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I got a balloon today when I got my haircut.  I love playing with my balloon!  Walking around with the string in my mouth is fun, too!  I found a pen!  Hmm, there’s nothing to write on.  Oh wait, yes there is!  Yeah, baby!  I’m an artist!  Yikes, Mommy’s making weird noises.  Why is she grabbing a wipe?  My diaper’s not wet.  Hey!  She’s wiping all my artwork off my arm!  What’s up with that?!  Sheesh.  *sigh*  Ooh, there’s my Abby Cadabby puzzle!  I love this thing!  I’m going to dump it out and put it back toge… Hey!  What does Big Mochi have?  That’s my toy!  “Mommy!  Big Mochi’s not sharing!!!”  So what if she had it first?  It’s mine!  Yes, I was playing with this puzzle, but I want that now!  Hmph.  No fair.  If I yell loud enough, sometimes Big Mochi gives it up.  “YAAAAAHHH!!!!”  Darn… didn’t work that time.  It just made Mommy’s face get all scrunchy.  I know that look on Mommy’s face.  She doesn’t look happy.  Sometimes if I smile that scrunchy face disappears.  Haha!  It worked!  She’s smiling at me.  Whew!  Okay, I’ll just stand over here – and spin around.  Whoah!!  Hahaha!  Oops, fall down.  Dizzy.  Again!  Here I go!  Hahahaha!  Big Mochi’s spinning with me now!  Whee!!  Oh hey, she dropped my toy!  Yee ha!  Hey, toy, here I come!  Look, there’s my blankie!  I’m going to sit here and chill with my blankie, just like Big Mochi likes to chill with her Bunny.  Where is Bunny, anyway?  I can make Big Mochi’s face get all scrunchy if I get Bunny.  There he is!  See, she’s yelling just because I’m holding her Bunny.  Wow, she yelled LOUD, too.  What, I’m just putting him in a safe place.  Isn’t the refrigerator safe?  Why is Mommy yelling at ME?  She’s the one yelling?  Sheesh.  Can’t do anything fun around here.  What’s that over there?  It looks like a bracelet.  How pretty.  I wonder what this star tastes like.  Kinda like a button.  There’s a string that tastes interesting.  Geez, doesn’t Mommy ever get tired of saying NOT IN THE MOUTH?  Fine, I’ll just lay in my tent and chill with my blankie where no one can see me.  I’m going to sing now…

It’s my first day back from my short-but-exciting trip to Boston where my best friend Lisa graduated.  Oh, excuse me, that’s Dr. Lisa to us mere mortals.  Anyway, my point is, I’ve been traveling and having fun and even though it’s only a 3-hour difference, I am pooped out. 

At work, I have to play catch-up, so at 10:30 am when my phone rings and I notice it’s from Big Mochi’s school, I immediately groan.  Usually this means she threw up or something and I have to pick her up.  Not today.  I am told she didn’t order a hot lunch and doesn’t have a cold lunch with her.  I almost yell back, “Yes, she does!  I know she had it in the car with her!”  Maybe it’s still in the car?  Baby Mochi was crying so I might not have been as reliable as I would’ve been on any other morning.  Ugh, so much for my lunch plans.  I tell the school I will deliver her lunch before 11:00.  When I get to my parking garage, her lunch is not in the back seat.  I call the school back and speak to Big Mochi:

• Me: What happened to your Lunchables?
• Mochi: I ate it for breakfast.
• Me: But Sweetie, what was that giant plate of noodles you had this morning before we left the house?
• Mochi: Leftovers!

Sometimes it feels like I’m feeding the tapeworms that must live in her tummy.  Oh well… at least we had a fun lunch at McDonald’s together!  Except that now the school thinks we must have so many issues.  First we’re getting divorced and G’s moving out, now we don’t feed our kids – cuz no doubt she told her teacher she didn’t eat breakfast, but failed to clarify that she DID eat.

This mama bird decides to build a nest in the corner of our patio.  Then it lays eggs and they hatch.  Baby Mochi says hi to them almost every morning.  The birds just stare, unblinking, silent.  How rude.

I gotta say, being a mom is pretty darn great.  Along with those wonderful tantrums, the frequent anxiety attacks caused by babies diving off furniture, or foreign objects being steered into tiny mouths (or noses), there are spontaneous grins, joyful contagious giggles and those peaceful angelic faces as they snooze quietly after a long loud day. 

Without even trying, motherhood teaches you that life flies by.  Each time you blink, your little ones are bigger, faster, and exposing you to new challenges you never imagined would turn up in your life.  Who ever thought throwing away something would be reason to celebrate?  Or timing it just right so that the pink blur whizzing by can be scooped up and have your underwear removed from its grasp before exposing her findings to company.  Or over-excitedly pointing out a jar of pickles on the right so that those sharp eyes don’t notice the other kid with the cotton candy passing by on the left.  And once they learn to talk, making sure you distract them before they ask a little too loudly why that guy has makeup on and then having to explain that it’s really a lady.  It’s all really worth it, I promise.  Gray hair can be covered with dye, after all.

Nuff said.

Just got back from seeing an attorney for our will/trust planning.  Fun stuff, I tell ya.  Anyway, this morning before my appt, I got a call from Big Mochi’s school.  She’s in hysterics.  They cannot calm her down so they called me. 

Apparently Big Mochi attacked Jane. 

As a follow-up, Big Mochi was over it within the hour and she and Jane are best buds again.  She declared she had the Best Day Ever later that night and when I brought up her tiff with Jane, she at first didn’t even remember it, then  brushed it off with, “Oh yeah, but she didn’t know what she was talking about.  Can we have McDonald’s for dinner?”

This past Sunday we went to a neighboring city’s Family Fun Day celebration at their local park.  The weather was absolutely perfect and we all had a blast.  It wasn’t huge so no one got tired of walking.  I can’t believe I don’t have a picture of Big Mochi on the swing.  She learned how to swing without having to be pushed so it was a huge deal for her.  She had a ton of fun, but the look of serious concentration on her face was priceless.  There was the giant super slide pictured here (we’re actually at the top of it, but you can’t tell it’s us) and pony rides, etc.  Baby Mochi was a little too small for the ferris wheel and other teddy bear rides – maybe next year!

G and I scheduled to take off last Monday a couple of months ago to take the mochis to California Adventure.  Wouldn’t you know it?  We picked the one day this cold season it would be 100 degrees?  Anyway, Ariel’s Grotto rocked.  They got to meet all the princesses, who were very sweet (even though it was near naptime and they were eating and sometimes preferred their meal over their guests) and took the time to sign each autograph book and pose for pictures with each girl in the entire restaurant.  The food was gourmet superb.  Fancy appetizers, salad, fruits, themed entrees, and amazing dessert tray!  I wish so badly I could post the pics of the mochis with the princesses I took because they were just too cute, but alas, my personal photo policy won’t allow them.  I’ll post the dessert tray.  That shell is all white chocolate, baby!

But, I will post a couple of the pics of the mochis having some water fun, after being slathered in spf 80+ every 20 minutes! 

This one was cool because this blue pole had holes that, when plugged, would spout water from another one.  So all the kids tried to plug up all the holes.  Simple fun concept!

Hydrate hydrate hydrate!

• Mommy, I don’t think I’m going to go to school today.
• Oh, really?
• No, you just take Baby Mochi to Aunty’s house and I’ll stay home by myself.  But you don’t have to worry.  I can make myself cereal and milk for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and I know where the snacks and Capri Suns are.  I already changed out of my pajamas to dayclothes so I’m good to go.
• Wow, you’ve really put a lot of thought into this, huh?
• And I promise I’ll take a nap and just watch tv and play with my toys when I’m bored.  I won’t make a mess and if anyone knocks on the door, I won’t answer it.  So you go ahead with Baby Mochi and go to work and I’ll just stay here.  I’ll go potty and remember to wipe, flush and wash my hands every time. 
• Hmm, I’m sorry, Sweetie, but it looks like today’s not going to work out quite like you had planned.  Besides, today is a home lunch day.  Do you want to help me pack your lunch?
• Ooh yeah!  Can I bring grapes?

Whew!  Dodged that bullet!  Sheesh!

I’m behind on my postings as usual.  Easter happened 2 weeks ago.  It was a blur.  The morning was jam-packed with excitement.  We decorated and dyed eggs after breakfast and played at the park before rushing home for naptime because, as everybody knows, the Easter Bunny only comes to hide eggs at the houses where good little mochis are taking naps.    They got up, raced around to find the eggs which the EB filled with umm… Gerber puffs or Wheat Thins or a quarter?* 

Oh, and remember back in elementary school when you would color a picture with planets and stars or an underwater scene with crayons, and then paint over it all with black (outerspace) or blue (underwater) as a backgroud effect while your crayon drawing stayed the same?  Well, if you do that with Easter eggs, just make sure you don’t do it using Crayola’s washable crayons!  Doh!

*Note to self: Plan ahead for EB visit next year.  Target is closed on Easter Sunday and CVS runs out of plastic eggs.

I just wanted, for the record, to post that on April 22, 2009, around 7:30 pm in the car on the 105 freeway going East, Big Mochi proclaimed that she will NEVER get married, will NEVER have children, and will live with G and I FOREVER! 

Let’s revisit this again in 10 years, shall we?

Aunty is off today so G stayed home to watch Baby Mochi.  I figured he’d keep Big Mochi home, too, but turns out she wanted to go to school for the Easter Egg Hunt they have planned, so I was in a panic about getting out some sort of Easter treats for her buddies at school.  After they all went to bed, I ran to the supermarket to get little bags of cookies and shoved them in my easter bags here.

I totally stole my friend Jenn’s idea because it was fast and easy.  Not to mention it was late and I was tired 

G is bringing Baby Mochi down for lunch with me!  What a treat!  I’ll publish this blog and see if I can remember to ask G to take a picture that I can post.

And before I forget, let me make a grand shout out to my best friend Lisa who, as of 2 days ago, is now

Dr. Lisa!

Congrats, lady!!!

For 12 consecutive Wednesday evenings, G has to take a class required for his job.  He’s put it off for 3 years, but now he’s gotta do it.  On these evenings, I leave work a little early to get both mochis (usually G picks up the big one).

Today is a Wednesday morning.  This morning I drop off Big Mochi at school with Baby Mochi in tow, and they bound in to class and she tells her teacher, “My daddy’s going to school tonight so my mommy’s picking me up.”  Teacher says, “Oh, that’s great.  It’s always good to learn new things no matter how old you are!” 

One of Big Mochi’s classmates asks, “Did he flunk?”

Big Mochi doesn’t know what flunk means.

He continues: My mommy said if you don’t study hard, you flunk and have to keep doing it again until you’re the oldest kid in class.

Big Mochi immediately takes offense: MY DADDY’S SMART! (Huge frown on her face, now bright red, hands on hips – she would’ve stood up if she wasn’t already standing)

Baby Mochi picks up on her sister’s mood, mimics her stance and frown and yells: DADDY’S SMART!

The daddy-offender is now hunched over in his chair probably wishing he was UNDER it.  Poor kid never had a chance.

Big Mochi came home with another of her amazing drawings today.  It was a beautiful picture of 3 smiling girls wearing dresses, 2 with giant bows on their heads, a smiling sun with sunglasses in the corner, a tree, some grass, 3 birds flying in the sky (they look like the golden arches) and a butterfly. 

• Let me guess… this girl in the purple (her new favorite color) dress with the straight black hair is you; right?
• Yup!
• And this girl in the pink dress with the ponytails is Baby Mochi; correct?
• Yup!  She looks like me because she’s my sister, just smaller.
• Who’s this girl with the straight brown hair and the blue dress without the bow on her head?
• That’s you, Mommy!
• Why is there a black stripe down my head?

Then it dawns on me… she included my 3″ roots of dark hair in desperate need of a dye job!

Babty Mochi’s been lugging around her Playskool Busy Ball Popper trying futilely to get G to change its batteries.  Exasperated, she left it in the middle of the living room floor.  Last night I discovered that it’s got an extremely heavy base and literally had to hold my breath so i wouldn’t cuss out loud after kicking it Very Hard.  I was lying perfectly still on the ground with my eyes shut until the pain went away and my girls stood at my head looking down at me and Big Mochi asks, “What happened?”  and Baby Mochi answered, “Mommy’s batteries died.”

I’m told the story went like this:

• Big Mochi: *sigh* I wish I had blonde curly hair, beautiful blue eyes and pink skin.
• Princess S: Well I wish I had brown skin, dark eyes and shiny straight black hair.
• Big Mochi: Do you want my sister?  She has all that!

Well, my first jury duty adventure didn’t go as well as I had planned.  My brightly colored “PICK ME” shirt wouldn’t have helped, either… although I did wear a bright red shirt and sat right in the front.  After getting our video and short orientation speech, Miss Matthews announced that the computer was going to randomly choose some names and the ones who don’t get chosen get to go home.  I was all ready to shout HERE! when my name got called, but alas, it never did.  Boo!  I didn’t even get to see the inside of a courtroom.    Probably would’ve been a lame trial anyway.  <— Sour grapes

Speaking of grapes:  In the notice we got in the mail was a brochure.  Along with telling us what we could wear, what we could expect, directions, etc., it repeatedly told us that there was no cafeteria or snack bar of any kind at the court house.  So I came prepared with a book and a bag of snacks to last me throuhout my long day(s) there doing my civil duty as a juror.  It was morning so I sat there waiting, reading, and noticed there were no NO EATING signs, so I busted out my ziploc baggie of grapes and munched quietly.  The guy next to me leans over and says, “Mm, grapes.  Could I bother you for some?”  I’m like huh?!?!  Who asks for grapes?!?!  Wait a second, who asks complete strangers for food?!!  Not one to be rude, I slowly think about it and figure okay… but how do I do this?  I don’t want him picking off my bunch, nor do I want to hand him one (cuz I wouldn’t want someone handing their grapes to me – who knows where their hands have been?).  So I break off a little bunch of 3-4 grapes and hand them over by the stem.  He’s thankful, but then I quickly eat a few more and put my baggie away.  Is it just me or was that a little odd?

Big Mochi’s birthday was a coupla weeks ago but thanks to my being extremely busy (read: procrastination), I didn’t post any pics.  It was raining and so we had crafts and indoor bowling!  And I wanted to mention, although it’s not a very good shot, that her birthday candle flames burn the same color as the candle!

I like the day after rain.  LA has crisp clear blue skies and all the smog and dirt has been washed away.  It’s during the rain that I hate.  People don’t seem to realize that things get slippery when wet, including the roads that turn their cars into 80 mph weapons flying at other 80 mph weapons.  Seriously, slow the hell down!  Is it that important to be there 3 minutes sooner than to risk your death or maiming along with whoever else you happen to be hydroplaning with?

Oh, speaking of, I just noticed today while my heart was racing and my knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel that a little yellow triangle with an exclamation point inside of it flashes on my dashboard when my car is hydroplaning.  Yeah, THANKS for making me pry my eyes off the slick roads for those few seconds to notice your blinking – I think I can feel the loss of control just fine!!!

I refuse to buy rubber boots for my kids because it rarely rains.  If I bought them now while it’s raining, they will wear it tomorrow and it’ll stop for the next 5 months.  Then they won’t fit anymore.  I feel bad because I think they’re cute and if I were little, I’d want a pair, but in these failing economic times, this has to be one of those luxuries I’ll have to pass on.  I know as adults, we look out the window and see the rain and think of all the things that suck about it.  It’s kinda cool to see my little mochis go outside in their raincoats all bundled up grinning and squealing at no one in particular, only because they’re getting sprinkled in the face with water.  Makes me wonder if rainboots are necessary after all.

Last weekend we had 2 friends who gave birth to healthy sets of twins.  One a pair of girls and the other a boy and a girl.  Let’s all take a moment to wish them all the luck in the world since they won’t be getting any sleep for the next 30 months or so.  Congrats, guys! 

Big Mochi’s birthday party is on Saturday.  She’s bringing mini strawberry cupcakes to school tomorrow for her buddies.  Turns out there’s another kid who shares her birthday and he’s probably bringing something for the class, too.  Then she says they were born on the same day in the same year.  They could be twins!  Then she adds, “… but only if they had the same mommy and daddy as me.  Or had black hair like me.  Or was a girl like me.  Or had the same color eyes as me.  Hmm, maybe not twins, then.” 

39)  The grass will always be greener until you get there yourself.  Then someone else’s grass will be greener, so just learn to appreciate your own.

You know when you get receipts at stores and restaurants, they sometimes have those surveys that you can fill out within the next 48 hours and you get entered to win a monthly drawing of $1,000?  Well, I ALWAYS fill those out – or call the 800 number if I have to.  One of these days I’m going to be a winner!  So you can send in your self-addressed stamped envelope for a list of winners and it’ll say January 2009 winner: Roni!!!

G used to make fun of me but after doing them pretty religiously and having to listen to me declare, “I’m going to win!” each time, he is half-convinced I really AM going to win.  Ha… persistence actually does pay off.  Who knew?

So for a while, I’ve been keeping a working list of things I’m going to spend my winnings on.  I need to update it frequently  because I list things down that sometimes I need sooner than others, so I get it and have to replace it with something else.  Wanna see my list?  Too bad, I’m posting it anyway:

1. An Amazon Kindle
2. Thermolon green pans
3. Chamois duvet cover from Pottery Barn Kids
4. New black pumps
5. For Baby Mochi: Twin blanket
6. For Big Mochi: Make your own Monster
7. Annual passes to Knott’s, but maybe not since G’s getting Disneyland passes instead

38) It’s not a good idea to eat anything with red sauce when you’re wearing light colors, or drink anything dark.  In fact, just don’t wear light colors if you can help it. 

Yesterday I come home from work and flip through the mail and you’ll never guess what was there!!  A jury duty summons!  For me!  Sooooooo excited!!!

First, let me give you a quick history: I’ve been a licensed driver in So Cal since I was 18, registered voter, etc. so that’s what… over 17 years?  (Do your own math)  Anyway, all this time I have never EVER been asked to appear for jury duty.  There was even that one humiliating time when I had a free day between temp jobs so I drove down to the courthouse to see if I could appear, and they told me, “We are always short, but it just so happens today we don’t need anyone.”  That’s right – not only was I never invited, I volunteered and was REJECTED!  Shunned, denied, eschewed, snubbed, rebuffed, the only kid in class who doesn’t get invited to a party, etc.

So I bounce happily in to work this morning and declare glowingly to my boss that >>>I<<< was asked to appear for jury duty.  I had to go in for my big speech about why I was so excited and after confirming that I really am okay, that I don’t have to be mentally evaluated by a professional, he asks me simply, “When?”

Hmm… then it hits me: I was so excited, dancing around with my invitation, that I never really actually READ the thing.  Huh.  Oh well, something to look forward to tonight.  Ooh ooh ooh!  Maybe I’ll get sequestered!  Holed up in a hotel!  With room service.  No kids!  No work!  I can sleep without having to get up to chaos!  Oh, the possibilities!  And now I don’t feel like so left out! 

Day 3 of the Year of the Ox is turning out to be pret-ty darn good!

On the way to Big Mochi’s school this morning, we drove past 1 of the 2 crossing guards who sits on a corner in a folding beach chair wearing her usual flourescent orange jacket and matching hat, her stop sign leaning against her legs.  Big Mochi asked me why she was just sitting there and I mentioned she was waiting for kids to come by so she could help them cross.  Fascinated by this, she listened as I explained that the crossing guard wore bright colored clothes so drivers could see her easily.  It was her job to hold out the sign signaling cars to stop while she helped kids who were going to school cross the street safely.  And since no kids were around, she deserved to sit down and wait to do her important job.  Then Big Mochi asks me, “Mommy, how come you don’t do this job?” and while I was thinking of an appropriate answer, she said, “Is it because you don’t know sign language?” 

Get it?  SIGN language?  *sigh* Guess you had to be there…