One of my best. Another one of my best I spent in NYC with my friend Phillip. We went to Greenwich Village for the Halloween Parade and partied on the piers til dawn. Crazy. I should find those photos. What a week.

We slept in on Sunday and read in bed

Then I amused Juniper with my "cannot do it as well as mommy" Grandma'ma antics.

Halloween antics (that is my son and the manager of his store - she is dressed as a ghost obviously, and Michael is dressed as the President)

Michael is working at record store in Sacramento and he also has a new cd out.

These things make the worrisome things not so important.

xo

Cassi

  

Juniper and I watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

My friend Tracy and I cut school at some ridiculously young age and took the bus to the mall to watch this film. We came away with an irreversible crush on Gene Wilder. He was so hot in that movie. Wow!

My dot-air and my grand dot-air

Jocelyn and her bandmate, Jeanie, stayed for home made chicken noodle soup when she came by to pick up her Bean. A wonderful day indeed!

This will be Juniper's first Halloween.

Michael, my son

My son and I were having a conversation about people that take babies out for Halloween. He feels that it is ridiculous and moot. I had to agree BUT...having Juniper to think of I found myself perusing the infant costume section of Amazon and Toys R Us.

Yes, I bought our Miss Juney Pants her first Halloween costume. She will be just over six months old, she will remember NOTHING of this night. But oh my dog, she will be so cute and I will take at least five thousand photos.

Not to mention, Jocelyn is as gung ho as I am...Relief...



Juniper is going to be a SEA OTTER for Halloween!

We were limited because of her widdle size but I love this costume. Look at that tail! Someone mentioned an abalone shell to put her candy in. PRECIOUS!



Fill'er Up!

Work continues with my old mortgage boss. I am really enjoying it. It is part time and still temp but it helps.

I did not get a call back from Trader Joe's, so I guess I am out.

This does leave my weekends free for baby sitting, though, doesn't it?

  

Did I forget anything?

So, we packed my car with all one hundred pounds and seventeen diaper bags of baby accessories needed for one night with one baby, and off we went.

We have spent the day together alone but never the night. Jocelyn was worried she might be agitated not being in her own bed. I was not too worried if she needed extra attention through the night. I knew I would recover. And this was going to be FUN!


We we got back to Davis in one piece. We had dinner together (unhealthy fried chicken for me and organic blueberry banana something or other for Juniper) then it was bath time. She was getting persnickety and I was sure the bath would relax her. She loves her bath...

Apparently not when grandma'ma does it. She hated her bath. I don't know what it was, the lights, the tub, the shower thing. She hated it! Cried til she got blotchy! I dried her and dried her tears and we settled in to the living room with to movie to watch and she had her big old bottle of relax.

That was just fine. She fell asleep and I put her to bed. I read a book and she slept til 4:30 am for a bottle. Then fell sound asleep on my chest til a more desirable hour of morning. Ah, nothing sweeter than dozing off with the magic heart beat and baby breaths of a grand daughter named Juniper.



And this is the little face I woke to this morning! GOOD MORNING WORLD - we got Juniper in the house!



We surfed the internet a little bit



We had some breakfast



We took a long walk on the bike path (where any one unfortunate to make eye contact with me got a proper introduction to my grand daughter...)



And now we are preparing to had back up the hill so Juniper can be returned to her mommy and daddy who miss her terribly!

Remember these?

The Magic Eight Ball

So, I have this idea. I will create this molten plastic form of the Thin White Duke, mass produce actually.
It will be hollow with a liquid interior with a special dice that floated to a perfect answer once you shook it and I would call it the
ASK DAVID  BOWIE.

 
Like this kind of...but plastic and white

I raised my middle years with his music and I am sure he has answers with a number of his lyrics for any life challenging scenario. ANY.
I have to investigate this.
He is a Capricorn after all.

For example:

"Check ignition and may God's love be with you"

"Look at your children

See their faces in golden rays"

"He took it all too far but boy could he play guitar"

"You're too old to lose it, too young to choose it"


"Time may change me
But I can't trace time"

"Hey babe, your hair's alright"

"You will be my rest and peace child"

"Fame, makes a man take things over"

"We can be Heroes, just for one day"

What? You don't get it??? I was cracking myself up over this last night.

Alright...let's look at pictures of my loved ones... 

Jocelyn and Juniper

I baby sat for the girls yesterday. Juniper seemed to have grown about seven inches since last weekend (I like to exaggerate)

We had a nice afternoon while Jocelyn tended to important non baby (WHAT???) matters. I could hold and kiss her little face all day long.

Then I met with my friend Kim for dinner at the place Juniper's daddy works. We had a real girl night meal. Bottles of wine, appetizers and gourmet pizza. It was so nice to catch up. I love you Kimmy!

That is all I got. Just a couple of new pics of my beautiful girls. I simply cannot believe how much Miss Thing grew in one weeks time.

I did Yoga in the Park Saturday morning. That was completely wonderful. I cannot wait to do it again. At least one hundred of us stretching and breathing together. Awesome. Also, I have a room renter moving in this weekend. I really hope some of these financial difficulties are less over bearing soon. My fingers are crossed and my budget is in action.

Breathe...life IS better than good.

Have a beautiful Sunday xanga-crew...

Our first stop was Drake Beach at Point Reyes National Sea Shore. I chose it because it is easy to access the sea. No long walks in. Joc and I never mind a hike, but with a baby, easy is everything. We got a front row parking spot and walked right up to the crashing waves in a matter of minutes. Cool that!

We love the sea.



Deer with a view

Ghost Ships on the horizon

Terrific oreo cow pastoral photo opps!

You get to see a number of these fellows around Point Reyes. The raven is a common bird around these parts. But not so common to me. They seem to add mystery  and etiquette to the otherwise blustery oyster ranch and tide pooling atmosphere. A little depth with your shrimp cocktail please.

Oh look! Grandma'ma with her Juniper! Can you see my smiling bursting heart wrapped around this beautiful being? Good Grief! This darling child is loved.

My little Mermaids.

A perfect day.

I got lost coming home. Even missed our "home" exit. Nothing like darling mermaids to distract a tired lady!

My son is good. Busy with music, recording and touring.

I am sure I will have pics of him soon. (He just got back home from a three week mini tour and is busy busy busy!)
Life is good.
I am sure I will have some news about that soon. (I have new jobs, I lost old jobs, nothing has broken, I am crossing my fingers)

What else really matters?

xxxoo!

What is new, xanga crew?

been feeling anxious. Not depressed...this too shall pass.

I have had the place to myself for nearly two weeks. I really enjoy the quiet but if you know me, that is not the usual. Maybe that is part of my dis-ease.

My cafe job came to an end, my own undoing, I admit. But for some reason, I don't feel bad. It has been an excuse to be lethargic and party too much. Not blaming, just making so many excuses to avoid getting down to any kind of business. Almost a relief, I just wish I would have been a better person about it. I feel as though I may have let some people down although I am sure I did not. Just remorse in not being the best I could be.

Last weekend I was able to baby sit for my grand daughter Juniper all day on Saturday. I went up Friday for a show that Jocelyn was to perform in. That got canceled but we planned on my staying over at the other grand parent's place and babysitting on Saturday. The change in plans allowed me to hang out and help my daughter on Friday night (dinner and talking) so I stayed at her place (on the floor! I am too old for THAT these days!) and stayed for the day to baby sit Juniper.

Wonderful day.


I was there when she woke up first thing! Good morning BEAN!

I have not really been around babies since my own children were babies. I have never been a baby person, I am more of a stinky teenager person.  So, it has taken these past four months for me to build up my confidence to feel  able enough to take over for the day.

And it all went great! I did not break her, or scuff her up. I did not feed her chocolate milk by accident or give her chicken nuggets for lunch. I am pretty sure I did not scar her for life. So far, Jocelyn has not fired me!


She is starting to turn on her side and begin to roll over.

She loves her toys now. She has favorite ones! I have never seen a baby think as hard as she does. And not just for pooping. Seriously.



She enjoys her jumpy chair dealy up to a point. (dealy is a latin  jumpy toy adjective, don't be smug!)



She gets some air but likes most to turn it so it will spin her back around. She prefers to have a couple of toys join her for the ride. (There we have Red Pony and Noisy Bee)

Jocelyn and Daniel came home and I stayed just a while longer. She sat up on her own for the first time while I was there!



She has been able to pull herself up to standing with her Daddy's help.  LOOK! Juniper is attacking TOWNSVILLE!



I am hoping to baby sit this weekend too. I am waiting for THAT phone call.

I have a room renter for the end of the month. We will see how that works out. Fortunately it is a person I know so perhaps that will make for better relations. I already know that he is VERY tidy. Huge relief. We all know I am not talking about my son, don't we? He is suppose to be moving out but room renter has been made aware that he may end up on my couch. Nevertheless, I will enjoy my empty house to myself while I should

So, the day that the cafe job ended a new job became available. Just like that. I started Tuesday this week, after the holiday. It is part time and temp. It will really help out. It is once again, in the mortgage business, my old boss from here in Davis, as a matter of fact.



The week went well. I suspect I will stay on as long as he has the business. Much more relaxed than before but that short gig at the mortgage banking funding department last year actually brought me up to speed on the industry changes. There is always important caveats for each lender but still, working at a bank for awhile certainly heightens your awareness of the important p's and q's. (as in pints and quarts, math is so important where ever your path leads you, never forget that...) I hope the job lasts for a long while. It feels good to feel like I know what I am doing again. And I always like this man and his family.

Autumn in Davis by timpossible

Photo by Kaitlyn Weber

"Christ have mercy on all sleeping things! From that dog rotting down on Wrightson Road to when I was a dog on these streets...I have Dutch, nigger and English in me, I'm either nobody, or I'm a nation" Derek Walcott

     
Lost in the hallways of Silver Legacy, terrible coffee in the morning seemed to make it better but Bloody Mary's at Peppermill nailed it

We called our co-hort in crime at around midnight and we talked til after three AM! We laughed and remembered and talked over each other laughing our guts out. We enjoyed every minute of that speaker phone conversation! Laura's poor hub was a good sport, demanding, once, our talk turned this way or that, "I don't want to hear about "xxxx", I want to hear about the SAX" In his Brit accent. ha ha ha!

So, back to regular life. I need money and suddenly pennies are falling from heaven. Thank you! Thank you!

K, catch up blog! Love you.

"Pass the peace pipe tell your brothers that love covers all and we're prisoners." Michael R. J. Saalman

"So boys, keep yer nickels and yer dimes" Natalie Ribbons