An update on Mommy, and a cute word from Boba

I had my first mini-vacation for the summer last weekend...I flew up to Seattle to attend the wedding of one of my grad-school classmates. It was a wonderful wedding, and Seattle seems to be a pretty cool city (I say "seems," given I was only there for about 48 hours). The only problem was - well - I hate to get into the details but basically one of my Seattle meals didn't agree with me. In a really bad way. So unfortunately my memories of this weekend are kind of marred by my, um, digestion problem. If not for that, the vacation would have been great! Oh well.

Fortunately, this weekend I'm flying up by myself to visit my husband in Northern California, and though I'm not too thrilled about being separated from Boba, I'm looking forward to some quality time with the hubby. On August 21st we celebrated our 10-year anniversary of meeting each other, and on September 14 we'll celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary! So, it's a good time for Jason and I to have a romantic weekend together up north. Sorry, Boba, but Doe & Papa will take good care of you!

I don't have any good new photos of Boba to post, unfortunately, but I do have a cute Boba report. She has the most adorable word for "blanket." It's "bwankink." Is that the frickin' CUTEST, or what??!? Oh, and she calls butterflies "utterbwyes." Dance class is "dance cwass." She even has a Filipino accent sometimes; she pronounces the word heavy like "hay-bee." I swear, I'm going to be so depressed when she starts speaking coherently. It can only go downhill from there.

Boba in Halifax

Yes, once again - it's been a while. What can I say??!? My darling child was away from me for another week in early August, during which I was a pretty busy worker bee here at my company...I volunteered to work late (as in, 'til after 10pm) two days that week, plus I had various other commitments that I needed to take care of. Besides that, you ask, was it a restful time??

Well, considering I received a very strained phonecall from my father on Wednesday morning (they had been gone since Sunday) saying that they were coming home a day early (Friday instead of Saturday) because they hadn't slept in 3 days (welcome to MY world!) and because Boba was suffering from a cold - news that should not have sent me in a paralyzed state of fear, but DID, nonetheless - the week was not as stress-free as I would have liked. I realized, very quickly, that breaks where I stayed home and Boba went away weren't conducive to a restful time, mainly because I start doing things like obsessive cleaning and incessant worrying. I guess I could say that the time I spent was productive, in a sense, because I could be 100% present for my job, and then at home I actually had time to complete tasks I hadn't done in a while. But I felt TOTALLY incomplete. Because my child was not around. And I could not be a mother to her.

It turns out, of course, that Boba was just fine, and the cold went away after about 3 days. By the time she came home on Friday - squealing "Mommy!" in glee as I rushed towards her in the airport - she was feeling peachy. And the not-sleeping thing?? Well, totally normal for a tot whose routine has been blown to bits and whose internal clock is going, "WTF - you guys are four hours ahead??" Having gone on "vacation" with her before (I'm convinced that travelling with kids is NEVER a vacation), I know just how hard that transition is, and since she was also probably wondering where the heck her Mommy was all the time, I can completely understand how things were hard for Lolo & Lola.

(I repeatedly told Lolo & Lola how hard it would be to travel with Boba without me, and encouraged them to reconsider taking her with them, but NOOOO...they said they could handle it. So there it is, for all of you who were thinking that I handed her off to them without a second thought!)

In spite of the difficulty, I think they still managed to have a good time, and the photos below only capture a few happy moments...but I'm told there were many, many more.

Right before boarding Thomas the Tugboat

On Thomas...with two safety devices: LifeVest and Pacifier


Outside the guest house on the path to the water

"Hmmm...do I really want to go back to San Diego??"

Mommy Gets a Break (or Two)

Good lord, is it August already?

July just sped by, mainly because of the work factor (mentioned in earlier posts). Things actually slowed down significantly for two reasons:

1. Most of my projects wrapped up in the second-to-last week in July, and,


2. Jason took Boba up with him to Tahoe for a week.

I KNOW!! YOU ALL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANT!! That I, your only-occasionally-present Flambo, had a whopping 3 days to myself last week! Granted, they were 3 mid-week days, so I had to spend the majority of them at work, but I also got to do things like watch Harry Potter 5! And finish reading Harry Potter 7! Which really were the only things I wanted to get done, aside from cleaning the house and stuff...but I know you don't want to hear about that, and god forbid you should hear about a mom who chooses to CLEAN when she gets a break! Yes, I know I'm a complete weirdo like that!

So I had a very restful 3 days - the sleep quotient was FAN-FRICKIN'-TASTIC - but of course it was all tinged with a certain sadness because I did not have my little Boba with me to make life that much more exciting. To be frank, I was very reluctant to have Jason cart her away for the week, because I am her MOM, and all you Moms should know what I'm talking about. Yes, she was in more-than-capable hands; she was in the best care, to say nothing of making her father incredibly happy since he's missed her terribly for the past, oh, 6 weeks. But you know...I worried here and there because there is this weird little voice in my head that keeps insisting that I am the only one in the world who can make this little one happy. Where does this voice come from, you ask? Well, I'm not sure, but I think it's something to do with having had her in my womb for 10 months, and then, you know, there was that little act of birthing her as well.

But I know Jason was up to the task of single-parenting, so for the most part I relaxed and kicked back and basically enjoyed my quiet time. Up in Tahoe, however, Boba and her Daddy were having a rockin' good time, going to the beach, playing with other little friends, going to Gymboree, etc. Here is a lovely photo to prove that the Daddy-Daughter bond is as strong as ever:

Naturally Jason was unable to take many shots of the two of them, but you can see from the following portraits of our beautiful baby girl that he is absolutely in love with his subject.

I joined them late on Friday night, and Boba was so thrilled to see me that she stayed up for about an hour after that...which was a sign of things to come for our sleep situation the following two nights. Yep, my 3 nights of heavenly sleep were followed by some pretty painfully exhausting nights. Oh well. It's all about balance.

And guess what?? Next week I get ANOTHER break, since Lolo & Lola are taking Boba on a vacation with them. Crazy! What will I do with all this free time now??!? Oh, I know...the house will be positively SPARKLING!! ; )

More of Boba's 2nd Bday

Here are some crazy cute pics from the days of Boba's birthday...I say "days" because we actually celebrated over the course of 3 days. Good times!

Squirming out of Mommy's grasp

Not sure what she's thinking here, but it don't look pretty

Happy Mommy trying to grasp the squirmy girl once again!

"Otter Pops....mmm mmm GOOD."

Helmet-ed and ready to ride!

Boba's first bicycle ride!

Enjoying one of her many birthday gifts - a book about doggies!

Two Year Old Boba!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOBA!!!

Boba turned two a week ago. Because of the craziness last week (read the post below), we were unable to throw a big party like the one she had last year. Instead, however, she had not one, not two, but THREE mini-parties with friends and family! And of course, because I am lame, I didn't have my camera for any of them, but I know some pictures were taken by others, so I am HOPING one or two of them will send them to me. In those pictures' stead, I present a montage of "Boba in a Skirt". I also like to call these shots, "How Boba is Growing Up Faster Than Her Mommy Can Say 'Pre-Teen'". It's kind of amazing, really!

She's got her Daddy's legs! And his love for reading.

Can I just say that she has amazing hair? I had nothing to do with it, other than having the dominant "black hair" gene. Other than that, she's got her Daddy's mane, through and through.

Is it just me, or can you see glimpses of what she'll look like as a teenager? I think it's sort of uncanny, actually. Uncanny and freakin' SCARY.

Speaking of her Daddy, I never actually posted this photo on the journal portion on the blog, although it's up there on the sidebar. It's one of my favorite photos of the two of them, and absolutely super-cute how it came to be: She just walked up to Daddy, who was sitting on the floor, came behind him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Luckily I had the camera. "Click!" The cuteness is captured digitally forever.

So, now that we are officially in the "terrible twos", let me share some fun, not-so-terrible stuff about Toddler Boba!

• One of her favorite saying is "I DO IT!!" She usually does this when I'm trying to feed her with a spoon and she insists on feeding herself. I'm actually quite impressed that she gets more than 80% of the food actually in her mouth. The other situation where she says this is when I'm applying makeup and she seems to think that she can do a better job. Hell, with my lousy makeup technique, she probably can.
• She loves to sing. In fact, while my boss (see below) was in the car with us, she just broke into song for a few minutes. I whispered to Jack: "She's auditioning for you." Jack: "I know. She's quite good. (to Boba) You're hired!" Me (laughing): "Boba, you're probably the only person in the world who doesn't get nervous singing in front of Jack O'Brien." Jack: "Yes, and that's EXACTLY why I'm hiring her!" Watch out folks...one of these days you may see How The Grinch Stole Christmas starring Boba as Cindy Lou Who!
• There is an AWESOME Mexican restaurant by my house, and I order from there frequently. Recently my in-laws were in town, and happened to order their chicken soup. They left some for us, and wouldn'tcha know it, Boba LOVED the stuff. She walked around for days asking, "Soup? Soup?" Well, I have to say, I've never been a fan of chicken soup, but man, this stuff was GOOD. What made it especially sublime was the addition of a lime, onions, and cilantro...which were not added into Boba's bowl, of course, but boy, I really enjoyed it. Anyway, nothing like Mommy and Baby slurping away happily side-by-side...Mexican chicken soup rocks!

Well, that was random! Anyway, that's all I could come up with for now, but I hope that was enjoyable. Daddy took the camera, so perhaps a photo post won't come for a little while, but I'll swing by and update sometime this week, hopefully. Cheers!

Success!!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen...that there post-title, up above, deserves not one but TWO exclamation marks! Because not only did I emerge unscathed from the chaos of last week, I emerged in TRIUMPH. That is to say: the week was a HUGE HIT.

And, ahem, I'd like to think I had something to do with it.

Let me explain. You all know who my boss is, right? Oh, you don't? See, I forget once in a while that most people don't give a damn about who's who in American theatre, but usually once I mention what he's done and who he is, there's this thing that sort of happens, and people say "OHHH, you mean HIM." His name is Jack O'Brien and he's the Artistic Director of the theatre company I work for, and if one were to gauge his success as an artist, you could probably look at the three Tony Awards he's won (among countless Tony nominations), or the people he's worked with (from Kevin Kline to Mary Louise Parker to John Lithgow, among others), or just the work he's done (Hairspray, dozens of Shakespeares, and his most recent hit, The Coast of Utopia). He's just a force to be reckoned with. And an amazing person to boot. So, you see, working for him and with him has provided me with some of the greatest professional experiences I've had thus far.

So last week, we held the first ever Jack O'Brien Directors Lab, which was essentially a week-long seminar for early-career directors. A directing boot camp, if you will. And guess who got to coordinate it? Uh-huh. ME.

I rarely talk about my work, and it is pretty self-indulgent of me to use Boba's internet screen time to discuss my career. I realize that. But I wanted to share this because I often wonder if being a working mother is worth the sacrifice of not being with her on a day-to-day basis. This is a complicated question, and one that I can't fully address right now, but I think writing about my job reminds me and others that one's work outside the home can be both worthy and rewarding, and can therefore nurture a person in a way that enriches the experience of being a parent. And as unbelievably cheesy as that sounds - I truly believe that.

Anyway, the Lab was a huge success, with some minor flubs along the way, but nothing I couldn't fix. It has partially addressed an ongoing issue I have with my career; questions such as, "How do I want to spend the rest of my professional life?", which is actually just a better-articulated way of saying, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" I realized, halfway into it, that I was very much in the right place at the right time, that even though my career has not (and probably will not) seen high monetary rewards, I have found an unusual path that has been remarkably well-suited to my strengths, passions, and interests. Certainly, at some point the monetary issue may become more important, but for now, I find myself very lucky to be in a place that both serves me, and provides an opportunity for me to serve. Last week's Lab confirmed this to me in many ways.

So - I'm back! And while things have slowed down considerably, I may not be completely present blog-wise since, a.) Jason is still out of town and thus I am still "single-parenting" it, and b.) My folks return this week, but will probably not be in full-swing babysitting mode until the weekend. (At least, that's what I hope.) I'm going to post some Boba-photos with some cute stories, though, in a minute...so thanks for indulging my virtual patting-on-the-back!

How things are going

I've been getting emails, phone calls, and various messages from people who have been wondering how I'm doing while Jason and my parents are out of town. You have all been so sweet to think about me and check on me. I wish I could answer everyone individually, but as you can imagine, I don't have a lot of free time on my hands; or, I should say, I don't have a lot of free time where I'm not sleeping. And god knows that in times like these, I DON'T GIVE UP MY SLEEP. (Or what little I get of it, anyway.)

I'm doing fine. Not the sing-song kind of "fine" that's tossed around casually and without thought; I'm fine as in, I'm not sick (thank goodness), all the bills are paid, the house is in one piece, and my job is, well, getting done. So, yes, in the grand scheme of things, I'm doing well.

The best part of everything is, Boba is doing GREAT. As in, just stellar. Her mood has been perpetually cheerful lately. I can't tell you how much better that makes everything!

The toughest part of this current situation for me is the lack of rest...I feel like I'm literally being thrown from one thing to another, with no break in between. Overnight sleep has gotten better, but BOY - those early mornings (6am-ish after only 5-6 hours of broken up sleep, usually) are kicking my ass. Pardon my french.

The other tough part is the constant guilt and stress over not being 100% available to Boba...while nothing has really changed in my time commitment to work, Jason and my parents definitely have always spent quality time with her when I was unavailable, so that appeased my guilt somewhat. Now that I'm her only immediate family around, I'm really feeling the pressure of being with her as much as possible. But the summer is the busiest season for my company, so alas, I often feel torn between Boba and the Globe. Of course I would rather be with her, but as we all know, I gotta make the big bucks too!

So there it is. I'm afraid I've oversimplified the situation somewhat, but I do want to assure everyone who has inquired about my situation that I'm holding up fairly well. I appreciate everyone's offer to come and hang with us, to simply spend time with me and Boba and give me something to look forward to. I will definitely take ALL of you up on them.

Tomorrow, I'll have fun and cute photos of Boba, as well as some great stories...she has been really entertaining lately! And then I'll probably be quiet for another week or so because my HUGE project at work begins on Saturday. Not that THAT'S big news...you're all used to that by now. :)

Update, update!

Jason has been gone exactly 10 days, not including last Monday when he flew in to visit for less than 24 hours. Totally worth it, though...Boba loved having her Daddy home and was pretty much focused on him the entire time he was there. It was a great way for Jason to celebrate (albeit belated) his second Father's Day. I have to say, when Boba is all about Daddy, I think it's one of my favorite things EVER. Because I get to sit back, relax, and watch the two loves of my life having fun together. It's a beautiful thing.

What's NOT a beautiful thing, is that since Jason left Tuesday morning, I've been slammed with The Cold From Hell. I've actually had The Cold in the past before; twice, as a matter of fact, so I thought I'd be able to escape it this time when Boba took it home from daycare. NO SUCH LUCK. Boba had only a light case of the sniffles, but I am so congested I feel like I am drowning. In air. It is not a happy feeling at all, and it is made worse by the fact that Boba has decided that sleeping in her crib is no longer acceptable, especially since Daddy's side of the bed is empty! How convenient for her! So she likes to wake me up every couple of hours to remind me that she can keep me company, if I'd be so kind to release her from her cage, er, I mean her crib.

The main reason I don't do this is because once she is in my bed, I will not sleep. I might doze here and there, but I will not sleep. Why? Because I think in her dreams she is a Solid Gold dancer. And in her dreams she leaps and kicks and turns...while in reality she is thrashing and flipping on to my face. It does not make for a good night's sleep, as you can imagine. (Just for me, though. I think she sleeps through this whole little number just fine.)

Aaaaanyways. I wish I could say I was doing "just SUPER!" without Daddy around, but all kidding aside, it's been pretty hard. And I don't even have it that bad! For one, I have help (daycare), and two, I only have one kid. One! And I'm still complaining! Yeah, well, it's my blog, and I guess I'll take the liberty to bitch when I want. Besides, this will give me more leverage in the fall when I run off by myself to a spa for a weekend respite - are you reading this, Daddy? - GUILT-FREE. Hmmm, or maybe I'll go to Vegas instead. Decisions, decisions.

Our New House, Part III: The Other Rooms

Perhaps I've mentioned that the new house, although it's definitely a kick-ass house, is rather on the small side...sort of cottage-like, if you will. We're grateful that there's an amazing yard out back because it acts as our "sitting room", and the patio acts as our "formal dining room". But as far as the house itself, the bedrooms are kind of cozy (read: tiny) and kinda close to each other. On the plus side, I don't need a baby monitor in Boba's room! On the not-so-plus side, I really have to monitor the clutter that accumulates (*quick glare in Jason's direction*) because if I don't, it's very easy to start feeling claustrophobic. In other words, I have to constantly clear away stuff. Not an easy task with a toddler and a husband who likes to throw things every which way because it "makes him feel more at home."

This here is the office/3rd bedroom. It's a little on the boring side because we decided not to paint the walls any specific color, but I actually like it because it's a highly functional room. (Whatever that means.) Plus, putting it together really satisfied the neat freak in me, as there is nothing more soothing than organizing files and other random stuff into piles and rows. It isn't in pristine shape in this shot, but you get the idea.

Then, there is Boba's room, which happens to be my favorite room, because it was actually the previous owners' office, and we painted it green and made it all warm and playful. Note the toys that are on the floor; they are actually there for a reason; mainly that if I don't remind Boba that she has toys to play with by leaving them in clear view, she will find other things to terrorize, like the food in the pantry, or the box of tampons under the sink.

Then there is Jason's & my sanctuary: the BLUE room. We inherited it as a blue room, but we amped up the blue by using a blue duvet cover, and by using artwork that had blue as their central color. The effect is very comforting and quiet....the perfect place to retire after a long day.

So, yeah, I'm quite happy with how the house turned out. The main thing, as I've mentioned before, is keeping clutter to a minimum, and managing the flow of stuff that goes from one room to the next. But Jason will tell you (rather begrudgingly, probably) that I am an EXPERT in keeping things in their correct place. Yes, even with a toddler. Thank you, thank you...no need to applaud.

But seriously, the house has been my pet project for the last 3 months, so I'm kind of at a loss now that everything is in order. I mean...what next? Well, Jason left for his 3-month gig up north yesterday, so I am now a pseudo-single-parent. The challenge will be keeping a system for how things happen at our household so that, well...so that I don't lose my mind. THAT is the main objective for the summer. "Remain sane."

At the very least, I now feel like I have the house on my side. It is definitely a place I look forward each day to coming home to!

Our New House, Part II: The Kitchen

I can't really take credit for the kitchen because all of the furniture in it was left to us by the previous owners - rather generously, I should add. Actually, they left more than just their furniture; they left their beautifully painted walls, their new appliances, their toaster (which we ended up not using, but it was super-cute), their artwork, and their decorative touches. We just added the dinnerware and food. So I'm cheating when I post these pictures.

We don't have a lot of cupboard space, so we have a semi-retired entertainment unit in the garage serving as dish storage...but I don't care. The place still works for me. The wall colors they chose would not have been my first choice if I were designing the kitchen, but I'm so glad I inherited it because it all works so beautifully together. The plus? Our "casual" china, which was on our wedding registry, matches this kitchen perfectly. Like it was made for this kitchen. I love how things work that way!

A Day with Daddy

I know I promised everyone pictures of my kitchen today, but I'm not satisfied with the ones I have so I'm going to take more tonight and then post them tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a couple of cute photos of Boba with her Daddy during a recent trip to the zoo!

Boba loves her Daddy. But she loves her pink bottle of milk too. Can you tell?

Our new house! Part I

I've been so looking forward to posting these pictures of our new house, decorated and all! When some of you have visited, you were lucky enough to see an assortment of odds & ends serving as furniture, like my side table made of file boxes, or my couch made of lawn chairs. Yeah, THAT was classy. Well, I was finally able to do something with all those hours of watching "Trading Spaces" and "Design on a Dime" - I made our house look good! Finally!

I'll start with the living room because it's the centerpiece of the house - plus it was the most fun to decorate because, um, it was the largest room. Some pieces were new (like the couch & ottoman that took a whopping THREE MONTHS to build and ship to us), some are heirloom pieces (like the antique chest/coffee table that I love so much), and some were inherited from the previous owners (the cool entertainment center and CD towers). All in all, I think I pulled everything together well.

The Living Room

I chose browns, reds, and golds for the living room. Don't know how I came up with the color scheme - I had to find things that would go with elements that were already in the room, like the curtains and the entertainment unit. Also, the walls were painted a textured butter-yellow, so I kind of used that as a starting point. But the rug, which I bought after I ordered the main pieces of furniture, was meant to pull everything together, which I think it does nicely.

This photo features a wedding gift given to us by our friend, Tera, who is a fabulous artist based in L.A. She had asked us what our living room colors were, and at the time our predominant color was olive green, so she painted us this beautiful picture of a swirling flower. (At least that's what I think it is.) Anyway, our living room is now completely different, but I'm glad the painting still works!

Anyway, isn't this room wonderful? (Sigh. I just love it. Sorry for the self-congratulatory tone of this post, but I am just enamored with how the room turned out!)

Tomorrow I'll feature the kitchen! Yay!

Memorial Day Party, Part II

More photos of good times and fun people! I'll add captions to these to make things a little more interesting...

K.B. and Becky, with son Eli. It's so great to be able to host a party with kids!

Our friends Derek, Assaf, Albert, and Katherine, all from L.A. (And yes, you've probably recently seen Assaf on "Entourage"! Doing what he does best...playing a sleazy Arab prince!)

Daddy attempts to get Boba out of the pool, but she's more interested in the Otter Pop her Lola is holding for her

"FOOD, glorious FOOD...HOT lumpia and SALAD!"

Me and "Jennifufu"

David, Nick, and Rebecca, all former castmates of Jason's in the local theatre scene

Memorial Day Party, Part I

We had a fabulous housewarming/Memorial Day BBQ to kick off the summer. And I know these are a bunch of people most of my readers don't know, but suffice it to say that it was a HUGE turnout - much more than any party I have ever hosted - and it was a real blast. Hooray for the wonderful backyard that was able to accommodate everyone there. It was a gorgeous day and we all had an awesome time. And so did Boba, who everyone commented was a cutie patootie in her bathing suit and bunny robe!

"Otter Pops are da BOMB on a hot summer day!!"