It's March ALREADY?!

This whole web blog should just be titled "Time Flies" and leave it at that! It is so hard to keep up with everything...I don't know why I felt so compelled to race through my teens and 20's. It's one of those "If I knew now, what I know then..." deals. My ending to that sentence would be that I would slow DOWN and savor my free time. There is none of that, it seems, in one's 30s. Oh and I would definitely wear more sunscreen! Woulda, coulda, shoulda, huh?!

The last few months have been jam packed with craziness, some fun, some not-so fun! I should start off with the not-so. Thankfully, there wasn't much of that and it didn't have to do with anyone's health, thank GOD. Anything besides health problems can be dealt with and one can usually bear it, right? The worst of it for us came in November in the form of theft. It was 6 o'clock in the morning, Jimmy had just left for work and I was watching the beginning of the news with McKenna before I woke up Cooper to get ready for school. I heard something scrape and screetch outside. Of course, I got up to investigate because in our house, I am known as Alice Kravitz...I am the looky-loo with my fingers splitting the blinds making sure all is well in the 'hood. I went out on the porch in my jammies just in time to see some ***hole in a truck driving away with our toy trailer that was in our driveway FILLED with all sorts of fun stuff. It was unbelievable and so brazen. I was shocked. I immediately called the police, but they weren't able to catch them even though they were here within two minutes because the cop was RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER when I called. Unfortunately, Jimmy's brand-new quad was in there, which he hadn't gotten around to insuring because our car insurance wouldn't insure off-road vehicles and being new to quad ownership, he was still researching who to go with. So much for THAT! It was brand-spanking new and was given to him as his work bonus from his bosses, our friends, Eric and Patrick. Ugh...it was definitely a learning experience.

Two days later, we got a call from the Sherriff's Department in Spring Valley saying they found the trailer (which was FANTASTIC as we found out our insurance would only cover up to $500 on a trailer even if it cost you $1500), however, it was completely empty and even swept nicely clean! Jimmy was devastated, as was I. My guilt was horrendous as Jimmy had the trailer filled with so much stuff from the garage because he built me a wonderful workshop in there to make my jewelry and had stored all his "Man Stuff" in the trailer. We lost bikes, surfboards, tons of tools, riding gear...Every day, it seemed we remembered some other thing that was in there! For a few weeks we had to chant, "They're only things, they're only things, they're only things" to get through the gut-wrenching woulda, coulda, shoulda show playing in our heads. All right, maybe this blog should be renamed "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda..." Ah well...such is life! Chalk it up to a learning experience and at least you feel like you're getting SOMETHING out of the crap life throws at you periodically.

Speaking of the 'hood, I have turned community activist. Can you believe?! If you can't, it's because you know me from back in the day. I suppose I was a bit of a wild child, to say the least. Who'd've thunk I would turn into a raving-mad heretic on the street corner wearing a slogan t-shirt and planting protest signs in my yard?! What started my marching was finding out that the dead mall on the corner by our house had secretly been transferred for purchase by the original community-approved company who was going to build shops and urban condos to a huge development company that specializes in building MEGA DORMS in college towns. Our neighborhood is close to San Diego State University which has historically been a horrible neighbor to our community. They take in more and more students every year, but do nothing to support the neighboring community's infrastructure, nor do they plan for any additional housing for their ever-expanding student body. They just expect the surrounding community to bear the burden.

Once the neighbors found out about this snarky little project, which was switched from the original plan while our community council meetings were on break for the summer, we all went batty and leapt into action! Groups were formed and petitions were circulated, generating over 1200 signatures. The city council, local newspapers and local T.V. news programs were innundated with concerned, outraged neighbors. Our neighborhood council meeting that usually had 20 people show up each month suddenly had people pouring out onto the sidewalk and street outside the church. One night, our activist group counted over 300 angry neighbors at one of these meetings! I jumped on the bandwagon and called hundreds of petition signers. I volunteered as Secretary to our activist group. For a while there, I was attending more meetings than when I was working as an Executive Assistant before McKenna was born. Phew!

Right before the holidays, SDSU released their 10-year Master Plan, which the City found to be horrid. The City decided to sue SDSU for breach of whatever previously agreed-upon issues they had come to and when that happened, it came out that the developer, JPI, and SDSU had been in cahoots all along. Big suprise. JPI suddenly pulled out of the deal and now we are left with the original company who has decided to file for more funding from the City for more section-8 housing and perhaps a woman's shelter on the site. ARGGGGHHHHH! I feel like Charlie Brown kicking the football, getting knocked on my ass and having the wind kicked outta me. But what are you gonna do? Keep on trying to kick the damn football, that's what!

Such good things have happened as well. Yin and Yang, right? Cooper is a dream and is doing well in school...not without some hiccups, of course. Apparently, according to his teacher, he is a bit like Robin Williams and performs stream-of-consciousness comedy routines in the classroom. It gotten to the point where the teacher dreaded calling on him because what came out of Cooper's mouth usually had nothing to do with the lesson at hand, but more with making his classmates laugh. This has been dealt with and we are working hard at curtailing our comedy routines and saving them for more appropriate times, such as recess. He is excelling at skateboarding like you wouldn't believe! He has been going to skateboard camp at the Chula Vista Skatepark over the school holiday break and has been skating up to 7 hours a day! He's a maniac. People tell me constantly how impressive his skill set is for his age. As there are no resources for skateboarding like there are for other sports, I'm kind of not sure what direction to go with this as a parent. I should probably contact Tony Hawk and ask him what to do to further my child's skateboarding experience, huh?! Turn into the skateboarding stage mom! He and McKenna have had a bumpy, but loving relationship. We catch Coop "messing" with her from time to time. She's going through a stage where she doesn't share well AT ALL and Cooper takes advantage of that, goading her and then snickering behind our backs when she flips out. All in all, they love each other and generally have enormous fun together.

McKenna is 2 now! She was definitely going through the "terrible 2" thing early. This was evidenced by a trip we took in November to Knott's Berry Farm for Cooper's birthday present (which falls two days before Christmas, poor kid!). While Cooper and his friend, Malachi, were off riding big rides with one parent, McKenna and the other parent were left in Camp Snoopy. We have found out that McKenna is a future X-gamer like her brother. She likes the thrill rides. Thank God it wasn't a busy day at Knott's because every time she was taken off a ride, she flung herself to the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs, escalating to an excruciating pitch, only to be drug off kicking and flailing to a corner where either Jimmy or I could hide and ride out the storm that is our daughter. Once she calmed and we went off to whatever else was happening, she would once more get locked in and the horrible scene would replay itself again, and again, and a g a i n. She didn't get that you couldn't stay on a ride for an eternity, but went from ride to ride, letting others have a shot at it. It was EXCRUCIATING. She is HORRIBLE at taking turns and HORRIBLE at sharing anything. It's been really hard for my best friend Annie and I because two months ago we were planning for their wedding and the toll this has taken on her and Morgan's relationship does not bode well for any future wedding bells. When we get the two of them together, which is often as their mommies have been best friends for 25 years, they are like bickering, pecking parrots and all you hear is "mine, mine, mine, MINE!" It's a bummer. I forgot how much I hate this stage. For Cooper, it happened more around the age of 3. I've heard that girls do things much earlier than boys and I now guess this is evidence that it's true!

Other than her manic theme-park behavior and her antisocial fear of sharing, she is a pretty wonderful little girl. She is talking up a storm and is quite funny. She still naps and thankfully gives her mother a break. She has started play-acting with dolls and is changing their diapers often, saying, "peeeeeewwwwww!" She torments our little dog, Bean, chasing him relentlessly around the house, trying to kiss him. Good thing he's pretty fast. She freely gives lots of kisses and hugs now, for which we are extremely grateful. We thought she would never come around and become affectionate! She loves the Teletubbies and Sesame Street. She's a fan of Barney, much to her father's dismay, and really digs on The Jungle Book and Monster's Inc. Her favorite show by far is Zabomafoo on PBS where two grown-up brothers play with real animals and show the kids what they do in their natural habitats. It's sort of like the Crocodile Hunter for the preschool set. She's a big reader and will bring us book after book after book to read to her before nap and bedtime. Her current favorites are anything about Curious George, The Eye Book and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. She also loves the Richard Scary "Big Book" that her Aunt Carolyn gave Cooper when he was about her age.

Something else fantastic happened in 2007. Our dear friend, Honor, who had been fighting colon cancer and undergoing hard-core chemotherapy for 6 months, completed her chemo course and was given a CLEAN SLATE OF HEALTH. A humongous blessing that our whole family was terribly relieved by. Over the years, Honor and her whole family have grown into part of our family. We love them all very much and it was heart wrenching to watch someone we all love so dearly and who has such a huge impact on our daily lives go through something so painful and scary. Once again, as long as you have your health, everything else is small beans and can be dealt with, right?

That's the update going into March 2008. I hope this blog finds you and yours healthy and having fun with this life we are blessed to be taking part in! It's a fun ride, isn't it?

Love to you,

Erin