Happy Halloween

I am not the biggest fan of Halloween. I mean, it requires creativity and patience. I normally have neither. Tonight, I understand. It required no creativity and some patience but worth it all!

The Bay Bridge and Halloween...

This is two separate posts in one.

First, the Bay Bridge has been closed for three days and counting. I live in the north bay, over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. The past three days, I have lived in traffic hell. It is no wonder to me that there is always so much traffic on the Bay Bridge because I believe no one who drives into the city over the Bay Bridge knows how to drive correctly. (If anyone actually read this blog, I would be scared of the reprecussions, but since no does, I feel okay with my truthful statements.)

No one knows how to merge, how drive the speed of traffic so there isn't sudden stopping and starting and no one owns a fastrak. I mean why would you drive across the bridges of this area every day and fill up the cash lanes, not to mention face the lines of cars. It makes no sense. I am ready for the Bay Bridge to open again so I can get back and forth to the city like normal.

Now, Halloween.... I am not a big fan of this holiday. I am not creative nor do I love my kids eating days worth of candy, even months worth actually, in one day. Lilly gets scared and James, being James, will make it harder than necessary. However, I am looking forward to a party at my friend's house, and also sad that I am missing another party in the city with my other friends. It is nice to be wanted, and hopefully, the traffic will be fine and not make my head explode. Wait, this would make a nice costume.

Ode to my peeps...

In life, you have have friends, and then you have FRIENDS. People who love you and care for you and take you as you are. No matter what, these people put up with your crap and remember that even during your craziest moments, you are who you are and that is why they loved you in the first place.

During my time on earth, I have had friends whom I supported and got little back. I have had friends who required so much of me that I became tired of being nice. These days I have few friends, but the ones I do have, I love and cherish and want nothing but to continue to be friends with them through it all.

I value those people who continue to love me and cherish me and understand me. It takes a strong person to be in my life. Just ask my husband.

Tonight I had the priviledge of spending the evening with one of these people. I hope to have her as a friend for my remaining years. We will have our moments and I promise to be a pain in the butt many times. However, my friends are my family. Always.

Now, here is where we spent our evening. NOPA is fun and the food is great. Even if you get stuck in the corner upstairs, the food is wonderful, service is way above par and even when you think they threw away your to go box, they just save it until the check.

H1N1....

It's a pandemic. It's a hoax. It's a national emergency. Get vaccinated. Don't get vaccinated. Want to get vaccinated, no vaccines available.

With the flu season, both seasonal and h1n1, bearing down on us with the force of a hurricane, here is an article my most loyal reader (hi, dad!) came across and since it is pretty simple and easy to follow advice, I wanted to post it.

Full Disclosure: I will also be vaccinating my children should it EVER become available at our pediatrician's office. In the interim, I am following these guidelines.

Swine Flu - Good Advice

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc.. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know.

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe ).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected o one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. (Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti - very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities) but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

****HappyMommy Note: These are preventative measures and by no means absolute or a guarantee that you won't contract h1n1 or seasonal flu. Just good practice for this year, and most likely all the years to come.

My Friday Night...

I am thirty-nine now, for a whole week. I am happy, beyond happy mind you. However, since this is my Friday night, I am feeling a little sad.

Footprints in the Sand...

Footprints in the Sand
My life's version.
My Daddy...

This is not my hand he is holding but one of my dear friend, Rosemary. He is constantly holding peoples' hands to help them on their journey. Rosie's journey was special and his love for her and her journey is immeasurable.

The Color of Water

I am reading The Color of Water, by James McBride. It is a wonderful book that is keeping my mind occupied. I have nothing really to blog about today. I could come up with something I am sure, like how James is teething and making ME want to pull out my own teeth. How Lilly is such a handful at night that I want to put my head under the covers. But no, I will read a book, forget my troubles and think about how cute my daughter is bowling on the Wii.

A loss...

As I write this, my dear dear friend is about to suffer her fourth miscarriage in a year and a half. The words are just not there for her. I am devastated and can't come up with anything other than I am sorry. What do you say? How do you mourn for her and her husband? With love, compassion and understanding and even anger! There is a plan somewhere but for her, the waiting and the constant loss has been, and continues to be too much.

I am sad!

Julia Child tried to kill me today!

I attempted another recipe today, French Bread Rolls. I realized, I do not know how to cook. I mean, I do cook and sometimes I do it very well. I love this baking book and have created amazing bread, deserts and savory baked items. I just knew I could master the art of baking like Julia. Well, it took all day.

I rose, I deflated, I rose and then kneaded and then rolled and then rose again. I baked and then I was done. In between all of this, I worked, took care of my youngest, worked a little more, greeted my oldest when Opa brought her home from her adventure day with the grandparents, cooked dinner, took care of both kids and finally ate dinner. Here it is 7:30 at night and I am finally trying one of my rolls and it is a little burnt at the bottom and not so great. However, I conquered the recipe and I know what I did wrong. I tried to make Julia Child's version of French Bread Rolls. I will stick to the ATK version of baking.

Tomorrow is another day and maybe I will try a fish recipe from Julia Child's The Way to Cook. Never cooked it before, but hey, I am on a roll and if I don't try, how can I learn?

Julia Child - My mushroom Soup

Tonight was my first attempt at anything Julia Child from my new cookbook, The Way to Cook, by Julia Child. The cookbook is very intimidating, but I am not scared. Ok, I am a little scared. The recipe seemed simple enough, but my roux didn't make the soup thick, so I attempted a fix, based on my vast knowledge learned from Food Network, and many hours of America's Test Kitchen. The changes worked, but I don't think it is what Julia had in mind.

The soup was great, and my bisquick biscuits helped as well. I am not sure what I did wrong from the beginning, but alas I will try again. I love to cook and this is just the beginning.

Here is my soup and please keep in mind, I am NOT a food photographer!

The H1N1 conundrum

Are you vaccinating your child? I am, both of them. There is no doubt in my mind that this is a virus that left unchecked will kill them if I don't do something. Why? Well, let's watch Sixty Minutes, let's watch every media outlet and let's read every article on the internet. Truth be told, I have no idea. I am scared.

My birthday...

Today is my birthday! I have had the best day, kind of.... Ok, everything was wonderful this morning and again tonight, but the in between was just awful.

I got breakfast in bed, pancakes with sprinkles(help!). Lilly brought all my presents to me. My in-laws got me my perfume and almost my most favorite present of all, They Way To Cook by Julia Child. I can't wait to break into the recipes. So excited.

My most wonderful husband gave me, after much begging, a Wii, wii fit! I worked out this afternoon and just loved it! Lilly gave me her doll Loretta because she no longer needed it to keep the monsters away! Wow!

We had to go to get flu shots at UCSF today which resulted in the BIGGEST debacle of all time. We waited for three hours to get the shot. I was involved in yelling at the security guard and led the people to proper places in line. I embarrassed my four year old, but the kids got their shots and I was the victor.

The day ended with a wonderful time at my parents with my sister and her family. It is so wonderful to be with them and to have my parents watch it all! I continue to be amazed at my life and my family! I am one lucky gal with a gift certificate to get my hair done at the fancy place from my mom and pops! Not to mention a Starbucks card which will fuel my days!

Everyone watch out! I will MAKE it happen before I am 40 and then it will be nothing but gravy!

This is my year!

PS: My sister's present, napkins that say "Why is Happy Hour limited to an hour?" Does she know me or what?

My Family...

I have had the priviledge of having my cousin come spend the day and night with my crazy family. She has been wonderful with my kids, and now as we get ready to watch Bones and are visiting and drinking wine, I get to contemplate. Family is so important. They love you, they cherish your offspring and they will do anything for you.

I continue to be lucky to have the family I have.

Turns out.....

If you hold the power button and the home button on your iphone with all your might for two minutes the power will miraculously be returned!

My lovely i-phone

I don't know how many times in the last two months, I have accidentally let my iphone's battery die. Well, it is quite the pain if you let this happen. I think Armageddon has occurred because my phone won't turn on no matter how many buttons I push or how long I hold said buttons. Last time this happened, I made an genius appointment with the closest Apple store. Turns out, one hour before the appointment, the phone miraculously turned on with one quick click of the power button. I swear this phone has it in for me.

I begged and begged for an i-phone after my previous phone "accidentally" fell into the kiddie pool at our local community center this past spring. I pouted and pouted until my lovely husband switched us to AT&T and got me an iphone. Then, somehow that phone got wet (not in the pool), and we had to upgrade to the 3GS. The new phone has been awesome, except for the battery issue and the occasional problem with the headphones. When it works, it is awesome. When it doesn't, I want to turn back time to get my big ol' flip phone and text with a real keyboard and apologize for putting on a full court pout to get what I want. See what happens....

Just Because.....

Mt. Rushmore from the Canadian Side....

Cracks me up.

Thanks, goodtrueandbeautiful

Loma Prieta Earthquake - Otherwise Known as my Birthday

Every year on my birthday, especially since I moved back to the bay area 7.5 (ha) years ago, I celebrate along with the Loma Perieta Anniversary. I can remember that day, twenty years ago - help - like it was yesterday. Sitting in the movie theater on Union Street watching, Look Who's Talking - help again - with my friend Laura. I was nineteen that day and on top of the world. The movie started, the earth shook and life in San Francisco was changed forever.

Maybe I will post later about not being able to find my parents, and especially my sister, in depth. For now, this is what I remember and keep in mind, this was before cell phones. I imagined my mother losing it mentally and driving through the Marina, which was on fire and having a horrible accident. I imagined my sister, a first year resident at UCSF, killed immediately by the falling debris in a hospital. I knew my dad was fine, well because he is my dad.

What really happened: Mom fine, drove home and waited for everyone to get there so we could go to dinner to celebrate my birthday. Sister fine, slept through it all as she was on call the night before. Dad, fine, well because he is my dad.

Me: took me many years to be fine but not because of the earthquake.