The Daily: It's Tuesday, so that's good

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

4:58 am: Two minutes until the alarm goes off. Last night was rough. The husbands' snoring woke me up it was so loud I literally thought someone started a chainsaw. I am an avid horror movie watcher so you can imagine how it scared the shit out of me, I was expecting to open my eyes and see leather face.

6:25 am: Day two on the wonderful breezy fan covered treadmill at the gym. I am going to be so bummed when the old man that usually walks on this machine returns from the cruise he took with his wife and spreads his travel germs with the gym goers (I am just imagining that's where he is, but it seems likely).

7:14 am: My husband is not a morning person. He cannot manage getting his stuff done at the same time we are getting our stuff done. I told him that I was thinking about getting an air fryer and he almost popped a vein in his neck asking me where I thought I would store it. Yikes.

9:35 am: I am heading out to the Costco. I am not a fan of Costco but I have to return apple juice that has chunks in it, yes, some kind of floaties. The juice has to go back and I am on Costco duty because the husband is working during the day this week.

11:15 am: Back from Costco and working on some art for The Baby Gene on TikTok, a terrifying clown. I like it.

2:10 pm: On my way to pick up the kid from school. The day is speeding by as usual.

3:32 pm: Eating chocolate covered banana bites that I attempted to make this afternoon. They're pretty good but the recipe needs to be tweaked a bit. Don't they all.

8:11 pm: Sitting down to watch Netflix, Russian Doll, loving Natasha Leone.

The Daily: Monday's were made for Winners

Monday, April 25, 2022

4:58 am: Waking up before the Monday alarm. Not feeling too terrible. I think the knowledge that everyone else will be out of the house until at least 3 this afternoon has got me feeling motivated.

5:48 am: Running on my old favorite treadmill, the one I used everyday for two years before an elderly man and his wife joined my gym and now he bogarts that machine. I had the lovely cool breeze of the fan...perfect.

6:26 am: Went to wake up the kid and he left his patio sliding door open all night. Yikes. Thankfully he is still here.

7:25 am: Leaving early for school. This is not our typical Monday, but I am NOT complaining.

8:56 am: Just finished breakfast. I had to stop and buy groceries after I dropped the kid off at school. I am going to slowly drink my coffee without anyone judging me for how long I've been sitting on the couch. Hello, empty house.

10:45 am: Finally sitting down to work on a creative project. I am filming The Baby Gene drawings I did for TikTok. Four story scenes to shoot, then work on more ideas. 

11:45 am: Making lunch and some of dinner at the same time. For a person that doesn't have to to work I am so flipping busy. By the time I sit down to eat I will have to get back up again, chores are the burden of life.

2:25 pm: Walking the dog around my kids school neighborhood. It is hot and I am sweating, now my bra is going to have to be cleaned again. Damn Southern California weather.

6:16 pm: Finished dinner and cleaning up, I've got to go our and walk the dog. I am still feeling unsafe after the man harassed me on the weekend. Shit, I hate this feeling.

 

8:08 pm: Sitting down watching Ozark on Netflix...yes, I still have my account. 

The Daily: Here's to Getting a Little Extra Sleep

 Saturday, April 23, 2022

5:40 am: I don't know if it's the extra forty minutes or simply the lack of that annoying alarm that makes waking up so much easier, either way I am all about it.

6:08 am: Running in the neighborhood before the sun is so bright it kills my retinas. It's nice an cool too, sometimes sweating at the gym is a little much.

7:51 am: Drinking coffee and working on this last episode of Inventing Anna, I won't be sad when it's over, I am ready to move on to something new.

9:03 am: My mother in law just called to say her father (my kids great grandfather) isn't feeling well. He's 90 so anytime he isn't feeling well it gives everyone a scare.

9:15 am: Sitting with my kid in his room looking at Pokemon cards and trying to organize something that I have no understanding of. This should be good.

10:04 am: Working on drawings for The Baby Gene TikTok account when my kid asks for help. Help with what you wonder? Well, he wrapped his comb around his hair like a tornado blew through his bathroom while he was combing his hair. 

 

11:30 am: Still trying to get this comb out of my kids hair. My back is tired, my kids head is pounding from me pulling as gently as possible to get the comb out. Holy shit. 

11:45 am: I DID IT!! I freed the hair from the evil comb. Wow. Take this advice from me. Do not let your kid get a comb stuck in their hair. It is bad. Comb stuck in hair = bad.

12:15 pm: Making lunch after getting that comb unstuck from the kids hair and drinking a beer. I deserve this beer.

2:02 pm: Walking the dog through my tidy safe little neighborhood. There is a man sitting in a white car with Texas license plates. He is parked in the road, not off the side. I walk by and look at him but keep walking, a few minutes later he pulls up next to me and says something. I take one of my airpods out and say, "Excuse me?" He repeats himself, "Can I smack you ass?" Yup. That's what he asked. I replied with my snottiest "no", which to him meant to ask me again. What a fucking day.

6:08 pm: The husband is cooking dinner and which means that I am making a separate dinner for the kid. Mac and cheese and vegetables. I have told you before that the weekend is rougher for me than during the week.

7:30 pm: Sitting down to watch tv. We are watching The Summer of Soul on Disney Plus. I am enjoying it, the husband seems bored. Go figure.

The Daily: Give it up for Friday

 Friday, April 22, 2022

5:13 am: Yes! Thirteen extra minutes of sleep. It's not much but I will take it. It almost feels like a little gift to myself. Late start Fridays always start the weekend off right.

6:00 am: Jogging on the gym and my stomach is burning. I went to bed with indigestion and now it's back with a vengeance. Any kind of stomach ailment is a real bitch when you jog.

7:07 am: Happily sitting down and drinking coffee while I watch the news. There were two stories about wine already...I feel a story for The News Without Sound coming on.

11:04 am: Working on filming for The Baby Gene on TikTok. I have so many great background drawings to use...

2:11 pm: Walking the dog in my own neighborhood for once, the husband went to pick the kid up from school so I didn't have to. 

3:15 pm: Things were great until the boy and husband got back from school. The kid failed his math test, bad grades two days in a row. Holy hell, teenagers are hard.

8:42 pm: Almost done with Inventing Anna, way more into it than I was originally.

The Daily: One more day til the weekend

Thursday, April 21, 2022

5:03 am: Good morning. Or maybe just morning. I am tired of waking up at five. Summer vacation can not come soon enough.

5:41 am: Running on the treadmill. Surprised? Me neither. I remember when I was a kid and was blissfully ignorant to the idea of the daily grind, those days were good.

6:57 am: The kid is actually already in the shower. I am always thankful when it doesn't take four or more times of me telling him to get ready. We are starting on the right foot today.

8:39 am: Back from dropping the kid off at school, traffic sucked. Drinking coffee and reading a few pages of St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell. This book is crazy imaginative and so well written. I am loving it.

10:20 am: Finished picking weeds out in the yard. Dude, weed picking has become a weekly occurrence. The summer is unbelievably hot, but there are not G.D. weeds to pull.

1:29 pm: Had a great lunch from Rainbow Poke. Poke is SO expensive but so GOOD. I am addicted (to eating raw fish, hahaa, that sounds weird).

 

3:40 pm: Back from school and the kid got a D on his English poem project and now I have to punish him. What am I supposed to do to make this kid care about his grades? I would have been terrified to go home having gotten a D on a project, my kid isn't worried at all.

7:41 am: Talking on the phone with my husband about the kids grades. We are trying to figure out a good old fashion scare tactic to get him to work harder at school. Hey guys, being a parent is SO fun.

The Daily: He's Running Late Today

April 20, 2022

5:02 am: Out of bed. Still feeling really sleepy, this whole week has not been easy to get up. 

 

5:45 am: Running on the treadmill. There has been two new people at the gym, a man with a big beard and a young lady, I can't figure out if they are a couple or brother sister or father daughter. Forty minutes on the treadmill leads to many ponderings.

 

6:54 am: Trying to get the kid to get out of bed. I've told him three times already. We have about a half of an hour before we have to leave and he is slow moving this morning. 

9:05 am: Happy to have the morning to myself. There has been too much changing of schedules and what not around here. I like to have my mornings to get my chores done so that I can work on drawing or filming The Baby Gene, things I like to do.

11:25 am: Working on a story about LA banning plastic cutlery. Good plastic forks and knives suck anyways, who needs them (The News With No Sound).

12:30 pm: Eating lunch with my husband and watching the latest Lakers Winning Time on HBO. It's calmed down a bit since the third episode, I am actually kind of thankful, it was a little sex gratuitous even for me.

1:18 pm: Ready to go back to working on my 3 panel drawing, well two three panel drawings, even though I screwed up one of them already. So now it's fix it mode instead of draw it mode.

3:31 pm: Eating cinnamon cookies that I made with the left over pie crust I made for the quiche. This is my kids favorite thing.

6:08 pm: Cleaning up the house after dinner. It's Wednesday so, I am not really into my yoga practice tonight, but I'll throw down a couple of stretches so my traitorous hip doesn't keep me up all night.

8:10 pm: Watching Real Housewives of Orange County (my lord those ladies are rich or at least go places rich people go) and drawing some backgrounds for The Baby Gene on TikTok.

The Daily: Back to 5 AM

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

5:05 am: The alarm went off five minutes ago. I fell back asleep pretty good, that was dangerous, I could have slept for at least another hour. 

6:10 am: Driving back from the gym feeling bleary eyed still. A four day weekend makes it very hard to get back on the early rising and gym going kind of motivation.

7:50 am: Kid is at school and I have to pick up groceries. My husband wonders why I don't wait to get groceries later in the day, when I've had coffee and food, but I think being around all that food first thing in the morning makes eating my breakfast even better. It's like delayed gratification (which usually I only care about when it comes to opening birthday gifts).

9:09 am: Breakfast and coffee done. Working on a story about how disgusting your dogs mouth is, it really is, they lick their butts and who knows what else, it will be posted tomorrow on The News With No Sound.

 

11:31 am: Eating lunch about two hours after I ate breakfast is kind of weird, but I did it. I've got to pick up the kid at 12:40 pm today, so I am rushed today.  Early out school days are a real pain in the ass.

11:43 am: Tried to leave a few minutes early because I have to use our entire savings account to put gas in the car (have you heard that gas prices are crazy right now), but the husband stops me on my way out to as me to do something that I could have done an hour ago. Annoyed.

12:00 pm: Like an idiot I tried to get gas at the Costco station but the line was out of the parking lot. It took all the extra time I had just to exit the parking lot without getting gas because there were so many cars. Dude, I hate Costco.

1:04 pm: Getting gas at the local corner station. It was only $100 to fill up the tank. We barely ever go to the beach, sometimes I am unsure why we live in California.

2:27 pm: The husband is sleeping again, he has his reasons, and the kid ran away from home to play with his friends in the neighborhood. Which I have mixed feelings about, but I guess that's a story for another day.

 

4:30 pm: The kid is back from the park, on his own, without me having to beg him to come home. That was a nice surprise. Now he is sitting on the couch like a lump, things always go back to normal.

 

6:02 pm: Eating dinner. I made a creamy pasta with ham and peas recipe that was kind of disastrous, its one of the downfalls of recipes from the internet.

 

7:48 pm: Back to the couch. Feeling tired and ready to call it a night. I really love going to bed early, really early, like 9 pm early. 

The Daily: This is an easy Monday

Monday, April 18, 2022

 

4:01 am: Give me a break. I was hearing noises in the house so I opened my stupid eyes only to realize it's 4 in the morning. The noises? Who knows.

 

5:28 am: Waiting on the alarm to go off so I can shut it off and get our of bed. Heading to the gym.

 

5:51 am: The gym is pretty empty. Still the usual suspects but thinned out for sure. Fine with me, I don't need those peeps around to work out.

 

7:48 am: Updating the blog. Working on a story for The New With No Sound, a kindergartner brought a premixed margarita to  school and shared with her friends. Oh boy.

9:09 am: Going out into the yard to replant this basil plant I bought at Trader Joes. It's impossible to water because it's sooooo packed into the stupid little plastic pot it came in. This is like the 3rd attempt at growing a basil plant so I am giving it a little extra attention. This one is going to work, damn it.

11:00 am: Sitting down to do a little writing. Working on a story about a man who sued his work for celebrating his birthday at work when he didn't want them to. I can feel that. 

12:15 pm: Just got an email from the kids teacher saying that they have a report that is due tonight and the kids should have worked on it during the long weekend. She sent this email on Monday...not Thursday night? Not Friday morning. On Monday? Thanks for the long weekend reminder.

1:50 pm: Taking the kid to meet his friends at the park.  A plan that I let him make before I knew he had this report due. 

5:35 pm: Getting dinner made. I've been standing in the kitchen for a long time now. My feet are TIRED.

7:37 pm: Helping the kid with his report. I really wish I would have known it was due tonight. I would have locked him down and got this shit done on Saturday.

8:50 pm: Watching Inventing Anna on Netflix. I started this like three weeks ago and only managed to get through one episode. Ep two is a little smoother sailing so far.

The Daily: Easter Sunday

 Sunday, April 17, 2022

5:27 am: Not yet eyes.

6:15 am: Okay, now I'll get up. Time to run those miles.

8:47 am: Drinking coffee and watching the rest of In The Heights. Lin Manuel Miranda is so unbelievably talented and can tell a STORY.

10:05 am: Heading out to the store to grab a new game or puzzle, something to do together. Oh yah and pretzel rolls to eat with that Easter ham. Pretzel rolls work with everything.

12:28 pm: Burrito Sunday!! I love burrito Sunday except...sorry husband, but he forgot to order my burrito withOUT cheese. I am not down for big globs of cheese in my burrito.

2:34 pm: Hanging out with the kid looking at car models on Amazon, they are so expensive. Everything is so expensive. I don't know what people are going to do with all this inflation shit.

5:15 pm: Working our butts off to get dinner ready. After two glasses of champagne staying focused isn't really our strong suit.

7:34 pm: Done, done, done. Sitting on the couch with our feet up and watching Ozarks on Netflix.

The Daily: Car Show Sat

Saturday, April 16, 2022

5:27 am: Okay, I'll get up. I've been laying here thinking about going pee anyway. Off I go.

6:03 am: Shoes on and ready to head out for a jog. The weather is so typical southern california spring. Misty clouds but the sun is right behind them ready to burn this shit up.

7:43 am: Waking up the kid, we are going to a car show today. Busy busy busy.

9:01 am: Getting ready to venture out to the car show. Packing some snacks because you can never have too many snacks.

10:06 am: Well. Car show was a bust. There were maybe 8 cars. We drove half an hour to be there for 15 minutes. Now we have to find something else to do for the morning. 

11:10 am: Back home. I guess I'll get to making lunch for everyone. Welcome to the weekend.

1:31 pm: Taking a walk with the dog. It's only been about seven hours of Saturday and I am kind of over it. 

4:36 pm: Sitting outside on the dirty outdoor couch cushions because the husband wants me to sit with him. He smokes a cigar, I sit. Well, sit and type on my laptop. The neighbor has a tree that is creaking in the wind, I hope that branch doesn't smash my pic nic table.

The Daily: No School Today

Friday, April 15, 2022

5:35 am: Having to pry my eyes open this morning. I got a little extra sleep because there is no school today. It's nice that it's not dark as night outside.

5:55 am: The gym is always weird when I go at a different time. The regs are there but they are finishing up their workouts instead of just starting them. Not crowded at all. Still the same 39 minutes on the treadmill thou.

6:45 am: Back home and trying to be quiet because everyone is still asleep. That's not easy in a house with a raised foundation, every step is creaky and loud.

7:39 am: Going to wake up the kid. We are going to the LACMA this morning. We have to go get Subway sandwiches and Starbucks coffee before we hit the road to fight traffic downtown.

9:15 am: Hitting the road, picking up Subway sandwiches (high class as always) and Starbucks coffees (cost more than two sandwiches at subway).

10:40 am: Parking at the La Brea Tar Pits Museum parking lot, cheaper than the art museum. There is a great part to walk around and look at how the tar bubble up out of the ground in Downtown...strange.

11:10 am: Show us the art! 

11:45 am: Modern art is the kids jam. He is impressed and I kind of can't believe it. I am happy about it but a little surprised. Oh yah, and I we saw a Picasso. That's pretty cool.

12:47 pm: Eating those Subway sandwiches next to a bubbling pit of tar with a tall Mammoth statue. Not bad for a Friday afternoon.

2:00 pm: Home and tired. Thankfully it's not too hot in here, I am going to try and catch a quick nap before I have to start cooking and cleaning.

4:15 pm: I have to start working on this quiche. Once I have it ready, I can get to the garden while it's baking in the oven.

8:26 pm: Watching In the Heights on HBO, it's 2 hours and 20 minutes. How many nights will it take? I am guessing 3.

The Daily: Ugh, I have to go to DMV

Thursday, April 16, 2022

4:58 am: Just watching the clock until the alarm goes off. No point in getting out of bed two whole minutes early. I'll just lay here and peep at the clock every ten seconds or so pretending like this is some kind of way of getting extra rest.

5:01 am: Okay, I am up. Getting ready for the gym....again.

5:14 am: I know this sounds like real first world problems but my treadmill was at it's highest incline when I got on it. I chose this one because my normal one was already being milled upon. Getting off the treadmill at it's highest incline must feel weird. Why would someone leave it like this. 

7:15 am: Breakfast done, I've got to get the kid ready on time today. I have a lovely DMV appointment to renew my drivers license. I know, lucky girl.

8:08 am: At the DMV, thankfully I was smart enough to make an appointment, they are moving me through the process quickly. When the lady took my picture she said, "I can tell you don't like having your picture taken." Okay, I am not sure how to take that. I guess I'll find out when my new license comes.

 

9:05 am: Back home and ready to get some of the housework out of the way so I can do something I like to do, like make silly little videos for The Baby Gene on TikTok.

11:15 am: Early lunch. My husband has to start work early today. I am kind of okay with that, I can get a little time home alone.

3:30 pm: Helping the kid with math. He refuses to do all of his homework because its the weekend. Great. That means that I am going to have to force him to do it on Sunday.

5:45 pm: BLTs for dinner. The kid was at the park playing basketball and was late getting home. Now I have to go get him from the park.

8:34 pm: Finishing Rent on HBO, this is one of the longest movies yet. It's going to take another evening to finish still.

The Daily: Let's Get It

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

5:02 am: Hopping out of bed, looking for inspiration to want to hop out of bed. I am sure this is a normal feeling. Sometimes my motivation dips, you feel me.

6:09 am: Heading home from the gym. I saw a person I used to work with at the gym, that I have never seen there before, but they looked away from me like they were risking whiplash to keep from having to say hello to me. I am not taking it personally. 

6:53 am: Watching the local news for an interesting story to cover for the The News With No Sound, traffic barrel sculptures, a person glued themselves to the court at a basketball game (?), and a bunch of sad news about people being shot. Welcome to LA news.

8:40 am: Finishing breakfast and coffee. I've got chores around the house to get to and the yard to work on. People think not having to go to work means you have all the time in the world...ha!

10:15 am: Trimming the bougainvillea by the driveway. We let this baby get way to big, it's been hard to see in and out of the driveway. It looks so pretty thou.

 

12:17 pm:  Bought tickets to the LACMA for the me and the kid for Friday. Hopefully he will like it and not be bored. I guess I don't know until I give it a try.

3:38 pm: Back from school. Apparently the kid had a big poetry something or other due today that he didn't get finished. Although, I looked at his classroom website and it says it is due tomorrow. Hmmm...I'll have to see how this goes.

5:15 pm: Boiling some pasta for dinner. Only problem is I thought we had tomato sauce, we don't. Time to get creative with my cooking skills. This means dinner won't be great.

9:03 pm: Finished a little Real Housewives of Orange County. Rich people, man.

The Daily: I am Good With Tuesday

 Tuesday, April 12, 2022

5:02 am: Not as hard to get our of bed this morning. Still yawning and I know that I have to pick the kid up early from school today, so I gotta get on it.

6:51 am: Begging the kid to get our of bed so we can get moving. He doesn't want to wake up either, a chip off the old block.

8:48 am: Made it to school in time, I've got about 3 hours before I have to go back and pick him up. That's so stupid. Because the kids are taking a standardized test they need an early out day? Weak.

9:15 am: Working on an article for The News With No Sound about Etsy shops going on strike because of fee increases. Hell yah, down with the man you creative sellers.

11:55 am: Left to pick the kid up from school, the husband came with. When we parked at the school he asked me what time school let out, "12:40," I replied. He was pissed we were so early. What can I say, I like to get a parking spot.

2:20 pm: The kid is home and complaining about being hungry, even after a family sized bowl of flat pretzels and a triangle of cow cheese. Teenagers will eat everything in your house if you let them.

3:15 pm: Off to work on a video for The Baby Gene on TikTok. Making little movies can be time consuming.

4:35 pm: Working on something for dinner. Egg and sausage burritos, breakfast for dinner is usually a winner in this house.

8:56 pm: Finishing West Side Story on HBO. I hope I can finish it, again, please stop making movies so long. If movies were shorter I would see ALL of them.

The Daily: Yup, it's Monday

Monday, April 11, 2022

5:02 am: Ugh. Getting out of bed and heading to the gym. I really LOVE waking up early. I feel so rested and great. Not at all.

6:09 am: The gym was a ghost town this morning. Where is everyone? Monday can take a toll on people. 

6:54 am: Ready for some coffee. Please, please.

7:30 am: Everyone is riding in the car to school. I am not sure I love it when the husband and the dog tag along for school trips. This means no Howard Stern for me. 

8:43 am: Back from the super market. At least the husband is here to help me put away groceries. I hate putting away groceries as much as I hate folding the laundry and putting it away in the dresser drawers.

11:45 am: Getting salad ready for lunch. Husband is reheating pizza. His lunches are always leftovers that I made for him, it only takes him like five minutes to make lunch and it takes me like twenty. Wah...life isn't fair.

1:45 pm: Working on a story for The News With No Sound, a man giving up food but only drinking beer for Lent. Is that the way it's supposed to work. It seems like he is giving up something he enjoys for something he enjoys even more.

3:49 pm: Sitting with the kid while he works on his math homework. He isn't letting me help him which means he will be doing math homework for the next hour. Stubborn ass kid.

5:15 pm: Making sloppy Joe's for dinner. It's a gourmet kind of night.

7:49 pm: Watching the new Westside Story on HBO. Alone. I know neither of the boys would put up with this dancing and singing so it's a solo movie (that's going to take me at least three nights to finish).

The Daily: MTV Saturday Mornings

 Saturday, April 9, 2022

6:01 am: Waking up without an alarm. Joyous. 

6:18 am: Putting on my running shoes and getting a pair of socks out of the dryer because I did my laundry last night which means the dryer will be my dresser for the rest of the day, or until someon helse needs to do laundry.

8:15 am: My favorite thing about Saturday morning: MTV's Fresh Out Playlist. Not that all the videos are enjoyable but I love watching videos on MTV.

10:15 am: Taking the kid to the mall, he wants to walk around and look at things he can't afford. That's okay, that's what teenage kids do.

12:30 pm: Picking up over priced sandwiches because we stayed at the mall not buying anything for way too long. 

 

2:30 pm: Walking the dog and it is so HOT. The poor dog hates me know, she keeps looking at me like I am some kind of asshole.

 

5:50 pm: Sliders for dinner. A little Glass Animals on the speaker. I am sure my husband is hating it. 

8:03 pm: Watching Metal Lords on Netflix, it's pretty funny. Oh, teenagers.

The Daily: Late Start Friday

 Friday, April 8, 2022

5:03 am: Getting out of bed on a Friday always feels a little easier, doesn't it. Also, it's late start Friday, which means we get an extra hour before we have to rush out the door. 

6:15 am: Back from the gym and listening to my new obsession, Hadestown on Apple music. I've got to get tickets to this one before it's too popular and I cant' get tickets. I always wait too long.

7:09 am: Leisurely drinking a cup of coffee, again, late start Friday is so nice.

8:05 am: Just bought tickets to the Hadestown show at the Ahmanson Theater for all three of us, expensive. But I am very excited to force the boys to see a little live stage music and acting.

8:30 am: Left the house to take the kid to school with my husband. He wants to run a few errands while we are out.

11:37 am: Well, I should have known better. We are just getting back from the "few" errands my husband wanted to run. Three hours of running errands and an impromptu trip to costco, this is my nightmare.

3:23 pm: Stopped at the new Starbucks in the neighborhood and spent eight bucks on two drinks, which my kid finished before we even got to our driveway. I guess the idea was for him to drink it.

5:15 pm: Reheating chicken strips for dinner, but also making a salad and fruits and vegetables. So much for not making dinner tonight.

8:03 pm: Still, still working on Being The Ricardos, I wish there were no movies made that were more than an hour and a half long.

The Daily: That Cockroach Story...

 Thursday, April 7, 2022

5:03 am: Hopping out of bed. Well, not hopping, but you know. I had an intense itch in my ear and all I could think about was that story I read (and wrote about at The News With No Sound) about the man with the whole ass cockroach in his ear. I don't have a cockroach in my ear. I don't have a cockroach in my ear. And this is how the day is starting.

5:17 am: The gym, again. Nothing new happening here. The man bun guy is here, he is intense. He does some kind of crunch at the same time he is doing pull ups. I have never been that strong, like ever.

6:57 am: Kids in the shower. Checking out the news, there is an eaglet in Big Bear, his name is Spirit. This is news in Los Angeles.

 

8:35 am: Someone is talking very loudly with a mega phone outside in my neighborhood, I think the local elementary school is having their field day at the park down the street. I wonder if the loud one realizes the WHOLE neighborhood can hear him.

 

11:01 am: Sitting a the dining room table (aka, screened in porch) just finishing up an article for tomorrow and working on videos for The Baby Gene on Tiktok. The husband wants poke bowls for lunch, fine with me, one less meal to cook today.

3:35 pm: Back from picking the kid up from school. He is still missing like five assignments in math...what the hell? So now I have to keep him grounded from his phone. Being a parent is such a drag.

5:15 pm: Baking a quiche in the oven, it's one of the things my kid will actually eat with little prompting. I enjoy being able to eat dinner without asking my fourteen year old to "take just one more bite, please".

8:09 pm: Continuing Being The Ricardos movie on Prime. Nicole Kidman sounds just like Lucy. I loved I Love Lucy when I was a kid.

The Daily: Mid Week is my Jam

 Wednesday, April 6, 2022

5:03 am: Waking up on Wednesday. I love Wednesday. It's not as good as Friday, obviously, but I won't complain about mid week.

5:17 am: Driving to gym and one of my neighbors just passed me doing like fifty miles an hour. Whew, that's pretty fast for 5 am. Hope a stray cat doesn't leap out in front of them.

6:58 am: Kid in the shower getting ready for school. Moving a little faster this morning, probably because I took his phone away last night. I hate that I had to take his phone away but that kid needs some motivation to get his shit done.

8:47 am: Breakfast and coffee done. Posted my short article about mylar balloons and power lines, it is pretty great, check it out here: The News With No Sound

 

11:04 am: Something is running around on the roof above my head. I am sure it's a squirrel but it sound like a small man with jogging shoes making laps. I kind of hate the squirrels around here. I am sure they do something good for the eco system, but they dig up my plants and leave poop all around. Nuisance, says I.

 

1:21 pm: Husband getting ready to go to work. I have a few voice overs to do for The Baby Gene on TikTok and then I've got to go to the Joe's to get more of this ridiculously delicious Spring Candy mix. I "need" to get it but you know how I am with theme candies. 

1:35 pm: The husband just called me to look at something outside, I never want to look at whatever he wants me to look at outside, it's never good. This time it was a baby rattlesnake. We had to call the Fire Station to have them come take care of it. 

4:15 pm: I have been helping the kid study for math. I hate math, but I can't tell him that because then he'll just say that he hates math too and that's why he struggles in math. UGH.

 5:10 pm: The neighbor just came over and wanted to know why his water bill is so high. What? How and the hell would I know? 

8:08 pm: Sitting down to watch the Real Housewives of Orange County. I love mindless tv.

The Daily: The Bed is Mine, All Mine

 Tuesday, April 5, 2022

5:05 am: Okay, time to get up. I got the whole bed for most of the night so I am feeling rested. It is funny how even though my husband came home at one or two in the morning that I slept so much better without him here. Probably because I can stretch out my arms and legs and keep them from cramping up.

5:15 am: Heading to the gym. Tuesdays are so much better than Mondays, not to be cliche but Tuesdays ARE better.

6:58 am: The kid just hit the shower to get ready for school. He is going to be cutting it real close today.

7:31 am: Got in the car to drive to school, made it a block away when the kid realized he had toothpaste on his t shirt. Turned the car around, ran into the house, he changed his shirt, and got back on the road. That small amount of time meant we were in TRAFFIC. Three minutes was all it took to change our entire drive to school.

8:49 am: Just published the horrifying cockroach in the ear story on The News With No Sound and working on a riveting tale of mylar balloons and the destruction they cause to power lines (give it a chance, it's not as mundane as it sounds, there is an explosion and everything).

9:15 am: Out into the yard to pull weeds. Yes, I am still pulling weeds. It's not like I get a full day to work on it or anything, jeez, get off my back will ya? Seriously though, there are a lot of weeds for one woman to handle.

10:30 am: Back in the house. My plan is to sit and write. First I have to make a DMV appointment to renew my drivers license. 

11:15 am: JUST walked away from the DMV renewal site. Holy shit, I had to find proof of identity documents, take pictures of them, upload them, and now they are pending approval. So, that took up all my time. I wrote NOTHING.

1:31 pm: Received an email from the DMV saying my documents were approved. Wow, so fun. Now I get to make a reservation to go wait in line and show the documents in person, take an eye test, and pay $40. Gotta love the California DMV.

3:32 pm: So frustrated with the kid and his lack of being able to turn in his homework assignments. So now I have to take his phone away from him and he is going to be a shit for the rest of the night. Why, why doesn't someone warn you about all of this when you are all gaga about having a baby. Like, "Hey, it's not all that cute when they are little and puking all over you and it's not fun when you have to be the homework police." I might have listened, probably not, but blaming other people for things is way easier than blaming myself.

7:29 pm: The kid is STILL working on his homework, the homework he told me he turned in but the teacher didn't give him credit for. My head is starting to hurt from his nonsense.

The Daily: Amazon Delivering in the Middle of the Night?

 Monday, April 4, 2022

2:49 am: Good Morning! No, no it's not. I am awake because I thought I heard something at the front door of the house. The first thing that came to mind was the Amazon package that was scheduled to arrive by 8 p.m. last night, but never showed up. Did they just deliver it now? 

5:05 am: Good Morning part II! This time I have to get out of bed. Getting up and getting dressed to go to the gym. Going to see if I can figure out what that sound was earlier this morning. 

6:01 am: Finishing up running on the treadmill, I am ready to get out of the gym this morning. Some mornings I can NOT stand the gym. Monday tends to be the day I can't stand it. Mondays make a lot of things difficult to stand.

6:12 am: There is nothing on the front porch. So Amazon did not deliver in the middle of the night, I didn't really think they had, but it was the first annoying thing that popped into my head. I guess it's also annoying that Amazon did not fulfill their delivery promise. 

7:10 am: Kids up and getting ready for school. Something must have happened to my husband in the half of an hour that he has been awake because he is in a mood. Maybe it's Monday getting to him too. Curse you Monday.

9:04 am: Back from the grocery store, I spent 90 dollars and got a measly three bags of groceries, prices are insane right now. I am working on a essay for The News With No Sound about the Staten Island Amazon warehouse that unionized. 

9:35 am: Off to clean the house and work a little in the yard. Get some chores done so that I can create my dumb TikTok videos and not feel guilty about spending my time doing something so fun.

10:45 am: Filming a new The Baby Gene video for TikTok where he tells us facts about Aloe plants...pokey is going to be one of the facts. Of course.

11:05 am: Husband is asking me to start getting my lunch ready so we can eat together before he has to head off to work. He is definitely feeling Monday. Going back to work after a week off is not easy for anyone. I feel like when he is gone at work and the kid is still at school my true vacation time begins.

1:36 pm: Leaving early to pick up the kid from school so I can stop by the Kohl's to return a couple of very disappointing Amazon orders. This is a heavy Amazon post today. Also, the library is nagging me to return the first season of The Mindy Project.

3:45 pm: Back from picking the kid up from school. Made us some snacks and now I am sitting down to do some writing. I have seen any interesting stories to write about today. Maybe I should just write something on my own.

8:12 pm: Trying to figure out how to keep my kid from being able to watch whatever he wants on HBO Max, I have the parental controls set up, but somehow he is watching movies on my profile. On HBO that can be a dangerous place to be, although, the history shows me everything anyone watches, so I'll at least know if he is watching something inappropriate. Then we get to have a fun conversation about it.

Eat Your Vegetables

Every dinner plate I prepare for my son looks similar to the dinner plate that was prepared the night before, a protein, a stack of carrots, and a fruit. It’s essentially one of those plates that are sectioned off for the members of the food pyramid, that are typically made for very young children just learning to use a fork, my child is way past the learning to use a fork phase. If I didn’t add that stack of carrots and fruit my son would NEVER eat anything that grew out of the ground and he’s fourteen.

Vegetables were not well represented in my house growing up, raw vegetables were a rare sight on our table. The vegetables that found their way to our plates were emptied from a can, placed in a skillet with bacon, and cooked until an inch of its life. The green beans came to the table no longer bright and vibrant green but with a sickly hue of green and the mashed potatoes a pale yellow from the stick of butter that had been added to them prior to the mashing. My mom had a special way of creating vegetables.

Now as the matriarch of our house I bring the veggies, baby. I make cauliflower, broccoli, beets, all forms of squash, the rainbow of vegetables on my table is blinding in its freshness. My son eats none of it. I can trick him by cutting up onions and bell peppers into pieces so small that you would need a microscope to see them and then place them in a mix of freshly made pasta, like he was three and barely out of training underpants.

As you raise your child you see phases and changes. They stop using a diaper as a toilet and become afraid of the dark, they stop crying when they want something and start talking to you in a rude tone, and they stop throwing fits in the toy store and start being late to your planned pick up spot when they’ve gone out with their friends. Refusing to eat vegetables was one of those phases or was supposed to be, I thought, I hoped.

Years ago, as I was describing my nightly dinner woes to a friend, her eyes got narrow and she told me, “He eats what you’re making or he doesn’t eat.” Doesn’t eat would have been just fine with my already tall and skinny kid, but I needed him to eat before he wilted and blew away with a strong breeze. So, I continued to make him a kid friendly version of what we were eating and providing that stack of carrots with a side of fruit, every night, for going on eleven years now (and counting).

When I think about my son’s future I wonder if he will suffer from scurvy because a lack of fresh fruits and veggies or will he grow to appreciate the taste of a good vegetable?

The Daily: Last Day of Spring Break

Sunday, April 3, 2022

6:00 am: On the dot. Checked my watch and it was exactly six in the morning. That works for me on a Sunday morning. Also, it's the last day of Spring Break. Sad but I am ready.

6:23 am: Heading out to jog in the neighborhood. The weather is a little nicer this morning. Yesterday was chilly and misty, not my fav.

8:17 am: Sitting on the couch drinking coffee with my husband. We are watching children play golf on TV and so much about it is odd. These kids don't look happy playing this game they love, they look a little stressed and they are surrounded by a bunch of elderly men. Kind of strange. I have lots of thoughts on this.

8:48 am: Washing dishes and I chopped up the lid to my husband new sauce bottle because it was in the garbage disposal and I didn't know. I am the person in my house that chops everything up in the garbage disposal. We had to buy new spoons because they kept falling down there and I would turn on the disposal and chop them to hell. I am silverware's worst nightmare.

9:44 am: Leaving to go to Costco (nightmare fuel) to return two giant apple juice bottles that have strange little things floating all around inside of them. The to Trader Joes to buy pizza fixings and junk, always buying junk food at the trader joes.

11:30 am: Burrito Sunday. We grabbed burritos on the way back from the trader joe's, giving me a single meal break.

1:27 pm: Off to walk the dog with my garden clippers. I am going to clip a few things from the neighborhood to propagate in the garden. Obviously, everything I am planning on clipping is OUTSIDE people's fences, obviously.

2:30 pm: Back out to the park to throw one of those old school flimsy wood airplanes. My husband brought it home from the hardware store. The kid has a football in tow, we'll see how long this family adventure last for.

3:06 pm: The park was good but now we are back home and drawing on a piece of brown butcher paper on the dining room table. No one is complaining. I wonder if my family has been replaced with aliens in their skins.

4:30 pm: Sauteing mushrooms, shallots, and spinach for pizza toppings. It's going to be soooo good.

6:30 pm: Finished dinner and taking the dog for a walk, we are creatures of habits.

8:36 pm: Watching Licorice Pizza. I paid $5.99 on Amazon. Six bucks is cheap to watch a new movie.

The Daily: I Don't Get Up Early on Saturdays

Saturday, April 2, 2022

 

4:37 am: The husband is getting out of bed and waking me up all at the same time. I refuse to wake up, I am going back to sleep, it's mandatory.

 

6:23 am: Waking up for real this time, I slept so much longer. I love that. 

 

6:44 am: Tennis shoes on and ready to head out and jog on the streets. It's a little cloudy and chilly outside. Perfect for getting sweaty and gross during a jog.

 

8:41 am: Breakfast done. Time for more coffee on the couch.

9:15 am: Out to the yard for more yard work. Today I am going to dead head the Pansy plants to attempt to get a few more blooms out of them. Also, the husband brought home some plants from the store that were over watered and kind of out of control. So now I get the pleasure of trimming them and then replanting them into pots.

11:30 am: Starving. I have to make lunch for the fam. The husband was warming the kids Greek food from last night. Gyro, rice, and french fries in a steamer basket...fries in a steamer basket, what the F?

1:10 pm: Reading my book and taking a break. We are working on a rack of ribs in the smoker together so I have to get back up and instruct my husband on what to do in a few. I think it is painful for my husband to have to take bbq advice from me.

3:14 pm: The boy and husband are off practicing driving. Yes, driving a car. Not my car, thankfully.

5:15 pm: Ribs off the smoker. Baking french fries in the oven. 

6:21 pm: The ribs were not good. Something we did was not right, UGH, we followed all the instructions...I guess sometimes it doesn't matter if you follow the instructions.

7:38 pm: The kid is watching a movie with us again...I don't know what's happening, but I like it. Tonight it is Free Guy also on Disney+

The Daily: I am Tired of my Period

 Friday, April 1, 2022

4:55 am: Awake. 35 minutes before the alarm goes off. I got my period and all the joys that come along with it. Cramps, back pain, sweating, fun, fun fun.

5:28 am: Heading to the gym. There is a coyote outside yelping non-stop. I thought maybe I would see it on my way to work and I could tell it to get lost. No luck.

6:35 am: Back from the gym, my husband is in the living room feeling all around on the TV stand, he lost something, or something is not working, either way I am minding my own business.

7:24 am: Making coffee while filming a video for The Baby Gene TikTok, filming a video while making coffee takes a long to time get to drink the coffee.

8:50 am: Time to get up and get some shit done around here. Finishing getting cleaned up and I am out in the yard.

9:35 am: Pulling weeds. Pulling weeds. Pulling weeds. The section I got to looks amazing. There is still so much to go. Ahhhhh.

10:15 am: Inside to sit down before my back no longer gives me the luxury of things like standing and sitting. Working on a story for The News With No Sound, the story about rabbits taking over a Florida neighborhood is live now, if you need a quick funny read.

11:12 am: Eating lunch early because the kid is going to the mall with his friends. Or friend, he is very unclear about who is going anywhere ever. AND he better be where we told him to meet us when it is time to pick him up, we can not have another Topper's Pizza incident. 

1:25 pm: Walking the dog through the neighborhood. It is so lovely outside, sunny but a little chill to the breeze, I should live this weather up while I can, next week is going to get hot.

2:03 pm: Sitting down to research a story for next week and I am having no luck. It must be a slow news day. The Will Smith slap at the Academy Awards is still on the top of all the news websites. I am over that one...I think all of us are over that one. 

3:00 pm: Picked kid up from the mall and he was RIGHT on time. Good job kid. I was worried he would be late again.

4:45 pm: Husband left to go pick dinner from the Greek restaurant. I am watching the Gangster Gardener on Master Class, so good.

5:30 pm: Husband is shocked that our dinner cost $65, for take out. Yikes. That is pricey.

6:45 pm: Cleaning up and getting ready to force the kid to watch a movie with us. Shang-Chi on Disney+, teenagers love watching action movies with their parents. Right?

The Daily: Cleaning Up Dog Poop at Night

 Thursday, March 31, 2022

12:31 am: My son just let me know in such a polite manner that the dog pooped on the carpet in his room. Here we go. Off to clean up dog poop in the middle of the night. 

4:07 am: Husband up and doing something that is making quite a bit of noise. More dog poop? As much as I am curious I don't even want to know. I would like to sleep more, please.

5:30 am: Alarm. I thought when your kid sleeps through the night you would get to sleep through the night as well. No, no, no. Don't dream to big people.

6:06 am: At the gym. There is a lady who always moves through the machines strangely. Like, she comes from between the stairmasters to get to the treadmills instead of following the walk path around them. I was getting off my treadmill and she was standing right behind me, startled me. Follow the path lady.

7:02 am: Back from the gym. The house smells bad, like dog poop. I grab a flashlight and go down into the kids room and lucky for me there was plenty more dog poop and, and pee. Back to scrubbing. Something is obviously bothering the dogs stomach. Poor her...poor me.

7:49 am: Watching the news and drinking coffee. Working on a story for The News With No Sound about a man of the street style report I saw in which no one who was asked could name a Los Angeles mayoral candidate or the current mayors name. Uh oh, not looking good Angelenos.

9:13 am: Cleaning up the kitchen, the sink looks stained and gross, I gotta scrub it. How does something we use to clean things get so dirty? Its kind of gross.

9:45 am: Scrubbing the carpet from the dogs great bathroom experiment last night. Scrub, dry, check, scrub some more. This may become a whole day of cleaning. Joy Joy!

10:16 am: The husband is replacing the kitchen faucet. There are going to be some profanities flying around this house. Once again, neighbors bring your pets and children inside.

10:30 am: Making "Did you know" TikTok videos with The Baby Gene...pretty fun and cute.

11:00 am: The kid came upstairs just to hang out with me. This is weird. I like it but, it's weird.

11:45 am: Husbands getting us Poke and I am making the kid frozen pizza from Costco. Gourmet at its best.

1:25 pm: Back to working on the kitchen faucet. Things are not going well, we've got a pipe pieces that's stripped. So the husband has to go to the Home Depot, he is M A D. We are staying A W A Y.

2:10 pm: Took the dog for a walk hoping that she will stop her pooping in the house. It probably won't matter, now she has a taste for the sweet life of pooping in the house. 

3:40 pm: Pulling weeds, raking, and picking up all the debris. Oh yah, the plumber is here now to finish putting in the new faucet. Shit just got expensive.

5:00 pm: Making Kielbasa and pasta for dinner, one pot. That's all I can manage to wash.

6:10 pm: Back to the mean streets to walk the dog. The kid wants to walk with us, again weird, I like it, but weird.

7:41 pm: Watching Winning Time on HBO, it's pretty great so far.

 

9:07 pm: Still watching Winning Time, as usual that's saying something. Good night.

The Daily: I Did It, I Slept All Night

 Wednesday March 30, 2022

5:30 am: Waking up with the alarm, for the first time this week. Yes!

 

5:55 am: The gym is crowded. Someone is on my favorite treadmill, there are people at all the weight machines, and the cubbies are full. What is this all about? Wednesday is the universal work out day?

7:30 am: Coffee and breakfast before we get ready to go to the Peterson Museum in LA today. The kid was really excited last night, let's see how he feels when he has to wake up in a few minutes.

8:45 am: Trying to get some stuff done for when we get home later this afternoon. Chopping some veggies for our salad for dinner, less to do when we get back, cause you know I'll have ton to do when we get back. I always do.

9:35 am: Sitting on the 405 South in traffic. So much traffic. We will have fun when we get there if road rage doesn't take us out first.

10:33 am: The Peterson Museum. Parked in the $21 costly lot and ready to head inside. 

1:03 pm: Museum was great, there is a Back to the Future DeLorean there that is totally worth going to see. Lots of other great shiny old and crazy new cars to check out. I think it was like seventeen bucks a person, so I would say go. (Except the parking lot, the parking lot is $21 or $17 with some dumb coupon they gave us)

1:20 pm: Eating lunch in the La Brea tar pits park. The fake mammoths look a little smaller than I remember or I am a lot bigger, I am not sure which one it is.

2:04 pm: Heading home, the husband says we have to stop at the auto shop to pick his truck up that we dropped off on Monday. Now I have to drive in the 405 traffic, I might blow a gasket, my kid is scared of me right now, I can tell.

3:54 pm: I tried to take a quick break before the evening dinner chores start, it didn't work, so now I am tired and I am going to have to make dinner soon. Shit.

4:30 pm: Up and at em. I am making two different dinners so that my fourteen year old will eat dinner. Fourteen year old. I am still just trying to get him to eat something. I definitely did something wrong

6:31 pm: Walking the dog after dinner. Found a loose barking dog in the neighborhood and helped it get back to its house. Check off one in the good neighbor category for me.

7:12 pm: Hanging with the kid in his room listening to him talk about turbo charged engines, like...I am even remotely interested. I pretend though, because I also like to pretend I am a good mother.

8:09 pm: We are beat. Finishing our movie from last night. Then we are hitting the hay like the good old people we are. The morning comes early peeps.

The Daily: I'll Get Up When I Want To

 Monday, March 28, 2022

5:30 am: Getting out of bed, but only because I want to. NOT because I have to. I love that. Welcome to spring break, baby.

5:55 am: At the gym, all the same characters are here but they are finishing up their workouts and no new people are filing in. This could be the best time to come to the gym. The world is my oyster this morning. I love spring break.

7:38 am: Drinking coffee and planning a trip to the market to buy snacks. Vacation time calls for chips, crackers, candy, cookies. Calories do not count when you are on vacation, this is a proven fact.

9:05 am: Off to the market with the husband. This will be a long trip. Grocery stores are meant to be a solo trip, I am not one to browse the market, I am more of a get in get out type of girl.

10:07 am: Back from getting groceries, now I have to follow my husband to the other valley to drop his truck off at the shop in the pouring, pouring rain. He seriously owes me for this nonsense. All this time the kid is so miserable with his cold.

11:10 am: That was a crazy drive with boulders in the road, flooding, and traffic like you wouldn't believe. Happy spring break!!

12:30 pm: Made lunch for everyone and after lunch they can all leave me alone for half an hour. I have had enough already. I am turning into a real grump today. Wow, more so than usual. I have entire week of the both of them at home, maybe I won't survive. Or maybe one of them won't survive.

2:02 pm: Walked over to the neighbors to borrow some lemons off their tree. No one lives there yet, so no one will notice.

2:45 pm: Sweeping and vacuuming the house, this "staycation" I am on isn't really feeling like that so far. I may complain some more today, it seems to be what I am the best at.

3:30 pm: Now I am making the homemade Macaroni and Cheese that husband was going to make. I always end up making all the food whether I am cooking dinner or not. Ugh.

5:30 pm: Sitting down to eat dinner and finish the Discovery + show we have been watching. Great show...sorry, wish I could remember what it was called.

6:45 pm: Yoga in the living room and Howard Stern on the Airpods, things are a little better. Howard always lightens up my mood.

7:26 pm: Watching Halloween Kills on HBO Max, it's payback to the husband for making follow him to drop his truck off in the rain this morning, he hates scary movies. Ha ha, sucker.

8:29 pm: Still enjoying Halloween Kills, not that it's good but I am enjoying it.

The Daily: Putting Them All On

 Tuesday, March 29, 2022

4:03 am: Well, once again I am awake way too early. I'm going to use the bathroom and force my way back to sleep.

5:30 am: Alarm going off. I did manage to fall back asleep and have a shitty dream about my dad. Off to a fantastic start.

5:58 am: At the gym and it is lovely and not crowded. I am so glad that it worked out that the only gym in my neighborhood is a small family owned gym, no big chain gym for this girl.

7:31 am: Getting dressed to go to the LA Zoo this morning. I was putting on my wedding ring and decided to layer on two more. Why not, I want to wear them all.

8:50 am: Making dinner roll dough to eat with our dinner before heading out to the zoo. It seems like no one else has anything to do, they are just sitting around while I am working in the kitchen. What goes on around here?

9:20 am: Time to go...let's go people.

10:05 am: At the LA Zoo. It's like we have the whole place to ourselves. That is very rare in LA. Everyone is in a good mood. This is a miracle. Enjoy it while it last.

12:03 pm: Leaving the zoo. We saw Koalas, Tigers, Chimpanzees, Elephants, Otters...so many animals. Off to pizza and beer for lunch. This is more like it for spring break.

2:07 pm: Back from the zoo. I am exhausted. 4:00 am is too early to wake up. I am so sick of that shit. I am taking a nap. 

3:10 pm: Husband said we have to go to Home Depot to buy a new kitchen faucet. Wah Wah...no! Here we go.

5:17 pm: Making dinner. The only problem with a staycation is the fact that I am still standing in the kitchen alone making dinner.

6:55 pm: Dinner done. Dog walking done. Time for some yoga and then chill the F out.

7:59 pm: Sitting down to watch a movie on HBO Max and feeling tired.

8:15 pm: Tomorrow the Peterson Museum...and another long day.