Monday, April 28, 2008

About time

Have you noticed my little weather girl? Isn't she cute? I think it must be what has made the weather here nicer! The day I added her it started to warm up. Its finally in the mid-60's and 70's which is the way I like it this time of year. I really, really like the 90's and hundreds, but they're a few months away.

A much less busy week this week. Karate, facial with Auntie Portland, karate, soccer and a 12 hour overtime shift on Saturday. If this weather holds it could be a busy night .... I sure hope so! It will be fun to work a night shift and hang with some of my pals I don't ever see!

When our center combined we took folks from 4 agencies (two police departments and two sheriff offices) and all started to work together. We experienced some growing pains, but finally, nearly 4 years later we're doing alright. Throughout we've had some comings and goings of staff including several "originals" (people that came from the established agencies). Late on Friday night we sent an aid car for one of our originals that isn't dispatching anymore. We didn't know it was him at first, but found out later. Unfortunately he didn't make it. He had a heart attack and passed away later at the hospital.

I didn't work much with him, but people who did have been touched by his death. Its interesting though, the night before he had met up with a dozen or so people and to celebrate another dispatchers birthday. Several people had seen and talked to him. Fortunately they were people that had worked with him at his previous agency. It just worked out really cool if you ask me. Not that there's ever a "good time" to die, but knowing he had seen some of his buddies and for those who were touched by his death, that they had seen him recently, I think its made it a little easier.

Best Buddy and his sister will be spending a lot of time here for the rest of the school year. Their dad is at a training for a few weeks and then he moves into a new position so hes not available to take the kids to school in the morning. Its fun having them around. I will miss them a little in the summer - although I am sure they will be around here and there.
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I updated a couple posts with pictures. A few new ones from soccer and the Chief For A Day.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Review


Yes it was a busy week. The soccer games were good. Bubba gets a little more assertive each week, so does Miss I. She seems to think that if Bubba is playing on the field, she must too. Unfortunately the officials frown on a 2 1/2 year old playing soccer with the 6 year olds! She ran onto the field 2 times the other night which earned her a swat on the behind. The third time she went to the line, stuck her toe over, looked me straight in the eye, cocked her head to the side, scrunched up her cute little nose and said "me bah?" (translation "is this bad?") as she did this cute little wiggle with her body. Little booger.

Dinner with my girlfriends was fun. One of them was turning 40 so we went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican place. MMMM. Imagine that, I know 40-year olds. Ugh, that means I will be one soon.

Work has been pretty busy. Its the start of the festival so all the yucks come out, not to mention the weather has warmed up too. The Chief For A Day lunch was nice. Chilly, but nice.

And thats about it. One more day and then 2 off. Whew! This week has worn me out, I am looking forward to a couple days off.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Busy


We have soccer games tonight and tomorrow night and I have dinner plans for Thursday. Friday is clear so far, Saturday and Sunday I work. Sometime during the weekend Auntie Portland is coming to town so we are having family dinner in celebration of my oldest nephew's 17th birthday on Sunday. Seventeen. Do you remember seventeen? Maybe someday I will post what I remember about being 17....

As far as work goes this week, I only work a few hours tomorrow because I have a doctors appointment in the morning, so I decided to bag the rest of the day. Who wants to go back to work after her annual appointment? Not me!! Not sure what I am going to do with the rest of my day yet... I love a free afternoon.


I also took half the day off on Thursday to get in on the first of the Apple Blossom festivities. Its the "Chief For A Day" celebration tomorrow and I don't want to miss it. Local schools nominate students(usually elementary school age) with some kind of a disability, chronic or terminal illness to be Chief for the day. Winners are selected, they meet at the north end of town, ride in their agency-appropriate car and cruise lights and sirens to the park for lunch. The kids are decked out in agency-appropriate uniforms, they get name tags, stripes, a tour of the building that they are "in charge of" the whole nine yards. Its usually very cool. Bubba remembers the bag-pipers from last year: "Mom are the guys with the funny music going to be there again?" I am picking up Bubba at school and then heading to the Fat Fest in the Park for this event. Can't help it, I am drawn to cotton candy, funnel cakes and greasy spoon food. MMMMM.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday I have to work all day. Sheesh, what a life. Friday afternoon I have an appointment for a manicure and pedicure so that should be nice. All in all it will be a busy, but fun next few days! Welcome to Spring!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Potential







This orchardist might be mad at his foreman when he sees what happened overnight! Apparently his sprinklers were running even though it was freezing out. Now he has lots of damaged blossoms, not to mention the branches that might have cracked under the weight of the icicles. Although it made for a pretty photo, its too bad for him.

UPDATE: Apparently they do this on purpose!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

No Way!


Again, here we go... more snow! Its not sticking, but what the heck? Its stinking April 20th, Apple Blossom starts on Thursday. Its supposed to be warming up and getting nice out by now! I guess in the grand scheme of things I would rather have it snow than rain all the time, but I am SO ready for nice, warmer weather to be here and stay! To work in the yard and take walks without freezing. To set up the pool, to bar-b-que and eat outside. Wear shorts and short sleeved shirts, tank tops, all that stuff. And to watch a soccer game without having to wrap up in a blanket, that would be nice too! Maybe next week. (Although, if the cold weather holds I may not have to work the whole 12 hour shift next Saturday night that I signed up for!)

Friday, April 18, 2008

Lucky, part III

I really didn't mean to do a series of "lucky" posts, but it just worked out that way. My part III post is about My Honey.

He's the best. Really.

He does laundry when it needs to be done, he walked me to an appointment yesterday afternoon - funny thing, my sister saw us walking hand-in-hand down the street and called to say how cute we were... awwww. He pries and pries and pries until I talk to him about what ever is bothering me (and thats no small feat). He loves me and our kids, he gives me space when I need it and love (lots of it) when I don't deserve it. He makes a mean Appletini (mmmmm) and is able to put into words the things that we need to work on and do better. He takes great care of the house and the yard and helps me with what ever I ask. He da man. And he recognizes when I need time away alone and lets me go. I am very thankful he's mine.

I have a couple stories from work to tell! I'm not in the mood tonight (if I hadn't corrected all my typo's you'd understand). So, later this weekend! It's my 4-dayer, I should have lots of time. But just in case I forget - tell them about the alarm and the tree in Lake Wenatchee.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Lucky. Part II

There is a HUGE pile of laundry that accrued while my sister was here because they were sleeping in the laundry/guest room.

I piled it in the living room to remind me to get it done today which was pretty effective! I worked on it this morning then at 11ish I picked Bubba up from school, met Auntie La La for lunch at McDonalds so Little Boy Cousin could run about before the 3 hour car ride and then came home, switched yet another load of laundry then rushed out to a 1:00 meeting.

My MIL came over to watch the kids while I was out. I came home and the first thing I thought of was getting another load in the washer but it was running. "Funny" I thought to myself "I thought it would be done by now." But there is plenty of other stuff to do so I didn't pay too much attention to it.

Bubba and I sat down to work on his homework packet and while we were sitting there Miss I woke up (too early) from her nap. Her little snuggly thing (we call it "Pinkie") was in the laundry so I ran down thinking it would be dry and I could take it to her to get her to go back to sleep. I opened the dryer to find the laundry still damp and no Pinkie in sight. "Odd" I thought "I am sure it was in the load I had in the dryer. In fact, I had reds in the dryer and these are white ..." I pondered this a minute and it occurred to me that maybe my MIL had switched and started another load of laundry. SHE DID! Not only that SHE FOLDED THE DRY LOAD!!! I gave Pinkie to Miss I, she is fast asleep and an extra load of laundry got done.

Am I lucky or what? I am. I know not everyone would think this is the best thing "YIKES!!! Your MIL touched your laundry?!!!" Not me. Bring on the servants! Fold my laundry? Please. Clean my shower? Double yes and thank you! Theres not much help around the house I refuse. EVER. Ironically I have a hard time asking for help with it. Go figure. Actually, when I think of it, I have a hard time asking for help with most everything.

They're back

Look, they're back, I found my links!! One of my girls thought I was mad at her because her link was gone, silly girl, I got nothing to be mad at you about!!

The Fam is on their way out today. I will be sad to see them go, Auntie La La did such a nice job doing all my chores! Honey, are we sure we don't want to put in a pool this spring? She said she would live with us take care of us this summer if there was a pool... Hmmm it might be worth it!

Unfortunately my sister and I didn't get to spend as much time together as I had hoped. I had to work so it was early to bed a couple nights, there was the birthday party on Saturday, work on Sunday and I had Bible Study on Monday night.

We shopped while Bubba was in school yesterday. Little Boy Cousin is into Legos. Totally into Legos. We found a few boxes of stuff from the Batman series that are apparently hard to come by and I bought a box of Mars Mission Legos for Bubba too. Talk about a great quiet time activity. The boys were playing with them and I snoozed while Auntie La La managed any mimi crisis that came up - which were pretty few.

All in all it was nice to have them here. I can't wait until they come back!!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Lucky

Sometimes I don't realize how lucky I am.

My sister is here to visit and I am so glad. Its my long work week and she is planning on taking good care of me and the fam while she is here. I agree with LSL that every one needs a sister and if you don't have one, you should get one! Adoption, shared custody, what ever you need, get one!

She brought over enchiladas so we could have a hassle-free dinner one night, she arranged a BBQ at the other sisters house tomorrow night and she is the Transportation Mama to Girl Cousin's birthday party tomorrow! What a gal, she sure is great! Thanks for coming over and making my weekend hassle free! Bless her heart too because the drive over wasn't perfect. One of the passes was closed for avalanche control for an hour or something. But she is a trooper and they made it here! Yay!

Around my house My Honey pitched in and cleaned the bathroom, worked on laundry and liquored me up to help out yesterday. Yes, you read that right "liquored me up." When we were out with his sisters a few weeks ago I tried an Appletini. MMMMMMMMM! Boy I like vodka drinks. A lot. Too much probably so I just buy the small bottles of vodka. Anyway, he encouraged me to sip (gulp) an Appletini last night too. And his mom, of course, she makes every week easier! She watched the kids for an extra 2 hours while I had my hair done yesterday. Completely unnecessary, but it was nice to spend some quiet time doing something for me. And she did transportation to Karate on Wednesday too. I am a lucky girl.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our first soccer game was on Wednesday. It was COLD. Poor Bubba was decked out in an extra coat, hat and gloves. The wind just wouldn't let us be. He did pretty good - for a kid without any experience except practice. Hopefully in the next few weeks the game will make more sense to him. The one thing he said about the game was that he didnt kick the ball. Well, as you can see from the picture, he wasn't ever near the ball.

On Tuesday night he was having a hard time sleeping. At one point I heard a whimpering/laughing noise coming from his room. I went to check on him and I found him face down on his pillow crying. "Whats up?" I asked him. "I don't want to play soccer. I don't like it. I don't want to play in the game. I just want to quit." Turned out he was worried about losing. "I don't want to lose" he wailed. Ah, so I told him that they aren't even keeping score. His tears dried up and he fell asleep in about 5 minutes. It was too funny all the drama!

Monday, April 07, 2008

Karma

Serves me right. I called out sick and didn't end up having a sick kid so now it's my day off and I have a sick kid. Poor Bubba has had a temp of 103.7 degrees (or higher) but no other symptoms. I'm not quite sure what to do with him except keep him quarantined. So he's stuck in my bedroom with only the TV for company. It's weird though that he has no other symptoms except this raging fever. It kind of put a kink in my plans for the day. A lot of the fruit trees are in bloom and I want some pictures, can't very well do that with a sick kid can I? Maybe tomorrow.

I sure hope Bubba is better by tomorrow, Wednesday is his first soccer game and there are birthday parties on Saturday and Sunday. PLUS my sister and her son are coming over on Friday. I would like him to have at least one recovery day before putting him out on the field in a game. Not to mention a few days to disinfect the house before company comes over. Another busy but fun spring week ahead! And it's just beginning. Apple Blossom will be here before we know it and then Memorial Day.

We are going to Guemes Island for Memorial Day to spend it with my Dad, his wife and family. I am really looking forward to it. I love the Island and I can't wait to see it in the spring. The only other time of the year I have been there is Thanksgiving. I can't wait. It will be a different experience. We usually all stay together in the Guemes House and for Memorial Day each family has our own cabins.

I was able to get runs in this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. It felt really good. Saturdays run took me to the same place as a few weeks back. For some reason I just feel a connection to that place right now. For Sundays run I started at a different part of the Park and headed north as usual. It was nice, a tad chilly, but nice. I started out walking, I wasn't feeling 100% but I ended with a run at the end. Good for me! I had wanted to get a run in today too, but with Bubba being home sick it didn't work out. Theres always tomorrow.

My mom was a doll and brought us some 7-up. I was nearly out of Motrin and didn't have any Tylenol so I went to the store before My Honey left for work, only I forgot the 7-up to mix with Pedialite for Bubba to drink so he is at least getting some kind of something. Thanks Mom!

I haven't really accomplished much today. I wanted to work in the yard while the kids slept, but I slept for awhile too! I did get some laundry done, took care of my sick-o kid and tried to give the well-child some attention too. Its a lot of work having a sick kid in the house. At least I got a shower taken!

Friday, April 04, 2008

Baseball camp

I got to hang out at Baseball Camp today. I called out sick for work because Miss I woke up at 11-ish last night with a fever. I (hoped) she would be sick all night so I called out, just in case. Wouldn't you know it she slept through the night and then woke up feeling just fine! Bonus for me, an extra day to start my 4-day weekend. (Theres a lot more to this story, suffice it to say it was probably better for me not to be at work today.)

I dropped off Bubba and watched a few minutes of their warm ups. Then I took off with my sister for coffee. When I returned they had the 25 or so kids separated into age-appropriate groups and they were doing all kinds of activities. They had one group fielding ground balls, one group pitching, another group hitting off a pitching machine, another from a person pitching and a group working pop-flys. I got there in time to see Bubba and Girl Cousin at each station. They did pretty good. The "coaches" were varsity players for the Panthers baseball team. They did a really good job making everyone feel good - especially the littler kids. I noticed they were a little harder on the bigger boys. Girl Cousin is a rock star! She was THE ONLY GIRL at camp and she rode it out! Way to go! Bubba was by far the least experienced (not to mention the smallest) kid at camp and he rode it out too. I was very proud of him that he participated in everything and tried his best. The only thing he didn't want to do was play Pickle Ball. Can't say that I blame him, I wouldn't want high school boys chasing me while throwing hard baseballs around either.

One of the last things they did was a game. They hit off a tee and ran the bases while the guys in the field played catch from 1st to 2nd to 3rd to home plate. My Bubba, bless his heart, hasn't ever played baseball before so the concept of "running the bases" was completely foreign to him. He headed for the base in front of him after he hit the ball ... oops thats 2nd, so one of the varsity guys ran him to 1st and then to 2nd and so on, each time he was up to bat. If it hadn't been so cute it would have been pathetic. What kind of parents are we anyway that our kid doesn't know about baseball??? It's un-American I tell you! Guess we're just the types that aren't really that interested in sports thats all. Turns out Bubba doesn't really like it either. He would rather play soccer "and Karate, thats the best."

Well, at least we tried.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Spring Break

So far so good. Girl Cousin has been here for the past couple days, we have made it to all our lessons on time... soccer today at 5:30 and I even got to spend a little time out last night with my SIL. I could really use some away time just alone, but that may be a couple weeks out. I do have a massage scheduled next week, that will be nice!

I had an appointment this morning so all the kids (my two and Girl Cousin) went to play at Best Buddies house. They must have had fun. No one was crying when I got there! BB has lost 3 teeth already during break. Its pretty cute, he's still speaking somewhat normal, but as soon at that fourth front tooth comes out he will be mister lisper!

The weather has gotten nicer too which helps, then the kids have one more place to play. Not much to report today, plus I am in kind of a mood, so thats it for now.