There she is. Regular Bat Cave followers will recognize Little Miss Crabby Pants, the cranky lil' girl whose photo gets displayed when I'm particularly unthrilled about something. I wish I could say I know who she is - I don't. I found her while trolling around the site I use for image hosting, and since she bears a striking resemblance to my mother's side of the family, I sort of adopted her as my own.
Plus, that dress she's wearing tickles me.
Well, Lil' Sis is quite fond of Little Miss Crabby Pants, and told me the other day she had plans to snap a photo of my baby niece, Cecelia, when she's in full blown cranky, I'm-so-not-happy mode. This is what greeted me when I checked my e-mail last night:
Oooooh, someone is NOT happy with life! Lil' Sis told me that when she makes this disgusted face, my niece also makes a snorting noise. Which actually ruins the effect she's shooting for, since Lil' Sis ends up laughing at her.
No doubt Cecelia will eventually spend years in therapy because her Mommy laughed at her when she made snorting noises as an almost 2-month old.
And holy cow, is that kid porking out! I'm going to start calling her Porky McChubbikins.
Longtime Bat Cave followers will undoubtedly "know" my Lil' Sis, occasional commenter, all-around kick ass babe, high school English teacher and now? First time Mommy.
I woke up this morning to find a text message on my cell phone - sent at 2:45AM that read:
"At hospital. 4cm with contractions 2-4min apart and water broke. Looks like a fool will be born today :)"
Baby Cecelia came into the world at 9:42AM, weighing 7lbs 11oz and is a whopping 21 inches.
Mother, Father and baby are doing fine. I'm heading up to the hospital tomorrow for a visit.
The So. Cal. Bloggers are spread out over such a large area, that we're currently experimenting with finding different places we can meet. Sort of like on a rotating schedule, that way one part of our group isn't always stuck with a crap-load of driving. Yesterday we headed north, which worked out great for me, since it was literally right around the corner from where the Lil' Sis lives.
So I get to her place, and tell her I brought a copy of Kiss It Better by Portia Da Costa for her to read. I turn my back to her, and as I'm rooting around in my book bag, she says, "I have something for you too. I have this really great bookmark...." I turn around and she's holding....
Ultrasound pictures!
Squeeeeeeeeeeee!
The Lil' Sis is pregnant!!!!!
It's Baby #1 and Pregnancy #1 for her and the Super Genius Brother-In-Law, which is why she waited until the end of her first trimester to tell any of us. The lil' stinker. I should have known something was up when we were at the L.A. County Fair, on a day hotter than blue blazes, and she turned down the opportunity for an ice cold beer. How obtuse is Wendy? Yeah. Very.
She's due in early April, and feels pretty good right now. A little nauseous, but doesn't have full-blown morning sickness. Her main issue is exhaustion. She's really, really tired - which if you know my Lil' Sis, you know it hasn't been easy for her. She's very much a go-go-go kind of person.
So finding out that bit of news just added to an already great day. Seven of the So. Cal. Bloggers were able to make the trip. It was me, Rosie, Nikki, Tracy, Lori, Renee, and Rowena. Books were bought, swapped, discussed, food was eaten, and much merriment ensued. It's always so great to see everyone, and catch up not only on book-related "stuff" but also on our personal lives, husbands, kids, jobs etc. A greater bunch of chicks you'll never meet. A super-duper fabulous day!
Yes, L.A. has a fair. I know. It's more than slightly bizarre and hard to wrap your mind around, but it's actually very nice. Lil' Sis wanted to go because some of her students (have I mentioned she teaches high school English?) were working, and she wanted to do the whole Supportive Teacher Thing. Well that, and the fair is always a most excellent opportunity to gorge yourself on totally inappropriate food choices. Here are some random observations on the day:
1) Oh. My. God. H-O-T! Hot, hot, hot. So, hot. Insanely hot. Inhumanely hot.
2) When it's so incredibly hot outside it's hard to gorge yourself on inappropriate food choices. Nothing sounds good because it's so bloody H-O-T out.
3) I love bacon and I love chocolate but chocolate covered bacon is so wrong on a whole lotta levels.
4) You can deep-fry just about anything. No really, you can! Oreos, Snickers bars, Twinkies, S'Mores - you name it, someone was probably deep-frying it at the fair.
5) L.A. lacks "real" carnies. Maybe it's from my growing up in the Midwest, but carnies are supposed to wear Metallica T-shirts, have a grand total of ten teeth, practice questionable personal hygiene and operate carnival rides that look about 25% safe. All the rides at the L.A. County Fair looked safe, clean and the "carnies" were well-groomed, practiced good personal hygiene, had all their teeth, and were wearing blue polo shirts. Maybe L.A. recruits for carnies at Old Navy?
6) Oh. My. God. Did I mention how hot is was? Seriously. H-O-T.
7) Nothing says L.A. County Fair quite like seeing a giant white mushroom cloud off in the distance silhouetting the Ferris wheel. Yep, fires still burning.
8) I understand that when you have a baby, you do need to "get out" in order to not lose your mind. But did I mention how hot it was? And how many teeny, tiny babies (as in infants!) I saw at the fair? Seriously people. Where are your brains? Wait, stupid question. No need to answer that.
10) I got my white trash fix, and Lil' Sis got her scary tattooed gangsta fix. It was all good.
11) Miracle of miracles, I didn't get too sunburned. Thank you SPF 45.
12) They do have animals at the L.A. County Fair (and not just of the human variety). Although gotta say there seemed to be an exorbitant number of goats this year. Cute baby goats - but still, what was with all the goats? Other highlights? Baby piglets next to the largest sows I've ever seen (like, the size of my couch!), rabbits, horses, and milk cows.
Now I leave you with one of my favorite commercials for the fair. Yeah, it's kinda like this.
The June 2 episode of The Price Is Right is now online for your viewing pleasure. My sister gave me the heads-up via Facebook and sure enough she wasn't lying. We're on TV a lot! For those of you interested in catching a glimpse of my 15 minutes of fame? The best shots of me and the family are when Dandy (yep, his name is Dandy!) from the post office gets up on stage. Here are some admittedly not-great screen shots that I took to capture our moment of glory! Ha!
From left to right:
My erotica-lovin' Lil' Sis who comments on the blog from time to time (she kicks ass!)
It's a bird, it's a plane.....it's Super Librarian!
My extremely excited mother who proceeded to tell us for the next week how much she loved going to see The Price Is Right.
My mild-mannered father. He may look large and imposing, but inside he's all marshmallow center.
How awesome are we? Well, apparently not awesome enough to make it down to contestant's row....but minor detail.
A reminder that on Tuesday, June 2 (that would be tomorrow) you might be able to spot the Super Librarian (and family) in the audience shots of The Price Is Right! None of us got to "come on down" - but I'm thinking our bright red T-shirts will help us stand out. Especially since we were sitting in front of a big group from the USPS, who were all wearing navy blue, and because the Super Librarian father is a whopping 6'6" tall (for those who have met me is person - yes, that would be why I'm so tall). However, never fear. If you do miss it (or forget to set your TiVo), you can watch full episodes of the show online.
Also, be sure to check out yesterday's post for your chance to win my beat-up copy of Lightning That Lingers by Laura London. You've got until Friday to enter.
My Lil' Sis now lives in southern California, so when my parents were out here for their recent vacation/visit they got to see two daughters for the price of one. We divided up their time here between the two of us, but we also did some fun stuff together as a family. Awwwwww. One such fun thing was that we all went to The Price Of Right together!
So what was that experience like? Well first off, it's a massive time suck of a day. We got to the studio at 8AM to get in line for the 1PM taping and they were already full up! So we opted to try to see the 4PM taping, which meant killing time at a local diner for breakfast and getting back to the studio by 12:30PM to stand in a line, show our ID, stand in another line, get our name tag, stand in another line, get interviewed by the producers, stand in another line etc. etc. etc.
4PM finally rolled around and inside the studio we went. OK, I hate to shatter everyone's illusions but The Price Is Right studio is tiny! And rather cheap looking. It looks like this cavernous warehouse on TV and in person it's about the size of a college dorm room. Also we had been standing in one line or another all blessed day. I was wiped out! But they pumped in the music (I'm thinking the production staff are a bunch of alcoholics, because hearing YMCA by the Village People all day would certainly drive me to drink) and got the audience revved up. Everyone got so into it, that despite the dinkiness of the studio you can't here a darn thing the announcer is saying. They hold up cue cards with your name on it if you're selected to "Come On Down!" to contestants row.
I still miss Bob Barker, but Drew Carey did not disappoint. When there was a break in filming, he chatted with audience members, cracked jokes and even handled a militant vegan trying to convert him with a good sense of humor. He's very relaxed with the audience, and wasn't standoff-ish or snobby. Not an easy thing, I'm sure - since they filmed three shows that day! He had to be tired. I was, after standing in line all day, and I didn't have to be "on" for anyone.
Now to answer the burning questions. Nope - none of us got selected as contestants. A major bummer too since the Lil' Sis needs a car and I certainly wouldn't have turned away new living room furniture. Just sayin'. But I think we will make it on camera during the audience shots. My Mom bought us all bright red"Yes There Really Is A Kalamazoo!" T-shirts to wear and we were sitting in front of a big group from the USPS, who were all wearing navy blue. Plus, the Super Librarian Dad is 6'6". Makes him easy to spot in grocery stores, at ball games, and in audience shots on The Price Is Right.
Our show is set to air on June 2. Set your TiVos, DVRs or VCRs. Or heck, you can even watch it online. You just have to wait for June 2.
I've been an atrocious blogger of late. This happens to me every once and a while. Some weeks I have a ton of crap ideas that I can ramble discuss, and other weeks what little creativity I possess flees the scene. And I'm here to report, it's only going to get worse.
That's right kiddies - it's that time of year again. The Super Librarian parents are, as I'm typing this, somewhere over the Midwest, winging there way to sunny southern California. The difference this year? They've got two daughters living out here. Yes, two daughters for the price of one! Can't beat that!
Since the Lil' Sis will be entertaining them part of the time, I will be sneaking into the office next week - mostly because the end of our fiscal year is killing me. I'm hoping that day and a half in the office will allow me to keep my e-mail in-box to around 300 messages. Ha!
What's on tap? We're doing Disneyland this year. Also, we're going to try to get into the Price Is Right. I plan on tackling Drew Carey and telling him (in no uncertain terms) that they will pick me as the contestant to play Plinko. This is of course assuming we're able to get tickets - which is not a given. I'll keep y'all posted!
I'll try to pop in on the blog every now and then - but I promise nothing. Seriously, my brain she be mush. In the meantime? The Super Librarian parents leave town on the 19th. Be good to each other, and hold off on any interesting flame wars. Boring, redundant flame wars? Heck, have at it.
PS - Yes, the above picture is yours truly at the ripe old age of 5. A wee little Super Librarian in training. Sigh, I know. I was cute as Hell. I'm not sure what the heck happened either. What I wouldn't give to still be that cute. Except, you know....not 5.
Saturday, June 7, 2003
The unthinkable has happened.
My younger sister has read a trashy romance novel.
My younger sister who reads Ayn Rand and Lady Chatterley's Lover - for fun.
I have a major weakness for Devine - but even I admit her books have no redeemable qualities to them whatsoever. I read them for the camp factor - and of course the naughtiness. Think of her books like Melrose Place (or any other Aaron Spelling soap) with more naked people and you'll have a vague idea what her writing is like.
Naturally I had to offer some sisterly advice to Sheri on what books to try and which ones to avoid like the plague. Romance-erotica is a potential disaster zone for an inexperienced romance reader.
Now all I have to do is convince her that there is such a thing as good writing, strong characters, and interesting plots in romance novels.
This is going to take a lot of persuasion and work on my part....
There she is. Regular Bat Cave followers will recognize Little Miss Crabby Pants, the cranky lil' girl whose photo gets displayed when I'm particularly unthrilled about something. I wish I could say I know who she is - I don't. I found her while trolling around the site I use for image hosting, and since she bears a striking resemblance to my mother's side of the family, I sort of adopted her as my own.
Oooooh, someone is NOT happy with life! Lil' Sis told me that when she makes this disgusted face, my niece also makes a snorting noise. Which actually ruins the effect she's shooting for, since Lil' Sis ends up laughing at her. 
