Planet Lu

It's Always Princess Weather

2008-09-03T07:37:00.004-05:00

I just went into her room to wake her and the first thing she asked me, yawning was, "Mom, can I have a princess jacket?"

A) It's too hot to be thinking of jackets. B) Good Lord. "Well, babe, it's too hot for jacket. Why are you thinking about it?"

Lu: "Because Alex has one and I she is my best friend and I need to have one too."

Not only are we deep into the Princess Period, she is also obsessed with doing whatever Alex is doing, which deeply troubles me, although Alex is a perfectly lovely little person. Who wears twirly pink princess dresses. Every single day.

"Pie and I don't wear the same thing or do the same thing. I wear what I like and she wears what she likes."

"Well, Alex and I both like princesses and that's why I need to get a princess jacket. Can I?"

"Maybe."

Then, an incisive rhetorical move, "Mom, can you look in our closets and see if you have a princess jacket from when you were little that I could wear?"

"That would make it a vintage princess jacket. I don't think we have one here, but I can ask Granny to look in the closet in my old room."

"Yeah, vintage," she said. "Let's go call Granny right now. Or you can send her an email."

Just now, as I was finishing this post, she asked me, "Mom, now are you ordering me a princess jacket on the Internet?"

The Dress Proclamation of August 2008

2008-08-26T10:52:00.003-05:00

Whereas We have taken into our Royal Consideration the matter of getting dressed each morning, We do hereby authorize, enjoin and require of our loving subjects making any purchases of clothing on behalf of the Princess or aiding in the dressing of the Princess to henceforth avail themselves only of Dresses. These Dresses shall be Twirly in nature, preferably in the Pink colour family. All Dresses presented to the Princess should be to her complete delight. We do hereby strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our loving subjects from making any purchases or offerings of clothing other than Dresses.

This Royal Proclamation is issued at the Court of Princess Lucy Elena, at Austin in the State of Texas, this 26th Day of August 2008, in the Fourth Year of our Reign
GOD SAVE THE PRINCESS

Good Dog

2008-08-24T23:30:00.003-05:00

Lucy really wants some new pets. Ones that are younger and smaller and smell better. Like a kitty or bunny or some little yippy dog. She sees our dogs as hand-me-downs. What she doesn't see: Clifford, who is lying next to her bed as she sleeps. Clifford, who'd jump into the car as I was buckling her into her car seat, just to be next to her, and look at me in his nervous way, as if to say, "Hey, don't hurt our baby, okay? Do you love me now? Just checking." Guinea pigs and Yorkies don't do that.

My Two Favorite People

2008-08-21T12:03:00.002-05:00

How can anything be that bad with these two clowns around?

Why People Invented the Stork, the Cabbage Patch and Other Reproductive Myths

2008-08-19T09:32:00.004-05:00

This morning as I am strapping her into her car seat, she asks, "Mom, what did you and Dad do before I was in your tummy?"

I freeze. Is she asking what I think she's asking? Surely not. "What do you mean?"

"Right before I was in your tummy, what did you and Dad do?"

Um, right before? Holy smokes: she's asking where babies coming from. I give her a quizzical look, stalling.

She takes a new tack: "Did you know I was in there before I came out? Were you missing me?"

That was a close one. "I did know you were in there. And yes, I did miss you. I was so happy when you came out."

Confidence Floats

2008-08-12T22:39:00.005-05:00

Lucy has been taking swimming lessons, and today she swam the short length of the pool BY HERSELF. Maybe. Jason wonders that the swim instructor may have had a single finger under Lucy...which means it doesn't count? I'd argue she did swim by herself. How much can a finger be doing except giving her the confidence to do what she knows how to do?

All of our accomplishments require the buoy of confidence. Sometimes, my entire job is holding a finger under a bunch of bright creative people who don't quite realize they know how to...swim.

Watching the Olympics echoes this sentiment for me. Sure, there's the years of training and sacrifice, but confidence: that's the extra something.

Whew

2008-08-08T08:50:00.003-05:00

Thank goodness Jason is home. It's been four long days of single parenthood (and I've even had some help from Baga and Nini). Gives me new appreciation for what a bad-ass of a dad Jason is, as well as appreciation for my own single-parent mom.

Last night, I was battling with Lucy about bedtime and I said, "I miss Dad." She said, "I miss Dad, too." In my exhausted, insecure state, I asked the inappropriate question "Do you like Dad better than Mom?" She was a diplomat: "No, I like you both the same. But I do miss Dad."

Is That a Fairy in Your Pants or Are You Happy to See Me?

2008-08-05T21:57:00.002-05:00

As I picked Lu up from school today, Ms. Garrett said that Ms. Shepherd said that on the way to the Extended Day room, Lu was holding her stomach, saying it hurt. When I asked Lu if her stomach was okay, did she want to go to swimming lessons? "Yes!" Stomachache gone.

She was changing into her swimsuit, and WHAT should appear, as if by magic: a tiny plastic fairy, tucked into the waistband of her panties. A tiny plastic fairy that she was trying to SMUGGLE OUT OF SCHOOL. Was it the fairy pressed against her waist or the GUILT that was making her stomach hurt?

We had a little meeting about stealing.

The Decline of Duck?

2008-08-04T08:39:00.002-05:00

Last night, as Nini and I were putting Lucy to bed, Lucy declared that Duck would be sleeping next to her bed and she'd be sleeping with some random doll instead. Nini and I are both like "Who the hell is that doll? How can you do this to Duck?" It was the very last of her babyhood, cast aside in a ratty heap beside her bed.

At 10:15, when she was STILL AWAKE, we realized that she had decided not to sleep with Duck so she wouldn't suck her thumb, so she wouldn't suck off the hot pink nail polish Baga had applied earlier in the day. After much reassurance, she went to sleep with Duck in hand and thumb in mouth.

This morning, she said she didn't want to take Duck to school, but I put him in her backpack anyway. The day will come, but it's not today.

Wimberley, Part 2

2008-07-31T16:06:00.003-05:00

After we left camp on Saturday, we headed over to the Cleaves' Cypress Creek compound. I hadn't been there in probably 20 years, though as a child I spent a good amount of time there with Peggy (my mom's first cousin), Ted (my mom's second cousin, whose family owns all the glorious land and houses around Cypress Creek), David, Kim and Tad (their children, my second cousins). Peggy always took an interest in me, an only child, and often invited me to visit them in Wimberley, Corpus and Colorado so I'd get a taste of big family life.

Lu got a taste of that same family life hanging out with her third cousins Willow, Jack and Nathan Saturday and Sunday. They ran around like wild things, swimming, jumping, hiking and hollering. Saturday night, David set up the movie screen on the porch and we watched "Swiss Family Robinson," until Lu got too scared and we had to watch "Mary Poppins" instead.

I especially loved seeing Lu with Kim's daughter Willow, who is five. Peggy and my mom were best friends as little girls, so it's sweet to see their granddaughters as friends and cousins two generations later. Peggy says, "It's good for children to feel like they are part of a tribe." Indeed.

Wimberley, Part 1

2008-07-28T18:35:00.005-05:00

Lucy and I had a magical Saturday and Sunday in Wimberley.

Our first stop was Camp. Yes, Camp with a capital C: Rocky River Ranch, the place where I spent two weeks to two months every summer of my adolescent life. I started going when I was nine years old, perhaps the zenith of my dorkiness. My mom dropped me off on one Sunday, leaving me in the care of a bunch of young women, and I didn't even have the sense to be afraid. I marched into the fray, chose some activities, made some friends and was...cool.

It's true, Camp is the only place in my life where I have ever been cool (maybe because everyone gets to be cool). And I can only think it's because Camp is like life in concentrate, a hyper-real place where it's impossible to be fake. There's no room for posturing or pretending. You're too busy swimming, canoeing, riding horses, laughing, singing bad songs and, if there's any time or energy left before you collapse into your bunk, making the fastest, most intimate friends of your whole life (ones who even accept collect calls from jail). I learned to be a person at Camp.

Being in the Grubstake Saturday afternoon, listening to the post-lunch singing, had me brimming with nostalgia. And to see Liz, my friend and former counselor, as Camp Director...the perfection of the plot line is as pat and sappy as a Lifetime movie.

At first, Lu clung to me, terrified of all the noise, but later she stood in the doorway of the Red Wagon, slack-jawed in her worship of the seven-year-olds who SLEEP in the wagons. Without their PARENTS. And she has been singing "What'll They Do to Her" (this very catchy camp song about a man on deathrow) ever since. I can't wait for her to go.

Bravo No! Where Did My Free Time Go?

2008-07-23T00:06:00.003-05:00

I have an unfortunate habit of settling into bed and cuddling up next to whatever is on Austin Time Warner Cable channel 62: Bravo. A gaping maw of vapidity. A complete vacuum of substance. Scandals about pet food and crown molding! A bustier of coffee filters! Number 124 of 513 episodes of Law and Order!

The new Salman Rushdie novel idles on my nightstand, collecting dust alongside my good intentions of learning Portuguese and watching PBS. Sorry, Sal, Kathy Griffin's on.

The Mom Song

2008-07-22T09:01:00.001-05:00

While we were in the car this weekend, Jason and Lucy were nice enough to improvise a little song about me. They took turns singing each line. I don't remember the tune, but it was quite an homage...

J: "I like Mom. She smells nice."

L: "And she knows all of her friends' names."

J: "She's funny and she's smart."

L: "And she knows how to match her clothes."

I guess when you are four, these are major accomplishments?

Morning Funnies

2008-07-21T09:02:00.002-05:00

Friday was Jason's birthday, so he treated himself to an early morning round of golf. Which left me alone to get Lu out the door. We were moving really slowly, but she said enough funny stuff for three whole blogs posts.

After returning from a timeout: "Mom, I just threw a little fit, right?" Holds fingers up about two inches apart: "About this big."

Amid dogs barking: "Mom, can we take Ramona and Clifford back to the pet store? I want some new pets. These ones are too loud."

While reading the cover of an US Weekly about Madonna and A-Rod: "Mom, this says 'Alex,' right?"

Responsibility

2008-07-14T09:43:00.003-05:00

Lucy has a magnetic Responsibility Chart, where she gets to win magnets for doing things like Being Nice, Not Whining, Cleaning Your Room, etc. When she gets it all filled up, she will be able to buy a baby stroller for Megan, the newest addition to her imaginary family.

On Saturday, she made a colossal mess of her room. In what seemed like an effort to ward off my inevitable request that she clean her room, she brought me the responsibility chart.

"Here, Mom. I don't want this anymore."
"Babe, what's the deal?"
"Well, I don't want to do my responsibilities anymore, so can you please put this away?"
"But that's how you will get your baby stroller, by doing your responsibilities."
"I don't want to."
"Well, I don't want to do my responsibilities sometimes either but..."
"Well, I don't want to."

Jason managed to convince her to clean her room Sunday, but it took lots of threats and bribes and about three hours. The responsibility chart is hanging from our bedroom doorknob, untouched since Saturday's shirking.

To My Health

2008-07-11T09:17:00.005-05:00

Dad started having chest and arm pain around 11 p.m. Wednesday. We went to the emergency room at the Heart Hospital, which I highly recommend — they have a full-service ER for non-heart-related problems, but it's a well-kept secret, so there's rarely someone with a stab wound in the waiting room.

In the ER, he sat in a snarl of wires and tubes and detailed his long — and not great — medical history. After a three-hour work-up, they decided to admit him and do an angiogram the next day.

While his bill of health is not exactly clean, he has no apparent heart problems! Twenty-two hours and one negative angiogram later, he was back at our house smoking a cigarette. Meanwhile, I went for a run in the dark, appreciating the strong legs that propelled me and the healthy heart that fueled every step. Thanks, body.

Perfect Birthday

2008-07-08T14:18:00.003-05:00

Even though being 35 sort of sucks, what did NOT suck was my actual birthday. Small gathering at the Bickler Road Water Park with some great folks. Presents. Cake. Pie. Sparklers. Lucky me.

Thanks again to Frank for the gorgeous photos.

Fairy Fury

2008-07-06T21:52:00.002-05:00

Lu: "DAD, I need to cut that fairy out RIGHT NOW."

Jason: "No, babe, you need to eat your toast."

Lu: "Okay, well, Dad, you need to cut that fairy out. And you better be done cutting that fairy out before I finish eating my toast. Or else."

Jason: "Or else what?"

Lucy: "Or else I am going to be angry with you."

The man was done cutting the fairy out before she finished eating her toast.

Shameless JCPenney Plug

2008-07-03T17:47:00.004-05:00

So I rarely talk about job specifics, but this is a project I've been working on that needs (and I think deserves) some exposure, so I am exploiting my readership of three. It's a weekly shopping show for JCPenney (the account I work on) designed to take the contents of their weekly newspaper circular and package it in a hipper, more online-friendly way. We've been shooting every week and having an edit of the show ready THE NEXT DAY, which is insane, but feels very TV news and exciting. Our director-editor is a bad-ass (as is the entire team, really).

This is the reason the blogs have been sparse lately. Also the reason I did not accomplish much on my Lu-free to-do list. It was worth it, I think. Watch it several times and go immediately to JCPenney and buy stuff. And tell all your friends.

Grown Up

2008-06-30T10:58:00.002-05:00

I can't believe how different Lu seems, even after one week. This photo of her, taken while she was in El Paso, tells me what she will look like when she is a young woman. What is that Mona Lisa look on her face?

Free Time

2008-06-23T22:38:00.002-05:00

Things I plan to do while Lu is out of town:

Clean out her closet
Clean out my closet
Drive five carloads of stuff to Goodwill
Finish my novel
Oh wait, start my novel
Learn Portuguese
Choose all finishes, paint colors, hardware and other material for house project
Catch up on "Weeds"
Catch up on sleep

Vacation?

2008-06-22T21:55:00.003-05:00

Lucy is in El Paso for the week "on vacation." Vacation, indeed: when we called her at 9 this morning, she was already in the pool. She got on the plane with Nini yesterday, pulling her own pink suitcase. And I am pretty sure she will get off the plane from El Paso trailing a diamond-saddled pony behind her.

We miss her.

Nebulous

2008-06-19T10:50:00.003-05:00

Something Lucy was watching this morning made her ask, "What's a nebula?" (And no, I don't think she was watching Nova.)

Jason: "Uh, it's gas."

Lucy: "Where?"

Jason: "Space."

Lucy: "But what is it?"

Jason: "It's a cloud of gas in space."

Lucy: "Oh."

Two Best Things

2008-06-17T20:28:00.002-05:00

Lu's for today:
1. Getting to water the tomato plants
2. Playing with Alicia,"The Copy Girl," who "says what everyone else says, but me and Alex are friends with her anyway."

Mine:
1. A brutal lunch-time workout that I very much needed.
2. After-school swimming with my girl.

Everybody Loves Jason

2008-06-15T22:53:00.006-05:00

Would you look at this guy? He looks like someone you would cast in his own sitcom about being a dad. The show's all about how wacky it is to be a graphic designer dad of a precocious 4-year-old, married to her crazy mother. He is perfect for the role. The show would be nothing without him.

(Thanks to Jason for...everything. Thanks to Frank for the photos.)