Free Concert in the Park - gosh, I love this town

I cannot begin to describe the warm-fuzzy feeling Long Beach Municipal Band's Summer Concerts in the Park leaves me with...I've been going to these concerts since before I can remember. Mainly, my brother and I would tag along with our lovely Grandma Vivian to the Friday night El Dorado Park concerts. Now a days, I drag my husband out the door, and we take the 3 year old and the 1 year old, and if the 17 year old deigns to be seen with us, she comes, too.

We always bring a picnic dinner - and I'm sure it was many things in my childhood, but when I let myself day dream about concerts in the park, I always imagine we'll bring fried chicken. We didn't grow up eating much fried chicken, but that's what I always crave when I'm putting the kids and things together for an evening at one of our great parks.

Tonight we'll ride our bikes down to Bixby Park - or Bluff Park, I believe is the formal location - and listen to the western-inspired song selections while the kids climb on the play structure, and I drink a beer (YES - this is the one time I know of that there is a silent rule that LBPD look the other way in terms of public consumption!!!), eat some fried chicken (maybe...or maybe we'll get some greek cuisine to go at Ambrosia's - Broadway@Cherry).

This is the Municipal Band's 99th Year, so it's bound to be a blast. I can't wait to see how Long Beach celebrates the Municipal Band's 100th year next year - it's bound to have an element of extravaganza.

Check out the link to the schedule - the last date is August 15th. Look for me and my motley crew of teenagers and toddlers...Hope to see you there and share a toast to this great city.

No Space for Swings at Rose Park. Huh?!?

Viv turned 3 today. I took Viv & Lou for a walk this evening while my aunt iced and decorated the Horse-Head Extravaganza cake! (Serious Extravaganza: sour cream chocolate icing, gummy worm mane, banana chip nostrils, pitted cherries for eyes, and strawberries to fill out the platter - YUMMM!)

To make the walk long enough for sufficient decorating, we strolled around Rose Park. My uncle and cousin Zach joined us. I mentioned a recently remodeled hard/landscaped house in Rose Park that is a particular favorite of mine - and we set out for our goal. We passed through Rose Park on our way, and I noticed the owner of Portfolios, with Jeff Anderson and a couple other RPNA Neighborhood Association faces. With my two babies and work, I rarely make it to neighborhood meetings or events -- but I ALWAYS want to! Anyhow, these 5 or so folks were standing around several pallets of material, with a doll-house-looking thing in the middle. I popped into the group and said, "Hi, did I miss another neighborhood event?"

Portfolio Owner Gal (God, I wish I could remember her name. I've been introduced a couple times, I think it's like Cassie, but not exactly) told me that there wasn't an event, but getting ready for an event. Oooh, the Gazebo has arrived!

I can't say that without sarcasm, because I feel that this is the least worthwhile use of our neighborhood's space and money. Now, I will admit I haven't gone to meetings to make my point, or to try to redirect the efforts. I just read the newsletter and scoff at the idealistic, sometimes selfish-seeming agendas being promoted. But, I will say, I should get involved. As soon as my children & work allow me time to wash my hair on a daily basis, I will get myself to those meetings!

I asked Portfolio Gal, with a glance at Jeff to bring him into the conversation, if any crazy person like myself had ever mentioned a play structure for the neighborhood kids??? She said, oh yeah, have you seen the plans? (Meaning the 3'x5' board that's been planted on the north side of Rose Park for over a year.) I'm sure my eyes widened, and I started to get excited as I imagined some play structure pasted on top of the original, no-play-structure drawing!

Here's our conversation (only slightly condensed):

I said: "Oh, yes, I've looked at the plans...Did they add one???"

Portfolio Gal: "Oh, no. There is no place for a play structure. It has been brought up in the past, but we found we don't have enough room by city guidelines. We would have to cut down a tree, which we're not allowed to do. And we can't have it too close to the street, because of the city."

I said: "Oh, wow, that's too bad. You know, as the mother of a 3 y.o. and 1 y.o. I have to say that without a dedicated area or structure, the neighborhood kids are going to destroy anything the RPNA puts up."

Her: "oh, yeah...."

Me: "I mean, Suja has kids, seems like we should get her on board with this..."

Her: "Here's Suja now..." (as she was turning away from me, back to the little group that was assembling discussing moving the pallets to Suja's yard)

I waved my goodbye and let them get on with their planning. I just shook my head as I walked away. I think it's bears mentioning that Rose Park is located at the intersection of Orizaba & 8th Street. Orizaba, from 7th to 8th, is one of the most rental-rich streets in our neighborhood. When I walk through the park I generally see the following:

• teenagers/young adults making out






• pre-teen kids skateboarding in and on everything






• tagging on the new benches the RPNA put in last year






• tagging on the concrete pad the RPNA put in last year (where the rose garen used to be, before the RPNA dug it out and gave us a dirt-surrounded concrete pad that's been there for over a year!)






• bands of unsupervised children 5-11 or so years old roaming the park, making up games, taunting each other, sometimes fighting

Now, I know Rose Park is not Belmont Shore (duh), but if community members and parents can save the Livingston Park Tot Lot from becoming a parking lot (I mean Joni Mitchell sang about that unstoppable force decades ago) -- what do we lower socio-economic dwellers of the Rose Park Neighborhood have to do to get some swings and sand?

Medicina for my kiddies without the drugs = BRILLIANT!

As I was looking for info on mandated affordable housing units, and then reading about rising home sale activity (which, per the Sacramento Bee was up 22% for LA County April 2008 unit sales), I couldn't stop myself from clicking the link to a NY Times blog about placebos for kids. Not until I was half-way through it did I start getting excited.

First I thought about how we struggled with my now-3-y.o. to get her to take Tylenol when she was a feverish baby. Then, by making a big stink about how yummy it is, she would take it. And then want more, and more, and more! Then along came her baby brother, and we did the same schtick to get him to take it (even taking a bit of it myself, because he is not easily tricked, and he could tell when I was only pretend-tasting it! And, I will report, Baby Tylenol tastes better than Baby Ibuprofen. The ibuprofen has a stronger, bitter aftertaste. Just FYI.). Any-who...as I read this article, I thought, "If I had some fake stuff, I would have doled that out when my daughter was asking for her "medicina" instead of giving tastes of the real thing!"

You know, I like to think ibuprofen is a harmless antidote. It is the only thing that works for my headaches, backaches, etc. And then my husband had to ruin my innocent belief in this all-healing drug. He's always lecturing me about the new studies that show it really is hard on the kidneys (or is it liver?). And when I was in the hospital, post c-section, all I took was ibuprofen...but they never let me take it without eating some saltines at the same time. I guess there are some real drugs in there.

But I digress...

The next thing I thought about was my teenage, step-daughter (who's recovering from a Bone Marrow Transplant). I think placebos would be great for her, too! She has a bizarre -- but I've learned not uncommon in chronically ill patients -- love of benadryl administered via i.v. I think there's a big mental component in that *need,* too. So, in short, I think placebos for our kids are awesome -- let the power of the mind heal their bodies (and ours, too)!

I mean, isn't this what shamans and medicine-men/women have done for people for all-of-time? If our society believed in singing while dancing around a fire (or atleast carrying a little burning sage) then we could do this for our kids, and it would work because it would be a society-wide belief (kinda like the real estate bubble, ahhem). But we don't believe in this kind of healing, we believe in drugs...so let pay $5.95 for a bottle of placebos and give our kids some harmless "drugs," for their sake and ours! Brilliant. Bravo. Bravo.

P.S. This was invented and marketed by a mom who sent her husband to the store for sugar-pill placebos, and found none. Bravo, good lady.

Dr. Gary Scott is a Ninkumpoop! (LBCC cancels Parent Participation Preschool)

I can't stop thinking about this tragedy since posting about getting up at an insane hour to register my preschooler. I thought I was over it. But it's hard to get closure since Dr. Gary Scott, Dean of the department, won't return my emails. That's after he gave me his card and the serious glad-hand following the April LBCC Board of Trustee's meeting.

To fill y'all in on what I'm upset about, here's the shortest, in-a-nutshell I can muster: for 50+ years LBCC Child Development Center has offered the most wonderful co-op opportunity. I'm not exagerating that timeline. My 80 year old Great Aunt Patsy told me she was sad because it was such a wonderful resource for her and her 3 children (who are all 50-60 y.o)! And, my wonderful Grandma Vivian was once an instructor in these courses -- way back in 1940-something! This program allowed moms or dads, via a City College course, to work 1 morning a week in their child's preschool classroom, attend a wonderful parenting lecture (how else are we going to get generally fit parents to take the art of parenting to the next level???) and then their child attended 3 other mornings without them (while the other parents worked in the class). All of this for the cost of the course units and a measely $20 materials fee.

For many parents this allowed their family to afford this high quality program. This co-op preschool was responsible for taking parenting to the next level for many Long Beach families. This program exposed us to non-violent parenting and the wonderful concepts of Magda Gerber and RIE.

With the least amount of warning, the out-of-touch administrators --ahhem, like Gary Scott-- killed this program in one fell swoop. Now, some parents might argue, "We can do the 2-day a week preschool, where we have to work both days." But that only works for a small minority. For those of us who juggle work and parenting and need a more continuous schedule for our darlings, this change was equivolent to cancellation.

After posting about getting up in the middle of the night to register my preschooler in the Fall 2008 full day program, I started thinking about how easy these schmucks are getting off. Sure April Juarez, Dept. Chair, had to dodge figurative tomatoes as she double-talked and split hairs explaining the cancellation to one group of 35 parents in March. But then April and Gary made themselves scarce and virtually escaped the wrath. I mean parents -okay, moms- were in tears considering the financial and lifelong impact the Fall 2008 changes would wreak on our families and community. To see what parents had to say first hand, check out the e-petition some of the LAC Campus (campus on Carson) parents started.

Anyhow, maybe because I'm an eternal optimist, I'm not giving up hope that the co-op program can be revived. And I'm sure as hell not going to let this program go without atleast publicly exposing the folley. I'm juggling a 1 year old and an almost 3 year old on this Memorial Day afternoon, so stay posted for my plan (fyi, it won't be a full page ad in the LA Times, but even a little-read blog will be healing for me!).

Postlets and Preschool

I never thought I would be this type of mom. I certainly never thought I would be this type of mom when my child was just 2 years and 11 months old!

Here's what I did: I woke up at 3:45am on May 20th. I jumped in the shower, dressed, threw my folding chair and blanket in the trunk, drove to WaMu to get some cash, and then drove to my preschooler's school. I arrived at 4:35am. I was 4th in line.

By 5:30am there were probably 15 moms and dads. By 6:30am there were 20 something. By 7am there were atleast 30!

It's not like we're talking about some shishi Manhattan preschool. My daughter attends the Long Beach City College Child Development Center. Of course I think it's the best thing around -- otherwise we wouldn't go there. But I never imagined I would feel so strongly about bleepity bleeping PRESCHOOL! The scene was just a civilized, older version of opening day ticket sales (or if you're not a baseball fan, maybe the scene at TicketMaster when the hottest touring band's show goes on sale)!

This crazy scene was precipitated by the cancellation of the long-running, community-building, parent-empowering Parent Participation Preschool classes at both the PCH and Carson LBCC campuses. That saga's post must be saved for another day. Needless to say, us parents of 2-3 year olds found ourselves vying for 18 spots in the sought-after full day class, with more than twice that many returning preschool students.

And that's how I found myself camped out on PCH & Orange at 4:35am on Tuesday, May 20th.

I hope I find the time to put that down in my daughter's baby book (which has all of 3 entries, all pre-birth) so when she tells me I never do anything for her, I can flip it open and say, 'Oh, yeah?!' Look at what I did on May 20th, 2008!

Travertine & Pickled Egg Guarantee (c/o Joe Jost's)

I'm proud to present Medallia de Oro's 8 tasteful condos. Working with an experienced builder who is truly committed to the craftsmanship - and the subsequent quality of life once he hands each condo over to it's final owner - is a treat! The problem it's presented is this: How do I communicate that this building really is different from all the DIY-Home-Depot condo conversions that *swear* they "won't disappoint" - and then do. ???

I wonder what other realtors think when they walk into these "completely upgraded" condo conversions and find fiberglass kit showers where the wannabe 'builders' cheaped out and didn't even install shower doors, but just put up a tension rod with a TACKY shower curtain!?! Or when the gaps in the 'luxury' molding is big enough to stick your finger in?!? Or bad particle board cabinets, with mis-matching hardward finishes everywhere? Or, my favorite: sagging, poorly repainted cabinet shelves that the 'builders' couldn't be bothered to replace!?!! I mean, if I want to see a bad, 2-day TLC project, I'll TiVO it. The embellished - okay, let's be real - the FALSE descriptions offend me! My time is precious, and I don't like being misled.

So, that brings me back to my initial question. What magic words can I write to tell other agents and their buyers, "No, seriously, this is how you'd want it to look if you did it yourself." ??? With all the posers mis-representing their product as "quality," what secret handshake can I electronically deliver to let folks now we're legit? I mean, I want to create solid relationships with my fellow realtors - and tricking them into showing my listing isn't how I plan to do it.

Maybe I'll try something like this: Check out a professional remodel. Seriously. How about a guarantee? If our units don't measure up to the MLS description, schooner of beer at Joe Jost's -- AND a Joe's Special -- are on me!

Peepy Winehouse

My aunt's blog referenced the coolest Peep's diarama contest! The winner was an Egyptian Peep's tomb - cool - but one of the runner up's was WAY cooler...Amy Peephouse!