Julius' Birthday

Well, it's official. I'm the mother of a teenager. As of Friday, March 20, 1:36pm, Julius turned 13. (I always thought it was fitting that he was born on the first day of Spring. Had he been born a hour earlier, he would have been a Pisces and technically born in the winter.) Anyway. I don't feel old enough to have a kid that old. All of the sudden he's into friends and talking on the phone, and can stare at his MySpace page for hours. I am now treading the fine delicate balance between allowing him enough freedom to figure himself out and allowing him too much freedom so he finds himself in trouble. Being a mom is tough, but fun. Julius is now using his wit and charm to dazzle his math teacher.

Child Abuse

So I was just looking at facebook. A number of my "friends" from high school had commented on the recent news reporting of a common theme: boyfriend beats up his girlfriend and her child/ren, then child/ren dies. Those of us in "the business" know it well enough. There's been research... infanticide is highest among "stepfathers." Scores an automatic 10 in #10. But now to my point. Everyone's comment is how angry they are, and how the males want to hurt the CP like he hurt the child, and how the CP will get his when he's in jail. Responding to violence with more violence. Hmmm.

Can't wait!

My husband and I watched Back to the Future II the other night. Love the series... Love Michael J Fox. Then I started doing the math. Doc Brown and Marty dash off in the flying Delorian to the future. There are hover boards, flying cars, and 3D holo-gram movie ads. People wear coats that dry themselves and adjust for length. Women wear shiny spandex, men wear two ties, and kids wear CDs on their heads. Lights turn on by voice and doors require fingerprints to open. You charge things by fingerprint too. Ooh, and the Cubs win the World Series! And when should we expect all of this wonderfulness? In about 6 years! I can't wait for 2015!

A moment of Silence

I just want to take a quick moment to mourn the passing of real animation. I miss hand-drawn animation. Cells that truly qualify as art. Pay attention to the backgrounds the next time you watch Sleeping Beauty. I miss soundtracks so good it wins Oscars and Grammies and you hear it in karaoke. Superstars used to sing the releases. And they were original songs written just for the movie. Sure, there were too many white people and too few mothers, but the solution to that is a little cultural sensitivity, not scrapping the art form all together.

Don't get me wrong, I'm into digital animation as it's own art form, but it doesn't have to replace drawings entirely. And the new Disney stuff (minus Pixar) is only a dusting off of old titles. No new characters, no good story lines, no good music, straight to DVD to keep the 3 year old set happy. It's sad. I miss the old Disney Execs who knew what it meant to those of us who care.

Happy Birthday Olivia

So I don't blog much anymore and it saddens me. There are quite a few reasons why, so I can't just blindly blame facebook, although I often lack the time for fully formed paragraphs and facebook doesn't even require a fully formed thought. There's my recent health-wierdness. At first, it was new and fascinating and a little scary, but now it's old and a bit pathetic and I can't help but feel whiny. I just may have to live this way for years. Life sucks sometimes. Not much else to say. Then, I did go for about a month where I could literally only stay awake long enough to get through work, so by "too busy" to blog, I meant I was asleep 12 hours each night (glad that's over). Now, Julius is occupied with all things social and is on my computer, and when he's not my husband is. So by the time I get my computer, it's late and I'm sleepy (I still really need to go to bed at 9 although I rarely do) and don't feel like being witty. So, pretty much: I'm boring and whiny, I lack the time and materials to blog, but now I have something worth writing about.

My daughter turned 11 today! Woah.

I asked her... "Wow, Olivia, you're 11 now. How'd that happen?" She replied, "I didn't die." Ba-dum-ba. Anyway, it's odd to see your kids grow up. It's good that she still likes being a little girl, she thinks I'm cool, and isn't into womanly things (i.e. boys, bras and makeup). She hangs out with the boys in class a lot because they have more in common at this point. But it is happening... the whole separation thing. I watched Oliva ride off into the neighborhood on her new bike today because she couldn't wait to show her friends and talk about the weekend plans. Aside from looking both ways before crossing, she didn't look back. It's a good thing, it's just different. When she was little, she would ride down a little and turn around to see if I was watching her and to properly praise her for riding so well. Julius spent the entire day on two phones because his social life is now the center of his world. With a kid his age, a mom has to pay close attention or she'll miss the little signs that say she's still needed, otherwise she liable to fall into his independence ruse. But it's a good thing. I may complain a lot but I still believe... what ever age they are is the best age.

One last thing, and it must be documented for posterity: Julius gave Olivia a hug today for her birthday before they went to bed. Awwww.

Things that make you go hmmm...

I wonder what Bush is doing on his last night in the White House?

Survey Time:

You're the most hated president ever, and you're about to leave office. How would you spend your last night?

Jungbauer's Shiny New Year

The Jungbauer Party did not disappoint, as usual. That family knows how to have a good time. The usual happened... great food when we got there, more great food after midnight. Music, dancing, and German drinking songs. Dinner for One, champaign and poppers at midnight. This year Lana and I dressed up... and we weren't the only ones. Bedazzled mini dress, fur shrug, and metallic silver boots. I can only hope to be that adventurous when I'm 60. Half-way through, Ryan's camera errored and erased his memory card, so we don't have as many pics... but here's some of my fav's.

Fun with Poppers

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr Deville

Anyone else see the monkey making moves on my husband?

Awsome team