I was born on May 5th in the suburbs of Philadelphia far, far away from any Cinco de Mayo celebrations.  And even though Californians and Mexicans have been celebrating it since 1863, the year after the Mexican army defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla, I’d never heard of it until I moved to California in 1979.  And even after 30 years of living in Southern California, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a “display” set up in a grocery store like the one I saw in Gelson’s in Westlake Village.  It was set up where they have other holiday displays.  They do the pumpkin pie cans with other baking stuff starting in October, turkey pans and boxes of stuffing for Thanksgiving, stocking stuffers and candy canes for Christmas, noisemakers and champagne for New Year’s Eve, you get the idea right?  Well, I’m sure I’ve seen displays for Cinco de Mayo before, where the chips, salsa, margarita mixers and tequila are set out to entice shoppers to get “loco,” in the San Fernando Valley or maybe even at Jon’s in Simi Valley.  But I was quite surprised to find such a huge display in Whitelake Village, I mean Westlake Village and of all places, a Gelson’s.  But then again, Cinco de Mayo is a drinking holiday and we do live in the United States where Super Bowl Sunday has become as big of a holiday as Mother’s Day.  But I digress, I was actually excited to see the big “Cinco de Mayo” sign hanging down from the ceiling and recalled a time where I’d want to own that sign.  It would have gone rather nicely with the life-sized, cardboard, Mariachi player I used to own and hang up at my annual Cinco de Mayo parties. Continue Reading »

My little boy is away from home for the first time.  He’s attending the Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School in Malibu, California.  Sure, he’s slept at his friends’ before, however, this is the first long period of time where he isn’t in our care.  I also want to clarify that by “little,” I mean he’s 11-years old, no longer a baby, I know.  As a matter of fact he’s actually a “tween,” with wispy armpit hair and a crush on Angelina. My first concern was “It’s going to rain, what if a mudslide washes the school into the Pacific?”  Then once I got over “Will he remember to wear a jacket if it gets cold?” I realized this experience is more than recognizing that I’m an overprotective mother, it’s the beginning of a lesson on “letting go.”  Letting go of fear, anxiety and mostly letting go of the supposed control I have over things I really have NO control over.  Letting go of my little boy? Continue Reading »

On Wednesday, Matthew and I went to the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles to see the “So You Think You Can Dance” Tour.  Our entire evening seemed blessed from the lucky penny we found to help us win $5 on a scratcher lottery ticket (doing our part to help KAH-lee-fo-nee-ah schools) to our dinner at the Original Pantry Café. Continue Reading »

We got lucky yesterday at boot camp because the heat wave that was strangling Southern California, broke. Monday’s session had the class using up a whole roll of paper towels to wipe off sweat from our faces, the mats and equipment. Disgusting! Not only was it hot, the air conditioning wasn’t working when we did our circuit training. So yesterday’s cooler weather made it easier to run to the trails with dumbbells in hand. Continue Reading »

I want to sing the “Inchworm” song! I lost almost an inch a week on my first seven weeks of boot camp. Since my singing leaves a little to be desired, I’ll leave David Cook to do the honors while I continue with another round of boot camp. After a week break, I’m back with the boys at Infinity Sport and Fitness. This is the second week and as Raymond, my trainer, pointed out, “What, no blog?” I know I have at least one reader who wants to be updated, so here goes. I brought weights to yesterday’s session for the first time. I made it through eight weeks of borrowing from the gym or sharing. Raymond assured us, “Today’s an easy day,” what a joke! No time has he said that, did I feel we were getting a break, especially yesterday. Continue Reading »

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I won tickets from 95.5 KLOS radio station yesterday. It all started on Tuesday when my friend emailed commanding me to listen for a chance to win Steely Dan or Santana tickets. Wednesday morning’s email said, “Today, they’re giving away Mellencamp tix.” It’s hard to focus on the radio when you’re supposed to be focused on work, so I mostly tried to win when I’d receive an email that screamed, “CALL NOW! One time I asked a friend to use my cell phone while I tried on my work phone. A co-worker asked us, “What are you doing?” I said, “Trying to win Melon Head tickets.” Continue Reading »