KFC

Miss Muffet made quite a discovery. On the way home from school yesterday she said, "Guess what Mama?! When I stick my fingers in my armpits and then smell my fingers it smells like chicken!"

Still not sure how to respond to this one...

2010 is our Year of the Dog

We just celebrated a two-month anniversary with our dog Olive. She's a Basenji/Lab mix born in Taiwan of all places. A rescue group in Southern California works with a rescue group in Taiwan. Apparently there's a major stray dog problem there -- lucky for us because otherwise we wouldn't have Olive!

We started looking for a rescue dog in September and made a connection with a dog via Doggie Protective Services. They accepted our application and helped us find "Melina" a one year old Basenji/Lab mix. Needless to say, Natalya was off-the-charts excited about meeting Melina.

Unfortunately, when we got to the adoption fair at Pet Food Express we were told that Melina had been adopted the day before.  Poor Natalya! She was heartbroken. She ran out of the store sobbing. Andrea ran after her and I stayed with the Doggie volunteers. They told me to hang around because a litter of black puppies was coming in. The problem was that we didn't want a puppy :)

Then the puppies came in. Three of them. Two girls and a boy. They were about 5 months old. Natalya got permission to get into the pen with them and Olive (named Malika at the time) walked right over to her and started sniffing and kissing her. The other two dogs ignored Natalya. So let's just say that Olive chose Natalya. Two hours later we were back home with the newest addition to our family: Olive Peterwak!

olive's first day at home with natalya

Season Number 24 Comes to an End

Just finished season number 24 at Shoreline. I still love working there and hanging with all of my Shoreline peeps. We've all known each other for quite awhile now!

Highlights from this season:  

Live 105's BFD. Always a fun day. Loved hearing some of the "new" bands.

Lilith Fair: The Wilson Sisters rocked the house and I watched their set with some old pals from my early days at Shoreline (Lynn and Sabrina). We had a blast! 

Rihanna: Great stage show and she sounded even better. I strolled past her backstage and was surprised by how tall she was... even without the high heels! Worked with a crew from yahoo! News to do a story about the Shoreline's efforts to be green. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN13tKIBQOQ

American Idol Live tour:  Did a press conference with the Idols. They were all really nice kids (yes they are kids -- very young). Got to bring Natalya in so she could meet the Idols. She was thrilled of course :)

ZZ Top:  The guys still have it. It was really fun to hear the old ZZ tunes again. 38 Special played too and they sounded like they hadn't aged a bit. Fun to hear Hold on Loosely -- a song that my band used to play back in high school.

ZZ Top:  Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard

Bridge School Benefit:  Always a highlight. Got to meet Elvis Costello this year. He was really sweet with all of the Bridge kids. Seemed to be enjoying his time at Shoreline. Sir Elton John was masterful. And it was an unexpected treat to see country music legend Ralph Stanley. He's 93 years old and can still wear rhinestones proudly and put on a show. I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Pearl Jam again (they've done the Bridge many times) but their sets this year were superb. Probably the best I've seen from PJ!

Thanks to my pal Tim Mosenfelder for the great photos :)

Sir Elton John

Ralph Stanley

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam

a dancing partner

Yesterday Shmoopie and I were in the car with Natalya and she asked us if we were going to get married. We explained that when we're "allowed" to get married we would.

Natalya:  Who are you going to invite to the wedding?

Me:  Family and friends.

Natalya:  So I'll be invited?

Shmoopie:  Of course!

Natalya:  Can I bring someone?

Me:  Sure who do you want to bring?

Natalya:  I wanna bring a hobo.

Me:  A hobo? Why a hobo?

Natalya:  So I'll have someone to dance with.

We made Natalya ride her bike to see Wicked -- her broom was out of gas :)

so close and yet...

I've been putting off posting this entry, enjoying my time as the Queen of Denial...but I must face finally the truth. My Stanford Women's Basketball team lost the NCAA Tournament Championship game to the University of Connecticut 82 - 73. We (yes "we") only lost by 9 points. A smaller margin than any team that has lost to UConn in quite a while. We were even ahead at half-time with a score of 20 - 12. But alas, it wasn't meant to be :(

No. 2 Seed Stanford played No. 1 Seed UConn in the Championship Game

The final game was even more excruciating because Shmoopie and I were in Mexico and Mexican ESPN didn't show any of the women's games. We had to "watch" the game by standing next to our new friend Alfonso in the hotel's Internet Cafe -- which was a line of computers at the back of the Sport Bar (singular). Alfonso found a game-feed on the web somehow and the three of us sat in front of a laptop and waited for the screen to refresh every 30 seconds or so. Like I said:  excruciating. The second half was much more painful than the first. That's when UConn pulled ahead of Stanford; Jayne Appel got hurt and then UConn put the hammer down. Andrea and I were SO disappointed -- so was Alfonso -- he was invested too!

Stanford Senior Jayne Appel throws a pass

Thanks for another great season my Cardinal Ladies and farewell to Jayne Appel and the other Seniors. It was awesome watching you develop as players over the course of four seasons. It's hard to say goodbye :(

We'll be back at Maples Pavillion next season ready to cheer you on and welcome the new players.

Go Stanford!!!

Reunited and it Felt So Good

A couple of weekends ago I met my BFFs from my Michigan State University days for a little reunion. We stayed in San Diego and had a blast! There was much talking and much laughter. It was so good to be together again. Here are some quotes from the weekend (I'll let you guess who said what...):

• When I buried the first cat...
• Duck tape is his best friend.
• You look really sad -- did people magazine not come today?
• I've only been here when it's packed.
• The word **** is like #### to me.
• I don't understand a word you said.
• Right now I just want you to know that I feel like I'm in another country.
• I only stalled once.
• You gotta have some kind of twitch.
• I have trouble crossing the street.
• Sorry if I gave you whiplash.

Susan Straka, me, and Susan Gaines in San Diego

happy new year!

natalya in michigan with her red and green braces

Natalya and I made a fruit smoothie the other day.

Me: What do you think of the flavor?

Natalya: It’s a little off-balance but not too bad.

Here's hoping that 2010 is a balanced year for you and yours!

another gem from natalya

Natalya and I were looking at a website today that outlined some of the things that happened over the course of 2009. She was particularly interested in the Michael Jackson stuff so we scrolled through the MJ photos. Natalya stopped at a picture of Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson together and said, "Wow... this picture is cute... and kinda gross at the same time."

Out of the mouths of babes...

Feeling Thankful

Natalya has been talking a lot about her cousins and how excited she is to see them next month. So I've been sharing childhood stories with her (edited versions of course!) about my cousins and me. My brother and I had great relationships with all of our cousins. However, we had particularly close relationships with the cousins on my mom’s side of the family. We all lived within 20 minutes of each other and were close in age as well, so we were together a lot.

my brother and me with our cousins and grandparents

Thanksgiving day with my cousins was always a blast. We spent a lot of time picking on the youngest member of our group: April Melinda (sorry April)! Nothing delighted us more than agitating April to the point where she ran from the kids’s table to the adult’s table and tattled on us -- which was when the five of us collectively shrugged our shoulders and claimed complete innocence.

There were many other great bonding moments growing up with my cousins: like the time we thought it would be a good idea to turn off all of the lights in the basement and throw stuff at each other in the dark. Someone got hit with a coffee can and ended up with a nasty head wound. Our first response to someone getting hurt was strategically planning what we were going to tell our parents. It was one for all and all for one.

I also remember the creation of the boogie step. I'll spare you the disgusting details but at some point we decided that the second to the last basement step at each household was the boogie step. We were forbidden to step on it. To this day, when I’m going down the basement steps at my folk’s house I skip the second to the last step from the bottom.

When my Grandmother passed away I fully comprehended the bond that my cousins and I shared. I couldn't have made it through the grieving and loss without the support of my cousins. I'll never forget how I felt when the six of us served as pall bearers and carried our Grandma's coffin at her funeral. Our parents were a little concerned about us having this responsibility given the loss we were suffering. But we wanted to do it — it just felt right somehow. On that cold Michigan January day, sharing the experience of losing our Grandma, I realized just how incredibly special the bond with my cousins was.

And now I am witnessing my daughter’s growing relationship with her cousins. She absolutely adores my brother’s boys. They accept each other fully and they love being together. It warms my heart to know that Natalaya's life will hold the same experience as mine: a strong bond with her cousins.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! And especially to my cousins: Rodney, Vicki, Kelly, and April — I’m so thankful to have grown up with you and for the bond that we share!

my 23rd season at shoreline comes to an end

The Official Bridge Benefit Pumpkin

Wow! Another season is over. This one really flew by. Lots of festival-type shows meaning lots of photographers and press to deal with: Live 105's BFD. Mayhem. Cruefest. Rock the Bells. Warped tour, etc.

Highlights: The Killers stage and lighting design; No Doubt; seeing old friends at The Bridge School Benefit; Gavin Rossdale's set at the Bridge (more on that later).

Lowlights: Getting screamed at by the Security supervisor from Coldplay (it was about something really stupid).

The Bridge Benefit 2009 - Overall it was a fairly quiet Bridge weekend. I enjoyed Adam Sandler's set on Sunday. His cover of Powderfinger with Neil Young was fantastic! Gavin Rossdale's sets on both days were amazing. That guy can sing. And talk about stage presence... His cover of Prince's Sometimes It Snows In April was chilling. Gwen Stefani is a lucky woman!

Gavin Rossdale aka Mr. Gwen Stefani

My Shoreline partner Laura Parks, with awesome photographer/ friend Barry Brecheisen from Chicago (and me)

say what?

Natalya and a friend at the aquarium

Natalya has a nasty blister on her left palm. She spent too much time on the monkey bars at school. Last night I was putting a fresh dressing on her wound and we had a funny conversation.

Natalya: are you going to use goose tape on my hand?

Me: Huh?

Natalya: You know -- goose tape.

Me: Do you mean "duck tape"?

Natalya: No. I mean goose tape.

Me: No. I'm using this tape and the other tape is called "duct" tape not "duck" tape.

Natalya: Oh. Then why does everybody call it "duck" tape?

Me: Because when people say "duct" it sounds like "duck".

Natalya: And what about when people say "goose"?

Me: Umm -- it sounds like "goose" doesn't it?

mastercards and milky ways

Natalya strikes a pose at the San Francisco Pride Parade

Earlier this week while driving Natalya to her summer day camp I noticed that she was unusually  quiet. (She usually serenades me in the car with the latest Radio Disney hits.) I looked back at Natalya and she appeared to be deep in thought.

Me:  What's up Natalya? What are you thinking about?

Natalya:  Candy.
And -- credit cards.

Me:  Huh?

Natalya:  I said candy and credit cards.

Me:  Oh. What about candy and credit cards?

Natalya:  Can you use credit cards to buy candy?

Me:  :)

natalya finishes first grade!

natalya and her dance partner jacob wait for the music to start

Natalya finished First Grade yesterday. We're really proud of her. The last few days of school were jam packed with parties and performances. The entire First Grade at Bubb School participated in an International Dance performance one evening. Natalya and her dance partner looked great together and of course, Natalya wasn't nervous about performing in front of over 100 people :) She really seemed to enjoy herself -- and we certainly enjoyed watching her!

natalya shows us why we could hear her voice over all the others

jacob swings his partner

When my brothber and I were kids, my parents took us out for ice cream after we finished the last day of school. I've continued that time honored tradition with Natalya.

natalya enjoys her ice cream sundae after school
(and mom waits for the chocolate and sugar to kick in)

bathtime chats

Bath time with Natalya is something that I usually look forward to. We tend to have some good conversations while she bathes. Sometimes we use it as an opportunity to just be silly or sing little songs that we make up together. And sometimes she says things that leave me speechless.

The other night, Natalya and I were chatting about her day at school while she was in the tub. At one point she looked down at herself in the water and then looked up at me and asked "Mama -- When am I going to get cubix hair?"

Needless to say, this was one of those speechless times for me.

natalya's refrigerator messages

Natalya is campaigning for a dog. She wants a dog more than anything in the entire world. Everyday she says Mama -- I still want a dog. If I catch her staring off into space it's because she's thinking about having a dog.

Andrea and I want a dog too but for various reasons, we're not getting one in the near future. We promised that we would however get a dog someday. Natalya replied that Someday means never. I told her that we'll see means never and that someday means later.

In the meantime, Natalya has taken her dog campaign to the refrigerator. She's been leaving us messages on the door. We get a new message about once a week.

You have to admire my daughter's persistence!

it's over and we're sad

Jayne Appel reflects after the loss to UConn

The good news: Stanford made it to the women's NCAA Final Four again this year. The bad news: they couldn't get past UConn this time. Stanford 63, UConn 84. Ouch! And UConn went on to win it all by beating Louisville in the Championship game.

We Stanford fans are sad and so is Jayne... her teammates had an abysmal game. They barely showed up to help her out. Such a bummer.

In the meantime, I'm counting the days till the opening game of the 2009-10 season :)

E.T. phone home

We watched the movie E.T. with Natalya the other night. She'd never seen it before. There's a scene where Elliott calls his older brother Michael "penis breath".

When we heard this Andrea and I just looked at each other and gulped nervously waiting for Natalya's reaction. Natalya started laughing and said "That was funny!"

Me:  "What was funny Natalya?"

Natalya:  Elliott called his brother "peanut breath". That's really funny Mom.

Me:  (breathing a sigh of relief) Yes Natalya -- it's hilarious!

march madness: here we go again!

Stanford Center Jayne Appel - Pac 10 Player of the Year.
(Jayne also has the honor of being Natalya's favorite basketball player)

It's tournament time and the Stanford Women's Basketball Team got the number two seed again in their region. Last year we rode the two seed all the way to the final championship game -- where we were soundly defeated by Tennessee :( What will this year bring? Several sports writers and analysts are predicting another trip to the Final Four for The Cardinal. I just hope my nerves can handle it!

Go Stanford!!!

a gem from natalya

The other day Natalya asked me about breasts and how old you are when you "get breasts". We talked about breasts for a little while and then I said something like, "you like boobies don't you?"

Natalya answered, "I don't like boobies Mama -- I like cleavage!"

natalya rocking out on-stage at shoreline

Dustin Black's powerful and poignant Oscar acceptance speech