New Website

I’ve moved. Check me out at www.californiascheming.com

Happy Holidays!

We just wrapped up Noah’s first Hanukkah. We didn’t do a whole lot for it…For the first night we had my parents and grandma, a neighbor, and some of Shawn’s friends over to light candles and have some food. For the rest of the week we lit candles every night and I got him a little stuffed gorilla. He has so much and is too young to really care, so we kept it low-key. We’ll have to be more festive next year, I suppose. I did decorate the house a little bit though, so that’s an improvement over the last couple of years.

We’re going to do Christmas with my family this week. I have to admit that I’m a fan of Christmas over Hanukkah – not for any religous reasons, just because I like the whole Christmas tree, Santa Claus, elves, and reindeer thing. I keep telling Shawn that Hanukkah would be a lot cooler if it had better marketing and a fat man to break into your house with presents for little kids…in a totally non-creepy kind of way. Offensive? Perhaps. I’m sure he thanks G-d that he married a shiksa EVERY SINGLE day of his life.

Anyway, I’m really glad that my parents are out here to celebrate the holidays with this year. AND my dad is starting to hate being forced to spend his winters in Southern California less. So that’s truly a Hanukkah/Christmas miracle!

I wish that we could spend the holidays with the rest of my family too. Maybe one day. But at least this year I’m not feeling all depressed and homesick!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone! We miss you!

Pinto Updates

Pinto (aka Noah) is doing great! Like his mom, he’s a huge eater and has quickly been putting on weight (he’s over 8 pounds now). He’s still a night owl, preferring to sleep all day and keep mommy awake all night. I’m hoping to break him of this habit soon. He also thinks he’s Zoolander and has been coming up with some hilarious faces lately. Seriously – I could keep myself entertained for hours just watching the array of facial expressions my son has in his arsenal. He’s learned to smile and it’s so damn precious.

He also makes the most adorable noises – little squeaks and groans and laughing sounds. I love listening to him. But, hell, I even think it’s adorable when he farts so I may be biased.

AND it’s his one month birthday tomorrow! Happy Birthday Pinto!!!

Thanksgiving

I spend a lot of time complaining about all the things that I don’t have. But this year I truly do have a lot to be thankful for, so I’ve put together a list to remind myself. Here it is (in no particular order – well, that’s a lie because #1 is actually the #1 thing I’m thankful for):

1. My son
2. My husband
3. My family
4. My amazing group of friends
5. Beautiful CA weather (it’s almost December and it’s 76 degrees today!!!!)
6. Books
7. My rad RV
8. Stuff that makes me laugh
9. My health
10. Having enough when there are so many people who do not

BABES

When I first moved to California, I was so depressed that I spent most of my time curled in the fetal position crying. I was SO homesick   and pined away constantly for Ann Arbor, my family, and my friends back in the Midwest. I told my husband in no uncertain terms that we were moving back to Michigan. I had no friends, no family, nothing for myself out here, and it seriously freaked me out. Plus I kept thinking, “there is no way in hell I will ever find people that I have anything in common with out here in Orange freakin’ County!!!” I’m sure I was a major delight for my husband to be around, since all I did was cry and wax nostalgic about things back home.

And this continued UNTIL I decided to copy my friends Stephanie and Birgit from back home and start a book club. They seemed to be having a lot of fun with their group and I figured that this may be a chance for me to meet some chics that I may actually have something in common with, so I posted an ad on Craigslist. And it was the smartest thing that I ever did. It started off sort of lame – small group meetings in a Starbucks and it actually was sort of a traditional book club at first. I got responses from women who actually did seem to want to read books and talk about them (that’s great and everything, but I was just really looking for some friends).But then something miraculous happened – other girls who had just moved here from out-of-state started to show up and they were all as miserable as me. And then a few girls who had been here for a while and learned to like it showed up too. And suddenly I found myself surrounded by this hilarious, inappropriate, amazing group of women.

I’ll be very honest that we are not the book club for everyone. For one thing, we don’t often get around to reading the books that we pick. When we do the reading, we spend about two minutes talking about the book and then move on to eating and talking about sex, drinking, and personal grooming habits (in inappropriate detail). And we are all far too opinionated, crass, and immature for many of the recruits who have shown up and promptly dropped out of the group in disgust. I’ve recently posted another Craigslist ad advertising us for what we really are – a book club that doesn’t really discuss books, but rather a group of women who sits around eating and talking shit. And we’ve actually gotten an amazing response.

We call ourselves the Bad-Ass Book Enthusiasts (aka BABES). And thanks to BABES I’m now officially a life-long Californian because I guarantee that without these girls I’d have been on my way back to Michigan long ago.

Welcome!

Well, it’s official, I’ve finally caved to peer pressure and started a blog. My friends in far-away Michigan have been trying to convince me to do it for some time and, now that I have a baby for them to keep track of, I figured it was time. Plus I’m not working and can no longer use that as an excuse.

Speaking of not working…it’s the BEST! I love it! I could go on not working forever and hopefully someday we’ll be able to swing that financially. Fingers crossed. I feel like I’m getting so much accomplished now, as opposed to just pissing away my days at work and coming home exhausted and fit only for watching crap TV and sitting on the couch. Now I’m spending time with the baby, reading, writing, and working on long-delayed projects. I feel like a real person now, with real interests and hobbies and shit. It’s amazing!

I’m ALSO trying to recover from giving birth. No one ever really levels with you and tells you that your vagina will be ripped to shreds when you have a baby. So I’m going to be very honest here…my cooter is a mess right now people. Seriously – it’s literally being held together with string. Nice image! Thanks Melissa! I’m sure that’s just what your long lost Michigan friends and California cohorts had in mind when they asked you to blog about the joys of motherhood. Sorry folks! But you know me…I don’t really have a filter.

I want to add that although I bitched and complained throughout the whole of my pregnancy and now have horror stories about labor, birth, and my wounded poon, “Pinto” is worth every minute of discomfort and pain. I love being a mom. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done with my time. He’s an incredible kid and I am still shocked and amazed that I helped create something so wonderful.

Speaking of Pinto, it’s just about time for him to get some more food and for me to bring blog entry #1 to a close.