Tuesday Lovin': Bastille (the band not the prison)

Sometimes you hear a new song and you just have to stop and HEAR it, because it's so perfectly awesome on the first listen.  I remember exactly where and when I first heard Bastille's song Pompeii.

It was a freezing January evening at the gas station near my parents' house, where I was filling up before the daily trip back to the house to "camp out" in the living room during the remodel.

While the song was playing, I used the Android "what song is it" widget to find out who it was and hopped over to Amazon MP3 to purchase it immediately.  I should have listened to the other songs on the album and just bought the whole thing right there, but of course I was looking for instant gratification and had two kids perilously close to bedtime.

We've been listening to a lot of Pandora in the house, and after I gave Pompeii a "thumbs up", other Bastille songs started creeping into the mix.  And I loved every song I heard.  So I finally bought the whole Bad Blood album last week, and Oh. Em. Gee. It's amazing. So catchy and such great lyrics.  Any band that leaves me the earworm of "Icarus is flying too close to the sun" is A-OK.  Apparently if you buy the CD, the MP3 download is now free.  (I missed this entirely since I purchased on my phone, sigh.)

I'm noticing a pattern.  British male singers with obvious accents.  Sound reminiscent of 80s music. Thoughtful lyrics not always about lost romantic love.  Hello Passenger, The Script, Scars on 45. So I guess I've become predictable in my old age.  But at least I'm finding new music to listen to!

Tuesday Lovin': Three of My Favorite Blog Posts EVER

Gratuitous BabyM photo,
 by Kristi Lloyd  Photography

In 8 years of blogging and Internet-time-wasting, I've read a lot of blog posts. Inspirational ones, funny ones, useful ones, not-so-useful ones. In the weird way that ideas converge, I was thinking about doing a post on my favorites, and a Facebook friend randomly mentioned one of them today, in a completely unrelated discussion. So I had to write this post - it was destiny, right?

I can't pinpoint exactly *why* these posts stuck with me over all these years. Two of these bloggers have consistently excellent posts, and the third is someone I don't read regularly, but his (?) post is just so ridiculously awesome that I have it bookmarked for when I want to laugh.

Tea & Cookies Kitchen Gift Guide

My friend S posted this link on Facebook a couple of years ago. I was home on maternity leave with BabyT so I had a lot of time to click links and read them. I now own and USE nearly every single item on her list - they are *that* useful. She hooked me with her lovely writing and all the stories that went with the gadgets. 

I think of it every time I use my fabulous green plastic spoon (and I'm thinking of buying another!).  I panicked in early 2010 when I was looking for the post, because I couldn't remember where I had seen it, and my fabulous friend S found it for me again. :)

AskMoxie: What Would Have Kept You in Your Job?

I knew once T was born that I would be happy to become a stay-at-home mama. Right as I was returning to work from maternity leave, I read this post (wistfully).  This post encapsulates the brilliance of Moxie's blog -  the comments are a goldmine of information from parents all over the world.  I read her regularly, but this particular post stuck with me, for its anecdata of what everyone would need to make their jobs more compatible with family life. A few commenters discussed why they still worked.  

A close second was the one describing the Newborn Witching Hour. I bookmarked it to try solutions for both of my babies. It didn't fix the problem, but made me feel a lot better about The Crazy that descended on our house for those few weeks each time. 

littera_abactor: I Has a Sweet Potato

This is the post that came up in discussion on Facebook today. I cannot articulate how much I love this. Anyone who has an always-hungry dog will understand. It makes me laugh out loud every single time I read it, so I keep it bookmarked. If you're not a dog person, you won't get it. Here are some cute baby photos instead.

Enjoy, and drop me links if you have a super favorite somewhere in Internet land.

Tuesday Lovin': Starbucks

by michelle | une-deux senses, on Flickr

I'm not a coffee drinker but I sure am buyin' what Starbucks is selling. The "experience", "treating myself", "affordable luxury", all of that is mine for a $4 cup of "chai".

And I use the word chai very, very loosely when it comes to Starbucks. Real chai in India is spicy, unexpectedly black pepper and cardamom spicy.

Starbucks chai, while delicious, is like drinking a gingerbread cookie. It's ridiculously sweet. And don't get me started about them calling it "chai tea latte":

1. "Chai" means tea. So no need to add 'tea' in there.

2. What on earth does this have to do with a latte? I guess because there's milk in it? This has confused a few new Starbucks employees, and I've gotten my share of chai with coffee mixed in. Yuck.

But when it's made correctly, ahhh. It's heavenly. My current (high-maintenance) order is a grande soy chai, with one pump of chai, at 130 degrees. Seriously. I'm *that* person, who tells them how hot to make my drink. So ridiculous, I know. But otherwise it's burning hot and I have to wait 10 or 15 minutes before I can drink my deliciousness. And in the land of Tiny Babies, a 10 or 15 minute delay means I'll probably forget about it, find it 2 days later, and just have to throw it out.

Many people lament the big business corporate-ness of Starbucks, but as a Seattleite, I'm "buying local" when I go there. They give their hourly employees health insurance. Everytime I've been to a Starbucks, every last employee has been unfailingly cheerful and friendly. Not to mention my customer service experience has been AMAZING.

My two favorite stories:

1. When I was enormously pregnant (8 months+) with T, I got a chai at my local Starbucks after waiting in line for a long time. As luck (and my clumsiness) would have it, I got out the door and immediately dropped it all over myself and the sidewalk. I went back in to figure out how to clean it up, and they remade my drink for FREE. *swoon*

2.  At one location, they tell me when I order my drink that I should order it as steamed milk with flavoring, so it's cheaper. They've "fixed" my order for me every time I go there.  Too bad it's not my regular shop!  Shout out to the Redmond Ridge QFC Starbucks.

Howard Schultz's books have been on my reading list for ages. Maybe it's time for me to download one now!

Tuesday Lovin': Canon Pixma Pro Inkjet Photo Printer

On the scrapbooking message boards I read, a common question is "What photo printer should I buy?"  The Holy Grail is a printer that isn't crazy expensive, doesn't run through gallons of ink, and produces great quality photos that will stand the test of time.

Hands down the number one reason contributing to me finishing Project Life in 2012 (yes, I'm really proud of that!) was buying a photo printer so I could print all my pictures at home. 

Prior to buying my printer in May, I was sending photos to Target.com weekly using their in-store pickup option.  I spent a fair amount of time on their website, uploading photos, making sure they were cropped correctly, and going to pick them up.  Not to mention Target's online system would send a message saying they were ready, yet they were not once I got to the store.  With a 2-year-old in tow, it's not like we could wait around for the hour or more it would take to process them, so I had more than a few wasted trips and a LOT of frustration.  I also didn't love the photo quality - it was fine, but not fantastic. (And I'm no expert, for sure.)

I've had a really hard time with all the printers in my past. I never found the right one for me.  My last two printers have been Epson inkjets that blew through ink like nobody's business, would clog constantly and had only so-so photo quality.  Not to mention I had to fight with Epson to replace one that died literally a DAY after the warranty expired.

So I knew when shopping for a new printer that it was NOT going to be an Epson.  I knew I wanted a color inkjet for good photo printing and consulted reviews on CNET. I searched on Amazon, filtering on those color inkjets that had great reviews (4+ stars) and were less than $500. Even that seemed like a ridiculous amount of money for a printer since all my previous ones were less than $100. But I was willing to pay for quality this time, in the hopes I'd get better results.

Fate (and customer reviews) led me to the Canon Pixma Pro 9000 Mark II.  (What a mouthful, huh?)  The reviews were great, though the price was a bit higher than I'd hoped for. Not only was it a great photo printer, but it also prints large format, up to 13x17". So if I ever wanted to print 12x12", a common scrapbooking size, I'd be all set.

We have an email list at work for people to sell household items and I had noticed a few ads for this particular printer.  Turns out that Canon was offering a BIG rebate when buying a DSLR camera, which basically included this printer for free. Many photographers were buying both the camera and printer, then selling the printer new in box after getting the rebate.  When I was ready to buy it, I did a search on Craigslist.

I found several ads for it, and made a deal with a guy to buy it for $160. It felt a bit sketchy to meet him in a grocery store parking lot with a wad of cash in exchange for electronics, but for that screamin' deal, it was totally worth it.

I came home, set it up quickly and easily, and the rest is history.  I printed my photos for Project Life starting that week and never went to Target Photo again.  I've gotten great results from all kinds of photo paper: Epson, Ilford Galerie, and Canon, though not HP paper, oddly. 

Another crafter told me about Epson Matte Premium Presentation Paper for printables, and O.M.G. The print quality is amazing. Colors are bright, saturated and graphics are knife-sharp.  It's not quite as heavy as cardstock but is heavier than regular printer paper.  I've found Amazon has the best price, unless the office supply chain stores are running a buy one get one free deal.

The Canon USA site also sometimes has great deals on photo paper, and I bought 6 packs of 4x8 paper which is great for printing 2 square Instagram photos.

I stick with the Canon ink, and the best deal has been for the multipack on Amazon.  In 8 months of regular use, I've only had to replace 4 of the 8 ink tanks.  I don't want to ruin my expensive printer, nor do I want my photos to fade or run, so I don't take any chances with off-brand inks.   This printer consumes nowhere near the amount of ink as my previous Epson inkjets, and I print far more with it than I ever did with those.

The bundled Canon software - EZ Photo Print - has a cheesy name, but works really well for printing photos in many configurations.  I use it to print two 3x4 photos on 1 4x6 page, as well as 2 4" Instagrams on a 4x8" page, and it's effortless.  You can also print tiny photos on one sheet, add text, and print large borderless photos as well.  I haven't had to tweak any settings to get the colors to come out "true".  (But again, I'm not an expert.)

The drawbacks of this printer are few:  it's HUGE so it takes up a ton of room, it's pretty loud when it's printing, it doesn't print over wireless, and the ink-empty warnings start REALLY early.  On the bright side, it doesn't force you to change the ink until it's really, truly, out and does give you a message when you get to that point. 


Canon has released a newer version of the same printer, which looks identical, the Pixma Pro-100. If you want to buy one new from an authorized retailer, this is the one to get.  Otherwise, check out EBay, Amazon or Craigslist for deals on the PIXMA Pro 9000 Mark II - you will not be disappointed.

Do you have a photo printer you love?  Share it in the Comments please!  I'm also happy to answer more detailed questions about the Pixma Pro.  I love, love, love it, and I never imagined I'd achieve such a healthy relationship with a printer :).

Tuesday Lovin': Portland, Oregon

T and I went on a girls' only road trip to Portland, Oregon this weekend.  On a good day it's an easy 3 hour drive along I-5.  On Friday afternoon, we hit rush hour in Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia, so it took us 5.5 hours.  Sigh.

I've found that since having a kid, vacations are hit or miss.  They usually end up being MORE work because the place we're staying isn't set up the way we've got things at home.  I don't get to sleep in or lounge around by the pool with a fruity beverage anymore.  My friend J calls it "same shit, different place".

So I had low expectations but was still excited.  And man, was it ever amazing.  It was a dream vacation (except for the traffic).  Seriously.  We did not have a SINGLE meltdown by either one of us, despite our schedule being all out of whack.  We had FUN.  T wants to go back already.

A lot of the awesomeness was provided by our fine host city.  I worked in Portland for a month or so back in my consulting days, and have been there maybe once or twice since, but we really haven't spent much time exploring the city.

It is a city after my own heart, a cleaner, yummier, friendlier version of Seattle.  T and I ate our way through Portland last weekend:  Slappy Cakes. Afternoon tea at The Heathman.  Old Spaghetti Factory. VooDoo Doughnut.

Every single place was friendly and gracious.  No evil eye for bringing a toddler to fancy afternoon tea.  Not even from our fellow patrons.  Amazing. 

No problem showing up at the Old Spaghetti Factory on a Saturday night at 6:45pm without a reservation - we were seated right away, and served promptly. 

Not a single issue with T's allergy - soy milk was available everywhere including in the hot chocolate at afternoon tea, VooDoo doughnuts had an incredible selection of vegan donuts, and Slappy Cakes had Earth Balance soy margarine instead of butter.  I think I'm in love.

Scratch that, I KNOW I'm in love.  People were super nice to us.  They gave up their seats on the  crowded street car so T and I could sit.  This rarely happens on the bus in Seattle. 

Some very nice ladies (who happened to be teachers) at the streetcar stop were talking to us and telling me how T is well on her way to reading because she noticed two of them were carrying Whole Foods bags.  (Yes, I know, we're raising a yuppie hipster.  She also recognizes Target and Starbucks logos...)

Even at the Crafty Wonderland store, the staff was friendly despite T's desire to touch everything and her need to be reminded to "look with your eyes, not with your hands" every 30 seconds.

The high point of our trip was the two round trips we took on the Portland Aerial Tram, which we nicknamed the Vamoosh since it looks just like Pocoyo's spaceship/undersea vehicle.  I accidentally paid for her, not knowing kids under 7 are free, so they just let us ride it twice, offered to take a photo of us together, and even gave us both stickers.

I've been a lot of places which *tolerated* kids, but nowhere as kid-friendly as Portland. We'll totally go back.

Tuesday Lovin': Washi Tape

I spent $20 on tape at Target last week. Yes, tape.  In my defense, it was really cute.  When I told TJ this, he just gave me the "why is my wife so crazy?" look.

Target "washi" tape

Target has adorable little sets of 4 rolls of tape that approximate washi tape.  Each pack is only $4 and I found red/pink, orange/yellow, green, and blue/violet versions.  I'd love to know if there are others!

Real washi tape is from Japan, made of rice paper, and is quite expensive - it's hard to find it for less than $3 a roll.  If you order it from Japan, you also have to pay A LOT for shipping.  But the real stuff from Japan is dreamy.

What's the big deal about this tape?  Well, for one thing, it's made of paper, either in solid colors or nifty patterns.  It can be a bit translucent so if you stick it on patterned paper, some of the design underneath shows through.  Since it's paper, it tears easily, or can be cut more precisely with scissors.  You can write on it with most pens, though some washi-like tapes have coatings on them that make this more challenging.  It is great for wrapping gifts, because you don't have to worry about hiding the tape, since it's cute and decorative.

The adhesive is removable, so the tape can be repositioned, though some of the more delicate ones need to be handled carefully to avoid tearing it.  It doesn't leave a sticky residue on things.  What's not to love?

Even better, washi tape reminds me of the Fisher Scientific tape we'd use in lab to label, well, everything.  Reagent bottles.  Our belongings.  Lab notebooks.  If you used a Sharpie to write on the label, the stuff was resistant to most chemicals.  Unless you were having misadventures with alcohol or something really caustic.  In which case you probably had more important things to worry about than your labels becoming unreadable.


My tape collection is somewhat out of control - I bought a new tray to hold it and I have about 50 different rolls.  I'm not allowed to buy any more.


Washi tape is super-trendy in scrapbooking and card making these days. A friend of mine makes really cool flowers out of washi tape as scrapbook embellishments, and has promised to show me how over Skype. How cool is that?

Tuesday Lovin': Castle Logix

When we went to Ireland in April, I wanted to buy one new toy for T that could hold her attention for a while so we didn't have to drag her whole toybox with us.

I've written about my toy pickiness previously, so you know I didn't want anything that makes noises or lights up, or is drowning in pink plastic and/or "just for girls".  I thought we might bring it out on the plane, so I didn't want a lot of tiny pieces either.

I decided to buy her a puzzle game called Castle Logix which I learned about from Cloud's blog.   It's made of sturdy wood, has just a few large-ish pieces, and best of all, helps kids work on their spatial skills, something I am *sorely* lacking. 

Once I took a horrific engineering aptitude test which had a bunch of pictures of exploded 3-D shapes and I had to choose what they would look like when assembled.  Torture, I tell you.  I'm not sure I got a single one correct.

Castle Logix in action.  In Ireland!

The recommended age range is 3 - 8 years old.  And in fact, we adults had fun with it too.  It's a one-player puzzle, where you look at a photo and combine the blocks and towers to make a castle that looks like the one in the photo.  The puzzles range from easy to 'expert'.  On the expert level, the colors of the blocks aren't specified, only the outlines, so it's even challenging for adults.

I wasn't sure if T was ready for it, and she knocked my socks off.  After a few tries and some coaxing (my girl likes to get things right the first time - something else we need to work on!), she was off and running.  She would play with this toy for 45 minutes straight, a major bonus for any parent with a toddler, right?

Three months later, she still likes it, and will work on it by herself at home.  She is very methodical about the order in which she does the puzzles, and can do most of the ones in the first two sections of the book.  (Starter and Junior levels, I think.) 

It's definitely helping her spatial skills - yesterday we made an American flag out of construction paper and I printed out a photo so she could see what it looked like.  I asked her to tell me where the blue rectangle went, and where the stars and stripes went, and she could place them correctly on her paper based on the photo.  Very cool.  I had no idea a 2 year old could do that!

I also love that this toy will grow with her, and be challenging for more than a few months (as long as she doesn't get sick of it!).  We do rotate the toys we leave out, so after some time "in hiding" it's new again.  Tricky parents!

I love that I found a toy that's educational and fits all my crunchy granola parameters, that T actually likes and plays with.  That's no small feat.

Smart Games is the company that makes it, and they have a TON of other logic games like these, at different age ranges, so I can't wait to explore more of them as T gets older.  A few are already marked for her wish list!

Have you played with this?  What do you think?

Paul Simon, Sisters, Golden Cricket, and no more Target Photo

About 3 weeks ago I was on my way to get my 20-week ultrasound done, where we would finally find out the sex of Baby X'. A song I had never heard came on the radio and I fell in love:



Specifically the part where he says "my mama loves me, she loves me like a rock".  That, and the gorgeous sunny day were a great accompaniment to this Big Deal appointment. 

And then I was so excited to find out Baby X' is a girl!  T is going to have a sister, which is something I really wanted for her.  It doesn't guarantee they'll be BFFs, of course, but I like the idea that they might be.  If not while they're kids, maybe when they're grown up.  A mama can dream, right?

But wait, that's not all!  The second trimester goodness is going strong.  TJ painted my new craft room a gorgeous shade of lime green/chartreuse yumminess called Golden Cricket.  It's a magical color - looks like a pale spring green in the early morning, a minty green at night, and a gorgeous lime during the day.  It's so different depending on the light and delights me every time I see it.

He and his cousin J helped me move all the big furniture in there, and I've gotten nearly everything set up the way I want it (still working on the final bits and pieces).  I love it, maybe even more than my old craft room - everything in there is something I use and love and has a logical place.  It fills me with a sense of peace and crafty possibility every time I set foot in there.

One of the things in it that makes me ridiculously happy is my brand new Canon PIXMA Pro printer, scored new in box from Craigslist for an awesome price.  Canon is running a huge rebate deal for people who buy a DSLR camera and a printer together, so a lot of folks bought the printer and sold it  just to get the deal.  It prints photos like a dream, and the first batch I tried are good enough that I don't have to rely on Target Photo anymore to process my weekly Project Life photos.  Hooray.

All these little things are conspiring to make me very happy lately.  What's good in your life these days?

Tuesday Lovin': Owl Babies Book

Cloud had a post last week about souvenirs from trips, so I thought I'd write about my favorite purchase on our recent trip to Ireland.  We made a conscious decision not to buy random souvenirs, so all we bought was one Christmas ornament (a miniature watercolor of the pub we liked to go to), a pair of lovely handknit wool socks for me, and a book for Trillian called Owl Babies.

I forgot to pack a selection of books for T to read while we were at the vacation house.  I had a few specifically for the plane rides, but they were activity books rather than stories.  So we headed out to the teeny tiny bookstore in Kenmare.

We spotted Owl Babies right away thanks to its gorgeous illustrations.  I'm usually a fan of more cartoony-style kids books, but the artwork on the cover was really striking and T quickly latched on to it.

We took it home and read it for bedtime that night, and many nights thereafter.  It's such a sweet story - three baby owl siblings wake up to find their mama is gone, and they worry together until her return.  The text is simple and repetitive, perfect for toddlers. 

I worried that it might be too much for my sensitive girl - she cries when book characters get into difficult situations or make scary faces - we still haven't made it through Slide Already! because of the faces.  But the tension is resolved in this book fairly quickly so she's ok with it.

In fact, T had memorized nearly all of it by the time we left Ireland, so I entertained myself by letting her "read" most of it to me - I'd supply the first few words on the page and let her recite the rest.  OMG the cuteness - I should have recorded it.  Now that we're home and there are more books in the rotation, I think she's forgotten a lot of it.

I wasn't sure if there was an Ireland connection here, but it turns out the author Martin Waddell is from Northern Ireland, so it really is a souvenir in the traditional sense!

If you're looking for a baby or toddler gift and don't want to give the old standbys for fear of duplicates, this is a great choice.  Or, if you need a good, mellow bedtime story for your own owl babies, I recommend it as well!

My only regret is that she doesn't let me read it to her as often as I'd like.  She's probably sick of hearing it every night.  Next time I'll remember to pack more books for her!

Tuesday Lovin': Parent Ed Toddler Group

I have a tendency to want to sign up T for more enrichment activities than our family schedule can really handle.  So far, of all the activities we've tried, there are only two I considered must-do's.  One of them was the Parent Education "Wobbler" class at Bellevue College.  Other areas probably have something similar.  (The other was The Little Gym, which I'll post about some other time.) 

We completed the class in May 2011 but I still miss it.  It was one thing I looked forward to every Monday morning, and I hated missing it when T was sick or we went out of town.

The class was 2 hours every week for the academic year.  They had evening sessions for working parents as well, though we had a few working parents who took a couple of hours off in the morning to attend our session. The kids were in a tight age range (birthdays within 3 months of each other) so we had a readymade "community" of parents with kids the same age.

The space was set up so *everything* was safe for toddlers.  In typical Seattle crunchy granola fashion, the toys were either homemade, or of natural materials, and did not light up/make noise.  I got tons of great ideas for new toys and activities for T in that class.  It was all about sensory exploration, and getting used to other kids.  Everyone kept an eye on everyone elses' kids, willingly, so if you had to go to the bathroom, or were in the other room listening to the parent topic, you knew your kid would be safe.

Each week there were two parent education topics - usually one was a nutrition topic with a Registered Dietitian, and the other one was a general parenting topic appropriate to the developmental stage of our kids.  They repeated the topics the following week so we had a chance to attend both over 2 weeks.

All of our instructors were fantastic, and loved toddlers.  There was a music "circle time", and tons of routine so the toddlers would be comfortable - take off shoes and coat, hello song, snack, always in the same order.  There were tons of books, in a cozy "reading corner".  There were interesting photos and tactile things on the walls.  Almost nothing was off-limits.

Every week there were new toys and activities, though they changed slowly so the toddlers could get comfortable with their environment.  So thoughtful!  It was all about treating them with respect and most of the topics were centered around raising them in a way that respected and was appropriate for their development.  They recommended all sorts of useful parenting books in line with this style.

We had a great group of parents in the class - mostly moms but there were several dads who attended.  Visitors were welcome, and my own parents came to observe a few times.  I've made a couple of friends there who continue to meet for nights out or the occasional playdate or birthday party.

It sounded expensive up front ($600+) but when I considered it across the whole school year, it wasn't as much per class.  And we could probably have skipped some of the other Gymboree, KinderMusik, and other classes we tried out instead.

As a bonus, one of the parents was a great photographer and she got tons of pictures of the kids, which we got on CD at the end of the session.  I was so happy about that (you know how I am about photographs!).  Here's just one of the great ones we got, with T and a little friend at the light table:

With T in daycare and preschool, I didn't *need* to have her socialize with other kids, but I could see how that would be useful for parents with kids not in childcare.

I don't hesitate to recommend this class - it was such a great source of support with other like-minded local parents, and the instructors were non-judgmental and super helpful. Not to mention, it was just FUN and there was no oversharing of personal details, another pet peeve of mine :)  Hooray for babies!

Tuesday Lovin': Somebody I Used to Know - Gotye

I guess it's a surefire sign that you're old when you like songs played on the radio.  In my defense I heard this one on our new 'alternative' station so maybe I can maintain some shred of dignity. 

This one snuck up on me.  It has a very 80s vibe, and the guy's voice is oddly familiar, but he's not actually someone I heard before.  The first time I heard it, I liked it enough not to change the station but wasn't sure I LIKED it.  By the second time I was hooked.  I finally bought it yesterday on Amazon MP3.



I'm not crazy about the video, but it's the easiest way to share the song. I listened to some of the other tracks by Gotye, and they're ok (definitely an 80s vibe) but I don't LOVE any of the others like this one. I love the Peter Gabriel/Sting sound to his voice.

You may have also seen this version performed by a Canadian band Walk Off the Earth, using just their voices and *one guitar* for the whole thing. It's really fun to watch. I like the original best, though.



What do you think? Like it? Meh?

Tuesday Lovin': Spanish

when i was pregnant with T, I
dreamed that she would look
like Dora.  She does, sort of...

Today I decided to sign up for a parent-child Spanish class.  I considered it a year ago, but thought it was too expensive and chose Little Gym instead.

But in September, BabyT started learning Spanish at daycare.  She only has "class" 15 minutes a week, but damn, she is picking it up like crazy.  My baby can count to 10 in Spanish, sing a song about chickens (?) and knows Hola, Adios, and Gracias.  I think she knows other words too, but since neither TJ nor I speak Spanish, we have no idea what she's saying.

On Tuesdays, her class starts at 9am, so I try to get her to daycare on time so she doesn't miss it.  One day we were late, so I walked her to Spanish myself, and was absolutely shocked to notice:

1.  Ms. Lupita speaks *no* English to the kids during class.  It was rapid-fire Spanish, as though she was speaking to a bunch of native speakers.

2.  The 2 year olds were sitting quietly in a line paying attention and singing along when asked.

I remembered my high school French class on the days when Mrs. Hunkele decided she would speak no English to us, and how *physically* uncomfortable that made us.  People would squirm around in their seats, look at the floor, mumble in English they had no idea what was going on, or just shut down and stop paying attention.

But the toddlers in Ms. Lupita's class?  Rapt attention.  It was like they thought if they listened, they could figure it out.  Amazing.

Learning Spanish is on my Mondo Beyondo list.  I'm not really sure why, since I don't really have the desire to visit a Spanish-speaking country (though of course, I wouldn't turn down a free trip to Spain...).  I just like the way it sounds.  It seems like it might be more useful here than French or Japanese.  Plus I don't have to learn a new alphabet.

Since we're moving T to a Montessori preschool next month (more on that later), she won't have weekly Spanish class any more.  My hope is that the parent-child class we take together will get us on a path where we can both learn it.  I have no doubt she'll pick it up quicker than me.

Adios, amigos!

Tuesday Lovin': King County Pet Licensing

The title sounds thoroughly boring, doesn't it?  But yesterday, the brilliant flash of happy in my day came from my interaction with King County Pet Licensing.

Peanut, last week

We were late getting Peanut's license renewed.  We had gotten to the threatening pink postcard level (I think that's 3rd in line after initial notice, then a yellow warning letter).  Somehow we had managed to register the pups independently - TJ registered Peanut when we moved to Seattle and I registered Spike when we got him in 2003.  So they're on completely separate schedules and we each have to take care of one.

I renewed Spike's license in 5 minutes online - I love their system.  You enter the license # (conveniently provided on the notice they send) and your phone #, get a chance to update your contact info, and then pay for the license via credit card.  A week or so later, they send you the new collar tag.

This is my ideal world - I can take care of it online at any hour, don't need to talk to anyone on the phone, or fill out a form, find a stamp and mail something in.  When it works, it's stupendous.  Amazing!  Awesome.

Until it doesn't.  TJ asked me if I could take care of Peanut's renewal, having ignored the first couple of letters.  So we were late, and they were threatening late fees. 

That's the other thing I luurve about King County Pet Licensing - they threaten late fees, but never seem to *actually* enforce them.  Once you pay the fee, they're perfectly happy to waive any late charges, regardless of how late you are.  One year we renewed the pups several months late, and it was like they were so happy that we bothered at all, that they waived the $60+ late fees on the spot.  LUUURVE.

Aaanyway, so I'm trying to access Peanut's record online and it just.won't. log me in.  I tried every phone number I could remember.  No luck.  Sigh.  I got on the phone and called the support number, bracing myself for multi-leveled touchtone menus and a recording that finally would tell me the entire office was at lunch.

But amazingly, after two rings, a dude answered the phone.  A real dude, not Automated "Press One Now" Guy!   He asked me for some basic info and told me the phone number it was listed under (our home phone from 9 years ago!).  He offered to change it on the spot to our current number (he goes above and beyond!).  I was batting a thousand at that point, so I figured I'd ask if he could combine Peanut & Spike's records into one.  And surprisingly, the answer was Yes, and he took care of that in another minute.  Dang.  I had no idea an interaction with a public agency could be that pleasant.  And seamless. 

It's kind of sad that I don't expect that kind of interaction with agencies/companies I deal with, but it's such a rarity.  The human was nice, the system worked to do what I needed it to do, and it did not take a ton of my time and energy.  That *never* happens.

So hooray for you guys, King County Pet Licensing.  We promise to always license our pets!

Tuesday Lovin': Mascara

Am I a weirdo because I compose blog posts and topics in my head when I'm nowhere near the computer?  I finally have a nice tab in OneNote where I can capture this stuff before it floats away into the ether. 


Anyway, one of the ideas is a series of things I love.  I know, no one really cares, but that's what personal blogging's all about, right?  hehe.  I tried to come up with some witty phrase, like "Wordless Wednesday", except I'm all about the words and there's nothing that comes to mind for Tuesday.

But everyone's Tuesday could use a little happy, right?  It's the second day of the work week, the long days stretching ahead, and nothing fun is ever scheduled on this day.  Perfect for a little shot of awesome.  This idea started with Cloud, who posted about things her family is into right now.

One of the things I've discovered recently is mascara.  I know, it's nothing new or exciting, but I've never worn it regularly until now.  I'm lucky to have black eyelashes, so there was never a need to make my lashes more visible, like my friends with light hair had to do.

The woman who did my wedding makeup told me I should always wear it to make my eyes "pop", whatever that means, but it seemed like a lot of work.  And mascara is one of those things you really need to toss after a few months - it gets gooey and clumpy, harbors bacteria, and c'mon people, you're putting it on your EYE.

So the pattern was:  I'd buy a really expensive tube of MAC or Lancome mascara, wear it a few times, and then throw it away a year later, horrified that I still had it.

I recently flipped through How Not to Look Old because apparently at 36 I'm supposed to start caring about that. I don't really, but the author is way into wearing mascara.  So I figured I'd give it a try (again).

This time I wised up. I bought a $7 tube of Cover Girl water-resistant mascara at Target. And OMG, I love it. I love it more than the expensive ones. It's crazy how it makes my lashes look LONGER and doesn't get weird clumpy bits. I can skip both eye shadow and liner with it, and still look good.  It doesn't bother my eyes when I'm wearing contacts or get streaky when my eyes water. I finally GET what people mean about eye-popping.

I *LOVE* it when the cheap product is BETTER than more expensive ones. I'm totally hooked now.  I even took it with me to Mama Weekend Away.

Really cool mascara art by catchydesign on Flickr

Are you pro- or anti-mascara?  Do you have a brand that you swear by?