Apr 7, 2014 | trying to raise humans
Portlanders are currently being teased with a burst of warm sunny days forecasted for this week. Today it’s 73 and sunny.
Over the past two years, we’ve learned that sunny days before July typically mean long sleeves / shorts or short sleeves / pants most of the time. However, today it’s legitimately warm, and our kids were poorly dressed for the weather – both were slightly sweaty with flushed cheeks when I retrieved them from after school care.
Gavin exclaimed, “It’s so hot out my armpit smells like peppers and sand.” (Quote of the year so far, in my opinion.)
Uh, what now? You’re seven. Your armpit smells? Already?!
“Your armpit smells like what?”, I asked just to make sure I heard him correctly.
I had indeed.
“Peppers and sand,” he said sunnily.
“Just one armpit?”, I asked.
“Yup. Just this one,” he said as he extended his right arm into the air as he traced a circle around the offending area.
Ew. WTH! I am still coming to terms that he’s already 7 and now he’s RIPE to top it off? Is he seriously old enough to be teetering on becoming a young man complete with all the boy smells?! When did this happen? I would say perhaps he needed a shower, but he just took one last night. Is this even normal at this age? Oh. Em. Gee.
Grace wrinkled her nose. I asked her if her armpit also smelled.
“Of course,” she said.
“Like what?”, I asked.
“Gorgeous flowers,” she giggled.
Hahaha.
I would expect nothing less from her. Really.
And yes, of course, I sniffed his armpit.
Did I have to? Probably not. But I certainly don’t want him to be the smelly kid in school, so I figured it was in our best interest to see if we needed an emergency run to Target tonight for some Axe spray. We don’t. I think he just needs a good scrubbing in the shower tonight. We’ll see how this progresses…until then, we’ll stand up-wind. 😉
Mar 31, 2014 | yup, i really did that
I am quite a wine connoisseur. How so? I totally bought a bottle of wine this weekend based solely on the CAP on the bottle. As in screw-on cap. Not cork. Not seal. That makes me a connoisseur, right?
Hahaha. Totally kidding. Well, about the connoisseur part. I definitely purchased the wine based on the packaging. I am a winery marketer’s dream come true.
I am new-ish to the wine scene. I never really liked it until about a year or two ago. It’s often the bev of choice when you attend work functions, and, through that, I have come to like it. For me, it’s kind of like coffee – I am not sure anyone has their first cup of coffee and thinks it’s the most delicious thing they’ve ever had, but there’s intrigue – for some reason it works and you look forward to your next.
Since wine hasn’t really been my thing, naturally, over the years, I have had more than my fair share of panic attacks at work dinners  that a) I would be the designated wine picker for the table and / or b) be the person that has to do the sniff / swirl / taste routine. I have zero idea what my tastebuds should be looking for and, honestly, I am not the personality that would even turn my nose up at something that was offered to me anyway. If anyone asked me what ‘notes’ the wine had after I did the tasting routine, I’d be screwed and outed for the wine fraud I am. All this to say that if I am the wine chooser and taster, we’re drinking it even if it’s akin to grape-flavored vinegar. My worst moment with wine and a work dinner? Being handed the wine menu – which was on a TABLET – at Aureole Las Vegas about ten years ago (that is, super early in my career). Yea, the restaurant known for keeping 10,000 bottles of wine stored in a gigantic wall which is scaled by “wine angels” who perform acrobatics to fetch your selection in dramatic fashion – that’s the one. A sommelier presented me with the tablet and started asking me questions about what “we” liked in a red or a white…or perhaps a rose? Seriously, dude, no. I was way junior to everyone at the table – and it was quite obvious that I was – pretty sure I was the only one without a jacket on ;). Clearly my Old Navy duds screamed more status and class than I expected – hahaha. Luckily (?) one of the VPs at the table snatched the tablet out of my hands and started browsing through it. He told me he was an amateur wine collector (are there professional ones?) and he’d like to do the honors. I was relieved. Majorly. But looking back, it was pretty presumptuous of him, yea? Fast forward to work dinners today, and it seems I am usually tangentially involved in picking the wine – like my colleagues or boss will ask me what I like or if I am OK with something. Um, yes, generally I am OK with most things :).
However, moving to Oregon has been AWESOME for me fudging my way through wine selections. My latest tactic is to go local with any and all choices – including recommending Pacific Northwest wines and craft beers (even if I have never had them). Most PNW adult beverages we’ve tried, we’ve enjoyed, so I figure it’s a safe recommendation. I’ve successfully coverted a  London colleague to Deschutes Black Butte Porter and another to Cooper Hill’s Pinot Noir. Haha. Chalk one up for me! Woo hoo!
Anyway, back to the wine I chose solely for the packaging + localness. It was good. I liked it. That’s all. No idea why – other than it worked for me. See? Wine connoisseur. Fancy. Haha.
Mar 20, 2014 | life around portland
“Breakfast” in Portland – who wouldn’t want to live here? 😉
I saw this little gem at the food store (Philadelphia vernacular) / grocery store (Portland vernacular) over the weekend.
Best. Ever.
Mar 18, 2014 | trying to raise humans
My kids go to enrichment classes for after school care. You know, things like Bricks 4 Kidz, art, soccer, etc. that are held at school and bridge the gap between the end of their school day and the end of my work day.
One of the new ones we tried this semester was yoga. Gavin was one of the few boys in class and he was kinda meh about yoga until two weeks ago when, all of a sudden, he loved it.
I didn’t really question it – I was just happy that he had this love breakthrough. Ok, so I probably also secretly patted myself on the back because I had given him a pep talk about yoga class about a month ago and told him it was really good for guys who like sports because it helps stretch muscles and boosts flexibility, etc. He asked if certain athletes – like Michael Jordan and LeBron – did yoga. I said, “Yes, of course, they do.” Listen, I know this may not be right – I was just trying to turn his frown upside. And I thought it worked.
That is until Grace spilled the beans last Monday that she was so excited for the last yoga because they were having a party with doughnuts, potato chips and apple juice.
Hmmmm.
I asked Gavin about this and he, too, was super excited for this party. He’s been talking about it since last Tuesday (i.e. the last yoga class he’d taken) in anticipation for this week. In fact, he grinned ear-to-ear this morning as he gleefully reminded me that today was the “doughnut and potato chip” party at yoga today.
Geez louise. I’ve been bamboozled!
In fact, Gavin “loves yoga” so much that he’s recruiting his friends to join him for the next round of yoga classes. His pitch? “There’s a doughnut and potato chip party at the last class. Yea, I know it’s a looooooong time until the last class, but it’s worth it! Doughnuts! From VooDoo Doughnuts!” And that’s a quote. How do I know? Because he told me he was so excited for the next class because so-and-so is probably gonna join, too – and then proceeded to tell me what he told so-and-so about yoga.
Should I be happy that he’s motivated to exercise for the treats at the end? I am not sure. I do know, however, that he’s definitely my son. Except he does more yoga than me. Hahaha.
And, for the record, he tried a ‘new kind of doughnut’ and now loves VooDoo Doughnut’s legendary Maple Bars. 🙂
Mar 17, 2014 | therapy fodder
Oh, yes.
It happened again.
That’s twice in two visits for me.
I present to you Gavin’s Chocolate Smoothie from Friday afternoon. His sweet soul was simply excited for what he perceived to be extra whipped cream. Grace found it hilarious, but I don’t think she knew why.
Starbucks has my number, it seems. They must know I love a good laugh. Or is it luck of the Irish? 😉
If you missed the original, click here.
