Marty Monkey

This is Gracie's new stuffed monkey appropriately named "Marty". This morning before she left for school, I got a full briefing on what I needed to do to care for her monkey while she was gone. And I was specifically told that if she came home and he was in the same place she left him in the morning, that I would be in BIG trouble.

So to ensure I did not get in trouble, again today, (read vet post below) I took pics of Marty's antics during the day.

Doing the Right Thing

I try so hard to do the right thing all the time. Whether it is with my kids, my job, strangers, etc. It is just the compass that I use to live my life...

I even try to do it with my dog! Remember how I made her dog food during the dog food recall? And remember how I get up at the crack of dawn just about everyday to take her out running? Well......I am not doing a good enough job with my dog and I am mortified!

I took her to the vet this morning to get a check up and get shots. What I got was a 5 minute lecture about how fat my dog is!!!! She weighs 80 pound and the vet wants her at about 75. She obviously gets enough exercise with all the running, walking and swimming she does. The problem is that she is taking in too many calories. I can even name the calories:

• 2 batches of banana muffins she ate off the counter, in one week
• a sandwich she ate off the counter
• leftovers from dinner
• leftovers from breakfast
• dog biscuits while playing hide and seek

So......we are turning over a new leaf! No more snackies for the dog! She is going to get weight reduction dog food.

And next time, Jim is taking her to the vet!

Surgery Date

Just in case you have not heard, I am going under the knife on Dec 4! It will be arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder to try to eliminate the pain I have been feeling for FIVE years! They are going to shave the bottom of the bone and remove the bursa. They will also look for tears and clean up the calsification. Healing will take 3 months but then I should be as good as new. The weird thing is that I have been living with this so long that I don't know what "new" will feel like.

In the meantime, I have been doing physical therapy in an effort to be as prepared as possible for the rehab. Doing the physical therapy leaves me in constant pain. I am hoping the pain will be less and less after the surgery.

Wish me luck!

It has been a long time....

since I have had an early morning, gym fashion disaster....but I guess it is time.

This morning I went to the gym, did the whole workout thing ( 6 miles on the precor :-)). And when I went to get ready for the day, I had one catastrophe after another:

• I am wearing black cords that are too tight and feel like they are strangling me!
• I have a black tshirt on that looks too big and like I got into a fight with a giant deodorant while putting it on.
• I went to put on my denim jacket to hide the tight pants and the deodorant covered/ too big shirt and found that the dog must have been using my jacket as a pillow for the last week - I now had yellow dog hair all over my black clothes!
• After blow drying my hair, it looked like straw in the Sahara Desert.

So, if you see me today, it would not be a good day to comment on my appearance.....I am feeling a little out of sorts!

Morning Run

This morning while we were out, we saw FOUR coyotes! They were in a field against the foothills about a 1/4 mile from the house. It is an area I had been avoiding before the time changed because it was so dark. But since the time changed, I went back to that route today. Now I know I was avoiding it for good cause.

They were about 60 feet from me and showed no fear. It looked like they were eating something. Freaky!

New Furniture, Part 2

I have continued to gather furniture for the family room. Latest in my quest was the coffee table and console table. Drew and I put the coffee table together this morning and quickly found that we had to rearrange the room if we were going to be able to use the coffee table. So this is the result. That trunk under the window is going back. It is not well made and doesn't fit into the room the way we have it set up now.

I am still waiting for an ottoman for the red chair and a drapery rod for the window.

Halloween Chicken

How funny is this! Makes me realize that there are crazier people than me out there!

Science Camp

Drew was a "chatty cathy" telling us about science camp last nite.

He really had a great time. His favorite part was the nite hike. He said the food was pretty good: they had tacos, pizza, chicken, spaghetti and corn dogs - total kid food.

He barely felt the earthquake - he said he was inside the dining room in a chair and it just rolled a little bit.

He came home really tired as they were busy from 6:50 am to 9:30 pm everyday.

I think it was a great grown experience for him - he actually said he missed all of us!

Science Camp Update

Drew has had the best science camps of all time:

Monday - Thunder & Lightening
Tuesday - Earthquake
Wednesday - A classmate broke her arm (which has never happened in the history of science camp at this school)
Thursday - ??? we haven't heard of any drama yet

He comes home today at noon, so I am sure we will get a complete run down! Stay tuned!

They pay me for this?

Today they had a parade for employee's kids at work. Each kid got their own canvas goodie bag and a free lunch ticket. There were balloons, a jump house and entertainment! Really a nice event!

Happy Halloween

Here is the project that Jim and Gracie worked on tonite!

New furniture

Here are some pics of the new furniture taken 35 minutes after the big earthquake! You can see that the top pic above the red chair is a little bit askew - it was NOT like that before the quake!

Holy Shaking Batman!

We had an earthquake at 8:04 tonite and it was BIG! It was a 5.6 (so far) but felt bigger!

Gracie and I were in the entry way so we were out the door in about 1/2 a second. Jim was in the office and came out after the shaking stopped. Gracie was attached to me crying. The dog was attached to the other side of me whining and shaking.

We had some books and a statue fall off a shelf.

Scary!

Science Camp update

Jim just called and he is working in the next town over from the town that the science camp is in and is thundering and lightning! Which is quite unusual for our area. We get that kind of weather once or twice a year at the most! VERY exciting development for science camp!

New furniture

I went on a spending spree over the weekend and bought new family room furniture:

• a couch
• 2 leather chairs
• a red chair
• a coffee table
• a console table
• an end table
• an ottoman
• a trunk

It is a whole new look and I really like it. But that was not what I thought over the weekend. I had buyer's remorse at first, which led to more buying to make sure I liked the look and that there were enough seats!

My favorite part is a red chair for me to use for reading. It is in the corner of the room and there is a cute little glass table next to it for me to put my tea cup on! Now I need to have Jim install a cone of silence so no one can bother me!

I will post pics once I can find the camera!

Soccer Scores

For those who care, here are the weekend soccer scores:

Gracie's Team
Won - 3 to zero - Gracie scored once then played goalie for the second half. She never touched the ball as the goalie!

Drew's Team
Tied - 1 to 1 - Drew scored the goal for his team. They played on a high school field which is bigger than they are used to. And the ref thought they were U14's (under 14) insted of U12's (under 12) so he had them play 35 minute halfs! They were beat!

Today is the Day

Drew left for science camp today.

He did his laundry and packed his bag yesterday like we had planned. Jim sat down with him last night for about 5 minutes going thru the list of things he would need and Drew confirmed he had it all. This morning he packed his lunch and off he went to school! So responsible!

We hung around the school for about 25 minutes waiting for the bus. Once the bus got there, they realized they had 81 seats for 84 students! Nice planning! Anyway, I got tired of waiting so I went home....

Within minutes, Gracie announced, "I miss Drew"! Whaaaat?!?!?! I thought she hated him!

I don't expect to have any news until he returns on Friday at noon.

Science Camp Part 2

One of the things we talked with Drew about regarding science camp is the whole "inappropriate touching" thing. My thought being that this is a situation where he will be with unknown adults without us around. Gracie was also involved in thr conversation.

We positioned it as sometimes people who like to be close to kids for inappropriate reasons get themselves jobs like camp counselors. We assured him that all the staff has gone thru background investigations so it was likely they were safe but added it never hurt to make sure they both new what to do if someone was acting inappropriately towards them.

We talked for a bit and then went on to discussing what they could do if approached. We talked about trusted adults that they could go to for any reason. I asked who were trusted adults in their lives and Drew's first response was.... Auntie Diana! Then came the rest of the adults important in his life....Uncle B, Tina, Marty, Auntie Deb, grandparents, etc.

I was tickled that he chose Auntie D first. It really sent a message to me. He sees her as someone he can trust, who will help him at all cost, who cares about him, who would protect him.... What more could we want from Auntie D! We really hit the jackpot when she joined the family!

I hope she is up for the big job of protector for her nephew who is bigger than she is!

Science Camp

I was out running this morning and realized that I have the perfect blog content....Drew is going away to Science Camp next week with his 6th grade class. He will be gone for 5 days and 4 nights.

I always thought I would be worried sick about sending him to science camp with people I don't know, but after the parents meeting last nite, I realized two things:

1. We have done a tremendous job of teaching Drew usable, worldly skills (pat myself on the back) which make him self sufficient and responsible
2. Other parents have not done such a good job with that...

Here is what I mean....

The parents and teachers talked about needing to pack the kids bags with this and that. Parents were talking about sending more than the recommended amount of clothing....just in case. They were talking about all the medications that they will send with their kids....cold medicine, advil, cortisone, cough medicine, etc.

At our house....Drew will pack his own bag. He will use the list that they give him indicating what to bring and modify based on his own preference (ie - they say to bring 5 pairs of pants and 1 pair of shorts....Drew doesn't even own 5 pairs of pants....until Sunday he owned none! So he will bring 5 pairs of shorts and 1 pair of pants.) He is not bringing a coat because he doesn't even wear one in the snow! He said he doesn't need any medications because if he gets a headache he will just tough it out. And if he gets really sick they will have to call us anyway. And if he gets really hurt the paramedics are only 5 minutes away.....which is about 3 hours faster than if he were hurt out at Cherry Lake!

Here are some of the parents crazy questions:

1. Are there bugs there?
2. If they have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, how will they know where to go?
3. What kind of animals are there? (Jim gave me an elbow when I said mountain lions....but there are!!!! I just thought these parents needed the truth....its not all Bambi and Thumper out there in the woods.)
4. One woman says..."my husband is having a really hard time with this, I don't think he will be able to sleep thru the nite...do you have any suggestions?" My answer: get the guy some anti anxiety medication and therapy so he will be ready when the kid goes off to college.
5. How dark are the cabins?

These people need to get out more.

Stay Tuned.....I am sure there will be more good stories to come.

Nerd Man

My friends often give us a hard time because we own at least 8 head lamps! But I always try to explain that we use them all the time. Here is Jim using his to bbq last nite!

My pets

This pic was taken tonite. Jim was bbqing and the dog went out with him. Then Jim came back in and she got stuck outside like a common dog...next to an uncommon chicken. They were both begging to come in.

Soccer Pics and Update

I had promised soccer pics from Gracie's tournament last weekend and here they are. This is what a winning team looks like. All the girls had blue hair and blue football type streaks under their eyes! They looked fierce!

This weekend, they lost their first game. Two to one. Gracie did not score. But her friend, Kayla, above in the pic with Gracie holding their medals, scored. It was really muddy and Gracie was covered in mud!

Drew's team won 3 to zero. Drew scored one goal and then proceeded to get really sick the rest of the weekend. He has been on the couch all day today sleeping on and off. Poor baby!

Chick Party

I had a Creative Memories (scrapbooking) Party last nite for my girlfriends who are into that type of thing (and even a few who not into it but like to get together to eat and drink). And we had a ball! The nite reinforced my belief that I have great friends. They are just a bunch of down to earth, friendly, kind, funny gals who I love being around.

There was one tense spot in the evening:

Susan showed up asked me to see my worm farm because she had strict orders from her family to check to see if I had a "viable worm farm". Oh boy! I was worried! And I mean it! She is the master of worm farms and hers makes mine look like a deserted ghost town. So with some trepidation, I brought her out to the yard and opened the lid.... I passed the test! Although mine is not as active as their "toiling heap of worms", it is still a respectable worm farm.

Nobel Prize Winner

So, I keep talking about how this is the perfect place to work for me (excluding the tattoos). Today was another example. They have an influential speaker series in which they invite smart, inspirational, visionary folks to come and talk to any employees who are intereted. Today they had the 2006 winner of the Nobel Peace prize!

How often do you get to see a Nobel winner speak in person to a small group? It was a big thrill!

The speaker was Dr Muhammad Yunus, a man who started a bank in Bangladesh for poor people, which changed the whole way banking worked. When you think of it, banks only loan money to people with money or collateral. The people who really need money are the people with no money or collateral. Those are the people who need a boost which will allow them to start a business and make enough money to live. That is the fundamental approach of Dr Yunus. And the loans he gives are micro loans. In fact, the first loan he gave was to 42 women and equaled $27 dollars, less than a dollar a person! And that was enough money in Bangladesh for these women to start businesses (such as chickens for egg prodcution) that support their families.

Truly an inspirational guy and a humbling experience. Check out his website and expand your horizons:

http://www.muhammadyunus.org/

Yep...I am in the right place

First it was the purple cow in the lobby, nows its Oktoberfest! Yesterday we came to work and found Oktoberfest mugs on our desks. Tomorrow from 3 to 3:30 is beer and "german inspired snacks" followed by an all hands meeting.

Life is good.

Tattoo update

I know there are a few of you who read my blog just to hear about the tattoos I see at work. I have been saving them up. Here are some of the most recent:

* Three tattoos on one woman's ankles - big colorful tattoos that did not relate to each other in theme
* A parrot on one middle aged woman's shoulder blade
* A tattoo saying "Raider's Angel" on a woman's back, along with a barbed wire tattoo around her arm and various other tattoos on her back and ankles

I will keep searching.....

12 Sharp - Book Review

Just finished 12 Sharp by Janet Evanovich. It is the 12th in a series about a female bounty hunter who gets herself in one pickle after another. In comparison, I think Junie B Jones is the younger version of the main character, Stepahie Plum.

The whole series is really funny and a great brainless entertainment read. If you are looking for something to bring on the next vacation or plane ride, start with book number one - One for the Money and it will keep you laughing out loud.

If you need another review, my Uncle Dave also reads them and he laughs out loud. And his demographic is different from mine: He is a Kentucky Hillbilly!!! (Hi Uncle Dave!!)

We are the Champions....

Gracie's team won the soccer tournament this weekend! They played four games. The scores were:

1 to zero
3 to zero
1 - 1
1 to zero

And....Gracie made all the goals except for one of them! I kept her motivated by promising ice cream if they played in the championship games! Yep - it was shameless bribery but the wins were good for her confidence!

I will post pics when I get my other computer de-virused!

Home Sweet Home

For those of you following, Jim is home from his hunting boon doggle! He was gone 15 days and managed to "catch" a deer and an antelope. If you want to see pics, you will have to ask him because I am opposed to posting hunting pics on my blog!

We are falling right back into the family routine again.....

Rumor

Word on the street is that the big guy is on his way home from Wyomming!

It's a good thing because we all miss him terribly! It seems like we all reached our limit onWeds and at different times during the day, we all declared, "I miss Daddy!"

Kit and Kaboodle

I was working from home earlier in the week and Gracie was sitting at her desk next to mine while I was talking on the phone. During the 10 minute conversation I used the phrase "the whole kit and kaboodle" one time. As soon as I hung up, she wanted to know what that meant. I told her and gave her some examples of it being used.

For the next 30 minutes, until she went off to school, she was chattering to herself and must have used the phrase 15 times!

It is interesting what peaks their interest!

New Shoes!

I would like to report that I got two new pairs of shoes at lunch time today! The sad news is my camera is in Wyoming so I can not take pics and post them! You will just have to believe me when I say they are cute!

The rare beagle lab

OMG! I can not believe it. I am sitting in my home office working and I hear this slow, mournful howl…. I sneak out to look out the back door and see Daisy there…..snout in the air….howling!!! LIKE A BEAGLE!!!

My Labrador is slowing turning into a beagle!!!!

Sunday Family Day

Yesterday we spent the day in Santa Cruz with Tina and Marty. We took our bikes, parked at Natural Bridges and rode to the wharf for lunch. After lunch we walked over the the boardwalk for some treats and then rode back. We tried to do a little tide pooling but couldn't get to where we needed to go. We did get to see the monarch butterflies at Natural Bridges. It is just the begining of their migration so there were not a lot but enough to be cool!

It is over...

Judi died at 2 pm today.

Update from Jim

So Jim, his Dad and Paul have been hunting for a week now and the only thing they have come close to killing is a field mouse that has moved into the camper with them! It sounds like a bad scene from Caddyshack as this mouse tortures them all nite chewing on things and then they wake up in the morning chasing it around with a shoe!

Of course, I much prefer that the mouse keeps them distracted so that they don't have time to kill deer!

An update on my neighbor

Disclaimer: Don't read this if you don't want to be sad.

They have moved my neighbor, Judi, into a nursing home to die. She is on oxygen and morphine but has no other support. She can't open her eyes but if her husband holds them open it seems like she can see him. It is likely a matter of days at this point. Please pray that it is fast and as painless as possible.

Last nite I chatted with her husband as he was on his way to take Nash, one of Judi's Great Danes, to the nursing home to see her! For those of you who don't know, Judi has raised and shown Great Danes for at least 20 years. We have always lived across the street from at least 4 Great Danes!

When they had moved Judi to the nursing home the day before, her husband had two of the dogs there when she arrived in the ambulance: Nash, her old guy and Tyra, her new young pup! I hope that the visits from her dogs are bringing her comfort.

Soccer

Two Wins

Drew's Team: 8 to 0
Gracie's Team: 4 to 0

Drew scored twice. Once from the center line! Honestly, he was in the middle of the field - gave it a huge boot - and as it headed for the goal, I thought "wow, wouldn't that be weird if it went in".....and it did! Then he got another strange goal where he kicked from the side right up near the goal - it looked like it was heading straight accross the goal but it had some weird spin on it, took a left turn and went in. He spent the second half of the game in goal, where he only touched the ball once....but he looked good!

Gracie didn't score this week. She took a big crash at the beginning of the game and was timid the rest of the day. She collided with someone and ended up falling on top of the ball on her back and got kicked in the neck! She game out of the game crying but shook it off after a few minutes.

Next week is Gracie's Jamboree (a tournament) and I fully expect that they will win the tournament because they are undefeated. But you never know! I will keep you posted!

Drew the Bodyguard

Tonite Drew and Gracie are going to a carnival at the school of their best friends Kayla and Maddie.

Two days ago I talked to Kayla on the phone and told her how much both the kids were looking forward to going. She told me she was really glad that Drew was coming with her because there were 4 boys in her class who liked her and would be trying to following her around and get her to go on rides with them. "But", she said, "with Drew there, I can tell them I am here with someone else....and anyway it takes all four of them to make one Drew!"

I cracked up and asked her if she was going to tell Drew about is role as bodyguard and protector. She said that she was, but "only when he was in the car and there was no turning back"!

So that night I told Drew about the story. And I thought I would spit out my dinner at his response....

I told him the whole story about what she said and ended with her statement that "it would take four of those boys to equal one Drew"......at which point he lifted up his arms like a body builder and flexed his muscles!!!

Cracked me up!

Anyway - he loved the story and is pleased to play the protector role for his best friend!

Daisy Mae has a new name.....

For the last year or so, Daisy Mae has become a naughty dog. We think she learned it from her Beagle friend....but that is another story.

Anyway, in the last week, she has taken TWO batches of home made banana muffins off the counter and eaten them! Yesterday I think she ate nine banana muffins in one sitting! And then she wanted dinner later!

That's when she earned her new nickname.....

I told her...."If you eat nine banana muffins, then you don't get any dinner......BANANA BUTT!"

We haven't called her anything but "Banana Butt" since! There's been lots of references too: I can't get by the dog because of her big banana butt, you'd move slow too if you had that big of a banana butt, etc!

Marty with hair??

Some random guy at Japanese the other nite, decided Marty needed to try on his hat for a pic. Here is the result. It was this freaky visor with a fake highlighted hair do on the top!

Flames!

Yesterday, Gracie and I got matching pink baseball caps with hot pink flames down each side! It is exactly how I want to paint the pontoon mama (my pontoon boat) -- but I would never spend the money on something so stupid! The ball caps will have to suffice!

a little illness

I went to use Jim's computer this morning to order some concert tickets for Tina and discovered that it has a virus! It is the first virus we have ever had. Which I guess is good news but the timing could be a little better....I am swamped with everything else that is going on and now I have to spend time disinfecting Jim's computer - while he is out wandering around Wyoming!. I am a little bit bitter.... URGH!

Honorary Italians

This weekend we were officially named "Honorary Italians", which allowed us all to work for free making chicken Parmesan sandwiches at the Italian Festival. Tina organized all the volunteer troops and the supplies, in order for us to make and sell about 1000 sandwiches. The sandwiches were bbq chicken on garlic ciabbatta bread, with homemade marinara sauce and mozzarella and Parmesan on top. All of it was made at the festival on a rented bbq!

The kids and I worked from 3:30 to 9 pm on Saturday and from 11am to 1 pm today. Drew actually worked more because he went with Tina and Marty today at 8 am. It was a lot of fun and it is nice to know that we could all work in food service if we needed to!

I hope someone will send me some pics that I can post.

PS - in honor of the event, I wore my "Guess What Chicken Butt" shirt!

Soccer Update

This Weekend's Soccer Scores:

Drew's team lost 1 to 3. Drew did not score but got one assist. A beautiful pass to team mate, Mikey, who shot it in. Their team played two players down for the first half and then one player down for the second half. So overall, they did pretty well.

Gracie's team won 5 to 1. Gracie scored 4 goals and got an assist on the 5th goal. And the 5th goal was made by Mikey's (the kid above from Drew's team) sister! Gracie was ON FIRE!

Tradition

As everyone knows, it is our family tradition to have your birthday dinner at the local sushi place. The highlight is when they turn down the lights, turn on the disco ball and music, turn on the fog machine and have the birthday person do saki/sprite bombs. Here is Gracie doing her birthday sprite bomb tonite! And here she is with a bunch of gals who love her very much - Tina, her mama and Missy!

Gracie turns 8!

Today is Gracie's 8th birthday! These are pics from her birthday party last weekend. The girls did an art project, made their own pizza and then we went ice skating. It was really a great party. All the girls were delightful - no cross words, they all worked together, etc.

Aren't you....

I was standing in line with Gracie's 2nd grade class yesterday and a little boy, who I don't know, looks up at me and says, "HEY! Aren't you the lady with chickens!" I laughed out loud! I have finally achieved the status that I have longed for all my life...."the lady with chickens"!

My life has officially spiraled out of control....

This is what I am currently juggling:

• A new full time (and then some) job
• Hiring two people
• Assisting a friend who is trying to land a job at the same company where I work
• My husband is going to be off hunting for Bambi for 2 weeks
• My parents are gone for 3 weeks
• My kids in the last two weeks have had an abscessed tooth an earache and had to get new glasses
• I am doing physical therapy
• I have to schedule surgery for my shoulder
• Filling my tire up with air every 3 days because it has a hole in it
• Researching private junior high for Drew
• 4 Soccer practices and 2 hockey practices a week
• 2 soccer games a week
• Running or precoring 16 to 22 miles a week
• Worrying about my neighbor who is seriously ill

All this does not include the normal stuff: homework, groceries, paying bills, walking the dog, cooking, etc.

If I end up missing, don't look for me on a lush tropical island..... That won't be me in the wig with a margarita in my hand!

Bean and Richard's wedding

A couple weekends ago we went to Jim's cousin's wedding. Her name is Bean or in the real world she goes by Kristine. But in the family we all call her Bean because of her tall, lean body type. The groom is Richard and I think they make a great match!

Friendship

I have spent a lot of time in the last week thinking of friendship.

It started last Friday when I had coffee with my study buddy from graduate school who I had not seen in 8 years. When we were in grad school we spent a lot of time together because we were going to school fulltime and working fulltime at the same company. We studied together and did projects together. It was not unusal to spend all day Saturday in class together and all day Sunday working on projects together. And most importantly, he "carried" me thru our quantatative and qualitiative analysis class. He was incredibly patient as he explained the concepts to me over and over again.

But as life is, after we graduated we became busy with our families and careers and lost touch.

I thought of him often over the years and hoped that he was happy and well. About 3 weeks ago, I looked him up on the web and located him at a company in Israel. I reached out to learn that he would be in the Bay Area the next week and we decided to meet for coffee.

As in the case of a true friendship, we immediately picked up where we left off and enthusiastically caught up on each others lives - sharing in the triumphs, the missteps and sorrows. We left coffee that day committed to keeping in touch.

Our encounter made me appreciate the variety and quality of friends I have in my life. And it made me realize how much they mean to me and how deeply they touch me. They truly make my life richer.

At the same time that I rekindled this friendship, I have been experiencing the loss of another friend.

And this friendship could not be any more different than my friendship with my study buddy. But is just as rich and meaningful.

My neighbor, who we have lived across the street from for 15 years, has been very sick. She has fought cancer a couple times and just finished another round of chemo about 6 weeks ago. The tests after the chemo was done, were very encouraging - the tumors in her lungs had shrunk.

But shortly after she stopped chemo she started getting sick. She got sicker and sicker until she was finally hospitalized last week. In the hospital, even on iv nourishment and antibiotics, she became sicker. Finally last nite, her husband called to tell us that there are cancer cells in her spinal fluid and that she was terminal. She will likely only live a few more weeks.

My neighbor is a woman in her mid-60's who drove a school bus. She is vastly different from my study buddy. But she is as important to me as any other friend I have. And I am devastated for her and her family.

I am not sure what the moral of this story is...maybe it is to love your friends and try to make their lives as rich as they make yours... maybe it is to live life to the fullest each day....or maybe it is more simple....maybe it is to just love your friends and your family with all your heart.

Attention Tooth Fairy

Dear Tooth Fairy,

There is a little girl at our house who needs you to stop by tonite! And it would be really nice if you gave her a little extra money for her tooth because it was a big trauma coming out.....

You see, she had a sore tooth all weekend. We scheduled an emergency trip to the dentist this morning and by 9:15 am, the dentist was removing the tooth! There was an abcess caused by some type of trauma and the tooth was breaking down and being reabsorbed by the body (YUK!). Luckily it was a baby tooth.

She was very brave during the procedure and even while recovering with bloody gauze in her mouth.

Thank you,
From the Mom of Very Brave Gracie

Yosemite

These are pics from the weekend that we went backpacking to Kibbie Lake. If your remember Drew opted out of backpacking and instead went biking in Yosemite with Tina (his other mother). They had the time of their lives!

The Cost of Feeding a Family

There have been all kinds of studies about how it is cheaper to eat fast food then it is to eat fresh healthy food. If that is the case, I need to consider getting an extra job because my family eats a huge amount of fresh food and it is costing me a fortune.

The other night, I had $350 of groceries delivered by Safeway (this is the greatest thing ever and I highly recommend it). In order to make room for all the new fruit, I cut up all the fruit that we currently had in the house. It was:

* One pound of strawberries
* A big honeydew melon
* 4 apples and a peach that I made into applesauce

I left it all on the counter and thought we would munch on it for a little while and then put it in the fridge for the kids to use in their lunch the next day. HA! Who was I kidding!?!?!

Within 45 minutes it was ALL gone and Gracie had added a green apple with carmel dip to the menu!

I would like to say that this was unusual for us - but it was not! Our kids eat a tremendous amount of fruits and veggies. Honestly (don't tell anyone) I sometimes suggest some junk food because I think anymore fruit is going to give them the runs!

Ouchee Mama!

Drew had swimmers ear this week.

We were swimming last Sunday at a wedding we went to - (note to self: weddings that include swimming are way more fun than normal weddings!) and by Tuesday his ear hurt. The thing with Drew and ear pain is.... he gets it REALLY bad! It takes about 3 days for the antibiotics to work and decrease the pain. So until then you need to treat the pain with advil or something like it. I was giving him 350 mg of advil and he would want more 3 to 4 hours later and the dosage is suppose to last for 6 to 8 hours. After almost 48 hours of this, I took him to the doctors. She confirmed the ear infection and after weighing him told me to give him an adult dosage of advil because he weighs 121 pounds!!!! So I ended up giving him 600 mgs of advil and it worked!

Soccer - week three

Two Wins Again!

Drew's team won - 3 to 2! Drew scored one goal and made one great defensive play.

A guy from the other team broke away and was going one on one with our goalie (Our goalie is Jeremy, one of Drew's buddies since they were babies). Drew comes running up from behind the other teams player (from way back), reaches around the front of him with his long legs and kicks the ball away from the guy with only 15 feet more til the goal! It was a great play and one that could have only been played by someone with 6 foot long legs! (OK - I am exaggerating a little)

I missed Gracie's game because I had to take Drew to hockey. But word from the big guy is that they won 4 to zero! Gracie made one goal.

The winning team

Here is Gracie's soccer team - that is her kneeled down in front with the red face!

Soccer

The Score: Two Wins!

Gracie's team won today 5 to zero.

Drew's team won 5 to zero.

Gracie scored one goal.

Drew scored 3 goals.

Fort contest

One nite recently the kids (including the cousins) had a fort building contest. These are the results. Gracie's had music welcoming the guests! Uncle Dave and Auntie "D" were the judges....and surprise....it was a tie!

Bulls Eye Jr.

Last time we were at the cabin we saw this baby deer with a white spot right in the middle of his forehead. A few years ago there was another one like that who we called "Bulls Eye". So we promptly named this one Bulls Eye Jr.

Betty

Betty LOVES hanging out in the front yard. I went out to take her pic today and got the action shot of her scratching and looking for ants. Then she became curious and I got this close up of her looking at the camera. At one point she and Daisy were hanging out in the garage watching the world go by!

More tattoo thoughts

I was driving to work today and had another tattoo experience.

The tattoos I have seen at work are goofy and inappropriate but overall they are on people who are well groomed, clean, neat, etc.

On the way to work this morning, I saw this guy with his arm hanging out the drivers window of his garbage truck. On that arm was a huge, very colorful tattoo....which does not sound so bad. But the arm was also covered with a lot of nasty hair and was dirty!

There is a HUGE difference in a tattoo on a young, clean body then on an old hairy body.

The moral of the story: before you get a tattoo consider that fact that in the future, you may become a big hairy, dirty man! ICK!

Sam's 7th Birthday

It is a tradition on our family to go out for Sushi on our birthdays. And that includes the kids! This is dinner for Sam's 7th birthday. At the restaraunt we go to they celebrate birthdays with saki bombs. The person of honor has to stand on the chair and do saki bombs while the waiters sing and play music, disco balls and flashing lights are on and smoke billows around!

This is a pic of Sam doing his saki bombs (you have to stand on a chair) --- but for kids, it is sprite bombs!

This is also the first time Amelia had any chocolate cake and she LOVED it. She was holding the plate up and licking it!

Mom, Dad And Grandpa

This is a pic from last week when my folks were in Chicago visiting my Grandma and going to my Great Uncle's 95th birthday party. This is my Grandpa Pete and my folks. I love the pic - everyone looks so happy in it! Who wouldn't be happy when celebrating a relatives 95th birthday!

Soccer Season Begins

Both kids started soccer yesterday.

Drew's team played at 9 am but I did not get to watch it because Gracie's game started at 10 am across town. But from the report, it was a blow out. The score was 6 to 1 and the referee asked Drew's team to let the other team score a goal! And Drew's team kept pulling their players until they had 8 players playing against the other teams 11 players. Drew scored two goals. I like it when teams and the refs work together to make it a more even game.

Gracie's game was a tie - zero zero. Gracie played goalie for the first half and never even touched the ball. She played forward the second half and that is when the crowd started going crazy! Most of the families on her team had never seen her play before and she "wowed" them! As Drew says....."she's got wheels". She is FAST, agressive and good ball handler. Parents kept telling me she was taking on the whole other team by herself!

Then I had to crack up when one mother wanted to know how old she was and then went into the whole....wow, she is so tall routine, blah, blah blah.... then she tells me - "you should get her into modeling!" I almost laughed out loud at her...... She may look good from a distance on the soccer field but up close..... there is little grace or beauty.....just a rugged, tough little girl who prefers to be in the outdoors as opposed to doing her hair! Unless of course, beauty is shown by someone with dirt across her face and food in her hair!

Play Dead!

We just taught the dog to play dead! By the cheering in the house you would have thought we won a million dollars when she did it for the first time!

The kids and I tried it about 10 times yesterday. Then tonite we told Jim about it and tried it another 10 or 15 times and she got it!

Helps to work with a smart dog!

Our last lab (God Bless her soul!) NEVER would have done it - even after 15 years of training!

Football has begun

It is - without a doubt - the beginning of football season.

You ask how I know?

EVERY tv in my house is on with a football game blasting. The furniture is moved out of the family room, Gracie is in a football jersey and her and Drew and playing a game of football!

Pretty soon all the hockey gear will be out too.

And there will be hockey on one tv and football on another!

OH! I love the fall sports season!

Go OSU Beavers!

Go SJ Sharks!

New Toy

Check out the new toy at the Marina! It is a gian water trampoline with sections to slide off of, run down and get launched from. The kids....and Marty and Jim...loved it!

It kept coming unanchored and had to be moved around. That was great fun to watch!

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was Daisy Mae's 4th birthday! We celebrated with a rousing chorus of "happy birthday" and a Mickey mouse pancake!

Backpacking - Kibbie Lake

We went backpacking this weekend to Kibbie Lake which is in Yosemite. It was me, Jim, Gracie and Marty. It was about a 5 mile hike in. Elevation gain was about 1000 feet and we started at about 6000 feet. The problem was that the elevation gain was all in the first 1 and 1/3 miles so it was a bit brutal. We thought Gracie was going to give up after a quarter of a mile. But we had a stern talk about it being her decision to go with us and she sucked it up! Unfortunately the scale to weigh the packs was not on the trail head like it has been before so we could not weigh our packs....all I can say is mine was darn heavy!

The pics here show the view of the lake, Jim and Gracie sitting on a rock island, our buffet and Gracie and Marty at the trail head. Note that right next to Gracie's right shoulder (in the buffet pic) is a bear cannister. That is how you have to store your food. Everything needs to be put into it and then it needs to be stored away from your campsite. Lucky for us Marty spilled is dinner (tuna and bluberry jam - not together) all over himself, so we figured the bear would eat him first! And after eating Marty, we figured the bear would be too full to bother us! Luckily....we never even saw any signs of bears.

Next time we need to bring less food - we had way to much - and more furniture - Marty kept complaining that he had no where to sit!

On the way home we turned a corner to find a bunch of motorcycles scattered in the road. A guy had just crashed and gone over his handle bars. We were still way out in the woods so we stopped and helped out. He was pretty scuffed up and had a headache but he was walking around. We gave him some water and advil....even though he asked for a Bud! Seriously!!! He really needed to see a doc and get checked out but he was an old guy from the mountains and was NOT going to a doctor!

We got back to the cabin and got a full debrief on Tina and Drew's trip to Yosemite (they chose to do that instead of the backpacking trip). They took their bikes and rode all around the valley, had pizza and swam in the Merced River! Then they came back to the cabin and went to the Iron Door Saloon for a big fat juicy burger! Pretty much a perfect Drew and Tina day!

Tattoo musing

My friends know by now that I am fascinated by the tattoo movement in the US. My interest has peaked with my new job in a younger, hipper, tattoo ridden environment. I strive to understand what motivates people to get tattoos and specifically what motivates them to choose the tattoo they choose.

In talking with my dear, younger friend Jenn (she is in the tattoo age bracket), we try to make sense of the craze.

We were discussing one of my recent tattoo sightings: I saw a girl with a tattoo of a bunny in a wagon being pulled by a bike. It was on her ankle! What does that mean???? On her other ankle was a skull!

Then she shares that her husband (a guy in her same tattoo age bracket - but obviously not as level headed) has a "warrior" tattoo. Her husband is from Guam, so I ask the logical question: "Is he some kind of Guamanian Warrior and is this a tribute to his culture?"

HA! At this point she busts a gut laughing and explains "He's no Guamanian Warrior, he got the tattoo when he was 18 and he thought it looked cool.....I just think it looks like the female reproductive system"!

That's when I busted a gut laughing!

Cheechoo Train....

Yesterday Jim met Jonathan Cheechoo, my favorite Sharks hockey player! He was having pizza with a friend of Cheechoo's and Cheechoo ran into the pizza place to drop off a fishing pole. So it was not a long meeting, just a shake hands type of thing. But that was enough time for our whole family to be fired up... I wanted to know if Jim invited him for dinner or told him I was going to name my french bulldog Cheechoo! Drew wanted to know if Cheechoo was going to go fishing with him and Jim! Gracie wanted to know if Jim told him she has a stuffed chicken named Cheechoo!

Jim could have met the President, a movie star or a rock star and we would not have been as impressed!

Play date

Daisy Mae had a play date tonite with Jeeter. His mom and dad are gone and he has been getting into trouble (eating stuffed animals) - so we decided he needed to get out and use up some energy. We are not telling Toby, her boyfriend, about the date!

Where are those kids?

Last weekend I was with my nephews (almost 5 and 7). We were looking at Sam's yearbook and both Gracie and I noticed that there was a boy wearing a camouflage shirt. Both of us made comments about camouflage is not allowed at our school. And Jack (almost 5), says "why, because the teachers won't be able to see the kids???"!

We all cracked up!

1st Day of School 2007

Here are pics of the first day of school. Drew is starting 6th grade and Gracie is starting 2nd grade.
The word on Gracie’s teacher is “it will feel like the train is going off the track at first, but by the end of school you will realize it did not go off the track!” Not a warm and fuzzy feeling! But I have to wait for data before making a stink about it! I was really hoping I wouldn’t need to do a lot of oversight of her learning this year.

Don’t know much about Drew’s teacher. I didn’t even get a peek at her because I was with Gracie.

we might as well live in the wilderness...

Last nite I had a BAD case of insomnia and I was up at 11:45 looking out the front window. Imagine my surprise when 2 raccoons walk from the side of the house out to the middle of our yard! Then they wander across the street and walk down the sidewalk like they are going for a nightly stroll!

Then this morning, Betty starts making weird noise in the back yard and Jim goes out to see that a hawk is stalking her! She was hiding under a hedge so she was ok - but it was totally going to try to get her!

Tuna Trip

Drew went tuna fishing for the first time this weekend. This is the haul. They went 55 miles offshore - they left the harbor at 3:30 am and got home at 4:30 pm. Drew had taken sea sickness medication so he felt pretty good all day. Besides catching the fish, the highlights of the day were when a shark at half a fish that was on their line and when there were 300 to 500 dolphins swimming around them. All in all a dream day for an 11 year old boy....and his Dad!

PS that is the hoochee that they use to attract the fish!