blog eight / flat tire + valentines.

I have completely neglected my blog.
or I haven't had anything to write.
or I'm just lazy. or very, very busy with the holidays and the new year et all.
whatever the case ... or excuse.

I'm back to writing. / well, hopefully.

after a tremendously long and very stressful week / I had a very nice long weekend.
two nights with miss avalon made for a really fun weekend.
I may not have got the amount of sleep that I had hoped for, but who cares. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

I am not a big fan of valentines day.
overpriced flowers. overpacked restaurants. over it.
but I will admit to having a rather nice valentines day.

didn't start out well /
walked outside to find a flat tire.
apparently I had driven over a screw.
nice.
well / $160 for a new tire.
but get to tire shop to find out my tire is actually fixable ... so out with the screw. patch. $20 bucks.
and / while at the tire shop, miss avalon turned to me and says: "daddy, I love you. happy valentines day."
<3

so / after a nice lunch, I took her to the office to work on her art project for school.
her school is celebrating its 100 year anniversary / so the art project is creating something with a 100.
originally, miss avalon had the idea of collecting paint chips [100 of them] and creating a collage of the chips into a flower.
but her new idea was to wear 100 different outfits / photograph and make a collage of the photos.
good idea / but the thought of her changing in and out of 100 different clothes combination made daddy's head spin a bit ...
so I suggested: I have probably over a 100 images of you [mostly in different outfits / definitely all different looks and times and events] ... why not print these all out and you can make a big collage of the 100 photos?
yes, she liked that idea. / and she suggested: "can we go to your office to work? and then go get mini-burgers at the bowling place?" [the sliders or mini-burgers at lucky strike are one of her favourite things!]

so, we spent the afternoon into evening of valentines day at LA Live.
at the office.
working on her project.
"daddy, this is SO fun" she kept saying.
and / it kind of was.
it was certainly fun to be there when things are really quiet.
no stress.
nobody else there.
and it was fun working on a project together <3

so / after the project was completed.
we headed down to lucky strike.
which was packed. because of valentines day.
and the NBA all-star game.
and apparently, tina marie and keith sweat were playing the nokia theatre.
so / people-watching was at a premium.
lots of couples.
in red.
lots of tight pants.
and red shoes.

best quote of the night /
as we're ordering our mini-burgers and drinks, the waitress says to us: "my name is asia and I'll really take care of you two tonight" ... to which miss avalon said to me: "her name is asia? that's not a name, that's a continent!"

its nice to experience a place differently.
I mean, I'm here everyday. and I still enjoy it.
but its very nice to experience it with my little girl.
walking through nokia plaza.
holding hands.
showing her the work I've done throughout the building, to chorus' of:
"cool, daddy"
"that's really beautiful, daddy!"
"wow. I like what you did here, daddy."
"nice job, daddy."

feels pretty good : )

and now, being back here at work.
I miss her.
but it makes me feel good to remember our time here.
on sunday.
great day.
[even if it was valentines day]

; )