Do you remember the old email joke going around about updating your Girlfriend 1.0 software to the newer Wife 2.0, and all the problems and expenses it costs the user?  This week, Wife (read: me) required

1) a new used phone (remember that I washed my old flip phone last week?)—$30

2)  tires, brakes, oil change, etc on minivan—$1200

3) new washing machine (the old one, which probably is unrelated to #1, was going to cost about $500 to fix)—$800.

4) additional work on the minivan (door motor replacement, timing belts, fix leak in water hose, etc)—$1200.

5) a night out with hubby and friends at my favorite theatre to get over the week.  I love iPic because it combines luxury—waiter service, drinks, reclining leather seats, blankets, pillows—with efficiency—a gourmet meal while watching the new Star Trek. 

The End. 

Kyla, with two school friends, were in the school’s talent show tonight.  I actually don’t want to talk about it at all, but I’d love to show you the pictures!

My mom says you don’t remember all the sick days.  Which, of course, doesn’t explain why I know that I crept into Mom’s bed when I was 18 months old, laid down facing her and then projectile vomited on her.  Believe me, it’s not my own memory! 

 

But the good news of having Wesley in Piper’s preschool class now is balanced by him bringing home a stomach bug that each kid got this week. Wesley came down with it Tuesday night at dinner time.  Kyla and Piper got it in the middle of the night the next day (alternating retching every 30 minutes or s0 until 6am) and then they were all sick until Piper’s last incident this morning. 

Upside:   1. I am so grateful I didn’t get sick (it feels like extraordinary grace).  2.  All major surfaces in house, by necessity, are now sanitized, steamed, scrubbed, and/or shampooed.

Downside:  After one of the times I was vomited on, I threw my clothes in the laundry without checking the pockets, and now I do not have a working cell phone. 

We just need to catch up on some sleep and get me a cell phone of craigslist, and we will call this week…

DONE (and hopefully forgotten).

http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=712c3a67-edbe-4031-b4ab-70bc64a7acfc

 

Parents score as Disney pulls sexy new Merida

After getting bombarded with hundreds of thousands of complaints, the media company ditches the thinner-waisted version from its princess site.

By Aimee Picchi

Hundreds of thousands of parents have validated Walt Disney’s saying “All dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”

In this case, Disney (DIS -1.77%) has listened to the more than 210,000 petitioners who complained about the sexy makeover given to the fiery-haired Merida, heroine of “Brave.” The media giant on Wednesday restored the original, more realistic version (pictured, left) to its official princess Website, although it hasn’t yet released a statement about whether it will keep the original depiction for the long term.

As reported Friday, parents were up in arms over Merida’s sexy makeover (pictured, right) to get her ready for her coronation into the Disney princess lineup.

The original Merida was hailed as a positive role model for girls because she was independent, active and outdoorsy. She also was an ace with her trusty bow and arrow, which were removed in her princess makeover, much to parents’ dismay.

That caused parents to rally a rescue effort via a Change.org petition, which criticized the new version as “making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance.” The message, the petition said, is “that for girls and women to have value — to be recognized as true princesses — they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty.”

For Disney, Merida’s reception is more than skin deep. The princess line — which includes Snow White, Cinderella and more modern heroines such as Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog” — is a $4 billion franchise, helping to sell movies, books, and paraphernalia such as pajamas and tiaras.

Still, not everyone is convinced that Disney will stay loyal to the original Merida. The character’s creator, Brenda Chapman, told the San Jose Mercury News that she’s waiting for final word from Disney.

“I will stay dubious until they give an official statement about changing the image to match the original version of Merida,” she said. Chapman had earlier given a stinging rebuke about the makeover, calling it a “blatantly sexist marketing move based on money.”

Follow Aimee Picchi on Twitter at @aimeepicchi.

Little Miss Shark Tooth finally lost that baby tooth!  It was very exciting. She came downstairs late at night, blood dripping down her mouth, very excited that she had almost gotten it out.  I asked her if she wanted me to take it out and she was so excited she hopped up and down.  I yanked it out and Kyla couldn’t have been happier…or braver.

My real Mom’s Day was yesterday, when Dwayne took the kids to get some building blocks, and then didn’t come home until 9 hours later.  (He took them on a very spontaneous adventure to Deception Pass for the day.)  I worked outside non-stop for not quite ten hours, wanting to get as much dirt hauled and blocks placed before the kids came home.  I can’t wait to show you pictures, but it’s not quite done, so I will wait to show it picture perfect. 

Here’s my tribe at a Thai dinner:

 

Followed by ice cream:

 

But the best part of Mother’s Day?  Having this guy as the dad…

 

And a quick shout out to my parents—

Happy 40th Anniversary!!

Hey, I have Disney Princess issues and I’m going to make my reader deal with it.  I am not pleased with this makeover. 

Disney gives the heroine of ‘Brave’ a Barbie-style makeover

Young girls looking for a positive role model in Pixar’s animated adventure “Brave” will soon find a much slimmer, prettier version. The film’s star, Merida, will soon be officially dubbed a Disney princess. She has gone under the Disney knife and has been given a skinnier waist, higher cheekbones and a liberal supply of hair conditioner, making her more Barbie than Artemis. No longer the frizzy and fiery protagonist that both girls and boys identified with, the new Merida has come under fire by parents who prefer strong female protagonists with a more earthy look. There’s even an online petition asking Disney to please keep makeup and liposuction away from the feisty Scot.

http://now.msn.com/brave-princess-makeover-has-parents-furious

I love the sunlight, the floral explosions, and the dramatic sunsets at this time of year.  Of course, I don’t know how to use my camera well enough to actually do the sunset justice, but here’s what I’ve got.

Riding his bike sans training wheels! 

I decided that he was more than ready to ride a two wheeler, so before we went to our friends’ house tonight, I took them off without him seeing and threw the bike in the car. 

 

When I got his bike out later, he wasn’t too happy about the new look, and the first two times he tried it, he went a few feet with some help.  Then he took a two hour break and came back to it.

 

The third time he got on, he told me to let go and anyway he went!  He needed help getting started for about five more minutes, and then he figured that out, too.  He’s riding with the big kids now! 

We’re now out of diapers and done with training wheels.  What’s next?  Afternoon cocktails instead of popsicles? (Okay!)