Day 2 - Griffith Park

-- Post From My iPhone; forgive typing errors and strange auto corrections

Mari hazes mommy

Day 1 - abridged version due to toting it in my iPhone

A six hour flight with a child who's five hours shy of her normal amount of sleep is not my idea of a good time. Thank God one of the only empty seats on the plane was the one right in front of her, because she kicked it the WHOLE 6 hours.

After picking up our rental car we headed for the clinic. We were 2+ hours too early to check in, but I wanted to explore this neighborhood that so many have warned me about. Mari tried to catch a nap in the car but woke up everytime I jerked the brakes in the unfamiliar car, i.e. every 10 min. Due to her almost sleep state I abandoned my plan to shop for all the essentials we coulnt pack, and just kept driving.

I soon found my starving self in the drive thru of a place that served Korean & Mexican cuisine...and also pancakes. I had to communicate with the Korean cashier in Spanish. Me Gusta LA!

My finger is about to fall off from iPhone blogging, so this will be brief and hopefully I can fill in more later-
-checked in to apt, unpacked
-got Mari to nap, but only if I let her lay on top of me. Woke up when arm went numb. Finger STILL numb.
-drove to Anaheim to see Nonny
-went swimming despite horrible packing mistake which caused us to buy suits in the hotel gift shop
-ate dinner in our beds
-watched some great fireworks out our window (Disneyland)
-crashed after 21 hours of torture interspersed with brief moments of Marielle at her happiest. If she wasn't two, I would think she was bipolar.

Best Marielle phrase of the day, "I need MY iPod."

Leaving on a jet plane

I made the mistake of telling Marielle today that we were going on an airplane tomorrow. All I heard the rest of the day was, "GO ON AN AIRPLANE? AIRPLANE? AIRPLANE?! AIRPLANE!!!!"

Suddenly our 7 am flight isn't looking like such a great idea. Nor is the three hours of sleep ahead of me. I feel great sympathy for the person sitting next to us for six hours!

Unless there's a serious alarm malfunction, Marielle and I are off first thing tomorrow for LA and 3 weeks here. If you want a sneak peak of what we'll be doing, read all about it from a mom that was there last month.

Here's the history of the clinic:

After Spencer and Louise Tracy's infant son was diagnosed with profound hearing loss in 1925, Louise Treadwell Tracy devoted her time and energy to studying how deaf children could be taught to communicate with the hearing and speaking world. She patiently guided her son, John, into an understanding of language and
lip-reading. With her encouragement, he learned to speak.

In 1942, Mrs. Tracy responded to a desperate call for help from twelve other mothers of young deaf children by founding John Tracy Clinic. Mrs. Tracy compassionately established programs to educate and offer emotional support to
parents and their preschool deaf youngsters, free of charge. By encouraging parents to build a foundation of communication with their young children during the critical language development stage from birth through age five, the Clinic has enabled thousands of boys and girls to master the challenges of oral communication.

Watch for updates here.

We land at 9 am. First stop(s), Target and Costco, to buy all the supplies we couldn't pack. Then we'll check into our dorm and unpack. Next we'll go to the urgent care when I've thrown out my back from hauling 70 lb suitcases up the stairs.

We'll end the day out in Anaheim. We're going to stalk someone and hope she has time to see us. We'll be spending the night there, so we can swim at the hotel pool and if we get lucky, watch the Saturday night Disney fireworks. I'll probably take her picture at the gate entrance so I can stretch the truth one day and tell her I took her to Disneyland. Nobody said anything about going IN...

Sunday it's Weinermobile at Griffith Park and then orientation. Classes start Monday!

Lend me some money?

I gotta win this raffle.

I wonder how much I would have to bribe them to let me DRIVE.

Trendsetter?

Maried seven years today. Admit it, some of you lost money on that bet years ago.

My mom is still mad I haven't had a single print made from the professional photographer's negatives. Why would I, when she and my aunt took almost 20 rolls of film. Yep, I got married so long ago that people used FILM. Also, moonbounces that withstood adult weights had not yet been introduced. Trust me, I looked.

Though he looks creepy-uncle-esque, this is actually Badger. THESE are the uncles (and dad and bro):

Might I suggest an ugly-tie contest at your event? Great way to trick the menfolk into dressing up.

When a Maggianos rehearsal dinner just isn't enough food, you gotta head for the Taco Bell/Wendy's/McDonald's Trifecta -

One phrase I'll never forget from the wedding: "AND A FROSTY FOR THE BRIDE!"

When your best man just isn't good enough, call in the big guns, the wife to be:

Seven years later and I'm still bitter we had to buy him a suit to be in the wedding. And a tie. And a belt. (I told him to wear ANY suit, but he didn't own one.)

(Bachelorette party pictures not fit to print.)

Sorry in advance, wildlife.

PARTY TIME:

What do you mean your wedding didn't have pinatas?

Aggression? What agression?

What do you mean your wedding didn't have snocones? I'll bet you didn't have a caboose either.

Or a brother sporting a Def Leppard t-shirt...

Or an after party at the bowling alley -

Or an after-after party at Krispy Kreme.

Less than $5,000 spent for over 80 people for a DC area wedding. Take that, wedding industry.

Seven years later and it still remains the best planned wedding ever, if I do say so myself.