Pontoon Mama's Blog

Another day at the gym

One of my favorite things is when I go to the gym at 6 am so I can get a good work out in before work. Although I have a routine where I pack my gym bag the night before, I am pretty famous for forgetting things at home. I have forgotten all my brushes so I had to do my hair with my fingers, I have forgotten underwear, socks and bras, I have brought purple underwear to wear under khanki pants, etc. The good news is I have always figured out a way to "make do" so I did not have to go home and replace the missing item.

This morning was a whole new level of "making do". After a long work out, I realized I forgot my makeup bag. That means, no makeup, no brushes, no jewelry. I searched my bag and found some lipstick and thought maybe that would be enough! HA! What was a thinking - I looked like I was dead but wearing lipstick. So I quickly come up with a back up plan --- I would run across the street to Safeway to buy the bare necessities.

In the meantime, I just continue getting ready at the gym. First thing I do is get dressed - only to open a brand new package of grey tights that are labeled small but should have been labeled "for a small dwarf". Now I want to point out that I was not given long legs when they were being handed out so I have never had a small pair of tights not fit. After I put them on and pulled them up, the crotch was around my knees and waist band was around my crotch. Boy.... am I thinking that this is shaping up to be a bad day. I spend a few minutes working the tights up from the toe and manage to get them in a more realistic position on my body. At least pulled up enough that I can walk!

I continue on with my beauty (HA HA) routine and comb my hair with a 1 inch clip that Gracie has - lucky for me - left in my gym bag (remember -- I have no brushes). I manage to get my hair looking like I had been sleeping on an airplane for 10 hours, which was better than I thought it would be. Next, I head over to Safeway to do a little make up shopping....

As my luck would have it, I stand in the empty make up aisle reading a letter to the customer explaining that there is some kind of make up strike and that is the reason their stock is low. LOW is right - the only thing left are floozy colors! So I am thinking I am going to look like a 16 year old or a hooker with this makeup!!!! But I really have no choice - I either look dead or look like a hooker. So I start thinking on the bright side and explain to myself that at 38 years old, I have developed some "smoke and mirrors" skills and that I should be able to fool everyone into thinking I look ok even with a little bad makeup! So off I go to purchase $35 of floozy colored, cheap makeup.

I sit in my truck and start dismantling all the packaging and begin applying. I never would have thought there would be such a difference between cheap grocery store makeup and expensive makeup from department stores - but let me tell you there is! This cheap stuff goes on in chunks. But it is all I've got, so I keep applying. So picture this -- cheap, chunky, hooker colored makeup on someone who is dressed in an Ann Taylor sweater set, charcoal wool skirt and black boots. Oh! I forgot to mention that I didn't notice until it was applied but the eye shadow has sparkles in it --- which are now all over my face! The blush truly looks like it could be used for the round circles on a clowns cheeks!!! And I allegedly bought the color "natural". Natural if you are frostbitten after a week lost in the arctic!

I do the best I can and head into my office to double check in better light that I look ok. I take out a mirror and take a look. Although I am trying to stay positive (you know...the make lemonaid with lemons thinking), my attitude is shot when I look right in the mirror and see a 4 inch grey hair sticking straight out from the top of my head. I swore, grabbed the scissors, cut it out and decided the day is a lost cause!

I am just going to hide in my office all day!

Pontoon Mama's Blog

Chicken 911

So here I am sitting in my home office working and I hear the sound of someone screaming or shouting. I can't hear much because when Jim built the house he made it practically sound proof. But after awhile I decide I better go investigate. I walk in the kitchen and see my neighbor hanging over the fence waving his arms. I run out worried that he is hurt or ill. I open the door and he screams one of your chickens is over here!!!!

Turns out that Betty has made a break for it! Dumb chicken chooses to go over the one fence that has a dog living there. Lucky for Betty the dog didn't get a chance to find her before my neighbor did. My neighbor picked her up with a little coaching and handed her to me. I put her back in the coop where her other chicken friends were already in bed!

Betty, Betty, Betty....

Picnic in the snow

The day after the shoulder injury we went to Yosemite. We did some hiking in the valley in the rain and then went up to Tuolomne Grove to sled. We had a picnic in a driving snow storm complete with thunder. The snow was fluffy and dry and perfect for sledding. In the three hours we were there we received 3 to 4 inches of snow. It was a hairy trip home!

Tired Boys

Jim had good company in the hospital. Here are the boys waiting and waiting. They were tired after a late nite of traveling the nite before, an early morning and a long day shredding the slopes. They were troopers! And thanks to Lani for playing nursemaid to Jim and entertaining the boys! Everyone was weary when they arrived home at 9pm.

Kaiser Guy

Here is Jim between trips to the xray lab. They had a hard time getting a good pic of it so that did about 12 xrays. You can see that his left shoulder is swollen, pushed forward a little and drooping. Let's just say he is never going to be a shoulder model.

Xray

Here is the xray. You can see where the shoulder is separated. The 2 bones should be even with each other. The ligament that broke is the one on the top, between the socket and the ball. Oucheee mama!

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th turned into one of those dreaded ones for Jim. Here he is at the Sonora ER following a snowboarding injury. Here is how it all went down....

I got up at 5:45 am to take a work call (I was working from the cabin that day) and after the call sent Jim, the kids and 2 other families off for a day of snowboarding. It was one of those unbelievably beautiful sierra winter days. The sky was bright aqua blue and it was 67 degrees. I was having a quiet productive work day and feeling quite lucky to be able to work in such an exquist environment.

I checked in with the group of snowboarders in the middle of the day and all was well. The kids who were in lessons were doing great and the ones on the slopes were tearing it up. The only down side of the day was the snow conditions were not great. Not enough snow and icy. Next I heard was a phone call on their way home at about 5:30pm - they were going straight to the ER.

Jim decided to take one last run by himself. Up at the top while speeding down the hill, his board caught an edge bringing him to a sudden stop and launching him forward. Picture when you were a kid and would skid sideways on your bike. If the bike hit something in the skid, it would come to a complete stop and you would keep going - like a missile. That is what Jim did. The problem is that Jim is 6 feet 5 inches and 215 pounds which makes for quite a missile when it hits the ground! Plus he is 40 years old --- that makes him and old brittle missile!!

So he is launched thru the air and lands on his left shoulder - causing a grade 2 separated AC (shoulder). That is out of a grade 3. He separated the shoulder and tore one of the 2 ligaments. If he had tore both it would have been a grade 3.

He managed to get down the mountain on his own and went to the 1st aid station. They packed snow on it and sent him to the hospital.

At the hospital, he quickly became known as the "Kaiser Guy" because it was an out of network hospital. He became a favorite of the nurses when he told them that he gauges his pain on his wife giving birth and that compared, the shoulder pain was a 4! After a few hours of back and forth to the xray lab, they sent him home with a fair amount of vicodin. But he preferred beer therapy the first nite!

Drew's 10th Birthday

For Drew's 10th birthday, he took a couple buddies to the Sharks game. It was a great game and they won. We had "Happy Birthday Drew C" posted on the board during intermission. All in all a pretty good day for a 10 year old.

Go Cobras

In early December, Drew's soccer team played in the championships. They played 4 games in one weekend and it came down to the last game. To help build spirit we painted the dog - one side said "GO" and the other side said "Cobras". The championship game was awesome! It was tied and came down to goal kicks. After each team had six chances at the goalie, Drew's team came out the winners. It was great fun!

Rowdy's Picnic

Here is Rowdy having a picnic in the front yard complete with a kitchen set. We also have a photo of her wearing a blue gingham apron. The chickens like to hang out in the front yard to look for bugs since all the bugs in the backyard are eaten!

More xmas pics

This is a shot from Crane Flat lookout in Yosemite. It is about a 1 and 1/2 mile hike up to the top to an elevation of 6750 feet. It is a working fire look out in the summer and what you can see here is the helicopter pad. This is our favorite short hike is Yosemite. It is cool because in the winter before the big snow comes, there is not too much snow to hike it but enough snow to play in along the way.

Daisy Mae recovering

This is what Daisy Mae looked like after being attacked by the psycho-freak labrador, great dane, pit bull dog. She felt very sorry for herself for a couple days which got lots of extra lovin'. But like a dog that is truly from out rugged family, she was up chasing deer in no time.

Xmas Break Photos

Here is Daisy Mae's favorite xmas a gift - a rubber chicken in a purple bikini. The squeeker sounded like a chicken getting mauled! At this point the chicken has no squeeker, no legs and no lips. It is really quite disturbing.

Pontoon Mama's Blog

Guest blogger

I have closed the deal - my college room mate - known only as "Bridget Jones" will be my official guest blogger. When she experiences one of her many days of drama, she will blog about it. That will keep those of you bored reading about my life coming back as she is CRAZY!

Pontoon Mama's Blog

Updates

* My girlfriend got her raise - 10% - just what she wanted!
* Drew is still covered with a rash!
* My college room mate has pointed out that I will also be blogging about her adventures --- which are waaaay jucier than any of my adventures - so stand by for future details.

Pontoon Mama's Blog

A day in the life...

Yesterday was a banner day!

My day started out delightful with a 1 hour trek on the eliptical machine at the gym and some early meetings at work that were productive.

But then it went down hill.... Jim calls and tells this elaborate story about how he was in a wreck on the freeway because some woman came to a complete stop in the middle freeway in order to "save" a pigeon that had been hit by a car! He said she literally slammed on her brakes causing a 5 car pile up, jumped out of the car and rendered aid to a pigeon! Must be one of those militant vegetarian types ;-). Luckily his truck was not damaged - only hit the bumper.

After Jim's report, I turned my attention back to my quiet office with my cup of tea and had highly productive day managing the crazy cases we get at work. All the calm was broken with a mayday call from Jim because he locked ALL 3 of his keys in his truck in the Sportsmart parking lot. I was too far away to help so he walked home and we agreed to call AAA after I got home and we had dinner.

Back to calm and peace on my communte home --- NOT! Everyone is back from their holiday break and the roads were a mess. On the way home I talked to a girlfriend who has not had a raise in 3 years and needed advice on how to ask her boss for a raise. We strategized and she ended up with a good plan. The meeting is today and I am anxious to find out what happened. I suggested asking for more than she really wanted so there was room for negotiation. She is hoping for a 10 percent raise....I am hoping she gets a 15 percent raise. She deserves it!

So after the raise strategizing session I walk into the house to be happily greeted by the dog, Gracie and Drew --- who is covered head to toe with a rash! WHAT!!!!??? Someone could have given me a heads up that Drew looked like he had been rolling in a poison oak bush! That puts the whole plan for the next day on hold. You can't take a kid to school if he has a rash.... I figured I would ignore it for awhile and hope it went away.

So we scarf dinner (that my mom so kindly made and everyone loved) and headed off to Sportsmart to meet AAA. They gave us a 45 minute window of when they would be there but it ended up taking 90 minutes! Oy Vey!

But while waiting in the parking lot in my truck, we had some good quality family time. The dog was with us but was so tired (it was 8pm) that she couldn't keep her eyes open. So the kids took the opportunity to torture her by putting different hats on her. Also while waiting for AAA I called the doc about Drew's rash which did not disappear while I was ignoring it. The doc was stumped but freaked us out asking about scabies, chicken pox, etc. Since no firm diagnosis could be made, a doctor appt was scheduled (read more about that below).

After the AAA guy showed (note, he was about 5 feet tall and could barely see in the window of Jim's truck) and broke in, we heading home.....(it was 8:45!) What a delightful evening.

So off to bed only to wake up in the morning to go for a 3 mile run with the dog and come home to see see a bumpy faced Drew on the couch. So lots of rushing to make back up plans in case Drew could not go to school. We dropped Gracie off at school, ran Drew to the doc to receive a diagnosis of "some kind of viral rash". The doc said "I don't think he is a public health menance and can go to school". So off to school he goes, off to work I go....back to peace and quiet of my office with my cup of tea.

All in the day of a mom. What next?

Pontoon Mama's Blog

Home from the Holidays

We have returned from two weeks in the mountains and are ready to get back to our real lives of work and school. We drove into a huge wind storm that left trees and our fence down and broke our outdoor umbrella in half. God knows what the chickens thought was going on! It is rainy and a little windy today but they don't seem to care -- as long as there is a steady supply of snacks! They are currently eating rice and zuccini.

I am going to try to get some xmas pics posted....