Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Victor Kofi Mallet, Entrepreneur

My brother-in-law, Victor, was featured on NPR's Marketplace. Check out the story here

Be sure to order some of his pickles online--they will rock your world.

Here's the link to S&C Gourmet Foods

My Momma, My Baby

Monday, January 22, 2007

Childrens Gallery Added

I changed my website to include a children's gallery. Check it out if you want to see some cute faces. http://www.christinamallet.com

Friday, January 19, 2007

Going Back

The house I grew up in is up for sale. My cousin saw it on the market and forwarded on the info. In a moment of nostalgia and 'wouldn't it be great', we decided to go see it--that was yesterday.

Off we went, to old skool Redmond, the Redmond before Microsoft, ticky tacky developments, and strip malls. The Redmond where my parents bought a house for 25K which is now selling for $459,000. The Redmond of bears, (yes, there really were bears) and endless walking trails loaded with blackberries and salmon berries. The Redmond where I sneaked a cigarette into the woods and was found by a buck with a huge rack who looked at me with great concern.

Okay, so I'm romanticizing true, but it really was great. Now, not so much.

The house my parents worked so hard to make an amazing home is now a dud that needs serious work. Examples of my parent's commitment to this house: My dad salvaged huge beams and bricks from the old Bon Marche store to make a giant hearth; they had custom pine cabinetry made for the kitchen and study. You get the idea.

The people that live there now have destroyed the place. They ripped out all the fruit trees, they burnt down the kitchen and put in new cabinets, they haven't painted or cleaned in years because they were too busy stinking the place up with cigarettes.

It would be a great 'Flip' but I'm too emotionally attached to consider doing that.
So, I've decided to leave my house to my memories.
Sometimes going back just isn't a good idea.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Kinder Klass

This past Saturday we attended our first kid class, Kindermusik.

Notes to self:
Don't ever be caught dead saying this sentence, as one proud father announced to the class, "SusieQ went tinkle in the potty."

When attending Kindermusik with the husband, maintain a firm grasp on the child so that when we are doing the required free style dancing to the song Skiter a dink a dink a dink, Skiter a dink a doo (or however the hell this song goes) I don't have to dance around by myself. Dancing like a dork when you have a baby in your hands is cool. Dancing like a dork solo, not so much.

If I employ a singing voice, god help us, even the most mundane tasks become fun, at least for kids. Cleaning up is even fun! So much so that I can't get the song "clean up clean up, everybody everywhere, clean up clean up everybody do their share" out of my head.

There is a reason I avoided primary school teaching (my dirty secret: I have a masters in education [clearly $ well spent given what I'm doing now] and taught middle school for three years--proof is here) and singing all day and being cutsey wootsey is the reason. But I'm selfless now, right? It's not about me anymore, so I grin and bear it.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

A List

If you're a lawyer and I contact you to help me set up my LLC and you give me a quote, an expensive one, that includes things I don't want or need, and I ask to you remove these unwanted parts from your legal package, don't be lawyerish and insult me by telling me you don't do 'cafeteria' style business. Dude, you so give lawyers a bad name.

If you live in Seattle you should be wrapping your pipes and protecting your plants because the weather is so very frigid. People, it's 38 degrees outside, you want frigid?--move to Boston.

If your an animal lover, living in Seattle when it's 'frigid', you'll be happy to know that the weather and news people will tell you to protect your pets from the outdoors.

If you are going to spend thousands of dollars on studio equipment, have a baby in-tow, and want to deal with men who look at you like you're not a professional photographer but probably something along the lines of a scrapbooker, then I suggest this place.

If you want fast, reliable service and never have to deal with rude camera know-it-alls, then I suggest B&H.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Vertigo, From Long Ago


From our hotel in Cambridge, Pre-Seattle, way back in October.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year!


What do you expect the New Year will bring you?

For me, I expect:
1. That I'll continue to be tired ALL the time.
2. That putting on something clean, free of baby spit-up, will continue to be like dressing up and noteworthy enough to include in a blog post.
3. Photog work will continue to stream in.
4. That next year I'll have to get off my scroogey @$$ and decorate for the holidays and wrap xmas presents in the appropriate manner (I'm the world's sloppiest wrapper).
5. That Mallet 2.0 will be in the works.
6. That Xander will walk before he's one and continue to be the cutest child I've ever known.

Have any resolutions?
Mine are dull as cardboard but listing them here might force me to actually follow through.
1. Go outside once a day--baby cabin fever is hard to shake without leaving the house.
2. Exercise for at least 20 minutes a day--as much as I'd like to think carrying an 18lb pound baby around is a workout, it's not.
3. Cook something new once a week because the staples in the Mallet home are as bland this blog post.