Mimi the crazy hat girl

My niece Amelia certainly has a zest for life! This is her a couple weeks ago at our house. She is wearing one of Gracie's old hats. She kept asking for someone to help her put it on.

Good Morning!

What a way to wake up.....

This morning at about 6 am, I was taking the dog our for a run. You know....same old routine. I am in the garage getting her collar and she starts hunting around like she smells a critter. She runs all around the garage sniffing and heads out the the side of the house. I am watching her and thinking that there must have been a cat in the garage and she smells it.

I am standing on the step going into the house and am still half asleep.....when all of a sudden, she uses her big lab nose to move a plastic bin that is located just outside of the garage. Out from behind the bin comes a HUGE rat....running straight towards me!!!!!!!! It literally jumps up on the step I am standing on and runs behind me and then jumps off the step! I screamed like I have never screamed before and went running inside and up the stairs. Jim came running like something terrible had happened to me or the dog. He said he had never heard a sceam like that and was not sure it was me or the dog!

The dog was right behind me and stood next to me on the stairs and wondering why we were not going on a run..... I was sweating, had tears in my eyes and was generally out of control! Not a good way to start the day. I have to admit, I have an un-natural fear of rats!

So when I finally calm down, I head out with the dog. While out, we go by an accident where a 16 year old girl failed to negotiate a turn and ended up crashing into someones side yard - taking out the fence, trees and bushes.

The scary thing is that where she crashed is where we run every morning.....so the moral to this story is.... that rat save my life! If I had not been delayed by the rat, it is likely that Daisy and I would have been right at the crash spot when the girl lost control! I always try to look at the positive of everything!

Now for the rest of the story... Jim and Drew went to check out the accident and got the skinny from a friend of ours. The driver was a 16 year old girl and was in her robe with negligee underneath! She said she was going to pick up a friend who was at a party (on Weds morning at 6 am!?!?!). Cops did a bunch of DUI tests and took her away.

Way too much drama for me....and all before 7 am!

Betty needs a new home

Now that Betty is an only chicken, she really needs a new home. Chickens like to be with other chickens and I have terrible guilt that she is lonely. I think I can find her a new home pretty easily - that is not the problem. The problem is with my husband and children who don't think she needs a new home because they can't stand to give her up. Everytime I bring it up they start protesting. They have every excuse in the book:

* She is not lonely, she has us and Daisy Mae
* She can't possible live with 20 other chickens, she won't get enough attention
* Nobody will take such good care of her

She has up to 7 or 8 more years left in her life span.....this may be a long discussion.

pot in the burbs....

So there I am on Saturday morning watering my flowers in my front yard in the suburbs! As I am watering, I get this whiff of marijuna smoke! I am sure that it must be some local brush fire and look around for smoke....but I don't see anything. This happens again and again. I finally put down my hose and look down the street to see two 40 something year old guys sitting on the curb on the side of our house smoking pot and drinking something out of a brown paper bag. WHAT THE?!?!?! This is Saturday morning at 11 am. People are pushing babies in strollers, kids are riding bikes, people are washing cars....and these two morons are smoking pot!

I call the police - non emergency number - and they send someone out. But, of course, the police do not get there before the moron's get up and walk away. But as they walked away they put on smocks. The type of smocks people wear when they are walking door to door to drop of advertising.

The guys later walked down our street and left an advertisement for a local real estate agent....who I promptly called and told about the pot smoking and drinking. And then asked that she send someone out to clean up the trash they left on the side of our house!

Total strange experience!

Hillbillies have quite a sense of humor!

This morning I was emailing back and forth with my handsome, charming, smart and hilarious hillbilly cousin Matt. I was playing the role of OLDER and WISER cousin and giving him career advice. I made the mistake of calling myself "OLDER and WISER". Here was his response:

"However don't ever put "older" in caps like that again. I don't care how many years old you are, old people do not: hike miles in mountains, take hillbillys on the best camping trips ever, rescue hillbillys from class 46 rapids and drive the most bad ass SUV on the market. You can call yourself old when you have to ask Jim to grab the walker out of the truck before a 12 mile hike."

This made me crack up and really put things into perspective.....

Thanks Mattt....now who is wiser?!?!

Yum - new discovery of an old stand by

I love grapenuts in my yogurt. It makes for a great breakfast. The crunchy of the grapenuts goes great with the sweet of yogurt - and it is a low calories, high fiber, healthy breakfast. I have been eating this mixture for years.

Today I did not have any yogurt (I am at work). But I did have grapenuts and a banana. So I got a cup of milk from the coffee bar downstairs and made a bowl of grapenuts with sliced bananas - YUM! The only problem is a 1/2 cup of grapenuts is 200 calories and I easily could scarf down 2 cups of grapenuts! But I used restraint and kept it at about 3/4 cups! I thought that was acceptable after doing 6 miles this morning!

So try it! And don't think I am some kind of health nut because I would still give my left arm for a bowl of Lucky Charms!

Movies

We saw a couple good movies this weekend.

The first one was "Breach" and was about the FBI agent Robert Hannsen who sold secrets to the Russians for 22 years. It was really good. Really engaging.

The other was "My Super Ex Girlfriend". It was goofy but entertaining. Worth a rental!

Betty - The Lone Ranger

Poor Betty is lonely without all her chicken friends. And lonely in the chicken world means a little neurotic! She spends most of her time hanging out at the back door waiting for someone to open it so she can make a mad dash inside. And when she is not at the back door she is waiting for someone to open the gate or the garage door so she can make a mad dash out front.

On Saturday at about 7 am, I was upstairs in my room and heard clucking in the front yard. I ran downstairs to find Betty strutting around the front yard. Someone had left the gate open and she wandered out.

She spent a good part of the weekend in the front yard hanging out with us. I was weeding and she would run over and inspect the weed I pulled out. Kids in the neighborhood would come by and pet her. She watched the dogs play and ended up in the middle of them a couple times and had to run so she was not smushed under a pile of labradors!

Last nite she was going crazy pecking the back door when it was just getting dark - she was telling us that her coop was closed up and she could not get in!

Tattoo watch

So I have shared with you that this new place of employment I have been hanging around is ripe with tattoos! I am committed to sharing with you the lunacy of tattoos in the workplace and will share all the odd places that I see tattoos!

This morning at the gym, which is a key place to view tattoos - due to the lack of clothing, I saw an abundance of tattoos. The most notable today was a woman who had a tattoo of a flower on her big toe! That must have hurt! I can buy into the whole meaningful aspect of a tattoo - ie a tribute to a lost family member, a memory of a hard time in your life and how you succeeded, etc. BUT - what could a flower on your toe mean? A memory of tip toeing thru the tulips?

Betty update

Just an update on Betty, my remaining chicken. I talked to the folks at the feed and supply store last nite and they agree that whatever killed Maverick and Rowdy could have been one of any billions of things! And what killed each of them could have been different things. They also agreed that I should treat Betty with antibiotics just in case. So this morning, I started her on a 7 day course of chicken antibiotics! I am watching her closely and don't see any signs of illness so far.

As for Betty, she seems lonely - she keeps breaking into the house when she gets a chance and if the big garage door is open, she makes a mad dash into the front yard. Yesterday she was in the front yard in the middle and Daisy Mae and Toby (2 BIG labs) playing. Pretty soon she is going to think she is a dog.

How I knew I made the right job decision...

I knew I came to the right company when I overheard this in the lobby of the building I work in....

"alright, everyone gather around the cow!"

I laughed out loud because where else would that happen? In our lobby there is a giant purple bull that has a computer built into the side of it and folks take their pictures with it all the time.

Bad Office Mojo

Next time you see me be sure to ask me about the bad office mojo my new office has.....it is a long story and too high visibility to post about but it is a great story I can share if we are not in a public place. It involves me doing a bad mojo/karma cleansing of my office....

Maverick's Demise

I am very sad to report that Maverick went to the great chicken coop in the sky. No doubt she is there bossing someone around and chasing Marty's Dad across his garden!

So far Betty looks fine but I am going to treat her with antibiotics just to be careful. I feel so bad for her that she is alone. I have looked at the humane society and some chicken websites to see if anyone is looking to get rid of an adult hen but have not found one yet.

Eraser Love....

This is what happens with 2 young, attractive erasers meet at the office.

Maverick

Just a quick note to ask for a little prayer for a sick chicken --- Maverick is really sick!

New Job

I started my new job this past monday and it has been a wild ride! I would describe it as drinking from a fire hose. Lots of info coming at me from all different sources. I am trying to understand the business, the culture and the politics as fast as I can so that I can do my job as efficienctly as possible. So far so good, although this company is a lot "younger" than other companies where I have worked. I am a bit alarmed to tell you I have seen more tatoos and thong underwear hanging out the top of pants than I see at the mall! I kid you not! So when I get a tatoo, don't be surprised!

Cherry

Here are pics of us stopping at Cherry after our backpacking trip.Never too tired for fishing, swimming and a picnic!

We saw a bear!

Last Wednesday we went to Yosemite with Jim's family who were visiting from teh east coast. It was his Uncle Richard's 60th birthday so we celebrated with a lunch at the Awahnee, a hike to Vernal and Bridalveil Falls and got to see a bear in a meadow on the way home! In all our travels in the Sierra's we have never seen a bear in or near Yosemite. The bear was eating the greens. Big thrill!

More backpacking pics

Gracie looking in a burned out tree and wildflowers.

More backpacking pics

A view of Cherry Canyon, Gracie coming thru a meadow and Drew's feet after hiking 12 miles!

Backpacking Pics

The lake behind the pic of the kids, me and the dog is Cherry Lake. The pic of all 5 of us is int he parkinglot berfore starting. That is why we are still smiling!

Yep - we are crazy!

Our friends often call us crazy for the things we do and the predicaments we get ourselves into. I never really thought that was true....until yesterday. Now I am sure that our family, collectively, has a screw loose!

Yesterday we set out for our first backpacking trip. We had new gear and it was a spur of the moment trip, but those who know us know that we always do careful planning - especially if we are going to be out in the outback.

So we pack up five back packs with enough gear for an overnite trip into the Emmigrant Wilderness, just outside of Yosemite. It was a hot day we had packed what we thought was enough water and food to get us in 5 miles and back out the next morning. Food is the tough part because the kids eat a lot just sitting around the house - when they are excercising, it is crazy!

So off we go.... Daisy Mae was wearing her own pack filled with her food and 4 bottles of water for herself. In the first 2 miles, she drank two bottles and we had at least 8 more miles to go! That should have been our first clue that water would be an issue. But not to worry, we had water purification tablets and were heading towards a lake.

We walk about 6 miles in and still have not reached a water source and we had 4 bottles of water left! We had drank about 12 bottles already! So we stop and send Jim without a pack up the trail about 15 minutes to see if he can find the lake. The kids and I kick back and rest. Jim comes back about 30 minutes later and reports that the lake is a 15 minute hike away straight uphill and that it is stagnant. Ick!

So we all stop and rest and have a bite to eat: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, tuna, trail mix.... And we develop a plan. With only 4 bottles of water left and no water source on the trail, we need to head back down toward the trail head. Keep in mind we just hiked 6 miles uphill from 6000 to 7000 feet with between 8 (Grace) and 35 (Jim) pound packs on our backs. Mine was 25 pounds and Drew's was 20 pounds. We decide the best plan was to hike back out the same day when the weather cooled so as not to get to hot and thirsty. So we rest up until 5:30pm and then start the trek back down. It took us about 2 hours to hike the 6 miles back out -- We used up the last bottle of water with 1.3 miles more to go! It took us 4 hours to hike in because that direction was all uphill.

We managed to get back to the truck with very tired legs and pretty darn thirsty! But it is nice to know that we can back pack 12 miles in one day with a 1000 foot elevation starting at 6000 foot elevation.

It was a great test run and we have a list for other gear we want/need. And we realize the dog drinks A LOT of water.

If it is not crazy enough that we did a two day trip in one day, we ended the day with a stop to swim and fish at Cherry Lake. We did not leave the lake until after dark and made it back to the cabin by 10:30pm.

It was a long and crazy day - but nice to know we can push ourselves and are all in pretty good shape.

FBI Beagle

This is what the world would look like if beagles had bazooka spud guns! Note the ear all hung up in his shades! I, for one, would NOT feel safe.

A little breakfast

Most of us have fried eggs for breakfast. Chad has fried "duck and spud"! He eats duck and potato food because of his allergies. And he doesn't really eat it fried but it made for a great pic!

Sonny and Cher Return

Chad went home on Monday. But before he went, we did a Chad photo shoot. He is such a good sport!

Tea Time

We all went for tea today for a delayed mother's day celebration. That is my sister in law, mother and mother in law with us. The food and tea was delicious! And it was fun to spend a little time doing girly things. But to make sure the day was not too girly, Gracie and I stopped on the way there and bought new running shoes, power bait and salmon eggs (for fish bait)!

Register to Be an Organ Donor

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/donateLife/donateLife.htm

Ro and Jim

My Aunt and Uncle visited this week from Chicago. She is my mom's sister. They had a ball with the kids. This is a pic from an amusement park that they all went to. The highlight of their trip was when they took all the kids to Toys R Us to pick out their own new toy! Lucky kids!

Poor baby

I just found this pic of when Daisy was a pup (4 months old) and broke her leg. She was hit by a little girl on a sled.

Super Hero strikes again

While at Cherry - there were tons of water sankes. One was particulary big and we were worried it might be a rattle snake - so Jim saved the day by cutting off its head with a paddle. Turns out it was not a rattle snake and it also turns out dead snakes freak me out even more than alive snakes! Its head was moving all around and opening and closing its mouth when it was no longer attached to its body. ICK! YEP - I screamed like girl....

Me and my girls

This is a pic of Daisy, Grace and me on the back of the pontoon boat leaving Cherry Lake - my favorite place in the world. This was after three days in the outback in 95 degree weather. Daisy Mae is so tired she can barely keep her eyes open! I love my girlies and I love my pontoon boat! And I LOVE Cherry Lake!

xmas in July

On the 4th of July, we were in the boat parade at the cabin. The theme was patriotic or any American holiday. We chose xmas - complete with Santa (played by Gary).

Horse Camp

Last week Gracie went to horse camp up at the cabin. She had a great time learning about horses and going for rides.

Chad

This is Chad getting ready for a swim race. He is resting up for the big sprint!

Marty

This is Marty.....he says everyone "takes him for granite".

Honestly -- this is where Marty left his hat and sunglasses each nite while we were at Cherry.

Some pics

Last week while at the cabin, we spent a lot of time on the boat, on the lake or just hanging out in the sun. Here are a couple of cute pics and more will be posted when I have time. One day we rented a seadoo which was the greatest thing that has EVER happended to Drew! He loved it and is thinking up ways in which he can save enough money to buy his own. That is Mari on the ski between Drew and Jim. Drew kept trying to throw Mari off.

Cherry Trip

We just got back from a couple days at Cherry Lake. The location, was, as usual, beautiful! But this time, it was hotter than hell! In the closest local town it was 108! So we figure it was at least mid-90's at the lake. We spent most of the time in and out of the water and fishing. It was too hot to do any hiking.

We did have a very strange experience.....one morning we were across the lake jumping off of cliffs into the lake and a group of guys come up in a few boats looking for a camping spot. They chose a spot right close to where we were jumping and start unloading. We watched in disbelief as they unload a CAT from the boat! Turns out that one of the guys always brings his cat with him camping! The cat hunts for lizards all day. It was really weird to look across the lake and see a cat wandering around. Every so often Chad, the beagle, would spot the cat and start howling!

We also saw a record amount of snakes on this trip. They were all in the lake - ick! At one point we thought one big one might be a rattler so Jim cut its head off with a paddle! It was horrifying!!! I will have pics to post next week - stay tuned!

On the way home, our kayak blew out of the pontoon boat on the road! Our friends Tina, Marty and Mari were in a car behind us and saw the whole thing happen. We are so lucky that no one was hurt!

Food Chain, Baby

We are up at the cabin this week. I am working during the day but fishing in the evening. Last nite I had Drew and one of his buddies with me at the lake and we were fishing for blue gill. I hooked a huge blue gill (HUGE for a blue gill is about 4 inches!). While it is was on the hook and still in the water a huge bass (HUGE for a bass is about 20 inches long) started eyeing it. Drew was freaking out telling me to pull the blue gill out of the water but I just thought the bass was going to harass the blue gill a little. I was WRONG! The bass opened his huge
mouth and chomped down on my blue gill! I screamed like a girl and Drew grabbed my pole and took charge of the situation. I use the words "taking charge" loosely because he was pretty much screaming like a girl too! Him and his buddy Jared fought the bass and shrieked until the bass finally let go of the blue gill! Then they released the blue gill, who was miracously still alive!

We have been talking about the experience ever since! And like Jim says...."that's the food chain, baby...."

Animal Rescue 911

So we start this morning with a frantic telephone call at 5:55am from my girlfriend Heather, who is the mom of Brittany Spaniel, Lucy (see pic of Lusy with a donut further down in my blog). Lucy was in a real pickle and they needed some assistance. She was in her crate, where she sleeps and somehow had gotten a bungee cord hook that was stuck thru the crate stuck in her mouth and she was hooked and almost hanging like a fish! And she was way in the back of the crate. They had tried to pull it out of her mouth and she bit them.

So Jim and I speed over there after grabbing a couple tools, not knowing what to expect. We can hear her crying when we walk up to the door. We rush in, assess the situation and Jim has her out of the crate and unhooked in about 10 seconds! He cut the metal crate which allowed the bungee hook to release from the crate and she RAN out. Heather grabbed her and the hook fell out of her mouth! There was a bit of blood and three very hysterical kids - but all in all a great rescue!

Lucy seemed no worse for the wear - she was running around licking everyone!

Schools out for summer

The kids are finally out of school. Their last day was last Weds. And so far they have squeezed more into the four days than most kids do all summer. They have been to two water parks, an amusement park, fishing, camping and Gracie has been to the cabin with me! And with all that came a couple big melt downs. We really need to pace ourselves!

Rest in Peace Sweet Rowdy

I am very sorry to report that Rowdy the chicken has passed on to chicken heaven this morning. Jim found her dead in her coop. She was on borrowed time since last summer when she almost died. So, I feel good that we had a year longer with her that we really should have.

I believe that she is in heaven with Marty's Dad and they are hanging around a farm watching the crops grow. Rowdy's job is to eat all the bugs. Tom's job is to make sure Rowdy doesn't eat all the plants!

Running after 40

Although I have told Jim I was only committed to running until I was 40 and 40 was last week......I am still running! But it appears that after 40 you have more bad running days interspersed with good running days. I ran on Tuesday and thought 2 miles would kill me. I ran 3 miles today and felt like I had 4 more good miles left in me! No complaints though....at least I am still out there.

And until further notice, I am committed to running until I am 41!

Danger Girl

Here is my niece on her first birthday! She is a a little daredevil!

Happy Birthday to me and Amelia!

My 40th birthday was last friday and I had an OUSTANDING birthday weekend. To begin the weekend we had dinner out with 8 friends and then went to the Keith Urban concert! Jim and I were on the floor close to the stage and at one point Keith was singing about 20 feet from me! He is HOT! And an amazing artist!

On Sunday we did a family celebration to celebrate mine and Amelia's birthdays (Amelia is one!), fathers day, my Dad's 10 year heart transplant anniversary and my parents 43 wedding anniversary..... The pics here are from that celebration!

A message from my mom

"Tom just completed his 10 year post transplant evaluation. All is well, his heart biopsy shows no evidence of rejection, and his labs are close to perfect. As we have thought many times over the past 10 years, it is nothing short of a miracle. Thanks for all of your support and caring."

Field Trip

Here are pics from Drew's filed trip last week to an indoor climbing wall. If you think he looks gigantic, you are right! Those are loooong legs! And biiiig feet!

Pretend

If you can not live in the country, the next best option is to pretend that you do....that is why I have chickens! That is Betty in the pic (and Rowdy's feet).

Here is my latest animal....a cow. So, there are laws against having real cows in the "burbs", so I had to get a picture instead of the real thing! I thought it might make the chickens think they were in a barnyard so I put it on the inside of their coop. Think of it as their own chicken artwork.

Culinary Treat

Meatloaf is a very rare occurrence in our house because it requires someone touching meat to make it. And that "someone" who makes dinner at our house who would need to touch the meat is ME! And those who know me know I DO NOT touch meat - especially nasty ground meat.

But Drew and Jim LOVE meatloaf!

So every once in a while if the timing is right and Jim is home I throw all the ingredients in a bowl and he mixes it and puts it in the oven and then monitors it to see when it is done.

Last nite was one of those nites. But this time, I made a vegetarian meatloaf too! I used fake meat and all the other meatloaf ingredients and it turned out great! Weird but yummy!

Garden

Here is my latest garden.....it is tomatoes! This is called an aero garden and is automated so it gets the right amount of light, water and nutrients. My last crop was herbs and they grew like crazy. I don't have any tomatoes yet but the flowers are starting.

Friendship, Fatherhood and Love in a Family

I have been wanting to write something profound since I got a call from our best friend Marty yesterday morning telling us that he had just found out that his Dad had died unexpectedly. But it is hard to write profoundly. Sometimes it does not come until the heart warms up a little after such a shock. I have been thinking about this for the last 24 hours and comtemplating on friendship, fatherhood and love in a family.

Death of course if part of life. Although death is always sad, it seems to me that there are degrees of sadness that you can feel with death. The death of a young child seems devastating to all. The death of an old man is sad but somewhat more pallatible. The death of a young mom who leaves children behind in heart wrenching.

So when I think of Tom's death, I am sad...sad for his family that he leaves behind, sad for his friends who will miss him and sad for the people who never got a chance to know a man who was so kind.

I also have a sense of happiness and gratitude.
* Happy that this was a man that any family could be proud to call Dad
* Appreciative that this man raised such wonderful children and that his success in his raising his family has touched my family making it richer and better.
* Happy to have seen unconditional love that has carried Tom and Phyllis thru so many years of marriage
* Appreciative that his being on this earth made it a better place for all that who knew him

Tom was a kind, gentle man that I wished I knew better. But thru his legacy, he leaves me his greatest accomplishment --- the love and committement of a great friend, a kind and gentle man in his own right, who no doubt learned it from his father --- his son and my friend, Marty - a living testament to the great father he had.

Our love is with Marty, Tina and their family.

Cherry Cobbler

The other nite, we picked a bunch of cherries off of our cherry tree in the backyard and make homemade cherry cobbler! This is Drew pitting the cherries....there were some quality control issues as I had 5 pits in my cobbler. Gracie is making the batter. We all stayed up late waiting for it to come out of the oven. Yum!

Close-up

Look at that sweet lab face! Gracie took this pic.

Remember Stretch?

Dog Shoes!

Check out my great new shoes! They have black dogs on them and the white spots on the dog are shoe shaped! Sooooo cute!

How to Suceed

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Caution: Adult Material

Drew is doing Family Life Education in the 5th grade (AKA: Sex Education). So last nite our dinner conversation was all about male anatomy. He had a cross word puzzle and would read us the clues and we would try to figure out the word. Gracie got scrotum and testicle right! He told us all about what they learned in the class, what questions the kids asked and that his teacher's son had a twisted testicle (bet that kid is not so happy with his mom).

Then we moved on to a discussion about erections....complete with sound effects (something like..."boing"!). I literally thought I was going to choke up my salad while Jim and Drew were making sound effects back and forth.

Later in the evening, just Drew and I had more discussions about the physics of erections....

Overall, I am really pleased with the program and what he is learning. But most of all I am so pleased that both the kids feel comfortable enough to talk about this type of stuff with us. And they talk about it with no embarassment, in fact it just flows with the normal conversation at the dinner table. One minute we ar discussing erections and the next minute we are discussing the talent show at school.

A weekend of adventure

So as usual we had an eventful weekend. We took our first successful Cherry Lake trip of the summer and spent 3 days and 2 nites. Here are the higlights:

* We saw a bald eagle on the top of a tree about 40 feet from where we were on the boat. We saw it take off and fly to another tree. AMAZING. Jim said....."Your probably will never see that again in your life...." The next day we say the eagle again, chasing a smaller bird over the water! We think the smaller bird had a fish.

* We got distracted from watching the eagle when Gracie spotted a snake eating a dead fish head! The fish head was about 3 times the size of the snake's head. Gracie and I had just been on a field trip where we learned about snakes and we knew that snakes could disclocate their jaws and eat big things.....but this thing was HUGE compared to this snake! We watched it sit there with this fish head in its mouth for hours. Finally when we weren't looking it slithered away. But not before it gave Drew enough ideas for 3 nightmares that nite!

* It was snake trip....we saw 4 other snakes and met up with someone who saw a rattlesnake close to our camp! Rattlesnakes are not common in the area. The guy who saw it had been going to Cherry for 30 years and that was only the third one he saw.

* The trout fishing was not as good as normal but we still tried at least twice a day in the magic fishing hole. My favorite part of fishing is the casting.....I love doing a great cast. I was so good at it, I kept telling Jim that I was going to get my own casting tv show, sort of like the Rachel Ray of casting.....he just shook his head. But I was serious!

* The blue gill fishing was outstanding! Drew and I fished each nite for at least an hour and pulled one in after another.

* The kids did some knee boarding and wakeboarding.....our new engine worked great! But true to the story about boats, we had trouble with the trailer....if it is not one thing with a boat it is another. Coming home one of the hubs got burning hot - and I mean BURNING HOT! We made it home and Jim took it apart the next day to find the break pad and rotor were rubbing together. I swear that man can do anything!

*We did have one major screw up for the weekend. When packing up to leave Cherry, we accidently left the kayak on the shore. I know that sounds crazy but the boat ramp was chaotic and we were so worried about running over the redneck children whose redneck parents let them play on a boat ramp, that we got distracted! We made it all the way home before we remembered it. So we had a little dinner and Jim drove back to get it.....and sure enough it was still there! Now that never would have happened in SJ! Luckily his dad was in town and rode along with him. They had fun seeing a fox, rabbits, snakes and a skunk trying to cross a cattle grade.

* We saw lots of kayakers coming down Cherry Creek. It is an early kayaking year because of the lack of snow. In one group, there were 18 kayakers!

* The kids made a Tom Sawyer type raft out of logs in the lake! It was great! They even made seats. The only design trouble they had was with an anchor. They tried tying a big rock to a rope but everytime they tried it the rock came off! I think a raft will be a new tradition.

* Of course we did kayaking and log rolling like usual. We had to hunt a bit for the perfect log, so Jim and Drew went out in the kayak and dragged back two enourmous logs (30 feet long and 3 feet in diameter!). One was like a flat sidewalk. The dog would go out and walk back and forth on it while waiting for a stick to float by!

* Lastly, we read that book about deaths in Yosemite out loud. We finished the chapter on waterfalls and read some about snow. What we are learning is......people can be really stupid! The kids have clearly learned that you must not swim up stream from a waterfall!

* We had a couple injuries which is normal: Drew fell getting into the boat and smashed up his knee, I fell getting into the boat and smashed up my arm! Glad it was nothing more serious.

Those are the highlights of the weekend.....and I wonder why I am so tired!

Hot Sizzlin' Beagle Sausage!

We have a house guest. He has been staying with us for a week. And for those who know him, we have had as much fun as ever with him. Our house guest is a 7 year old beagle. His idea of a good time is to lay on the couch all day. But when he comes to our house we drag him all over the place living our chaotic life. So far he has been to a soccer game, to the cabin, to Cherry Lake, pontoon boating, swimming, hiking and fishing. He just looks us at with a disgusted beagle look when we move on to the next adventure. In the past when we have taken him camping, he slept in a tent with us, but we have started camping without a tent. So now he sleeps in the wide open wilderness. The first nite he refused to lay down for the longest time. Then he woke me up growling accross the lake - I couldn't see anything. Then in the middle of the nite he was so cold he was shivering. From then on he had to have his own set of blankets for the nite. I have been telling his owner that he needed his own sleeping bag, but he did not believe me!

Chad has a new nickname - we have started calling him beagle sausage because he is a little thick around the middle. Every joke we can think of revolves around beagle sausage.....if he lays in the sun, he is a hot sizzlin beagle sausage and we tell someone to go flip him over to cook the other size. If he is wet and drying in the sun, we say that he is a basting beagle sausage...

He is still itchy as ever and takes 6 pills a day plus ear drops. It is a fulltime job to administer his meds. I think I may need to get a nursing degree to care for him.

He comes to visit again in July and we will take pics then.

New Book

I just got a new book - Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite. Sounds creepy but it is really interesting - it chronicles the 900 deaths that have occurred in the park since 1849, the year the park was "discovered". It includes info on geography, flora, fauna and history. Last nite I read it out loud to the whole family. We started on the chapter telling of people falling over water falls. Then we discussed what was common in all the stories: people getting to close to the river above the falls. A lesson learned for the whole family.

A Mom and Her Boy

My sis in law gave me this pic in a frame for mothers day and I LOVE it! It is from xmas and I had never seen it. Drew has grown about 2 inches since then, so we would now be looking eyeball to eyeball with me.

Jaraldo

This is Drew's buddy Jared, who goes by the hockey name of "Jaraldo". A couple nights ago he was over playing hockey with the boys on the street when one of the boys came running down to report an injury. Although it looks like he took a stick or puck to the eye, he actually fell and hit his head on a tool box in the neighbors garage! Stitches were probably called for but being he is a tough hockey player, he refused and they are using butterfly bandages to hold it together. As we say in our family.... "no worries it will just make you look more rugged!"

Creative

Here is my handiwork from the weekend. I made these to hang my necklaces and bracelets. I started with standard wood peg shelves and added some drawers pulls, to give it an artsy look. Then I painted them the accent colors of the bathroom/bedroom. I just love being able to see all my jewelry.

Stretch

Thanks to Lani, our new " pet" lizard has a name....stretch! More pics to come but I can assure you that he is in the bathtub growing as we speak.

New Pet

You all know how I am....I can't go more than 6 months without a new pet. So this is the latest addition and the best one yet. It is a plastic lizard that grows from 4 inches to 3 feet long when it is placed in water. It takes a few days for the growth to occur, so we have it growing in our extra bath tub! I thought this would be a great adventure that you would all enjoy, so I will document the growth with pics. We have not named him yet, so if you have any ideas, let me know!

Stretch

Last nite I insisted that we measure Drew because I swore I could see him growing. Sure enough, he has grown 3/4 of an inch in one month! So he is now 11 years old and 5 foot 3 1/2. I estimated that he would be as tall as me by the end of the year. But it looks like he will be as tall as me by the end of June!

Hot Mamas from the Hood

Had a girls weekend with all my girlfriends from the neighborhood. All of our kids are friends and/or go to school together. It was a great group of strong, smart, beautiful hot mamas!

This is a pic in front of a giant sequoia tree - it is estimated to be 4000 years old. We had a fabulous day in Yosemite with the highlight being drinks at the Ahwanhee Hotel on the patio!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

This is my favorite Mother's Day gift......