New post, finally! And on my new laptop, also finally!

Sheesh, it's been awhile, sorry about that. So many things I've wanted to blog about but just...haven't. No excuses, other than laziness. My apologies. But the coolest part is that I'm typing on my brand spankin' new, almost-as-white-as-me Macbook! Just finished importing all my important files and folders over--I love starting over from scratch. Nice and clean, no files leftover from my teaching days cluttering up the place.

So, let's see, updates updates. Car's still in the shop, though apparently still on schedule, which is good. Returned the gas guzzling Quest and am getting quite used to Kyle's Maxima. I'd forgotten how much I love driving stick. Went to Ventura for Father's Day. Amber, Andrew, and Simon were there as well--Dan's brother's family--so it was a tight squeeze between them, us, and my parents-in-law, but it was fun and actually worked out really well. Abby didn't quite know what to make of Simon, who is not only all boy but also the Energizer Bunny incarnate. He unwittingly taught her how to say "Cool," which is really cute. She also started saying "pool" that weekend, which means any body of water bigger than the bathtub.

ON the subject of Abby, her language is really starting to take off. Today she tried saying "bird" and "ball" for the first time, and she's combining words and signs into pairs a lot more often now, too. "More food" is the most popular, surprise surprise. And then last night, SO cute: in the middle of being totally asleep she suddenly said, "Daddy!" Dan had just come to bed and we were whispering when it happened; he just about melted.

Took Abby into Mom and Dad's pool ("Pool!") for the first time today. Wasn't that excited, unfortunately, but that's my girl, very wary of anything new. She whimpered and clung to me the entire time. I'm hoping by the end of pool season she'll be more into it. She's got this adorable full-body UPF-50 swim outfit that's actually sized for 24 months, but we figured it would last her well into next year that way, and for now we just roll up the sleeves. We got it from Coolibar, along with an awesome floppy hat for me and swim shirt and shorts for Dan. Their stuff is very reasonably priced, and given how many moles Dan and I each have to have removed every time we visit the dermatologist, definitely a worthwhile investment. Plus it's a lot easier than trying to slather Abby in sunscreen.

In other news, we've reduced our carbon footprint by a size or so by purchasing reuseable bags from--where else?--reusablebags.com! I keep forgetting to bring them with me, though--they're in the trunk but I just haven't gotten in the habit yet. I'm much better at remembering when I go to the farmer's market, which I've just started doing--I think because the very act of shopping at a farmer's market seems so crunchy to me, the bags just fit. Popping into Target, I just never remember.

Writing...oh yeah, that's what I do, isn't it?--was going great for a while, but ever since Nana's passing I just haven't done it. Not that it has anything to do with Nana; that's just when things around here went bonkers and I've never gotten back on schedule. I did, however, get my first 5 chapters done and edited and sent off with the proposal to Chip the Wonder Agent, and so far three houses are very interested in working with me. Woohoo! Oh, to have a contract again!

Lame.

Lakers.
Clippers.
Dodgers.
Angels.
Ducks.
Kings.
Padres.

Does SoCal have the wussiest-named sport teams in the country or what?

DUCKS WIN! DUCKS WIN! DUCKS WIN!

Wow. What a game. Anyone who doesn't think hockey is anything interesting should really try sitting close enough to see the faces of the guys as they get squished against the glass. I enjoyed watching it before, but honestly, being that close made me want to play. It's so non-stop, so engaging, so exciting--I basically ate my way through the games when we were sitting in the nosebleed seats this past winter, but on Wednesday I barely managed to finish my pizza; I just felt like there wasn't time, there was just so much going on!

And then to see them win...I really wish I'd been a fan for longer, because then it really would have meant something to me. It was still fun, though, especially knowing only one guy on the entire team had ever been on a cup-winning team before. And when you're as sentimental as I am, it doesn't take that much for something to be really moving. This was really moving.

And Abby did pretty well sleeping at my parents' place. My mom didn't get any sleep, but Abby got about 7 hours which, while not as much as usual, is still not bad, considering she's never slept away from me before. But the big news is that she didn't try to nurse when I got her in the morning, and we didn't this morning, either...dare I say I think we're done? Granted she threw a fit when I didn't let her today, but she got over it pretty quick. I can't believe I may finally be closing that chapter of my parenting job with Abby. Definitely bittersweet.

I miss my car.

And it's going to be quite a while before I see it again. The mechanic called with the estimate (which the other guy's insurance is paying, THANK GOODNESS, because it's over $5,000!) and said it would probably be another...FOUR WEEKS. AAAAAUUUHHHGG! Although, I have to admit, the Nissan Quest we're renting drives really nicely--much more smoothly than our Odyssey. If you're thinking of getting a van, definitely test drive it.

But, regardless of how nicely it drives, I still want mine back. Besides the fact that I'm always worried when I drive a rental--what if I bust it?--it also doesn't have all the little stashes of handy stuff that we've built up in the Honda over the last year and a half. You don't think about how often you dip into those stashes until they're not there.

One good thing: Abby's learning to ride in the car without watching "Dee-dee." It's been a week and she still points to the ceiling and says, "Dee-dee?" every time we get in. I am greatly disturbed by her attachment to video. I think, when we get the Odyssey back, we'll NOT be watching it as much as we were. Though when she sees it's there and we're just not playing it, I can guarantee she'll throw a fit. Oh well. It's amazing how good I'm getting at tuning out those screams.

Go Ducks!!!

Dan is a huge hockey fan. Until we married I'd seen one hockey game in my whole life, and while I enjoyed it, I attributed it more to the fact that I was actually AT the game. But once I started watching the Colorado Avalanche with Dan, I got hooked. We've gone to a couple games this season when the Avs were playing the Ducks, and Dan's decided he's a Ducks fan, too. Well, for those of you who don't know (which, given how few people watch hockey, is probably most of you) the Ducks are in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. This is very big. I don't think they've won it before. Tonight is game 5, and if they win, they win the cup, having already won 3 of the series games. And the best part is that WE HAVE TICKETS! And not only do we have tickets, we have AMAZING tickets: three rows from the glass, dead center on one of the blue lines. IIIEEEEE!!! My dad, being the incredible guy he is, bought them for us and surprised Dan with them after the Ducks lost the game on Monday. (The fact that they lost was actually a VERY good thing. Had they won, that would have been 4 wins, and the series would have been over. Not only would there not have been a game today, my dad wouldn't have gotten a refund. Ouch!) So if you don't have anything else to watch tonight, check out the game, and look for us! I think there's a good chance we'll get on TV, at least in quick little blips here and there; we're on the side of the ice where the penalty boxes are, and there's one fairly close to us, I think, and they always show those on TV. I'll be in a white Ducks jersey and black hat, Dan will be in an orange Ducks sweatshirt and a black hat. GO DUCKS!!!!!!!!!!