Indiana Bound? (Or "Boy In Box With Bunny")

Red Velvet And Rose Petals

One of the best things about our new house is the kitchen. It has plenty of prep space and not one, but two ovens. I've been having fun trying out new recipes, especially ones that require baking.

This past weekend, I made a red velvet cake for my friend Maribel's baby shower. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it before the shower, but there was plenty left over.

Riley thought it looked good enough to eat, in any case.

Noodling For Profit

Although Chris devotes most of his time to day-caring for Riley, he does pick up the odd job.

This last week, he played guitar and keyboards for some videogame prototype content. The music track: "Brick House," The Commodores 70's-funk paean to stacked women.

She's mighty mighty... Just lettin' it all hang out...

He also designed and animated a logo ID tag for his friend, David Simkins, a producer for the new Sci Fi Channel series, The Dresden Files. Watch the show's end credits to see the animation in action.

Three seconds of brilliance.

Click here for a nice article about Mr. Simkins and his current work.

Boyfriend And Girlfriend

I suppose every little boy falls in love with his mother at some point. (My brother insisted he was going to marry ours). Riley announced this week that I am his girlfriend; although, to be fair, he also designated Chris as his "manfriend" and told him that Mommy could be his girlfriend too. A close family we are.

Housewarming

The P3 held a housewarming party this last Sunday afternoon.

Friends preschool age and up attended. Meatballs were eaten. No injuries were incurred.

Success!

My Little Gymnast

This week marked the grand opening of The Little Gym in Monrovia about a mile down the street from our house. Riley attended a trial class Saturday AM.

He was a little reticent at first, especially when he found out that he had to take his socks off. However, once he stepped through that door with all the other kids and found a room full of stuff that begged to be climbed upon, he was hooked. He also loved the young, outgoing female teachers--ladies' man that he is. He ran around for an hour with the other kids, following the lesson plan for the most part.

This was the first time he participated in an activity all by himself without mom or dad. It was really fun to watch him be his own person, even if he did come up to the viewing window a few times to peer out at me and tell me he was "in the gym." I signed him up for the class before we left, so now he can be "in the gym" every Saturday morning.

Smell Ya Later

I never saw many wild animals until I moved to the big city.

It's true.

Since relocating to the greater L.A. area...

I was nearly trampled by a deer en route to Griffith Observatory. I wandered within yards of a rattlesnake in a Glendale walking park. I slinked under a raccoon dangling a foot over my head in Toluca Lake. I spied numerous flocks of parrots in the Valley. I dodged a jogging coyote in the middle of a Pasadena residential street.

I even saw a rooster in a driveway by my friend David's house.

Yes, a rooster. David explained, "We think someone just dropped him off here."

And now, we live over a skunk.

To explain: Our house has what's called a California basement. It's essentially a tiny cellar that leads into a crawl space. Prior residents had the genius notion of adding a pet door to its entrance. And an enterprising pole cat capitalized on that convenience before we blocked the port off.

We've named this beastie "Smell Ya Later" after The Simpson's Nelson Muntz's exiting catch phrase.

Every night between ten and midnight, Smell Ya Later casually leaves his downstairs apartment and scuddles into the alley in search of sustenance, sex and other acts skunkian in nature. This usually occurs without incident, as Smell Ya Later seems pretty suburbanized.

A few times, however, SYL has lived up to its name.

Our plans?

The next time we see it leave, we're going to barricade the pet door. Let's hope our recon is good. We definitely don't want any operational SNAFU.

If the lock-out doesn't work, then we're going to have local pest/vermin control pay our basement buddy a visit.

In any case, soon it's going to be smell ya later to Smell Ya Later.

******

UPDATE: It's been days since the last SYL sighting/smelling.

Kirsten read that skunks flee location once they happen upon higher predator feces. So, we set a bag of Riley's dirty diapers outside his door.

So far, no more SYL. Strike another victory for science?

Time will tell.

And yes, we removed the diapers.

Lunching With Mom

Peanut butter sandwich and juice under the warm California sun. Nice way to spend an early Sunday afternoon.

Myrtle Avenue

We live within walking distance of Old Town Monrovia and its main strip, Myrtle Avenue. Our intention: to take full advantage.

As time has availed, we've tried a few restaurants: Rudy's Mexican, Caffe Opera (Italian), Monrovia Coffee Shop and Mediterranean Gardens (actually on nearby Foothill). Some hits and misses, but worth the time expended.

Here's the Krikorian multiplex where we saw Charlotte's Web. Supposedly, it's the biggest movie theater in the San Gabriel Valley. Its front entrance looks great at night. A moth light for area teens.

And here's the nearby Cold Stone Creamery where Riley lapsed into sugary reverie.

Unfortunately for him, realization will have to happen another trip.

C'est la vie, mon petit singe.

Rules

There are a lot of new rules at the new P3 home.

Here's Pickenstuff

Just added a sidebar link to a new P3-related site, Pickenstuff.

It's just a secondary blog wherein we'll log our occasional thoughts and opinions on recreational things (e.g., books, recipes, movies, etc.).

You know. "Read any good books lately" stuff. Lifestyle asides -- the kind you share with friends, if they're game.

The Pickenblog will continue to cover the usual, nonadventurous exploits.

Can. Dan Dan. A Plan.

Today, we bought a garbage can in the afternoon, then ate I-can't-tell-you-how-spicy, homemade dan dan noodles in the evening.

That's how you kickstart a new year. A practical gesture followed by giddy self-abuse.

Man, I can't tell you how spicy those noodles were.

Editor's note: A recipe for Dan Dan Noodles can be found on our new diversions page, Pickenstuff.