SUNNY SAC

LILLIAN 5 MONTHS

2011-11-22T17:44:00.001-08:00

You sprouted your first 2 bottom teeth today! You had a horrible time sleeping this past weekend since you had a cold, teething pain and the desire to practice your new skill, turning over from back to front.
You are very tired now and so is mommy.

SCENES FROM THE PIRATE FESTIVAL

2011-10-01T04:40:00.000-07:00

We were unsure of what to expect before we arrived the festival. As soon as we arrived it started to rain. The first rain Sacramento had received in 3 months. That's my luck. Despite the rain and loud cannon blasts, this little festival was worth it! The pirates were quite the characters and were fun to look at. One pirate gave Sierra and her friend the despised "black spot" which would turn their right hand black by midnight. To rid of the black spot, which was a black shiney stone, they had to search throughout the festival for a pirate named Caliber. Every pirate the girls passed, they asked if their name was Caliber. Each pirate encounter pointed us toward the right direction. This amazed me that all the pirates knew each other at the festival. Do they travel around and attend all the pirate festivals together? Reminds me of my phish tour days.... Anyways,we found Caliber near the cannons and he "cured" the girls of their black spot and all was dandy again.

Sierra dancing with the gypsies.

After a watching a bit, Annie had to get some wiggling in too!

On the Sacramento River.

At the pirate festival with friends.

ISN'T IT SUPPOSED TO BE EASIER THE 3RD TIME AROUND?

2011-09-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Something that I dreaded, I did. It took will power and planning. I thought about it a lot before it happened. When it was over, it was sweet relief. What was it, you ask? I finally left baby Lilly in the care of someone! Yup, I couldn't leave the baby the past few months, because....well, I'm a crazy mom with oodles of hormones, that make me do crazy things. It took me 10 months to make her and another 3 months of constant feeding and no sleep to keep her growing. So, yes, I'm a little possessive of her.

She was left in the care of a girl who looked about 16 at my gym's playcare. I struggled in the gym's rocking chair to nurse Lilly and have her fall asleep. Lilly fussed and cried. I sweated and was unsure of what to do. Just leave her when she was fussy? The playcare girl, the one who looked about the age of 16, suggested that I hand Lilly over to her. And as soon as I did, Lilly was happy.

Lilly is 3 months.

Annie playing with Lilly.

My clean girls after a hot evening of soccer practice.

Bedtime talking.

A french bisou!

SCENES FROM LABOR DAY 2011

2011-09-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

This post is a few weeks late but that's how life has been rolling lately. With a screaming newborn and 2 other children with activities, I'm surprised I have time to eat or pee. Actually sometimes I forget to eat but I haven't had a potty accident yet, thank goodness.

WHY I WORRY

2011-08-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

Being a mother causes me to worry about everything. Usually I worry about a dirty house, but I FINALLY hired cleaners to take care of that. Sometimes I worry about food, but lately Freddy has been grocery shopping. Other times I worry about the kids watching too much television, but since school started that worry has disappeared. Now that I have an empty worry hole to fill, I decided to worry about going back to work and how Freddy will manage getting all the kids ready for school and fed in the morning. Yes, I don't go back to work until the end of OCTOBER, but I decided August is a good time to start thinking about it. This little worry was sparked after I saw this video created by my loving Freddy when Lilly was 1 month old:

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

2011-08-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Soccer is here. Life, as we know it, will be soccer till December. Plus, this year Sierra AND Annie play AND on different teams. Which means, soccer is no longer a family activity. I can already tell this soccer year will be about mastering our juggling skills. Both girls have practices at the same time, but different parks. The games will be on the same day, but in separate cities.

Today I attended Annie's games. Her team, Splash, had a seeding tournament. I think they end up with 1 win, 2 losses. Not sure since Annie decided she didn't want to play after her first encounter with the ball and bumping heads with another player on the field:

After some coaxing she played in the next game, probably since she got to wear a cute pink pinnie. Overall, I think she did great by not giving up.

Sounds like Freddy had a vaastly different experience at Sierra's games. The players have positions now and they actually pass to each other. It's rumored that the coolest position to be is goalie.

IN THIS ______ HELL

2011-08-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

This statement runs through my brain on end, "In this (blank) hell". I try to fill in the blank with creative words, but my mommy brain can only stretch so far. So far that the adjective I repeat the most is "complete". "In this complete hell" is my daily matra. Especially in the evening, when I am pacing from the crib to the door in Lillian's room trying to coax her to sleep for the umpteenth time that day. The ocean sounds from the white noise machine and the fan loudly blows to block any sounds her older sisters may make. As soon as I get her to sleep and carefully place her in her crib, I realize if I leave her room I will be required to make dinner and cater to Lillian's 2 demanding sisters. Maybe it is better is hide out in Lillian's room for a while and just watch her sleep.

LILLIAN IS HERE!

2011-06-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

Her due date was 06/13, 06/14, 06/15 depending on who you asked: the doctor, nurse practioner or me. But when July 15th came and went with no baby, I felt like she would never come out. My other 2 girls came into this world before their due dates. Naturally, I assumed, this baby would too. Never before did I have time to fully stock the kitchen and house with supplies, complete all the laundry (Lillian's too), ready the crib, and pack my hospital bags before she came.

I had a doctor's appointment on the 16th. Baby was either 1, 2 or 3 days overdue. The doctor checked my cervix. I was 4 cm dialated. But I wasn't feeling any contractions. She offered induction or to strip my membranes to speed it along. Fred was eager to get this over, he even packed our bags in the car so we could just walk over to the Women and Children's Building to deliver. Naturally, I was still not ready to deliver her.

I gave in to "stripping my membranes". What the heck is that anyways? I don't really want to know, I guess. It hurt, but it must of did the trick.

We stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up a few cases of 2 buck chuck. A strong pain stopped me in my tracks. Was that a contraction? I wasn't sure but felt the strong need to head home.

At home, small contractions were occurring but nothing regular. At one point my mom tried to time them, but they were not consistent. They were not strong and I wasn't even sure if they were real. I think I was in denial.

I decided to put the girls to bed with bedtime stories. My mom had done it all week for the girls and I was missing the one on one time with them. Annie wanted a Christmas ballarina book read to her and Sierra wanted to read a book about snails and slugs. I couldn't make it through Sierra's book. A sharp pain made me gasp. Sierra let met take her Hannah Montana clock to time the contractions. But when I stood up, my water broke. It was 9PM. My shocked face sent Sierra off to find Daddy.

I called the hospital and Freddy packed the car, and in 15 mintues we were on our way. On the way, the contractions were 4 minutes apart, 1-2 mintues long. Freddy was driving 80-90/mph since the hospital was 25 minutes away. Just like a movie scene, I was telling him to slow down, but also breathing heavily through the contractions indicating that the baby was coming soon and to hurry up!

When we arrived, I walked in to register at the same time another pregnant women walked in. The nurse behind the desk took one look at me and kindly said, "I think we need to register her first" to the other woman. I couldn't even carry my purse to the exam room, the nurse had to do it for me. Once examined by the doctor, he announced that I was complete. Meaning he couldn't feel any cervix, I was already 10 cm dialated. They wheeled me off to the delivery room. This is when I started begging for drugs, "Please anything, can't I have something?" and "I don't want to do this again without something. Please!"

A nurse tried to draw my blood but missed the vein probably because I was giving her the evil eye. I wanted my drugs and I wanted them now! Labs were not necessary! They kept asking me if I felt the urge to push. No, I didn't. My lower back was killing me. I felt the urge to have some drugs. When one of the nurses realized I wasn't going to push until I got my drugs, she gave me a half dose of Fentinyl. It did the trick. I rolled on my side and magically felt the urge to push.

After 5 pushes Lillian Skyler Janson entered this world at 10:17PM at 7 lbs 5 oz and 18 inches long. Only 1 hour and 17 minutes after my water broke and only 35 minutes after registering at the labor and delivery desk. She is a gorgeous blondie, a strong nurser, and a good sleeper. What more could I ask for?

SAN DIEGO

2011-05-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

Our friends MJ and Paul tied the knot on Coronado Island 2 weeks ago. Coronado Island is just outside of San Diego. You have to take a bridge that crosses the San Diego Bay to access the island. The place runs at a much slower pace than the city you can see in the distance. There is a golf course where die hards golf in the rain, an upscale hotel that was built in 1888 (The Del Mar) and lots of young, muscular navy men running on the beach (I didn't look though).

We treated this trip as our babymoon. A babymoon is a vacation that is enjoyed just before all hell breaks loose with sleepless nights, poopy diapers and major, major fatigue. I think we do this to ourselves as punishment. We take a vacation to prove how great our life is without a newborn. And then, when we are immersed in hell a few weeks later, because 40 weeks prior we thought that creating another child was a smart idea, we have regrets.

ON THE LONG DRIVE DOWN

SD ZOO: PEACOCK BLOCKING THE WALKING PATH

SD ZOO

THE SUPER DUPER ROMANTIC WEDDING

FREDDY'S GIRLS

REMEMBERING OCTOBER: THE DAY WE FOUND OUT

2011-01-03T12:43:00.000-08:00

I used my handy laboratory skills and performed a pregnancy test at home. The positive result was weak but it was there! The day we discovered we were pregnant with our third baby we had a great family day at Apple Hill.

YOSEMITE

2010-09-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

It's been 6 years since I have been to Yosemite. I accidently slipped and told Sierra, Yosemite was where she was made. She told anyone who would listen last week, she was going to where she was made. I witnessed her proudly proclaim this to one of my mommy friends. My friend laughed and laughed and laguhed. I felt like digging a hole and hidding in it.

On the way to Yosemite we had to stop at the rock shop and pose in front of the dinosaur. Remind you of National Lampoons Vacation?

The only shoes for Annie I brought were platform tennis shoes. Very stylish but horrible for rocky streams.

Sierra kept noticing her name written everywhere and let us know each and every time she saw it.

Yosemite Valley

While Fred was taking this full moon shot over Yosemite Valley, he had a strong feeling (I like to say paranoid) that a mountain lion was going to leap from the woods and eat him up. I stood next to him munching on cheesy pringles and enjoyed the show of him flashing his 100 candlelight flashlight into the dense woods looking for the mountain lion that he swore just made a sound cracking a branch.

Glacier Point. Sunset on Half Dome behind us.

ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO

2010-08-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

Wahoo! Sierra's first day of Kindergarten. I don't know who was more nervous, she or I. She wouldn't hold my hand and she wouldn't let me stand next to her. She wanted to do it all on her own. A friend in my mom's club painted the Tahoe scene on the wall behind her.

She wouldn't even take a photo with her sister. And that made Annie mad.

The teacher took this photo and that was okay with Sierra.

THE GAME THAT NEVER ENDS

2010-08-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

Instead of watching television or individually surfing the internet, we have been playing CandyLand as a family in the evening. Sierra is very serious about winning and following the rules. Annie gets all jazzed up and dances around the room between turns. I morph into the manager and control the cards and game movement. Freddy multi-tasks by working and playing the game.

Tonight, one game lasted 30 minutes. Everytime someone was near the final purple square, a Queen Frostine card would turn up or a Gramma Nut card and send the player off towards the beginning. The girls found this fun. Freddy and I turned impatient. Little kids games are supposed to be short and sweet. They are made for little people with short attention spans, otherwise, adults with left over ADD from childhood start to do this:

WORKOUT FOILED

2010-08-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

Last night my exercise class was interrupted by a bleeding child. My bleeding child.

Finally, I dragged myself to the gym. I was so proud of myself. I even tried the step class which is for those co-ordinated dance type girls, not me. Half way through the class, in a room full of sweaty stepping gals, Freddy appeared and to tell me Annie is hurt.

We parted ways at the gym. He went to the emergency room with Annie. I went with Sierra to get Annie some clothes from home since Annie only had her underwear on. And rain boots with blood all over them.

Annie slipped off the couch and wacked her head on the stone fireplace. When I got home to grab Annie some clothes, I saw blood all over the fieplace hearth and the tile leading to car in the garage. Those scalp wounds really bleed.

Something Freddy did that I would not have done but is ingenious. He drove her over to the fire department that is down the street. He ran their door bell and banged on their windows till 10 big firemen came out and triaged her. In her underwear and rain boots. The firemen said she would need stitches in the ER.

In the ER, the doc gave her a coloring book, crayons and stickers. When Sierra and I walked into her ER room, Annie was in good spirits. Then the doc had to clean the wound. Annie did not like that. Nor did Sierra or Freddy. I was the last one in the room with Annie screaming bloody murder. That really sucked. I had to hold her so the doc could clean (hurt) her. Next the doc used a medical stapler to put 4 steel staples in her head. Ouch! I guess stitching is outdated.

Right after the stapling procedure the doc gave Annie crackers and apple juice. It was amazing to see her disposition change. Within seconds she was happy and smiling again. Just because of sugary treats. I wish I was happy that easily.

All is well with Annie. But Freddy and I feel like there is a black cloud over us. When Freddy tried to leave the house to take Annie to the fire department the house alarm would not arm. Something is broke with it. Then on the way to the ER our "new" minivan's air conditioner broke. It makes a loud clicking noise. And when we got homefrom the ER, I tried to use the garbage disposal, but it appears broke also.

Very strange.

SCENES FROM SUMMER VACAY

2010-08-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

MOMMY DEAREST

2010-07-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

For the past 5 weeks I have been working 40 hours a week at the hospital. Yup, full time. I haven't worked this much in over a year. It's killing me. The house is a disgrace. I hardly cook anymore. I haven't been to the gym in...oh...about 5 weeks. There is no balance in my life right now. It stresses me out. I like the money but I hate not having free time. Absolutely hate it. It makes me bitchy. I yell more about nothing. My yelling causes my oldest to make signs and tie a string across the stairs to bar me from going upstairs, I guess.

On her clever sign is a drawing of me, a drawing of stairs and the word NO. The stairs are circled and crossed out for greater effect.

This photo was taken after I apologized for being so witchy and hugged and kissed her till she was giggling.

Do you think she put the witches hat there on purpose? hmmm...I wonder.

SIERRA GRADUATES PRESCHOOL

2010-07-02T17:17:00.000-07:00

Sierra and her classmates sang and performed 10 songs for preschool graduation. Teacher Michelle handed them a diploma and formally shook their hands. Sierra gave us a yellow rose and art projects made throughout the year binded together in a book. We ate cake to celebrate. I loved every minute of it and have it all on video. I absolutely love the mini graduation gown. I can't wait to compare this picture with the one of her graduating college.

This event was a much needed change from the horrors of the beach last weekend.

FREDDY DISAPPEARS (PART TWO)

2010-07-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

Where was he for four hours?

He began his journey to Pomponio beach where he planned to meet me. On the way he saved a dungeness crab from being stranded on the beach by throwing him back into the ocean. He was almost to Pomponio beach because he could see it in the distance but there was a big rock in the way. A rock that he couldn't climb over so he decided to swim around it. He figured a sandy area would be right around the rock. He thrusted himself out into the waves and attempted to get around the rock.

There was no sand around the rock, just deep ocean water with a strong undertow. He couldn't find ground to place his feet on to catch a breath. The waves repeatedly slammed his body into the rocky cliffs. His arm was wrapped around his head to protect his skull from crashing into the rocks.  When the opportunity arose, he would wrap his arms around boulders that were covered with slippery, wet moss. But the ocean's undertow would always pull him back into the maelstrom. At one point he was able to hold onto a boulder to catch his breath for two full waves before the undertow pulled him back in.  This was a blessing in disguise, since the next wave was a cross wave and sent him to a cave with a sandy incline.

He scrambled up the sandy incline to safety and immediately went into shock from nearly drowning in the frigid Pacific. He hyperventilated for 15 mintues.  He tried to slow down his breathing and put his feet above his head. He was so nauseated from drinking copious amounts of seawater that he threw up. He estimated that he stayed in the cave for an hour trying to recover.  The tide was getting higher and the ocean water started to touch his feet in the cave. He knew that if he stayed there he would be trapped and possibly drown, again. He had to go back into the ocean.

By studying the waves he formed a plan.  When the wave came in it was about 3 feet high around the rocks and when it receded it was about one foot high.  He decided to jump back into the water when the wave was receding and hoped the undertow wouldn't drag him out again. He chanced it and made it! Ah....back on sand, not in a cave, or in water. But he still had to walk the 2 miles back to Pescardero Beach. And that was when we met.

During his adventures, he lost his wedding ring and favorite sunglasses. His legs, hips and arms were scrapped and bleeding. He was extremely nauseous and limping on the 2 mile walk back.  In the beginning of his journey he saved the dungeness crab.  He likes to think maybe that was why his life was spared because there really is no other explanation.

FREDDY DISAPPEARS (PART ONE)

2010-06-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

"Don't get yourself killed", said by me as I dropped my hubby off at Pescadero beach. The plan was to meet him 2 miles down the road at Pomponio Beach in 30 minutes. He wanted to take a run along the 2 mile stretch of sand that lies between the steep cliffs and the ocean. He said, "As a back up plan, if I don't get there in 30 minutes, it means I couldn't make it through and turned around. Meet me back at Pescadero Beach in one hour." He hopped out of the car and was headed to the sand. It was noon.

The girls and I drove the 2 miles to Pomponio Beach to await his arrival.  The girls soaked their dresses by playing in a large tide pool. They made friends with other children and started the trend of jumping in the tide pool in your clothes. This was funny until one mother noticed a jelly fish in the tide pool. All the mothers freaked out and the children were not allowed in the tide pool anymore.

I checked the time. 1PM and no Freddy to be seen. We packed up, changed clothes and returned to Pescadero Beach, 2 miles down Highway One.

We parked, jumped out of the car, walked to the beach, walked all around the beach and still no Freddy. Hmmm....back to Pomponio Beach. Same thing at Pomponio. Okay, back to Pescadero Beach.  Same thing again.  Each time we drove to a beach we would spend about 30 minutes there, playing, bathroom breaks, eating, drinking...basically wasting time till Freddy appeared.

Back to Pomponio Beach. The park ranger manning the front entrance of Pomponio Beach finally asks what I am doing. I tell him the story and he suggests that Freddy is stuck in an alcove because of high tide.  There is a place called the crack that the surfers hike down to get to the ocean between the beaches. He suggests that I hike down to look up and down the strip of sand to see if I spot him. By this point I am willing to try anything.

We park on Highway One. I unload the girls and safely cross the highway. The sun feels unnaturally hot.  My heart is racing. This feels wrong. We find the trail and walk downhill towards the ocean with my 3 year old in my arms. It is beautiful but I don't care. The dry yellow grass against the sparkling blue ocean on any other day is a blessing.  That day it was frightening and lonely.  The trail becomes steeper. I see a huge drop off and a thin plank of wood across the drop off. Nope. Can't do it. My five year could fall. I could fall with Annie in my arms. Nope. I say, "Your father might be dead but we are not killing ourselves looking for him."

It was 3:30PM. One last time to Pescadero Beach and then I was going to the Park Ranger to ask for help. Freddy had said his run would take only 30 minutes.  It was nearing 4 hours that Freddy had been gone. I nearly lost control. But I couldn't let myself do that. I had to keep it together in front of the girls. We parked, unloaded and hiked out to the beach to where the cliffs start.  I strode quickly across the beach unable to keep the slow pace of the girls. I was starting to panic. I left them far behind since my need to peer around the cliff wall was unbearable. I finally reached the edge of the cliff wall and there, in the distance, I saw him. He was wearing his green bathing suit and his blue shirt wrapped around his waist. Such sweet relief. So much stress was released and the tears came to my eyes.

VACATION AT MONTEREY BAY

2010-06-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

Extremely expensive but totally worth it. This place was Sierra's favorite part of the whole trip.

Under the "waterfall" at the aquarium.

Carousel on the Santa Cruz boardwalk.

The brave ones heading to a "big kid" ride.

The girl with flying yellow hair is holding on tight.

On Santa Cruz beach where anything goes: red winter fleece, bathing suit attire or both.

Ahhhhh....Highway One and letting loose.

Picture taken shortly before Freddy disappears for 4 hours on the beach. Story to follow on next post.

SIERRA'S ART

2010-06-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

Since having kids, I have learned exactly when my drawing ability stopped advancing. Age 4. Sierra is now 5 and her drawing and art creations FAR surpass mine. I wish I had a drawing of mine to compare to prove this point.

MERMAIDS

FAMILY, SUN AND TREES

I think she had help with this one. She had to, right?

FAMILY TEA PARTY TIME

2010-06-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's fun to be 5 again; Dressing up in sparkly clothes, painting your finger nails purple, having a tea party with your favorite stuffed animals and friends in a brightly colored bedroom. My hubby and I appear to be a little too natural at this.

ALONE WITH A TUB OF VASOLINE

2010-06-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

You may think this is a picture of Annie showing off her cute Elmo underwear now that she is potty trained. But no it isn't. Look closer.....

Doesn't her belly look oddly shiny? Can you see the gobs of goop on her legs? Heed my words. Never leave a 3 year old alone with a tub of Vasoline. We are on bath number umptillion to wash this oily stuff off. Yes, it's in her hair too.

JUST SINGING IN THE BATHROOM

2010-06-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

Too bad this one inherited my singing and cleaning abilities.

POTTY TRAINING GRADUATE

2010-05-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

She mastered it in one day. After only two accidents her little brain understood that the liquid and solids that come out of our bottoms belong in the big white shiny structure in the place called The Bathroom. She is a potty trainee genius in my opinion.

Sierra, my oldest girl, took one and half years to train. No joke. We started at 2 1/2 years of age and she did not master it till age 4. Lots of accidents, laundry washing and hanging out in the house near the little potty later, she picked it up. I clearly think it was my "new mothering/don't know what the hell I'm doing" issues messing up her little brain and not understanding the need for the waste of bodily things to go in a certain place at a certain time.  She clearly picked up on the reward system and mastered the art. She would only pee or poop in the potty for a treat. She picked this up on potty training day 3 and never forgot it. She is a genius of her own kind.

All in all I am so glad the diaper stage is almost over. We are still working on the night time potty training. A whole different can of worms. The concept of getting out of bed in the middle of the scary night to make the long trek in the dark to the toilet is really unappealing to Sierra.  Thank God they make diapers for big kids.

The thought of 3 more years of diapering makes having another child at the bottom of my To Do list. I'm afraid to say it is nearly OFF my To Do list. I'm not ready to let it go, but I sure as hell don't want to go throught it all again right now.

THE STORM IS OVER

2010-03-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Exactly 2 months ago on January 31st, I had anticipated many possible future changes. Almost all of the changes have taken place or are in process of occurring. Except for "the big one". Let me give you a hint. It starts with a B and usually takes around 9 months to grow.

Back in January, my oldest, Sierra, dropped our very expensive camera and broke it. Unknown to me at the time, this was actually a HUGE blessing in disguise. Are you aware of the technology improvements on digital cameras in the last 5 years? Yeah, neither was I. Our new and expensive camera is leaps and bounds better than that old piece of crap. The picture quality is clearer, the camera is lighter, and the icing on cake is the download time from camera to computer....1 minute! The old piece of crap took 30-40 minutes to download.  Sometimes the camera would automaticlly shut off during that 30-40 minutes and I would have to start the process all over. I heart our new camera.

Tonight I completed Sierra's Kindergarten application for the school down the street.  We have been assured that the school is not closing this year.  It may close next year depending on next year's budget, but who cares. This year it is open and we are attending. Go Kindergarten!

After nearly 8 years of service to the hospital for which I work, I finally got my desired position: part-time dayshift.  Day shift begins hella early in the morning, 6AM, but I'll get out at 2:30PM. I'm not super excited for the change but I believe it is necessary to be on the same schedule as my children.

So that is it. Everything is panning out as hoped back in January.  My hubby and I could really throw a wrench in the whole plan and get pregnant.....but not yet. Maybe not ever. We will see.

SPRING TIME SNOW

2010-03-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

Sacramento has numerous trees, bushes and fields that flower all year round. But Spring time is the ultimate climax. This is my 6th spring here and I am still flabbergasted at all colors; fields of mustard yellows, fruit orchards of blooms in white and pink, and bushes of yellows and purple.

But there are downfalls to the flowering plants. One obvious negative is allergies. When I first moved here, someone said," It isn't a question of if you will get allergies, it's a question of when. A major drawback of the trees in the following pictures is the distinct stench. A smell that is very similar to the scent of a man's love potion. Yes, the trees smell like semen. My male co-workers call them "cum trees". Isn't that lovely.

The wind blew the white petals off the semen trees last week. My girls ran around trying to catch the petals midair and exclaiming in delight that it was snowing. Yeah for spring snow!

I'M BA-ACKK

2010-03-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

Where and why does one disappear from the face of the "blogging" world for six weeks? Sickness and vacations. Starting out with my mother visiting and my little Annie getting stomach flu at the same time. Yes, my mother and everyone else in the house came down with some variation of the stomach flu the next week. Sorry Mom! My mom had to change her flight last minute or else infect a whole plane load of people with the "bug". Next was the deadliest cold of my 30's. This also was a gift given to me from my precious little Annie. This cold carried over to our yearly vacation away. I was healthy by the time I got home. A total of 2 weeks of blowing my nose every 5 minutes. Then it was off to Chicago to visit my brothers and sister. This brings us to now. I'm back and have a brand spanking new camera. Yee-ha!

So where does one go on vacation without children? To the Mojave desert. Nothing is stranger than the desert when on major cold meds. These are Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park.

WHAT'S THAT SMELL?

2010-02-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

The minivan's door easily slid ajar. Wafting through the opening came an odor that turns my insides out. It distinctly smells like a dirty diaper incubating in heat. My eyes and nose search up and down the interior of the minivan. I stop at the car seat. Yuck. It reeks. I remove the car seat and place it in the garage. My eyes don't see anything in the car seat that is causing the gut wrenching stink. I pull the material away from the frame and see the problem. Is that poop? Gag, gag, gulp. What the f**k? The $100+ carseat is useless to me now. I put it in front of our house with hope that someone will haul it away. I return from work and discover that hubby cleaned it up. The benfits to being married to a man with little ability to smell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My two daughters were soaking in the bath tub today when I hear, "Mommy there's a piece a poop in the water. HELP!!" My oldest is running around the tub trying to widen the gap between her and the poopie. My youngest is quietly playing in the water not caring about all the commotion around her. I scoop out poopie because I have to and resume to whatever is was that I was doing. Then I hear the second call. "Mommy, there's more poop!" I see my oldest daughter's wet naked body safely standing high up on the edge of the tub far away from the poopies. My youngest still playing in the water oblivious to the event. Guess who caused the event. Yes the silent one. Happy and oblivious to the world around her.

WHAT IS AN EX-PHISH FOLLOWER?

2010-02-08T01:28:00.000-08:00

After several crappy days of life, which I have come to the conclusion are directly attributed to work issues, I start to ponder "How did I get here?". How am I a wife of one and mother of two with a underwater mortgage in a city I never dreamed I would ever life in? I used to be a stinky hippie in the 90's that took off and drove across the country with only a journal, a handful of Phish concert tickets and crazy friends.

Now I am here.

This family picture is over 2 years old but my camera is still broke and I hate shopping.

Now that I'm here as a suburban mommy, I'm dead set on being the most I can be. I'm my child's soccer coach, active member and on the board of the MOM's club, and I'm super eager to participate in my daughters school...even to the point that homeschooling sounds reasonable. Woah! I think I need to listen to some Phish bootlegs and wear a homemade flowery dress......and contemplate my life path...tee hee...and mellow the f*ck out.

In other words, work sucked again tonight. Tomorrow is my Friday..Yeah.

YIN TODAY AND YANG BEFORE

2010-02-06T01:01:00.000-08:00

I've had a crappy day. There must be a storm cloud over my head following me everywhere I go. The title to this entry is refering to my last blog entry in which I stated,"Things are really good right now" or something to that effect. That was yang and today is yin. It's the universe balancing or else I am bipolar. Lots of bad news today, my co-worker's friend was murdered, stabbed to death in Mexico, a different co-worker left the lab tonight to have his heart checked in the ER (very convenient when working at a hospital), read in the newspaper today that the elementary school I was possibly going to register my daughter for kindergarten might be closing, my friend has double lung pneumonia and is in the ICU, an aquaintance has brain cancer, another co-worker has kidney cancer but is recovering, another co-worker is HIV positive, another co-worker's 16 year old son has bone cancer, and on the way home from work tonight our PT cruiser's power steering disappeared. However, the horrible noise that the car has been making is also gone (trying to be positive). Just checked our stocks and it looks like the market is in the pits too. I'm going to bed now. I wish for sweet dreams.

REMEMBERING JANUARY

2010-02-01T22:58:00.000-08:00

Somehow February is here. When did that happen? I will be 33 in two weeks. Gulp! How is it possible that time is speeding up? There is too much I want to do. Time needs to slowwww down. This is my birthday wish for the upcoming year. I like this part of my life and I want to enjoy it. Things are going well.

My little one playing at the park on a cloudy day.

Grandma and her pink ladies.

Hubby and I share sunglasses.

Practicing facial expressions, I guess.

PHOTOGRAPHY FUN

2010-02-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

untouched photo

embossed

watercolor

Edged

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

2010-01-31T22:25:00.000-08:00

Lately, I haven't felt like writing. My oldest daughter dropped our extremely expensive camera and, yes, it's broken. We have a camcorder that takes still shots but it takes longer to use and it does not rouse the energy in me to take photos. Photos give me ambition to write. Until we fix the broken camera or buy a new one my blogging days may be on hold. I really hope not because soon a lot of changes will happen that I would like to have written down. Some of those possible changes are:

This month, we have to pick the school where our oldest child will begin kindergarten. The odd thing is, there are too many schools to choose from. They are all different too. Charter schools, performing arts schools, home schooling, public or private schools are some of our options. Some schools are the traditional calender and some are year-round. I just found out the school down the street has kindergarten class's that begin on July 5th. Good thing I didn't book tickets to fly home to Michigan in July.

I have a good chance at changing shifts at work. Currently, I work 3-11:30PM, 28 hours a week. I love the hours and the amount but when my daughter starts kindergarten I would like to work when she is at school. Positions are seniority based so I have to wait till someone retires or dies before I can obtain a day shift. Rumor has it that a few people plan on retiring soon. However, some of my co-workers are 70. I guess one of them dying is entirely possible as a way to get my desired day shift. That would be weird.

We are almost positive we want another child. I ask hubby almost every day if he stills want another child. This is to be sure we didn't make this huge decision when we were buzzed on wine or blissfully soaking in the tub with the kids asleep after an exceptionally easy day. "Our girls were so cute today. Another one would be fun!" Yeah, right. When all hell breaks loose, such as, youngest daughter falls down the stairs and screams bloody murder and oldest daughter is tugging on my shirt begging for a lollypop, I ask myself if I could handle a third crisis at the same time. I think so. Then I think about a new mommy I met this week. She just joined the MOMs club I'm in. She has 4 boys. All the boys are age 3 and under. Yes, 2 are 5 month old twins. I witnessed both twins scream bloody murder at the same time. Which one do you pick up first? So I think, if she can handle four boys alone AND have the energy to get out to have some socialization I can handle one more. Yes, I want a boy this time. Now we just have to figure out how to make the baby be a boy. We have less than 2 weeks.

TAHOE PHOTOS

2010-01-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we met our fantastic, fun, adventurous, newly-wed friends, who we dearly love (this is for you Jenni, cuz you said you read this blog :) ), from Portland, OR at Lake Tahoe. I was more than terrified to make the drive through the Sierras. There were storms consistantly coming from the Pacific Ocean all week dumping feet of snow daily. I thought I was snow savvy since I am from Michigan, but I have learned that mountain snow is much, much different from Mid-West snow. Co-workers warned me of spin outs and semi's jack kniving on the highway. They said it would turn a 2 hour drive into 5 hours, easily. I prepared by purchasing $70 tire chains, gulp, and warning our friends that we might not make it, due to road restrictions or more accurately the vertiable thought in my head, due to death.

We were able to get there in no time between snow storms and travel through dream-like snowy scenes. My dear hubby shot over 200 photos of scenes like the one above. One would have been sufficient to me to capture the memory.

We spent the day playing in the snow and daddy had night duty to put the kids to sleep in our hotel room. I discovered them all crashed out on the King size bed when I returned from dropping our friends off.

Snow soaked boots. Yes, I had my girls wear rain boots.

I don't get to see snow often anymore. Could you tell?

Bare foot prints in the snow?

Brrr....that's cold! Especially when only donning a bath towel.

Is is snowing? Nope, it's the dirt on the car's window.

"Mommy I can't keep my eyes open!" The pitfall of not wearing sunglasses on a bright sunny day in the snow.

The sun set around 3:45PM while we were soaking in hot springs in Nevada.

We had a great little trip with our best friends (once again :) this ones for you Jenni). It made me realize I don't get out of Sacramento enough. We have a week set aside at the end of February to take a trip....somewhere. But till then it's back to the daily grind...grocery shopping, cooking, and working. Blah....

WHAT NOT TO DO AT A PARTY

2010-01-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

Last night the family and I attended a going away party for my friend at Hot Italian, which is an upscale pizza parlor.

We made our way into the party which was a standing party so everyone could mingle. This type of party did not register in my 5 year old's brain. She immediately and repeatedly asked where we sit. "Where are the chairs and tables? How do we eat? Where is the pizza? Can we eat I'm hungry!" We had not even greeted the hosts yet.

Finally we greet the hosts and the hostess offers my daughter a slice of pizza with 2 tiny pieces of basil on it. "Ewww! Yucky, I don't want this! Can I have just cheese?" It WAS just cheese. Uh-oh. I was starting to feel the stares and glances from the other people in the room.

Proof of daughter treating expensive chair like a carnival ride.

We made our way across the room to the only other child there in a room of 70 people. My 5 year old is outgoing and will talk to anyone. Especially someone that is in her height range. This other child ,who was a little girl, and my girls were immediate friends and decide to spin each other on the $5000 designer leather swivel chair. I didn't know it was designer nor did I know it was $5000 till much later. I just knew it kept my girls quiet long enough to have a conversation with the other girl's mom.

After 2 hours I had enough of being a spectacle. We graciously say our goodbyes to the new friends we made. We say farewell to the hostess. We track down the host and my 5 year decides to tell him that she really likes his white hair. I giggle because it is funny and I have no idea what to say to fix the situation.

______________________________

Today we attended a brithday party for my 5 year old's preschool playmate. Most of the children there were younger, between ages 1-3. Most of them couldn't talk well yet. My daughter can and loudly. I didn't feed the girls before we went because I thought there would be food served. There wasn't. There was a snack stand and my girls wanted everything from it and announced this loudly in case I couldn't hear them the first 3 times. Finally after a lonnnnng time, we had the birthday celebration with cupcakes. All 12 kids were sitting quietly eating their cupcakes at a table with all the adults standing in a cirlce around them. My daughter wasn't done with hers and looked up to me and loudly asked for another cupcake. She does this all the time. Even with mac and cheese. But especially with sweets. Then the room fell silent and I heard a dad say, "This kid doesn't appreciate anything." I was so ashamed. My daughter IS pushy and loud for cupcakes. She has horrible manners when it comes to chocolate. It makes her manic. I felt a little better when 2 minutes later other kids asked or cried for more cupcakes. Then I realized my kid is bigger, therefore can eat faster and can actually talk. So shove it daddy. You hurt my feelings.

Anyways, I've decided to pick up some kid manuals to read again. Any suggestions?

5 TIMES AROUND THE SUN

2010-01-15T23:22:00.000-08:00

5 years ago you entered the world and changed mine forever. I fell in love with you the moment I held you. Before that moment I never understood a parent's love for a child. Instantly, I understood. You were and still are my little bundle of joy.

I was so scared. I couldn't even cut your finger nails because I might cut your itsy bitsy finger. You caused me to read numerous baby manuals over and over. I actually marked on a chart every single time you peed or pooped for the first 2 weeks of your life and proudly showed the chart to your pediatrician to prove that I was not killing you despite my inexperience with babies. But yes, you were breast feeding healthily and had the dirty diapers to show it. However, inside I felt like you could die at any moment. Therefore, I could not take my eyes off of you. I couldn't watch television anymore. I only wanted to look at you.

You went with me everywhere. Until I had to return to work. You were 3 months and 1 week old. I cried in my microscope at work everytime I thought of you during our first week apart.

Today you are 5. You still love watching Caillou. You no longer love Dora, Elmo or Diego but Caillou can make you drop whatever you are doing and jump with joy and excitement. Everyday at 12:30PM, you ask if Caillou is on. It's a gamble. PBS is not the most consistant station and so sometimes it is and sometimes it's not.

Your artistic pictures have morphed from drawing family stick figures to endless rainbows. Circular rainbows and rainbow arches. Sometimes with an angel in the middle.

You are always pleased when you can wear a dress. Or anything Christmasy. You chose to wear your Christmas dress as your birthday dress today because that satisfys both requirements for a great outfit. I'm not even sure why I buy you pants since you only want to wear tights and dresses.

You detest having your hair brushed but insist on having braids in your hair. Braids require brushed hair. It's always a struggle with your hair. A few months ago you chopped off your hair with scissors. It is finally starting to look long again. The blonde alfalel sprout poking out of the crown on your head is finally starting meld with the rest of your hair.

Today you received a bike with training wheels and a Tinkerbell nightgown. You wanted to wear the nightgown and ride your bike to the park at the same time. We said, "Yes, you can. Because you can do anything you want on your birthday." But I felt like putting a disclaimer on that phrase. It's only applicable till you are 12. I don't want the cops bringing you home on your 14th birthday (yes, this disclaimer comes directly from my childhood messups....sorry mom!)

Today hubby and I sat back and had a glass of wine to celebrate 5 years. 5 years of keeping the kids alive. 5 years of staying sane, well, somewhat sane. And most of all, 5 years of family, love and happiness. Happy 5th Birthday.

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO

2010-01-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

Having a mini me around has opened my eyes to 2 facts: 1. I am weird and 2. I swear too much. She mimics me all the time. I know this is how children learn, by mimicking others, especially their parents.

If you see her bending over with her legs straight and both hands planted firmly in the ground at the grocery store, this is because I often stop what I am doing to do the yoga pose, downward dog, AT HOME.

If you hear her making unusual loud throat clearing noises, this is because I was horribly sick a few weeks ago and could not breath properly with all the mucus in my throat.

If she smells strongly like vanilla, this is because she found my Victoria Secret vanilla body spray and over did it.

If her eyebrows are colored pink, this is because she found my eye shawdow and watched me put it on my eyelids but mixed up eyelids and eyebrows on her own face.

If you hear her say "What the Hell?" or "Holy Crap!", this it isn't from me. She obviously learned those phrases at Preschool. Our school system is going to hell.

BRIDE OF GODZILLA

2010-01-12T23:49:00.000-08:00

We were playing at ArtBeast on a rainy morning a few days back, actually I was drinking coffee while taking photos and my girls were playing, when 2 other mommies came into the same room I was in. ArtBeast is a victorian house turned playhouse for children in midtown Sacramento. There are 3 floors each with a different activity, dress up, painting or ballet/dance, for kids and parents to enjoy. As I was saying, I was hanging out by myself with my girls when 2 other mommies and their kids walked in. One was a friendly outgoing mommy and the other was a dud. I was in a friendly outgoing mood and wanted to chitchat with them, undoubtably the side effects from the coffee I had just chugged. I get chatty on caffiene. The dud mommy keep sending me "get the hell out of our conversation" vibes and the friendly mommy keep talking to me. So thanks friendly mommy because you made me laugh when you said my daughter was godzilla's bride.

BABY #3

2010-01-12T01:19:00.000-08:00

This is supposed to be the week. The week my dear husband and I planned to create baby number 3.

Planning a pregnancy doesn't feel right to me. But this time around I want to do it right. Right, that is, by my standards.

Our first child was a surprise baby. Not sure why it was a surprise since we all have learned in sex-ed what happens when no birth control is used. duh!

Our second child was a "what the hell" baby. We had climbed the tall mountain of learning how to care for our screaming, pooping, time sucking creature #1 and we survived it. We were confidently rappelling down the mountain when the creature #1 hit the cute stage. It was fun. What the hell! Let's do it again!

Up the mountain we went again. But this mountain of learning was very, very, very high for creature #1 and #2 combined. We haven't really started rappelling yet. I feel like we rappel a bit and then somehow change pace and start to climb again.

So maybe this week isn't a good week. Or maybe it isn't a good idea to have #3. It's such a big decision to make. It will affect us for the REST OF OUR LIFES! Yikes. Crazy how one little decision could make a world of difference. To make baby#3 or not to make baby#3. Woah.

SACRAMENTO TRAIN MUSEUM GOODBYE PLAYDATE

2010-01-11T00:40:00.000-08:00

We met by accident one year ago at IKEA. I was looking for the MOM's club playdate but couldn't find it. I recognized you from library storytime and went up to you. We discovered that our daughters were born 1 day apart. Your father and I have the same and rare profession, Medical Technology. You and I were both raised in the midwest. You were very easy to talk too. We made plans to meet at the next library storytime.

Later on, we discovered that we both knew Carrie, the awesome Sacramento opera singer.

You always knew about the new stuff happening around town. Like Art Beast and KidzArt.

Now it is time for you to move to St. Louis. I hope we still stay in touch. And I really hope you make it back here because I have fun being with you and your little sweetie pie.

SPECIAL TREAT

2010-01-08T00:42:00.000-08:00

From the girl's bizarre reaction to the chocolate pudding, which was a generic brand not good ol' fashioned JELL-O, I would have thought it was "special" pudding. You know, the "special" brownies your friends would make in college that would render you silly. Like this:

And then, when all the fun and excitement of the "special" treat wears off, you feel like this:

But I made the pudding "nonspecial" and I ate some too. I didn't have nearly as much fun as they did.

DIET SIZED CONIDMENTS?

2010-01-03T14:07:00.000-08:00

HONEY, RED RASPBERRY AND KETCHUP

I wish I could stop analyzing things and just enjoy them. Such as the mini containers pictured above. These little condiment containers confuse me. Downsized containers to halt product (honey, jam and ketchup) waste or irresponsible usage of materials (glass, plastic and energy) to make a mini container. But if I take my analyzing brain out of the equation, all I see are super cute mini containers.

10 YEARS AND A DAY AGO

2010-01-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

This has been in the back of my mind all week. I really need to think through it and let myself dwell in it. Every year I cry. But not this year, not yet. My father-in-law's visit trumped everything else. Even my feelings. But now he is gone and I can think again.

10 years and a day ago my father passed away from esophageal cancer. He was only 62.

The memory of it is tucked away in the attic of my brain. Like an old chest, full of forgotten photo albums, hidden far in a dusty corner. I open the lid to search for the right one. I examine these photographs only once a year yet, I have unexpecting flashes of them at other times. I turn the page of my mind's album and remember.....

For months he was sick. My mother knew it but couldn't pinpoint the sickness. I distinctly remember her crying with frightened tense eyes. She confided in me. With tears streaming down her face she announces Dad is really sick but he will not see a doctor. She seems shocked and relieved at the same moment after the words leave her mouth. I brush her off.  I say she is over reacting. I am not ready to accept it.   In my head, I know she was right.

Flip.....

I had just finished my final exams. My family came from all over to attend my graduation at Michigan State University. The graduation ceremony had just ended and people are streaming from the arena.  The Decemeber air is crisp and the snow crunches below our feet. It is time to pack up the minivan to move me home.  Dad is struggling to lift my mountain bike into the back of the minivan. My brother has to do it for him. I chuckle to ease the uneasiness of the situation. I tell my Dad he is getting old.

Next photo......

I make my Dad apple pancakes for breakfast. We tavel to his Blue Cross/Blue Shield doctor's office. My father is perched on the exam table resembling a little boy. The doctor looks him over and said he appears jaundiced. I look closer in his eyes and see it too. His eyes are not white. The frightened blue eyeball peering at me is bobbing in a sea of yellow.

Flip......

Since it was Friday afternoon the doctor directs us to the local ER for blood tests.  We arrive at the ER and wait.  We sit and sit and sit.  We had not ate since breakfast. I run across the street to Burger King. There is a payphone. I call my mom at the library where she is working.  I ty to act nonchalant, like taking Dad to the ER is an everyday activity. She is not fooled a bit. Her nervous voice declares she is on her way. Her fears are surfacing and it is time to face them.

Next photo......

My Dad's hemoglobin result is only 4 g/dL. That is barely sustainable for life. He immediately receives 2 units of blood. Dad is wheeled away to see Dr. Larkin for an endoscopy. After the procedure, she invites my mom and I into her office. She looks grave. Her voice streams out steady and calm. Dad has esophageal cancer. He has a short time left.

Next photo....

My mom and I are standing over my father. He is lying on the exam table still groggy from the endoscopy's anesthesia. My mom's voice is heavy and low. She looks at him and tells him he has cancer. I stare at his chest unable to look him in his eyes. I can't bear to see the look in his eyes. I want to run away, But I can't. My legs are frozen. My whole body is frozen.

Next photo.....

We surround my father lying in his hospital bed with champagne bubbling in our cups. We are eagerly awaiting the new year to see the unknown effects of Y2K.  Midnight strikes and nothing seems amiss. The lights are still on and the scenes on the television are promising.  We all toast in relief to a happy new year.

Next photo...

My father's hand is cupped by my mothers. The heart monitor no longer has a lively rhythm. The beep is one steady tone. My mother sends me to the waiting room to tell the others. It's time to say good bye. I run to the waiting room and everyone rushes down the hall to his room. We hold hands and say a prayer to guide him on his way. I look up to the ceiling and think maybe he is looking down on us.

As I close the photo album in my head, I feel as though some pressure has been released. I place the photos back in the dusty chest and leave the attic till next year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-31T23:06:00.000-08:00

Two more hours left of 2009. In the next room, my father-in-law's methodical snores are disturbing the night like a leaky water faucet drip. Yes. The party is raging here in Sacramento. Upstairs, 3 sleepy heads are silently (thank god, snoring is a form of torture!) and happily resting. Only 2 more hours to go and already, everyone is crashed out. I'm the last one standing.

This abandonment from my family on New Year's Eve has left me time to contemplate the past, present and future. You know, where I was ten years ago, the state of my being now and how I wish things to play out in the future. Consequently, I have decided to compile a life to do list. Described more accurately as a list of 40 things I wish to accomplish before I am 40. This is not an orginal idea, yet a good idea in my opinion.

There it is posted on the right. However, I couldn't think of 40 items. Only 13 items are rivoting enough to make the list. I am pondering if this means I am highly satisfied at a young age of 32 or I have lost interest in accomplishing goals for moi. All my aspirations seem to be for my kids and those do not qualify for the 40 before 40 list. I feel dead as a doorknob, stiff as a board and not light as a feather. I need inspiration, a muse and ambition.
_________________________________

As 2009 comes a close, I wish to document my prespective on the state of things:

1. Only ~28% of people in US have a bachelor's degree.
2. Money is the greatest motivation of the people I know.
3. The people I know, relatively speaking, are a very rich group of people and declare recession when we do not have money to pay for entertainment such as cable tv, ipods, blue ray discs, movies and toys.
4. Happiness is the greatest motivation in Denmark and Sweden. Citizens of these countries make it a life goal to find happiness, not wealth.
5. Wealth does not bring happiness.

Therefore, I will brainstorm items to add to my list that bring happiness when accomplished.

Happy New Year to all and to all a good night.

A MEAL SET FOR A QUEEN

2009-12-28T09:37:00.000-08:00

When he was growing up, my dear husband ate seafood with his dad every year for Christmas. This year we had crab for Christmas Eve. One little problem though. We have only one crab cracker. What do we do, take turns with it? Ah no! My crazy husband strolls to the garage and comes back with 2 hammers and 2 wrenches. "Hmmm.....really?" I ask.

Oh yes.

ALL BY HERSELF

2009-12-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

Our oldest daughter really wanted to stay with Grandma after the Christmas festivites were over. We were ~~eager~~ unsure to oblige. Uncertain she would last through the night without getting homesick. Growing up, I distinctly remember numerous friends being escorted home by my sleepy parents in the middle of the night. When our oldest daughter begged to stay at Grandma's house over night this was the picture in my head: Grandma driving 2 hours in her bathrobe by moonlight to Sacramento to quell our 4 year olds fears. This picture is SO unlike the current situaion.

We received a phone message from the "big traveler" this morning. The "big traveler" called to talk to her sister. Not mom or dad, only her sister. I called back. She talked for a few minutes but was busy playing with her cousin whom I assume is also crashing at Grandma's pad. Grandma phoned back. The "big traveler" asked to stay for several days. Several days? Is it that boring at home? Okay fine. Stay. We'll see if she lasts 2 nights. No, I'm not "missing my daughter sick" yet. It's just really quiet around here.

On a positive note her sister is LOVING it. She can play with ALL the toys, meaning her sister's toys, of course. These are scenes of what happens when you leave your baby sister home alone:

"Finally! I can play with all my sisiter's prized possessions. Her puzzle, purple boa and sun glasses!"

What's going on in there?

Busted...playing in her sister's room.

Her sister's favoirte chapstick.

Her sister's favorite snowman ring.

Her sister's room is in shambles.

Ah, the puzzle again. Are you applying her chapstick too? Uh oh. I think I will have some ~~covering up~~ cleaning to do before the big traveler gets home.

FAMILY CHRISTMAS 2009

2009-12-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009

2009-12-25T05:06:00.000-08:00

NAVEL ORANGES, BLOOD ORANGES AND MANDARINS

2009-12-24T16:36:00.000-08:00

You may be wondering what we did with all the oranges. We spent 2 days laboring over oranges. Peeling, sorting, cutting, juicing, cooking, baking and boiling oranges. And, of course, displaying oranges in a nice wicker basket:

My dear husband peeling the mandarins.

Pectin and many cups of mixed oranges.

My first time boiling orange juice. The smell was not appealing.

Jars ready to srtore orange marmalade.

Hours of juicing and juicing and juicing......

A PACKAGE IN THE MAIL

2009-12-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

My mom sends a big package of Christmas gifts every year for the girls.  The package always pleasantly surprises me. A few years back my mom loudly announced that everyone will be getting money as gifts because she has too many grandkids. This is when the grandkid total was less than 10. Now, the total is 12 and the rumor has it that that number will be increasing. No, I'm not pregnant.....yet.

Recently on the phone, my mom mentioned that she would like the kids to open the gifts from her before Christmas. The reason is so her gifts do not get mixed up with Santa's gifts.  We gladly abided by her wishes.

I thought photographing the girls opening the gifts would make fun pictures to send to my mom. Well, it didn't go as smooth as I had imagined in my sleep deprvied brain. The camera's flash was not working properly and the lighting was poor. But the pictures are reminiscent of photo's taken in the 80's with a film camera. Remember those? The ones that gave you 24 shots per film and no viewer on the camera to check the quality of the photo.  To develop the film, we had to drive to the store, drop it off and wait. Sometimes we had to wait 2-3 days. And then, we would drive back to the store to retrieve the developed photos just to discover all the Christmas pictures of Johnny opening his gifts are blurry.

I must decribe the "old way" of photography so when the girls read this in the future they are aware of how hard life used to be in the 1980's. Tee hee.

The presents are under the Christmas tree.

The youngest gets to go first.

"Mama can you help me?"

"Keep trying!"

She can see the gold.

Success!

But wait, there is more packaging around it.

"Mama can you open it?"

"Mama look!"

"I love it!"

Elmo and friends in a Christmas book! Oh My!

She is a pro at ripping open gifts now.

My favortie 80's like picture with the same blocks that I played with in the 80's.

Markers!!

Her first video game.

A very special doll that she has named Dolly (so creative, eh?).

STRANDED, BUT WE HAVE ORANGES

2009-12-21T11:05:00.000-08:00

One week ago while I was working in the laboratory's chaotic blood bank, my dear husband called to inform me the "new" minivan had died. The kids and he were stranded at the farm. Then the line died. It was 5PM.

What ensued was a game of phone tag and the line dying after really important questions.

"Do you have access to the farm house?" No answer.

"Have you and the girls had any food since lunch?" No answer.

"What is the address of the farm?" No answer.

If you stand on the porch near the house you might get cell phone reception otherwise you have to converse down the road near the mailboxes.

And to add to the stress, inbetween my husbands phone calls a co-worker was phoning and crying about not getting a day off of work for the Christmas holiday but she already bought her plane ticket to Mexico.

Then we get the phone call from the OR that a patient in sugery needs blood asap. We check the patient's history in the computer. The patient has 2 antibodies which means the surgeon won't be getting any blood soon so the surgeon better be careful with his scalpel.

Back to my dear husband. I eventually call AAA and discover they can't help since my husband is not on the plan. I call my manager to get permission to leave early and borrow jumper cables from my co-worker. I finally leave at 8PM.

When I arrive at the farm it is dark, except for the porch light. It is the country so dark is an understatement. It is so dark I can barely see my hand in front of my face. I leave the PT Cruiser's lights on while I walk up to the house and try to open the door. It's locked. I knock. No answer. I knock harder and then...

The door opens and I am blasted with heat. Everyone is sleeping.  My eyes cross over the pizza box on the floor. They had food and heat. I feel relieved yet still immensley stressed from work and imagining they were cold and hungry.

We decide to attempt jumping the minivan's battery. But how do we open the hood? And where is the battery located? We use the PT Cruiser'sc headlights to illuminate the car manual. We read more to learn how to connect the jumper cables in the right order. The jumper cables feel like a tangled ball of christmas lights ready to ignite.

We start the PT cruiser and no sparks fly. Whew. But the minivan will not start. Crap.

We call a tow truck. They say they will be here in a hour. I go inside to eat my packed dinner that was for work. It's 10PM.

My dear husband stays outside to pick more oranges. He uses the PT Cruiser's headlights to see.  Yes, it happens. He drains the battery of the PT Cruiser. We now have 2 dead cars and one tow truck on the way.

I decide to try to rest and retreat to the bedroom. My husband decides to wait for the tow truck and sits near the front room window.

I hear the truck come and am happy that we are getting help. My husband goes outside to tell him the situation.  After a while, my husband comes in and gives me an update. The tow truck is stuck in the ditch on the side of the driveway. His boss is on his way to tow him out. It's now 11:30PM.

Eventually, the boss comes to save us all. Plus he has some great battery jumper machineroo to start both of the cars. My co-worker who called earlier in the night in a crying fit, got her day off. And the patient in surgery is still alive. We got home at 3AM with 600 pounds of oranges.

OVEN ROASTED ZUCCHINI

2009-12-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

Zucchini has always been one of those mystery vegetables to me. Those vegetables that always seem really popular when in season and are present in a lot of recipes. Vegetables like zucchini, fennel (or is this an herb?), jicama, artichokes (not a mystery to me anymore), leeks, etc.

My husband loves zucchini. But his way of cooking it has never won me over to enter the "zucchini eating club".

But when we ended up with oodles of it from a family members garden last summer I had to eat it. My father taught me never to throw out food. It's wasteful.

That's when I tried it oven roasted. It's awesome. I am a member of the "zucchini eating club" now.

All you need is olive oil, washed zucchini cut to your liking and a pan. Heat oven to 400F. Coat zuchinni with olive oil in a bowl. Toss with oil, salt and pepper. Spread into pan and place in oven.

Roast for 10-20 minutes depending on how soft you want it. Longer makes it softer. Eat as is or toss with pesto if you have any on hand. It is delicious either way.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR CHRISTMAS COOKIE DECORATING

2009-12-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

Step #1 Start early in the morning. (Early morning, for me. I work the PM shift).

Step #2 ~~Clean~~ Lick all ~~dishes~~ sugar before proceeding to the next step.

Step #3 Assemble the ~~supplies~~ sugar.

Step #4 Taste test the ~~supplies~~ sugar.

Step #5 Assess the flavor quality.

Step #6 If quality is proper, proceed with cookie decorating.

Step #7 Co-decorater must also taste test the ~~supplies~~ sugar.

Step #8 Quality assurance 10 minutes later to assess the flavor quality.

Step #9 Wahoo! Give yourself a standing ovation!

Step #10 Repeat steps 1-9 if you have the energy of a 4 year old.

TEDDY IS FOUND

2009-12-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

The last time "Teddy" was around was June 2009. "Teddy" is his name and he is my 4 year old's best friend. He disappeared soon after this picture was taken in June.

I looked everywhere, as you can imagine. At one point, I was so sick of hearing about "Teddy" being gone and feeling guilty that I cleaned out every toy box and searched every possible place that teddy could be. Teddy was gone.

We tried to get her excited about a new teddy. Didn't work.

I suggested that Santa would bring a new Teddy. Except I couldn't find the same teddy in the stores. And she said she already has Teddy's sister, mother, fathter and brother. Uh oh.

Then yesterday her cousins spent the night and used our pack n play. Lo and behold Teddy was hidden in the pack n play for 7 months. Yup. The last time we used the pack on play was for our stay on the Cherry Farm back in June.

Teddy's back and we are never going to let him out of the house again. Not even after she is 18.

DECEMBER=CHRISTMAS TRAIN

2009-12-05T23:06:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I bought a super duper awesome train set at a black Friday sale. The memory of a sleep deprived determined mommy (me, of course) lugging the enormous train box through the mobs of shoppers at 7am is.....well.....a vivid memory.

Now, the train set signifies the begining of the Christmas season and of the kids continuously asking, "Can you fix the train?" since it is derailed just by eye sight, according to my 4 year old.

Me: "Now, don't touch it. Just let the train go around the track."

30 seconds later

Them: "Mommy, can you fix the train!!"

Me: "Who touched it?"

Them: "All we did is look at it."

Right.

30 seconds later

Them: "Mommy, can you fix the train!!"

And I do.

The noise it makes when the conductor voice says,"All aboard!" sends my 2 year old into hiding behind my legs and muttering, "I scared mommy. I scared." Oh yes. These are the rewards of waiting in line for 30 minutes at 6:30AM with hundreds of other determined and crazed Christmas shoppers.

FUNNY HOW I CAN LAUGH ABOUT THIS NOW

2009-12-05T00:51:00.000-08:00

Hey! What's that warm wet sensation on my thigh?

Did I spill some of my latte?

Oh no. That's just the consequence of the cheap diaper my 2 year old was wearing when perched on mommy's leg.

O.C. SAY CHEESE

2009-12-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

Finally, my photos have been released from camera captivity and are ready to be displayed. I am ready to recall the past week's memories and stories to write down on the family blog. S. is at preschool and O.C. is happily playing by herself. My winter cold is subsiding and my energy is returning. The timing is perfect. But wait, why do I have no open eyed pictures of O.C.? Please be my witness. Out of 300 pictures this is the cream of the crop:

THANKSGIVING 2009! (sniffle, sniffle, cough, cough)

2009-11-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

This year I was not scheduled to work. We were invited to celebrate and have dinner in Sparks, NV with extended family. All we had to bring were 3 apple pies and chicken nuggets. Easy as pie. We didn't make it. My amazing streak of healthiness was broken and my body succumbed to a virus. A strong virulent hacking virus that I am convinced is a flu or at least in the same catergory as the flu.

Thanksgiving was ruined.

Until I salvaged it with a precooked Thanksgiving boxed dinner from Safeway. Oh yes. I orginally went to the store for dayquil. I returned home with a $39.99 box of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and a huge turkey. Enough food to serve 8. All I had to do was warm it in the oven. Too easy. And it was delicious.

Then we watched Charlie Brown's Thankgiving Show and drank Ghiradelli Hot Cocoa in front of our fireplace in a cuddle puddle on our couch. It ended up as a fantastic lazy Thanksgiving Holiday.

TONIGHT IS GONNA BE A GOOD, GOOD NIGHT

2009-11-21T22:42:00.000-08:00

After all the endless years F. and I have spent in Sac town, we finally have "couple friends" that we both dearly love. We spent the evening wine tasting, playing Pictionary and eating yummy food with a bunch of great people. Thank you to the divine forces that led these lovely people into our lives.

STILL REMINISCING......

2009-11-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

The camera is moody today. The recently captured photos are trapped inside and will not transfer to the computer. Not even when I begged it. I tried too many times today. I give up. Tomorrow it will be better. I hope.

To think positively about the situation, I am glad that this happened. This has caused me to dive into the storage drive that my dear husband insists we have to backup important files, such as photos. In doing this, I have discovered a few things:

1. The storage drive needs a major organizational overhaul.
2. I have more photos saved in the last 3 months, since I started this blog thing, than in the last 4 years of my girl's lives.
3. I have no clue where the videos are stored or if they are even stored on the drive.
and most importantly
4. I need to hire a Personal Secretary to get through life.

Owning and caring for stuff such as automobiles, cameras, bikes, major appliances, computers, printers, CDs and iPods is a career in itself. I'm tired of it all. Especially today. I just wish my pictures would download or upload to my computer. Whatever the right word is.

Here we are 2 years ago. O.C. didn't have hair for the first 18 months of her life. Everyone thought she was a boy. Often, I was too exhausted to correct them.

REMINISCING.

2009-11-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

4 years ago......

2 SIGNS OF GROWTH

2009-11-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

Today is memorable for two reasons. One is happy and one is sad.

#1. O.C. poo poo'd in the potty. It was her decision. No persuasion by me. I didn't even know what was going on. I love this form of potty training! There should be a book written about it.

#2. S. has outgrown the foot stools in the bathroom. She can brush her teeth at the bathroon sink with her feet firmly planted on the blue fuzzy rug. This is a momentous growth step. Not unlike moving out of the crib and into a toddler bed. I can see it now...soon she will lock herself in her bedroom and blast her music so no one will bother her. She will listen to "devil music" and talk to boys that I haven't met yet. Wait, that's what my mom used to say about me. But I was at least age 14. whew! I have a while before we enter that stage.

PLAYING AGAINST GIANTS

2009-11-15T01:18:00.000-08:00

Soccer season is almost over. We have spent nearly every Saturday morning since September, ~~cheering on~~ yelling at our little soccer player to, "Get the ball and put it in the goal!" Some of the soccer player's parents even go as far as bribing their child. For instance, I have heard:

"Little Susy, if you kick the ball you can have a sip of Gatorade."

"Johnny, remember, if you score we will go to Taco Bell (or McDonald's)for lunch!"

My hubby takes hundreds (no I'm not exaggerating) of pictures of the game while I'm ~~coaching~~ yelling at the team. He uses his super long zoom lens to photograph from the sidelines. We have lots of crystal clear pictures of what is really happening on the field. As you know, U6 soccer is a game of major bunch ball. We rarely can see who is actually kicking the ball in the middle of the chaos. Not until it is launched from the group and the group disperses can we have a clear view . Often we do not know who scores until someone does a victory dance down the field. Sometimes we have 2 players dancing for victory but only one goal was scored. Sometimes the players look to the coaches to tell them which player actually scored. If they ask I tell them they did it. It makes them happy and probably confuses them, but oh well.

This particular team we played in the pictures was twice our size (not exaggerating again). It is to my great pleasure to see my daughter running over a "giant" player and towards the ball in this great photograph above. No one was hurt in the game, only our team's parents and coaches egos when we lost 9-0.

We have one more game to go. This year was my first year coaching. I had expectations that were not met from day one and major frustrating moments with the ten 4 year olds. Fortunately, I think the good moments out weigh the bad moments. I think I will sign up again for another year of coaching. GO STARFIRE!

ROCK N ROLL

2009-11-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

WORDS I WISH NOT TO FORGET

2009-11-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

We had a bookstore playdate today with a friend and her 2 year old daughter who is one day younger than my O.C. We have not seen each other since August. It is November. Three months has passed and I was surprised to see how much her daughter had grown. And she was talking with clearly spoken words. And her hair had grown quite a bit. Only 3 months. Makes me wonder, do I age that fast too?

Before time races on and I forget the fun things O.C. says I must write them here. Like when she said a few weeks ago. "I weally wike my wed wowwypop." I made her say it over and over and over. It still makes me smile.

Or when she says, "I no know" and her monotone, "Okay" and "Yeaaaah". Lately, we have been listening to Aqua's "Come on Barbie let's Go Party" song. S. can almost sing along with the whole song.

"Life in plastic, it's fantastic!"

I can't remember any of the cute phrases she said when she was 2. Now it's,"knock, knock. Who's there?"

WHAT IS THAT ON THE WALL?

2009-11-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

A HAND SHADOW DOGGIE!

ME TRY, ME TRY!

CHORES

2009-11-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

The time has come for S. to have some chores. This is because she ASKED for chores. Maybe all the cleaning I do is rubbing off on her or maybe she is bored. I don't know and I don't care. I love the fact that she wants to help out.

One of her chores is keeping the shoe closet organized. Finding a pair of shoes in the shoe closet can last an eon. It is one of my pet peeves. Especially when I am running late for work. Maybe we have too many shoes. Maybe we need a bigger closet.

S. organized the shoes and made a sign for Daddy since he often throws his shoes in the closet instead of placing them on his shelf.

I will interpret for you. It says: "Stop putting shois on the ground."

S.'s organized shoe closet.

COUSINS

2009-11-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

This morning F. has another job interview. Whenever he has an interview I am hopeful and optimistic about our future in Sacramento. The feeling is the same as when I buy a lottery ticket and dream about all the things I could do with 1 million dollars.

But this time I feel different. I am not excited for his interview. Not because of the job but because I had too much fun being with family this past weekend. If F. gets this job then my chances of moving closer to family are slim. And then my girls won't grow to know their midwestern cousins and I won't have opportunities to take pictures like these:

Sisters

2009-11-09T21:17:00.000-08:00

My sister K. departed today. I miss her so much. Nothing is comparable to a sister's love. She flew all the way across the US to visit me for 4 days with her 2 girls. This may not seem like much for the average Jane but my jaw dropped opened after hearing all the activities she participates in and the activites she manages for her kids and she still found time to visit. Her resume would include: Polish linguist, genealogist, vacation planner, chef, secret shopper, neighborhood babysitter, The Grips band groupie, soccer mom, track mom, dance mom, baseball mom, basketball mom, drama mom, band mom, perpetual washing machine and much more. AND she doesn't drink coffee. Crazy, I know.

SISTERS in the 90's.

MOMS in the 00's.

HOW TO EAT AN ARTICHOKE

2009-11-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

One of the few vegetables my girls like to eat is an artichoke. This is great, except for the fact that they are often expensive (not sure why since they are grown in California), dangerously pointy and require lots of direction and guidance from Mommy to eat one.

I taught the girls to place the leaves on the table after they take their nibble. After watching O.C. carefully place each artichoke leaf in a row on the table, I was wondering if she has a bit of OCD in her. Or it could just be that she is 2. Time will tell.

4 THINGS

2009-11-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

Things I have come to love and embrace:

1. S. photographing everything in the house. Even her brand new tights. It gives me a better understanding of how small she really is when I download the pictures from the camera and discover 50 shots from her prespective. Like a photo of my knee and one of my butt.

2. The walk/bike ride to the park through the nature preservation area in my neighborhood. It is the longer route to the park but I always am giddy when the jackrabbits are startled and race pass us faster than a shooting star.

3. All the stay at home mommies and daddies that meet every morning at the neighborhood park. I used to be too shy to talk to them and felt too exhausted to strike up a conversation. Now, they are as familiar and normal as the park's swing set and make me feel like I live in a small town instead of a town that is just shy of 1 million people.

4. Toting the camera around to take pictures and capture everyday moments such as this one.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2009!

2009-11-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hanging out in Sacramento's Midtown on Halloween.

My ladybug and hubby enjoying the sunshine.

I love the gentle autumn rays illuminating her hair.

Fred and the girls carved a swan pumpkin.

Are we ready?

Did someone hand out microwaveable popcorn?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN???

2009-11-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

My little black cat and big bag of jellybeans.

Just cause were girls doesn't mean we can't like.....

2009-10-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

bright red fire engines and

and big fire hoses.

Jumping on a Fireman's bed. This one can be checked off of her Life List.

Is he really going to climb up there for us?

Yup!

The best group of Mommies and kids in my life!

I Scream for ICE CREAM

2009-10-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

Liz's 4th Birthday Party

2009-10-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter LOVES Christmas. What 4 year old doesn't, right? But do all 4 year olds borrow Christmas books from the library in October? I play along and read about jolly old Saint Nick and sing Christmas carols year round. Halloween has not had it's fame yet and I am burned out on "O Christmas Tree".

Today she asked if a worm is a boy or a girl. I wasn't sure how to answer, she stumped me on that one. I said, "Neither". Then she says,"Oh I get it, a worm is not a girl or a boy. It is just like Santa." huh?

TYPHOON WEATHER HITS HOME

2009-10-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

We had warnings for days before it came. I assumed the weatherman was overly excited for the change in weather, because his job must be so monotonous in an area like Sacramento: "Tomorrow will be cloudless and sunny. And the next day will be sunny with no clouds and the next day....." So when I heard the weatherman say a storm from a typhoon in the Pacific was coming in a week I rolled my eyes.

Our little tree had never endured typhoon like winds before.

Was someone trying to break in or was it just the wind?

Rain, rain go away!

Check out my umbrella with the duck head handle.

Humidity + Annie's hair= Curls

October Photos

2009-10-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

New hair style after Sierra retired from salon work.

Soccer practice and it's not 100F.

Daddy, you are so, so tall!

Cousins and sisters make a great cuddle puddle.

Where's Uncle Jacques?

When Daddy Does the Dishes

2009-10-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

The night of our 5th anniversary I had to work. When I got home the kitchen was spotless. Freddy cleaned it all; the counters, the sink was empty and the stove top immaculate. When I rounded the corner into the heart of the kitchen I saw this:

We ran out of dishwasher soap so he improvised. I love you Freddy.

Goldie Locks

2009-10-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

"Please run upstairs and brush your hair. Get all the snarls out." Said by me to my 4 year old daughter before driving to SF to see Grandma.

Ten minutes later, she gracefully descends the stairs with straight freshly brushed blond locks. All the way around the head brushed. No snarls to be seen.

Later that evening, after our day trip to SF, I found this:

She is very good at following directions.

Four and a half is not a baby.

2009-10-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

Today I took the girls to McDonald's for a healthy lunch. The girls hardly ate any of their breaded grease nuggets and grease sticks before they both wanted to climb and crawl on the outdoor play structure.

Soon after, we were joined by a few other kids in the play area. Two of them where shouting, "stinky baby, stinky baby". Their shouts didn't appear to be towards anyone but my daughter faces them, with her hands firmly placed on her hips and shouts, "I am not a stinky baby, I am four and a half". They didn't seem to hear her, so she stomps up to them and repeats,"I am four and a half. I am not a baby." Then she points to her sister and says, "She is a baby. She is only 2."

Two roads merged into a yellow wood.

2009-10-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Freddy,

Remember us without responsibilities? We looked like this:

We were so relaxed. We spent our money lavishly on Starbuck's Chais and Naoh's bagels every morning before we embarked on our daily commute to Alameda from the Hills. Bagel and butter for you, pumpkin cream cheese for me. Our skin was tan and our cars, mine a Buick, yours the Corsica, well traveled. Neither of us owned a daily planner to guide us through each hour of our life. We were spontaneous with last minute trips to the beach or the mountains.

A weekend vacation to Yosemite became the changing point. It was a planned trip. Maybe that should have warned us, like a road construction sign blinking in neon yellow lights "Watch for bump in the road". In Yosemite your road and my road merged into a yellow wooded hiking trail. A memorable hike to the top of Nevada Falls where the hazy sunshine appeared as it does in a dream turned the falling snow into crystals. We had to choose our road back. The one less traveled thus more bumpy or the road that bends into the undergrowth?

I love the choices we made however bumpy they may have been these past 5 years.

My life has been pretty good with you around.

I think I'll keep you, my buddy.

Happy 5th Anniversary.

September=Recreational Soccer

2009-09-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Playing in the back of the minivan.
Green, green grass that needs to be mowed so our 4 year old players cease falling every 2 minutes on the field.

Enjoying the FIRST soccer game of many that will be played in our family.

What was your favorite part of today's game?

The snacks.

30 days and 30 minutes of....

2009-09-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Walking.

Back in the day, I used to run miles for soccer, endless sprints for tennis and hundreds of sit-ups for volleyball. Now my greatest athletic aspiration is meager walking.

I didn't make this goal up on my own. I am a faithful follower of Dr. Oz (go Oprah!) and Dr. Roisen (RealAge). They claim that walking 30 minutes every single day is all you need to do for a healthy heart. Why bust my butt and do more?

Begin date: 09/25/2009
End date: Hopefully turns into a good habit
Thus far: 3 days straight

Pro's:
1. Actually using my Cal Fit membership and not throwing money out the window
2. 30 minutes of freedom from crying and whining
3. 30 minutes of day dreaming or magazine reading (still need to get that iPod set up)

Con's:
1. Kids contract highly contagious virus from the other snotty kids, I eat their left overs that day and then contract the highly contagious virus, then I call in sick to work (maybe this should be in the Pro section)
2. Herding kids through deadly parking lot to and from vehicle while yelling at Annie to stay close to Momma. Annie runs freely between large cars since my arms are laden with bags holding necessities such as keys, diapers, reading material, food and water. Parking lot feels a lot like the Atari game Frogger.
3. Guilt for driving to gym just to walk.

Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood, In Your Neighborhood....

2009-09-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I opened the front door to retrieve the Sunday Bee from the front porch. There was no Bee, since Fred had got there first, and I noticed one of our lovely, expensive, cherished black METAL fold up chairs missing. Four chairs used to be neatly arranged on the porch and someone took only one of them. So that left an empty spot in the circle of never used, neglected, METAL black chairs on the front porch.

I nonchalantly stated to Fred, "Oh, someone took one of our chairs." Inside I was secretly disappointed that they didn't take all four of them. Why only one? Please, please come back and take them all.

Well this prompted my sick Freddy, who is getting over Swine Flu, to take action. He started calling up neighbors to vent about our beloved stolen chair and persuade people to take action and join the home owners association board to remedy the downturn our neighborhood has taken.

One neighbor, Joe, took a liking to Fred. He sympathized with him and they talked about the neighborhood. And well, Joe, stopped by a bit later to deliver a gift for our girls. He haded over a bag with 4 new boxes of barbies. Odd for a man to just have a few barbies lying around in his house. Then the truth came out. He collects them and has over 3,000 barbies. The ones he gave us are just "extras".

MY FIRST BLOG

2009-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

So I did it. I created a blog. I wish to capture some daily moments and document them here mainly for me, but it would be lovely if you want to look too. So how do I post a picutre....hmmm......