Socal Mom by Donna Schwartz Mills

A Post That's NOT About the Dog

I haven't been posting as much as I'd like. It's not that I have nothing to talk about -- it's just that I've been busy LIVING my life (instead of writing about it). So this is an attempt to get somewhat caught up:

1. It took me all of last week, but I finished my for-hire website project, and I'm pretty pleased with myself. See it here.

It was a WordPress installation, something I've only done once before. But that time, I was stymied when it came to working with WP templates. This time around, I was fortunate enough to figure out that the Atahualpa theme was highly customizable. I guess that's why it's been downloaded like, a zillion times.

2. Even so, that modest little site kept me busy for the better part of a week, and then I had to go full steam into hosting mode, as my niece was in SoCal for the weekend... which meant her mom and dad - my sister and brother-in-law- also came down. So I had their family of five. Plus Carly's aunts and uncles from her dad's side of the family. And a few of their friends.

And we all know how well that turned out. (Yes, my previous post. About the dog.)

Aside from Sunday night's drama, I think everyone had a pretty good weekend.

3. I may have been mired in an alphabet soup of HTML and CSS -- but I still found time to eat. I returned to the Santa Monica Farmers Market on Wednesday (this time, with THREE friends in tow), and purchased a lot of goodies that were put to good use over the weekend. And I also made time to do a restaurant review.

4. My blog is not the only thing I've been neglecting lately. I have been mostly away from social networking sites - checking in with Facebook and Twitter sporadically (usually when I'm sitting in the car waiting for school to get out. WHATEVER did I do before I had a smartphone?) So when I started seeing a bunch of location tweets posted from foursquare, I didn't know WHAT that was. And when I investigated, I didn't know WHY I'd bother.

But then I saw my friends acquiring "badges" and getting named "Mayor" of places. And being something of a competitive jerk, I thought I'd give foursquare a try. And for the last couple of weeks, checking in has been something of a compulsion.

And I've even been named "Mayor" of a couple of places I frequent. The sad thing is, these are not cool restaurants and nightclubs. No, I'm "Mayor" of Gelson's in Northridge and Ralph's in Porter Ranch, which tells you that the most exciting thing I do most days is go to the supermarket.

I have a feeling that I'll soon add another grocery store to my list of mayorships: Yesterday, I attended the opening of the new Fresh and Easy store in Northridge. I've been waiting for this store to open for MONTHS. Years, really. You see, I'm a big fan of the chain's parent company, the UK grocery giant Tesco. So there's a confession for the books: I even end up hanging out in supermarkets when I visit other countries. In fact, one of the first things my husband and I do whenever we visit his family is head out to our favorite big Tesco Extra in Cardiff. I've even posted pictures of it on this blog. And we used to fantasize about how nice it would be to transplant a Tesco here in the States.

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So you can imagine how pleased we were to learn that the big grocery chain had decided to gain a foothold here with their concept of fresh and prepared foods. We've been following Fresh and Easy's progress since they broke ground on their first Los Angeles stores... and were downright excited when we noticed that one would finally open in our own part of town.

The Grand Opening was yesterday - and it did not disappoint. As I still have a ton of food left over from all those guests last weekend, I only purchased a few things (mostly fresh fruit). But I love the way the store is laid out and I KNOW I'll be back to pick up some of the prepared meals for those nights I don't have time to cook.

Now... if only we can get Marks and Spencer to open some Simply Food stores here, life might be perfect.

Desperately Seeking Fun

I'm really getting tired of all the doom and gloom I've been feeling the last couple of weeks. I'm grateful that my husband - the eternal optimist - took a vacation week so he could spend time with his mum as we prep for the Bat Mitzvah.

I need him to talk me down.

So I'm trying to focus my energy (as much as possible) on the positive things going on in my life...

Like the fact that my auto reviews are now being re-posted over at AskPatty.com (the automotive site for women, produced by women). I've been told my take on the Ford Flex is being published there today.

I also got news last week that SoCal Mom has been listed on Nickolodeon's GoCityKids ParentsConnect site and that I'm in the running for "Best Local Blog" in their annual Parents Picks awards!

Nominees are chosen based on reader reviews - but mine's kind of a cheat, since the only person who has reviewed me is the site's Los Angeles editor, Roberta Brown.

"You might want to ask your readers, friends, and family to visit your page on our site to post a rating and review. I've started you out with a five-star rating from me since obviously I liked your blog enough to share it with our readers!"

True confession time: In five and a half years of blogging, I've NEVER been nominated for or won an award. I don't think I've ever mentioned this, but that kind of bugs me. I'm going to be really pathetic right now and ask my readers to please visit this link and vote for me.

I'll be your best friend...

Good Feng Shui

A short time ago, my car began displaying the following disturbing message: "Brake Fluid Low - Service Engine Urgent." The message only seemed to flash sporadically and only when I was entering the 118 freeway going east, so I didn't feel it was all that urgent.

However, the car has been driving kind of funny, which I suspected was due to a bad turn I made into a driveway. I suspected the front end needed realignment, so I made an appointment to get the thing serviced this morning.

As it is a leased car, I'm kind of stuck taking it to a dealer. But if you must do it there, there are worse places to go than Galpin of the Valley. For one thing, they have a full-service Starbucks right there in the customer lounge. And on this visit, I discovered that they had finally put in a free wi-fi hotspot.

The lounge also has a large HDTV and tables and chairs so customers can get their work done.

The one thing it doesn't have is an electrical outlet.

As my front end realignment and new brake pads (aha! the reason for that message) have kept me here for over two hours -- and my laptop battery only lasts about 30 minutes -- this looked to be something of a problem. So I snooped around until I found an outlet I could use... next to the TV in the adjacent children's play area.

So I've spent the last 90 minutes on my knees, hunched over a toddler-sized table in the play area. There weren't any children about when I got here. Now, there are a few, but they are not using the room. I hope it's not because of me.

I'm actually surprised that more people haven't joined me. One woman did come in, looking for an outlet for her laptop, but she concluded that the remaining ones were not "good feng shui."

"Oh you're all right," she said, pointing to the plate glass barrier I am facing as I type this. "But none of these other outlets are positioned correctly." I guess she decided to forego using her computer, because she did not return.

And I'm not certain how great the feng shui actually is here. If it was, don't you think I would have come up with a better post than this one?

The 15-Minute Challenge

Been out of the house all day and for once, left my computer at home.

I have to retrieve my college student niece and nephew tomorrow for a weekend visit, which means I have to do something about the squalor we normally live in. I figure an hour of housework will turn the state of our home into the squalor they are used to seeing when they visit.

This means I have about 15 minutes to hammer out a quick post here. WHY? Because I like you. (I don't know why I'm channeling Jimmy Dodd tonight, it just sounded right).

Megan went back to school today, which means I got my life back. I dropped her off, I went to the weight clinic (have fluctuated just one-half pound since the diet ended last week -- even after taking the program to the limit yesterday). I went to the gym for my first workout since Sunday.

Then, off to Topanga Plaza, where I had a lunch date with Lin, a blogging friend for the last couple of years. We've been trying to get together for a while, and today it finally happened.

Our lunch turned out to be two hours of non-stop conversation, with nary a lull between us (only when the waiter brought us identical Nicoise Salads). We have a lot in common: we are older women with children (she also has grandchildren) who blog, we are both married to engineering geologists from Wales, and we are watching our weight. Plenty to talk about there!

I am sorry to say that our lunch was interrupted several times by the ring of my phone. I don't know why it is that I NEVER get phone calls during the day... UNLESS during those rare occasions when I am enjoying a face-to-face meeting with a friend! Fortunately, Lin is a gracious and understanding person.

I got to the mall early and so engaged in my new favorite hobby: Trying on clothes and marveling that they fit. After 12 years of being badly overweight, this is something I am having a hard time getting used to. But it's a good thing.

OK. Done. I'm off to get the vacuum cleaner.

Tell Me That You Love Me

Come on! Send me a Valentine and get a button for yourself, too.

Get your own valentinr

(I won't receive your Valentine's Day wishes until the 14th.)

Thanks to Lizzie at This Full House and Shannon at PhatMommy for this one.