Picara Baby Carriers

Health

2008-07-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

My health has been concerning lately and I need to talk about it. But I figure that I shouldn't on a blog that is linked with the business, so I'm making a clean break. This will continue to be the business blog for Picara and my new health blog will be at Do You Hear an Echo?

Come and visit, and learn about cardiomyopathy, medications and our journey attempting surrogacy.

Like waiting for a prom date

2008-06-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Sarah has been on a trip with her father since Sunday. They are due back here any time now. I am sitting here on the couch with butterflies. I haven't felt this anticipation in a while. When Frank and I got married, I was calm. But when Sarah comes home from a trip, I'm all aflutter.
Like a girl waiting for her prom date. :)
Man, I've missed her.

My big girl

2008-06-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

Sarah is off on a trip with her dad until Friday. This is the longest I've been away from her since she was born. sniff sniff. I miss her dearly, but I'm being so very, very productive here at the house. We've gotten pictures from the wedding printed, mounted and hung. We've cleaned, organized, and laid around. We're going out for a movie tonight.
I'm taking the train down to visit my mom and granny tomorrow. They have "Game Night" once a week and I thought it would be fun to join in. The train is cheaper than gas, it's finally happened that mass transit makes more sense.
And now, eye candy:

Sarah with Papa John at the wedding.

Reviews

2008-06-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

We've gotten some good press lately. I just thought I'd link to some of the most recent reviews.

Bay Area Mommy
Cool Mom Picks
Sweet Mama
Seven Dogs and a Baby
The Opinionated Parent

So, click away, comment and enjoy!

Whew,

2008-05-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

The wedding is over. The school year is almost done. Sniff, sniff, my little girl is almost in First Grade. We have plans for a party, tons of friends coming over, lots of summer plans.
Yet, I'm still dragging. Having a hard time moving forward into this new life of ours.

We're seeing if we can have a baby and I know some of the news from that front is causing anxiety (ya think?) and some depression. My heart isn't as strong as it used to be, physically or emotionally. I sometimes think I should just throw in the towel and choose to not have any more children. But, I know I won't. I know that we will have more children, however they come into our lives.

Sarah has started calling this, "Project Baby". She has dug out tons of her old baby clothes and cloth diapers. There is a fair chance that at some point she will try to dress the cats. Right now all her stuffed animals, dolls and anything that has arms and legs is dressed with a diaper and possibly a sunhat.

In other news I applied for a grant for the elementary school so that we can paint a mural on the wall over the (almost defunct) kindergarten garden. Or as we've dubbed it, "The KinderGarden". I'm taking a community mural class at Precita Eyes in SF to get ready. We've already got an artist's sketch and most of the information we need. Now to get district approval before painting. It sounds kind of bass ackwards to get the grant before approval, but with budgets so tight I knew we didn't have a chance of approval without funding, so I put in the application anyways.

Funny story:
Sarah was sick as a dog during the wedding, she was ill for 3 days before and 4 afterwards, so all in all over a week. Most of the pictures she looks sedate, somewhat serene, sometimes longsuffering. But, and there is always a but with her, in some of the pictures she was seriously loopy.
I'll post some pictures below and see if you can spot what I'm talking about.

All of Frank's family and a cross eyed Sarah. She was cross eyed in a series of about 6 photos. Thank goodness we got one where her eyes are normal or Frank's parents would have a conniption fit.

Pretending to be old, infirm and jumping around on canes from the B&B.

Happy π Day!

2008-03-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm a geek. It's not like you didn't know that.

Happy π Day to everyone. Have some pie, make a pie, buy a pie.

We had apple pie turnovers for breakfast, ham and cheese handheld pies for lunch and will be having a quiche and shephards pie for dinner. Followed by Marie Callendar's Razzleberry pie.

All in all, we should be sick by, oh about 8 pm.

My life in list form

2008-03-07T15:35:00.001-08:00

1. Have no time for anything. Friends, email, cleaning, cooking, shopping for adequate meals, etc.

2. Have taken both of my cats to the emergency vet in the last week. One miraculously healed herself in the 4 hour wait, the other, abcess that I found while waiting for the vet.

3. Have missed Lost this week. I'll watch it tonight online, but shhhh don't spoil it for me. I'm hampered in my blog surfing today by not wanting to spoil myself.

4. Have a wedding shower on Sunday. Yes, my own. No, I'm not excited. In fact I have two cold sores and a sore jaw from grinding my teeth thinking about it. One word. Fartnasty's. That's the nickname for the restaurant from my childhood.

5. Have a friend that I'm missing desperately that I know is going through alot and I can't find the time to really reconnect on a regular basis. Spotty emails will have to suffice. I suck.

6. Have tons of business stuff going on, woohoo, oh wait, business takes TIME.

7. Almost was in an accident at 1 am this morning driving cat #2 back from emergency vet. No more late nights for me.

8. Need to find a nice outfit for said wedding shower.

:wave:

2008-02-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm a bad blogger.
Yes, I miss you.
Of course I've been up to fascinating things. Solving world hunger, bringing peace, creating some sort of 13th dimension.
Well, maybe not. But I am alive and well.
By the way, that color looks lovely on you. Have you changed your hair?

Less

2007-11-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

As we packed for our whirlwind move, I contemplated stuff. Belongings, furniture, food, toys, clothes, stuff. The stuff of life, what things make our homes comfortable, meaningful, individual. I realized that we accumulate a lot of things that don't add to our enjoyment of life. And, since we were being charged by the pound to move, I jettisoned much of the extra. Freecycle, craigslist and the Salvation Army were the happy recipients of most of the unused stuff. But I made one dump run. After pulling out any recyclables, I took a truckload of garden waste and random bits to the local dump. I backed in and started shoveling and as I did I started noticing what else was in the huge two story pile. Furniture, toys, clothes, lawn furniture. So much that could be reclaimed, reused, possibly renewed for someone willing to do the work. It was very sad, but also motivating.
I think about my mark on the planet, how what I do and how I live impacts the lives of people who will live 200 years from now. Especially since I found out that the three people in our house own a collective 9000 pounds of STUFF.

These are the things I am trying to do now:

Buy less. It seems so easy, so simple, but it is incredibly difficult. We already recycle much of our waste, but there is always room for improvement. I want to lower our trash, increase reuse, but our stores seem to thrive on one use items.

Buy used when we do buy. We made a trip to Urban Ore in Berkeley yesterday with our wishlist for the new house. The only thing we found was a set of french cotton placemats and napkins, but hey, for three dollars I was happy. I also found a kitchen set that is small enough to fit in our dining nook (warmer and brighter than the dungeonlike dining area) for only $60 on craigslist. So not only did I buy used, but I also bought from a local person, keeping the money in my community.

I am trying to buy gifts for my family this holiday season that reflect my values. I want the gift to create a memory, not just be a fun piece of plastic that will soon end up in the landfill. I am looking for antique china, interesting kitchen gadgets, old woodworking gadgets, old linens and books. I am also going to give from the Heifer Project this year to those who I think will "get it".

Use the library. Instead of buying books new and adding and adding and adding books I that I might not read again, I'm reserving them from the library. If I check them out often, then I look into buying them.

Walk. We now live in an incredibly walkable town. I gained almost 30 pounds from living where I couldn't walk due to the heat, poor design of the town and my aversion to returning smelling like dairy. Last week I put 5 miles on the truck. Compare that to almost 60 miles a day previously.

Reuse everything. Recycling is great, but it still requires a lot of energy to reclaim whatever material is there. Use something till it is used up, then recycle.

Compost. I'm getting permission from the landlord for my new compost pile. I can't wait to start building the soil here.

Buy from local stores and buy items that are produced locally. This can drastically lower your impact on the earth. Think how meaningful it can be to buy produce from the person who grew it.

I love doing consumer shows simply because it's awesome to see so many people enjoying my products, things that I have made. Even if I don't sew all the stitches anymore, my hands have been on every one of our carriers. That is something meaningful.

OK, so I'm almost unpacked. Wireless internet will be set up on Dec. 1. Fax line back up around Dec. 1. Dare I say it? Almost back to normal. Well, whatever normal is around here.

Sinking

2007-10-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm sinking. There are so many things happening, so many good, interesting changes in our lives and the business. But I'm also crazy busy.

I miss having time to check in with friends, see what they are up to. I miss my old life.

But the new life is pretty great. It just needs a little calming down.

F was laid off last week. Which will probably mean a big move in the near future for us all. One company already wants him to start next week. But it's 100 miles away.

The changes are good, but they are still hard.

ABC Kids Expo

2007-09-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in Las Vegas, although I did find out it's not my kind of town. For a cheapskate (ehem, thrifty) person like me, everything seemed to be overpriced.

We drove into town from Central California on Wednesday, 9/5. We left early AM and drove till breakfast and had a great pancake stop at Apple Annies. Then we drove, and drove, and surprise, drove some more. We ended up stopping near lunchtime in Calico, CA. We explored, ate and even went goldpanning. It was a wonderful break to the drive.

Then we loaded back up and drove all the way to Las Vegas. I had never been to Las Vegas before, didn't really know what hotels would be appropriate for my daughter, so I guessed at Circus Circus. Oh my was that an experience. I wouldn't recommend Circus Circus to other people, although the adult type ads were definately minimal.

We headed over to the Convention Center for set up on Thursday. The set up went fairly quickly and we had some great booth neighbors. School Zone publishing is now one of my fave companies ever. Here's a quick pic of the booth all set up, not very nice or neat, but it's the ONLY picture I have of it.

You can see our fabric decorations on the backdrop. We were worried the fire marshall might disallow them, so we bought fireproofing spray and treated them. The butterfly and flower were okay (they curled a bit) but the grass almost melted with the treatment. It still looked fine, but it was supposed to be MUCH fluffier than it was. I guess the docrations looked good because someone who sold wall decorations came by and wanted to know my supplier.

Next time I'm going to go ahead and bring astroturf for the flooring or at least a small rug of it. I was told it wouldn't be allowed when I called before the show, so I left it out, but I really feel no one would have paid any attention to it. And it would have pulled together the garden look much better than burgundy carpet.

Friday the show opened with a whimper. There wasn't a ton of traffic till about 1-2 hours after the doors opened, although all the exhibitors were there with bells on at 9AM sharp. It was very interesting, you could actually hear the attendees moving into the hall, the sound was moving from the front of the hall to the back.

We had good traffic throughout the show, it was slower for walkbys that I expected, but I don't think I really had a good grasp of just how large the convention halls are. With our preshow work and postshow follow we definitely met our show goals though. It was wonderful to meet all the exhibitors around us, to hear such unique stories about their companies and products. It was also interesting to watch those booths with professional sales people versus those with company owners.

I loved getting out to walk around the show, but I found I didn't have a huge amount of time for that. I did get to see booths for Peekaru, Catbird Baby, Ellaroo, Zolowear, Beco, Hotslings and more. As a group, baby carrier vendors have such great taste. I saw such wonderful fabrics, designs and booths that really reflected the personalities of the companies.

Home

2007-09-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

We're home from the craziness that is Las Vegas. I'll update more about the trip some other time.

For now this will have to suffice.

RIP Jeff. We'll miss you.
Jeff McCarthy

He was one of the greatest fathers I've ever met. Anika has such a hard road ahead of her. I can't even imagine what Renata is going through. Our sadness seems so trivial when I think of what my friend has to bear now.

Wii Will Love it

2007-08-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm going to shamelessly try to win a Wii here.

Why? Because I had the joy to play one a few weeks ago. Man oh man I loved it. Boxing no less. I knocked Frank out, TKO. Grrrrrraowr. Go me.

Know what else? I had sore muscles the next day. Sore means I used them. Like exercise. I think I could get into some rocking shape with a Wii.

What does my family do to play together? Sarah plays at birthing babies, Frank plays along and I end up as the midwife. Needless to say all this play involves laying on the floor in her room as stuffed animals pop out of her shirt. "Oh my goodness, you had deca-quintuplets. I've never seen that before. And one is a full grown Elmo. You must be so proud."

This post is brought to you in conjunction with Parent Bloggers Network & EA’s Wii-Boogie, a family gaming experience. Shake it. Sing it. Create it.

Wouldya?

2007-08-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

If I did store profiles of the stores we are in, would you read it? Or just roll your eyes and move on the bloglines list?

I think it's neat to hear the story behind the store, who runs it, why they started etc. But the question is, does anyone else?

Mmmm

2007-07-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Doesn't that look lovely? That was glazed salmon on a bed of fresh local organic greens. We had brown rice and grilled eggplant with it. I think Sarah ate her body weight in fish. It amazes me that she loves fish. I didn't eat any fish until I was in my twenties. Here she is eating salted cod, anchovies, sardines, calamari, pulpo (octopus), whatever we offer, she'll try. I just know she'll test me in other ways though.

These are two of my newest prints. Quite lovely and striking in person. The colors have a deepness that isn't coming through with my amateur photography. We're getting swatch books together for ABC Kids in Vegas (baby). I can't say Vegas (baby) without adding a "baby" to the end of it. It's a prerequisite I believe. We're going to have our first real trade show experience. I'm terrified, but also quite ready. We've been prepping for this for a good year now and I'd like it to just be over with already. I'm working on sales projections and production capability this week so that I have a solid grasp of just how many accounts we take, how many we defer, what our limitations are.

Now back to work.

Appropriate

2007-07-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

It's very appropriate that this is my 100th post. Please read this, pass it on, do something. Cancer touches us all, whether we know it or not.

Whymommy writes:

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

Taken from WhyMommy's blog at toddlerplanet.blogspot.com

In honor of my father, his struggles and his current fight and all who are still fighting.

Swimmer's Ear

2007-07-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

Sarah got her first ear infection this week. She has swimmer's ear. She's been a trouper considering how painful it must have been. Her whole ear was swollen, hot and red. She finally slept through the night last night (first time since Friday).

Now, the hard part. Keeping her out of the pool till next Tuesday.

Anyone have any great remedies/prevention tips for swimmer's ear?

:knocking on wood: Can you believe it's her first ear infection EVER?? By the time I was 5 I'd had at least 20.

Waving

2007-07-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

:wind whistling:

Hi, Hi out there.

tap tap tap, is this thing on?

It's been a while since I've updated, things here are crazy as usual.

So, you know that one about the frog and the bartender? No?, Well how bout the one,,,,

Ah so jokes won't cut it today.

I see how you are. You want an update.

A real, honest to goodness update.

Life is good. The universe is generous. Sarah is a blessing. Work is more than I ever could have wished for.

I still don't have time for anything extra.

I played hooky with Sarah and went to Santa Cruz yesterday. Shh, don't tell my boss.
She was very impressed that I didn't answer work phone calls while we were out.

Picara is blooming. We're now in a dozen stores and shooting for 30 by the end of the summer. After the ABC kids show we should have more than that (hopeful thinking never hurt anyone). Our sewing production is working well, I'm close to finalizing a knitting mill for our wraps and I've almost cleaned my office. Progress with a capital P.

And now, pictures.

Me and Sarah on the Tilt a Whirl at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Notice her hair cut and subsequent "big girl" look.

Checking out the bay.

Making a chocolate lasagne pie with Papa John.

Dad hasn't been feeling all that great lately, so send out some good thoughts to him.

Note:

2007-06-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

To: Hairdresser

Re: Recent Haircut

If I wanted feathered bangs I would have said so. Ditto with the mullet.

Sincerely,

The befeathered, bemulletted mass.

Motivation

2007-05-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Or lack thereof.

I'm dragging everyday. It seems that I've hit the summer blues here. I'm not a hot weather kind of gal and it's getting up towards triple digits.

Take my propensity for freckles/moles/precancerous lesions and the blistering sunlight, add in a backyard that is all pool, no shade, then sprinkle on a dash of sweat induced prickly heat: you end up with a cranky, kind of depressed, sloth like lump of me.

I really dislike having to be indoors so much, I dislike using air conditioning, but there is no other way to stay comfortable in this climate. I like being able to garden, hang out outside, go for walks, bike rides etc. If you want to do any of that here from May-Oct it has to be before 10 AM, sometimes 9.
It's pretty unbearable for close to six months out of the year. Then nice for about a month, then foggy for 4 months, then nice for one month. So out of twelve months, two are fairly nice.
Why people actually choose to live here with their own free will, it just escapes me.
I'm off to medicate my prickly heatish armpits.

Overheard

2007-05-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Girl: I'll be the mom and you be the dad.
Boy: I don't want to be the dad, I'm a turtle.
Girl: Hmm
Boy: I could be the turtle dad.
Girl: And I'll be lava!
Boy: And we'll be a family.
Girl: It'll be great.

I'm now envisioning a hapless turtle trying to outrace a lava flow.

Temporary Insanity

2007-05-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

I might be called insane, but it's temporary insanity.
We are watching my nephews for 5 days. All 3 boys for 2 days then 2 boys for 3 more days.

So far I've realized that 4 is easier than 1. But 4 is also easier than 3. Although 3 is easier than 1.

The diad dynamic is great, they pair off and have lots of fun. Triads, not so much.

We've had a great time over the weekend, now back to the day to day grind of real life.

I hope these early risers sleep a bit more. Yesterday the wake up was 5:15, today a bit later.

I miss having my sleepy girl in the morning.

I'll be back after Wednesday when their mama and papa come pick them up.

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

To all the moms out there,

Happy Mother's Day!

From the crazy crew at Picara Baby Carriers.

Sneak Peeks

2007-05-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few sneak peeks of fabrics I picked up in LA.

Nice eh?

Any favorites?

She's a mensch

2007-04-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

I am a lucky mama to have such a great kid.

The Happiest Place on Earth, or at least within 100 feet

2007-04-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

We trekked to TALA last week. My first experience with the large scale fabric show was just wonderful. Tons of great fabrics, lots of neat people and a bookstore to die for. I ended up with 5 or 6 new books, two of them pop ups one a history of asian influence on fashion.

I met up with Malia, Karen, Suzanne, Max and Kristen from Fashion-Incubator. Another thanks to Kathleen for having that site, it's such an incredible resource for us small folk.

While I was gallivanting at the fabric show, spending too much money on samples, talking and talking about sustainability and organics and bamboo and soy, well while I was off doing that Sarah and Frank headed to Long Beach.

They saw the Queen Mary, played at the beach and had a generally wonderful time. They picked me up in the evening and we went to Philippe's in LA with my aunt Chris and her fiance Miguel, two of my favorite people. Dinner there was cheap and YUMMY. Sarah ate her way through two deli pickles and a slice of cheesecake. Coffee is only .09 there, quite the throwback.

And since no trip to Southern California is complete without it, we decided to go to Disneyland. We hadn't told Sarah about it, I wanted to keep it a surprise. On Tuesday after a day shopping the jobbers on Santee alley we went to our hotel in Anaheim, just across the street from mousetopia.

Sarah kept saying, "Hey look, there's something over there, what is that?" We checked in and then took a walk to Downtown Disney. The look on her face when she realized we were at Disneyland was priceless. We had dinner at Brennan's and after about the 2nd drink I started to feel more on vacation.

Tuesday night we played in Downtown Disney, just browsed the lego store, build a bear, the disney store. We actually didn't buy anything at all there except dinner.

Wednesday we did Disneyland from 9-9. Sarah was a trouper, just running from ride to ride. She loved the Buzz Lightyear ride, didn't like the storybook rides much (mr toad, pinochio etc) adored the rocket rides.
I guess she likes the fast moving rides best, heehee.
We had a wonderful time, there were hardly any crowds, very few lines. We never waited more than 20 minutes for anything.

The main street parade was lovely, Sarah's never seen anything like that before so it was like seeing it for the first time again.

We headed to Goofy's Kitchen for a character breakfast Thursday before we left and just loved that too. Bert from Mary Poppins was there and Sarah yelled, "hey look it's dick van dyke!" he corrected her, but it was still cute. Now she calls him the fake dick van dyke.

We got home late Thursday to find that the cats had broken the fishbowl and generally wreaked havoc. Fish is ok, we bought him a new aquarium yesterday. He's a tough fish.

And now for pictures:

Super excited and ready to go to Mousetopia.

Practicing eskrima at the Disney Store

Teacup time

We're going to Disneyland!!!

Yeah baby Santa Clara

2007-04-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

That baby was one of the cutest babies I've ever met. She was a riot! I was so happy for her parents to find a carrier that worked for them. Mom had a large chest and couldn't use a front pack, but still really wanted to carryThey were the kind of family that you just want to go hang out with, you know?
What a day it was! Hi to all the new baby wearers out there. We had a wonderful time sharing the love with all the moms and dads and grandparents who came by.

It was another non stop busy weekend. Lots of people trying on all sorts of carriers, in Modesto the mei tais were the biggest seller with only a few wraps and ring slings selling. They were still the biggest seller here, but wraps came in a close second this weekend and ring slings still did really well. I'm sure the moms wandering the show with their babes all snuggled up in our wraps helped.

If you came by our booth, stop and comment, I promise it won't hurt!

Yeah! Baby

2007-03-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

I survived the Yeah! Baby Expo in Modesto. I talked non stop for 6 hours. Although the show traffic was sporadic, our booth traffic was non stop. Our booth was very professional looking, it set up very quickly with no major structural issues. I loved how the sign looked and the flower and butterfly really added some color to our space. The grass is there to cover a flaw in the fabric of our booth panels. We covered up some preprinted vinyl, and I ordered the fabric from an online vendor who works directly with trade show displays. They only sell the fabric in 5 yard increments. I needed EXACTLY 5 yards. So of course they don't cut straight and have a 4 inch wavy gap at the bottom. But I like my grass.

We moved the table to the side of the booth to allow for more space inside to try on carriers. I think I like the set up, but do want to get a display frame for the products for the next booth. Note the ring slings off on the left of the booth hanging from hooks.

I'm not in love with the dress forms yet, but they will do for now. They are smaller than a real person (about a women's size 0 by my estimation) and so they don't really represent how versatile our carriers are. They were very helpful for showing what each type of carrier is and how it's used.

I spotted three babywearers at the show who came with their own carriers. One had an OTSBH, one had an ergo and one had a Kangaroo Korner adjustable pouch. They were both very excited to see other carriers IRL and one bought a ring sling to replace her OTSBH. The one with the ergo bought a mei tai for more comfortable back carries with her small baby (under 12 months). The one with the KK had awesome carrying skills and was super nice.

I have a horrible memory for faces and was surprised when I approached two people to try on carriers and they both said, "Oh, remember I came to your house to buy one." I should take photos so I have a mug shot list of people who are already customers.

I will be bringing floor padding to the Santa Clara Yeah Baby Expo. My hips hurt sooooo bad on Monday that I had a hard time walking. I need to take better care of my body if I am expecting it to work this hard.

Anyone in the SF bay area, I hope to see you at the Santa Clara Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday, March 31 and April 1.

Yeah! Baby Expo

2007-03-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to say that all of you Bay Area folks can stop by and visit us at the Yeah! Baby Expo in Santa Clara, at the Santa Clara Convention Center on March 31 and April 1.

Stop by our booth for a free goodie and a chance to win a package of organic baby products provided by Picara Baby Carriers and Naturepedic Organic crib mattresses.

Business News

2007-03-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

As of now, MaMaMade Products is officially, duh duh duh dunnnnnnn:

Picara Baby Carriers!

We're working on changing all of our information over, and there will be some overlap as the new name takes effect.

You can visit Picara Baby Carriers to keep tabs on our progress.

Picara: (noun) An adventurous woman.

We felt it was a very appropriate word, not only describing the journey in starting a business and running a business, but also that every parent is adventurous. The journey of parenting is inherently adventurous and we wanted the business to reflect that.

Soooo, welcome to the new Picara Baby Carriers Blog.

New Blogger

2007-03-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

So,
I'm now on the new improved Blogger. Not sure if I like it, but hey, I found all the comments that people had been leaving. Makes me feel so loved.

And once again,

2007-02-20T08:37:00.000-08:00

So we're sick again. One day, we'll go more than three weeks without sickness, but it's not looking like 2007 is that year. Maybe aught eight will be the year of health for us.

S has a lovely cough that sounded croupy for a week and now is deep and gunky. Lovely visuals. And, did you get the memo? OTC cough meds don't really work. What a scam. Steamy bathrooms and cool mist humidifiers and lots of tea and soup.

It's been nice weather here though, warm and sunny. Really sucky weather to be sick in. If I'm sick I want rain and clouds and some reason other than the chills to curl up on the couch with tea.

Back soon, healthier.

Why is it?

2007-01-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

Why is it that just when I'm super duper ally ooper busy, we get sick?
It's not fair. Wah wah wah.

New Fabrics

2007-01-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

So the new fabrics are coming in and I'm busy getting everything up onto the site. Here's a sneak peek at some I just loaded:

Now waiting on shipments and samples to arrive, can't wait for the spring line to be ready!
Also, update your bookmarks, MaMaMade Products has a new layout and so your old bookmarks to .html won't work anymore. Update them to the main page at MaMaMade Products.

Adorable

2007-01-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

Isn't this the most adorable photo?

Happy Birthday Little One!

2006-12-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

So she's 5 now. I don't know how it happened, but she's officially not a toddler, nor just a "preschooler" anymore. She's a 5 year old. What a trip it's been.

In Tears

2006-12-06T13:20:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here with children laughing and playing, a fire in the hearth and the knowledge that my partner is safe at work. I'm in tears after hearing the news of James Kim's death. I don't know this family. I never knew them when we lived in SF. But I lived in their neighborhood in SF. I still work at Natural Resources in Noe Valley in SF near one of their stores. I don't know what the deep feeling of connection is about, whether it's similarities in age, age of children, place or just the heroic efforts of this family, but I am so very sad right now.

My thoughts and wishes go out to the Kim family in their time of loss and of finding. I know it is not much solace finding James, but I am so grateful that they found him, so that his family can know what happened to him and start healing.

Sending out good thoughts

2006-12-05T00:20:00.000-08:00

Sending out all the good thoughts we can to the Kim Family.

Mom and kids were found safe,
here's hoping we wake to find dad safe and sound.

Thankful

2006-11-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for:

The fact that even though my daughter is 300 miles away, she is surrounded by people who love and enjoy her.

That I will be spending the day with my fiance and driving to be with another dear friend.

Good work.

Good school for Sarah.

Good job for Frank.

That my fiance is my best friend.

That we have enough.

That Sarah will get what she wants for her birthday and Christmas (walkie talkies! an RC car! a Polly Pocket!)

That Sarah WANTS techno gadgets before the typical pink princess stuff.

That my family is well and happy.

That my kitties are running around crazy and I love it.

That we have a fireplace, even if the oven is broken at the moment.

That I have good friends.

I've got to figure out a Thanksgiving meal on Saturday for my family. Our oven broke last week and the part won't be in till early next week. Ergo, no baking anything. What we've come up with is this:

appetizers, veggies, bread, dip

Salad

Soups, chicken noodle and squash bisque

Stovetop veggie dish of some sort (mom is bringing a casserole)

Storebought roasted chickens (easy eh?? and yummy?? and did we say easy already??)

Sweet potato pie brought by my SIL

Chocolate chip cookies cooked in the toaster oven for whoever wants them.

Smores in the fireplace.

A good time will be had by all.

2006-11-21T15:23:00.000-08:00

My daughter took this pic. She's surprisingly good for 4.

Too Busy To Breathe

2006-10-31T16:47:00.000-08:00

Whew,

Things here are moving. Tons of things going on. Lots to tell. No time to do it.

So I'll say Happy Halloweenie Everyone!!

Have a great ghouly night!!

Today

2006-10-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

We put tiny little witch hats on the kittens.

I made Sarah nightdress out of a t shirt and old bedsheet. She said it's like she's a princess. The t-shirt says, "Anarchy in the Pre-K"

My anarchic princess with witches for pets.

Photos to come.

She loves them

2006-10-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

She absolutely adores our kittens now that they are more playful.

They are more than playful though, as I'm fighting them off to type. They love the computer.

ptrrtttttttttttcvbwee

That was Pokey, her message is, "I am pretty."

Rosita is just trying to eat the cursor.

Family of Four

2006-10-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome baby Maxwell!

Congratulations to the whole Yanagi clan.

Go say congrats!

Our new additions

2006-10-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Aren't they adorable?

They are still hiding under the armoire.

Oh well, makes it easy to take care of them.

Babies, babies everywhere

2006-10-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

One of my good friends from an old AOL parenting board got a surprise call yesterday. It was her adoption agency saying that a baby boy was just born and needs a family. He'll be ready to leave the hospital today.

I don't know if they decided yes or no, I'm hoping for yes, but not sure if it's just my own babylust talking.

They are such wonderful parents and Tyler would be such a great big brother.

Good Luck guys, whatever your decision!

On another baby front, we've been discussing getting a cat for a while. Frank wasn't very sure of it, he'd never had an indoor animal. Sarah and I were firmly in the here, kitty kitty kitty camp. Well, Frank decided that he was OK with kittens (we wanted a sibling pair, to play with and snuggle with and bond and have a better chance of one becoming "SARAH'S CAT"). So yesterday I called the local rescue center. The very helpful woman there described the cats she had in and then said, "oh I know" and told us about two little grey and silver sisters. They sounded wonderful, so Sarah and I went in to check them out. Of course, they came home with us. They are about 12 weeks old, very small still, but eating solid food. They are both already fixed, but different doctors did it, so one sister had dissolvable stitches and the other has metal ones. The one with the metal stitches has been dubbed, "Pokey". The other one is a bit more feisty and is so far called, "Zita" for short, Rosita would be her whole name. We've got to see them for a few days before we can really decide on names, then we'll go get tags engraved and all that jazz.
They got their first shots while we were leaving the shelter and they have both been very very very lethargic since then.
They got out of their box in our master bathroom (my brilliant idea) and promptly ran under the armoire where they spent the rest of the day and night. Frank and I coaxed them into eating a few pieces of food off our hands late last night, but they didn't go to the bathroom or drink any water. This morning I got them both out from under there (involved a stick and two maaaaad cats) so that I could put them in the bathroom where they'll have easier access to water/food/litter. They loved being in the bathroom, I blocked the door off with some castle megabloks which Pokey immediately knocked down, tipped over the water and escaped back under the armoire. Zita is still in the bathroom, she has pushed out the back of one of my plastic storage drawers and made herself comfy behind it. She gets a bit cranky when anyone uses the toilet, but hey, it's not under the armoire.

I can't wait till the effects of the shots wear off and they become more playful. They were super playful with Sarah at the shelter, but didn't play at all yesterday. Sarah was very sad and said, "this isn't what I thought it would be like". Poor kiddo, thought they'd be off and running from the get go.

I'll put up pictures later, I caught a couple good ones.

Hotter than Satan's colon

2006-09-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

We saw this Saturday on our way to Fresno. While it sometimes seems to be that hot, I very seriously doubt it hit 266. Although, who knows, the central San Joaquin valley is a scorching hot place.

The event went wonderfully on Saturday. Lots of great parents, willing to try new things. I had a chiropractor put her daughter in a mei tai in a back carry. The little girl fell asleep almost instantly and the mama never took the carrier off, just bought it. That's a great product. It was exhausting being there all day, but fun nonetheless.

Mommy Matters owner, Gena Kirby was interviewed by Channel 24 news wearing a :gasp: MaMaMade wrap. I don't think they aired it, but woohooo anyways!

Sniff Sniff

2006-09-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

She's off on a big adventure. Without me.

This motherhood thing is hard.

At least I have a big event this weekend, the Anniversary Bash at Mommy Matters in Fresno.

I'll be too busy to miss her much tomorrow.

Sunday I'm sure I'll be a wreck however.

C'mon Sunday night, hurry hurry hurry.

Spam

2006-09-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

Oh, I got spammed.

Spam is yummy fried. At least I remember it as yummy, I haven't eaten it in probably 20 years.

Different spam I guess.

Anyways,

Sewing my heart out this week. We're doing a booth at Mommy Matters in Fresno on Saturday. If anyone is in the Fresno area come to 1010 E. Perrin Ave, Fresno for a one year anniversary celebration for Mommy Matters.

I'm going to have slings, mei tais and wraps there, none of the other products this weekend.

Sarah's going to LA with her dad on Friday, back on Sunday. EEEEEEEEK is all I can say.

Fundraising

2006-09-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sarah's preschool is doing a fundraising push right now. We've got about 6 fundraisers that are scheduled for the next 4 months. I'm very supportive of the school (hello, yes of course i'll volunteer, be on the board, clean, paint, cut etc.) but I'm also a bit overwhelmed.

We're doing Tupperware first. There's a $20.00 egg slicer in the catalog. Sippy cups are $15.00 to $25.00. What? Where? When? I'm not sure I understand. It's PLASTIC. Injected plastic. I know we make a lot of money on it, but jeez louise people. This is expensive!!!

At least I have a great excuse for not buying a bunch, we've recently changed from using plastic to glass or metal. I think I should just give a donation LOL.

So I'm going to go to church

2006-09-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, me.

No, I'm not being coerced.

Seriously, I'm not.

We're going to check this church out on Sunday.

Church

They're having a potluck afterwards. I'll bring a dessert. Do figs wrapped in prosciutto count as dessert or appetizer?

Speaking of which:

12 figs, ripe

12 pieces of prosciutto

some balsamic vinegar, the good stuff

some olive oil, the good stuff

Clean and trim the figs.
Wrap a piece of prosciutto all the way around it. If it wraps twice, it's fine.

Place in baking dish with end of prosciutto down so that it doesn't unravel.

Drizzle balsamic vinegar over.

Drizzle olive oil over.

Bake at 350 for about 15 mins.

You can finish it with a broil if you'd like.

You want the figs to be fully smushy and the prosciutto to get a bit caramelized.

It's super yummy, trust me.

Also good with bacon (use half a slice and omit olive oil)
And pancetta, just use less olive oil.

I'm sure any cured meat would be lovely,just has to be super strong.

Also, MaMaMade is rocking. Orders are coming in, kinks are being worked out, machines are humming.

Check out Frank and Sarah's cute pic at thebabywearer.com .

Vacation? What's that?

2006-09-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

I think being self employed is a very deceptive thing. I work more now than I have ever worked before. It's good, but it's very very difficult when it comes to holiday weekends. Frank and Sarah had their own ideas about what we were doing this weekend than I did. I got my office put together, somewhat. I still need to adjust the shelves and put everything away in the right places. Here's the photo series of how my office came to be:
After the horrid blue shag carpet was pulled up.

The new floor.
My new work station. The butcher block counter top was an "as-is" score at Ikea.

Corner shelves to make use of every single inch of this 9x9 room.
Messy corner that has the serger and table. The straight stitch machine is right next to is.

So my office is now usable. I even took pics on the worktable this evening. I've gotten both work machines going. I bought a new bobbin casing and bobbins for the straight stitch but one of the bobbins is wonky. I thought it was me at first, but finally realized, no you're doing everything right, the bobbin doesn't fit in the darn casing. @@ Oh well, everything else works fabulously. I was testing out the machine and started sewing a piece of fabric then doubling it over. I got to 32 layers of fabric before I couldn't fold anymore. The machine was doing just fine, it just had a slight lower pitch while sewing. This thing sews like it's a ferrari, it's great. Same with the serger, it's like going from a Honda to a Ferrari. I did break one needle though, I was trying to sew through canvas and then a nylon webbing strap. I knew I should change needles, but just thought, oh I'll try this. Wrong. Of course the needle breaks on the first stitch. Now time to order more needles to keep a good assortment around.

I donated a carrier to thebabywearer.com raffle a few months ago. I'm up finally, which is awesome. I just forgot to update the site well LOL. I did a quick job tonight, but I will go back and work more on it tomorrow. At least a lot of the fabrics are up now, even if it's a bit wonky.

We went on a picnic today, up at Knight's Ferry. They have some interesting historic buildings and a covered bridge over the Stanislaus River. It was hot, but not awful. On our way out we decided to do a bit of exploring and found this:
A cemetary.
with really cool headstones from the 1800's
this one says "Our Baby" Missing the u, it fell. There was no date, but I'd guess it was late 1800's early 1900's by the style.
This is a mother statue that was broken inside. You can see the u and the top of the statue.

It was wonderful and sobering and awesome to be in the old cemetary.

On the drive out we saw these two:

a camel and a zebra. Who knew?

And the beat goes on

2006-08-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

If I owe you an email, a brochure, a call etc. I apologize. Life has been so super crazy. Things are great, but things are definately crazy.

I just posted a bunch of slings on ebay to clear out my shelves. The office is now almost finished. I decided not to get too overboard with it.

Here is before, two desks, two sewing machines, two shelves and a filing cabinet. Plus ugly blue shag carpet.

Here it is in process:

Frank and I learned how to lay laminate flooring. It's surprisingly easy and looks great. Now just for painting and trim. That will have to wait, there's work to be done, so:

That is one of my industrial machines being wheeled in. On a skateboard and a scooter. It's possibly time to invest in a hand truck?

Coming soon, pics of the finished (well as finished as it's going to be this month) office, two industrials, one home machine, high shelving unit and cutting table.

Blah de blah blah blah

2006-08-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Sarah's picture of all of us. I like it.

My booth at the babywearing conference in Portland at Reed College.

Morpho butterfly resting on Sarah's hand at the Butterfly exhibit at the Oregon Zoo.

I'm too tired and bummed to post more. I'll update on the trip, the sales, the new stores!, the sewing, the driving, the wonderful child, the mold, more mold, stress later.

Things I've learned

2006-07-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

Things I've learned from living in a hotel with a small child.

You can make instant oatmeal, noodles and rice with the small coffeepot worth of water.

Bouncing on the bed is never as fun as jumping from bed to bed.

It's impossible to sew at night without waking said small child up.

Running through the hotel sprinklers is much more fun than the sprinklers at home.

People having sex in the room above us can be easily explained by saying, "Oh, someone else enjoys jumping on the bed too."

Going out to eat gets old on about the 3rd day.

Homecooked meals seem a luxury and if someone shows up with a meal, they've gained instant good karma.

Two sewing machines and a computer cannot share the same table at the same time.

Heat over 110F will kill most of the flies, making your stay near the dairy and sewage treatment plant oh so much more bearable.

A remote control can be used to control a small child. Just tell her it works and then describe the channel you've just pressed. ie, Ok, channel 55 the flop on your back like a dead bug channel. or Channel 78 the pretend to ride your bicycle up and down hills channel.

Teaching a small child swear words in Portuguese is funny until your Portuguese future MIL comes for dinner and child calls her a butt head or underwear face in perfect Portuguese with an Azores accent.

And now we get to pack for our REAL vacation/conference. We'll be in Portland from the 3-9 of August. I'm expecting better internet access up there, so hopefully I'll be a bit more communicative.

I'm sewing like a maniac and almost finished with my "wish" list of things to bring. I hope I make a good impression. I'm starting to feel like all the other companies there will be bigger, more legitimate, more "real".

Also, should I buy some of this fabric? I think it's adorable, but not sure what others think.

Eggs on a sidewalk

2006-07-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

I thought about showing Sarah how an egg would cook on the sidewalk, but, well it's TOO hot to try. Right now, it's about 106. It feels cooler than it has been though. I think the high Sunday was 115. We've now hit 10 days of temperatures over 100F. I did not sign up for this weather. Frank apologized for the weather, as if it were his fault. I know it's not normal for it to be this hot, this long. I just hope that we haven't screwed up the climate so much so that this is now the norm.

The heat is so bad now that I think it's actually unhealthy to be out in it.

Good news on the home front however, the contractor has started work. He'll have a crew there all week and then testing can happen on Monday. We leave for Portland on Wednesday and the babywearing conference starts Thursday.

I'm disappointed that instead of sewing my heart out making all the awesome showpiece carriers I can, I'm stuck in a hotel with a faulty sewing machine and one in the shop. I'd really like to head up there with some great silks, brocades and the best of the best instead of just the regular.

Ah well, that's life and I just need to try not to stress.

Here's the adventures of motel bound Sarah. Frank's shirt as a cape, and Barney undies on her head. At least she's doing great.

We're on our way to Fresno tomorrow to visit my Granny. The stroke seems to just have affected her speech centers. She's able to understand language, but not produce accurately. Speech therapy and time should help.

Cleaning up, clearing out

2006-07-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

The first bid is in for the work at a whopping $14,000 some odd. Got another estimate this morning, hopefully their bid will be lower. Getting a third tomorrow. Unfortunately, the bid is for the clean up only, not the rebuilding, not for cleaning the house contents etc. We have to have the house empty before they can start work also. That's right, empty.
Move out. Vacate. Pack up our shit and park it in a storage unit till the work is finished.
I can't even begin to say how I feel about that.

I'm beat. I worked at Sarah's preschool this morning. It's 107 here today. We came to the house to just pick some stuff up, but I couldn't let the mess rest. I swept, mopped and dusted, hoping that it will help with the mold while we're here. Dishes done, fish water changed, dinner defrosting. Some pick up done, but that will just have to wait till later. Sarah has been watching TV for 2 hours now. Getting back into our regular schedule and routine is going to be hard. I'm not even going to try till after our trip to Portland in August.

So, things here are sucky. How's life in your neck of the woods?

Karaoke

2006-07-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

The restaurant next door to our hotel has karaoke. I think we're going to introduce Sarah to the joy that is watching your parents make fools of themselves in public tonight.
I'm thinking, "Islands in the stream" or "Brick House" or maybe some James Taylor.
She knows the words to "If I Had a Million Dollars" by BNL so maybe that one.
Can you see I'm trying to distract myself from the suckiness that is hanging out at a hotel on a Friday morning at 9 am?
Sarah's still sleeping (she needs it sooooooooo much). Frank is at work. His team got spanked at the softball playoffs last night, but oh well.
I need to sew, need to work on the website, need to do laundry. But I'm stuck here. So, eh that's life?
The contractor that said he'd have a bid sent to the insurance company by Tuesday? He lied. He's on vacation now. The insurance rep isn't calling me back. He's an asswipe. The house is still standing, albeit without us. We went swimming there yesterday afternoon. Even that small exposure to the inside of the house made me more congested. BLECH.
Sarah found caterpillars in our tomato plant too. They will eat and eat and eat and eat and eat some more. There are only three right now, so I'm not committing caterpillarcide yet. I might pluck them off and put them in a bug house so Sarah can watch them make cocoons and metamorphose. We were swimming around the pool singing Met a mo pho sis yesterday afternoon. She thought it was the funniest word.
And now, pictures!
Sarah on the carousel at Casa De Fruta.

Frank and Sarah walking through the gardens at the La Playa Hotel in Carmel.

Notes from the Travelodge

2006-07-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here we are, enjoying the high life, hotel living.
Except the flies, the ring of fire to the west of us, the dairy to the south and the lack of frothy, alcoholic drinks.

We are now staying at the Travelodge in lovey trilogy, CA. All gifts should be addressed to the front desk.

Sarah is taking it remarkably well, she's a very resilient kid. Summer school started this week, we moved into the hotel the night before. She had a hard time sleeping, but now it looks like she's so tired that sleep tonight will be easy.

There's a huge fire to the west of us in the hills. Yesterday the light in town was this smoky golden color, quite beautiful if you didn't count the ash and smoke.

The contractor came to the house yesterday to finish an estimate for the ins. Company. He said he'd get a quote in by the afternoon. I called the company this morning and of course, he's gone till next week. I am so sick of people promising things they can't deliver. What is the point?

Speaking of that, I've got to get back to the house and either move my sewing stuff here or into the garage and get some stuff out. People are waiting on special orders and there are orders that are just pending samples. I refuse to be one of those people who promise and then don't deliver.

On a completely separate note, aren't these pictures cute?

Sarah took them. Yes they were taken by a 4 year old. Better than any of the other fifty pics I took at the wedding.
She's talented I say.

Blah

2006-07-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling blah. Like all the things that need to be done are piled up in front of me and I can't figure out a way to start. I guess I'll just make a list.

Clean house
Laundry
Vacuum (once I find out if it's ok to use, or if it will spread more mold spores @@)
Mold hygienist's report should be faxed to me today
Insurance company should call
Construction company should call
Fabric shopping for MMM
Servicing for all the sewing machines
Grocery shopping
Talk to hotel about reimbursement/apology

I don't feel like doing any of it. So I'm here, online, piddling around.

I know the mold is making me feel tired. I know I should get out of the house, do something outside. But it's hot outside already. Last night at 10 it was still 92.
I really hate the heat. I really hate the mold.
I'm not surviving the summer as well as I'd hoped.

We were in Carmel this weekend for a wedding. The weather was so beautiful, the town was adorable (snotty and snobby, but adorable). The hotel sucked. That's a whole story for some other time though, it will just piss me off now. Just what I need, to be pissy and tired and blah before Sarah wakes up even.
The wedding was lovely.
We went to the Monterey Aquarium on Friday. Fabulous time there. Got the membership so we have to go back. Here's a cool picture of a blue mushroom jellyfish.

I'm channeling Martha

2006-07-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

I don't know what or who has gotten into me.

After a lackluster morning folding laundry, doing some cleanup, I decided to cook for our trip tomorrow. Easy portable stuff that will last in a cooler. So far I've made:

Cranberry orange muffins for breakfast
cleaned and cut canteloupe
washed grapes
made pizza dough!
prepped ingredients for sandwich rolls
salami, ham, red onion, cheese, basil

Now I'm just waiting for the bread to rise so I can roll it up into delicious bits of portability. Then I don't know what to do. I'm off work today, no Mamamade pressing business, Sarah is clingy, but manageable. Maybe we'll go swimming.

Frank has a softball tournament tonight, so he's pontentially gone till 11.

What's a girl to do?

4th of No-Buy

2006-07-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

So I busted my ass for this booth. I have been going to this fair as a watcher for years and thought, "A shining rainbow of commercial bliss will shine down on my booth like coins raining from heaven." Instead, there were very few people comparatively, very few babies, and still fewer parents who were willing to try something "new".

I did make my booth fee, plus some. I did much better than a lot of vendors there. There were LOTS of disappointed people with lots of leftover merchandise. I, however was situated across from the Figure-8 Hairclip booth, the handmade jewelry booth and next to the french tablecloth booth. All three of those did ROCKING business. Thousands and thousands of dollars. Heck, I even bought a clip, finally one that holds my hair!

So although I did OK, I didn't do great. I'm such a perfectionist that anything less than excellence irks me. I have one custom order and the possibility of adding my stuff to a store though. I guess I shouldn't bitch too much. Total # of sales, about 6.

Here's a better pic of the puppet theaters, they were a big hit. Everyone who walked by said, oh look, what a great idea.

A very cool mom with her 3 month old "Dean-O" in a mei tai. She and her hubby were super cool. Frank and I were thinking we should invite them over to hang out.

Me with a wrap on front with a bear in it and Sarah on back in a mei tai.

In other news, we're headed to Monterey and Carmel for a wedding this weekend. We're hitting the aquarium tomorrow and then heading down to Carmel for the wedding Saturday. Sarah looks like a fairy in her dress. I was going to hem it so it's tea length, but my sewing machine decided to give up the ghost on Monday after sewing vast quantities of slings. It's the only one that has a rolled hem foot (out of 4 machines under one roof, wouldn't you know) so I can't really hem the darn thing without it. She'll just be a floor length kind of kid.

It's hot hot hot

2006-06-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

The insurance adjuster and the first contractor came by today to get info on fixing our mold problem. Looks like the repairs will be covered, with a $1500.00 deductible. Not too scary, except when they started talking about the timeline, it could take up to 6 weeks for everything to get back to normal.

I've got MaMaMade stuff to get out, samples to send out, a huge amount of product to finish making before the 4th and now, for the coup de grace,
the AC stopped working this afternoon.

That's right, no AC. The fan still blows, but the outside cooling unit isn't working. It's currently 91 outside at 9:30 at night. Joy, oh joy, is mine.

We have one fan. We have a ceiling fan in our room at least.

Oh, and we have mice in the walls. They seem to have come in through the AC power cord vent behind our bedroom wall.

We're plagued, mold, mice, spiders (I'll write about that some other day), AC broken. Blech.

Car needs an oil change, MMM needs a lot of attention, the house repairs will take lots of time, oh and I had the first board meeting for the school today and, hooey that's gonna be a lot of work too.

Pardon me while I have a nice drink.

Mailing Lists

2006-06-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

So, I've made a mailing list for MaMaMade. Now I'll start offering special secret codes for the super secret cool people. Also offering a big contest on my google ad to try and draw traffic. Hopefully the enticement of a free baby carrier gets people to the site. :)

Sarah's off playing with the new babysitter. It's her first day so we'll see how it goes. She's much mellower than the last sitter. I think that's good and bad. The other sitter had super high energy, but is vacationing in Europe with her fiance. This one is a nurse though, which I really think is cool.

Whatever the energy level, Sarah's being well taken care of, I know since I've been here all afternoon LOL. Back to the grind for me though.

Blech,

ARGH

2006-06-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

I've just sent the progeny off to watch TV. I am so tired of being pawed at, licked, petted, hugged, kicked, squeezed and generally NOT LEFT ALONE. Get off me kid, this is soooo not cool right now. It's 107 degrees now, it is not huggy petty day. I'm not sure what's up with her, but I hope it ends soon.

Signed,

Cranky MaMa from the land of hot sweaty pits.

Cool Moms Know

2006-06-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

I was featured today on Cool Mom Picks. MaMaMade's first online review woohoo!!

The source of all evil

2006-06-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

The source of all evil is mold. At least it is here in my house.

Frank came home tonight and said, "Hey, the hallway floor is all wonky." We opened up the hall closet with the HVAC and, lo and behold, dripping water from the AC unit. Water that has been dripping since we turned on the AC in May. That has soaked the wallboard, wood under the AC unit, wall to the hall storage closet, the carpet in the hall closet, the Pergo flooring on both sides of the hallway. And grown mold.

Mold, eh, not so bad right?

Wrong. See previous post on how I've felt bad for about, oh, a month. Since we turned on the AC. We've been blowing mold through our house. We've been blowing known mycotoxins through our house. Me, with my stellar immune system, has felt awful. Sarah has been sick, Frank has been sick.

Symptoms of mold health problems:

runny nose
sore throat
scratchy eyes
red eyes
sore lungs
cough
coughing blood
tight chest
sinus infection
lung infection
asthma
skin rashes
bad dandruff
fever
general malaise

Out of those, I have 12 out of 15. That's bad. So far I'm not coughing blood, don't have any new skin rashes and I haven't had any asthma attacks.

What's worse is I decided that to test if it really was the mold making me feel bad, I should try to pull the carpet out of the closet. There was moisture in there, it smelled funky, so I knew there had to be mold. I pulled the carpet up and sure enough, mold. Pulled out the carpet pad, mold. Pulled off the wall trim, mold. Pulled up the carpet nail wood stick thingie, mold.

Apparently there was a lot of mold. My lungs are hot they feel so rotten. My eyes feel like there is sandpaper inside my lids. I can feel the nastiness inside my chest and it scares me. I don't have health insurance. The best I can hope for is good mold eradication and no long term asthmatic affects.

Now we have to thoroughly clean all affected areas. Possibly clean the ventilation system. Replace the hall closet floor, the hallway wood floor and possibly the support wood and wall of the utility closet. But we figured out where the water was coming from and fixed it. There was a clog in the pipe that drains the condensation from the AC, we blew it out with the water hose and now it seems OK.

Because the only thing worse than a house with mold, is a house without AC. Because tomorrow it's supposed to by 101 degrees. Thursday? 106. All the way through next week, over 100. Not a good time to be without AC.

Tired of sick

2006-06-19T12:53:00.000-07:00

When am I really going to feel well? I've had congestion, fever off and on and that blah feeling for almost a month. It's like there's one cold that just won't let me go.

Out damn virus, out.

There, that should work. I also got my period with a vengeance Sunday. Happy Father's Day honey, now wait on me.

Puppet theaters are in production. New slings are underway. Mei tais are rocking. Wraps are almost all wrapped up.

I'm checking out a new fair trade, organic fabric supplier on Friday, so I might have some new fabrics then. Until then, we're using up what I have now. I also found this great fabric shop in Mill Valley that I'm going to try to check out, Ambatalia Fabrics.

I also just upgraded to two Juki professional grade machines. Now, I have more power than I know what to do with. And 4 sewing machines under one roof. This definately calls for some serious money making if I want to earn back the money I spent on them LOL.

For you Becky,

2006-06-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the pic that didn't go through:

Puppet Show Anyone?

2006-06-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

I just made this little doorway puppet theater for Sarah. She's been playing with it non stop, I'm actually getting a little tired of the same show. I need to make some new puppets for her. We took it to park day with her school and it was a big hit there. Got the kids to sit down and play quietly for a few minutes when they got overheated. :) Now I just have to add it to the website.

Last Day Of School

2006-06-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

Sarah's last day of preschool was yesterday. We had a very fun time at school. Took pictures of her with all her buddies. Here's one of her teacher, Nelda.

She's such a super sweet lady. We made her a bag with handprints of all the kids decorated in fabric paint. We added a bunch of cards and pampering stuff inside. Sarah and I made her satin pillowcases.

Sarah's dad came from San Francisco for her end of school picnic. Here they are making paper bag vests for our "roundup".

There was a bounce house for the picnic. Sarah adores bounce houses. I thought we were lucky to get through the night without an injury, but wait, just as we were getting ready to leave. Bam. She gets bounced up from a kid while she was bouncing down. She ended up biting most of the way through her bottom lip and her front four teeth are now slightly loose.
As of today they aren't terribly sore, so I'm not going to worry about a dentist visit. She's getting tons of pampering from us and seems to be doing ok. Her bottom lip is twice it's normal size and black and blue and red. She also has a big lump under her chin from where the other kid's head hit.
I'm very impressed with her pain tolerance though. As soon as the bleeding stopped, she was off playing again. That's kids for ya.

Goofy

2006-06-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

We have our first pet. His name is Goofy and he's a Betta fish.

It looks like Sarah is trying to eat him in that picture. My mom is a fish person, so she walked us through the process. So far Goofy is still with us a week later. He seems pretty happy. He's a beautiful red and purple iridescent color. He's already learned that Sarah is the "great bringer of food" so he races to the top and opens his mouth at her when she walks by.

So who's brilliant idea is it to shut down the Bay Bridge?

2006-06-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

I had a Breastfeeding and Newborn Care class scheduled for Saturday. Sounds fun, big day in SF, teaching fun classes. Oh wait. Bay Bridge is getting redone and is sporadically closed down.

Options are to:
A: drive through San Mateo to SF. About 40 miles out of the way.
B: try the Bay Bridge, hope I make it to work on time.
C: go through Marin over the Golden Gate Bridge.
D: take BART from an East Bay station.

Smart option would have been D. Or even E, reschedule class.

Instead I went straight to the toll plaza, paid my $3 and thought, woohoo, no traffic. I got to Treasure Island and two CHP pulled out in front. They started doing that sweep across all the lanes, slowing and stopping traffic. So I'm now stopped on the western span of the Bay Bridge while they are doing demo work at the end. Oh Joy.
Then to my left I see a volvo wagon stop for the CHP block. And a sedan behind the volvo didn't stop. Smash, into the back of the Volvo. I've never seen a CHP officer get so pissed off. That just cracked me up, I mean how mad he got, not the accident. Looks like everyone was ok. So 20 minutes later I finally get off the bridge and up to work. An hour early.

Normal trip takes 2 hours. I left at 6:30.
Arrived at 8:40.
Only 20 minute delay.

Score:
Bridge-0
Me-1

The trip home:
The class was awesome, had a great group of students. Even a couple homebirths. Woohoo, parent power.
I dropped by Peasant Pies and picked up a 6 pie supply for the week.
I was in my car and driving by 4:00.
I thought, hmmm, my morning drive went well, let's try it again for the evening.
I got on 280 towards the Bay Bridge since KCBS said 101 was clogged from the interchange. Thought I'd be smart and cross over on city streets and hop on at the base of the bridge.
1.5 hours later I finally got onto the bridge.
1.5 hours later I was home. That's right, it took as much time to get onto the bridge as it did to drive 99 miles.

Score:
Bridge- 5 million (that was my annoyance level)
Me-1 (I had Peasant Pies to eat and Prairie Home Companion on radio)

I was home by 7:30, 13 hours after I left. Whew.

Today we're watching Mythbusters and hanging out on the couch.

Dragonfly

2006-05-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

This guy was hanging around our backyard today. Very neat!

By Popular Demand

2006-05-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

Becky has been asking to see photos of the pool fence and here they are:

I bought the fence from a wholesaler for $6 a foot and then premeasured the holes. We were looking into drilling the holes ourselves, but I felt that it would be too hard if we made a mistake. So we ended up hiring a friend who is a contractor to drill the concrete. 12 holes later and the fence was up!
I feel so much better now about our patio. It's great to be able to let Sarah go out and play without direct supervision. The hot tub locks shut, the pool is now fenced off, so the yard is as safe as it's going to be. Now when any more munchkins come along there is a lot less work to do.

Some Garden Pics

2006-05-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sarah's tongue after a lime shaved ice.

The back garden bed over the pool. We took out all the ornamentals (except the sago palm) and replaced everything with vegetables, herbs and some pretty flowers.

I turned the side of the house wasteland into a pumpkin and squash patch. Weedwhacked the 7 foot tall weeds, raked, laid down weed paper, put in about 500 pounds of compost, put up a compost bin, and planted.

Better look at the high tech soaker hose watering system.

Lovely picture of me cutting back the giant blue plumbago bush in the corner. It was sending shoots through the fence and breaking fence boards. It was also hiding the lilies I planted that I thought had never come up. It needs a new home, oh Freeeeeecycle.

Here is the plumbago uprooted and left for someone on Freecycle on my lawn. Isn't the lawn lush and beautiful. We're having to mow it at least once a week now and it's still LONG.

Here are the lilies that were hiding under the plumbago.

2006-05-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

Sarah had a visit with her dad today, so I'm on a forced hiatus in the Bay Area. Oh what great difficulty my life brings me. sigh. I got to:

1. Go to Berkeley Bowl and buy kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, kumquats, little itty bitty baby cantelopes, curry powder, garam masala powder, mango powder and some other stuff.
2. See Astroturf car parked outside Berkeley Bowl.
3. Be assaulted by Greenpeace activist outside BB. She had no idea of personal space. I am sorry, but I don't want your braless boobies on my arm, you're not that cute.
4. Be pleasantly surprised by the nice guy selling Street Sheets past the Greenpeace Gal. If she learned how he did it, she'd get a lot more money for GP.
5. Go to a hardware store where I've purchased sling rings before and be told, No they have never, nor would they ever carry 3.5 inch soldered aluminum rings even though I've special ordered hundreds from them before. Huh?
6. Go to my old local library and have the children's librarian ask how munchkin was by name. You'll all be very happy that I finally organized all the last paperwork for the divorce to be final final final. About time, 4 years later eh?
7. Now I'm sitting in Temescal Cafe, drinking kick ass organic fair trade coffee, eating a gingerbread biscotti, listening to jazz and blogging.

I love my life.

My Work and Hobby

2006-05-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

Sarah's opinion of my work and my hobby are quite low apparently. I just found my special "only for the sewing machine" screwdriver impaling a stack of origami paper. She picked a nice variety of papers though, good color combo.

Oh and I made her a dress yesterday, Joann fabric has this pre-smocked fabric that you literally just hem and put straps on and voila, cute little sundress. Sarah picked out a green with butterflies. I'll have to applique butterflies over the strap seams, to make it ULTRA cute, but it's very very cute now.

Here's the closest thing to a picture I could take:
She was doing the cabbage patch.

Fresno BabyFest

2006-05-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

Here is our sling winner from Mamaspalooza.

If anyone is in Fresno, CA this Saturday there is a baby fest going on at the Discovery Center. Mommy Matters will be boothing there and carrying a good variety of MaMaMade Slings. You know you want to go and make me money.

T-Ball

2006-05-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

Oh isn't she just the cutest thing with a bat??

Taking Shape

2006-05-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

The garden that is. It's finally starting to look somewhat like I imagined. It's still the first season ina new house, but it's better. I am a glam whore, so I've definately been putting in things that will bloom soon and profusely. I'll save all the esoteric wonderful stuff for when I know the climate and the soil better.
Right now it's 7:47 AM and it's already 70 degrees. The high yesterday was 97. Sigh, I hate hot weather.

Mother's Day

2006-05-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

So, I'd love to be posting about how wonderful my child is being today. Instead I'll say, it's good I love her. She's being whiny, clingy and obnoxious. Blech.

Happy Mother's Day to all those mom's out there, all those who'd like to be a mom and all those who didn't get to be a mom. I am still all choked up about cancerbaby dying. Just not fair.

Let's hope I get in a better mood later.

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2006-05-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

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Compost

2006-05-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

This is Sarah at Mamaspalooza on Saturday. Note the new T-ball uniform. :)
Sarah and I loaded up 400 lbs of free compost at our city yard on Monday. I even got it all into the front beds that afternoon. I'm trying to convert our horrendous desert soil into something that resembles fertility.

She was such a help shoveling, we backed the truck up to the pile and dropped the tailgate. She brought her little red plastic shovel, I had a big one. She spent the whole time sliding down the compost pile into the truck and I shoveled. All in all a very dirty but fun adventure.

I need to go pick up another load, but probably not till next week. I found a bunch of plants on the distressed table at the hardware store. I put a bunch in, but need to put in the zucchini, herbs, butternut squash and other random stuff. I did more dahlias in the front, and found 3 bareroot roses for 3 dollars each. I put those under the front windows and laid out weed barrier paper to try and kill the weed patch that has grown in since my bulbs stopped blooming.

I'm trying to decide if I will join the school board of the preschool next year. I know I'd be elected, there just isn't enough interest from other people, I'm sure we'll have vacant spots. I don't know if I want all that work even though it would be really fun.

Mamaspalooza is OVER

2006-05-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

What a fabulous day! We had such a great time and MaMaMade Products was a huge hit. I sold enough to cover the boothing fee and all the printing and extras I bought. I had a contest for people to try on our slings and let us take pics. If we choose them for the website then they receive a free sling. I'm now stuck picking from a great of lovely pics. Help!!
Pretty baby in pretty sling
Nice view of the sling
Daddy and cutie pie son
Happy Mom.

Which one do you vote for?

Ramping up for the weekend

2006-05-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

I made 27 baby wraps yesterday. Today I have 16 ring slings to finish, as well as all the signage for the booth. I have most of the prep work done, just need to finish the outside seams and put tags and rings on the slings. I'm hoping to show up at the event with over 50 carriers plus loveys.
I'm doing a contest at the event, if someone tries on one of our carriers and let's me take pics, I'll find the best pics and use them on the website. If I use the pic on the website, that person gets a free carrier. I hope it works.
The weather cooled off somewhat so I'm hopeful that it will only be about 80 on Saturday instead of the 90 it was earlier this week. I know it's not THAT hot, but I'm not a hot weather person. Sarah has been enjoying it a lot. We even went swimming in our pool on Tuesday. If the pool is already this warm, I think we might need to cool it off somehow later in the summer.
I've put in tomatoes, artichokes, rosemary and strawberries in the back yard so far. I need to get a bunch of compost and amend the beds, our soil is pretty awful. I don't know what will grow right now. I'm hoping for a few successes. The city offers free compost though, all I have to do is take the truck over there and load up. Probably won't happen till next week though.
In the front I'm struggling with what to put in to cover the space where the bulbs are. I'm thinking some sort of reseeding annuals with perennial bushes behind.
The snails are awful, they've already eaten two dahlias. I'm hoping the dahlias will resprout, they are my favorite flower.
I have put out Sluggo (the only snail bait I've found that is "somewhat" safe around kidlets) but it doesn't seem to be working.
Sarah started swim lessons on Tuesday. She has been asking when we go back since we left the YMCA. I guess she likes it LOL.
She also has her first T-Ball game on Saturday. I'm going to have to miss her first game as it's the same time as I need to set up for Mamaspalooza. Frank promises to take lots of pictures. I guess this is what motherhood is about, knowing that you'll miss things and being ok with it. Sarah is fine with Saturday being a "super fun frank and sarah day". I'm so lucky she loves him that much.

Mamaspalooza

2006-04-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

I found out about this event last minute and decided to try to booth there.
Mamaspalooza Besides the last minute scrambling for enough marketing supplies, sewing vast amounts of product in an attempt to sell them and trying to teach this weekend, besides all that, it's been fun.
Sarah's been sick since last week, off and on. I'm still sniffly, but not sick.
We went to Frank's softball game last night, very fun. Got to hang out with some other women who are the partners of guys I know already. I think it's weird when you know one half a parntership and not the other, but it was nice to meet them. Not exactly what I'd expected, but nothing ever is.
It stopped raining here and immediately got hot. I'm going to bitch about that particular thing for the next 4 months probably. It's not fair to go from 60 to 80 degrees in one day.
I'm off to deliver our old mattress and box springs to a friend, have dinner with another friend and stay the night at yet another friends. Then teach tomorrow, for the first time in 3 months. I feel a bit rusty. I hope I pull it off and have a nice group of students.

Long Island Iced Tea

2006-04-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is such a wonderful drink. Everyone should have the experience. At least once.
I have to go now, the world is spinning off it's axis and Paul Simon just replaced Madeleine Peyroux on the cd player.

How to spend your tax refund

2006-04-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

For a neat idea on how to spend the $500 you overpaid to Uncle Sam this year go to $500?

Meanwhile, back on the farm

2006-04-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

We're in bed today. Not just because we like it, because it is ~~fiscialy fisically physicly~~ physically impossible to get out. Last night I started feeling wonky, thought it was just because I'd worked with a lot of chemicals at my dad's house. Then, I started feeling really wonky. Frank said, um babe, you feeling ok? I said, of course I am, NOT. Temp is up, energy is down, throat feels bad, body feels worse. Sarah woke up this morning saying, "I'm not sick, my chest just hurts really bad, Mama." And since she hasn't moved once in four hours, I'll wager a bet that she is too, sick.
We're surviving on leftovers and english muffins. Yay english muffins. How did the English, with their notoriously bad cuisine come up with something as yummy as an english muffin? Even in the whole wheat, multi grain form they are yummy enough for a 4 year old to eat them. So despite sickness, we're eating well. I had lentil soup with avocado, tomato and onion on top of it.

My lentil soup recipe of the week.

1 cup lentils
bunch of water
chopped onion (lots or little)
chopped garlic (lots or little)
carrots, celery, any other veggie you have. we put in kale, spinach and celery.
saute the onion and garlic in some olive oil.
when translucent add water and rinsed lentils
grind some spices in a coffee grinder and don't tell your partner, so that their next cup of coffee tastes suspiciously of mustard and coriander.
spices I like: coriander, mustard seed, dill, mango powder
add spices to soup, boil till soup like.
Enjoy.

Joke of the day

2006-04-16T20:43:00.000-07:00

I told S about the joke with the two chocolate bunnies. So, inevitably, she got two bunnies, one from us and one from Granny Lori.
First thing she wanted to do was take a bit of one's butt and the other's ear and take this picture.
She's been running around all day saying, "My butt hurts." "what? what?"

In Retrospect

2006-04-12T10:31:00.001-07:00

This last weekend was another doozy. I think I have some sort of karmic paying back to do because, umm well, What the hell?
Frank had a big band event this weekend, practices, dinners, concert, raffle, the whole shebang. We've been running around like maniacs and I knew I couldn't do all of it, so I figured S and I would go to the dinners. Easy peasy.
Saturday night dinner and dance, dinner was unpalatable, soup with some sort of organ meat, white bread, no veggie. Not exactly what we're eating right now. So F, S and I head to a local restaurant for a salad and a P, B and J (on wheat no less). We headed back to the hall for the dance. S is having a fabulous time running and chasing with the kids. Some of the teens were out there running crazy as well, all good energy expending fun.
On a break from the bansheeing, we were all sitting on a bench, when one of the older teens (F says she is over 18) was asked to get something by one of her friends. Her response, loud, obnoxious and right in front of S was, "What color does my skin look? You think I'm black or something?"
I had rushing noises in my head like my brain was trying to explode out my ears. My blood pressure rose and fell like Niagara Falls. I could feel the heat rising in my face as I realized, before I had even thought that I was yelling,' EXCUSE ME??", "Excuse me, but what the fuck does being black have to do with anything, :you racist, bigoted, self satisfied bitch: (not what I really said). I did say(I think I yelled a few times too), "Don't ever use that language around me or my child, What does being black have to do with anything?" As S very appropriately pops up with, "My Daddy's black."
Silence, then the beyotch says, complete with eyeroll, "it was just a joke."
"Well, my daughter is 4, those jokes tell her that what she is isn't any good, she doesn't understand any humor in them, and in fact neither do I."
And said bigot walked away.
Strike two for Portuguese festivals. I can't keep bringing S to an environment where such bigotry and intolerance are rampant. Not just leftover anger about the war in Angola or anger about being immigrants and minorities themselves, but BIGOTRY. The old woman who made a comment two weeks ago was, I'm sure, some sweet old granny. The young woman who made the comment this week was raised here. She has the benefit of American schools and culture, and yet she still has the same bigotry as someone 60 years older.
We're failing here, somehow.
So, for now, I had a hard talk with Frank about how I'm not feeling at home here, I don't feel at home at the band events.
I need to work harder at building my own community, surrounding myself with people who I can be myself with.
Oh, and before we headed to the band dinner that Saturday as me and S were hanging out sloblike at home, guess who just drops by? Future MIL and SIL. Umm, ok, don't just drop by. S was wearing her T-shirt I made her that says, "Don't spank me, spank my mama, she likes it."
That went over like a lead balloon.
MIL comments that are priceless: "this place looks like a toys-r-us, if I wanted toys I had to make them myself, american kids are so spoiled."
Toys-r-us?? I don't think so, lady, I buy NOTHING there. I hate toys-r-us, it gives me hives. A Melissa and Doug factory, a Haba toys haven, a handmade, thoughtfully purchased homeschooling environment? YES, toys-r-us fuck no.
And, wouldn't you want your kids to have all the things you didn't? Would you feel angry or jealous that your grandkids have enough to thrive and not just survive?
Even when I was on the edge of survival, S had great toys from friends, family and thrift stores.
Urgh.
So, In Retrospect, there are lots of things I would have said this weekend. If only I'd had a functioning brain that wasn't overwhelmed by anger and annoyance.
Send me comments that I can file away under, "snappy comeback for bigots", please

Crunchy MaMas

2006-04-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Do you consider yourself crunchy? What does crunchy mean to you? How far is too far into crunchland for your taste?

Cancer

2006-04-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

The woman who owns the collective house we used to live in has metastasized cancer. Just learned from another previous resident. I truly hate cancer. This is one of those things that makes no sense.

Dad on Strike

2006-04-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

What the heck is this guy thinking? http://www.husbandonstrike.com in case you're wondering. I've been reading and commenting on some blogs where this is a hot topic and well, what the heck?
Man upset because wife has baby and kid in bed, baby sleeps best with mom. Two year old takes a pacifier to sleep. Man wants dates out without kids (ok, I see that lol, but maybe not early postpartum, if I was still bleeding I did NOT want to go to Chez FrouFrou)
Man can't handle those things, says wife muse=t listen to his "begging and pleading" and change how she's doing things. Until then, he's on strike. Goes on Geraldo Rivera show (OMG GERALDO).
I feel like I'm just sputtering, what a mess their relationship must be, what an attention seeking ass he is, where is the mom in this and what does she have to say, what do they say when the two year old wants daddy to come down from the roof?

Where?

2006-03-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

Where does MaMaMade need to be? What stores, online or off? What are your favorite baby stores? What makes a store buyable instead of just browsable? Can you tell I'm~~trying not to get a real job~~ working hard now?
See the newest stuff at http://www.mamamadeproducts.com
Note new bath and body stuff coming soon, new pants (oh they are soooo soooo cute) and new shop page design.

ABC noodles

2006-03-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

This is her royal highness enjoying some ABC noodles soup. Delicious and Educational. All the cool kids are eating it.
Yes she is sucking it up through a straw. What a gem.

Back from the weekend

2006-03-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a date, Sarah had a dinner/movie with her teacher, we housesat 3 cats, went to a band crab feed, had a visit with Sarah's dad's ex girlfriend's kids and drove home. About 500 miles on the car later, we're home and almost recovered. I feel kind of sick, I think I'm just exhausted. Sarah slept till 9:30 this morning, I didn't have the heart to tell her we missed school. We've had a good time just hanging out today. Put a shelf up over the washer and dryer, did laundry, cleaned floors, unpacked, bought a birthday present for a little boy at sarah's school. Very productive day so far.
Making stuffed salmon and rice for dinner. I'm thinking a romaine salad with pears and feta to go with it. I think I always fall back on that salad, but that's because it's super yummy.

In which I bitch and bitch and bitch

2006-03-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

I don't even know where to start. This weekend has been at times great, awful and infuriating.
Let's see, let's deal with the big ones right now.
Bigotry, intolerance, rudeness and racism.
Have I made a mistake moving here? Am I going to be butting heads for life against these things? Is it possible to raise Sarah here in a healthy way?
Bigotry: I made a comment at her preschool last week when I was working. A little girl was playing with the dolls, Sarah was helping, they were trying to decide who would be mom who would be dad, well I say,"Some babies have two mommies, so you both can be the mommies".
Apparently another mom overheard and had issues with it. Issues that she took to the school director who took me aside today and very apologetically brought this to my attention.
It's not the director's fault. It's the other parent's fault for being intolerant and obnoxious. I mean wth, saying a statement of fact "Some kids have two mommies" is not saying, "hey kid, let's get you into lesbianism." Nuff said, I'm still seeing red.

Intolerance: See above.

Racism: At a band festa (oh dear me what have I gotten into) a couple sits across from us and the first friggin comment out of the woman's mouth is "Oh look, she's a partial."
Partial what????
Partial
Partial
I am sputtering still. I did not want to bring it to Sarah's attention, so I kept my infuriated mouth shut. Now I wish I'd said something.

Rudeness: Do people not know how to stand in an orderly line and take turns? Are all children (except mine of course LOL) destined to turn into these piggish horriffic people? If you're offering a service, offer that service in the same way to all people, if you cannot, DON"T DO IT>
GRRRRRRRR

Ex husband was late getting Sarah back. He hadn't fed her dinner. He had had her in a car for at least 2 hours ahead of drop off. We had a 2 hour drive left. With a hungry, tired of being in car, cranky kid. Made a stop at emergency food place for toy and fries. She loved the troll doll that McD's gave her. Promptly gave it a haircut at home though. It's looks really cute.

Finally got home at 9:30 last night. Sarah went to sleep late. We went to sleep late. But she got really upset at the idea of staying home from school, so we went to school. Where I got the news from the director about the comment I made. Just a suckass weekend.

I did have some shopping therapy Sunday. Got a lot of new fabric for MMM, a down and plush throw blanket and a shell vine, a trumpet vine and a bunch of seeds for impatiens balfourii.

I'll leave you with a pic of my lovely front garden for now.

MaMaMade Guestbook

2006-03-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to find a place for customers to search reviews and place feedback. This is what I've come up with so far.
www.MaMaMadeProducts.com/guestbook

Any input?