nye 2009, 5 p.m. packing for the night in pacifica.

mama: don't let me forget the champagne!

parker (five years-old): oh, i won't forget. i'm a girl.

mama: because girls don't forget?

parker: because girls don't forget champagne!

that's my girl!

christmas was a mad rush of activity and celebration.

with plenty of help, we hosted 15 at chez dion and served filet mignon, oysters, crab, green beans with lime, green salad with poached pears, lots of wine, and a variety of yummy desserts including tahitian vanilla cake, berry cobbler, and queen of sheba chocolate cake.

parker got her two-wheeler bike as requested, and was able to master it, sans training wheels, that afternoon. this is due entirely to her previous mastery of the skuut wooden balance bike, which every child should learn on. roman is next.

roman blew threw two packs of pez before we could even get them into the dispenser. his favorite gift was a plastic motorcycle with a little man who rides on it from natasha, his daycare teacher who clearly knows what makes this kid tick.

he is at the apex of cuteness right now. he's so funny as he explores and plays with language, trying his best to be understood. he tells me to shit (sit), calls me a douche when asking for juice (mommy, douche peas), and refers to my computer as a puder, which sounds kinda dirty to me.

since christmas, i spent one entire day bedridden with a stomach thing, and now can't stop coughing. it's been a tough month for moi. laid-off, hard drive meltdown, back thrown out days before christmas, sick right after.

oh well, there have been many positives too. i lost 15 pounds this year and i'm planning to run a 5K next month. with the help of carey bradfield, frisco mama is off the ground, parker has had a great year at pre-k, roman is thriving, dan's book is closer to being published.

we ended my mom's visit to frisco by taking a stroll in the japanese tea garden in golden gate park yesterday. she was here when our painting of the garden by peter lee arrived and went up on the dining room wall. it seemed like a serene way to end her trip, the year, and the decade.

i'm going to plant bamboo in my garden tomorrow to mark the passing of time.

happy new year!

mom's in town and this afternoon we took the 21 hayes downtown to do some christmas shopping. it wasn't till i was at GAP kids when I realized I'd left my bag at le boulange with my wallet, my digital camera, an endorsed check, mom's debit card, my prescription for vicodin (threw my back on friday and could barely stand), seventy dollars, and my favorite lipstick — mac viva glam.

after a trip to jeffrey's toys, we stopped at le boulange on market for coffee and a (sinfully delicious and worth the calories) almond croissant. my back was in agony and i needed to fuel up on caffeine to compensate for the vicodin. you do what you gotta do. plus mom loves coffee and drinks it all day long, while never appearing to be wired.

so, we left would-be-purchases behind the register and spoke with a manager in case i left the large, expensive black italian leather purse with braided straps at GAP Kids. mom went to meet dan and the kids who were waiting to see santa at macy's. and i literally sprinted back to the cafe. jacked up back and all.

it was there.

i almost kissed the cute, nerdy girl behind the counter.

it was a long wait for santa, but all i could think about was how glad i was that i didn't have to replicate the contents of that damn purse. parker requested a "two-wheel, red bike" and nino cried at first but composed himself when i handed him a candy cane. they were so adorable.

we celebrated over grilled cheese and club sandwiches, beer, sauvingnon blanc, and apple juice  at mel's diner down the street from our house.

and my back actually feels tremendously better. sprinting on vicodin, who knew?

here i am at my desk for the last time. i made the rounds saying my goodbyes. a former colleague came by and took me out for a cup of coffee.  dan is coming in 20 minutes.

just scored four bottles of wine from the food and wine department who is selling donations they received during the past year for five bucks. my consolation prize. my boss failed at gathering folks together to send me off. what an anti-climax. my career at the chronicle is officially over...

the reality of unemployment is slowly sinking in, and mom arrived from the east coast on saturday so we're keeping busy chasing christmas spirit.

i still have a few days left, but i started clearing out my desk and saying my goodbyes. the end of an era for me. it remains to be seen how i'll be as a stay-at-home mom. i've always liked doing both the career and mommy thing. admittedly, i have a lot of ego wrapped up in working at the chronicle, and having my secret life outside of the home. i intend to keep busy blogging here and for uptake, and i have a few other offers of work already but nothing that requires me to be somewhere else. will i go stir crazy? i have a lot of logistics to figure out. who knows, being home with the kids more could turn out to be a good thing for frisco mama.

currently a hearty chicken/noodle/vegetable soup. the stock is simmering on the stove — how domestic of moi! picked up christmas tree was picked up from the delancey street guys last night, our usual spot, below the bay bridge. it's funny how christmas inspires such tradition. we've been going there since parker was born and it somehow ushers in our christmas mood. it looks beautiful in the turret window all lit up and dripping with ornaments and garlands of silver and gold beads. and it smells wonderful.

i wish we were sticking with our christmas eve crab, champagne, and cocktails party, but because glad (mom) is in town, i volunteered to host the whole lot of us on christmas day, including three nephews under the age of four...

tomorrow i'm going straight to the fairmont after work. samara hooked us up with a room which i'll be writing about here and for the uptake lodging blog. i want to see what the grande dame of hotels offers for families. somehow i doubt i'll be disappointed.