Casa You Betcha

Today we moved into our digs and I couldn't be happier! Our new pad is exactly the pad you'd have just out of college with cream colored everything from the carpet to the walls to the vertical blinds to the leather (yes, I said leather) sofa and chair. I've learned that when you rent a furnished apartment you get all the furniture as part of you monthly charge but pay extra for linens, kitchenware, iron, vacuum, etc. All the linens are also, of course, in a neutral palette. It reminds me of Jenn's bedroom when we lived together. Seriously Jenn, to the T.

This neutral playground is perfect for the business traveler or perhaps a grad student but not so perfect for a seven year old boy. What am I saying? It is perfect. A perfect blank canvas. Within an hour of entering his new home, Oskar Jackson Pollock created an abstract masterpiece using the medium or orange juice and tar soot acquired from spilling his oj on the dust laden deck and then walking into the living room carpet with bare feet. Breathtaking. I scrubbed the snot out of the deck and then decided when it's spaghetti night, we're going to have a picnic on it! Cent' Anni!
Over the weekend we went to Santa Monica and enjoyed the beach. It was overcast but still warm. I guess this is called June gloom. Oskar was thrilled to be in sand and made multiple sand angels. He also braved the waves (COLD!) and made a sand castle. It reminded me of Long Beach, WA but warmer. We also went on the pier and checked out the amusement park. I love seeing all the locations highlighted in tv shows I watch, like the ferris wheel in Private Practice. We also checked out Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. Pretty Woman played in my head as Oskar and I window shopped. Once again, he was only interested in the drains but disappointed there wasn't much to drop into one. A little too clean for his taste.

This lead to a 'this is boring!' so we headed back to Westwood and found a park which we've now realized is across the street from our apartment. Strangely, there weren't many kids around but another boy came lumbering to the playscape, shoulders to his ears, fists clenched. I know that body language a mile away as it's classic Oskar. His Mom sat next to me on a bench, smiled and politely nodded. Oskar and Clencher did the magnet dance of positive and negative attraction. They SO wanted to play together and would for a moment, then bark some sort of interjection, throw sand at one another, then giggle madly as they played tag.

For an outsider, I can imagine how this looked. For me and my parallel sister on the bench, we had a private chuckle of understanding. What a great moment of solidarity, exchanging war stories and comparing notes. She was calm and optimistic. Well read and thoughtful. I enjoyed our brief connection before our boys lost interest in the park and we both moved on to entertaining our distracted duo. I hope our paths cross again.

Oskar had a rough day today at the program. He is all about instant gratification. He wants it his way or the highway and right now thank you very much! He displayed more of his typical behaviors that staff hadn't seen yet; loud verbal and physical outbursts, tantruming, personal full body slams on the floor. Hmmm....kind of sounds like Hulk Hogan. Maybe Oskar has a career in professional wrestling? I could live with that.

Honestly, I'm glad he's comfortable being himself at ABC so they can view him at his finest and help to modify his behavior. I talked to my brother the other night about Oskar, at length, and he provided me some insight I hadn't considered. He said (and I'm paraphrasing), 'when you're not like everyone else you work really hard to try and be the same. It's exhausting! So, when you've been bottling up everything that's confused and annoyed you all day, the smallest thing can set you off. Usually, unfortunately, the person or thing you take it out on is not the person or thing that deserves it. They're just there'. Wow. I never realized he felt that way. I always envisioned that life for Oskar was like being lost at a rave and he didn't get an ecstasy. He's trying to find someone to talk to but no one is listening. The the music is SO loud, the lights are spinning around and what is that god awful smell?

Tomorrow is the day of the big blood draw bright and early at 7am. The clinic is jammin' so we need to get there first thing. I hope it goes well. I am not a morning person. The last random thought I have for tonight is to mention our apartment has a fireplace which Oskar LOVES (along with the vacuum) and has turned it on many times along with the AC. Here's a photo of Oskar enjoying June in LA. I wish we had a bear skin rug and Burt Reynolds. My Aunt Colleen
would be all over that. ;)