i hope santa has not observed my children lately

whoa. there has been some serious bad behavior going on over here. miles is pretty much in out of control rude mode, combined with some wierd foot problem where he crawls and hops on one foot one day because when he walks it "feels like he is dying" and then runs around playing soccer and jumping off bunk beds the next. and maya just joins in the fun with her brother. i guess it did amuse the waitstaff when she stood up on her chair at the old clam house tonight and yelled "i want a hamBOOGER" (emphasis hers) towards the kitchen. it is not cute however when she runs out of the park down 24th st alone with a plastic bag she found on the ground ("i was trying to catch a pigeon.") miles told me tonight he has no idea why he is being rude and having temper tantrums for about half the day ("i really have no idea" he said, musingly). it is easy to blame myself, or rich, or our family dynamic, but it is easier to blame the christmas season, with the threat of santa peeping in at a bad moment, with greed in the air.

our mission day yesterday was pretty sweet--a visit here with a friend in the morning, then a walk to parque ninos where miles found a kid to play soccer with and maya pretty much just kind of leaned all over me for two hours. we left and walked up 23rd st in perfect weather and bumped into the family art day at red poppy art house. all kinds of paint and brushes and paper and comfy arm chairs all over the sidewalk for parents so sit in while kids made art in the sun. we kept walking to paxton gate for kids on valencia st--i thought there were going to be animals there but i was 2 weeks off. there was, however, a cool little archaeological dig set up for kids. miles found a pyrite cube while maya enjoyed the 300$ plan toy dollhouses set up to keep kids away from the more breakable stuff.

this afternoon we went to coyote point. miles was thrilled to see the dead rat on a stump that the eagles had snacked on, and maya made a snowman/flower/pancake/birthday cake/snake/just a something out of clay. the kids turned gears and levers and played with magnets and i hoped they were learning something about science. on the way home we decided uncharacteristically to go out to eat,at the old clam house on bayshore, where the women who sat down next to us proclaimed loudly "o.k. bitches" laughing happily, which set off the especially especially bad behavior which culminated in me manhandling two kids out the door while rich paid the bill.

anyway, thanksgiving was delicious. i am still paralyzed with uncertainty about whether or not to switch maya's preschool. my old bandmate ilhan just left a message on our answering machine that he wants me to come sing with his metal cover band, they are practicing this friday. i have piles of work work and laundry to do and i am rambling on in this blog instead.

gradiva noted that this was a sanitized version of my life, and she is right, but who wants to read the real crap? i will save it for my novel, under a fake name, of course.

bye

mandarin immersion thanksgiving

hi

i was busy working and could not attend my son's thanksgiving celebration and presentation. he was bummed out enough about it that i asked a fellow parent to take some pictures and she sent me
this video.

pretty cute. i am proud that my once super shy kid could get up and do this.

better go look up some thanksgiving recipes, i am behind the cooking curve.

i love you mummyshots

what a weekend. the mandarin immersion mom's night thing was a blast, i discovered a new happy juice, pear and rosemary martinis and mmm are they good. i also felt the beautiful diversity of the public schools...sure these are all middle class mamas who might look like me on some paper record of socioeconomic status or parental education (probably many more educated and wealthy than our own little family, actually) but i found myself almost in "i love you guys territory" talking to some folks i never would have come to know at all if it was not for the witchcraft of the sfusd diversity lottery. a shout out to our fantastic hostess, who not only made the pear martinis but cooked and served homeade bread pudding with caramel sauce and extra special chocolate chip cookies.

then there was a lot of kid time for two days. we had an extremely long-play visit with friends today and at one point maya walked out of a bedroom where she had supposedly been quietly reading books while the boys went beserk with war games in the back yard. she was a nudie and had decorated certain body parts with the one pink thing she could find in this house of three boys-- a strawberry shortcake pink magic marker. go girl.

rich dropped me off on valencia street, maya wailing at me through the window as he drove away. i browsed in a bookstore and felt a little touristy checking out the young folks with their unique attire--handlebar moustaches and pippi longstocking outfits. everyone seemed so sophisticated and freaky at the same time, and i saw a surprising number of babies peeping out of slings and bjorns. a cool and misty night, and i was fortunate enough to see and hear the fabulous mummyshots again, at amnesia. i'm no music reviewer, but they are a pure delight, deep and silly and talented and laughing, i really can't describe, just come over and i will play you a cd and make sure you go to the next show. lots of old friendly faces there and an amazing list song about the dome.

speaking of the dome, a song rich recorded there with carlton melton is now being played on the bbc radio playlist in the uk and scotland. check it out.

tonight, going to bed, maya told me that next time i went to a meeting (this is our reason for all nightly outings for parents) she would go with me because we were "stuck together with tape, butter, and jelly."

that's all folks
love, jamie

rocky way to the starr king open space

i wish i could walk the kids to school every day. darn that pesky job. twice a week we hike up the hill. today we found a giant's leaf, some green pigeon poo, a flower to pick, and counted 102 steps on the step sidewalk block. then the best part, miles rock climbs and maya and i take the super steep path up the rock. a small hike, to be sure, but it is a very good feeling reaching the top. a hawk circled around and we noticed the rocks were a light green color. someone broke up some concrete from an old sidewalk going through the open space and someone else has used it to build little tower sculptures. i am an old broken record about it, but i love this place, this little bit of nature that is part of the weekly routine.

and in other fantastic news my friend from way way back (5th grade) has adopted a brand-new baby boy.

i am drinking coffee to prepare myself for the second annual mandarin immersion mom's night out on potrero hill. worn out from a day muni-ing a class of kids across the city on a field trip about Plastiki-Mission Control. with maya. it was an exhausting pleasure on my day off.

it is raining and dark and it would be easy to stay home and curl up in bed, but i will get up and go soon. little tiny traditions and rituals are forming around here, i need them.

parks and rec and vitamin d

today after a long time at work and driving all over the place maya and i went to get miles at potrero rec center. it was dusk when we got there, the indoor court full of big teenagers from the neighborhood playing basketball, nicely-dressed folks on the field bringing their dogs for their nightly outing. miles was not there, he was outside somewhere with the director, and under the flourescent lights some girls were drawing on easels and one boy played mancala with another staff member. the kids returned from outside, looking cold. they had been looking for the anaconda, a wierd little fiction the director had them fascinated with, and which i did not want to dispute. today miles said they found a can of blood, so there must really be an anaconda. but he also asked me "did mike just wink?", feeling a little confused. is there really an anaconda roaming potrero hill? like a ghost story from summer camp. not educational, not "enrichment", just a strange story to get the kids thinking and looking around the trees and bushes in the twilight.

miles and maya started whining about being hungry and the rec director went into the kitchen to get them a snack. he came out with one piece of homeade fried chicken and a piece of bread in a little plastic container, which he said his friend made for him. i didn't want to take his dinner but he insisted he didn't like fried chicken. miles and maya certainly do and gnawed on the bones in the dark car on the way home.

so things are working out in the after school department. odd, but good.

our lead blood test results for the kids came back fine, which is a relief, although i can no longer say it is the lead dust causing my dear daughter to be a frequent tyrant. we did find out they are both severely deficient in vitamin d, and need to take special supplements. vitamin d, it's not just for rickets anymore--deficiencies now linked to high blood pressure and cholesterol later in life. most people, not just kids should be supplementing vitamin d in their diet.

another wierd sign of the times--if we were outside all day like the animals we are, then the sun would keep us well in this department.

rambling as usual. take your vitamin d. thank your low paid goofy hat wearing chicken dinner donating parks and rec director who says your kid is "the best" and smile to yourself as you wearily drive home, the lights of downtown san francisco sparkling in the darkness below you.

pretty much content-less post

okay, so the days are getting shorter but that is no excuse for my lame blogging behavior.

it is easier to think about writing than write. maybe i need a secretary to sit next to me bed and take dictation.

and i have been reading a lot, snuggle in bed rereading old books reading. right now the feast of love, which is a very good reread. the kids are getting well-behaved enough that i even have time to snatch a few books for myself on our library trips.

soccer season has come and gone. the kids at my school made paint turkeys today, and we have to start thinking about xmas. little calvin just turned three. we haven't found time to prune the fruit trees yet. i have been overdue to get a root canal done for OVER A YEAR. what the heck is going on?

this is one of those short, i need to get my groove going again posts.

tonight when i picked maya up from preschool, after a little struggle, as she climbed into her crumb-covered carseat: "mommy you smell like hearts and flowers and roses." not true, but go ahead and say it, girl.

and at bedtime as miles climbed into his bunk: "you are the best mommy in the world. you are exquisite. you are double exquisite. if you were a finger i would still love you. if you were a piece of sand i wouldn't let the broom sweep you. if you were an ant and an anteater tried to eat you i would kick him in the face."

awww. just what i needed to hear.

nighty night

i should be in bed

another fast entry due to computer power problems.

saturday rich's cover band browntown west played a benefit for miles' school at the bottom of the hill. i drank three jameson and cokes pretty fast and had an excellent time watching my worlds collide. my visiting dad, stepmother and their two friends from delaware were there, along with our rock and roll friends, some with babies now, and a crew of starr king families. even the principal showed up for a little bit. they started the set with the star wars theme which created an instant mosh pit of little boys with imaginary light sabers. they covered hot for teacher of course. there is jed, grabbing the mic and yelling rock and roll. three little girls lined up next to christa shaking and yelling, like mini motown back up singers. about 10 kids sitting on the stage in a huddle, just staring intently. by the end of the show kids were banging on drums and cymbals and doing some stage diving.

it was a blast, especially as we have been dealing with some annoying and anxiety provoking problems with lead paint--i had to take the kids to be tested and we are spending a lot of money to get our house tested and cleaned--and the painter who we think contributed to the lead exposure does not seem to want to help pay. he did not do a terrible awful job, but was not careful, and we are careful with our kids around here.

and my dad has come and gone. seeing him for two and a half days,being my dad and being a poppop was just enough for me to miss him more. delaware is very far away from me. miles was pretty obnoxious for much of the visit, or seemed so to me since i so wanted him to show his good side to the poppop he never sees. every toilet talk joke or random throw of a toy made me furious. as they left tonight, though, he yelled down the stairs, "i'm going to paint i love you on all the walls in this house and send it to you in the mail!!!" so some love shone through.

better go before this screen goes blank.