If I had only known

THAT is dinner. All homemade. Even the rolls! What you can't see is the pork roast that had to be "braised" what ever the hell that is!

I am being spoiled like you wouldn't believe here! I don't know how I will go back to macaroni & cheese, hot dogs and chicken nuggets. Oh wait, yes I do, I will be the one cooking, so its out of the box, easy stuff on my menu!

These women are amazing. Pies! I only have pie at holidays and that is because someone else made it. Home made rolls, same thing. My mother-in-law makes rolls for holidays and I scarf them down like candy! "Braised" pork roast ... riiiiiiight. Not in my house. If it has some kind of marinade its the one that came on it in the package. Sad, I know.
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I headed south toward Newport today. I had to stop at the Rogue Brewery for more Dead Guy Ale. Guess what happened there? They were having a Columbus Day sale. I bought a different variety, Dads Little Helper, instead of Dead Guy Ale this time (since it was 1/3 the price). And I found one more reason to love the Rogue Brewery, they thought I was 27! HA! I haven't been 27 in over 10 years. I love those guys. The guy serving beer samples studied me hard, asked me if I was 21 and then guessed me at 27. Yeah, I love those guys!
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AND, Oregon. I don't know what to do when they pump my gas. Do you tip the guy, do you wash your own windshield? What do you do? I hate feeling helpless and that's how the gas attendants make me feel. I am used to pumping my own stinking gas and I don't know what to do when someone else does.... Its just so weird.
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Ahhhhhhhh

THAT, my friends is my path to the beach! Actually its a spit, but same difference, right? Its just a few yards away from our deck!

I made it, even though my internal compass is screwed up. Thank goodness for the one in my rear view mirror! Seriously, south feels east to me and west feels north, I am totally unreliable to get myself someplace!

There is a hot tub, there is quietness, there is a TV, if I so desire (which I don't) and books. Chairs by the windows looking over the spit to read the books in, and a second house where there is a lot more activity going on if I want a break from the quiet. There are also several outdoor fire pits. I am pretty sure we're gonna have a fire one of these nights, just gotta get us some dry wood and pray for a clear night. Last night would have been perfect but we weren't prepared. Oh yeah, and internet access.

Preparation

Camera - check
iPod - check
Batteries - check
Wine & beer - check
Cash - check
Phone - check (in fact its brand spanking new!)
Books - check
Books on tape/cd - check

What have I got left to do?
Pack- still waiting on laundry to be done
House cleaned up - not gonna happen :) Well, some of it will, but I am not going to do a huge cleaning, the kids and My Honey are staying home.
Clean out the car, pack the car
Haircut, that happens at 2, but I think that's it. Oregon Coast, here I come.

Happy Fall

Sunnybank Farms, Lake Chelan, WA
Sunnybank Farms, Lake Chelan, WA

Nefarious Cellars, Lake Chelan, WA


What a great weekend!

My sister arrived safe and sound on Friday evening. We had dinner, got my kids to bed and then went to get our cousin from my Mom's house.

The three of us went to my favorite wine bar and had some wine and great conversation! It was amazing how much the three of us have in common. I learned some fun stuff about my sister, and lots of things about my cousin.

She lives in southern Oregon and we don't get to see each other much. When we were kids we saw each other a few times a year, then her family moved to Minnesota. We kept in touch by mail off and on through school. It was a treat to spend a lot of time with her this weekend.

Saturday, my sister and I picked up the rest of the girls (Cousin, Sister and Auntie) and we all went to Lake Chelan for wine. Lots of wine. I was actually wined-out by dinner if you can imagine.

We visited six wineries and then came back to town. It was a lot of fun. There are some beautiful wineries, some po-dunk wineries and some average wineries. I only bought a bottle at one of them. I REALLY wanted to like with wine at Vin du Lac, because their labels are so cute, but it really wasn't that great to me. It was "earthy" and we had a few more descriptive words, but I don't want to dis them too bad, someone out there likes them!

All in all, it was a great start to my vacation! My cousin reminded me at the first winery that I was on vacation, I am still having trouble remembering. Come Tuesday, when I start to pack I should be pretty well there!

Ahhhh

My work day usually ends at 3 provided someone isn't out sick or on vacation.

Today I had a meeting at 1, so I was scheduled off the floor. The meeting was canceled, which was fine, but I just kept thinking of all the things I could do with 2 hours ... Grocery shopping being number 1. It's not that big of a deal, I really should have done it yesterday, but just didn't get it done and it was stressing me out, "When am I going to get it done? Tonight is Karate, tomorrow I will have to take both kids to Safeway AND Costco. UGH." So now its done. I made a menu at work for the next two weeks, planning easy stuff for the days I am out of town and even remembered to plan for this weekend while LK is here! Took the time off, hit Safeway and Costco (alone) got it all put away and had time to spare before Bubba was out of school! I may even walk down and pick him up instead of drive ... I know, "what a stud!" :)

Two more work days! Yay

Plans

Only 3 work days left till I am on vacation! That is if I don't lose my voice first. I had a sore throat last week for a couple days, no biggie, I worked through it, but now my voice is totally froggy. No, more like a 12 year old boy whose voice is changing. Hopefully (?) I have enough voice to get me through the next three days. If not, oh well, at least I will "feel" fine while using sick time, I just won't sound great! Its the weirdest thing when my voice does this. I remember all through school when it happened to other people (you know when they would get laryngitis, or yell at a football game till they were hoarse) what a bummer it was that it never happened to me. Now its my turn. And I didn't even go to a football game or anything. Just a change in the season or a cold that caught hold of my throat somehow. Oh well.

My weekend plans are coming together! LK and my cousin will be here Friday! Yay! Several of us are planning a drive to Lake Chelan to visit the wineries. There are 13 of them, not that we are going to visit them all, but maybe 4 or 5. OOOOH, and its "crush" time with special events going on the first weekend of October, lucky us!! That should work out to be fun.

Vacation plans are all set. The house is rented, I just have to check the weather and pack. Kids are all taken care of while I am gone (My Honey took a couple days off work) but I should plan some meals. And that's about it. Hopefully there will be internet access this time and I can post the hundreds of photos I am going to take!

Fall into ...

Well, it came and went. The first day of fall. It was a windy, cold day here. Didn't get above 60 degrees. Makes me sad. I hate to see summer end. Oh well, I do have a lot to look forward to this last quarter of 2008.

For instance, starting October 4th I am on vacation from work for 10 days (I know, "again?" How lucky am I?) 5 of which I will actually spend ON VACATION, with a gaggle of girls, in Oregon for our Second Annual Female Family Gathering. Yay! My cousin will be in town for part of the days I am off, and my sister (LK) may come over too. That will be a great time, my sisters, my cousin and I ... oh yeah!

The part of the trip I am most looking forward to? Taking the jeep, my ipod and whatever music I want for the drive down. Alone. All by myself! And then the return trip, the jeep, my ipod, my music, all by myself. I am also looking forward to seeing the relatives, getting to hang with the girls I don't see very often, sampling some yummy wine and taking some great photos - weather permitting. My plan is to drive down through the Columbia River Gorge, it was so beautiful when I came back last year, but I was in a hurry and couldn't stop to enjoy it, or I would have been late for dinner!

In November I have another 10 days off work at Thanksgiving. We are making our bi-annual trip to Guemes Island to spend the holiday there with my Dad, his wife and her family. It is always a good time. And of course we have birthdays in November; my mother and father in-law, Miss I, and me, plus Bubba in December and Christmas. So this 4th quarter should keep us pretty busy. Not to mention work, school, karate, and I was thinking that Miss I might like to be in either a swim or dance class ...

(See girls, I just needed a little encouragement, now you can't shut me up!)

Encouragement

Thanks Girls! With that little bit of encouragement in the comments, I will tell the Cowboy story. (PS I am totally jealous of LK quitting her job, but on the other hand, that means I get to see her more!)

Last week ... lets see, where to start? My Honey was going out of town Thursday through Sunday for a golf tournament with a group of guys so we had to do some creative planning to get the kids taken care of. Since I work at 5 am, we asked his mom to keep the kids overnight Wednesday and Thursday, she was a lifesaver, as usual, and helped us out tremendously. (Thanks Mom V!)

Wednesday was Bubba's Karate class. Afterward we were headed home to get his overnight stuff and then to Grandmas to sleep over. As we were driving home I was reviewing my expectations of when we got home, I had a hot date with My Honey at 5:30 and didn't want to be late because Bubba was lolly-gagging around the house.

"We are going to go home, you change your clothes, get your backpack with the overnight stuff in it while I make your lunch and grab the snacks for class tomorrow. No fooling around, we need to get it done pretty quickly okay?" That was pretty much my instructions to Bubba. This is the conversation that followed:

"Oh yeah, mom, I forgot I have a date tonight." (Oh, here we go, I thought.)
"A date? With whom?"
"With ML."
"Really, well, we aren't going to be home tonight remember?"
"Oh yeah, that's right... She is going to come to grandmas for dinner."
"Okay, well we still need to get that stuff done so we can get to grandmas"

... these kinds of conversations are pretty regular when he is trying to get out of something, I don't know where he gets that creative bent (ha ha ha) and its usually all I can do not to laugh out loud at his outrageous imagination! ...

"Well, I want to dress nice, is that okay?"
"Sure, as long as it doesn't take too long." (Always focused on the task at hand.)
"And I want to do my hair nice too." (Hair, oh no ...)
"Well, why don't you do your hair at grandmas?"
"Okay."

At this point we are near home, I repeat my directions to him and we're off.

After he rummages around upstairs getting ready, he comes down and says to me "Mom, how do I look? I decided to go like a cowboy"

I really should have taken a picture! I nearly did, but I was focused on the task at hand ...

He was wearing camouflage rain boots with jeans tucked into them, a white long sleeved, button up shirt with red and blue pinstrips (the one you gave him for Christmas LK), that is nearly too small, untucked, a blue fleece vest, that is at least 2 sizes too small, and to top it off (no pun intended) a blue and red straw hat. He was so pleased with himself. And it was so cute! I really regret not taking a picture. Seriously I can't even do him justice by describing it! I told him he looked awesome and we were off to grandmas.

Funny, funny kids, that's what I have! I don't take nearly enough time to enjoy them. I am trying, it just doesn't always come naturally.

The rest of the week was just as chaotic, I picked Bubba up from school on Thursday, he had a Karate promotional test, which he did very good at. And then back to the school for open house night. His teacher did a great job of telling us all the stuff they are doing, she had a fun little scavenger hunt so the kids had to tell us about a few corners of the class room, show us the music room, the reading and computer labs. And then back to grandmas.

Friday I picked up Bubba from school, Miss I from grandmas and we were off for two nights at my Dad's house. It was really nice to get away for a couple nights.

Miss I didn't even seem phased that she hadn't slept at home in 2 days, or seen much of me. She was perfectly content to "pen da nye ah gam-ahs. I booked home and packed ... I took the kids to Issaquah for the weekend. So all in all its was a pretty busy week! Hopefully it will calm down a little this week!

Ho hum

I have a lot to say, but nothing to say. I just can't find the words. Ya know? For some reason I can't get what's inside out.

I have a funny cowboy story about Bubba, a cute story about Grandma shopping with Miss I, you know, the usual, but I also have some personal crap going on that I just don't want to talk about here and I guess that's the problem, choosing what to edit takes a lot of work.

So, until my work issues are resolved and life is easy again, I guess... Well, I will take it one day at a time. Maybe I will get around to telling the kid stories, they are definitely worth the work, but I just ain't in the mood.

Just wanted to check in, I am still around, just not writing much these days.

Bits and pieces

Well, we made it through the first two weeks of school pretty much unscathed! A few meltdowns here and there, but nothing we couldn't manage. Bedtime has worked out to be around 7 or 7:30 which gives me and My Honey a little time to ourselves at the end of the day and that works out very nicely.

So far I like Mrs. W, Bubba's teacher. She sent home a project for the fair. Each student got a piece of a puzzle to decorate with things about themselves and then she entered the whole project into the fair. Bubba thought it was great to see his project at the fair and so did his cousin whose picture happened to be included in his collage. It was pretty neat.

Miss I liked "teeing da doats and ho-hees" (seeing the goats and horses) at the fair, she is still talking about it today. Its pretty cute. She sure can chat it up, but her words are almost all hard to understand yet.

The work-part of life, it goes on. It ain't all perfect right now, but thats the way it is.

First Day Of School

Well, he's off to first grade. School from 8:40 till 3:20 every day. What a weird thing. I just don't know what to do with myself and Miss I. My sister suggested that we should go to the play gym once a week which is a GREAT idea! Miss I could use the interaction with other kids and ... maybe I would make a new friend? Not likely. But we might try it in a few weeks.

Bubba was stressed, nervous, excited but all under a veneer of calm this morning. He actually slept until almost 7, which is great, got up, got himself dressed, ate breakfast, and off we went to Grandmas to drop off Miss I so I could do the first day of school thing with Bubba. We found his classroom, met his teacher, put away his lunch (yeah, I had to make a lunch for him) and then emptied out his backpack.

I tell you their list-o-stuff for school was long. Fifty bucks worth! Crayons, pencils, scissors, erasers, notebooks, composition books, markers, twistables, a school box ... HEY! Remember those hard cardboard boxes with the lids that lifted up and eventually broke off? They don't make them like that anymore. Now everything is cheap plastic that is gonna break in just a few weeks. It was the most disappointing part of back to school shopping! They also have to take kleenix, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. Times sure have changed!

His teacher, Mrs. W seems nice. I actually remember her from church youth group back in high school. I wasn't sure if she remembered me or not, we kind of ran in different circles (because our youth group had different circles if you can believe that, but thats a whole other post) but I think she remembered me once she knew my name. There were just a few kids from his kindergarten class in his new class, so that might be a little hard for him, but he will be alright. There were at least 25 kids in the class, way more kids than 18 last year and it looked like the girls outnumbered the boys again, in his desk-grouping there were 2 boys and 3 girls, it looked like that at the other 4 groupings too.

After I dropped him off, I went and picked up Miss I from Grandmas and we went to the park to pick black berries. I had heard that there were some on the Loop Trail so we went to check it out. Sure enough, we found tons without trespassing on private property. I should have had my camera! We came upon a cluster of three different kinds of berry bushes. It was pretty cool. Next time. I have no idea what to do with her tomorrow.

All of a sudden she seems really tall. Her legs are getting longer and thinning out. My little baby is growing up. She is also saying things much clearer. (This is good and bad!) Soon she will be potty training too. I have kind of given up. She will decide when shes ready just like everything else. I will keep offering it to her, but it's not really worth the fight. Speaking of which...

My Honey and I were talking about that a few weeks back. Miss I was doing something and one of us asked her to quit whatever it was. She kept on and we asked her again. Somewhere along the way we decided it wasn't worth fighting about so we quit worrying about it. I looked at him and said "Are we choosing the right battles?" and his answer "If I thought I could win one ..." pretty much sums up Miss I. We try, but we just don't win.

Last thing, my sister posted a rant about her new pets. It is totally hilarious to me! It is just so her! Take a looksee if you want.

And then it cooled off

Now its not so much a decision. Now its just back to chores. Laundry must be done. The weather broke, the highs are only in the 80's and I am glad I put the soft top on the jeep, it was 58 degrees this morning on my way to work at 0445.

I ended up entering two photos in the fair:


I hear they earned a blue ribbon and red ribbon... it wasn't worth it.

Priorities

I can't decide:
Clean laundry or the air conditioner?

Why do I have to make such choices? Because the downstairs A/C is hooked to the same fuse as the washer/dryer (one or both I have not figured out) so one has to go. I am choosing A/C today. When the highs are 110 and the lows are 80, its just too damned hot NOT to have every bit of A/C available. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this weather, I just wish I didn't have to make such silly choices.







I want to enter some photos in the county fair this week! Well, I have plans to, I still need to get them prepared and all that... just two days left is all, I better get on it.

7 minutes

Bubba and Miss I are eating dinner.
My Honey is golfing.
I have approximately 7 minutes to write.

They are trying my very little patience tonight. Why must a 6 year old go into the kitchen for a .... scratch that, I have a juice emergency ....

Sheesh. So much for 7 minutes. So where was I? Oh yeah, how is it that a 6 year old goes into the kitchen for a (oops had to serve seconds) he went into the kitchen for a towel to clean up a little spilled juice and had to take the long way around to get back to the table and while cleaning up the small juice spill he manages, well I guess it was THEY, managed to spill the whole dang cup of juice. Which I had to clean up, then the phone rings, Bubba needs seconds, Miss I is having a fit about a shoe (that isn't even hers) and so much for my 7 minutes.

Bubba was treated to a movie today, "Journey to the Center of the Earth". He described it as scary and good, "I liked it, we had 3-d glasses."

Miss I didn't get a nap today so she is a mess. Bed time soon! Holding her off till 6:30 if I can...

I read a great book last week "The Shack". Essentially its about, hmmm, how would I describe it? A man named Mack's interaction with God. Yeah, pretty much. Only not what you would think. Kind of in the way that "The 5 People You Meet In Heaven" isn't what you think its going to be. Very interesting, very applicable in many ways in my life right now. A good read if you are looking for one.

I am also reading a book (for the second time this summer) called "Why you do the things you do". Much more a psychology book than an easy read, but there were some "similar threads" as my friend put it. We are actually reading the book together and discussing it as we go along because it is so full of stuff that needs discussing! It hasn't been a read and digest book for me at all, its definitely one I needed to talk about at length with a trusted friend. I am thankful for her right now.

Which brings up Rose Colored Glasses. I know, PUHLEEZE...

But think about it, when you look at the world, even a small part of it, through nothing but negativity, then everything becomes negative. Try looking through those RCG's and everything (albeit slowly) becomes brighter. You know its true. Its just easier to be all crabby-ass about everything. To complain rather than look for the good in stuff, like say a juice emergency thats interrupts my blogging or a 2 year old that hasn't had a nap or a 6 year old that must take the long way around (every time). Really, in the grand scheme of things how bad are these things? Uh, not so much. Even the shit at work isn't that bad. Its just the same ol', same ol' with a different name this time. It all works out in the end.

Bubba is learning that there is more than one way to get into and out of the kitchen, Miss I is asserting her independence and showing us that we don't have to hold to a nap schedule EVERY day, and work, well, its family that is there for you in the end, right? So give work your 8 or 10 or 12 hours a day then leave it at the door. I know its all easier said than done, I failed miserably at seeing through RCG's when the juice spilled, I actually made a very loud, pissed off sound (but no swear words) that made the kids jump then laugh nervously, but I can see it now ... does that count?

I could go on, but not tonight, I have been given a strict bedtime of 7:30 (although theres no one here to make sure ...) so I must shove off. Just remember folks, try to see through your Rose Colored Glasses... maybe just once a day, take one little situation and think to yourself "it could be worse". Because we all know it could.

Rough life

Its so rough when I get 12 days off from work, then work 3 days (2 of which were 12's) and have my regularly scheduled 4-day weekend! I hate it when that happens. Someone sure knows how to plan well!

We had a really nice weekend. I ran on Saturday morning, took the kids to the Farmers Market, a bike ride/walk on the loop trail, went to a dinner party Saturday night, church on Sunday, ran an errand for my Mom, golfed with My Honey and Bubba on Sunday afternoon and today I got a massage and a much-needed chiropractic adjustment after an unfortunate fall on the golf course.

I don't claim to be graceful, never have been, never will be. But I was especially un-graceful after hitting my ball to the high side of a hill, traipsing up to get it, knocking it down the hill and then taking a slider down the hill on my ass. Nice Rainey, very nice. It must have looked pretty funny Bubba was a giggling fool - not to mention me! I was cracking up at myself. But I was hurt, twisted my knee and wrenched my back. Luckily I had a massage scheduled for today and then I was able to get adjusted right afterward. Hopefully it will be feeling a bit better tonight.

My Honey played golf on Saturday morning too. Unfortunately he had a bad experience at the golf course, needless to say he's done playing there. His punch card is all done and so is he. They just don't treat their customers very well out there. Thankfully there are quite a few choices around here so we headed out to Three Lakes on Sunday. It was a little windy on the back 9, but we managed. Bubba throws his ball out, hits it, runs, hits it, runs and then tries to putt when we get to the greens. He only actually did this on about 6 holes, but it was enough to tucker him out!

Today he is at the YMCA day camp program again. Next week he has a day camp called "Knights, Castles and Kingdoms" it should be fun, and we will close the week by going to a Shakespeare play! While at the Farmers Marked on Saturday, the kids in the Short Shakespeare program were doing snippets from the play coming up next week "A Midsummer Nights Dream." I happen to know the director from my childhood when her daughter and I were friends and when I did the program and she invited us to be her guest at the play! Super cool, not only do we get to go to the play, it will be free! I would love it if one of my kids were interested, likely it will be Miss I, and did the program one summer. We shall see.

Nothing much planned for tomorrow, Emilee comes over, we're going for a walk with some of the girls from work, and then the rest of the week is work, work, work. It's my long week and I think I have a 12 hour shift, or two... I cant remember for sure. August is full of overtime already and it hasn't even started, plus, you never know who will call out sick or any of that stuff.

Home sweet home

Well, we are back. I tried to find pictures of the highlights of each day. Hope you enjoy them. Yes, the kids sleeping was the highlight of the first day! It was so cute because they were in the same room in "big kid" beds which Miss I thought was the icing on the cake!

We broke our travel into two days. The first day was all the way to Portland, the second day we set out for the Portland Zoo, which was pretty cool, and then to Lincoln City. The rental house was good, but had several small details which weren't taken care of that drove us nuts (for instance no washcloths in any of the bathrooms...)

We spent time on the beach, we went to the Newport Aquarium, a lighthouse, and of course the outlet mall.

Several of us went to Depoe Bay and did a charter-fishing-boat-thing. I have only fished a few times, like 3 from the shore of small lakes. I didn't particularly care for it, but I figured I would try deep-sea fishing, I would at least like the boat ride. Which I did, until me and the starboard rail became best friends. It was a foggy, foggy day and I spent a lot of time puking over the rail! I couldn't believe it. I love the water, love boating, never, never have been seasick before. Apparently the wide-open foggy spaces and 20-foot rollers and me don't get along. So, I will probably never go deep-sea fishing again. It was such a disappointment (the getting sick part). But we did get fresh crab out of the deal! And fresh fish too.

While we were letting the kids unwind after the aquarium in Newport the guys went to the Rogue Brewery next door. We met them at the door and My Honey was carrying a case of beer. My favorite beer, Dead Guy Ale! It was such an unexpected treat! Big ol' 20 ouncers too! We first tasted the beer at a restaurant here, but the next time we asked for it they weren't carrying it anymore so we were glad to come by it and bring some home.

My Honey and I celebrated our 16th anniversary while we were down there. We went golfing and then out to dinner with his siblings and their spouses. it was a lot of fun. The golf course was pretty nice, but COLD. In fact, the whole trip was COLD. We left 100 degree temps for 60 degrees in Oregon. Brrrr. It was a nice way to spend our anniversary.

All in all a good trip! I would definitely do it again, with the whole family, but maybe not to Oregon ... too cold this time of the year anyway. I am looking forward to going down in October though!

"Lost tooth"

Bubba is an official big kid. Here is his story (as told to me)

"I lost a tooth on Tuesday. It was a night that I was being babysat and my sister."
"My mom liked it that I lost a tooth. Dad was pretty proud."

Me: How did the tooth come out?
"The person that had the wiggly tooth pulled it out. It was Harry. And thats it. Well, it bled a little."

Pretty cute huh?

It was a pretty wiggly tooth, he had been playing with it for several days and I was ready to pull it. I asked him to come over to me so I could "feel" it (with the intention of pulling it) and he wiggled it right out of his mouth. He was so excited! He did a little happy dance. Then he freaked out that it might be bleeding. It would have made a great video but how do you know when something like that is going to happen? Kind of like Miss I helping My Honey discipline Bubba, but thats another story!

We were going to a baseball game so My Honey and I were pretty glad we were still home to see him lose it!

We are off on vacation tomorrow. I understand we will have internet connections so I will try to brag, I mean post, a few pictures. (Thats for you, Mom!)

The 4th and more

The 4th was fun. I worked hellacious hours all weekend, but we did take the kids to the annual show in town.

Bubba has been every year since he was about two and it was Miss I's first show. It has been tradition that I meet them at the park because I am usually working, but this year was different, I was off for the show! I just had to be to work at 5am the next day!

We arrived at the park with PLENTY of time to waste so we found the cotton candy vendor and sugared up the kids. Bubba kept asking every 2 minutes "how much longer?" and My Honey made a big production of getting his phone out of his pocket to check the time and making him do the simple math of figuring it out for himself. It was pretty cute.

Miss I had no idea what to expect. She was in her stroller all snuggled in a blanket, reclined back waiting when IT happened. The first fireworks. She shot up with her eyes, huge as plates, glued to the sky, her fingers went into her ears and she watched in awe. When the first few ended she said "NEN MAMA! NEN!" (Translation: again mom! again! and quickly!) And so it continued for the first bit, then she wanted to make sure everyone else was enjoying the show, so she went around to Bubba, Grandma, Grandpa, me and My Honey and sat with each of us. It was really sweet. Bubba did his usual plugged his ears and waited it out. Hes a good sport, but the loudness really gets to him.

On our way out of the park we saw a small brush fire across the river. Thankfully the fire department was able to get there in a few minutes and not much was destroyed. Why are people careless though? Just because there is a river nearby does not mean that water is easy to come by, especially in the dark. Oh well, hopefully someone saw something and the people who started the fire will get into trouble. Hard to say though.

The rest of the weekend was shot for me. I worked 5am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday so those were pretty much my days. My Honey took really good care of me, he had dinner started on both nights when I got home and worked on laundry and vacuumed and all kinds of stuff!

Today was busy, I took Bubba to Emilee's to play for the morning, Miss I and I went to pick raspberries (she has pink-eye so I didn't leave her with the other kids). Then she and I went to my moms house for lunch and her nap. While she napped I took Bubba to Super Cool Science Camp (SCSC) where he learned about the parts of a flower today and that leaves give off oxygen. They put leaves into a mason jar of water and watched them bubble. Pretty cool experiment. I guess they are keeping some kind of a log of their experiments so it will be fun to read that at the end of the week. They even got to do a painting of the parts of a flower today. It was everything he loves! While he was there and Miss I was at my moms I took a few hours to shop. I wanted to find a portable DVD player for the car. I had to look at 5 stores before I found one that had 2 screens. After that was Karate then pick up Miss I to see the doctor, then to Safeway for a quickee dinner and to get her prescription, then home to eat and now everyone is in bed, it sounds like they are even asleep!

Tomorrow is not nearly as busy, but still a lot going on. Emilee comes here in the morning, I am taking all 3 kids to a swim lesson, then we are meeting 2 gals from work for a walk in the park. Lunch, SCSC and a baseball game tomorrow night. I guess it will be busy. Then back to work on Wednesday for 3 days and then ..... VACATION! More time off, just what I need! Can't wait, it should be a fun one too!

Before & After

Amazing what you can do in two weeks!

Yes it was

The water park was a blast. I got fried though, AND I was wearing sunscreen. I think it might be expired or something. Bad news, my back is red, red red, and so are my upper thighs - you know the place where my shorts usually cover, toasted on the front and back! Oh well, we had a lot of fun.

They put in two new features at the water park; a lazy river ride where you just float along on an inner tube and a surf/body board thing. The lazy river was fun and the surf/body board thing looked fun too, but we didn't try it. Dani MADE me go down a water slide. Twice! Okay, it was so fun I went a second and a third time! Bubba is too short for the big water slides, but there is a whole section of little kid stuff so he didn't feel left out or anything.

Today is an Emilee Day. We left the house for a swim lesson this morning at 9 but it has been re-scheduled to next week so I brought the kids home, vacuumed the pool and let them swim here. Amazing how tolerable the water gets after 3 or 4 one hundred degree days!

Its a little cooler today, its actually refreshing to have an eighty degree day. Dani keeps saying "its freezing here" now that she is used to the 100's. Silly girl, she has to go back home where its overcast and 70 on a warm day! I told her she can stay longer if she wants to. I ain't kicking her out!

We went and had our toes done last night, then stopped for ice cream on the way home. It was fun. We came home giggling like school girls! My Honey thought we were cute. "It was cute to see you acting like sisters" is what he said. It was fun to be like sisters :) I will miss her when she goes. It is nice to have her around for the convenience but also for the 16-year old energy. Positive energy. Maybe having a little girl won't be so bad after all!

Continuation

Auntie Dani is still here. Its been a real treat. My Honey and I have actually been able to steal away for a few minutes here and there. Even for a walk around the block it has been nice to just say "Do you mind, we'll be right back." Kind of a freedom we haven't had in a long time. Well, ever since kids! I have decided that everyone needs a 16 year old!

We had a great weekend! Saturday we got the pool set up. My Honey had worked hard on getting the ground level, and it was time. So we got it out and set it up. Later that day was some friends of the family 50th wedding anniversary. It was a nice event out in the sticks. We got to see lots of old friends and their grown up kids! Play in the sun, swim, all kinds of fun stuff. Miss I missed her nap so we left while the party was still going on to take the kids home, feed them and get them to bed. Since we had a babysitter we went back to the party! We had dinner on the way out there and crashed the party. They had a movie screen set up for an outdoor movie, so we all found a chair, sat around the movie screen and watched a flick outside. It was really fun! Kind of like the drive in, only better because you knew everyone. There must have been 40 of us between the ages of 3 and 83 watching "Wild Hogs" it was really fun.

Sunday My Honey and I went golfing which was really nice. We played early before it got too hot, and I did alright. I still don't keep score, but my drives are improving and my putting was a lot better than the last two times. They have a womens clinic every Thursday evening, I might go check it out. For $15 a little extra practice with some instruction can't hurt.

Did I mention that I played in a golf tournament last week? No, I kind of lost last week. Even though I have Auntie Dani here I sure haven't gotten much time at the computer. There was a dispatch-techie conference in town last week which included a golf tournament. I talked a couple of people from work into playing. It was free, what did we have to lose besides our self respect? Turns out one of the guys I recruited played with the winning team! My team was only 3 strokes from LOSING! But it was fun.

Sunday afternoon, while My Honey golfed some more, we spent in the pool. The kids love it even though its FREEZING cold. Although, it was 100+ yesterday so it was pretty refreshing! The chemicals aren't balanced though so we are working on that. We all got quite a bit of sun and I didn't feel like cooking so McDonalds it was. Quick, easy, cool inside.

Today we are headed to the water park. Miss I gets to stay with Grammy while Bubba, Dani and I go. It should be fun, fun, fun!

I am pretty sure we will be going through withdrawal when Dani leaves! All this freedom gone. We'll work it out!

Working Girl

Whew! Its been a busy few days. Auntie Dani arrived by plane into town on Friday. I was just a little freaked out ... My 21 year old step-brother was flying her. He had an instructor with him and it was all cool, but I still worried. But they made it here and all is well. I REALLY like having a live in sitter, the kids are loving having her here and she is really great with the kids. Its been fun all around so far.

I worked two long shifts this weekend where I went to work at 3am so it made for some long days. This week Bubba has a day camp program he goes to and he had a blast today. They got to eat lunch with the Apple Blossom Royalty. When I asked him what they were like he said "The princesses looked like working girls."

"Working girls?"
"Yeah you know, like you?"
"Like me?" What do you mean?"
"You know, button up shirts, name tags. Working Girls."
"Oh, you mean girls that have jobs ...."
Not what I think of when I hear the phrase "working girls" but it makes for a good story!

Tuesday

Why is it that a boy/girl combination is so much easier than a boy/boy combination?

I swear I don't even know Bubba and Emilee are playing together they have been so quiet all day! They have played in the tree house, dug in the dirt looking for worms to "fish" with from the windows of the tree house, they rode bikes a little I think, they played with blocks, all kinds of stuff and they were absolutely angelic about it. I sure hope Bubba and Miss I are as good at DW's house! And if they aren't, I just want to apologize in advance, "Sorry DW!" :) I am sure they will all be just fine.

I even fed them a nutritious lunch of gummy worms, cake and coke! Just kidding, they got grilled cheese, and apples. Snacks were grapes and some cheetos. MMMMM. What a good mom huh? I nearly let them get ice cream from the ice cream man, but no one came running out to ask for some so I just let him drive on by. Its a rare day when the ice cream man doesn't drive by in the summer so we have to limit our purchases to weekends only or else we would be dishing out 30 or 40 dollars a week to that guy.

Happy Birthday Honey

It was a very nice Fathers Day/Birthday weekend.
My Honey was born on Fathers Day in 1967, so every once in a while his birthday falls on the actual holiday. Not this year, today is his birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY :)

Thankfully it was my long weekend (plus an extra day off this Wednesday) so I didn't have to stress about how to get Fathers Day stuff in. It just worked out.

We started out on Sunday morning with breakfast in bed. Bubba was adamant that his Dad wanted "cheezy eggs, pineapple and toast." So thats what he got. We putzed around the house, I mowed while everyone else washed the Jeep. Its so pretty now! We finally got the hard top off Saturday! After lunch, the boys went golfing while I did a little cleaning and then me and Miss I took much needed naps.
(the boys going golfing in the clean, topless Jeep)

My SIL planned a Fathers Day/Birthday BBQ at her house Sunday night so dinner was a piece of cake. AND... I actually made a dessert. I baked an apple pie. I know, don't fall out of your chair, I baked an apple pie. It was pretty good too. It happens to be My Honey's favorite (not necessarily MY apple pie, but apple pie in general).

Then home and to bed. It was a pretty full day but it was also pretty relaxing.

I worked a short overtime shift on Saturday morning (3am - 7am) then My Honey went golfing. Then kids and I packed up their bikes and went to the farmers market, on a short walk/bike ride then grocery shopping. It was a pretty nice day, but tiring. I tried to take a nap but it just didn't work out. We went to a party on Saturday night. Fun stuff! One of my officer-friends moved into a new house so he had a house warming/college graduation (for his wife) party. It was a pretty good time. I am sure there is a lot I missed out on, we left after the first two rounds of Jagermeister shots (which were yummy)... It was fun to get to know some of the newer officers, one in particular is very funny (and very young!) he had nicknames for a few of us girls - Mountain Lion, Puma, stuff like that. They were calling him Boy Toy. I am pretty sure thats going to stick. The next time I talk to him on the phone its going to be "Hey Boy Toy, hows it going?"

My MIL is leaving town today or tomorrow to go to Portland so we had a bunch of babysitting challenges for the next couple weeks. Wednesday I took off, Thursday My Honey took off, and Friday Auntie M is watching the kids. Friday afternoon my youngest sister Dani comes to town, she will be here for awhile (maybe through the 4th) to help out! Check this out: I was trying to work out transportation logistics for her and her brother offered to fly her over! He is training to be a pilot so he worked it out with his instructor to get a plane for Friday. Its a great big help, but stresses me out!!! I will be much better once she is safely on the ground here and he is safely on the ground in Renton.

My MIL is going to stay with Auntie Portland. My niece was born with a cleft soft palate and its time for the surgery to repair it. I am also a little stressed about that. She is 11 months old and will go under full anesthesia for the surgery. Its not an uncommon surgery, but its not a routine thing either. Anyway, I will also feel better after I hear that her surgery is complete and she is awake and doing well.

And then there's today . . .

So far so good. Best Buddy and Sister are spending the day here. Its actually not that bad to have a couple extra kids around. Miss I and Sister play pretty good considering Sister is 9 and Miss I is 2. I think Sister looks at it as a chance to sort of babysit she did a very nice job getting Miss I to eat breakfast this morning and helping to get her in the car and everything else! It will be an interesting afternoon trying to get Miss I to nap while the big kids are playing ... I think I will make everyone take a 30 minute rest time so she has a chance to fall asleep while its quiet.

The rest of the week is pretty busy. I have an extra kid tomorrow too, Emilee, she is my girl DW's daughter. She and Bubba are the same age so it should be fun. Plus we have karate Monday and Wednesday and it seems like there is something else... but it escapes me right now. Maybe it is work Thursday through Sunday? Maybe that was it.


And lastly, we have a new pet. "Cadi" I found Cadi at Guemeus and brought it home. I wasn't sure if it would make it or not but so far so good. Bubba took it to his class for the last week of school, hoping it would do its cocoon thing, but it didn't. Still hasn't.

Looking out for Mom

I was at my Moms house earlier today and she pointed the yellow rose out to me. I know it isn't the prettiest rose anymore, but its the story I wanted to tell.

The red rose plant was a mothers day gift to another tenant at the apartment complex from her son. Her son passed away sometime that year. Every year since then the red rose bush blooms with one yellow rose. As if he is watching out for her every spring.

Graduation Day

It was Kindergarten Graduation Day today!
Bubba's teacher did a great job of doing her thing. She barely made it through her "welcome parents" speech without crying, but she did it! She read a little biography for each kid which was included with their end-of-school-packet. Here is Bubba's:

"Bubba is 6 years old. His favorite colors are blue and orange. Bubba's favorite thing to do at school is to play on the playground. His favorite things to do at home are make snowmen in the winter and swim in the summer. Bubba's favorite food is SUGAR." (Note: the teacher did a spot-on imitation of him saying "SUGAR", it was great!)
In twenty years Bubba will be 26 years old and he will work construction. He said he will always live with his parents. He will not get married and he will not have kids. Bubba will have 1 dog. When Bubba isn't working he will go golfing with his dad and Uncle Danny."

Isn't that priceless? I loved it! I am not so sure I always want him living with us, but he's only 6 so its alright for him to think that he will always live here isn't it?

Weekly Review

What a week! School is nearly out so the kids have been doing fun stuff this week. Wednesday was Field Day and Thursday they went on a tour of the fire department.

Did you have Field Day at the end of the school year in elementary school? We did, all throughout the year we would practice the stuff that would be at field day; 3-legged race, sack races, wheelbarrow races, 50 and 100-yard dashes, relays all that stuff so we could win the coveted 1st, 2nd or 3rd place ribbons. I am not much of a competitor myself, I don't recall ever winning a ribbon (well, maybe 3rd place once, but I doubt it and I definitely didn't win any 1st place ribbons).

Well, it ain't so anymore!! There are no longer winners or losers, everyone participates in "group activities". It was a lot of fun though and they had it pretty well organized. I volunteered for the morning and ended up working a station that was called the "Pig Push". The kids started with sideways jumping jacks or crabwalk or running to a cone, there they picked up a bat-type thing with foam on the end and they pushed or swung low at a foam pig through the grass round a second cone and back to the first cone where they did the jumping jacks or what-ever back to the start. It was all of 2 minutes for each kid but they had fun - and remember there were no winners or losers. They stayed at our station for about 10 minutes then they moved on to the next station where there was a different activity. In all there might have been 15 stations.

I had a blast. It was a time to act all goofy and be a kid. I asked all the kids their names, who their teachers were, dumb stuff, but we all got along and they seemed to like me (well they acted like they did regardless).

My Honey went with Bubbas class to the fire department on Thursday. They took a bus down there and then had a tour and climbed into a fire engine. I had meant to call and ask if I could do an announcement while they were there, since I was at work and how cool would that have been for Bubba to hear my voice on the radios at the fire department? He still remembers hearing my voice on an officers radio as he passed by during the Fourth of July one year at the park! But I am a loser and forgot to call so I missed my opportunity. Dang. Maybe another time.

One day of school left ... well sort of, they "graduate" on Monday and thats it! Then he is a First Grader. What ever will I do? Full days of school, packing a lunch every day, having fights about why he can't take hot lunch all the time, homework every night. Yikes!

Work has been busier and busier which is nice! Today was one of our officers birthdays, his radio number is 5 so I called him "Birthday5" every so often. He's usually quite a crank, but I think he liked it, he didn't crank at me once today! It was fun to add some fun to work too. My bosses didn't seem to mind so that was nice too.

New Book

In the mail today was the book Dearly Departed written by my friend Mikki Hauso! So far its a great read. It takes off at a break-neck speed, has a great story and a lot of wonderful language. I can't wait to finish it and call her and tell her I loved it!

I am kind of a book nerd, I guess, I almost always read the acknowledgments and the introductions to books, and boy am I glad I did on this one. My good buddy Mikki mentions me. I'm published!! Just kidding, but you know. Its pretty fun and humbling all at the same time. She and I have been friends for nearly 30 years I guess, and have not really kept in touch regularly since our 20's, she moved away so we just don't get together or call that often, but I guess I am still as special to her as she is to me. Needless to say, I was and am touched.

So I am off to read some more, its a rainy day, and the kids are resting.

Who'd A Thunk?

You Are 77% Feminist

You are certainly a feminist - whether you know it or not. You believe in gender equality, at least most of the time. You also believe there are a few exceptions.

Are You a Feminist?

A little distracted

MY 3 H'S

Blowing Bubbles

Flying Solo

Grandpa Helping

Miss I

Bubba

There you have it, pics from Memorial Day. Didn't I tell you it was beautiful?!

My Honey and I decided to get away this past weekend, just the two of us. So we spent the week talking about where to go and what to do and where the kids should go. Finally, last Thursday evening, everything came together.

My sister watched Bubba and my MIL watched Miss I. We decided Lake Chelan would be a wise, close, fun choice so we called around looking for a place to stay. Most places were $200 (per night) and booked Saturday night so we went a little further north. We ended up staying in Pateros at a little known place that was only $90 per night (for a kitchenette) and, AND its on a golf course so we got to golf too! It was great. Close enough to Lake Chelan to visit and eat there, away enough that we didn't feel too close to home. And, AND we got to golf.

Its been YEARS since I golfed regularly. Like at least 6. The last time I was golfing regularly, we took a golfing vacation for our 10th anniversary to Reno, but that was almost 7 years ago. Golfing was a lot of fun, I forgot how much I enjoyed it. My Honey even suggested that I take a lesson to improve my swing -No, its not like that, it was a welcome suggestion, and it would be a nice way to spend some time for myself. Plus I wouldnt look like such a fool. I was a hacker this weekend! Bad news!

The kids are a wreck!! They are both over-tired and in bed already (its 7:00). Bubba had a really good time at Auntie Em's:
"We went on a hike and saw a bull snake and two lizards, and jumped off a rock, and I climbed up it by myself without Uncle Doug's help the second time and we went to get Slurpees and I had a Dilly Bar and we slept in the tent only I didn't like it so we ended up sleeping in Madi's room and last night we slept in her parents room." And on and on all in one breath!

Miss I had a good time at Grandmas too. She just didn't sleep very late and I am sure that Grandma let her stay up "until she seemed tired." I can't wait until my kids have kids!!!
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I went to tuck Bubba in the other night and he was sitting on his bed with an old, un-charged cell phone messing with the buttons. I asked him what he was doing and he says to me "Texting ML."

ML is a girl he went to preschool with, her dad works with My Honey, but we have never gotten the kids together. (You know, boys and girls.)

"Really, what are you texting her?" I ask.
(Prepare yourselves)
"I love you" he tells me in kind of a whispery voice.
"WHAT??!!" I want to scream, "YOU ARE ONLY 6!!"

It's killing me how fast kids grow up these days. Really it is. Several times a week I get calls from parents whose 14 or 15 year old daughter has a kid or is pregnant. And now my 6 year old is already declaring his undying love to another 6 year old. Yikes!
Needless to say, it was all I could do not to laugh out loud. It sure was cute though.

To and Fro

Well, we made it to and fro and we are no worse for wear!

It was GORGEOUS in the San Juan Islands! Pictures of clear blue skies to follow. It was fun to be a part of a ... well, I don't even know what to call it. A resort I guess. It's the same folks going to the Resort for the last two and three decades. It was amazing how quickly the kids got together, the adults just mesh and the newcomers (thats us) were welcomed.

I had a wonderful time, so did the kids. The beach was great, the food was divine, the company was fun (and some of them were drunk) and the teenagers were a hoot! I bonded with a few of the 13-year-old set over the campfire Sunday night. They are such cute ditzes a that age. I had a good time, I hope they did too.

My sister was hanging out with the 16-19-year-old set and I took the time to hang with them too (actually we were avoiding Very Drunk Anoying Woman.) The teens were in the rec room watching video stream of something or other so I started to twenty question Steven on how "video streaming" worked. Apparently its different than downloading (who knew?) ... One of the girls, Michelle, asked me "what do you do?" as in my job. It caught me off guard, its not the type of question I am EVER asked. So I told her I was a dispatcher, why did she want to know. Turns out her mom is a dispatcher too. She wondered because of my questions. It was funny.

Anyway, those are just a few of the fun things. Bubba made a new friend, Miss I had a blast in the sand and rocks, we all got SUNBURNED!! In western Washington none-the-less! And now we are home safe and sound.

Weekend recap

Not a bad start to my vacation. Several days of My Kind of Weather (90*), sunburn from sitting out in My Kind of Weather reading a book (Vanishing Act by Jodi Picoult), two trips to the park to play in the water, runs at the park yesterday and today, church, just hanging around and shopping for food for the weekend. Not bad at all.

I was the wrong person to go shopping today though!! Our job is to bring snack foods and THEY ALL LOOKED GOOD. I bought one of nearly everything Costco carries. For shame! We are all gonna gain 18 pounds from eating snack-crap and drinking all weekend. Wouldn't you know they had a plenty-pack of Fat Tire available. But it will be fun and worth it, its only a few times a year right?

Hmmm, well I thought I had a lot to say today, but it seems not. I will leave you with this picture of the kids a week or so ago. They were having a snack outside or something and Bubba thought he needed to balance something on his head. Such a clever kid.

Summer time ahhhh

Bless his heart, after a HOT day playing golf My Honey put the air conditioners in for me tonight. Well, I guess it would be for us, since we all benefit. Its just hard to cool the house down if its still 90* at 8pm. I think the motivating factor might have been Bubba.

He was all done. He played soccer in 80* weather, went to a birthday party, then played in the sprinklers and then, we went to the park to play in the water. It was just too much. Poor guy pretty much passed out an hour after we got home (after he had thrown up twice.) He just doesn't tolerate a lot of physical activity on an empty stomach or in the heat. Its kind of a weird phenomenon.

Just one more work day and we are outta here!! yay!

Ahh, summery weather

If you happened to view my blog today and check my weather girl she would have told you it was in the 90's around here. In fact, its almost 9pm and its still in the high 80's. Gotta love Central Washington summers! I don't really think this heat wave will last for a long time, but its nice to have while its here. My kind of weather as My Honey calls it, yes it is. I can't wait for a free hour or so to sit outside with the headphones on (or not) and bake in the sun. Yeah, I know its so bad for me, but its so good for me too. Its a ritual, I can't live without it.

Speaking of sitting in the sun, I got a new bathing suit for this year, and the next few if I am lucky. Its hard to find stuff that fits me. I had a great suit from Land's End once and I never invested in another one after it wore out, until this year. I finally bought me a modestly cut long torso suit from Lands End in the tangerine color. The only problem might be the underwire. I really don't need it (TRUST ME) but its there, so I will need to wear it a few times to see if its going to bother me or not. I also bought some new tank tops from them. I tell you, they really make great stuff.

Its my 4-day weekend, I work one day then off for 6!! (Really, you could say I work one day in the next eleven, which sounds even better than 6 days off doesn't it?) Yay!! Tomorrow is a soccer game then a birthday party then nothing, probably play in the sprinklers again. Sunday, no plans so far, probably church then work in the yard if its not too hot. Monday and Tuesday are regular days - you know, school, karate and all that and then Wednesday back to work and tah-dah! Done with work for 6 whole days; off to the Islands! I hope the weather is decent. The 10-day forecast predicts it will be in the 60's with "showers" not a bad forecast. Not bad at all.

New Belt

He did it! Bubba passed his first promotional test. He is pretty proud, he took his new belt to school for sharing today.

He was a basket case all day yesterday anticipating weather or not he had passed. I tried to get him to rest and he dissolved into tears. He sat with me just bawling, "I need to be held, just hold me Mom." It was heart breaking, all because of the possibility that he might not have passed. Of course it was me that put the idea out there... He was thinking it but I put words to it and made him talk about it just in case. I wasn't quite sure how to deal with the possibility so I just talked about it straight out. I am not sure if it was the right thing to do or not. But at least we were prepared. Fortunately we didn't have to deal with disappointment.

Miss I and I were able to get another walk in today. Its been getting nicer in the mornings which is great. She doesn't much care for the stroller but I kept yanking leaves off the trees and giving them to her to look at. "OOOh, mama, kanks."

Her language is developing but its no where near what Bubba was at 2 1/2. He was carrying on adult conversation about anything with big words. We are lucky to get her to say much at all. Oh she is constantly talking, it just doesn't make much sense to us. We try and so does she, but its really all gibberish. And the things she can say she says over and over and over and over and over. "Mama. Air daddy go?" "Mama. Air Ee-ry go?" "Go bye bye?" "Goo day?" all morning long. (Translation: Mama, where did daddy go? Where did Harry go? They went bye bye? Will they have a good day?) Its cute but it gets old. We must have had the same conversation for an hour this morning. Crazy child. But once it develops into real words watch out world, she won't be ignored!

I got an interesting thing in the mail yesterday; a publisher offering me a copy of a book authored by a friend of mine. This gal has wanted to be published since she was in grade school! She always wrote great stories and it looks like she finally got a book complete and I guess its going to be published. The last time I talked to her was last fall and she told me she was nearly done but I had no idea! I can't wait to read it! I know it will be good.

Back to work tomorrow, nothing too exciting going on this week. Oh wait, we get to tour the animal shelter tomorrow. Why you ask ... well thats a good question. I guess it will give us an understanding of their operations which will be useful when... um ... sometime I am sure! It is an opportunity to get out of the office for a couple hours so I won't crab about it too much thats for sure. The rest of the week should be pretty mellow, no major events in town, no overtime scheduled, no holidays to contend with and I am on vacation countdown. Just 6 more shifts till I am off for nearly a week! Yay!

Ahhhh

Its so nice outside! I wish I had a couple hours to take a book out and read with the sun making me squint and get a touch of a tan. But, the kids will only be down for another 30 minutes or so, I have not taken a shower yet today and I need (and I mean NEED) to clean up around here a little. My Girl Friday didn't make it last week so its been awhile since things were spruced up. She may be able to make it this week, but its still pretty bad around here. I need to vacuume and clean the bathrooms. I mean REALLY.

The weekend was nice. I took off early on Saturday to go to Bubba's game, he did pretty good. I think he was tired after such a big week. Afterwards we went shopping for Mothers Day stuffs. My Honey usually gets his mom some kind of flower something, we found a very nice hanging basket at a new greenhouse in town. It is so pretty! And he treated me to some new plants so I spent that afternoon planting new stuff in the front yard. Saturday night I took my mom out to dinner. We had a nice time just the two of us. Sunday I worked, but my sister in law took care of dinner for all of us. She made this really great chicken dish with asparagus and a pasta salad that was to die for. MMMM.

This week has a few things going on, Karate today (Bubba should be getting a new belt from the promotional test on Thursday last week), soccer practice some time this week, Karate on Wednesday, a couple evening things for me and My Honey soccer game on Saturday and then the weekend. My long weekend! Plus, I just heard its supposed to be in the 90's here! Now thats what I'm talking about!!!

While My Honey was away on Friday all the "other people" with him were texting their friends (and the people sitting right next to them), so he texted me off and on all day. It was pretty fun! I was impressed that he made the effort (thanks!) and that he's kept it up. Unfortunately it may require a new phone, one with a keyboard on it instead of having to use the number keys. I am such a dork, it takes me forever to text! Maybe I just need practice!

Nearly Done

Well I made it through Friday too!

It was a busy afternoon. I got off work, went to the MIL's house to get the kiddos for awhile. Took Miss I back to grandmas, where she is spending the night, around 5, took Bubba to soccer practice. I had the opportunity to get to know one of the moms a little better (since we were the only two families there besides the coach). She is a very neat gal, a free-spirit-type, which is always fun to me because it is so NOT me. I just can't fly by the seat of my pants all the time, maybe 1/2 of 1 percent of the time, but not much. It stresses me out! Plus I am not that creative!

After returning Bubba to Grandmas house to spend the night I went to Costco and then went home to unload my few perishable purchases before I went to go for a run. OOPS! I remembered that I needed bananas and a few other items (for tomorrow) from Safeway so I had to do that shopping and then it was already 7:30.

I nearly went for that run, I might be sorry I didn't, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave the house again. Plus it was windy and getting chilly out. I know, I know what a wimp. So my back-up plan is to try and go tomorrow since I will have most of the day off. I committed to seeing all of Bubba's games so I took 1/2 of tomorrow off for his morning game which leaves me with the afternoon free - well, you know what I mean. Our plan is to go out for lunch after the game. Bubba has been asking all week to eat out in a "real restaurant, you know like Red Robin" instead of McDonalds. So thats our plan, we all deserve it after this week.

My Honey is out of town, the kids are at Grandmas so I have the QUIET house to myself. Its always nice to have no TV, no kids, nothing but me my thoughts and a cold one. Tonights choice is a Fat Tire amber ale. Ahhhh.

I want to comment on this book I just finished. It is called Verbal Abuse: Healing the Hidden Wound by Grace Ketterman. It was a very good book that covered a lot of ground regarding verbal abuse. This book was loaned to me, but I think I am going to buy my own copy, there was a lot of good stuff in it that I will want to refer back to time and again. I would recommend it to just about anyone because we can all think of a time when they were a victim or an abuser. It clarified what verbal abuse is, how it affects families, work places, churches and social groups and how to break the cycle for yourself.

I know my family of origin has been in bad cycles of this before, I can't honestly say who broke the cycle but I know for me it's done, I don't take the comments of some of my family members quite as hard now as I did growing up, I know when to walk away and/or keep my mouth shut so that the comments stop. I have worked very hard to take sarcasm out of my response pattern inside my family, but reading that book made me realize that I am not done with this issue. I still have a lot of work to do. I still say things that are demeaning, unfair or cruel at work and at home. Its sad. Its gonna take more work. Thankfully I can see a lot of progress from years past and thats encouraging. Anyway, the book was really good.

Nearly Done

Well, its Thursday. We have nearly made it through the week. Today was BUSY! Work, karate promotional test quick dinner and then a Kindergarten music program. I took some video of both events, but I don't know if its post-able. I mean, would it be worth posting, because its just in snippets and would others get it if they weren't there? I will look into editing some of the stuff I video'd this weekend and see if I can get something together thats worth anything.


The promotion test went pretty good. Did he pass? I don't know. I have no idea how they "score" these things. I called to talk to one of the instructors to see if it was even worth doing and he said that they would have talked to us if he wasn't going to pass. As I watched him I kept thinking "there's no way" but as I reviewed my video snippets I guess its possible. I may be to critical. (Gee, ya think? Did it only take me 37 years to figure that out?)

The Kindergarten music program was a crack up! They did really well singing all these cute songs I have never heard. Several of them were alphabet songs, and a few others. It lasted all of 45 minutes. Not bad!

More later, it's a bit past my bed time and I could really use the sleep.

I'm trying

I'm just not feeling it. I am trying to get motivated to write and its just not there today. Not sure why. Its beautiful here today, maybe I am too distracted by the 80 degree weather?

I have been going to a Bible study on Monday nights with my sister in law. This session her sister in law is going with us. We all meet at my sister in laws house and walk to the church since its just a few blocks away. Its been a nice way to get to know the girls and its also very refreshing to get just a taste of fresh air each Monday night. Its funny, I have known both these girls for 17 years but we have never hung out together. I am glad we are getting the opportunity now.

Its back to work tomorrow. It's my long work week, we have a soccer game tomorrow, Bubba has an opportunity to do a promotional test for Karate and a Kindergarten music program both on Thursday. My Honey is going out of town Friday, and a soccer game on Saturday. Its looking like a busy week.

I don't think we are going to do the promotional test. First of all its forty bucks and second, I don't know if he's ready for that kind of thing yet. I understand that not many people skip the promotional tests when they come up, but I don't see much value in it for him right now. I should probably talk to the instructor about it. Selfishly, it would make Thursday a lot easier, but if hes not gonna pass to the next level anyway I am gonna keep my forty bucks and my sanity.

I took the kids to the park for lunch yesterday because it was so nice out. I picked up Bubba from school, swung by McDonalds and then headed to the park. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me so no pictures. But they had a nice time. We went down by the water for a few minutes too. Unfortunately the park we went to doesn't have any toys, but that worked out okay because it was close to Miss I's nap time anyway.

Lastly, I feel totally inadequate today as a parent. I can't seem to do anything right (in the eyes of my kids anyway). Heaven help me make it through this week!

Busier than I thought

Wow! Has it nearly been a week? I've just been plain ol' busy I guess.

Work, karate, work, work, facial, mix up in transportation plans, soccer game, work, fat fest at the park, checking out henna tattoos, night off, work, and finally the weekend. The weekend consisted of the pre-parade fun run, fat fest in the park, watching the parade, getting a henna tattoo, more parade, an attempt at a nap and then a 12-hour overtime shift. And now here I am, late Sunday morning thinking "where'd the week go?"

The overtime shift was good. Busy! I loved it. I miss working nights. As if I am going to go to a night shift... Not likely. Days are working out just fine. It was the Big Festival Weekend so theres lots of crazy kids out there drinking and cruising and that kind of stuff.

I had the strangest thing just happen, it was a phone call from a name that I didn't recognize, but was a local number. I answer and it's one of Bubba's classmates asking for him. So I go get Bubba. I know he is going to be excited about this phone call because its his newest obsession; The Cool Kid.

We have had several conversations lately about this kid, most of them sound like this "Can I have ----- because The Cool Kid has one?" So The Cool Kid invited him over to play this afternoon. Fun stuff. It was kind of funny though, the kids seemed to be making their own plans so when Bubba handed me the phone I asked for T.C.K's mom to make sure that we were all on the same page. Thankfully we were. He had already asked her and she had said yes, so we're off to a play date in an hour. He is SO excited! The timing couldn't be better either. Miss I will be napping, Bubba will be playing so My Honey and I can each get some quiet time. Nice.