Cinnamon Toast Time of Day.

As a Mom my favorite time of the day isn't when my girls first wake up, it isn't during the afternoon down-time when we have nothing to do, it's not even bedtime when I tuck them in and read stories or remember our day.  I often have trouble with treasuring those moments and doing them well.

My feel good Mom moment is when they get home from school, or when I greet them at school as they come out of their classrooms.  I love the big hugs and the sense of relief I get from them; that they're back with me and are done with school for the day.  I always tell them I missed them and I'm glad they are home. If they are carpooling, and they walk through the front door, I love that I'm home for them to welcome them back.

I think school is stressful no matter what age you are.  Having to listen and follow rules, navigating the social ups and downs on the playground and with classmates.  Trying your best to fit in, to do things right, to learn.

When the girls get home from school they get a snack.  They run to wash their hands and we all sit at the table together and eat and talk about what happened at school.

An easy, homemade snack I love to make is cinnamon toast.
I remember my Mom making this for us when we were kids.

No recipe needed, of course.  But, to get you in the mood, here's how I make it:

• Any kind of bread works great.  I usually have whole wheat on hand.
• Spread butter on bread (lots of it makes it even better!)

• Sprinkle with a three-to-one ratio of cinnamon to sugar mixture.
• Broil for a few minutes until bubbly, melted, golden brown.

Our afternoon cinnamon toast with Mother's Day tulips in the background.

Now that I think about it; it's my favorite time of day.  After school snack time.

Colorful Sneakers.

When I was a living in Berlin in the 1980's, it was a city of lots of tourist and a big American Military population.  Americans had the reputation of usually wearing bright white sneakers and jeans.  Always so sporty and casual and that look would just scream  "Hi! I'm American".  (Their other reputation was always talking loudly amongst themselves, like on the subway, and always wanting tons of ice in their drinks).  They also were known for being super friendly, by the way.  Germans are not known for being friendly.

Europeans, (then, anyway) didn't wear sneakers around unless they were actually in the gym, jogging or on the tennis court.

I didn't really follow that style and especially by the time I got back to California as a 17 year old, I was wearing my white Reeboks like everyone else.

But now that I'm a mature, 40 year old mother of three (that feels weird even writing that!), I do think the white sneaker look for every day is not a good one.

That's why I'm loving these colored sneakers that everyone has.  Out with the boring white clunky work out sneakers.  These come in a million colors, are much sleeker, incredibly comfortable and light weight, and I think they look interesting and great with almost any outfit.

My purple sneakers. Cheap ones from Target.

And by the by, there have been a few times where I have stared at my high heels in my closet, contemplating wearing them for a few hours for a rare occasion where heels would be appropriate, and I just can't bring myself to put my feet in such misery.  

What happened to me, to my feet?  Why have things changed?  Is it because I'm 40 now? I used to be able to be in high heels all day.  I love high heels and how they make me super tall.

Maybe it's not age, but just that my feet aren't used to them anymore.

My Trendy Veggie Garden.

I'm so trendy, I started a home vegetable garden.  Evvvveryone is doing it.  In your back yard, on your deck, on your patio, on a balcony, on a windowsill, where ever you can.  You gotta have a veggie garden.

I've been thinking about doing this for years.  I love to cook, I love veggies, we have the space, we have the great climate.  What took me so long, really.

It's hard for me to start things, sometimes, but finally a few weeks ago, I dug in and got it going.

Using old railroad ties we had piled in our yard from the previous owner, and some scrap wood, I built a raised garden bed in our back yard, next to the trampoline.

Family project. 

First I googled "how to make a veggie garden" to get ideas and tips.  For some reason I didn't find much helpful information.  So I feel like I may have done a bunch of things wrong.

We dug up the grass in the yard, dug up the dirt underneath it, and layed down the ties in a square, two high.

I filled the square with bags and bags of soil (it takes a lot of bags!), put four stakes in each corner, and staple gunned chicken wire all around it.  Because once I made a veggie garden out in the open with no fencing and some animal ate everything up in one night.

I also made a garden plan, because I read that it helps.  And it was kind of fun to draw it.

I made a little pathway in the garden using old tile pieces from a deck we built years ago.  I used a decorative mosaic tile  for the center, that I made probably 15 years ago and have just left outside this whole time with no purpose.  Now it has a place and a purpose and it feels good to finally "use" it.

Then I planted the two types of lettuces my mother gave me.  She was getting tired of me talking about my veggie garden, but not actually doing anything about it.  So one day she came over with some lettuce as a starter, as encouragement to get going on this project.

I then bought the rest of the veggies at CVS pharmacy - I know, a real nursery may have been better.  And then of course my veggie plan went out the window, as I bought what was available and not what was on my plan.

I planted green beans, red and green bell peppers and three different kinds of tomatoes.

I lined the edge of the garden patch with these
river rocks that I found burried underneath a huge tree in our garden.
It felt like unearthing a treasure when I found them in the dirt.

I have no idea if I spaced the plants correctly, or what kind of trellis I need for the beans, or if I have to use more of those wire thingies for the tomatoes.  I may have planted way too many plants, and it's going to be a big wild mess when they all grow.

I still really want carrots and radishes, since I love those two. I may find room to squeeze those in there somewhere.

This is my first year garden and we'll see how it goes.

A neighbor friend who came over and saw my garden was quite impressed and asked me, "Are you really handy like that? Building things on your own?"  I laughed, because that is so, so far away of what I'm like.

I have visions of having a big bounty of home grown veggies and being able to share them with friends.  We'll see if any fruit comes from my labor.

40. Forty.

I just turned forty.  It feels very different than turning 20, or 30.  I hear 40's are just so so and that your 50's are awesome.  Something to look forward to, I guess.

For me at 40 my life feels like it's settling in.  I'm halfway on a path to somewhere.  I'm in the midst of it all, and now there is a lot of looking back at what I did with my life.  It's not so much anymore about what I'm going to do, but more of what have I done and how is it working for me.

If life is a big long bus ride, I feel like 40 is a major station, where everyone gets out, looks around and assesses where they are. How is it looking?  Do I like it here? How do I feel?  How has the trip been so far?  And what am I going to do for the rest of my journey?

And that's as deep as I'm going to get on the matter.

This birthday was a week of celebrations.

Starting with a great weekend breakfast prepared by the family.  I listened downstairs in bed as they hustled and bustled upstairs in the kitchen getting things ready.

All my favorite things; a fancy cheese some fancy cold cuts and good bread.  Cinnamon rolls, fruit, orange juice, coffee and two cakes.

Whaaat?  I'm not 29!

That's my ideal breakfast.  Right there.

Then it was lunch with my good friend at Nordstroms.  A good change of scenery for me, sitting on their deck in the sun, lunching on fancy salad with leisurely ladies.

Then it was off to Neiman Marcus, where my friend signed us both up for a Lancome counter make overs.

I requested "smokey eyes".  It was relaxing having someone fuss over my face. I wish I could have my make up done everyday.

We were then fabulously made up, ready for picking up our kids from school and on to our normal every day routines.  The glamour has to end at some point.

My smokey eye look.

I got gorgeous flowers from friends and neighbors.  Flowers always make me happy.

And then it was dinner out at Benihanas in San Francisco.  Our girls were quite impressed by the chefs playfulness and trickery as he cooked our meal.  The family sitting next to us (as seen pictured in the background) just seemed bored, like they had seen it a million times before.

Then, the next day, I had dinner out with another good friend, at The Melting Pot, a super cozy dark, candle lit place.  Cheese fondue, and chocolate fondue for desert.  Just about my two favorite things.  Heavenly.

Our chocolate fondue in the background.

And then...a week later...  Another good friend texts me "I'm taking you out to dinner on Saturday."  And I said, sure, how fun, feeling good that I was able to go out with her so spontaneously, with just a few days notice. She also says, dress up, which is the type of friend she is.  Always doing fun things, always up for something different and spontaneous.  I didn't think anything of it.

That afternoon I fussed over what to wear, excited that I was going to dress up, even though it was just me and her for dinner.  I sometimes miss dressing up. What can I say.  I even curled my hair.

She picks me up and we drive to downtown Oakland and walk towards Ozumo's - my favorite ultra special sushi restaurant.  Amazing decor and atmosphere and incredible food. I'm like, wow, we're going here?  I'm so excited!   We walk into the door and then I see to the left of me, sitting at a bar table, near the entrance, a friend of mine, and I immediately think, hey, what a coincidence that she's here too! And then a second later I see another friend of mine sitting next to her, but I know that they don't know each other, and it totally takes me aback.

Me and my five good friends.

Surprise!  I'm totally shocked.  Absolutely surprised.  Five of my dear friends were there.  They came out, on a Saturday night, leaving kids and husbands at home, to celebrate with me.  It took me a while to get down from the shock of it all.

These wonderful friends, the best food in the world, I felt so lucky.  

I think that's how I feel so far, in my mature age of forty; lucky.  Lucky for my amazing friends, lucky for my dear family, lucky to have reached forty, lucky to be healthy.

Thank you everyone for making forty so great.  Thank you.

What a Real Storage Auction is Like.

It's almost been a year since I wrote about our self storage business, Safe Storage and our auctions, here.  It took me this long to get around to attending an auction and writing about it.  I'm not that busy, no excuses, really.

Ever since the popular tv shows; Auction Hunters and Storage Wars, people are actually interested in storage auctions.  Before that, no one cared.  Storage auctions, yuck.  But now, through the power of television, everyone asks us if we have auctions and what they are like.

Here's your inside look, at a real storage auction.

The auctions are open to the public. Anyone can attend. Safe Storage has one each month. We get flea market regulars who sell anything they buy, they come to almost every auction, and then there are regular buying folks who are curious and just like to take a chance.

What are the most valuable, crazy things you have seen gone up for auction, in the twenty plus years you've owned Safe Storage, I ask the owner.  Drugs? Weapons? Stolen Art? Nothing that exciting, turns out.  (Except once, a living person came walking out from behind some boxes, of a locked unit that was opened up in front of an audience of hopeful bidders. I imagined, they let out a gasp.)

The most valuable items that have gone up for auction here have been scooters, motorcycles, cars and once a unit filled with Japanese art that went for several thousands.

The chance that you'll find anything of major value at a storage auction is low.  Recently there's been news that these auction "reality" shows are not that real at all, and that high priced items are planted in the storage units.  What a surprise.  (Maybe those hair-pulling fights on Real Housewives shows are set up too...)

The laws behind auctioning off a storage unit are strict.  As they should be, since we are dealing with peoples personal property here. It's almost as tough as evicting someone from their home.  Letters are sent, public notices are run -  very specific steps that are required by law - and every effort is made to work out an arrangement with the unit owner and avoid an auction.

Usually by the time a unit is going up for sale, the owner doesn't want it anymore and is walking away from it.  The point of the auction is not to make a profit but to recoup any loses from unpaid rent.

Safe Storage auctions are done by a professional auctioneer; Storage Auction Experts.  They drive all over the area doing auctions at storage facilities.

Auctioneer has arrived.  "I Bid 4U"

Why don't we do our own auctions? (My step father asked). Good question.  For us it's because we want to keep that part of the business separate from the storage business we are in.  We are not in the business of auctioning off our customers things.  We are in the business of providing storage. We call ourselves Storage Experts, after all.

Here are the rules. Listen up.

On this day, the auction starts promptly at 12:30 (It's explained to me that they will not start a minute sooner then the announced start time, because in theory, the unit owner can still claim their possessions before the auction starts).

The auctioneer is Ryan, a super friendly guy, who looks way too young to have been doing this for 18 years, but that's what he told me.  I asked all sorts of questions, this being my first auction and he was more than happy to tell me all about it.

Everyone gathers around the entrance of Safe Storage. I counted about thirty people.  Mostly men, but also two women and one child, and a baby.  Ryan, makes an announcement, going over all the rules quickly; on this day there are four units that will be shown, cash only, you have to pay sales tax unless you have a sellers permit, no touching anything in the unit, you have two days to clear the unit out, no smoking...

Also, it's mentioned that Safe Storage asks that all personal items like photographs and paperwork be turned in, in case the original owner wants to claim it.

And we're off to the first unit...

Entering...

This shopper comes prepared with
a big flash light.

Everyone crowds around the unit, the lock on the door is cut while people watch - to ensure that the storage owners have not gone through the contents.  As the door opens, people line up to take a peak.  Some shoppers have flashlights and take their time scanning around with their light, trying to identify if there's anything of value.

Ryan, auctioning off filled garbage bags.

For this unit we see about five, filled, tied up garbage bags.  What's inside? Clothes? Dirt? No one knows, but the consensus seems to be that it's nothing valuable as some participants stand back, clearly not interested in bidding at all.

I think that unit went for $5.  After the money is handed over, the unit is closed up by the new owner, and locked with his own lock that he brought with him.  He's asked when he's coming to clear out this unit, and reminded of the 48 hour policy.  We don't want yet another abandoned unit on our hands.

Walking to the next unit, past our famous graffiti wall.

Next we got to unit that is an "inside" unit, so it's in a long narrow hallway.  We all crowd in there, squeezing past each other in a line, for the viewing.  The unit has a jumble of things, hard to tell if there's any value.  I see some bike helmets, bookcases, bags and containers filled with things, lots of odds and ends.  One veteran bidder yells out, "Ryan, start this one at $75!"  In the end that unit goes for $200, and the helpful guy who wants to set the starting price is outbid.

There are only four units to go visit this time.  Usually there are about seven to ten units.  We trek around the site looking at each one.  It's all over in about thirty minutes.   One unit sold for $1.

And so there you have it.  A look into a real life storage Auction.

Is That What I Sound Like?

Sometimes I go on late night Target shopping trips.  So I can cruise the aisles in peace, without having to think of any one else that is tagging along with me, or sitting in the shopping cart wanting to climb out.

My solo shopping trips end up taking about twice as long, since I can stand there and ponder the different kinds of nail polish remover or chicken broth and take my time without having someone (one of my children) jerk me back to reality and make me hurry up.

So there I was, late night, going up and down the kids toy aisle looking for possible Valentines gifts, when I over heard a mother and what I think was her daughter, around seven years old. They were looking at toys and it seemed that the girl was trying to decide what she wanted to pick out to buy.

Her Mother was dressed like she just came off work, and it was almost 9pm at this time.
"Well, remember we got you this for you already and now it's somewhere at home, you don't even know where it is anymore, you don't even play with it."  The Mother said in a snippy voice.

The daughter mumbled something, and the Mom said, "Beg pardon? What was that? Speak up!" Clearly impatient and annoyed.

The daughter mumbles something again, so quietly, uncomfortable that her mother was getting angry with her, afraid to speak louder.  She still can't be heard and the mother gets impatient.

The Mother goes on;

"We spent $50 on that toy, and you wasted my money, because now you don't play with it anymore."  She wasn't yelling or raising her voice, but she sounded at the end of her rope, annoyed and just fed up.

It was painful hearing her talk to her daughter like that, who was acting so quiet and shy and just uncomfortable to be there.  How does it feel to hear your mother say she wasted her money on you? That must hurt her feelings.

But I kept on listening, because I recognized that conversation, having had similar ones with my daughters.  I'm embarrassed to admit.
How often have I voiced all my frustration, anger and annoyance to them, only because they happen to be there at that time, because they did or said something that is a trigger for me and I don't have enough control to just shut-up?

Hearing examples like this, by strangers I happen to overhear in a store, I take as a sign for me to stop it and to be more aware of how I talk to my children.

This mother looked like she was still in her office work clothes, I'm sure she was tired, I'm sure she's a good mother in all regards, and she'll probably regret that conversation she had with her daughter.

It was her tone of exasperation and frustration,  that was so hard to hear. She seemed to be picking a fight with her own daughter. That poor girl, I felt so sorry for her.  She didn't want to fight.  She was quiet and seemed like she was just dodging her Mother's angry words.

I lingered in the next aisle, wanting to hear the rest of the interaction.
I felt a bit like Scrooge, being forced to face my own truth by the Ghost of This Is What You Sound Like.

The daughter stayed quiet and calm the whole time, like she had heard it all before.

I just wanted to give her a big hug.

Sort of on the same topic;  I read an article in Huffingtonpost about a woman who is walking behind a father and daughter, and she hears the father berating the girl the whole time. Swearing at her and saying things like, "No wonder no one wants to be friends with you!" And the daughter just silently walks next to her father.  The woman follows them as they get into their car, and she looks at the girl, makes eye contact as she passes her, and quietly tells her, "It's going to get better, it won't always be like this."  That's all she feels she can do or say to make this young girl feel better. That almost made me cry.  An extreme example, I would never swear at my kids or say anything bad as that, but that story stuck with me and the sadness of it overwhelms me.

Big Decisions.

As I get ready to enroll our last-born, Austin in preschool, I had to make the big decision of continuing our family tradition of putting him in the same co-op preschool his sisters attended.

This preschool is amazing and wonderful, but also tons of work and a big commitment.
When Austin is done, I will have given six years to this school.  That's about 234 mornings of working in the classroom, about 81 monthly meetings, maintenance days, fundraising and tons more.

Standing at the entrance of the school yesterday, waiting for the mandatory school tour all new and returning families have to attend, I saw a box with a bunch of succulent plant cuttings, left overs from a school project.  There was a sign on the box that said, "Please help yourself".

I've been a little fascinated with succulents.  And have been wanting to start a collection.  I used to think they were ugly, but now I joined the trendy bandwagon and really like them.  Much like neon and skinny jeans, I eventually succumb and start liking all the trends that everyone in the world is following also.

This box with the clippings, were a sign to me that I should get started on my garden, today.
These plants are low maintenance and hardy.  Perfect for me.

Anyway... I took a few of these succulent clippings out of the box on my way out of the school, after the tour, with plans in my head to start my garden.

My friend, who was also taking the school tour, who knows I had doubts about signing up Austin, asked me, "So, you've decided to give a try, huh?"  I thought she meant my decision to enroll Austin in the school.  I gave a little sigh, and said, "Yeah, I think so."  Immediately feeling the enormity of that decision.  But then she said, "Well, they look a little droopy, but I'm sure they'll perk up."  Oh, that's when I realized she was just talking about these clippings I was holding in my hand, not about my big life decisions I was making.  It was a funny moment I had to myself.

When I brought these clippings home, I thought about them all day, thinking I have to put them in dirt NOW! Or else they'll die!  I felt like they just had a few hours left of life.

So finally, that same day I made the effort to find some planting pots, potting soil, a tiny shovel and made this little succulent arrangement that sits on our outdoor table on our deck, for all to see. (That's a stone frog and lamb next to them, by the way.)

I hope they won't die and I need to think about where I can find some other clippings, without having to steal them from my neighbors.