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"The only glimmer of good was that she wasn't alone in the end." Thanks Shelle. That was my sister's response to yesterday's post. Having been there, done that. She is so right.

We scored REALLY GOOD seats for the game tomorrow night! I hear it's recliners in the lounge. How does a person thank the giver of such a gift? I received the tickets third hand, so I bought him a coffee when I ran into him this morning, (as if that even comes close!) but what about the guy that gave the guy the tickets? Is a phone call to say thank you sufficient? I have no idea.

My mini-vacation is getting close. One week away! It's been funny, planning this getaway. Nothing has gone smooth, but I haven't cared. The latest hitch was daycare. I had planned on Miss I staying 3 days at day care, turns out day care is CLOSED one of the days I needed. Right in the middle of the trip. Luckily My Honey was able to take the day off so it worked out just fine.

I was actually at the point where I debated wether to go or not. I figured it was going to be a pain to plan child care (my number one care giver is going on the trip too) and, I wasn't sure how accommodations were going to work out. Then I read this in the journal: "each travel experience offers a true reflection of who I am" and I knew I had to go.

I am so in love with this book. I have read it 4 or 5 times and it is literally falling apart (LK might have something to do with that!!) I love the pictures, I love the words and I love the messages inside.

Blowing off steam

Disclaimer:
This post is not for the faint of heart. Really and truly.


On Monday night a co-worker sat down in his seat and answered a 911 call from a woman trapped in her burning apartment. Long story short, he listened to her perish in the fire.

Everyone deals with these kinds of incidents differently, he wasn't his normal chatty self when I got to work at 3am and I didn't push him to tell the story. We've worked closely together for several years and I know when to back off.

Later in the day, I heard one of the supervisors reviewing the call. Everything is recorded in a dispatch center, our phone calls and radio traffic are reviewed for a variety of reasons. Plain ol' curiosity was the reason here. How did he handle it? How did she sound? What did she say? What really happened? I heard bits and pieces yesterday, I listened to the full 2 minutes of the call today.

OMG. It was horrible. Folks, I cannot even tell you how horrible. For me, the worst part was knowing in the end she dies. For someone else it was hearing an explosion in the background, for another person it was how "not like TV" it was. The lady wasn't screaming her head off like you might expect, in fact, she was pretty freaking calm all things considered. You could hear she was in distress, and she was stating very clearly "I'm on fire... It's burning me... My bed is on fire... I can't get out of here..." In the end the line goes dead.

But you know what happens to us, at work? We keep on trucking. He proceeded to pick up call after call of reports of this fire and other incidents going on in our area for the rest of the night. Never missed a beat. I love our dispatchers. I love my job. But some days it really sucks. Some days there's nothing to laugh about.

When I saw him this morning I told him I thought it was a "real shittin' ass call, and I'm sorry anyone had to take it. You handled it well though." Because that's all there is to say. He did handle it well. There just wasn't anything else to do. His perspective is very different than mine... He was a firefighter before he started to dispatch. He sees that call differently in his minds eye. He knows what it looks like in real life, only now he has audio to go with the visual. That was the most disturbing part for him.

So, really I'm just venting. I had the wrong work group today to really get this out (too many others wanted to be the center of attention) so you got stuck with it!

Fall is here

Well I took the kids out to Smallwoods where I found another rainbow!



Not only that, we saw a real live one on our way out there! I didn't get a picture of it, but it sure was pretty stretching across the highway.



They are all set up for harvest out there. Scarecrows, sunflowers, pumpkins, gourds, hay bales, a hay bale maze, a prop maze and a cow train ride. We had a pretty good time. I have hundreds (no kidding!) of pictures to edit before I share them.

And My Honey is home. He had a good time golfing and playing poker.

Another Silver Lining

Another rainbow came my way today:



Bubba went fishing this morning, so I took Miss I to the farmers market. It's getting to be pretty slim pickings, but we found a few goodies. Plums, grapes and pumpkins. OH! And Honeycrisp apples. They are so delicious. Worth every penny! They are a short run, very sweet apple. Yum, yum, yum.

Since Bubba is out fishing it's another girl day. I am really glad I left her at daycare yesterday! We are going to meet some friends for a Harvest Festival this afternoon and then its off to another hockey game for me!

Hopefully the kids will do a repeat of this morning. I had to wake Bubba at 7 to go fishing at 730 and Miss I slept until about 715! That's what I'm talking about! I got SIX whole hours of sleep in a row! We're talking major news here, my sleep is usually interrupted every couple hours by something or other. I feel pretty refreshed today.

Lastly, you know how something bugs you and you just can't quit thinking about it? Yeah, like that. Well, today, one side of my brain said to the other side of my brain "I'm bored with that." It was kind of a strange feeling. So I guess I'm done with it. That's a good feeling.

My rainbow

I went out looking for something.
I found a rainbow.
Orange could use a little help, but it was close.

Hockey was awesome! We won :)

Day Two

It ain't over, but I have just a few minutes before I go get Bubba so I thought I would jot down what I did today:

Kids off to school
Coffee where I met one of my Sgt's wives. Nice lady, their daughter used to be Miss I's gymnastics teacher.
MASSAGE. Need I say more about that?
A little shopping. I had some things to exchange and I needed a new pair of jeans. Okay, I wanted some.
Lunch. Alone. Where someone else served me and cleaned up. Sure costs a lot these days doesn't it?
Some time a the park where I tried to capture the beginnings of fall. Not sure how I did, pictures are downloading now.
Next up, off to get Bubba, then Miss I, then the dollar store and all that stuff.
Lastly, HOCKEY. So looking forward to watching the Wild do some damage tonite!
GO WILD!!!

Day One

There's something about not having the TV on that is .... nice. Relaxing. Quiet. Peaceful. Sometimes I just feel overloaded by it. Like it sucks the life out of me. If it's sucking the life out of me, what is it doing to my kids?!!

Today was pretty good. It had some ups (LK is coming to town!) and some downs (LK isn't coming to town ...) But overall it was pretty good. I did a few things on my list from yesterday so that was good too. Not only that, since LK was coming to town I mopped and did some other house cleaning I had put off. (You're worth it, don't worry!) The kids even helped which was really nice.

They, especially Bubba, has reached this new place where he is actually asking if he can help (maybe its the last 8 years of me yelling at him "WHY I AM THE ONLY ONE THAT DOES ANYTHING AROUND HERE, YOU COULD AT LEAST OFFER TO HELP!!" It must have finally got through?) so he mopped the bathroom and put away his laundry. Actually, I think that is what did it for him; this past spring/summer I decided he was old enough to put away his own stinking laundry. So I placed the basket of his clothes in his room and told him to put them away within the next few days. He got right on it and said to me later "wow, that is a lot of work!" Yeah, and I do that for EVERYONE in the house! I think it put it in perspective for him. He rarely complains about putting his laundry away.

After I picked Miss I up from grandmas this morning, we went shopping, I wanted to get her a new outfit for school pictures. The background is going to be very cute and I want her to look great. I found an adorable denim skirt, now I need a shirt and shoes. I am thinking some kind of plaid maybe and boots ...

My Honey made it to his golf destination and hit the long drive today. They play for money during this weekend thing. Long drive, closest to pin, low score, and money for the winners of the game of the day too. But really, he's playing against his buddy. So far My Honey is in the lead.

On the agenda for tomorrow? Kids off to school, solo coffee date (hope Vegas is fun Birthday Girl!) maybe run across town to return some stuff that didn't fit Miss I today, and then ... a massage! Ahhhh. I can't wait. I might just come home and take a nap after that! I wonder if Miss I can stay at day care all day? Hmmmm ....

I should probably try to make apple sauce sometime tomorrow, after school I will get Bubba and we'll make our trek to the Dollar Store. Both kids are looking forward to it. Maybe we'll go play at the park and then have dinner out before we pick up the babysitter? The kids would love that. Mmmmm, McDonald's ... And then it's HOCKEY!

Weirdness

Equinox and a full moon. No wonder the Town is full of crazies!

It was a LONG week at work. My long work week, plus a couple of 12 hour shifts kicked my ass pretty good. Then again, maybe it's getting up at oh-dark-thirty? I am looking forward to less overtime and a later shift in a few weeks! Thankfully I am on my four days off now. Ahhhhh...

Hockey starts this weekend! I am so ready! Unfortunately My Honey will be out of town so I had to round up some dates for the games. Saturday I am taking a virgin co-worker. She's never been to a game, maybe I can turn her into a hockey whore, too? Friday night it will be Mom & Bubba night.

Speaking of Bubba - that boy! He learned to tie flies (or is it flys?) and he is obsessed! He went around the house looking for stuff to make them. He found some yarn and feathers and then he used paper clips for hooks. I am actually really impressed at how he re purposed so many items into his flies. Pretty clever kid.

On my days off I am looking forward to:
Hockey (duh)
Doing something with three boxes of apples
A few hours of peace and quiet while Miss I is at grandmas tomorrow morning and Bubba is at school
A few more hours of peace and quiet while Miss I is at pre-school on Friday and Bubba is in school
Getting out and taking some photos
Chillin, not feeling like I HAVE to get dinner on the table
Getting the laundry caught up (what am I saying? I am looking forward to that? Weird)
Hockey (oh, I already mentioned that)
My Honey getting in some MAJOR golf! 8 rounds in 4 days! Whew!
My Honey getting some guy time
My Honey coming home
Keeping the TV watching to a minimum and music listening at a maximum
Going to the Dollar Store and letting Bubba find some treasures to make flies with
Taking Bubba to the hockey game (I am actually on the fence on this one, he is going to love it, it's just a huge distraction from the game for me)
Not working!
Sleeping past two in the morning
Taking some fall photos - I'd like to go to a local flower shop that usually has a hay or corn maze set up and take some fall-type photos
Pumpkins. I am in the mood to get pumpkins. Maybe I will take the kids here? It's always a lot of fun and a very good place to take pictures.

****OOOOOHHHHH**** UPDATE!!!
LK is going to come to town. Now I have another whole list of things:
Taking the boys and my sister to the hockey game
Taking them all to Smallwoods
Having a great weekend!

Neat-o

Best. Gadget. Ever!
Rush out and get one, then bring it over and start peeling my apples!
I've got three boxes to make into something!
Applesauce. Pie filling.
Any other ideas?

Hatchery

Salmon Days happened this weekend. We went for the first time, it was a pretty neat event.

Miss I and I tried our hand at kayaking:


Bubba learned about tying flies:


Then we stopped in Leavenworth for dinner and gelato mmmmm, gelato.

Long day

Miss I was up in the middle of the night several times coughing and with a high fever. Thankfully she is still sleeping right now. In the long run it will work out good since I have to go to bed early tonight anyway.

Bubba hitched a ride to school from his best buddy. I'm glad they were able to pick him up - and give him a ride home later! - so Miss I can sleep.

I did get out and take some pictures yesterday. It was refreshing to get out, although my back yard is a little boring right now. Nothing is changing color and I didn't really want to photograph green. I like green. A LOT, but I think leaves get boring.

I found these little gems tucked away in the dirt pile and down behind the trees:



The kids like to do a spin-art frisbee during Apple Blossom. These are the past two years creations they made. Bubba likes to get his first initial, age and the year on his. Miss I likes her whole name, age and the year. Very individual these two.



I also stopped in the garage to take a picture of my put-up fruit for winter. MMMMM, don't those pears look delicious? I am going to try and make apple sauce from our apples too, but it doesn't feel quite right to do that with a sick kid ...

3rd grade

I worked it yesterday and canned 18 jars of pears. I have half a box left, better get them done! What a day, I did the pears after getting up at 2am, working all day and then going to Running Club with Bubba. Yeah, I am a stud!

Running Club is fun for me, although Bubba hasn't taken to it yet. He might not, but I think it's important for him to do it since we don't have him in anything else that is physical right now. Plus, I NEED IT.

I visited with his teacher the other day to check in and see how he was doing. Yeah. He needs to work on a few things. Paying attention (not a surprise), math (Doh! Really? Uh oh), she gave me a great game to play with coins to help him and encouraged me to "reward" him with the coins for right answers. Gotta love bribery! And she also said he was having trouble understanding simple things. Hmmmmm. No. I don't buy that. He is probably distracted. He has a great mind and remembers EVERYTHING. He just doesn't always listen, or think about what he already knows and recycle that information to answer his own questions. We've been talking about this for months. "Think about what you know before you ask 'why?'"

As we drove home I asked him to remind me we had an appointment at the chiropractor the next day after school. "Why are we going there?" he asks me. (Sometimes it takes all my energy not to say something really sarcastic when he does that.) I calmly say "Why would we go there?" and quietly under my breath I say "for a craft day?" which of course he heard and then I had to explain I was kidding and it dawned on me it was a teachable moment.

I explained to him that his teacher and I had just talked and she said it seems like he has problems remembering simple things. "This, Bubba, is a simple thing, why do we go to the chiropractor?" Which he could clearly tell me, "for an adjustment." What he really wanted to know was who was getting an adjustment. Ahhhhh, now we are getting somewhere. I reminded him he needs to think about his questions and then inspiration hit ...

"Dude, your brain is a computer. It has a TON of information in it. You need to "google" everything before you ask me a question." So that's our new catch phrase "google it" to get him to figure it out himself. I sure hope it works. I thought about telling his teacher about it but she seems a little ... um ... stuffy? Not quite the same sense of humor as his 2nd grade teacher. She would LOVE it! I may actually tell her because she will get a kick out of it and probably even use it in class or with her own kids!

I haven't gotten out in a week with my camera. I took a walk at the park today, but didn't bring it with me. I did see a few things I would like to go back and check out. Too bad Miss I isn't feeling 100% today. Maybe I will go check out my back yard and see what there is there?

Wishing

I wish, I wish with all my heart to be here.

The Journal, put together by these magnificent artists is a retreat in and of itself. I found myself moved to tears, and feeling connected to these amazing people I have never met. It was the most uplifting and spiritual experience, reading that book, that I have had in a long time. So amazing, that I emailed one of the authors, whose blog I read, to tell her.
(That, my friends, took a bit of courage!)

Next year.
Next year.

Foolin around

All I've done today is fool around. Well, not really. I've done a couple loads of laundry - someone forgot to do it last week. Who could that have been? I ordered tickets for hockey games!! Yay, hockey season is back! And I've been bugged by the kids to go to the park. The thing is, I really don't want to go anywhere today. Well, that's not true. The truth is I really don't want to take the kids anywhere today. Is that mean? Yeah, I think so too, but its the truth today.

We've been going-going-going for awhile now and I am just done. Between school, work, the fair, and yesterday we went to a few garage sales plus a hockey event I'm pretty well through. The only things I NEED to do today are laundry, grocery shopping and picking up my (losing) photos from the fair. I might-would like to get a run in too. Then it's off to bed early since I gotta work at 3am.

Made our tracks

Been there, done that.
Twice.

I took the kids and Girl Cousin out to the fair after school yesterday. This picture is of a ... Well, I don't know what it's called, but basically the kids were in air-filled balls in a shallow pool of water running or crawling around. They looked like gerbils or hamsters trying to run on water. Pretty funny stuff. Miss I tried it too, but she was a little afraid. (Shocking, I know! She is usually willing to try anything!)



This was by far the favorite thing the kids did. Pony rides. They were all THRILLED to ride the ponies! Unanimously voted "favorite thing we did" at the fair!


I returned today to do a 6 hour stint for work. Easy money. And it was nice out too!

My pictures didn't win any special awards and the one I didn't like was the only one that was a blue-ribbon winner. A little disappointing, I couldn't really tell by comparing my photos with other blue ribbon winners what it was they were looking for. Oh well, its still interesting to enter and then go and check out the competition.

This was cool too. There was a bird rescue group there with several different birds from eagles to falcons and owls. Beautiful. They did an awesome job talking about the birds, telling their stories of why they weren't in the wild anymore. It was pretty darn awesome.

Flora

I was in a snappy mood this morning, meaning I wanted to get out and get some photos taken. I drug Miss I to Porter's Pond after our lattes. Now, there's some drama, I spilled my pumpkin spice latte all over her poor little leg today and she was wearing a skirt so it was right on her precious 4 year old skin. I felt so bad! She didn't even cry or anything! Thank goodness I don't get them extra hot. Anyway, here's a few of what I came back with:







And then we came home and I vacuumed and cleaned bathrooms.
Rest of the day ... Who knows :)

Makin' Tracks

The theme of the fair this year is "Makin' Tracks To The Fair". So, I made my tracks there this afternoon and I submitted four photos. I have an evil plan ... I am working a "Pub Ed" event on Friday at the fair. That day, I plan on winning the "people's choice" award. "How?" you ask? Easy. I will tell everyone that visits the Pub Ed booth to vote for me! Maybe I will even post it on Facebook!? (Kidding) I won't do either. But if you go to the fair, vote for me!

2010 Fair entries:

"Farm to Table" I entered this one in a tall alignment, not across. And I left out the fourth picture. I think this one could be a winner for best use of the theme, it's TOTALLY about "making tracks", right? Taken the day Miss I and I went to pick peaches and the days after when I canned them. Didn't they turn out pretty? The old ladies at the fair thought so, too!


(Something about "feet") Taken in Chelan one weekend when LK was visiting. Bubba had stayed several days. This was taken when we went to go pick him up (well, we stayed a couple days too!)


"Deserted Barn" Another picture taken on a peach-picking adventure. This barn is on the road home. I love the way it looks like it's in the middle of nowhere. And I love the way I was courageous enough to stop on the side of a busy-ish road to take the picture!


"Toy Tractor" My favorite. Taken in my back yard. A childhood friend and her husband were visiting, and we were sitting around chatting when I noticed the tractor sitting just so. It was too good NOT to photograph. Plus, it kind of looks like a real tractor, but it's just a toy.

It is finally my Friday. The 3am thing worked out fine the last few days; I started running after work and taking AdvilPM to aid my sleep. It just takes awhile to get in a good rhythm. Although, I'm up kind of late tonite, but I get to sleep in tomorrow!

Lastly, have I mentioned I turn 40 in two months? I kind of felt it today so I "dressed young." I wore a ridiculous (short, quilted-type pattern) skirt with my cowboy boots and layered t-shirts. I totally felt like a 12 year old in a 40 year old body. I don't know, can anyone relate? (DW, if you say "yes" I will kick. your. ass.!!)

Here we go

So there's a few tricks to working at 3am.
1) Food. No sweets before 10am. I had a blueberry bagel for breakfast and it just hasn't sat well. I used to know better. Now I remember.
1a) Food. Protein. Must remember protein for breakfast.
2) Caffeine. No caffeine after 1pm or sleep is a problem later
3) Overtime. Don't forget if you have overtime until 3pm! OOPS. I forgot I signed up and there I was a snack short for my day. Luckily My Honey was across town and ran back to McD's for a quarter-pounder for me. MMMMMM. Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the time and finished my diet coke just after 2pm. That's gonna bite me later!
4) Sleep. It's just hard to get up at 2am. And it's hard to go to bed at 6pm.
5) ... There is no number five.

*yawn*

After school yesterday I took the kids to the park. It was a really nice afternoon, probably one of the few we have left. They had a great time and I just buzzed around with my camera.



Today, I spent the past few hours cleaning up the kids' rooms. It's a two or three times a year thing. You know, do it while they're out, throw away all the little pieces of crap that have been sitting around for way too long, vacuum, dust, maybe re-arrange. That kind of clean up. I've said it before, I will say it again - I HATE TO CLEAN. HATE. TO. CLEAN. I wish I could say I feel "so much better now that that mess is all out of the way" but what I really feel is anxious that Bubba is going to have a melt down. (Yeah, I know, who's in charge in this house?) OH. WELL. His room looks great and so does Miss I's. She just watched TV while I cleaned. It worked out pretty well for both of us.

Tomorrow I go back to work. At 3am. *sigh* there is a part of me that is really glad to be going back and a part of me that isn't. The part that wants to go back is the part that NEEDS TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE (read: away from the kids). The part that doesn't is the part that wants to sleep in past 2am. Oh well. It's just a month.

... then again, it could be all next year ...

In the news

Hmmmm, My Honey takes a pretty good picture too! This is our new "pimpin ride." It's a black 95 Chevy with maroon velvet interior and lots of chrome accessories! All it needs is some tassels in the window and dice hanging from the mirror. I call it "Little Mexico". It's perfect for towing the whole family and the boat. It made a great "going camping" rig too!




the August break continued. The August Break is officially continuing! I don't know if I will post something every day, but I might...


Miss I and I went on a little flower excursion yesterday and I pulled out my camera and shot a few photos.

Collage of my August Break project




The first day of school was great for Bubba. He likes his new teacher, he loves playing on the "big kid" playground (the k-2 are separated from the 3 & 4 grade kids on the playground) and he had a friend over after school so life was great.

Miss I spent the first half of the day with grandma so I got some peace and quiet and a nice lunch out with My Honey. All in all a pretty good day for everyone.

The First

My last August break picture. Another art moment yesterday. Miss I's painting.



Well, I prove again I am seriously distracted sometimes.
I FORGOT to take a picture of Bubba on the first day of school. Pretty much we were running late and it didn't even cross my mind! We all woke up at 7:50 which meant we had just over a half hour to get ready. OOPS! It worked out though, we all made it where we needed to be.

The open house at Bubba's school went well last night, it was great find his class room, drop off all the school supplies and meet his teacher before the chaos of the first day. I hear Mrs. B has "high expectations and a great discipline policy" which will be super for Bubba. The discipline not as much as the expectations part. I hope he wants to work hard for her and that he/we learn some skills that will last for the rest of his schooling.

Off to work on my fair entry.