Oh and then the next day...

We slept in, played scrabble and ate lunch at Johnny Rockets while just below us on the street Sandra Bullock was getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, visited IKEA for the first time (OH DEAR LORD I AM IN LOVE WITH THAT PLACE!! We were in there for FIVE HOURS!!!), went to the Santa Monica Pier and got our pictures taken at one of those silly photo booths...

then we rode the ferris wheel, had dinner at Mariasol Restaurant on the ocean, visited the Promenade (and didn't spend NEARLY enough time there), got a Starbuck's Coffee and mixed our own CDs at Hear Music - where you can choose from a quarter of a million songs to create your own custom CD (with a jacket/name/playlist you design yourself). Or if you just want to sit there and listen to music while you drink your coffee you can. And if you see a CD you want to buy but you aren't sure if it has the songs you want, you can scan it and then listen to it right there. Awesometastic.

We left LA a little after 9 p.m. and stayed awake by giving everyone we could think of "IKEA names" like Glorm and Klak and Overklig. It was faaaaaaar too silly in the car for us. What a great trip. :)

Star Search

So it all started when Melissa and I stopped in Taco Bell Wednesday afternoon. There, in line in front of us, was Jennifer Love Hewitt. Mel did not believe me, but we eventually said hi to her. She was very sweet & gracious. And for those interested, ordered two Mexican Pizzas and about fifty mild sauces :).

We had a couple hours to kill before going to see the tonight show, so we went to see if we could get into any of the studios around the area. All of them were heavily guarded by security, but we tried anyway. We tried Warner Records but my sly little "can I please use your restroom, please???" trick didn't work with the guys at the front desk. Dang that tight security! Sheesh!!

THEN we went to see Jay Leno.



Our seats were AMAZING. Front row, right on the fifty yard line. He was DOING HIS MONOLOGUE five feet from us. Very cool. Just before the show he came out, warmed up the audience, and even posed for pictures with us (we were not allowed to bring in cameras, but one of his producers snapped this shot with a Polaroid!). When Mel & I came on stage, he asked if we were her for a cleavage convention. And he wasn't directing that comment toward Melissa!! NICE! LOL!! Melissa also ended up dancing onstage as part of some audience-entertainment thing... and won an Official Tonight Show with Jay Leno Tank Top!

Kevin Bacon was Jay's first guest... and during the commercial break, he smiled and winked at me. He was very friendly, and not at all creepy like I thought he would be.

The other two guests were Kim Raver and Amos Lee.

SUCH great fun to watch a show in production. Afterward, we drove around and tried to get into other studios, but no luck. We did see Zach Braff driving his Porsche down Olive Street after leaving Touchstone Studios, but couldn't catch him. So we headed back to the hotel to figure out what we were going to do that night.

When we pulled in to the valet parking area at our hotel , the bellman asked if we were there for the premiere. "Of what?" we asked. "Miss Congeniality 2," he replied. We told him no, and thought we could walk down to Grauman's (a block away) and see if we could up our star count for the day.

It was CROWDED. People were mobbed everywhere. Limos were lined up and famous people were spilling out all over the red carpet. And we could get NOWHERE NEAR IT. The hoards of fans were kept at bay by dividers, and security was everywhere. We tried to go across the street, then around to the opposite side, and still saw no one. I told Mel we should have come over in a limo. They would have let us right in. Just as we were giving up to go back to the hotel, one of the WB Studio guys came over and asked if we were together and if we would like to see the movie tonight, cause he had a couple of extra tickets.

I had already seen the movie at a sneak preview with Rick on Monday night in Las Vegas. And it wasn't all that great. In fact, Rick summed it up best with this review:

"It was the best sequel I have seen since "Speed 2!"

So I wasn't too excited about seeing the film, but it was obvious this WB guy chose Mel and I cause we were cute (cause there were plenty of un-cute people around us at the time). And Mel hadn't seen the movie, so we accepted. And it gave us another chance to hang with the stars.

Oh, and did I mention free soda and popcorn? Yep.

So the movie sucked just as bad the second time, but it was cool that we were in there watching it with Sandra Bullock and Regina King and William Shatner and that funny smiley dude from Drew Carey and the rest of the cast (and, actually, Melissa was technically in the movie as an extra, so really we deserved to be there, cause she is in one scene!).

After the movie, we said hi to William Shatner who was really creepy looking up close and I think pretty terrified of us. In the lobby I spotted a few of the other actors in the film, and then Mel and I both saw ROB REINER! Mel shook his hand and we both said hi and how much we admired him and wished we weren't so geeky when we met famous people cause we would have discussed with him that The Princess Bride is our favoritest movie that ever was made.

We were *THIS CLOSE* to sneaking our way into the Premiere Party when we chickened out at the last second (had we just walked in with the crowd we would have been fine, but we got skeeeeeeeeered).

We decided to instead go back downstairs and get something to eat (and it was now 10 p.m.) and then on our way downstairs we saw Jerry from ER and tried to talk to him for a bit, but it was pretty obvious he was terrified of us too. Our "be cool when we see famous people" schtick was obviously not working. :p

As we had dinner at CPK , we reflected on our great day. And it was indeed great. And then the waitress asked if we were 21 when we ordered our drinks.
Life is good. :)

Off to L.A.

Melissa and I are taking a "girls trip" to Los Angeles. We are going to see a taping of Jay Leno on Wednesday afternoon and then do the whole tourist thing. It's gonna be awesometastic. We are also going to search for Zach Braff and do our best to find him, possibly on the set of Scrubs. Not totally sure how we are going to pull off our little escapade, but if Jessie Baldwin wants to do something, she usually finds a way. ;)

I'll be back Thursday evening. Rick gets to play Mr. Mom (his favorite role) that day... the kids will love it. And I will love sleeping in on Thursday morning!

You put the lime in the Coke...

I have a new favorite way to drink my Coke. With Lime.
Yummmmmmmmmmmmy.

So I was happy about that. My week was starting off very well.
I am getting my hair and eyebrows done this afternoon, so I will be cute for my trip to LA with my friend Melissa. We are going to try and get on Leno on Thursday. She has a "connection" there that supposedly has tickets for us... we'll see... :)

Oh, and Lanna from CK called me with an Honorable Mention nod. Looks like they don't hate me after all. I'm not supposed to share this with anyone just yet, so don't tell. I think the winners get announced in a couple of weeks. But, yeah, that did put a bigger smile on my face. :)

Won't you be my neighbor?

I don't know if I have mentioned the neighborhood association saga yet. We have a beautiful, gorgeous neighborhood of wonderfully, friendly people. The kids play in the park behind our house or ride bikes in the road out front. In the evenings (especially this time of year!) everyone is out on their front porches, chatting and catching up. Everyone loves to play catch with our dog Barabbas, trying to see how far they can throw the ball before he catches it. Everyone enjoys each other's company. That is, everyone except the couple that lives on the corner right across the street from us.

They are weird.
They are in their early 30s, so they aren't crotchety old people. They have lived there as long as we have. No kids, no pets. When they come home from work, they pull their car into their garage and close the garage door before they get out of the car. The only time I see them outside of their house is when they check their mail, and they do NOT say hello. Especially the wife. She won't even make eye contact. They are very weird. The husband has talked to us a couple of times - once when we were working on our front yard landscaping, and another time when we were at the mailbox he said hi. That was about it. And I think it's cause I said "hi" first.

So last November I get a letter from the neighborhood association that our dog is "running loose and defecating in the common area." Our dog goes nowhere without us, and if he poops, we get a baggie and clean it up right away.

I called and asked for proof that it was my dog and they said all they had was an anonymous phone call from a neighbor a few days earlier.

The following month, we got another letter. This time it was a violation notice. The "anonymous neighbor" has complained again. I fought it with the association and said without proof and photo evidence, I will not acknowledge it. They dropped the issue.

Well, on the 10th of the month, the kids and I (as we always do) went to check mail with Barabbas. On our way back, Barabbas laid down on the neighbor's grass, waiting for us to cross the street. At that exact moment, our neighbor came out of her house, on the phone with the association, complaining about the dog. Did she even bother to acknowledge ME, who was standing right there???? NOPE.

The following Tuesday I got a letter... another violation notice and now I must appear before the Board because of continuing complaints.

Um, hello! This is the SAME NEIGHBOR EVERY TIME!!! It's not "continuing complaints..." it's ONE PERSON blaming his dying grass on MY DOG.

*** I should add that the dying grass in his yard was a result of him fertilizing it with winter fertilizer in the spring and therefore burning his grass, resulting in him needing to replace it all ***

I was FUMING. So I took the rest of the week to collect myself, got a pretty flowering plant, and brought it over to him, offering a peace offering and asking if there's anything I can do to repair our neighbor-to-neighbor relationship. He admitted that there was poop on his front yard and he reported it, and that it may not have come from my dog (nice). I told him that if he ever finds poop in his yard that I will personally remove it, if it's from my dog or not. He also told me that his landscaper told him that dog urine caused all his grass to die. Funny, that dog urine is high in nitrogen - just like the fertilizer he used. So was it dog urine? I doubt it. Unless a herd of dogs had been pissing all over his grass - and NO ONE ELSE'S. But he did thank me for coming over, and I reiterated that I would be more than willing to clean up any mess from my dog I saw... and that I would do my best to keep Barabbas off his yard when we went to get the mail. He seemed fine with that.

We'll see how many months it takes for him to change his mind.

And I *still* have to appear before the Board next month. Great.

Measuring

My self worth with a contest...
I've got to stop doing that.
I know it's not right. I know I am a good scrapbooker. Yet when I heard that all the Hall of Fame winners have been called, I was (and still am, frankly) upset.

I look at my work. It's awesome. Not a single layout in my whole entry bugs me. They are all fantastic. I love what I did. I kicked my art up several notches. I feel like I am at the top of the heap. Everyone who saw my layouts said the same thing.
"These are amazing!"
"Your best ever! I can't believe how great these are!"
"You're a shoe-in!"
And I believed them.
Were they just being nice? Trying to make me feel good? Trying to butter me up? I don't get it.

This contest is considered, in the scrapbooking community, the pinnacle of a scrapper's career. Once you make Hall of Fame, you have arrived. Manufacturers come to your door wanting you to do stuff for them and get paid. People send you places. You get book deals. You get serious recognition. That's why I wanted it. I knew the opportunities that awaited the winners of the contest. I wanted to be one of them. I reeeeeeeally wanted it.

I will be fine in a few days. But for now I need to be pissy about this.

oh and can I just say

that the whole pinky-toe side of my foot is bruised? It's pretty grody looking. I can't wear ANY shoes... only my flip flops. Thank goodness for Rainbow sandals. ;)

for those of you wondering...

how my son got on the counter in the first place, he was brushing his teeth - he gets on the counter and straddles the sink. the only problem was that his toothbrush was put into the toothbrush holder upside down, and when he tried to pull it out, it wouldn't come right out. so he pulled harder. and i think you know the physics of what happened next.

My morning. (I am not making this up!!)

Today is the start of "call week" where Lisa from Creating Keepsakes magazine calls the winners of the Hall of Fame contest. I will be a nutcase every time the phone rings. I will also be checking the messageboards and email constantly for any sign of the calls having started. The winners cannot reveal who they are, so if anyone gets called they need to announce it online anonymously so that their identiry isn't revealed until the announcement day in May. I decided I needed to prepare for the week, so I cleaned the house really well last night and have already planned out the week's worth of dinners. I checked my email this morning... nothing (of course). That's okay... the week has only just begun.

I *needed* to take a shower. I was funky.
The kids can fend for themselves for two minutes.
I get into the shower.
My hair is nicely lathered with shampoo.
All of a sudden, Violet comes running in.
"MOMMY!! RILEY FELL OFF THE COUNTER!!!"What?!?!!?I turn off the shower, look around for my towel (WHERE IS IT??!?!), can't find it, jump out, and as I jump out of the shower, my pinky toe stays in for a second.
Now I am naked, wet, dripping, with a pinky toe that is sticking straight out to the right. That can't be good.
So I hop, naked, wet, dripping, with shampoo getting into my eye to the kids bathroom, where Riley is on the floor crying.
Violet described to me what happened. He was sitting on the counter and fell backwards - did a complete back flip and landed on his butt on the floor.
No bumps, all his extremities seem to work...
I ask Violet for the flashlight and she brings it in. His eyes are fine. WHEW.
Oh yeah.
I am still naked, dripping, shampoo in my eyes, and hopping on my broken toe that *REEEEEEALLY* hurts.
And all I can think is how funny it would be if Lisa called me *RIGHT NOW.*
But she didn't.
Whew.

updating.

liane is in town. we saw hitch. it was hilarious. i found a kindergarten for violet. riley is potty training still. he has green poop. not sure why. rick has been working crazy long hours. i have been scrapping. the play room is organized. the system of bins is working. i am in a bible study/mom's group that is great. the kids love it. i love it. it's good. i made the best tortilla soup last night. i have lost five pounds. i know this cause i broke down and bought a scale last week. liane is irritated cause i am not blogging more. i promise i will do better. really. i promise.