Famous

Friday. Yikes. Friday, I woke up early so I could drop off Caleb and be in line at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace by 7:30 to cash in on my standby tickets to see the Ellen DeGeneres show being filmed there on Friday afternoon. I was all ready to go. Dressed, looking cute---even did my hair people---BEFORE 7am!!! I had Caleb's things packed and ready to go, just needed to grab my wallet and move out. Wait, just gotta find my wallet. I know I had it yesterday. Let's see, where did I put that wallet? Is it in the car? Is it in my bags? FRANTIC. Is it in the dryer? The oven? Crisper? Under the bed? In the bathtub? When you have a toddler and something missing, that something can be ANYWHERE!!! But, after two hours of frantically searching and tearing up our apartment, the wallet was still very much missing and I did not know what to do. Keshia had been waiting in the standby line ALL MORNING (bless her) waiting for me to come so I could redeem the tickets...but if I didn't have an ID, I couldn't prove that I was the one who had ordered them. After about 2.5 hours of searching, something like 4 unanswered phone calls to Jonathan (he was working and had his phone off)and yes, a few tears, I finally decided that there was nothing I could do about the lost wallet, so I'd at least try to make the most of the rest of my day. Which meant I still needed ID to redeem my tickets. So, not having a driver's license, I started looking for my passport. I haven't needed my passport since our graduation cruise in May 2006, so it's been a while. A new search was on. I found Jonathan's passport, my international immunization record, money I had in China, a moneybelt...but no passport. Time was running out and I felt pretty defeated. Keshia called and said they were passing out tickets, so if I couldn't come right about NOW, she'd probably just better head home. But I still had no ID. Oh well. Life goes on. Just add on one more thing to this wretched day...but WAIT! Keshia called back about 5 minutes later with the news that her "schmoozer" mother-in-law had finnagled our tickets even without my ID, so, did I still want to come? Let's do it! Klisa drove so I wouldn't be illegal and we dropped off the Bug and headed to Caesar's Palace. We waited in line for about 4 more hours (nothing compared to the people who had been there since 3:30am) and were pretty sure we'd get tickets, but we had no idea we'd have some of the best in the house! We ended up sitting exactly in the center on the second row after the aisle. AMAZING seats! The energy was way up! Now, let me add a little explanation. I like Ellen's show. She's funny and she has a fun show and it's the first non-news, non-soap opera, non-judge show on all day. Since I don't watch the latter 2 at all, it's a nice change. I'm not a huge fan of her politics or her lifestyle, but as an entertainer, I think she does a good job. The show was a blast! They quizzed the audience on how to be an audience, practiced screaming and clapping, edited in activities that happened out of order, etc. etc. It was so much fun! The best was about 45 minutes after we entered the theater, we got to dance with Ellen and I am going to be FAMOUS! :) Ellen got RIGHT IN FRONT OF US when she was dancing, so believe it people, I am going to be on TV! Look for me in the purple shirt right behind Ellen about halfway through her dancing at the beginning of the show after the monologue. So fun! And then!!! Later when we were dancing during a commercial break, Ellen's little MC helper man threw me an Ellen shirt! I'll post pictures when I have time to take them and download them. So, it really turned my day around. I can't change the wallet, but at least I had a fun afternoon. Klisa drove us home (Caleb and me) and within a half hour I had a knock on the door. A neighbor I'd never met before HAD FOUND MY WALLET AND WANTED TO DELIVER IT TO ME PERSONALLY! This wallet had cash in it for groceries (quite a bit for Thanksgiving groceries) and every single item was exactly where I'd left them. I cried and hugged this beautiful person for returning my wallet. SO yes, there are good people left in the world. Without any other reason than because it was the right thing to do, this woman returned my wallet and saved me a lot of money, time, hassle and headache. Bless her. I have a lot to be thankful for!!!!!

'Cause Wakin' Up is Hard to Do

Caleb puts off more heat than the sun at noonday when he sleeps. He woke up the other day from an apparently fitful nap. Note the size of his drool/sweat spot and the ensuing bedhead and chagrin....Poor little thing...

Belly Buttons

The Nature vs. Nurture Debate

Nature wins. Caleb is all boy. He is boy 100% through and through---from running so fast he trips himself up, biffs it and gets up smiling, to wanting to throw rocks and dig in the mud, to finally, loving buses and trucks with all his might. I did not teach Caleb to love trucks. I did not teach him to spot buses from a half mile away. This little boy KNOWS it is his boy-ly duty to LOVE buses and trucks! So, at the park the other day, Caleb's wildest dreams came true. A TRUCK drove into the parking lot PLAYING MUSIC! Can you imagine Caleb's delight that his two favorite things in all the world drove right into the park in which he was already playing? I didn't want the kid's head to explode by informing him that not only did this truck play music (Caleb's FAVORITE!!), but it also doles out ice cream and popsicles! Caleb had his first visit by the ice cream truck and he couldn't have been more thrilled about it. Get a load of his enthusiasm! Just wait until he figures out there's ice cream inside!

Note: His distraction in this video is explained by the fact that this park is located near a freeway and schools so he can see trucks and cars and the occasional school bus pass by. What more could a little boy want?

Finding happiness in ordinary things...

For those of you who are not aware, up until recently, on a very regular basis, walking up our street is a man whom Jonathan and I have simply dubbed, "the happy guy." I can't say that this name is necessarily descriptive of his nature and temperment, rather, he makes us happy every time we see him. I have no pictures of the happy guy, but he walks on the sidewalk down the street dribbling not one, but two basketballs---through his legs, behind his back, in different rhythms. Why does he does this? No idea. How long has he been doing this? Couldn't tell you, but thank you, happy guy, for bringing a little joy into the afternoon errand outings. And since I left you bare on pictures of the happy guy, here's our little guy (on halloween) who would make anyone happy. Imagine you can see the matching sideburns too.