Recharging

I need to recharge and to do so, I need to go to a place that is like this picture. This is Kibbie Lake in Yosemite. It is on the very edge of Yosemite and you have to backpack 5 miles at 7000 feet to get there. The hike is part of the recharging. The monotonous foot after foot is good for the soul.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to get there yet as the road is closed and it would require about 10 more miles of backpacking to make it back to Kibbie.

But not to worry....Cherry Lake is accessible and will do the trick!

Movie Reviews

I saw two movies this weekend: Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Baby Mama. Both got a thumbs up review!

Baby Mama was pretty funny...at first I did not buy into the blonde being the surrogate because she seemed to old for the role. I expected a younger trashy blonde to play the role. But she was so good I got over it fast.

Forgetting Sarah was really funny too. But I did have a problem with the multiple occurrences of full frontal male nudity. Ick....it was not necessary! Just be ready to close your eyes! And don't take kids!

Prince Charming

My 5 year old nephew is the most charming kid I have ever met. The other nite at dinner he told me the following story:

Jack says: "I don't know who I should marry..."
I say: "What are you choices?"
Jack says: "Sophia or Amara."
Uncle B says: "What do you like about both of them?"
Jack says: "Sophia is so very beautiful.....and Amara likes pokeman.....I just don't know which one to marry!"

The Painter Who Loved Chickens - Olivier Dunrea

A friend recommended the children's book, The Painter Who Loved Chickens. It is a delightful story of painter whose dream is to raise chickens! It is really a story about ME! Change the title to The Ethics Professional Who Loved Chickens! It just might be the motivation I need to leave the rat race and change my career to chicken farmer. I wonder if chicken farmers get stock options?

http://www.amazon.com/Painter-Who-Loved-Chickens/dp/0374457085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209487603&sr=1-1

Feeling the Love

Yesterday morning, I went out to run some errands. And when I got home and started walking up the driveway towards the open garage -- my dog and my chicken came out to greet me, side by side! Kid you not! I swear that Betty thinks she is a dog. I just wonder what she thinks about the other dogs not laying eggs.

Kids to work day

I work for a GREAT company. We had kids to work day on Thursday and it was an outstanding event. The kids played games, learned about the environment, heard from one of our founders (and got to ask him very personal questions), watched really fun videos about that company, were fed great food, played outside in bounce houses and got tons of freebees!

Gracie was my special guest and she LOVED it! Drew missed out by choice!

A little help for the underdog please....

ok - so maybe it is the "underpenguin"....

I love this story! This is Pierre a 25 year old (ie elderly) penguin who started losing the feathers on his hiney, which led to an "embarrassingly exposed, pale pink behind." And it left him shivering because he is really just a scrawny bird under those feathers that are suppose to keep him warm. Think Betty with no feathers. He would shiver and shake.

First they tried a heat lamp and then the decided to make him a customized wetsuit. He loves it and frolics in the chilly water with his buddies.

Just goes to show...all species and age ranges can benefit from a little accommodation.

A heart story....

Last week we were going to the art supply store to get supplies for Drew to do a project on the Nile River. On the way there, Gracie asked if she could get some stuff. I thought about it for a second and said "no" we have plenty of art supplies at home. She protested and said she really wanted to make a model of a heart using a styrofoam ball cut in half! I changed my mind in a split second and said "ok". But we discussed it a little more and talked about how she would need to do research to make sure it was correct and she responded that "yes" that is what she had planned to do.

Here is a pic of the final project and the paper she wrote to go with it.

The Heart

by Gracie

The heart is an organ in your body. It pumps blood in your body so you can live. Your heart has a beat. Before it beats, your heart fills with blood. Your heart does this all the time unless you are dead.

Your heart is made of four different blood filled areas, each of these areas are called chambers. There are two chambers on each side of the heart.

Here are some facts to keep or make your heart better:

* Don’t smoke
* Don’t drink a lot of alcohol
* Exercise
* Eat healthy foods

*****

This was NOT for a school assignment - this is just a project she thought up on her own.

To get the full effect of this story, you need to have this very important piece of data: Gracie was just diagnosed with dyslexia. What this tells me is that underneath that difficulty with reading and spelling is a little girl who is bright and creative beyond what we can understand. She sees the world a whole different way then the rest of us. And as I learn more about dyslexia, I wish I could get a view into how she sees it, because it is fascinating!

Stay tuned to my blog as I will be educating you all on dyslexia so that we can raise the awareness of this learning difference.

Water balloon fights!

I know it looks warm but we had a chilly weekend of 60 degree weather. But that did not stop the kids from having a water balloon fight!

Funny Faces!

Gracie got hold of my camera at hockey the other nite and took pics of people making funny faces! Crazy girl!

Cookie Time

My nephews and niece came over yesterday. One of the fun things we did together was make cookies. Meemers was totally into it!

How much wood does a wood chuck chuck?

Lumberdog.....

This weekend was the weekend we all played axe men. This was our first attempt at going out into the woods and hunting down our own firewood. We bought a $20 which allows us to cut down 2 1/2 cords of wood. Once we got our permit we went out to find downed trees - you can't just go out in the forest and cut down a healthy tree. We were thrilled when we found our first tree and yelled "Eureka", followed by "Hallelujia"! We were not sure what lumberjacks would say so we covered all our bases!


All in all we had a successful hunt! We found 3 downed oaks and cut them up! There was one injury, above, when a chunk of wood flew up and took a chunk out of Jim's finger. The highlight of the day was lunch! We had a picnic overlooking a canyon.

Our tongue twister of the day was:

How much wood could Chad Chubbuck chuck if Chad could chuck wood?

Chad was the beagle we were taking care of and Mr. Chubbuck is wearing yellow in the pics. We often accidently call Mr Chubbuck by the beagles name - which is what led to this rhyme!

You know you are a red neck...

When your butt is hanging out when cutting firewood.....

BEFORE

AFTER

Hot Mamas Book Club

I think I had mentioned that I tried to join a book club but gave it up before the first meeting due to the stupid nature of the book! It was about ghosts, incest and mental illness! DUMB!

Since that did not work out, I decided to start my own book club....actually it was Auntie Debbie's idea but she is making me do all the work!

So we have our first meeting on May 16th and we already have a club name and tag line:

Hot Mamas Book Club

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss

But not to worry that we are stuffy and academic. On the contrary. We believe:

• That book clubs are for snacking
• That life is too short to read dumb books
• That "deep" is good for a lake but not for a book
• That People Magazine is classic literature

Our first book is Certain Girls - check it out: http://www.simonsays.com/specials/Certain-Girls/book.html

never show a chicken....

I showed the pic of Betty washing the car to a friend at work who is from Taiwan and she had the funniest response...."never show a chicken to a Chinese person...all we see are drumsticks!" I was rolling on the floor laughing!

Chores

I now have Betty helping with the household chores. Here she is helping Jim wash my rig!

text

My son now text messages me while I am at work! But he only texts the important stuff. Today it was: "do you want to go for a walk tonite?".

Hockey Pics

Our hockey boys are getting huge! This is Drew and his buddy Jared who he has been playing hockey with since he first started playing! They played today and last nite. Last nite after the game, Drew had a terrible stomach ache and said that it had been hurting throughout the whole game. When I questioned him as to why it might be hurting, his response was....."maybe it was those 15 breakfast sausages and waffles I ate for dinner! Duh!?!?!? Ya think?!?!?

Our Lake

I found these cool pics today of our lake. This is where we spend a lot of time kayaking, wakeboarding, swimming and fishing.

Chicken Drama

We built a chicken playpen for Betty in the backyard. It is an enclosed area that she can hang out in and get some sun. However, the little bugger keeps breaking out of her pen! She finds little spots and then wiggles underneath the fence! We keep finding her wandering around the yard....happy as a pig in mud.

A brain the size of a pea and she is a chicken Houdini!

School Decision

Many of you know that we have been considering sending Drew to a private school for Junior High and High School. It has been a long process in identifying potential schools and then applying. As we were going thru the process, we were gathering information about the local public schools also so that we could make a good decision once the time came.

Well....that time is now! And I can't believe it because literally we have been working on this since last September. Our strategy all along was to be prepared for both public and private and then make the decision which was best for Drew.

So we went thru the application process for private school, which included tours, testing, writing essays, filling out applications and an interview. And we did research about the local public schools.

And the last 6 months of work come to a head this week with our decision.....Drew had decided to go to private school! We are really proud of him because it was a hugely mature decision to make. It would have been way easier to stick with his friends and go to the local school. But he saw the unique opportunities at the private school and decided that outweighed hanging out with his buddies.....which at 12 is a very mature thought process!

It is a huge committment for our whole family. But we are all excited about the new adventure.

CRASH!

I have been so busy that I have failed to report that I was in an accident right before we went on vacation. I was coming out of a parking lot after interviewing someone over breakfast and ran into a poor young guy in a honda civic. He didn't have a chance agains my beast! Luckily I was only going about 5 miles per hour. What happened was he was right behind a huge truck in a turn in the road. He was on the far side of the truck so I literally could not see him. So I started to go, saw him and put on my brakes right away.....but not before making contact. I am pleased to report that I was NOT on the cell phone, changing the radio station or texting! I was totally alert and just could not see the little car behind the big truck on a turn.

He was a young guy and was totally shell shocked. I took a quick assessment of the situation, determined no one was injured and went about all the tasks necessary for me to move on.

All he wanted to do was call the police. I knew that was going to take hours in the middle of rush hour traffic. So I gave him all the information I was required to give him and told him I was leaving. I told him he was welcome to call the police but I was not required to stay and that I would suggest that if was going to call the police, he should make sure he had up to date insurance paperwork as what he gave me was expired!

I hit his front right vendor and tore it up. All that happened to my rig was my license plate got knocked off.

So I just got my truck looked at last nite by the body shop and they buffed out the paint on my bumper, put my license plate back on and we called it good! Everyone gives me such a hard time about driving such a beast but it literally is a tank and I feel so safe in it!

Play Structure

We are looking to get rid of our play structure. Let me know if you know anyone who is interested in purchasing it. They will have to come and pick it up.

World's Greatest Mom

No! Not me! It's....my mom!

I came home from work last nite and my mom had made us dinner! It was her mother's recipe of curry chicken and it was delicious! Plus it allowed me time to go out for a walk when I got home from work! What a treat.

Tonite she is making us Super Nachos - which is a big family favorite!

I really got lucky when I got her as a mom!!! (I sure hope my kids think that of me some day....) She thinks it's insurance that I will take care of her when she is old.....I hate to tell her, but I am committed to that without the chicken curry and super nachos....but of course, it helps!