Silence in the House Last Night

For a couple of weeks, my mom has been asking to have Angry Toddler overnight. I ask her every Friday, "Is this going to be the night?" She gets a little skittish and back peddles her request.

My parents haven't had Angry Toddler overnight since he was about 5-6 months old. He will be 4 in May. My mom and dad have heard our struggles with getting Angry Toddler asleep at night. I think they were more scared than anything. My mom watches Angry Toddler all day on Saturdays while Angry Husband and I are at work. By having Angry Toddler spend the night at their house, my mom actually gets to sleep in a little. My mom usually gets to our house at about 6:45am on Saturdays.

We picked Angry Toddler up from school yesterday and then did some errands at Costco. Angry Toddler wanted hot dogs and a churro from Costco, of course, for dinner. Gee, do you think we were going to say no? A less than $10 dinner for all 3 of us.

After we left Costco, I called my mom. She told us to bring Angry Toddler over. We promptly, ok, at an almost high rate of speed drove him to get some stuff for AT. I packed his blankets, and clothing..oh, and couldn't forget the Hershey's Syrup for chocolate milk. We dropped him off at about 7pm.

Angry Husband and I then proceeded to Sur La Table. This is his new favorite store. AH has really gotten into watching the Food Network lately. So he's researching some gadgets. I think he's narrowing down his wants/needs right now. We are probably going to buy a KitchenAid Mixer this week to get him started.

After browsing a little more, we headed over to Fashion Island. Fashion Island is an outdoor mall in Newport Beach. It was soo quiet there. Plus, there were lots of stores vacant. I was truly shocked to see that Pottery Barn was gone. We spent lots of time in the Apple store though, which will be a whole other post.

We finally both decided we were tired and went home. We ended up watching TV for a little bit and then we were both snoring about 10pm.

My mom said AT did great. He went to bed around 9pm and woke up at 8am! YAY!

Twitter

I'm on Twitter. I've been here for a bit. I never did a blog post about it. So here's the "Official Post". I use it alot, especially since I have it on my Blackberry.

Here's a linkee, AngryJulie on Twitter.

Eau de Stripper

My co-worker came into work yesterday and starting laughing..I say what? She says that it smells like "Eau de Stripper" in our office. My co-worker, Jen and I, both have Victoria's Secret Refreshing Body Mists in the "Love Spell" fragrance. It's an inside joke amongst co-workers because alot of strippers use this as a cheap perfume when dancing. The guys like it.

I seem to get lots of comments when I have it on...It's cheap and I keep it in my drawer at work. I spray it on every few hours. I have a love/hate relationship with Love Spell. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it makes my nauseous.

I just think it's funny cause my co-worker says this every time I have it on.

Wahoo's Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Wahoo's Fish Tacos turns 20 Years old. Wahoo's is a local favorite that started in Costa Mesa, CA.

Yesterday, they had a grand re-opening of their first restaurant on Placentia Avenue, in Costa Mesa. They had twenty cent tacos and gave away 200 prizes. People were also standing in line to meet and greet, Ryan Sheckler, a pro skateboarder and star of "Life of Ryan" on MTV.

I got there late, around 1pm. The festivities began around 10am. I was able to get some pictures of the crowd and also received some free Red Bull. Red Bull was there handing out free drinks.

Wahoo's is one of my favorite places to eat. I probably eat there once a week while I'm working. I even have a purse from there.

Construction Going On @ Disney's California Adventure

We had a very casual trip to Disney's California Adventure on Wednesday this week. We were in Orange for Angry Toddler's speech therapy evaluation, so we decided to head over to Anaheim for some lunch and fun, of course.

We got to Disney at around noon. It was already crowded. We were funneled through to the Simba parking lot. This is Angry Husband's least favorite place to park at Disney. They have no tram service in the Simba lot and you have to walk, ALOT.

Angry Toddler wanted to go to California Adventure, which was fine with us. Disneyland looked very crowded. We wanted to go on Soaring, but the line was an hour long. Apparently the Fast Pass machines were not working.

We headed to the back of the park to go on the Jumping Jellyfish. I made Angry Husband go on the ride. While I was there, I was able to get some photos of the construction going on in the lagoon area. They have drained the lagoon and are prepping for their newest adventure, "Disney's World of Color". I was able to get some great photos while they were on the ride.







Angry Toddler was hungry after that, so we headed over to Taste Pilot's for some food. After eating at Taste Pilot's, we decided it was naptime. We spent almost two hours at DCA. It made for a nice sunny afternoon, since it's been soo rainy lately.

Facebook and Family

This past week, everyone was in an uproar about Facebook changing their terms of service. I saw all kinds of posts on the forums, Twitter, blogs, and several web pages about it.

Here are some of the articles.

The Consumerist
Yahoo News
Amanda French

I read all the posts, and made myself aware. Facebook has back-tracked and decided to return to their old terms of service. I'm not too concerned because I have privacy settings on my page.

I have the Facebook for Blackberry application set on my cellphone. When I got ready to take Angry Toddler to preschool, I checked my phone for e-mails, texts, and Facebook messages. I saw that I had a new "friend request" from my Aunt. I freaked! I told Angry Husband, and we both agree, "Ohhh nooo." This Aunt is known for her chain e-mails, craziness, and random e-mail updates. I've tried to step away from that side of the family, and have been successful for almost a year now.

When I finally got home from dropping Angry Toddler off at school, and going to the gym, I sat down at the computer again. I clicked on my Aunt's profile (cause I'm nosey). I click on her "wall" to see what's she's got up there, and who she's chatting with. I FREAK! She has (3) recent photos of Angry Husband, Angry Toddler, and I on her wall. Somehow she's right clicked them from MY friends' pages. These are all photos that I have either been "tagged in" or (2) I posted on my page. I had to go through all my "privacy settings" and make sure everything was set to "private". Angry Husband and I are soo pissed. I even called my BFF, Stacey and she made sure that she changed the settings for pictures of me. Nice Aunt of mine, stealing photos by right-clicking them.

Everyone is worried about what Facebook is doing with our photos. I'm worried about family getting a hold of my pictures. In one of the pictures, I was wearing my work uniform, aka police uniform. I don't want everyone is my crazy family knowing where I work. Seriously, that side of the family is CRAZY, with a capital "C". That's all we need.

I'm ignoring her friend request. Hopefully, she won't keep asking me. I don't think she got the hint when I didn't send her my new e-mail address, almost 2 years ago. She was one of the main reasons that I changed my e-mail address in the first place.

Day Off with Angry Husband and Angry Toddler

I'm off today. Well, I'm always off Wednesdays. Angry Husband is also off. We are taking Angry Toddler to a speech therapy appointment. His speech has gotten much better in the past few months, ever since I made this appointment.

I almost cancelled this appointment last week. But then I remembered what a pain it was to even get the appointment. I had to fill out a ton of paperwork detailing this entire medical history. Then I had to sign waivers so that this new doctor's office could get all of Angry Toddler's medical records.

If it stays sunny, we are going to head over to Disneyland for some family time.

Oh and the parenting lesson for the day...document everything about your child, i.e. developmental stages, doctor's appointments, illnesses. Because some day you might have to fill out a mountain of paperwork and you will need this information.

Hailing Rain in So. Cal this morning

I'm working overtime at work today. I got sent to Southern Orange County earlier. I was parked (very bad traffic) on the 5 Freeway. All of the sudden it started pouring rain and hailing.

Everyone was freaking out. Apparently, people in Southern California don't know how to drive in the rain.

I finally reached my destination in one piece. But the hail was still all over the ground. I had my camera, of course. So I took a picture.

My Version of the Hallmark Holiday

Saturday was Valentine's Day. I had to work and so did Angry Husband. No big deal. We didn't have any special plans to go out that night. We don't have our "special" place that we go too. But that's ok. I've never been that type of girl who wants to be wine'd and dine'd. Yes, my friends who know me, will say that I am high maintenance. But I'm not a foodie at all.

I pre-ordered a pizza from Papa John's Pizza. I know that they always have heart shaped pizzas on Valentine's Day. I figured that they would be busy with lots of orders, so I went online and scheduled my delivery for 6:30pm. Isn't that cool.

Angry Husband knows that I don't like received flowers on Valentine's Day. Cause seriously, they die and you're out like $100. You know what I could buy for $100, lots of things! That's a whole Target shopping spree.

I got Angry Husband a pair of DVS skateboard shoes on e-bay. They are the style that he likes, and he needed some new shoes. He got me an itunes gift card. I love my music and shows!

Angry Husband made some cupcakes Friday night. Angry Toddler and my mom frosted and decorated the cupcakes on Saturday morning.

Oh, and I got Angry Toddler a trash truck. He's been wanting it for awhile. I almost bought him the truck for Christmas but it was expensive, like $80. I had already bought him alot for Christmas so I held off. I was shopping my local TJ Maxx (love that place) and found the same trash truck, for $19.99.

We ate the pizza, watches the tv, and hung out. Some nice family time.

Preschool Valentine's

Today was Angry Toddler's preschool Valentine's Day party. Last year, I just took in cards. Cause that's what you do, right? I try to follow the school's crazy rules (no sugar, frosting, candy, etc.). But last year, Angry Toddler came home with a ton of candy. I guess Valentine's Day is exempt.

My BFF, Stacey, pre-bought some really cute cards for Angry Toddler. They were dinosaurs and then some other ones with temporary tattoos. Cause Stacey rocks like that as a friend.

I also took in these little goodie bags. They were pink camouflage party bags from Tar-jay, filled with little candies. And of course, I personalized them with some cute labels from Etsy.

I took everything in Thursday night when we picked Angry Toddler up from school. It's very hard to get him to school on Fridays in a timely manner. Angry Husband takes Angry Toddler to school on his way to work. Angry Husband didn't want to fight with AT about digging into the Valentine's, etc.

Angry Toddler came home from school today very happy. He had a bag full of cute V-Day cards and candy.

Pink Swap Package

I participated in Monograms and Manicures Pink Swap. I was paired up with Nora from Vineyard Girl (a private blog). Nora and I have been e-mailing back and forth about the swap, ever since we were paired. I've also been reading Nora's blog too.

I have been soo busy this past week but I wanted everyone to know that I received Nora's swap gift late last week. I love everything!

Thanks Nora!!

Phineas and Ferb...finally a new cartoon we can all enjoy

Angry Husband installs Custom Home Theaters for a living. If you didn't know that already? He's always coming home with his stories about his customers, their houses, families, children, etc. Yes, I go into people's homes and businesses, 40+ hours a week, but nobody wants to hear my stories...

A few weeks ago, he walks into the house and picks up the remote control for our tv. He starts looking up things on the DVR. Bless that beautiful invention, the DVR. He started talking about a tv show, Phineas and Ferb. I said, "What is that?" He says, "It's on the Disney Channel, and it's super funny."

I usually walk out of the room when Angry Toddler's shows are on. Our office is connected to the living room so I can see Angry Toddler but tune out the tv.

So you are probably wondering? What is Phineas and Ferb all about?

Phineas and Ferb is an animated show about two stepbrothers and their adventures in their backyard during summer vacation. The show also features their sister, Candace who's trying to get them in trouble. But they never get caught.

There is also a sub-plot going on with the show with their pet platypus, Perry. Perry is secretly a spy going under the name, "Agent P". Perry is usually battling the enemy, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

It's a hilarious show and Angry Toddler loves it. He can even sing the theme song now. I think we have at least 4+ hours of this show DVR'ed. Angry Husband and I are quite happy that Angry Toddler likes this show. We were finding that his other favorite show, Justice League, was a bit inappropriate.

Graphic from listal.com

Amazon.com Releases Kindle 2

I've posted before about how I read alot. I have books sitting on every surface of the desk of my office. Yep, I've read them all. I probably need to start donating these books or giving them away.

I've been watching Amazon's Kindle for awhile now. The Kindle is a wireless reading device. You pay for books and then download them onto the Kindle. They had a great deal on them last Fall and I hesitated to take advantage of it. I heard that they were coming up with a new improved version of the Kindle.

Yesterday, I got an e-mail from Amazon. They were releasing the new, Kindle 2.

Here are a few highlights from Amazon.com about The Kindle 2:

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images

Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging

More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books

Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns

Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you

Large Selection: Over 230,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available

Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise Say Hello to The New Kindle

I sat on the computer for an hour yesterday and watched videos on how this device works. It's pretty cool. Angry Husband and I had a discussion about this last night. Cause he's the gadget guy in our household. I might have to get one of these when we get our tax return.

Thomas & Friends Live

On Friday night, we went and saw Thomas & Friends Live at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Angry Toddler had never been to a live stage show. I got an e-mail from the Performing Arts Center a couple of weeks ago and they had discounted the tickets. We ended up getting orchestra seats for $15 each. My parents, Angry Husband, Angry Toddler, and I went.

Of course, it was pouring rain Friday night. Angry Toddler was beyond excited. Note to self: never tell Angry Toddler that we are going to an event, that far in advance, he couldn't contain all his excitement and was totally over stimulated.

We found our seats and sat down about 15 minutes before the show started. The place was full of 3-5 year olds, mostly boys. Angry Toddler was beyond excited. All of the parents were taking pictures of their kiddos. So I pull out my camera. Yea, so I brought my digital SLR. It's a little bigger than the average pocket sized camera. Our current point and shoot sucks. We doesn't the cranky woman in front of me start commenting, "well they told me to put my camera away and I was just using my phone." Yes lady, I overheard you. You weren't very discreet. Did she really think I was going to take pictures with my big ole' flash while the stage show was going on. Seriously. I wanted to take pictures of my son, at his first show, to capture his excitement. I was able to get these photos below, before somehow the usher was contacted and told me to put away my camera.





My mom had bought him a $15 Thomas flashlight toy, which he was really happy about. Notice, his cheesy smile.

I put away my camera and then show began. It was very whimsical and musical. Totally not what I expected. Angry Toddler would get up and dance during some of the musical parts. And his got some very dirty looks from a little girl in front of us. Seriously Miss 5 yr old girl, he's THREE.

And during most of the show, there were kids coughing and hacking behind us. Do you really need to bring your kid who probably has bronchitis to a kid's show?

But, Angry Husband even agreed, it was a great production and Angry Toddler has been talking about it every day.

Historic Photos of Orange County, A Review

I was contacted by Turner Publishing in December to review a book called "Historic Photos of Orange County". I jumped at the chance to review it. I love books.

I have lived in Orange County since I was 11 years old. I was looking forward to see photos of the origins and beginnings of this County, I live in.

I received the book, which is a 10" by 10" coffee table size. It has a beautiful shiny laminated cover on it. The photos inside are all black and white.

The book is split into four chapters ranging from the 1870's to the late 1960's. There is a huge range of places that they covered in Orange County, from north county to the beaches.

If you live in Orange County, California, or have ever lived in Orange County; this book is a must have. It has you dwelling on the past. It's amazing to see some of the places that I go to everyday, fifty to sixty years ago. It is simply beautiful.

Here is a description of the book from their website:

Perpetual sunshine, palm trees, miles of unbroken beaches, yachts, cliff-top mansions, millionaires—these are the images of Orange County that come to mind for many people, and there is much truth in this depiction, for Orange County is a place of boundless natural wonders that attracts more than 25 million tourists a year. However, the full story of Orange County is far more complex. It’s a story of Juañeno Indians, conquistadors, Franciscan padres, rancheros, wildcatters, artists, and filmmakers. Historic Photos of Orange County offers some 200 images drawn from the county’s fascinating past, from the mission ruins of San Juan Capistrano, to the turn-of-the-century celery fields of Westminster, to the eye-popping fantasia of a young Disneyland.

By East Coast standards, Orange County is a relative baby—just over a century old—and tiny compared to most California counties; but its population is second only to neighboring Los Angeles County and growing every day. This volume captures the story of Orange County’s evolution from a sleepy backwater suburb of Los Angeles to an international tourist destination.

This would also be an awesome gift; ranging from house warming parties to birthdays.

It's retail price is $39.99.

You can find it on the publisher's site, and also on Amazon.

Turner Publishing also has other Historic Photos from several other places, like Austin, TX, Las Vegas, NV, and The White House.

Toy and Product Recall Finder

As a parent, I try and read all the reviews on the products that I buy my son. It hard with all these choking hazards, safety issues, poisoning issues, car seat laws, and other things going on. I don't remember my parents dealing with any of this. I really don't even remember being in a carseat. But alas I survived.

Being in law enforcement, I unfortunately see lots of incidents that the normal public doesn't see. I tend to be on the overly paranoid side of things. Even Angry Husband has jumped on this. He can install a carseat without any effort.

I was recently contacted by a Representative from Parent's Magazine. They wanted to let my readers know that they now have a Toy and Product Recall Finder on their website. It is really easy to use.

For more information on product recalls, you can also check out, The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

For more information on recalls relating to car seats, you can check out, SaferCar.Gov.

Surf City USA Race Report

I have received lots of comments asking about my race report from last weekend. I did the Surf City USA 5K last Sunday, February 1st. I've been soo tired this week and just didn't feel like posting. I'm back to work so I will be more post-y this weekend.

Monique and I departed for the race at about 6am. The race started at 7:15. We wanted to get there a little early since it was a Marathon, Half Marathon, 5K, and Kid's Race. My mom gave me the gate opener for their place in Huntington Beach. We didn't have to look for parking. I parked the car and had to arrange all my gadgets. Seriously, I was just running, technically all I would need is shoes, right? I had to have my ipod shuffle, and my Garmin. Monique was pissed cause she forgot her ipod. There's nothing worse than running without music. I can't stand listening to other people's grunting and groaning. I know alot of races prohibit headphones now though.



I decided to suck it up and leave my jacket in the car. I hate running with things tied around my waist. It was really cold outside, ok so like 50 degrees. That is cold to me. We walked up Main St. and waited for our race to start. The Half Marathon peeps started earlier and we were able to cheer them on as they ran past us. Our 5K start line was their 1 mile mark.




We started the race off great! I had an awesome pace. I was chugging away until I got to mile 2-ish. We had to do a loop around and bam, everyone crowded up. It was soo hard to get around people. Everyone was walking or heading towards the water table. I seriously had to zig zag around everyone. I got so frustrated, which slowed me down.

I got my best time ever, by 2 minutes. But I had a time in my head that I really wanted. Next time, I guess. It was a great first race of the year though. I'm glad that it did not get rained out like last year.

Rest in Peace, Bob

Angry Husband sent me a text yesterday, "Bobs Dead".

Who is Bob? Bob is one of our saltwater fish. We had Bob since November of 2007. He was the biggest fish in our tank. He had the best personality. He would follow you around the tank, like a dog. Plus, Bob was always hungry and willing to eat.

Bob was a Vlamingi Tang.

I noticed that Bob didn't look quite right the past week. He kept hiding in the back of the tank. Bob is usually swimming back and forth in the front of the tank. Angry Husband found him frozen solid between some rocks in the tank.

We had previously discussed, "The Future of the Tank" a few weeks ago. Angry Husband said that if "Bob dies, I'm taking down the tank". I asked him what he's going to do about the tank. He doesn't know yet.

I'm kind of sad. He was a really cool fish.