How to Treat Your Kids Like Dirt

Tonight Hayley yelled at me "You treat me like dirt!" This was in response to a twenty minute tirade about how I was going to meet HER needs tomorrow by taking her to the DMV to renew her permit (I'd rather poke my eyes out than spend hours at the DMV and am only doing it because it's one of those unwritten crappy duties of parenting, and besides, it's HER fault she let her permit expire and hasn't shown any initiative to get her license yet!), then get her to school for an event she apparently volunteered for (she volunteered my punchbowl, too, wonder if I'll ever see THAT again, plus told the committee they could borrow our tricycle - WTF? We have not had a tricycle nor a kid who was small enough to ride one for over seven years now!). She then prattled in my ear about not having a bag big enough to pack all her stuff in for our trip to Idaho (hello? five days.....you don't need a steamer trunk!). THEN, when I politely asked her to please quit bugging me (ok, I said "you're intruding on my time" and "shut up" when the word hole kept flapping), she said "Why are you so mean to me? You treat me like dirt!" What the F? Let me think this over. Last Sunday we had a lovely mother/daughter jaunt to Target where I spent nearly $250 on clothes for her (we went there to get a birthday present for her friend! AND she overspent on that too....). I'm taking her on a vacation for spring break. I bought tickets to see CATS while we're in Boise. I brought her presents from my recent trip to San Francisco. I pack her a lunch every day. I drive her EVERYWHERE even though she's going to be 17 in July and could easily have her license by now. I cook her dinner. I give her money when she runs out to Jamba Juice with a friend. I pay for untold amounts of t-shirts, school spirit gear and fees for plays, ASB and the like. I let her have sleepovers with multiple friends, AND I buy snacks. For those things I receive incessant screaming, insults, drama and the inability to do chores. Hmm.......I do believe things are out of balance here. But hey, if that's getting treated like dirt, I'd like to try it!

Good American, Shade!

Today, Shade blessed us with his (at least) weekly barfing episode. It contained leaves and bark (I swear this dog has pica - what's pica you say? According to dictionary.com, pica is a noun, meaning "an abnormal appetite or craving for substances that are not fit to eat...."), and, oddly enough, an American flag! Not one of those tiny pick things you find on top of a cupcake, no, this was a 5x7 American flag on a stick. Or it once was on a stick, perhaps that was the "bark" in the dog vomit. Seriously, what is wrong with this dog? An American flag? I can't even look at him now without hearing "America the Beautiful" in my head...........

San Francisco Day Four

Today I flew solo, as Jeff had to work all day, so I started by taking the tour bus from Union Square again.....

Saw the state building again.......

Kezar Stadium

deYoung museum

And hopped off the bus at the Golden Gate bridge!

There were lots of flowers!

The Golden Gate was beautiful in the sunshine!

Someone took my picture, windblown hair and all!

So many details to this bridge.......

More pretty flowers

Irises

The gardens set against the bridge = pretty!

Back to the city....another stop and look! A cable car!

Time to sample some chocolate at Ghirardelli Square!

Wow, that's a LOT of salt water taffy!

Checked out The Bush Man at Fisherman's Wharf....he cracks me up!

After a long day of shopping and walking (and working for Jeff), we decided to have cocktails and dinner at The View lounge in our hotel - on the 39th floor!

We watched the sun go down over San Francisco one last time before we head home.....

Don't look down!!!

The windows went floor to ceiling, making you feel as though you are floating over the city

Jeff ordering a martini

Me and the city!

End of the evening........does Jeff seemed "forced" in this photo? :)

This is me cropping Jeff out of a photo because he was being cheesy!

Day four in San Francisco started out with Jeff heading off for a long day at work, and me heading to the mall to have breakfast at Chocola, a french bakery! Yummy. I had a ham and swiss croissant and picked up a chocolate croissant for later. Plus, a delicious white chocolate mocha and my day started out pretty great! I headed to Union Square to pick up the "hop on hop off" bus we took yesterday for the city bus tour. Your ticket is good for 48 hours so I figured I might as well make the most of it! I had a plan this time, certain stops I wanted to make, so I rode and listened to the tour again until we hit the Golden Gate bridge where I hopped off. It was a beautiful sunny day and not very windy so it was perfect weather for exploring the gardens surrounding the bridge, the gift shop, and taking a walk along the span. Wow, is it ever bouncy! Once you're actually walking on the bridge you realize just how much "movement" is happening and it's a bit unnerving! I walked about a third of the way out, took some photos, then opted for solid ground. I hopped on the bus and rode until Ghirardelli Square where I hopped off. The Square has nice little shops and cafes and all the stores give samples of their chocolate! It didn't hold the appeal as in earlier years, since we can now buy Ghirardelli chocolate anywhere in Seattle, so I didn't even buy anything! I would have loved to enjoy a hot fudge sundae in the ice cream shop, but I hadn't had lunch yet and didn't feel like something sweet (I know, pick yourself up off the floor, I was just as shocked to find myself turning down chocolate!). I waited for the bus a while, then decided it was only a few blocks to Fisherman's Wharf so why wait? I walked to the Wharf and shopped and browsed in several stores. I took some pictures of The Bush Man, a homeless man who sits on the street with some foliage in front of him, looking like the landscaping. But when unsuspecting pedestrians stroll by, he shakes the branches and yells to scare them! The reactions are priceless! I could watch all day. I LOVE to scare people, it just cracks me up. Especially when a big, tough guy walks past (see above photo) and jumps and screams like a little girl! HAHAHA! Ok, enough laughing at other's expenses......I then waited for the bus to come along for a LONG time.....they say a bus runs every half hour, but I swear I waited a lot longer than that. The bus FINALLY came and I hopped back on, enjoyed the tour (by now I had some parts memorized) and hopped off again at Chinatown. By this time it was 3:30 in the afternoon and I hadn't had lunch. So, I decided to eat at Kan's which came recommended to me, and it was good. After Kan's I shopped and shopped and shopped.....until I realized I had missed the very last bus of the day for the tour. Ah well, no problem it was only a few blocks to the hotel anyway. Jeff called me after 5 and said he was done working so he met me in Chinatown. We walked back to the hotel and changed for cocktails and dinner at The View lounge. It was an amazing view of the city, with windows from floor to ceiling. We watched the sun set over the city and had delicious martinis and a little dinner, topped off with a piece of chocolate cake that we split. Thus, our last night in San Francisco!

San Francisco Day Three

There's my heart! I knew I left it in San Francisco!

Union Square boasts all the swanky shops....

Jeff left HIS heart in San Francisco too!

Free hugs anyone? From a man wearing a pink skirt? Anyone?

Beautiful tree with amazing flowers!

Our cool double decker bus, coming to take us on a tour of the city!

Here we are on the bus!

Pretty wall art....

Wall art in Haight-Ashbury district........

Wall art near state building........

State building.......very pretty adorned with tons of gold leaf.....

The Painted Ladies.....so pretty and quaint!

The mighty Golden Gate!

A sourdough lobster!

Fisherman's Wharf

Jeff enjoyed his sourdough from Boudin's!

Hey! It's Michael Jackson!

Coit Tower

Old meets new

In this building, the script to "The Godfather" was written......

TransAmerica Tower

Flower vendor

Floral display in a shop window near Union Square

Ready for dinner!

The handsome guy who brought me to SF!

Day three started out with Jeff leaving early for a morning session of work, while I updated my blog and Facebook in the hotel room, eating cookies for breakfast! :) Jeff ended up having to work later, so I had lunch at the hotel restaurant by myself; a wonderful, big California cobb salad and lemonade. After lunch I headed to the mall again, this time wandering all nine floors and browsing, stopping at Borders to buy a couple of books. I wandered over towards the convention center where Jeff was, and had a Starbucks break while waiting for him. He arrived around 2:30 and we went back to the room to put stuff away and change, then headed to Union Square to take a double-decker tour bus around the city. We took a 90 minute loop which took us through most major points of interest including going across the Golden Gate bridge. Took tons of photos, and headed back to Union Square just in time to make it back to our room, change again (I love dressing up for dinner!) and meet some of Jeff's peeps for dinner at John's Grill. Apparently this restaurant was a setting for "The Maltese Falcon" which sparked Jeff's interest and now he wants to read it! I ordered a "Bloody Bridget" drink which had some significance to the book, and got a souvenier glass to bring home. It was a beautiful day, sunny and breezy. Great day!