So I'm at walmart with my boss and we are looking for sprinklers for water play. We found the regular garden sprinklers but can't find the fun kid ones. So she asks a friendly associate. Maria waves her hands very expressively and says "what is a sprinkler?" Her accent reminded me of agador spartacus from the birdcage. So my boss told her what a sprinkler looks like and she nodded and said she had seen one in the flyer. Off she went to ask someone else where they were...
"Garden department!"
We asked in the garden department...
"Toys!"
Thanks for playing walmart roulette.
We're going to target.

Happy Birthday Lillian!

Horton -by elise

it should also be mentioned that anne is now exploring hip hop. usually i come back from an anne visit with a list of songs to download, but not so much this trip. i did come home with a couple stuck in my head though. i've caught myself dancing to the tune in my head at random times...




sigh...it's hopelessly stuck




yeah

thanks anne...thanne

drum roll...photos have been uploaded! yay!

for me, being "spontaneous" means deciding at the beginning of the month to go on a trip at the end of the month, so to purchase plane tickets on monday night for a friday flight sounds like utter lunacy. but i did it anyway :)

had great flights out there. landed in atlanta in time to walk...nay, saunter...to my next gate and walk onto the plane. yes! sat right in the very center of the plane and watched comedy central and kept my elbows to myself (which is better than either of my neighbors). apparently, i'm still getting to know my luggage because it went round the carousel two or three times before i recognized it...sigh. anne asked what it looked like and i told her it looked like everyone else's, but mine has a green tag. oh like that one? no...oh yes. hahahahahahaha

so here's a quick rundown. i'll save the ridiculous jokes and funnies and just stick to the basics...

friday:

• target to get a camera...because i left mine at home *gasp*
• lunch at a japanese restaurant...luckily they took pity on me and brought me a fork
• steinhart aquarium
• stopped at ikea for snacks and coffee and oh look there's cool stuff too
• i wish i could remember dinner...but by then the dramamine/jet lag combo was really kicking me hard...burgers? this place i think...
• bittersweet for dessert...latte and cinnamon chocolate coffee cake? hit me

saturday:

• dailey method...we did childcare and then walked to get drinks and then took the class...wow! i wish it was offered here
• lunch at home
• manicure and pedicure
• coffee at fellini
• luis picked us up and we went back to ikea to measure things (i bought a blanket for the plane), shopping at h&m (he talked me into the obnoxious blue dress), and dinner at pf changs (the waiter had a crush on anne and bought her dessert)
• don't know why though because then we went to the whole foods bakery and stocked up

sunday:

• anne made breakfast :)
• touristy stuff at the pier
• haight street
• san jose to pick up the fluidity bar that anne bought through craigslist
• fremont to see her new house...yippee! the copa copa cabana house is super great
• back to berkeley for dinner...stopped by games of berkeley and poked around. found the greatest ever magic eight ball...ever. jupiter pizza for dinner and why not throw in some bluegrass? yes, please.

monday morning i had a 5:40 flight so we didn't do much but stumble out to the car. sigh...what a great break! when i got home, i was tired to be sure, but still refreshed. kids are the same (kaely had to get one of those moonwalk boots for her ankle, but nothing is broken), work still stinks like yesterday's diapers, my life is still the same...but i sure do feel better :)

i had a super fabulous time in san francisco!

of course more pictures are coming...

Yippee! John was right and I did have a seat on the actual airplane :)
In atlanta waiting to board...

what do you do with a 10 year old on crutches?

we're gonna find out...
pulled up to the school this afternoon to pick up the girls and i couldn't help but notice that kaely was in a wheelchair...what?! i was still like 5 cars back and almost ran over three of them to get close enough to where i wouldn't look like a total loon jumping out of the van to go get my baby. her teacher grimly informed me that kaely took a tumble down the stairs while trying to get away from a boy who was harassing her :( and grrr all at the same time. i did some basic first aid until i could get her to urgent care. she told me that she jumped the last two steps trying to get away from the other kid, landed on her ankle, and he and his friends laughed at her and kept walking. o. m. g.
at urgent care, the doctor did an xray of her ankle. the swelling is over the growth plate and his concern is that it may be fractured and that doesn't always show up in an xray. he put her in a splint and gave her crutches. motrin and rest. follow up with her pediatrician next week.

so i've done something new...i bought plane tickets tonight for a trip that begins on friday...gasp! but the fare was too great to pass up. I had some concerns, though, because it appeared that there were not any available seats. i may be sitting in the aisle...literally...i'll ring a bell and announce the beverage cart. just as i was about to call the 800 number, i noticed that delta has a handy live chat feature. i was immediately (after about 2 minutes) connected with john, who probably does not look like the smiling woman in the picture, but whatever. i explained to him the situation and he assured me that i would be able to choose a seat during step three. right..i am currently experiencing step three and i am not seeing seats available for sitting. then he explained that they hold seats until right before the flight...makes sense...then he went on to assure me that i can go ahead and confirm the flight and there will be a seat at the airport. yes i know, but i want a seat on the actual airplane. here's hoping...