my favorite route home from work which involves a walk through the park. Walking is like meditation to me and a walk through the park is so much more relaxing and rejuvinating after a long day at work then jumping off a crowded bus just before arriving home.

Of the many routes through the park, the detour through the botanic gardens may be my favorite.

Stone benches, sprinklings of English daisies, winding paths…

The day just melts away here.

What about you? Do you like to walk? Where? How do you rejuvinate after a long day?

gnome doors

When Abby was smaller, I used to point out the cute, smallish basement entrances to the houses in our neighborhood. To me, they have always looked like magical cottage entrances so I told Abby that they were the gnome doors. Gnome doors? Yes, gnomes don’t enter through the front door you know.

She believed me for a while. I’m not sure when she realized I was just filling her head with nonsense (one of my favorite things to do) but at some point it became our little game to point out gnome doors. We sometimes take gnome door walks around the neighborhood. On this day, Abby decided to “gnome out” in front of all the gnome doors we came across.

Not all basement doors are gnome doors. Some are too “people-ish” to be gnome doors.

Bricks, rounded arches, and hanging greenery are sure signs of gnome doors.

This door isn’t very gnome-ish itself but we decided that the potted garden made it a gnome door.

No door here, but this is definitely a gnome garden.

I didn’t think this was a very gnomey door, but Abby thought the red and white color scheme was very gnome-ish.

More bricks and a potted garden. The humans who live in this house were slowly making their way down the front stairs as we passed. We had to wait for them to leave before taking this picture. Abby would not move on to the next house until they were gone, so gnome-ish was this door.

More bricks and the door is sunken below street level – so very gnomey.

Abby decided that this must be a gnome window, because gnomes need windows too.

Happy Monday!

now and then

Spotted on my way home. Don’t they just look like the best of friends? I think the older one is sharing some tips with the newer one. Which one do you prefer?

not so foggy 4th

It might not look like it in some of these photos, but we had relatively nice weather on the 4th (a rare turn of events in these parts). So after a lovely brunch, we headed for the beach.

I assumed it was going to be too cold for frolicking.  I was a fool.

We spent the whole day splashing in the surf in wet sandy jeans.

It was a great way to spend the day.

attack of the rainbow unicorns

Some scenes from Abby’s rainbows and unicorns birthday party a couple of weekends ago. I have very few photos from the day because, wow, birthday parties keep you busy! But I survived! And it was fun! A lot of fun. Maybe too much fun for Abby who said she would need 100 years to recover.

It was an afternoon filled with rainbow hoola hoops and pinatas, balloon sword fighting,

balloons and bubbles,

we had pin the horn on the unicorn, and a large dose of general rainbow plastic fantastic-ness.

Oh, and rainbow cupcakes. We can’t forget rainbow cupcakes.

And now my girl is five and all of her celebrating is out of the way. She was starting to think that each celebration was another birthday. She didn’t want to be six or seven yet.

I can’t wait to see what new adventures this year brings.

5

This little girl turned five a few days ago.

So many changes recently. Growth spurts, preschool graduation (remember my weepy posts when she started preschool? Yeah, graduation makes me even weepier), a new school for kindergarten, a sudden fascination with Kowloon Walled City, a new pet, and now this milestone birthday which was spent in Fairyland.

I am throwing my first ever kiddie party this weekend. I hope to be back to my self soon.

a birthday, a race, and a sigh of relief

Well hello.

It’s been a while, no? The last few weeks, months actually, have been a little rough and I haven’t really had much to say. I feel like it’s been going around. It seems like a lot of people I know, both in real life and online have hit a rough patch or two in the last few months. Sheesh Universe! What’s going on?

I think last weekend marked a turning point. Marcus had a birthday and almost the whole weekend off. That NEVER happens. So we had a lot of family together time including the Bay to Breakers race. We were tired and slept through a lot of it but it was still a good time. And best of all, we also received our round 2 school assignment and we fared much better this time around. This has been weighing heavily on my mind and I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out our options.  Now we are really excited about Abby’s new school and amazingly enough, she is too.

I would have returned sooner, but I’m in the clutches of this book and have a hard time tearing myself away. I love when that happens.

Happy Monday!

the cure

I am just getting over a 2 week cold, wherein I was unable to speak for 4 days. This just a month after recovering from a different cold. Combine these with several personal headaches, and I’ve been feeling about as lively as this fallen tree. But I have a remedy.

Leave work early one day. And rather than go home where there will be no rest, go to the sea. The sea, in case you didn’t know, is my cure-all for everything.

Take a walk along the cliffs and wonder what sort of bird lives in this nest.

Follow a winding path through the trees, into the glowing light…

to this.

Standing here alone, listening to the waves, smelling the ocean, and feeling the wind in my face is so effective in lifting my spirits.

Perhaps you can see why.

Happy Monday.

easter

Hello. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and if you celebrate Easter, I hope it was lovely.

The Easter Bunny was very kind to Abby.

We had a last minute change of plans and even though it rained in the morning, we had an Easter afternoon picnic. Take out from the taqueria by my house is Eastery, right?

Abby’s dolls helped us celebrate.

It was a perfect spring day.

We found some pretty magical drawings. There was a bunny princess.

There was a mermaid swimming in front of a castle. There was also a drawing of a dog peeing on a flower but I will spare you a photo of that.

Abby claimed this as her very own castle.

Coming down to greet her subjects.

Abby wanted to “show her dolls the world”.

Then she asked, “Mama, will you take a picture of my dolls so they can remember their beautiful day?”

A beautiful day indeed.

not to go all jonathan livingston seagull on you…

Abby and I love to feed birds. Really love it. We often buy a loaf of bread or an extra bun at the dim sum shop when we are out in hopes that we will find some friends to share with. We feed them all – swans at the Palace of Fine Arts, little tree birds in the park, ducks at one of the many duck ponds around here. Abby can’t walk down our street without at least a few pigeons trailing behind her. Of all our bird friends, seagulls just might be my favorite.

I think I am in the minority here. Most people seem more annoyed with them than anything. They may not be the brightest or the most discerning of birds, but what they lack in these areas, they make up for in personality. Seagulls are funny. Have you ever seen seagulls squabbling over a scrap of bread? They are funny creatures.

And they make eye contact. You can have a conversation with a seagull. Yes, it’s always about food, but really, how often does one have the opportunity to converse with a bird?

And they are beautiful. On this particular day, the wind was strong and when they took to the air they flew against it and hovered in a dome around us. Have you ever been inside a dome of hundreds of hovering birds? Admittedly, thoughts of Alfred Hitchcock came to mind.

And that’s all part of the fun.

the simple things

“Mama, I want to walk in tall grass.” Sometimes childhood dreams are very simple. Abby saw some princess in some movie frolicking in a lush field somewhere, I’m sure and has always wanted to do it herself. A simple enough request really, but where exactly does one find tall grass in the middle of the city? Forests, beaches, gardens, yes. We have those. We have plenty of grassy fields, just not the sort that reach up to your knees. And so this dream went unfulfilled until recently.

On a playdate at a new park, we found this tall grass of legend. I didn’t notice it at first but Abby stood at the edge of the field, eyes full of wonder, tugged on my shirt and whispered “That is tall grass.” How perfect that she and her friend had decided to make it a princess dress up day?

“You’ve always wanted to walk in tall grass! Go ahead, walk. Dance if you like.” I said. And for the rest of the day, Abby was the princess frolicking in a lush field.

Happy Monday!

i may look like a grown up (sort of) but looks can be deceiving

A random list of some things I’m really good at when it comes to being a parent:

• Playing with Barbies
• Playing with little driving bunnies
• Snuggling
• Saying “I love you”. Every time I do, Abby says “I knew you were going to say that!”
• Giving hugs
• Playing make believe
• Getting Abby to eat her dinner (most of the time)
• Reading bedtime stories
• Kissing boo boos
• Taking Abby on adventures and showing her the world
• Being the Easter Bunny or Santa. And when the time comes, I know I will be an awesome Tooth Fairy
• Making daisy chains
• Making Abby feel cozy and safe and loved

One of the many things I’m not so good at:

• School registration

The school assignment process has me down. I visited the school where Abby was assigned yesterday and it’s not good. So we will be participating in round 2 of the application process and if necessary, round 3 and the 10 day count (don’t even get me started on this). Deadlines, forms, standing in long lines in bureaucratic offices, these are not things that come naturally to me.

In fact the last couple of weeks have been far more grown up than I like. In addition to all the school stuff (of which there is a lot), work has been intense, Marc’s shop has been crazy busy, and taxes are due. What? You do yours in January? Whatever. I’m just not good at this stuff and I try to do as little as possible and in small chunks. My head nearly explodes when it hits all at once like this. Hence my inability to show my face here for a week.

So here’s my idea.

Those of us who are only adults chronologically should be able to hire the services of actual adults. I know there are accountants and personal assistants but what I have in mind is someone more akin to a mother. Some one to remind us to pay our bills, how much milk to buy to last the week, set our bedtime, tell us when to start dinner to have it ready by a decent time, make doctor’s appointments, demystify the art of organization and the like.

This person must, however, do these things gently, like a whisper in the ear and without making judgements about your ineptitude. I suppose since she will have access to your finances, it would also be nice if she didn’t steal.

Because really, I’d like to get back to playing with bunnies.

dunes

Also know as the sandy slides. Who needs a playground?

why isn’t everyday vacation?

Over spring break we went to the beach,

watched a princess dance to the music in her head,

and felt as small as can be while in the presence of nature’s giants.

It was so wild and windy on our next trip to the beach that had we actually ventured onto the sand ,we would have filled our lungs and eyes with the stuff,

so we watched the wind surfers from afar.

The wind was also good for sailing not-so-small-model boats.

I wish I could spend all my days like this.

wonderful morning

I would much rather have a few more days of  ”staycation” than be back at work on this unbelievably beautiful morning. I’ll just have to stay positive and wish everyone a happy Monday. I hope this is a great week.