Letters For Lucas

Wonders, Mishaps, Blunders and Joy.. commentary on my life as a mom in the form of letters to my son

Old Favorites

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We have lived in Orange County for almost four months and still have a garage full of stuff to organize in hopes that one day we might be able to make enough room to park at least one car, several boxes yet to unpack, several bare walls to adorn and haven’t met all of our neighbors.

We may have just found our new favorite pizza spot, but have yet to discover our new favorite park, farmer’s market, sushi restaurant, bakery or the quickest route to the freeway.

I miss San Diego. Specifically, I miss our old house. I miss our old neighbors. I miss our old favorites.

In north county San Diego I knew exactly where to get a unique child’s birthday gift: Geppetto’s at The Forum Shops in Carlsbad, an excellent bagel sandwich: Garden State Bagels (Encinitas or Carlsbad), the perfect turkey burger: Lotus Cafe (Encinitas) and a inexpensive way to tire out a 21 month old: Kidsville at the Westfield mall in Carlsbad. I also knew where to get the best donuts, cookies, cakes, pies and bread on the planet: VG Donuts & Bakery in Cardiff.

Mmmm… donuts.

San Diego friends, please do me a favor and go get a donut or a dozen for me and I’ll make it worth your while! Juice in the City is currently offering a super sweet deal: $10 for $20 worth of bakery items at VG Donuts & Bakery.

Click here for more details!

And meanwhile… *sigh* I will remain on the lookout for new OC favorites and try not to drool. There is a strong possibility that I will be making a trip to certain favorite old bakery too. 🙂

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Juice in the City. I was compensated for this post, but all opinions expressed are 100% my own.

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Project Smile – March

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Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as to not injure future ones. – Seneca


As usual, March was a topsy turvy month of highs and lows, but I’m grateful for each and every day and love to stop and think about the simple pleasures that bring me joy.

Here’s what had me smiling in March:

1st – I decided that I would like to be paid to write so I submitted a proposal to a couple of online news magazines. After several follow-ups, I have yet to hear anything, but it was a first step and I’m hopeful that something will come my way soon… Stay tuned!
2nd – Lunch with an old friend and an old haunt I used to frequent when I was a working woman.
3rd – Soup Plantation’s grilled cheese bread dippers and creamy tomato soup and sharing them with someone who appreciates them just as much as I do. 🙂
4th – A girl’s night out and discovering jalapeno cucumber margaritas. Yummy!!
5th – A baby shower. There’s nothing like welcoming a new life with pretty little things.
6th – Crayons, Play-Doh, paint, trains, books, bubbles ANYTHING to keep the little guy busy and entertained.
7th – My sister turned 27!
8th – Sitter days…. ah.
9th – Getting in the car and turning on the radio to Dave Matthews. Twice!!
10th – Good news, bad news and more confusion… sometimes it’s what makes the world go round.
11th – Discovering a new kid friendly pizza place.
12th – Five loads of laundry DONE… until the next time.
13th – A visit to LA to celebrate aunt Leah’s birthday.
14th – A very productive day of phone calls, appointment setting and follow ups.
15th – Making it through a lunch without divulging a surprise.
16th – Lucas pushed the kid-sized shopping cart at the super market today and although he nearly plowed over three people and almost knocked over an entire display of potatoes, he loved every minute.
17th – March Madness + friends + cocktails + Blackjack = Winning and 24 hours in Vegas!
18th – 10:00 AM massage appointment.
19th – I attended my first blogging conference, Bloggy Boot Camp. To read all about it, click here.
20th – Being at the finish line waiting for my sister after she ran the LA Marathon.
21st – Exhaustion. Glad that the weekend is OVER and ready to resume the regularly scheduled program.
22nd – Closet cleaning, a nice long walk and sushi.
23rd – A fun day at the petting zoo.
24th – UofA vs. Duke and low and behold, UofA won!!
25th – Housekeeper day. I love me the smell of Pine-sol and Windex.
26th – Date night.
27th – A couple of toddler free hours at the nail salon.
28th – An abrupt ending to music class, which left no one smiling followed by a three hour nap, which was MUCH appreciated.
29th – An overnight visit from Grandpa.
30th – First day of Tootsie Roll class and a visit with friends in town from Idaho.
31st – A shopping trip for me and beautiful 80 degree weather. I believe Spring is in the air!

To see why I was smiling in February, click here and to link up with your own month of simple pleasures, visit Kristi of Live and Love out Loud.

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For Sure

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Not too long ago, inspired by Oprah’s final thoughts in O magazine, I came up with a list of 13 Things I Know For Sure and after seeing Mama Kat’s writing prompts for this week, I had to revisit, revamp and re-share my list with some edits and seven addendum’s.

I haven’t been on this planet that long, but certainly long enough to learn a few things about myself, my habits, my body, the products I use, the company I keep and my pastimes, that I am now willing to put in black-and-white:

1) Bangs only look cute on Heidi Klum and always seem like a good idea at the time, but will take forever to grow out and look terrible on my face.

2) No matter how great my intentions are, fresh produce will go bad before I know it. Buy as you need, no more, no less.

3) I might as well get $100 out of the ATM, I know I’ll spend it and it will save me the time and embarrassment at Subway.

4) The hotter the shower, the drier my skin.

5) I should have started using eye cream at age 20 instead of age 30.

6) Generic brand Q-tips suck!

7) If it’s already 9:00, do not start a movie, I will fall asleep. The exception to this is when my husband is out of town and then for some god forsaken reason, I can stay up until after midnight.

8) Send thank you notes immediately! Having to start with, “I’m sorry this is so late…” is no way to thank someone.

9) A watched pot never boils, a phone doesn’t ring, nor an ‘In Box’ fill.

10) I will never be known for my dinner parties, but maybe my unique handwriting.

11) There is such a thing as karma and I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around and it can show up in many different forms; parking spots, waits in line, transferring sleeping children from car seats to cribs and simply being at the right place at the right time.

12) Chances are I will probably never breathe the same air as Dave Matthews, but a girl can dream, can’t she? *Swoon*

13) As much as people may think, it really doesn’t take a lot to make me happy; a bowl of popcorn, a fountain drink (or these days a Hansen’s diet soda), an hour on the treadmill or in a book store, a full tank of gas, showing up on time.

14) I believe in the power of positive thinking, girl time, dancing a bad mood away and a good cry.

15) Pottery Barn Kids furniture is lust worthy only when pictured in the catalog, once you get it into your home, it’s crap!

16) Everyone should call their parents more.

17) “This too shall pass” may be cliche and super annoying, but it’s true.

18) It’s time to accept the fact that every time I make plans with you-know-who, she will either: flake, be late, change them at the last minute, or postpone to the point where I want to give up on the friendship all together.

19) Motherhood is the toughest and most rewarding job I have ever had.

20) It’s okay to ask for help, forgiveness and a rain check (as long as you’re not already 15 minutes late).

What do you know for sure?

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop, Prompt 3.) What I know for sure.

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School Days

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From 1976-1979, my parents taught on an Indian reservation in Sells, Arizona. My mother taught kindergarten and my father, high school U.S. history.

For reasons I’m unclear of, I attended a Catholic school in a different district for kindergarten and first grade, almost nine miles away in Topawa. My family isn’t Catholic.

The scent of Play-Doh and Coppertone, riding my Big Wheel up and down the sidewalk in front of our house, skinned knees, playing house, watching the Donnie and Marie Show, too much sugar cereal and wishing I was older all remind me of my childhood, but it’s six very distinctive events that stand out when I think back to being four and five years old and my first school days:

1. I got to ride the school bus all by myself for what I now know was only 20 minutes, but back then felt like 90. How grown up I felt. It was frightening too, especially the time that I missed my stop and a policeman escorted the bus to pull over so that I get off after multiple radio calls were made regarding my whereabouts. I knew full well that the light haired, light eyed little girl they were talking about was me.

2. I stapled my finger to see what it would feel like and I quickly learned that it hurt like hell as I stood there bleeding my ruby red blood all over Miss Mills’ desk with big crocodile tears streaming down my face. I’ve never done that again!

3. Catholic nuns can be both vicious and the most endearing women on the planet.

4. Case and point: Once Sister Trecel made me eat a banana at lunch even though I told her that it would make me sick. When I threw up all over her and her starch black and white habit, she sent me home with a note of apology to my parents pinned to my shirt.

5. Naps… need I say more? Actually, it is not the naps that I recall so much as the uncomfortable green army cots and the giant pools of drool that I remember most of all. Not mine, mind you. I also remember laying there for what seemed like forever listening to my class mates snore. I still can’t nap.

6. When Miss Mills asked us to draw a picture of our family, I drew my mother, father, myself and my baby sister. Miss Mills called my mother that evening to congratulate her on our family’s new addition. My sister, Leah wouldn’t be born for another eight years. Gulp! Thinking back on this family portrait always reminds me how much I longed for a sibling.

Two big years of my young life as defined by six small events that stand out very clearly in my adult head.

This post is for The Red Dress Club’s writing assignment, RemembeRED. This week’s prompt was to remember kindergarten.

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A Day In The Life Of A Toddler

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  1. He doesn’t want to have his diaper changed.
  2. He wants to pull on the blinds.
  3. He doesn’t want to put his shoes on.
  4. He wants to play in mom’s nightstand drawers.
  5. He wants to take trains with him, he doesn’t want to carry them.
  6. He doesn’t want to participate in music class, he wants to go to the aquarium.
  7. He doesn’t want to sit in the grocery store cart, he wants to push it.
  8. He wants to play with the cars at the pharmacy.
  9. He doesn’t want to leave the pharmacy.
  10. He doesn’t want to sit in his car seat.
  11. He wants to watch TV.
  12. He doesn’t want to take his shoes off.
  13. He wants his sippy cup with the top off.
  14. He doesn’t like getting wet.
  15. He wants the whole thing, not just a small bite.

How many temper tantrums can one child have a day? It’s only 4:30 and I’m still counting…

Needless to say, it’s been a rough day.

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Mom Snacks

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You probably won’t believe this but I have never tried any of Lucas’ food.

I never taste tested the formula we gave him, rice cereal, homemade baby food we so painstakingly made when he was an infant, teething biscuits, puffs or other snacks.

I try to give him a lot of things I don’t particularly care for like; bananas, beans of all sorts, peas, blueberry waffles and yogurt and have never sampled any of them.

He may have fed me a Cheerio or two from his snack trap, but other than that, I don’t partake.

For one, his food never appeals to me and I’m not very adventurous when it comes to cuisine 2.) I’m not a snacker and 3.) I don’t need the extra calories.

All that has changed now that I’ve discovered Annie’s Bunny Grahams. Have you tried these delightful little itty bitty bite-sized nuggets of scrumptiousness? Holy cow, they’re good and they should be banned from my house because now I don’t buy them for Lucas, I buy them for me!

Hmmm, come to think of it, we have a lot of Annie’s Homegrown products in our home. I might just have to broaden my taste buds.

Do you eat off your child’s plate? What’s your favorite mom, er… I mean, kid food?

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Enough

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I had heard about this viral video but hadn’t watched it until today.


Is this really what our young people are capable of?

A teen gets bullied one too many times and finally snaps and another gets body slammed for thinking he’s better, smarter, faster, more powerful? Insane!

I’m sad and disturbed and want to sign my son up for karate as soon as he’s old enough.

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Witching Hours

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Today you will find me over at Liz’s place, a belle, a bean & a chicago dog revealing a particularly dreadful time period that perhaps you can identify with if you have a toddler, had a toddler or ever were a toddler… In our house this time period is know as Witching Hours!

Liz is my fairy blogmother and has advised me on several blogging quandaries with an ease and candor that I respect and admire. Recently we took our relationship to third base (if your don’t know what that means, you have to read Liz’s post, How Twitter is Like First Base) and had a phone conversation. She is as lovely on the phone as she is on her blog and in tweets. 🙂

I was thrilled when Liz asked me to guest post for her today, so what are you waiting for, come say hello!

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For The Best

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I hold on to you tighter than anything else in my life.
I have faith that you will get me through no matter what’s in store for me.
You offer me the prospect of a better tomorrow.
You grow and bloom in my heart whether I want you there or not.
You make me believe that I will be more patient, more loving, more tolerate and more at peace.
You are the cure, the relief, the strength and promise I need.
Without you I’d be lost.
Without you I’d be desperate and sad.
For the best or for the worst,
You are hope.

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop, Prompt 2.) April is national poetry month…Write a poem about hope.

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