Voila!

Remember this?


















Well, now it looks like this:
















And this:
















I know. Amazing, huh? I can hear your applause and see your herkies. And while the closet is not quite as beautiful as it was when it was empty, it's still quite tidy and, I think, functional:





















Now I just have to work on this:
















But first, I need to eat some leftover Thai food and then hit Don Quixote before book group.

Book Group Fail

Okay, well, I haven't actually failed yet.

I am supposed to read the first 200 pages of Don Quixote for our next meeting, but I'm only on page 25 or so, and the meeting is tomorrow.

It's not that I don't like DQ. So far, I think it's quite funny, and it's interesting for me to think about it as contemporary with Spenser's FQ. Also, I'm so stoked to have a book with a plot (even an episodic one), especially after some of the recent books for book group that were extremely light on plot unity. But I'm only a little ways into the book because it's hard to find the time to read between cleaning closets, working on the dissertation, reading the first Stephanie Plum book, and re-watching Season 3 of Lost in the evenings with hubby*.

I know. I'm such a philistine.

Right now, I'm at a coffee shop, with a scone and chai latte, working on the dissertation, and Don Quixote is here on the table, just looking at me like one of those Geico money stacks with the googly eyes.

No matter. Back to Eliza Haywood and Book 18 of The Female Spectator. With my scone and latte.

*After we watch Season Three, we'll re-watch Season Four. We have already re-watched Season Five. We're preparing for the release of Season Six on DVD in August. We have not yet watched any of Season Six, so no spoilers, please! Also, in light of all of this, we've taken a break from Buffy, which is okay, because when we hit Season Six of Buffy, we got kinda burned out. Did this happen to any other Buffy fans?

The Dissertation 15

We've all heard about the Freshman 15, but what about the Dissertation 15? Does every PhD student gain weight while sitting on her arse, doing endless reading and writing? Or is it just me?

I lost weight during spring semester when I taught everyday. Now that it's summer, despite recreational activities, the pounds are creeping back. I blame the dissertation.

Sleepin' with the Fishes!

Prepare to be jealous. I'm sorry. I don't mean to gloat, but you really need to be prepared.

This weekend, we spent Saturday night at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And I do mean that we spent the night at the aquarium itself. As in, we slept by the Outer Bay tank, staring up at giant tuna and hammerhead sharks, and at 4:00a.m., I walked barefoot to the bathroom to pee as if I owned the place. Sunday morning, we even took a picture of the Girl naked in front of the tank when she was changing out of her jammies, just prove we slept there (of course, I'm not going to post such a picture, so, really, you still have to just take my word for it).

Apparently, the aquarium lets people do this. Usually, it's groups of scouts or something of that nature, but families can do it, too*. We are very lucky to have a friend who captains a sailboat that the aquarium contracts for it's sailing tours. And that friend got us in for free. So it was just their family and ours, sleepin' with the fishes. Well, and a large boy scout troup, but they were out of hearing range.

We also got a behind-the-scenes tour, and the next day, when all of the other aquarium "campers" had to leave, we got to stay. In fact, for about 20-30 minutes we were the only people (other than staff) in the place. I swear, I felt like we were breaking the law.

And all of this happened after we got to go on a sunset sail on the boat that our friend captains. Monterey Bay was calm and beautiful, and we even saw a basking shark, which is, apparently, quite rare these days. And there was wine, cheese, and cookies. And hubby got to help hoist the sail and steer the boat and, of course, now he wants one. But since this boat is a two-million dollar beauty (which my skipper friend does not own, of course), hubby will be getting no such thing. But I'll tell you what will be happening: The skipper and his wife will be getting a lot of date nights while we babysit their daughter. It was so nice of them to take us along for all of these perks.

It was a great weekend, except for this morning when hubs and the kids went in the motel hot tub and got gnarly chemical burns/rashes on their skin. The kids have red bumps and welts, and hub's leg and arm hair is now fine, blond, and slightly curled peach fuzz instead of straight, brown, and coarse man hair. When they arrived back at the room after swimming, the kids were crying and screaming because of the burning and stinging. Not the best way to end a great weekend. I'm hoping they'll remember the aquarium highlights more than the chemical burns.

*If you have the cash, I highly recommend a vacation to Monterey that includes the sleepover. It really is amazing. And while you're at it, take a sailing trip! And rent some kayaks. I just love Monterey, and fall is a great time of year to visit.

Cleaning and De-Cluttering

Yesterday, I spent some time working on the playroom and the playroom closet. Mostly on the closet. Unfortunately, I did not take a "before" picture of the closet. But here is the "after" picture:





















When the Girl came saw the closet, she took in her breath and said, "It's beeeaaaauuuuttiiiifuulllll!" Just more proof that having clean, clutter-free spaces is good for the soul and mind.

I also cleaned out the corner of the room where the bookshelf used to be so that I could put a table in the room. I wanted the kids to have a place in there to do art work or have dinner with their friends (a proverbial "kid" table). It's our old dining table, and it looks good. I think I'll get a lamp to hang above it:





















Okay. So the closet is clean and organized and ready for me to put stuff away. Lucky for you, I did take "before" picture of the room, now that it contains all of the contents that have been vomited out by the closet:

















There is a queen-sized futon under there that is kind of hard to see. I'm hoping that the bed makes it all look worse than it is and that, overall, it's not as bad as it looks. I'm sparing you a picture of the desk since I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that mess yet.

I plan to put some things away later today (in the closet) while the kids are playing. Right now, I need to work on the dissertation, but it's tempting to spend the morning browsing simplicity blogs so that I can get inspired to throw out more stuff.

Fairy Facts

Last night, Hubs took care of kids and a kid-friend so that kid-friend's mom and I could go to a movie. When we returned, they were making fairy houses. For the rest of the evening, the Girl was busting out with various fairy facts. I wish I could remember them all, but I do remember this:

"Cloud fairies take care of water and make the dew drops."

Pause.

"I mean they make the don't drops."

* * *

Even today, the Girl keeps talking about don't drops. Should I consider this some kind of strange fairy negativity?

Take That, King George!

I think that, perhaps, this year was one of my favorite firework-viewing experiences ever. It's certainly at the top of the list.

Here on the Central Coast of California, we have several firework shows to choose from, and they are all in beach towns. But the traffic to these displays can get so crazy! Also, in the summer, we get a lot of fog from the heavy marine layer. The high inland temperatures (90s and higher) combine with the cold water temperatures (mid-50s) to create fog at the coast. Case in point, as I'm typing this, it's foggy outside and somewhere around 60 degrees. Not a speck of sunshine or blue sky to be seen*. Often, the fog burns off later in the afternoon, and every once in a while the wind shifts a bit and blows the fog seaward, but we get a lot of fog in the summer. We call it June gloom (even as we move into July). So, with all of this fog, sometimes the fireworks don't look like fireworks, but rather like glowing tufts of cotton candy.

I mentioned to a friend that we were thinking of paddling into the bay to watch the local firework show from the kayaks, and she said that she and other friends usually paddle over to the dunes and watch from there. So after spending the middle of the day in town at a little festival (where it was sunny and warm), we came home and got ready to paddle. Lo and behold, it was sunny at the coast, and the marine layer seemed to be parked a little ways out to sea. Still, I packed up warm clothes while hubby loaded the boats. After picking up some burritos and beer, were were ready.

We met our friend at the bay at about 7:00pm, and paddled over to the dunes. It was a great paddle. We got some exercise, we got to paddle through the sailboats in the marina, we saw the sea life, and we even passed the barge from which the fireworks would be launched. Unfortunately, the fog rolled in just as we were crossing the bay. Still, we had hopes that the fog layer would be high enough to still allow for a good show.

At the dunes, there were just a few other families. We ate and drank, and the kids played with other kids. The fireworks started at 9:00, and we definitely had the best seats in town. The fireworks exploded right in front of us, over the water and below the fog, so the the view was perfect. The kids were mesmerized. And best of all? No big crowds. And no traffic. Especially on the way out. Instead of battling a mass exodus of cars, we launched into water that was completely calm and still. It was dark and peaceful as we paddled back to the marina, just the sound of our paddles dipping into the water. We only saw one motorized boat on the way, and it managed to not run over us. Bonus.

It was a late night, and the kids were tired, but it was fantastic: Good, clean livin'.

But I don't have pictures, because even though I took my camera with me, I forgot to use it. That's usually how I roll.

Hope everyone had a great time celebrating the day on which our slave-owning forefathers told King George he could take his Empire and shove it up his tyrannical arse**.

*But if I drive about a mile--or even half a mile--inland, it will be sunny and warm.

**It's all a bit politically fraught, but HEY!, I like fireworks and BBQ!