I can’t believe it has been over a month since I last posted here. *But so much has happened in the last month.* (Yes, this is me whining for not giving myself even a little bit of time to write.) Although, each moment deserves its own time in the spotlight, I don’t want to dwell on the past as I will get tripped up and forget about all of the awesome things to come. So you won’t be hearing about my fantastic Mother’s Day where I got to see Roger Waters perform The Wall, or about the success of the North Park Festival of Arts (that little 35,000 person event I help run in my community), or even reviews of the Avengers or the solar eclipse (5 stars for both). It is time to look forward towards the sea of opportunities the tides are bringing in.

Let’s start with tomorrow.

I recently stumbled across an invite for the Committee of 100’s Annual Luncheon. If you didn’t know, the Committee of 100 is a strong advocate for Balboa Park in the preservation and restoration of the historical buildings within the park. But lo and behold the speaker at this event is Welton Jones, a proclaimed expert on Zoro Gardens, the nudist colony in Balboa Park during the 1935-36 exposition… which happens to be the same topic of my attempted novel. I had no idea that there was an expert on the subject. So I will be there to hopefully secure so time to meet with him later. Yay!

Monday is Thomas Day! *What?* Yes, I gave the boy a day. There is Mother’s Day and there is Father’s Day, so why not  Thomas Day? Most parents (including my husband) I have told this too think I’m crazy. Responses range from “This will totally backfire on you” to “Why didn’t you tell him everyday is kid’s day?” Well, we have  just one kid and we were already planning on going to Legoland that day (which we have annual passes for). No gifts, just a fun day. Really, we are just labeling the day, as Mother’s Day is just that to us anyway… just a labeled day.

Tuesday, Greg Laswell is playing at the Belly Up Tavern. *Who is this character?* He is a singer, songwriter straight out of San Diego’s coffeehouses. *Like Jason Mraz?* Well… yes… no, he is way cooler and just different in so many other ways… you should really determine for yourself. He is also married to miss Ingrid Michaelson,  who I will never forget seeing at a small tent at SXSW in 2008. And to top it all off, he has an incredible touring cellist. I have to admit, I’m a little bias on that last  one.

Sea Rocket Bistro turns 4 years old on Thursday. I love our local restaurants but this one has a special place in my heart. The food is incredible, but the staff have always been like extended family to us, even understanding as we had to pack up and leave due to a screaming two year old. Thursday, there will be a special tray passed food menu plus a photo booth to capture the shenanigans that are likely to occur (their words, not mine). I will be there with the little boy in tow.

Hopefully I will treat myself to a little blogging time on a weekly basis so I can spill some of the crazy thoughts running through my head like why my cat is crazy… well, perhaps not that one. But you get the gist.

Roger and I are lucky. We are lucky to have each other,  our awesome little one, a supportive family and equally supportive friends. There are a million other reasons we are lucky too, having full-time jobs and a roof over our head are two that I true am thankful for. Everyday I appreciate the love coming from all sides. Some of the love comes in the form of hugs while others come in the form of quick facebook posts or tweets. Even others come in the form of full length articles like this one from a friend and this one from a complete stranger (who I recently met).

On my 33rd birthday, I have been thinking about all of the awesomeness around me, including the awesomely weird dreams I’ve been having lately that include large beautiful birds you could ride on. I don’t know really where this post is going, but I felt I needed to write it. Really I just wanted to say “thank you” to everyone for being amazing. I’m glad you are in our lives.

I have been wanting to post on this subject matter for a long time. We have been making twice a month treks to the local library since Thomas was a year and a half, thereby finding his own in the way of favorite pieces of literature. Because I have waited so long to get this all down, favorites have come and gone like the ebb and flow of the tide. But before he take on any more new stories, I want to share some of his favorites over the last year.

I didn’t realize a kid could have a favorite author, but Thomas seemed to lean towards particular writers (even if they used different illustrators). Karma Wilson was one of those… The Bear Snores On was the first book given to us as a shower gift but by far his favorite of her many stories was Moose Tracks, about a messy moose who apparently forgot he was one. Another good read is Animal Strike at the Zoo.

Mo Willems is another one on the favorite list during the past year. He has had a number of favorites from this amazing author/illustrator. I think the best quality Mo Willems is able to conveys through his stories is expression of sarcasm and surprise. I have fun reading the books because his characters demand to be heard. His most well-known (I think) and the first book we were given, Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog got us hooked. The Piggie and Elephant series are hilarious. Roger loves the 2008 Geisel Award winning book, There is a Bird on Your Head while I love I Broke My Trunk. Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed is high on the list too. I need to reserve Time to Pee for the boy who is still struggling with potty training. As many as I thought we have read, I think there is more to get through, but it seems now he is not nearly as excited as we are.

Another favorite authors of his is Jon Scieszka. We read a few that didn’t get is attention early on like Cowboy & Octopus and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, but it wasn’t until we brought home a TruckTown book that he seemed to show any interest. Right now he is hooked on Robot Zot, a tiny angry robot who comes to Earth and attacks appliances. I like it for the fun voices I get to make for the characters, he might like it for the same reason. Perhaps I may have to return to those previous books to see if he just wasn’t ready for them.

Of course there are several books that he just loves because… They are like the one-hit wonders of his book reading. Dinosaurs Love Underpants is one of those books. I like this book, but have a hard time with the rhymes as it is clearly written by someone with a different accent (Claire Freedman is from the UK). For example rhyming “shock” with “amok” or “claw” with “war.” It to me a few tries before I was able to recite it as intended.

Right now he is into one of Roald Dahl‘s shorter stories, The Enormous Crocodile. This mean crocodile (Thomas insists we can’t call him croc, I think he has an aversion to the shoes too) makes several failed attempts at gobbling up children with his not so clever tricks, foiled by other forest animals. Again I really think he enjoys the characters’ voices in this one. I am excited that he can sit for this longish book knowing there is a whole world of new options to read.

I’m hoping to sit down and do this every few months as his interests change. It will be good for me and hopefully some recommendations or rereads for you.

My baby turns three today and aside from celebrating with Star Wars themed games and Luke Skywalker on your cake, I wanted to encapsulate your growth and the things you do that make me smile and sometimes drive me crazy, because next year these things might pass and be replaced with throwing spit balls (I hope not) or drawing faces on everything in sight. So, in no particular order…

• Your preference for cozy sweats or fleece attire over jeans
• Singing “celebrate good times, come on!” at the top of your lungs from the back of the car
• Carrying around a giant blue fluffy pillow and the need to have it placed on your head to sleep
• Specifying the type and color of cup each and EVERY time you want a drink… with a straw or like a glass?
• Not wanting to leave the farmers market without a carrot in your hand, nibbling it like bugs bunny
• Wearing my brown fedora, also known as the Yee-haw hat like Indiana Jones
• Asking us to tell you a story, not read, but off-the-cuff, improv-style
• Your extensive bargaining where you manage to find a compromise most of the time… sorry, mom and dad have to win some of the time
• Wearing my necklaces
• Indicating your dislike for things by saying, “That’s not great” or “That’s not my favorite.”
• Casually peeing with no hands
• Playing rhyming games that always end when you ask, “What rhymes with Thomas?”
• Your genuine love of your family and friends, while blaming almost everything on Lincoln, that bratty kid from daycare

I don’t want this time to pass (especially since now all of the theme parks have deemed you a paying customer), but I know the future brings even more adventure, frustrations and awesomeness. I love you forever.