Happy Halloween!!

So here we are, a week after I last posted about the fires. Only today the Harris Fire, which was the closest to our house, was declared fully contained. The Witch Fire, as of this morning, only had 1% to go, but the Poomacha Fire is still only at 70%. Which is an improvement over last week, of course, but when you consider that so many people are still evacuated, and our firefighters are still working their tails off...well, it's just all been so overwhelming.

But of course, life goes on for the little ones, and today is certainly no exception in San Diego. Halloween is a big deal in my parents' neighborhood, so for the past few years we've celebrated down there, handing out candy to what feels like hundreds of kids. For hours on end. It's quite the evening, and of course you can't help but get the giggles over how darned cute some of these munchkins are. (We also roll our eyes at some of the older kids - as in, TEENAGERS - who are trying to score free candy with some pretty lame outfits. Come on already!)

This year, Boba will be Tinkerbell. Or a butterfly/fairy hybrid of some sort. I'm not quite sure. I know, I know...I'm PATHETIC as a mother; I should have had her costume planned months ago, and had my house decorated with bats and skeletons and the like. Well, SUE ME. I'm just slightly skeptical over the whole commercialized nonsense Halloween has become, so there is a part of me that is reluctant to buy into it. On the other hand, Boba may convince me this year that Halloween is nothing but pure JOY, so maybe next year I'll have built her costume by hand by August.

I don't have any Halloween photos yet, so here's a recent one of her being her sweet Bobalicious self:

Wednesday Fire Update

Things are looking much better for our neighborhood, but the fires are still not fully contained and are blazing in other parts of the county. It's a slight sigh of relief for us...Jason and I have returned to work, my parents' house is no longer in voluntary evacuation mode, and for this part of San Diego, at least, we're in good shape.

I've spoken to my co-workers, and it seems no one here at the Globe has suffered any major loss due to the fires. Several people were evacuated but were able to return home either last night or this morning. Of course, I can't speak for the larger community that makes up the Old Globe...our patrons, our volunteers, and donors....there are hundreds more who may or may not be affected by what's happened.

So I can't really say I'm "glad", because I'm not really glad - there's just been too much loss and suffering in this city and it affects everyone. But, at least where LIFE is concerned, we are all alive and we have each other.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers.

Update

So - we're still okay. I'm reluctant to say we're out of the woods - you never know with the winds and the less-than-ideal weather conditions (hot and very, very dry). But it seems that, at least for the day, our little neighborhood managed to duck its head out of the way of danger.

I think Jason and I are returning to work tomorrow, assuming the situation improves overnight. Again, I'm only cautiously optimistic, but from all reports it seems that things are getting more and more under control rather than the opposite.

Thank you for your messages of concern and invitations to come stay. We appeciate all our friends and family so much, and we're grateful to have such a solid network of support around us.

I'll return to more Boba news in the near future.

San Diego Fires

Well, this is not a post I really want to write, but Jason suggested I write it so that people know what's going on with us in our neck of the woods.

As many of you may know, San Diego is going through a couple of very, very serious fires right now, since Sunday afternoon actually. Much of San Diego has experienced some kind of damage and/or property loss - I'm sure if you looked it up on CNN or any news site, you could read about it. I don't really have the patience right now to post a link...anyway, our neighborhood is smack dab between both fires. As of today (Tuesday) morning, we haven't been asked to evacuate or anything, but that doesn't mean that we haven't started packing. And worrying.

My folks live south of us, and they are also within miles of the evacuation areas, so they are also waiting to see what will happen. It's a pretty scary situation, for sure...but I'm grateful that, for now, we're safe. Boba's doing great. We have time to figure things out, which is a lot more than some people have had. So in a way, I think we're lucky.

The authorities are asking all San Diego residents to limit the use of their cell phones, so if you need to reach us, email or call our land line. So far we have power, and therefore, we have the internet. As long as we have power, we'll be checking our email regularly.

Please keep us and the rest of San Diego in your thoughts and prayers. We'll be needing them today.

The Sleep-Wake Up Game

Boba likes to play this game with Daddy and me - and there's no predicting when she wants to play it; she'll just sort of yell it out whenever she wants. One would think that she'd play it when we're still lying in bed, or when we're about to go to bed, but sometimes she'll play it at the most inopportune times, like when I'm driving, or when Daddy's brushing his teeth. It goes like this:

Boba: MOMMY! DADDY!

Either one of us: Yes, baby?

Boba: Sleep!

Me or J: What?

Boba: SLEEP!

Me or J: Um, okay. (We close our eyes and lean back. Peeking out for a moment we see that she is doing the same.)

(After 3 seconds) Boba: WAKE UP!

Us: (opening our eyes with a start) WHOA!

Boba: BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Repeat 5 or 6 times.

Okay, so now imagine this game while you're driving. Or while you're tending to a hot stove. Yeah, Boba doesn't get when this game isn't exactly appropriate. But boy, does she love it. It's been around for maybe 3 months now. I think it will be a keeper for a while. Maybe she'll use it when she's 17 and trying to smuggle beer into the house. That should be fun.

That Pesky Sleep Thing

Over the last few months, Boba's sleep patterns have pretty decent. She'll go down between 8:30-9pm, wake up between 5:30-6am, join us in bed, and sleep until 7:30-8am. I really don't mind the early wake-up because one of my favorite things is starting the day with a good snuggle. But starting last Sunday night, she started waking up again at 11pm, 2am, 5am...and once again Daddy and I had to take turns going to her room and comforting her, sometimes taking her out of her crib and sleeping with her in her room. The main reason we don't like to do that very often is that she is not easy to sleep with for long periods of time, because she likes to thrash about in her sleep, as referenced here. As in: Sleep With Boba = NO SLEEP AT ALL. Or crappy sleep, at most. So what did I do two nights ago?? Well, I figured, "Hey, she's talking now. It's some strange toddler-language that is only occasionally coherent, but she's communicating!" So I decided to lay down the law with her.

I said, "Boba, Mommy and Daddy are not going to come rescue you tonight. If you wake up, just go back to sleep. We won't get you until there is LIGHT OUTSIDE. Okay??"

She looked at me with some measure of understanding, because then she said, "No."

I repeated myself. "We will not be taking you out of the crib until it is LIGHT OUT."

She looked at me searchingly, as if to say, Is this lady being serious? She half-smiled, shook her head, and again said, "No."

I gave her a look to drive my point home, the kind of look that says, Don't you even TRY to test me, young lady. And then I said, "Daddy and I will see you in the morning."

And then she said, "Juice?", as though she pretended not to hear the authoritative tone in my voice, as though her mind was already on the next thing, thank you very much, juice is SO much more important than that pesky sleep thing you keep talking about.

Well, something must have registered, because the two nights I did this, she slept through the night until 6am, when the barest of morning sunshine was peeking through her window. That was when I was awakened to her little voice asking, "Mommy? Mommy? MOMMY??"

The subtext in that wake-up call, I believe, was, See, Mommy?? I didn't wake you up until now! The sun is out! I am a good little girl! Now hurry up and reward me with the comfort of your KING-SIZED DOWN COMFORTER, PLEASE.

And so I did. And we slept blissfully in snuggle-position for another 2 hours. Aaahhh, sleep.

Of course, now that I've told this story, I know I've just jinxed it. (Dumb, dumb, DUMB Flambo!!)

Like Daddy, Like Boba

I know they don't really look alike, but they definitely have their similarities. ONE! They are both very dramatic. And emotional. Must be something he passed to her genetically, because God knows I'M nothing like that. (cue laugh track here)

TWO! Their hair texture, though different shades, is the same. Soft, wavy, and full. And fabulous! (I'm sure Jason doesn't appreciate my calling his hair "fabulous", but it really is.)

THREE! I've mentioned this before....they have the same legs! I swear! Long and lovely. (Again - sorry, Jason, for calling your legs "lovely", but gosh darn it, they are!) They have the most wonderful natural turn-out - perfect for ballet. It simply makes me mad with jealousy!! There are not enough exclamation points in the world to emphasize that!!

Here's my evidence:


And then, there's the obvious - they're both very tall. Well, Boba is for her age, anyway. Kinda goes with the legs-thing, I suppose, but I think it's got something to do with the long, lean body type as well. (Yet another trait I am jealous of.)

In conclusion: She is a beauty. And a drama queen. We're in big trouble.