For the Win!!! Vote for #36 to help Phillip and Flathead!

We’ve got the FUGs of baths but that can change with your help! A local bathroom renovation contest is being held by Sea Pointe Constructions. WE NEED YOUR VOTE TO WIN!

Go to http://seapointe.com/ugly%20bath%20voting.htm and scroll to the bottom. Fill in all fields (name and email) and vote for #36.

These are the rules:
(a) One person and email per vote. That means name only once and email once.

(b) All information is required for the vote to count. They want your first name, your last name, and your email.

(c) Only 2 votes per IP address. FYI, if you have a one internet line at home, you only have one IP address. This means, you don’t get 2 voted per computer, but 2 votes per internet line.

From the explanation above, you can tell it is not below me (Flathead) to ask you to vote more than once if you have the ability to; you’d need multiple emails, multiple IP addresses, and multiple names.

THANKS!!!!!!

Blik Wall Decals

We’ve been scoping out different wall decals for a while now, and Flathead just found some awesome ones over at Blik Surface Graphics. Now Socket’s getting attacked by paper airplanes when he sleeps in his crib at night & when he’s getting his booty wiped at the changing station. If mom & dad have to wake up at 3am, baby doesn’t get to rest either!

They’ve got tons of other styles – from Birds, to Space Invaders, to Boom Boxes – go check them out!

Baby Proofing

So apparently all of the stylish low furniture we have is completely impractical now that baby Socket is starting to crawl/walk.  Our bookshelf for example now looks like this, otherwise all the books get dumped on the floor and the pages eaten/ripped out:

Also, all the open doorways in the house (and there seem like tons of them) are now baby jails! If any parents are looking for a good solid gate that’s relatively inexpensive, we recommend the Evenflo Top of Stair Gate. It attaches securely to the wall, is easy to open/close, and can be removed in just a few seconds.

Not to mention our coffee table, now complete with the newest trend in home design: foam corner non-eye-poker-outers!

We’ve also had to lock up most of our cabinets drawers & found that most of the child safety latches out there either break the first time you test them, or are so fool proof that it’ll take you 10 minutes to open it. The only ones we’ve found so far that work well are these adjustable straps.

Craigslist Fun Finds

I’ve been obsessed with Craigslist since getting this house. I’m hoping to landscape the backyard though it’s Free section. Here are some goods I came across. That last one is from the Salvation Army.

Everyone Sing With Me!

“Five Eight Eight Two Three Hundred, Empire!”
I’m more fond of the recent commercials. Any one in the so cal region watching the see-double-you-tee-vee between 11 am and 5 pm should know it. For now, let’s kick it old school.

Nerd of the Rings

Whoever was on our association’s street naming council was a huge nerd. When we first saw the house with our agent & I found out that the street was named Rivendell Drive, I made some geeky reference to elves that totally went over the heads of the wife & our agent. “Oh yeah, I’m the only sci-fi/fantasy nerd in this car” I realized. It was an awkward moment.

Now I realize it wasn’t a fluke. Looking at the map of our neighborhood, other street names in our area are also Lord of the Rings influenced. These include: Buckland (hobbit village) Lane, Gondor (the city of men) Drive, Shadowfax (Gandalf’s horse) Drive, and Elrond (leader of the elves) Lane.

I love that back in the 60’s when this community was being built, there was another nerd like me on the council that was able to sneak these street names in without anyone realizing. He probably made some equally lame references to elves & hobbits during the meetings that also resulted in uncomfortable silences.

Council Member: “We need a street name between Ridge Route and Vista Way”
Nerd: “How about El Rond lane? It means, umm, the beautiful mountain in, umm, spanish.”
Council Member: “Beautiful Mountain, i like that. El Rond lane it is…”
Nerd: (mumbling) “Bring forth the ring, Frodo.”
Council Member: “What did you say?”
Nerd: “ummm… nothing”

Ha, I can’t believe we actually bought a house in Middle Earth. It couldn’t be any more geeky perfect.

Recycling Paint

I heard this story (and so can you) on the eve of the weekend we spent painting our home. Instead of dumping paint that is never completely used, donate it to a facility that reuses or recycles it! In this Weekend America article, Ousmane Sy collects paint in batches of 2000 gallons, mixes them all up, and then ships it off to churches, hospitals, homes, etc. in need of fresh paint all across the world. The next time you refurb a chair, or makeover a room, consider recycling that paint. Below are some cities I’ve found with paint recylcing/reusing programs.
San Francisco, CA
Mesa, AZ
Irvine, CA
If you know of any others, please list them in the comments section.

RIP Pillow

I want to take a moment of silence for Pillow.

Pillow was a good pillow. I’m not sure when I got him, but I’m pretty sure he was over 15 years old. He saw me through high school, he went to college with me. We lived it up in the dotcom years up in the Bay Area, and he settled with me in LA as I developed my career. He made it to the OC, living by the water and then later by the super-conglomerate malls. He even got to meet my son. I only wish he was able to live in stability in our first owned house.

I love you Pillow.

BACK STORY: Phillip and I made a deal where I said I would give up Pillow when we got a home. True, we have made our purchase and gotten our keys, but technically, I’m still living in our rented apartment…I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye!

UPDATE: Phillip has releases this hopeful statement: “I sent him on a world tour. It’ll be like Amelie & the garden gnome – you’ll get pictures of him visiting different countries – the eiffel tower, mt fiji, great wall of china, pyramids in egypt…”