Anniversaries are Hot, Sweaty, and Kinda Stinky

So, Mike and I spent our 12th anniversary getting all dirty and sweaty. Yeah, that's right. He tore up old linoleum and I shampooed carpets. What did you think I was talking about? Sheesh!

Our "new" abode (and I am using the term new here VERY loosely) is turning out to be a bit more work than we thought.

Yesterday we tore out the carpet in the bathroom. When we originally looked at the house I told the rental agent that the carpet would be a deal-breaker unless we could rip it out and replace it, so that's what we're doing.

GAG...

When Mike started tearing it out the smell of cat urine was overwhelming. And then I saw all the stains on the bottom of the carpet. I'm pretty tough, and it takes a lot to make me queazy, but this did it. I left and went in to another room and shouted my encouragement. Let's just say it was bad.

Under the nasty "history-of-pee carpet" (as I fondly call it), we found warped linoleum and mold which equals a lot more work than we thought.

Nice moldy, warped linoleum. I'll take it over nasty, smelly carpet though!

Today Mike began tearing it up, and then will have to put down an underlayment to even out the surface before we can lay down the adhesive floor tiles I purchased. It is assumed that the owners will reimburse us for all this, and I think it's a given now that the rental agent came by and observed the scene today. This project was LONG overdue, and the inside air quality has improved 100%. Thankfully this seems to be the only place the cat used as it's potty. 'Nuff said.

I in the mean time, was up in the attic vacuuming cobwebs and shampooing the carpet. The girls want to use this as a playroom so I was determined it be clean. The attic is very low--about 5 1/2 feet at the ceiling peak, and it was very hot and stuffy from being closed up.

The attic, before my cleaning spree--I really want to paint up here, hopefully I'll get permission

I actually broke into a sweat toiling away today. That may not sound like a big accomplishment for most people, but for cold-blooded me it was big news. I came down the ladder-stairs (you know the kind that fold up into the ceiling?) and told Mike, "Look! I'm actually sweating! I have sweat dripping from my brow!" He rushed over to look and could hardly believe his eyes.

I know that sounds dumb, but I seriously never sweat (and not for lack of trying). The combo of no air circulation, 90 some odd degrees and pushing a steam cleaner around finally did it. Woo hoo! Yay sweat glands!

Then later, we washed the dirt off ourselves, grabbed the girls, and went out to a lovely dinner followed with a nice bike ride through the neighborhood.

Well, no one can ever accuse us of not knowing how to party on our anniversary! Sweat, demolition, steamy carpets and a bike ride. Good times!

God Bless America

You CAN Teach an Old Mom New Tricks

So how come it has taken me 21 years of mothering to figure this out: having a pool party for a child's birthday is the easiest party option ever?


We celebrated Nat's 7th birthday with her friends last Friday and she wanted a pool party. Lucky for me the place where I work has a wonderful pool, so we sent out the word to her friends.


Come Friday, I was struck by the fact that all I had to do was pack a few snacks and head for the pool. Didn't have to clean my house for visitors. Didn't have to decorate. Just had to arrive. Wow, what a concept! And then the more I thought about it, I realized that I didn't even have to plan activities and games. The pool is the activity. And another big plus: I wouldn't have to clean up my house after the party either.


This was ground-breaking territory for me! Why on earth has it taken me this long to figure this out? I have no idea. I guess because I let the kids plan their parties, and Nat really is the only one of my kids with a summer birthday. Yeah, that's the ticket. I certainly couldn't be so lacking in awesome, super-mom party planning skills that it's never occurred to me before this!

Nat wanted my "famous" pudding pie instead of cake (vanilla and chocolate pudding layered in a cookie crust--super easy too!)


I wore my special Seven t-shirt for the occassion. I bought this t-shirt especially for our "7 fun things on 7/7/07" extravaganza that we had 2 years ago, and it was nice to have another event where it was relevant to wear it.



On a side note, I scored bonus points by having the pool party at my place of employment, which is like my second home. I was able to go to the kitchen and get everything I forgot to bring with me: a knife, pie server, spoons, extra plates, and a lighter.

Oh, this pool party thing is definitely an annual tradition now.

Fun in the Forest

This time last week I was going camping with all my kids -- yes, all four of mine, plus a couple I consider mine now. So fun.

We got a gorgeous site right on the meadow. And there were hardly any other campers there.

This is how we crossed the meadow to get to the bathrooms.

Nat and Moo took part in Junior Rangers. That brought back memories of camping trips when I was young. I loved Junior Rangers.

Nat in her coyote mask she made at JR Rangers.

Bub and Sis' dad came up and sang songs around the campfire with us which was uber-cool. They even sang a spooky song with a surprise ending that scared Nat and Moo half to death (in a fun, 'we're camping' way). (Wish I had a picture...darn.)

Here Cass and Sis try out a new taste sensation:bananas with chocolate and marshmallow heated over the fire. Sis is very excited as you can see from her expression!

The campground is full of warnings about bears which made city-girl Cass a bit nervous. On the second night I awoke to Suey growling and barking (in the tent with us) and heard the unmistakeable metal squeak of the bear-proof food locker door. I knew that wasn't good, but I wasn't really up to going out to investigate.

The next morning I got up to inspect the damage and found the locker door ajar and an empty graham cracker wrapper, 2 Hershey bar wrappers and an empty marshmallow bag on the ground. Further investigation revealed that a Capri Sun prevented the locker from latching completely but the rest of the food inside was untouched.

Well, obviously it wasn't a bear, otherwise the locker would have been emptied out. Apparently it was just a raccoon with a hankering for S'mores. That critter could've had any combination of goodies but chose to make that yummy campfire treat instead.

Here Bub demonstrates what a crazed, fearsome, forest creature might look like raiding a bear locker, which is exactly why I wasn't going to peek my head out of the tent at 4am!

We also did lots of bike riding. I was proud of Suey because she learned how to run along side my bike while I rode. She did really well pacing herself with me, and it is a fantastic way to wear out a dog!

Our fearless squirrel chaser and locker protector.

I was so thankful that Bub and Cass planned this trip and didn't mind me tagging along. What a great start to the summer!

Seriously, AGAIN? (That's most people's reaction when hearing the following news. Well either that or hysterical laughter)

So....about a month ago Mike starts looking through the paper and mentioning that there's a rental for this much less, or that much less than what we're currently paying. I give him that "you've gotta be freaking kidding me" look, and tell him there ain't no way I'm pulling up stakes again unless it's nothing short of screaming deal.

Well, he found a screaming deal. And we're moving again in just a few short weeks. We're crazy, but saving $5oo a month in rent is just too good to pass up. Of course it means moving BACK up the hill to the snow and away from our fantastic neighborhood with our Bishop across the street (who actually babysat my girls yesterday--seriously, who's bishop is that great?) and our church just around the corner, and our town donkey. However, now the girls won't have to change schools this coming fall, in fact they will be able to WALK to school. They can even walk to school in the snow so that they have stories to guilt their future children with! There's also a couple parks and a lake within walking distance. So there's good and bad.

The house we will be renting is in a very old neighborhood, built in the 30's when there was a saw mill and logging was at it's peak in that area. The houses were built by the loggers and saw mill employees. The lake used to be the old mill pond, but now is a wonderful recreation area. I've actually lived in this neighborhood before, some 15 years ago, and I do really like it.

The house itself is a bit funky, but I'm pretty much an expert on fixing up funky little houses, so I'm kind of looking forward to that too. The house sits on two lots, has a bunch of apple trees, two outbuildings for all of Mike's treasures that he's sure to need some day, and a lot more square footage than the little tract house we're in now.

I was a little disappointed that our current landlord wouldn't bargain with us on the rent here though. There are a lot of houses for rent, and rents are dropping like crazy. He didn't want us to leave, but wouldn't drop our rent either. He apparently isn't aware that there are 2 other rentals sitting vacant on this street for the same price we're paying, and that are bigger than this one. I have a feeling he WILL have to come down on rent to get this place occupied.

At any rate, the thought of moving again after just 8 months is just not something I relish, but after moving 6 times in the last 10 years, I guess I'm getting used to it.

B-day and F-day

...or birthday and Father's day for you people who don't care for abbreviations.

Saturday was Nat's 7th birthday (and my sister's blankity-blanketh birthday). Nat wanted breakfast in bed. Here she is enjoying strawberry waffles while the dog demonstrates amazing restraint.

Showing that she does share more than a birthday with her Auntie, Nat wrote a list (several days in advance I might add), to show in what order she would open her cards and presents. Auntie is the queen of organizing and list-making and somehow that seems to have transferred to Nat's genetic makeup.

Being 7, she's now old enough to appreciate the beauty of cold hard cash.

And LOVED her very own horse set from Auntie and Uncle Dave.

I took her on a mystery trip to get her present. She thought I was going to make her go to a different part of the store while I bought her present, but she was surprised when I stopped in front of the bikes and told her to pick one out. She then surprised me by NOT picking the pink one. Yes, this one has pink on it, but I thought for sure she'd go with the most girly one.

For Father's day, the girls planned and cooked dinner for Dad. They grilled steak and chicken, made fruit salad, rice and corn on the cob. Yum!

Dad likes a little pepper on his dinner, can you tell? (Even on the fruit salad! Ew!)

That was our weekend. Gotta love those B-days and F-days!

End of the School Year Funnies

This year the younger girls' elementary school did a yearbook. It was soft cover and only $20 so I got one for them to share. It was really cute and money well spent in my opinion.

Anyway, I was explaining to Nat that she should take the yearbook to school and have her friends sign it. when I picked her up at the end of the day, she says, "I got almost everyone in my class to sign, but I had to sign Mallory and Avery's names because they were absent." I had to chuckle. I guess she doesn't quite get the yearbook concept yet!

Since we moved down the hill, it's been Mike's job to get the girls to school on his way to work. I also put him in charge of getting them ready and out the door since I have been leaving for work before they need to go. The girls know their dad is a complete push-over and they have been taking advantage, though Mike himself is not known for being punctual, so nearly every day the girls are tardy by a few minutes, and this has been going on since November.

Then on Friday, the last day of school, the girls tell me that their dad got an award when he dropped them off in the morning. I really couldn't figure that out. They said the secretary stopped them in the hall and called the principal over and the principal presented their father with a certificate.

Sure enough he has an official "certificate of achievement" from the principal congratulating him on his "efforts and success" in "arriving on time on Thursday". It is signed by the principal as "attendance officer". I'm sure glad our school has a sense of humor and that the office staff was able to have a little fun at Mike's expense. I think we're going to frame it and display it next to his chili cookoff and rib awards.

A Graduation Miracle

I'll start this story with a little history. First we've been having kind of weird weather for June. Usually it's already nice and warm and getting hotter by the day, the kids are running through sprinklers, and fans are getting a workout. For the last 2 weeks though, we've been getting afternoon thunderstorms, and the last week we've been getting rain off and on each day.

Well, Sis' graduation was quickly approaching and no one wanted to have to move it indoors to the gym. If that were to happen, each graduate had tickets: 5 tickets to hand out to family members to enter the gym to watch live, and 2 more to allow others to go to the theater and watch on a monitor. Any other spectators would be relegated to watching from tv's in the classrooms. Four years ago this class' middle school graduation was rained out, so everyone was on edge and hoping that wouldn't happen again.

Yesterday we woke to rain...then it stopped and heavy clouds lingered and threatened all day. It looked like things were going to clear as we headed to the high school. To our dismay a huge black cloud hovered over the school. No rain yet, so I prayed it would just keep on moving and take it's precipitation on up the hill.

Alas, it was not to be and about the time we got our blankets laid out and began our hour long wait for the ceremony to begin, the black cloud unleashed it's fury. Gah!

Thankfully the graduates were safe and dry in the gym, but the spectators were not spared. Of course I didn't bring an umbrella, optimist (or fool) that I am. At first it was exciting and funny,

but as the rain continued our spirits were dampened

I was literally soaked through to my underwear; through a coat and a jacket, through my shoes to my soggy socks. I was drenched. Mike arrived and took the girls home to change and to get me some dry clothes as I was to head out to work at Grad Night right after the graduation. (They arrived back a little late, but were able to see Sis get her diploma).

All around we could see the skies clearing, if this cloud would just keep moving....then this started to appear

and just kept getting brighter and more beautiful

and you know how I feel about rainbows

Just about 10 minutes before the ceremony was to start the sky cleared, they dried off the chairs for the graduates, and the ceremony began. I couldn't believe the timing of the storm. Everyone's prayers were answered. Hallelujah!

As we stood for the National Anthem, I realized my body had warmed the puddle of water I was sitting in and it was very uncomfortable to move! I wanted to stay in my nice warm puddle! I'm not sure I can remember a time I was that soaked. As I reflect on it today though, it really made it not only a visual experience, but a very physical one as well. I would not trade my wet undies and shivering body for a dry ceremony and miss out on this special graduation for anything!

Happy graduation, Sis! You did it!

Of Yearbook Poems and Senior Portraits

Remember when I blogged about being pushed to put in a yearbook ad for Sis at the very last minute and decided it would be a fantastic idea to write a poem (even though it was 10:30 at night, I was exhausted and I don't write poetry?) Well, the poem has finally been released to the public via Sis's yearbook. Here it is at long last (with senior portrait goodness thanks to Sis's Aunt Karen of Sierra Springs Photography who is amazingly talented):

How'd you become so weird, so sassy, so wild?

How'd you become outgoing, opinionated and so confident a child?

How'd you become a grown up instead of a girl?

How'd it happen that the years flew by in a whirl?

The answers it seems, only you know,

So smart, so bright so ready to go.

I look for my little girl, but I am too slow,

You're already on to the next act of your show.

Time watching you grow has been cherished time spent,

I've sat back and admired your spunk and your talent.

Away you go, your own life to make,

Just remember a piece of my heart you will take.

I guess I didn't embarrass her too much. The day she got her yearbook, she texted me at work to say, " Thanks for the wonderful ad! I love you!" and then I texted back something sappy and we both got teary eyed.

One would think this whole graduation thing would get easier with each kid. It doesn't. Not in my case anyway.

I Have No Idea For A Title For This Post

Last night I danced at a local belly dance festival that is very loosely run. There's no real organization. A dancer makes it known either by myspace or word of mouth that she would like to dance, then the night of the event everyone shows up and finds out what the schedule is. Then there is much scratching out and rearranging of the schedule to allow for no-shows and costume changes and then we all dance for basically each other and whatever family members show up in the audience. VERY loosely run and getting worse. But it's a chance to dance, and that's rare up in these parts so we all grin and bear it.

I had one faux pas, not on stage fortunately. You see, I've gotten quite used to public dressing rooms and even when a few of us get together we all go into the same room and change in front of each other and never think anything of it. Well, last night I met up with my friends and we went backstage so I could change. I just went about stripping down and putting on my dance bra, without noticing there were men in the dressing room too! Oops! I was off to one side and I really don't think anyone noticed, but I realized that maybe I should be a little more observant before I change in a large dressing room again. Duh!

In other news:

I was picked up by the county office of education about 2 weeks ago to finish the year as an aide at a local preschool. They have regular kids and special needs kids together. My job is to be a one on one aide to a 5 year old boy with autism. He's fairly high functioning but can be a handful, so I carry around a star chart and give him a star for any positive behavior and when he earns 5 stars he gets his computer time. Some days he loves me and we have a great day together, some days I show up and he'll say, "No! Not you!" and I have to wait for him to warm up to me.

I enjoy it though. I get to interact with all the kids and it's fun to come home and have my kids ask me what I did at work and I get to list such things as: played with playdough, read books, played bounce and catch, colored, got hugs. Yeah, really gruelling work days! I have my fingers crossed that I'll get picked up as an aide when school starts again.

There's one little 3 year old girl that melts my heart. Her name is the same as my oldest daughter's and spelled the same way which is unusual. She even has brown hair with little curls just like Sis had. When she arrives she usually seeks me out to sit on my lap or read a book to her. What a treat for me. She has already caught on that I'm a complete push-over when it comes to her.

It's just very sweet to have this little girl to remind me of Sis, but it makes me all mushy too, because here Sis is, 18 and getting ready to graduate, and wasn't it just yesterday that she was a little bitty girl with curly hair wearing pink dresses? Sigh...

Fair Time Means Rides, Goats and Motorcycles...but not riding goats or motorcycles

Well, it's county fair time, and in this county it means the kids get Thursday and Friday off to attend and get to enjoy a long weekend.


Years ago my friend and I would attend all 4 days of the fair with kids in tow. We'd pack a lunch, throw a blanket on the lawn and let the kids ride all the rides (in those days rides were free with admission) to their hearts content. It was cheap entertainment to be sure.


Now it's gotten a bit more pricey, so I hadn't planned on attending this year at all, but when I found out that ride wristbands were going to be only $10 on kids day (kids under 12 free) and adult admission was only $6, I thought, what the heck, I think we can afford that.


The weather was perfect and we found friends to hang out with. I packed lots of goodies in our cooler so when the kids asked for some over-priced fair treat I could offer them chocolate pudding or frozen lemonade or pistachios (a rare treat) instead. And it worked.


We looked at all the animals. My favorites are always the fancy chickens. I love the ones that are so fluffy that you can't tell which end is which and I love the cute little bantam roosters. The girls however, loved the goats. They had the best time petting and talking to them.

Natalie was trying to kiss them (I don't know why) and she had one little goat in particular that was as enamored with her as she was with it. I started calling her the Goat Whisperer after this:

Then they found these adorable 1 week old babies:

Today we walked dowtown to see all the motorcycles. Our county fair attracts thousands of motorcyclists every year and our little downtown is one of their favorite hangouts. It's fun to see the entire length of Main Street lined with bikes, and to hear the constant roar of them moving through town.

I decided this one was mine:

I liked the olive green and black combo. I haven't seen that on a motorcycle before.

We spent some time cooling off in the creek and Nat spent time stalking water skippers which is her most recent obsession (we've been to the creek 3 times in the last week so she could harrass, er, I mean, "enjoy" them). It took some convincing for her to accept that they were on a "catch and release" only basis and not coming home with us!

So we are enjoying our long weekend thanks to the county fair!

Payin' It Forward - Anyone Want To Play?

Over a month ago I recieved a package in the mail after signing up for Laughadaisy's Pay It Forward challenge.

This is what I recieved:

The funny thing was that that very day I was in the grocery store trying to find a birthday card and getting more and more discouraged at the pricey-ness of a simple card! I ended up leaving the store without a card in hand and came home to this wonderful package of just-what-I-needed in my mailbox! Wow! Talk about perfect timing!

Laughadaisy hand made all these beautiful cards, and if you don't find that amazing enough, she has a preschooler and twin toddlers! I seriously don't know when she found the time and energy to do it.

At any rate, now that I got something fantastic, my job is to pay it forward to 3 people. Which means I have to make something and send it to 3 lucky commenters -- wanna play? Then, of course, your goal would be to make something and pay it forward to 3 more. Easy, right?

Now, you won't get a fabulous assortment of cards from me unfortunately, but I do have something in mind...

Just kidding! What I do have in mind is something that involves my sewing machine, which at the moment is MIA in our over-stuffed black hole of a garage, so if you're into procrastination, you're in luck, because by the time I find my sewing machine and make something and send it...well, let's just say you won't have to worry about your paying it forward for a while. I'm a procrastinators best friend!

I'm not going to be a stickler for rules here. Leave a comment that you want me to play, and I'll eventually send you something, and if by then you get around to paying it forward, great, if not, that's fine too. And if you want to pay it forward with something you actually didn't make, I'm sure as heck not gonna tell.

A Worrisome Sign

Seen on a sign board outside of a church today as I was driving by:

WORRY IS THE DARKROOM IN WHICH NEGATIVES DEVELOP

That really made me stop and think. My dad has always been a profound worrier, from the weather to the affairs of the world, he worries about everything all the time. He is also one of the most pessimistic people I know. I love him, but sometimes he's hard to be around because of his gloom and doom attitude. I really want to watch myself so that I don't develop a negative attitude from worrying. After all, worry doesn't change anything!

I think I need to get this tattooed somewhere...ok maybe not, but I'm going to remember it and take it to heart.

Town Donkey

Did my title fool you? Did you think maybe I had made an a$$ of myself somehow and was now the talk of the town? Well, thankfully, no. We really do have a Town Donkey. The other day the girls wanted to ride their bikes down to visit her (as we do a few times a month) and I thought, how cool is it that our town has a donkey for the kids to go visit?

When we have visitors and I ask if they'd like to take a walk and see our town donkey, they think I'm kidding, and they are usually surprised to see that there really is a donkey, and even a specified "Burro Parking" area near her corral.

The girls love to pick fresh grass for her in addition to bringing her a carrot or two. Clara is very sweet and likes to be petted or brushed with the brush that hangs on the fence. She was born right here in 1982, and I remember back when we had 2 town donkeys - Clara and her mother. I think her mother died about 10 years ago.

Clara gets lots of attention from visitors and although she has no official owner, several people take care of her on a daily basis. One of the local wineries even donates part of their profit for her upkeep.

I love this town, and our sweet donkey.

Made My Day

I have been on the substitute instructional aide (a.k.a. yard duty, classroom aide) list for our district for only a few weeks, but I've gotten a couple days of work in each week already so it's working out pretty well.

The only jobs that have been available have been in the special ed classrooms (there's a preschool and elementary level class) so that's where I've been helping out.

Many of the kids are pretty low-functioning (as they like to call it), meaning they don't verbalize much if at all, and they are mostly in their own little worlds and it's hard to draw them out. Such is the case with little Benji who has Down Syndrome.

I accompanied Benji to the bathroom yesterday and as he finished up and washed his hands we exited and the teacher asked if I had filled out the log for him (they keep track of each time he goes and such). Well I hadn't, so I walked back in the very large bathroom to the far end where the log was and began to write.

About this time Benji turns the lights out. I say, "Benji I need the lights on." and walk back to where he is at the door. He turns them back on. Cool. I go back to the log. The lights go out. Again I say, "Benji I need the lights on." but this time I hear a giggle. From Benji. I'm thrilled; he's playing a joke on me. Wow! So back I go again and he turns the lights on.

Well, we do this 4 or 5 times before I can get this darned log filled out, but the more he giggles the more I'm loving it. Finally he's actually interacting with me and I've never heard him laugh! I could seriously do this all day. It was so sweet and I was getting such a kick out of him. The teacher thought it was pretty cute too.

We also went to the school assembly and one of the boys was getting a Student of the Month award. It was so hard for him to wait. He's one who has a hard time controlling himself and also blurts words. The teacher told him to squeeze her hand if he felt he needed to talk (rather than blurting) and I saw he was giving her hand a workout the entire time. Finally his name was called and he walked up to get his award with the biggest smile on his face. I barely know this kid and I had tears in my eyes I was so proud of him.

These little guys have such a tough road, but they are such a pleasure to work with. They don't realize how they have touched my heart just in their daily accomplishments. The special ed kids are special indeed. (Can you tell I'm attached to them all already?)

Stick A Fork in Her...I'm Done

My oldest daughter, Sis, turned 18 this morning at 6:42am. Funny, she woke me up about that time to tell me that her dad gave her her present last night -- a new Ipod, and she wanted to let me know that I could now have her old one. (Woo-hoo! A present for me too!)

It's funny when your kid turns 18. They're now an official ADULT. Yep, you're done. That's it. You've raised them. You did your best, now you get to look back and see how they turned out.

(She turned out fantastic despite me and all the ways I screwed up, by the way!)

Well, I know I'm not done-done, but it IS a landmark birthday, and now she is officially in charge of herself and her actions. I still plan on being her mom and doing all the mom stuff like nagging and such, but I know with her strong personality and her determination and humor that she will do great as an adult.

Happy Birthday to my little girl!

MS Walk

I took part in a 5K walk to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society this past Saturday. I like to do my part to help a cause if I can, and in the past my efforts have gone to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. I was a team captain for 4 years. It was tons of work, but rewarding and fulfilling as well.

Last year I didn't do Relay for Life (I think I had a bit of team captain burn-out) although I attended the event and supported it in that way, so this year I was ready to jump back into a fundraising cause.


Me and my sister

My sister suffers from MS. She was diagnosed about 8 years ago. She has had to go on permanent disability and takes weekly injections of a drug that seems to keep it somewhat under control. I know there is a lot she deals with in her fight with this disease, but she mostly keeps it all to herself and doesn't complain.

The girls, me, my sister, and my walk partners: Dave and Suey my dog

When I found out there was a walk to raise money for MS I was really excited and signed up to attend the walk in my sister's town. I decided to raise money as an individual (instead of on a team), and was actually one of the top earners of the event. Woo-hoo! It is hard to thank people enough for sponsoring me so generously in this economic climate. A lot of donations were made out of love and support of my sister by her dear friends.

crazy girls

My brother-in-law accompanied me on the walk and we left my sister in charge of Nat and Moo. I was really thrilled that Dave wanted to accompany me, and it was really nice to have someone to walk with (besides my trusty mutt). It was a beautiful day, a very successful event and a worthy cause.

MS has also touched our family as my Uncle Bill died from complications of it, and my kids' great grandmother also suffered from it. They have found no reason to believe it to be hereditary, but certain genetic links seem to make one more susceptible. More info can be found at NMSS website.

I encourage everyone to find a cause to fight for, whatever it may be. You'll be glad you did!

Califoniprocrastination (or Procrastination California Style)

I am one of those spoiled, uppity Californians with the attitude of "oh I can do/see/go there anytime" so I never get around to actually going, doing or seeing the great sights of California. Which is exactly why the last time I went to Yosemite I was 5 years old. Dang near 40 years ago people. The clincher being that I only live 2 hours away. I am completely ashamed of myself.

Well, luckily I got a chance to remedy my uppity Californistic attitude recently when Sis asked me to chaperone a field trip to Yosemite with her geology class. For me, I jumped at the chance to accompany Sis on one last school field trip before she graduates (I'm getting very nostalgic as the big day nears). I really didn't care where we were going (Cali attitude again). The main thing I was worried about was camping at that elevation in April. I generally don't camp in April. It still gets way too cold at night for my liking.

At any rate we left early Sunday morning. As luck would have it there were two vans that the kids rode in, and one car which happened to be Sis' boyfriend's parents, so I got to ride with them. No obnoxious teenagers to be cooped up with. Hooray.

The memories I have of being 5 in Yosemite differ quite a bit from the memories I made during my recent trip. As a 5 year old I was thrilled at getting to ride in grandma and grandpa's cab-over camper (even though I had a nasty fall off the bunk during the drive). I remember driving through the tunnels and camping with all of my cousins and aunts and uncles. I remember seeing a bear going through someone's camp in broad daylight and I do remember some of the sights, but it didn't awe me like it did this time around.

As a 44 year old, I came home with memories of getting soaked at Bridalveil Falls, hiking to Mirror Lake (where most of the kids jumped in to swim in the melted snow water), seeing the rubble from the most recent rock slide, looking up at El Capitan and spotting a minuscule climber, marveling at how picturesque Half Dome is, walking up to Yosemite Falls and being in awe of the power of falling water, listening to bears rattling the bear-proof food lockers during the night, and best of all hanging out with my daughter to enjoy all this with. Even the weather cooperated by being unseasonably warm for April. I couldn't have asked for more.

In fact, I started planning my next trip to Yosemite after I'd been in the valley all of 5 minutes. I want to go there again soon. I'm thinking maybe even as soon as next month. I can not believe that I haven't made the effort to go there sooner. I am really kicking myself. To think people come from all over the world to see this incredible place and I couldn't be bothered to make a short drive. Well, never again will I wait 40 years to experience Yosemite (or anything else for that matter). I just changed my attitude!

There Was A Crooked (wo)Man

Yesterday I had to get a physical at a physical therapy center to qualify for a food service substitute at our local school district.

It was kind of silly really. They determined my body fat, gave me a 3 minute step test, a hand grip test, tested my flexibility bending forward and sideways, made me lift a certain amount of weight, and had me transfer 20 paper clips from one container to another as well as pick a pen 20 times, along with many other little tests. I think the district could better use their money elsewhere, really. And if I was in charge of testing employees I think I'd rather spend money on a drug test than have potential employees spend 2 hours with a physical therapist picking up paper clips and answering questions.

At any rate, the PT pointed out that I have scoliosis (curvature of the spine). I told her I knew that, but the first time it was ever pointed out to me was by my midwife 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Nat during my prenatal physical.

As an aside, due to my "advanced maternal age" with Nat, I went 3 times to an OB specialist for level 2 ultrasounds. Each visit they would tell me that my due date was 3 weeks later than my midwife's date and they told me they were "officially" changing my due date. Then I would go back to Ellie, my midwife, and tell her and she would feel my belly and say, "No, the baby is right on schedule and will be on time." Guess what? Nat was born the day after the midwife's due date weighing in at 8 pounds. Technology vs. a midwife's knowledgable hands, and the hands won.

I remember getting yearly scoliosis screenings at school, but no one ever mentioned that I had it.Very strange. I do know that it has always bothered me how on one side I have the regular curvy indentation at my waist but my other side is completely straight. She also pointed out that on my left side there is only a couple inches of space between my ribs and my hip.

I guess there are exercises that could help. All I need is a referral from my doctor (and insurance and money and all that), so that has kind of piqued my interest and I've been doing some online searching instead. Who needs pricey physical therapy sessions when you have the internet, right?

I was also struck as soon as I walked into the office that it would be interesting to be a PT. I was really intrigued by it all and I've always loved fitness and learning exercises and everything. I wonder if it's too late to look into it as a career. Hmmmm....

This Was Spring Break

I love Spring Break or "Easter Break" as the kids' school principal accidentally called it on the Friday before it started at the school assembly. (Oh man remember the days when we had Christmas and Easter vacations from school? Those were the days. Poor principal will probably lose his job over this. Ooops!)

Anyway, anytime I get to do nothing but hang with my kids is the greatest time on earth, so spring break is fantastic and "Winter Break" is twice as fantastic ('cause it's twice as long of course!)

I didn't really have any money to spend but that didn't deter us from planning a quick trip to The City to see Bub and Cass, and a little jaunt to see my dad, sister and bro-in-law the following day. As luck would have it, the weekend before our trip I was the only busser to show up on Friday night (meaning I worked myself senseless but made bank in tips) and the following night I actually got to waitress plus we had no bussers, so I got to keep all my tips. Very fortuitous indeed.

Cass' roommate works at the Academy of Sciences in SF and she so generously got us all in free as her "family". Nice. Beyond nice. And the Academy of Sciences was fantastic. Especially the planetarium, and the rain forest, and the aquarium and the whale skeleton and the chameleon...ok, it was all fantastic. Wow.

Moo, Nat, Sis and her boyfriend Trav who was looking good all color-coordinated in purple

On the "Living Roof". Is it just me, or does this look suspiciously like Tele-Tubbyland?

It is flippin' hot in the rain forest!

Gorgeous fish

Nat got tired of walking so Moo gave her a lift

Because we were traveling in "economy mode" I made deviled eggs and cupcakes for snacks and brought a chicken curry casserole for dinner. My niece gave me the recipe for the casserole and I made it having never tasted it before. Thankfully it was so good. If it was bad I was going to blame it on her, but since it was delicious I took all the credit. (Just kidding!)

We even made a quick trip to Union Square where my poor son was a pack mule for Cass as she shopped. What a good sport he is.

The kids played Rock Band. What a cool game.

And because my son works at Godiva (I'm not sure I've bragged about this enough) I got to sample two truffles before they were released in the Godiva stores. One was milk chocolate and peach the other dark chocolate and mango. The mango was definitely my favorite. I was feeling pretty special about that...I'm not gonna lie.

The next day we went to the mall where Bub works and I had to embarrass him by taking his picture in front of his store. (Notice how I call it "his" store?) And his manager twisted our arm and made us pick out a truffle. What torture.

On to visit my dad (who is doing so much better than at Christmastime--it's good to see him all chatty again, even if he is all gloom-and-doom-the-world-is-going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket. That's just dad for ya.) where my sister and brother-in-law brought gorgeous baskets for the girls.

On Friday I treated the girls to Panda Express (oh, the orange chicken...drool...), and as they sat there enjoying their food I looked at my watch and realized that we needed to get moving and fast if we were to make it home in time for me to get to work. Make it we did, and I had just enough time to unload my car, throw on my work clothes and go (seriously 5 minutes).

Ahhh...spring break. Easter is a whole 'nuther post.

A Big Ghoul

Today Nat announced that she's finally "officially a big ghoul". She still can't say her R's so "girl" comes out "ghoul".

She has been working for the past couple of weeks on shoe tying (at the encouragement of all of us who are tired of tying her dang shoes umpteen times a day), and she has finally mastered it.

She named off all the other things that she has done on her way to becoming a "big ghoul". Wearing underwear, taking care of herself, riding a two-wheeler, and now the shoe tying. Yep, that covers it. It's definitely official.

Apparently pronouncing your R's is not on the "big ghoul" list, but that's ok, I want to hear her sweet little girl voice for as long as possible.

Twitter-pated Deer Warning

I really don't have anything to post. So I'm posting anyway. Don't ask.



I just warned Sis as she went out the door to watch out for deer because I've seen more deer today than I've seen in the last six months. It's like in the movie Bambi: Spring has sprung and all the forest creatures are running around all twitter-pated and looking for mates. Unfortunately they're very suicidal when they're twitter-pated, so we drivers of fast motor vehicles have to be extra cautious.


And a driving tip for those who aren't familiar with suicidal deer tactics: If you see one deer cross in front of you, don't take a deep breath and think you're "out of the woods" (pun intended). Oh no. If you see one deer, chances are he has several buddies who are going to cross right behind him. Definitely slow down and expect one of those buggers to jump out in front of you when you least expect it!


For those of you interested (there are some, I swear!) here are some photos from our recent performance at Rakkasah:

Happy Birthday Mom! (with bonus cake recipe)

I always celebrate my mom's birthday even though she's been gone almost 7 years. (7 years!!!!) I guess maybe that's a testament to her memory and her legacy. It sure doesn't seem like 7 years has gone by because I remember her and think of her and even sometimes hear her in myself. In some ways she's still around, which is cool. I guess we should all be so lucky to have people that want to remember us always! That's the kind of person she was.

I generally make a cake on her birthday, and this year I was inspired to dig through her recipes and make her famous lemon cake. I'm sure the last time I had it was whenever she made it last, so it's been a while!

It's not a pretty cake. Just a cake baked in a pan. It usually turns out a little brown on top and just doesn't say, "Look out, I'm gonna knock your socks off". You don't even frost it. Yes, it's just plain and unassuming. And then you taste it. Wow. So good. I whipped some cream to dollop on top. Oh yeah...

When I told Sis I was making lemon cake she remembered this disaster, but once she tasted it, she declared that this was the cake she wanted served on her 18th birthday this year. Now there's a compliment!

So here it is, if you care to make it.

Carol's Lemon Cake

1 box of lemon cake mix

4 eggs

1 pkg lemon Jell-o (I used the big one)

3/4 cup water

Mix 2 minutes on med. speed

Add 3/4 cup oil

Bake at 350 in a greased 9x13 pan, 40 min.

Take from oven, put fork holes in cake. Pour icing over cake.

Icing:

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 cup powdered sugar

Ever Wonder About Those Princess Cakes?

These two blogs inspired today's post. Momza's House, and Overheard in the Ward.

Today at church I was teaching the younger class of 4-8 year olds (the Primary presidency rotates through teaching that class at the moment, and today was my turn). I had only Nat and another little girl who's 4 in attendance.

Our lesson was on baptism, and at the end they had a coloring page with a cake on it and the words "I can't wait until I'm 8" at the top (8 being baptism age). They were to draw 8 candles and then color their cake.

To pass the time, I asked them what kind of cake they would like. Nat wanted strawberry, and the other little girl said, "Princess". To clarify, I said, "Well, what flavor would you like?" Again she responded "Princess".

Nat and I laughed and I quipped, "I wonder what that would taste like?!"

Nat says, "Probably meat."

Ewwwww! (but funny!)

*********************************************

Way back when Nat was just a toddler she and I would play a funny game. I would pull off one of her shoes and sniff her foot and make a big deal about how "stinky" it was. This was always good for giggles (for her and me).

Well, our little game backfired one Sunday in church, as the sacrament was being passed and the congregation was silent. Little precocious Nat pulled off one of her shoes, held up her foot and said loud and clear, "Smell my stinky feet!"

I was so embarrassed, and when I looked up to see if anyone had heard, I saw everyone in the three rows in front of us with shoulders shaking trying to hold back the laughter.

The Case of The Missing Tweezers

I've been missing my best tweezers for over a week. I had already accused the girls and Mike and searched my make-up drawer to no avail. Where could they have disappeared to?

I, like most women, get the occasional unfortunately placed dark hair on my face and I like to keep those things under control, to say nothing of my eyebrows, so I was really starting to need those tweezers.

I had two other pairs of tweezers in my make-up drawer so I decided to try them (because by now I have three hairs that are taunting me). These stupid tweezers would not even touch my hairs! What's with that? Why does a company make tweezers that are so poorly designed that they cannot grasp a hair? What exactly are they intended for? Well, I promptly (and huffily) dumped them both in the waste basket.

I then went out to do laundry, and among the wet clothes I noticed my nice hoodie and put it in the dryer. I then heard a distictive "clink" in the bottom of the washer. I looked and, oh joy! My tweezers! NOW I remember what happened: I had taken the tweezers from my room to the girls' bathroom where the light is better, used them and instead of putting them back in my drawer, I put them in the pocket of my hoodie to do later, and the rest is history!

Yay, I found my tweezers! Wild hairs, here I come! But first to finish the laundry, so I put the tweezers in the pocket of yet a different hoodie I was wearing at the time (hmmm...I'm noticing a pattern here...), and then of course I forgot about my crazy, taunting hairs and my fantastic hair-pulling tweezers and took the dog for a walk instead.

To the best of my knowledge, my tweezers probably fell out of my pocket during our walk, and a search did not turn up anything. And yes, those hairs are pretty happy, and getting sassier by the day!

Procrastinating will get you in the end every time!

Post-Anesthesia Ramblings of My Teenage Daughter

So I'm sitting here with a sleeping daughter, propped up with ice packs on either side of her face, who just a couple of hours ago was crying in pain until the Vicadin finally kicked in. She is minus 4 wisdom teeth, plus she had an eye tooth exposed that never came in (they hooked a chain to it so it can get tied into her braces and dropped into position). Poor Sis.

She went in at 8:45 this morning, sullen and cranky, and 2 hours later I walked her to the car animated and chatty (with a full mouth of gauze no less). It was a pretty entertaining drive home as the drugs they gave her made her a little goofy (and kind of like a 5 year old).

Here are some hightlights of what she said on our 30 minute drive home:

Am I done?

Where are we going?

That lady (the nurse) pet my head.

Am I all done?

Do I have gold in my mouth?

You can't go to Walmart. People are going to get shot at Walmart, but it's just a rumor. Texas, Indiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia...

Are my cheeks fat? Do I look like a chipmunk? I like chipmunks, they're cute.

I talked to Bub and he arm wrestled some lady in a bar on St Patty's day. (me: Did he win?) No, they tied.

How long was I in there? (me: About 2 hours) Holy smokes!

My cheeks feel fat like I swallowed an elephant. That would hurt to swallow an elephant.

Where's my nostril? I can't feel it. My nose is stuffy. Can I pick it?

Watch for deer! There's a lot of deer around here!

My tongue feels funny. (I tell her it's coming back alive after being numbed.) You mean it was dead?! I didn't even get to say goodbye. Did they have a funeral?

Do I have gold in my mouth?

Remember when I got that thing on the roof of my mouth and my tongue couldn't touch the roof? Well he can touch it now. He's happy now.

I'm hungry. My tummy's angry cause it got cheated this morning.

They tore out one of my arm hairs! They took the tape off and one of my arm hairs came out. (Just one? What, does she inventory them?)

That lady was nice. She pet my head and held my hand when I asked her.

I still can't feel my nostril.

I didn't get to count. (I told her they would probably have her count backwards from 100 as she went to sleep.) I had it memorized and everything but they didn't let me count.

I liked that blanket. How come they didn't let me take it? I could use a new blanket.

They kept asking me what my name was. They asked me 5 times! (I tell her they were trying to see if her brain was waking up yet.) Well why didn't they ask me what the square root of 25 was?

I feel like I swallowed a balloon.

When did I go to sleep? (me: Probably about 9.) Nine at night?! (No, nine this morning.) Oh. Well that makes more sense.

The doctor flicked my arm and said he was giving me something to wake up and I told him no, I want to sleep.

Did I dream? (Not sure how I'm supposed to know.) I think I should have dreamed. Maybe I dreamed but don't remember.

He asked me if I was afraid of the IV and I said 'No, let's get this show on the road!'

...and then the nostril thing, the story of Bub arm wrestling, 'they didn't let me count' and "do I have gold in my mouth" repeated a few more times.

I'm hoping her recovery goes smoothly. It's terrible to see her hurting and not be able to help. I hope she'll look back on these notes from her drive home and chuckle about how silly those drugs made her.

Needed: Wisdom Teeth Wisdom

Sis is due to have oral surgery this Friday and have her wisdom teeth extracted. So here's what I need to know:

What helped and what didn't. What would you do again, and what would you for sure avoid.

What soft foods are good. Of course yogurt, soup and pudding, but anything else to break up the monotony?

I was told today that she should eat raw pineapple before the surgery as it helps with inflammation. Now, I know that my midwife recommended this towards the end of pregnancy to ripen one's cervix, but not sure about how it will help in the mouth. I just know my mouth gets sore if I eat too much. Has anyone else ever been told to eat pineapple?

She has a prescription for Vicadin. I know a lot of people have trouble tolerating it. Any advice?

Any and all helpful comments appreciated! Thanks!

Horse Craziness

Last weekend I made room in my little bedroom for a bookshelf from the garage with the intent to get my books and videos organized and located somewhere where I could access them, and I also wanted to get my old Breyer horses out of their box and display them where I hoped my girls might enjoy looking at them.

I was very horse crazy as a girl and I enjoyed Breyer horses, or "horse statues" as I called them, more than any doll or other toy I had in my childhood. I played with them much like little girls play with Barbies. Each one had a name, some were teenagers, some were mothers, some were the wild little kids. They had conversations and adventures and I made bridles for them out of rubber bands and string. Sometimes a Barbie joined the play and was allowed to ride one, but mostly it was just me and the horses.

Well, today we found my box of horses. They have spent many years stored away during our numerous moves. It was bedtime for the girls, but I just wanted to peek into the box to remember what I had. Well, as soon as Nat got a look they all came out, were organized into what she percieved as families and were dusted. I was then quizzed on my favorites, and then she promptly carted them all off and put them on display in her room on HER bookshelf.

I have successfully passed on the horse-crazy gene. My work here is done.

I Got a HOLLA

Last night I went to Sis' Friday Night Live Mentoring program to recieve an award. I had no idea what for or why. I was just told to show up by the coordinator. There were lots of other confused adults there as well.

It turns out they were giving out H.O.L.L.A. (Honoring Our Local Leaders and Administrators) awards. They kids each nominated several people they wanted to honor. Those who nominated (sometimes a group, sometimes and individual) would get up and talk about the person they were giving the award to and describe that person without giving the name away (well, usually!), then they would name the person, and said person would come up and recieve their award with much applause and hugging. Cool.

Sis got up and told the crowd she was honoring her best friend, her comic relief, the person that's always there for her, who clothes and feeds her and gives her rides when she needs them. And that this was a mother of four and an awesome bellydancer (most of what she said she wrote on the back of my award, that's why I remember it so well). Then I got to come up and accept my award with tears in my eyes. Awwwww. I was so honored to be recognized by my teen!

It was such a sweet and touching award ceremony. Many teachers and parents were honored and the things the kids said about those people were so sweet. They really seem to get the sacrifices that parents make and the extra effort teachers put in to make their lives better.

Various Recent Occurences In My World

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last post. Your responses were really helpful and inspiring. Yes, I (finally) paid my tithing. I know Jesus is not going to pay my car payment, but I really do have faith that we'll be blessed somehow.

I met a "soul sister" (her words) recently through blogland. Imagine coming across another bellydancing LDS mother of 4, with a house full of critters who likes to blog? I was so excited! Check out Shimmy Mom, my new bloggy dance sister!

Oh, and a couple days ago, I was shocked to observe Callie exhibiting some very unladylike behavior towards mama pig (I won't go into details, just use your imagination). I then had the girls bring me both baby guineas and I "compared and contrasted" their nether regions, and concluded that Callie must be male. Ooops! Hopefully we got him out of the cage in time to avoid another batch of babies! Right now Callie and Moe are residing in the old cage, and the girls are in the piggy palace. We need to do some serious thinking about re-homing Callie at this point and we have a nice friend from church who may be interested.

And last night my 2 dance sisters and I traveled to Vallejo to dance at Rakkasah again. We were a lot more confident than last year, and felt we did a good job. Because getting a spot to dance at this festival is a crap shoot at best, we danced at 10pm. It actually was a good time as far as having an actual audience (as opposed to last year), but made for a late night (I arrived home at 1:30am). We had a great girls night out, and really bellydancing is kind of like playing dress-up for big girls, so what's not to love? (I'll hopefully have photos to post soon.)

Well, that's the update!

What To Do?

I decided to pay my tithing this year. I had discussed this with a friend of mine who has a strong testimony of tithing, and it really helped me to decide I needed to do this and it was the right thing to do.

The thing my friend said that stuck with me was that if Jesus Christ has the power to meet your spiritual needs, he most certainly has the power to also meet your physical needs, so that if you tithe and need something, it will be taken care of.

Now, a dilemma. I have my tithing check sitting on my desk. All I have to do is walk it across the street to the bishop. That's it. So easy. But not.

Mike was overdrawn in his account, so I bailed him out, and what with me quitting my job and everything, I'm now stressing out about coming up with my car payment in about a week and a half if I do walk that money across the street and give it to the church like I should.

I really wish I had a strong testimony of tithing right now, and knew that somehow I'd be able to make that payment and pay tithing too. I just don't. What to do, what to do?

This Is A Really Long, Drawn Out Story About Cookies And Old Friends With Many Parantheses and Run On Sentences

Girl Scout cookies are wonderful things. They even bring friends you haven't seen in (doing the math...wait for it...gasp!...30 years?...are you kidding me?!) ok, 30, yes count them, 30 years back into your life. Wow. Amazing cookies indeed!

It all started when someone I knew through elementary and junior high looked me up of Classmates. On my Classmates profile I listed being a Girl Scout leader among my activities (even though I'm not right now--I need to go update that profile!) and my friend, in the quest for cookies and wanting to buy from someone she knew so their troop would get the money, contacted me for cookies.

Luckily Moo is active and selling cookies so I responded, "sure...we have cookies, but do you have any idea where we live? You may want to look elsewhere." I figured like most folks she would have never even heard of any of the towns up here in our rural county let alone volunteer to drive 2 hours into what most people consider the middle of nowhere.

Surprisingly my friend's grandfather used to own property in this county and actually lived just around the block from us, so she was familiar with the area and even more than happy to drive up to visit.

Monday she drove out (in her really cute Mini Cooper) and we had a nice walk around town. She showed me her grandpa's old house and we had lunch and a nice visit. It was really cool. She's even a fan of guinea pigs (of course!). It was great getting to know her again after all these years, and like so many old friends both my sister and I have run into, my friend had very fond memories of my mom (hers involved my mom giving her a hand-me-down "maxi" dress that was my sister's) and how nice she was. (I always love to hear how much my mom's sweet spirit touched people and that she's still remembered).

Funny thing, when my friend met Moo, she said, "She looks like your sister!" Among family we have always thought this, but then to have it confirmed by someone who hasn't seen my sister since she was a teen was very interesting.

At any rate, I'm so glad to have this old friend back in my life. We have plans to keep in touch and get together again soon (I promised to take her on a hike when the dogwoods bloom). And I have Girl Scouts cookies to thank for it!

Totally off topic, but my computer never did spring forward when it was supposed to on Sunday, and then it apparently just realized it's mistake, but instead of springing forward 1 hour, it went 2 hours so that when I glanced at the clock in the corner of my screen it showed I was late to pick up the girls from school and it gave me a minor heart attack! Stupid computer, sheesh!

A Week of Reflection

Well, it's been a full week since I've quit my job at the casino. And guess what? No regrets.

After what seemed like weeks of rain and snow, the weather finally broke, and this was what we saw right out our front door:

(If you want to know why rainbows are so special to me read this.)

Of course we had one more storm which gave the girls a snow day of sorts on Wednesday. The school called a 2 hour late start due to snow, but when Mike drove up the hill to drop them off (they still go to their old school in snow country) they had closed the school because of a power outage (meaning no heat...brrrr).

Since Nat had just taught herself to ride a 2-wheeler (when you're the 4th child you have figure out how to do things for yourself!), she was excited to take a bike ride on this surprise day off. We went to the park and saw how much water was in the creek and the girls rode through puddles. Too fun!

I worked Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening at my old restaurant job bussing tables, and it was great. Low pressure, fun people to work with and good tips. Totally opposite of the casino.

Sis didn't even know I had quit the casino. That's how much I was seeing of her! She said, "I guess I have to read your blog to know what's going on!" Well not anymore, because I'm HOME! Yay!

Two of my dance friends and I are gearing up for a big performance on the 14th, but one of the gal's husband fell off a roof and fractured some vertebrae this past week. I thought for sure she would want to cancel with all that stress going on right now, but she was insisting that we still plan to do it. After rehearsal today I got a little insight into why, and now understand that she needs her dance outlet more than ever.

After doing the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life for 4 years, and then taking last year off, I decided I needed another cause to put my efforts into. I am now going to do the walk for MS (multiple sclerosis) for my sister who suffers from this disease. I have been really overwhelmed by the generous donations and am so looking forward to the walk at the end of April. (Want to sponsor me? Click here.)

And even though today was "spring forward" one hour, surprisingly I didn't have any trouble getting up on time for church. Of course it helped that shortly after 8am I was awoken by the screams of Nat after she discovered her hamster's cage had been left open and the hamster was MIA.

We haven't seen any sign of Otis as of yet. He apparently survived the plummet from the top of the dresser where his cage is kept, and we think he may have even survived sneaking past the cats and dogs to an unknown hiding place because we haven't seen any signs (if you know what I mean) that he met with an untimely death by one of his predators. Hopefully we'll find him tonight when he starts getting active.

All in all, a good week and I am SO thankful to be home sharing all these little day to day things with my family.

This Post is Absolutely NOT About Guinea Pigs

Ok, so I lied.

At risk of losing ALL my readership, and becoming the Guinea Pig Blog, I am going to post yet again about our critters. But wait, before you quit reading, just hang in there and check this out, 'cause at the end I think you'll admit that it's pretty cool.

One sheet of coroplast from the local sign shop (free)

Two sets of storage cubes from Walmart ($42)

A patient husband with good measuring and cutting skills

Two "really helpful" little girls

And 4 hours later, you have a new piggy palace!

And a happy pig family! (Their new place is about 3x the size of their old one, and cost less than half the price!)

(Thanks to this website)

Just a Eatin' and a Squeakin'

How one little pig can eat and make this much noise at the same time, I have no idea. She calms down a bit when Moe shows up though. Heeeeeere's Callie:

Feeling Like a Weenie

Well, yesterday was my last day at my casino job...I know, I know, I just started that job and was pretty excited about it. To be honest though, I couldn't handle the hours especially with my commute time added (making my days 10-11 hours long). I need to be with my family. I need to be raising my girls. I decided that was my priority. (And really, at minimum wage it certainly wasn't worth it.)

I'm glad I did it though, because at this point last year I was gearing up for a corrrectional officer position at the county jail, and if the budget hadn't gone south, and the hiring would've moved forward, I might have found myself in a much higher stakes job, deciding I couldn't do it.

I was really feeling that I needed to take on the job of family bread winner, but now I see that it just doesn't work that well for me or my family. I've decided instead to keep working at my little tried and true restaruant job that I love on Friday and Saturday evenings, and to find a part time job during the day to supplement. Add to that some serious budgeting and meal planning and couponing and just plain being frugal, and we should be ok. That's the plan as of now. I feel like a weenie, but at least I'm a much happier weenie who gets to spend time with her family!

In other news, here's updated piggy pictures:

Ice Cream at 1 week old

Ice Cream and Callie at one week old. They started nibbling food at 3 days old!

The happy family.

I'm getting supplies ready to build a new piggy palace. There's a great site about building guinea pig cages out of corrugated plastic and metal grid storage cubes, so that will be this week's project. As fast as those babies are growing we are desperately in need of a bigger space for them.

And guinea pigs aren't the only ones who need a little face time on the old blog... here's a recent photo of Suey I found on my camera...

She's just too cool!

Traumatizing Stories

Does anyone remember those blue books of stories found in doctor's offices? There is one story in particular that traumatized me as a child so I was doing a little searching on the internet to see if I could find it (morbid curiosity I guess). I did find that some others remembered it and were as traumatized as I and that it was from a series of books called Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories.

So the story goes (or how I remember it anyway), there is a boy in the hospital for a tonsillectomy and next to him is a boy who was in a horrible car accident and who knows he's going to die and is scared. The Tonsil boy befriends him and they decide that Car Accident boy should prop his arm up to show Jesus he's ready to go "home" (because apparently Jesus wanders hospital corridors at night looking for this universal sign).

Tonsil boy helps Car Accident boy prop his arm up with pillows and the next morning finds him "gone" with a beautiful smile on his face.

I read this in a waiting room when I was probably 8 or 9ish, because I remember reading it by myself and then being scared to death that I might accidentally sleep with my arm up and Jesus would take me away by mistake. That story haunted me for a long time (and made for a series of long nights in uncomfortable sleeping positions to prevent my arm from popping up unintentionally).

The other story that has traumatized me, but this time as an adult, was Love You Forever. The one where the woman cradles who newborn son and rocks him, and you see the years pass until the son is holding his frail old mom as she nears death. Hoo-boy! Now that's a great children's book (I realize it's a beautiful story and all, it's just WAY too sentimental and tear-jerking for my comfort level).

The first time I read it I was volunteering in the kindergarten class and reading books to a group of children. One of them plunked this gem in my lap and I unknowingly started reading. Well by the time I got near the end I was blubbering and trying desperately to get through it, but none of the kids seemed to notice, they just asked why I kept stopping. Lesson learned there. I've always steered clear of that book from then on.

So, has anyone else been traumatized by these stories? Were there any stories from childhood that really scared you?

Little Old Ladies Are Cheap!

At the casino this month we are running a buy one buffet, get one for a penny promotion. People are understandably excited to take advantage of this great deal, so we've been much busier than normal.

Yesterday I was cashiering when a group of 4 cute little old ladies approached with their check. We apply the discount at the register, so they were anxiously waiting to hear the total for their lunch. With senior discounts and pennies applied their total was $18.

They then wanted me to tell them how much that would be split four ways. I announced that it would be $4.50 each. Such a deal. Then they wanted to know if they could apply their comps from their player's cards to the total. Of course! No problem!

I had to run each lady's card through the system and apply their 48 cents or their $1.11 to the bill--finally bringing it down to $15.67. THEN they wanted me to figure out what that would be split 4 ways....um...I'm not a human calculator, nor did I have such a device handy, so I said it's about $4 each. Then they all gave me their money one by blessed one...first a $20 bill that I take $4 out of, then a $5, then a $10, then the last lady only owes $3.67, and I'm praying that none of the others catches on and throws an old lady hissy fit when they figure she is paying $.33 cents less than they did.

Honest to Pete, this was the longest transaction ever, and I wouldn't have minded so much if the little old ladies were a bit nicer about the whole thing, but they were quite indignant about spending their dang $4. I think it would've been easier for one to pay the bill and then for them to work it out amongst themselves...or arm wrestle for it...that would've been fun too.

Oh goodness, little old ladies can be funny...I guess my turn at being old and cheap is coming!

Piggerific

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

More piggy goodness for your viewing pleasure...

I love their coloring. They're both a mixture of black and orange in their own way.

Moo is calling this one Callie, because it's calico. Looks like it will have a little mohawk like Moe.

Here's a view of Callie that shows why Nat originally wanted to call this one Eye Patch.

Natalie and little Ice Cream. She must get her pet-naming talent from her father who had a dog named Ardy Choke.

Awww...

Oh...and another mutant alien trait about guinea pigs that I forgot to include yesterday...they never close their eyes. NEVER. It's so weird. They sleep with their eyes open and even seeing them blink is rare. They can close their eyelids if they want. They just don't. Aliens are among us...

The Cuteness Factor is Off the Charts

I was awoken this morning by little excited voices exclaiming, "They're so fluffy!" and "This one has a little mohawk!" and "Gidget had her babies!"

They are the cutest little things I think I've ever seen. Unlike most rodents, guinea pigs have babies that are fully furred, eyes open, and running around. They look just like miniature adults. And I've read that they will be eating solid food in a few days. Strange.

(Of course this further proves my theory that guinea pigs are some sort of mutant alien critter---my first point being that they have 4 toes on their front paws like normal critters, but only 3 on their back feet. 3? Then there are their strange alien vocalizations: pig squeals, twitters, whistles, squeaks and purring, yes, purring! And now the babies. Weird. They're aliens, I'm sure of it--right up there with the platypus!)

The babies are truly a mixture of Moe and Gidget. Very cool. I was a little disturbed when the girls started referring to the babies as "mine", as in, "Oh look at mine; he's so cute." Ruh-Roh, is all I can say! I'm not sure we have room for 4 pigs! (I was really hoping we would have 3, so that we could find a home for 2 and keep one. )

I can't quite tell yet whether we have boys or girls or one of each. The girls already are thinking up names. Nat thinks they should be named Ice Cream and Eye Patch. (I just love the way 6 year olds name things!)

--Piggy Update--
I went in to get some pictures of the little guys to post here and when I picked up Gidget I found that she had not quite delivered a third baby. It was obviously not alive, so I called the vet and Mike and the girls took her in to have the vet deliver it (because I had to leave for work). I was very saddened that our third little one didn't make it.

The vet told Mike that it was lucky this was the last one and not the first as it was quite big. She also said that she's fairly certain we have two girl babies. That's good news anyway! (And Gidget is fine.)

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

Bulging

No baby guinea pigs yet...just one bulging mama pig.

I'm sure Moe is whispering to her in their piggy language, "No! You don't look fat, dear!"

Not sure when the babies will arrive. I read that about 2-3 weeks after you can feel the babies moving they will arrive, but it seems like we've been feeling them for at least a month now. Poor Gidget, I know how she feels!

As for Moe: his surgery went well thankyouverymuch. His days of being fertile are over!

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

So I Took This Career Test...

Due to my job stress that's been going on for at least the last year, and the current events at my current job, and my current stress at my current job...wait, whatever...anyway I took this online test to see what type of job might suit me best. Sure I'm 44...but better late than never to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, I guess!

I've been trying on my own to come up with a career goal. Here's what I like to do:

I like cashiering and counting money (they have those cool money counting machines at the casino) and find a certain satisfaction in balancing my drawer.

I like helping people. I like being helpful in little ways and making a person's day better.

I like reading and writing and I have serious typo-finding skillz. (Yeah, it's a typo, I also have a sense of humor).

I like being physical. (Bussing tables, waitressing, teaching dance.)

The state-of-the-art online career evaluation says this about me:

You'll thrive in a career that lets you bring order out of chaos for yours is a talent for organization...your sense of detail is so keen that you never lose your edge or your concentration when doing repetitive work. (See...cashiering I think qualifies)
....you are most likely to find and correct the errors that everyone else misses. (typos)
....you appreciate the clarity of rule-based systems, the perfect work for you should involve high standards, clear, unequivocal guidelines, and explicit structures of authority. (definitely sounds like me).
You need the human connection in your work to feel genuine satisfaction in your career. So, you're a natural for any of the "helping" professions. (I don't like jobs where I'm on my own with no one to interact with.)
You also require work that brings not just money but meaning into your life. Care, compassion, and the genuine willingness to serve incline you to positions of social responsibility.
You need work you can touch to feel at home in what you do. Your greatest job satisfaction will come from a hands-on career. (I'm definitely the hands-on type)
Patience, craftsmanship, and the need to see results incline you toward careers that yield tangible results. Ideally, your career will involve movement and physical exertion. (Yep, got me pegged.)

So at the end it told me my perfect professions to choose from would be in:

Construction & Maintenance

Constructions professionals are able to translate blueprints into real buildings and structures. They are responsible for following the building codes in their jurisdiction. Extraction professionals may work on an oil rig or in a mining capacity. These workers must have a lot of stamina and strength while being mindful of safety procedures at all times.

What types of jobs are available in this field

• Janitors and Cleaners
• Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
• Pest Control Workers
• Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
• Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

Huh? None of these jobs really appeals to me at all. Oil rigs and mining? Reading blue prints? Pest control? I've had housekeeping jobs and really didn't enjoy it. What does it mean? I guess it means I keep an open mind and I keep looking. What do you think?

Moody is Feeling Moody

I had a melt down 2 nights ago after a particularly grilling night at the casino. They were having a big $100,000 drawing so the place was packed, add to that our restaurant's February promotion of buy one buffet, get one for a penny, and you have a recipe for frazzled employees and angry customers. Yeah, fun night.

I got my dinner break that night (just an hour into my 8 hour shift) but there were several girls who didn't. I felt really bad for them. We didn't get any breaks whatsoever even for the bathroom. Then they had only one cashier and she worked her fanny off, and ended up working 2 1/2 hours overtime. I was disgusted by the time I got home about how we all were treated. I know it was an especially crazy night, but they should've anticipated it a bit better and put a few more people on. Sheesh!

Then I have been scheduled 8 days straight (tonight's my last night, finally!) and I'm not too happy about that either. In the last week I've seen my family for about 4 hours each, last Saturday and Sunday, and saw the girls on Tuesday for about an hour and a half. I got to spend "quality time" with Sis on Wednesday going to an oral surgery consultation for her wisdom teeth, but other than that haven't seen my family at all. They're all gone in the morning after I wake up (I usually get in at 12:30-1am) and they're all asleep when I get home.

I just don't know if I can do this. I'm just not sure what my options are though. My greatest happiness in my life has been my kids and now I don't get to see them. To me, that's just not worth it. I will hopefully get to talk to a manager tonight about changing my shift, but if I can't get a day shift I will probably just tell them that I'll hang in there for February and then be on my way---but to what, I don't know...

Guess the Pigs

Rose had a good idea...for commenters to guess how many piggies Gidget will have. She set the bar high at 7. Anyone else want to chime in? Whoever guesses correctly gets a free guinea pig! (Just kidding!)

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

Fat Pig

When we adopted Gidget to be Moe's companion, the former owner assured me she was infertile, as she had tried previously to breed her. I should've never believed it, because as the following photos show, she is definitely bulging at the seams...


I'm guessing we'll be blessed with guinea piglets sometime in the next week to 10 days.

I've never been an advocate for allowing my pets to reproduce so that my kids can experience the miracle of birth, or for any other random reason, because I think it's foolish to add to the pet population when there are already so many that need homes. That's why I feel a bit ashamed at hoping against hope that nature wouldn't take it's course with our guinea pigs and ending up with a very pregnant Gidget.

So, Mr. Moe has an appointment with the vet tomorrow for some very "delicate" surgery.

Neutering guinea pigs is apparently quite a bit trickier than on a cat or dog, so it requires a vet who specializes in small animals. Luckily we have a local vet who is qualified. Vets generally won't spay females, and even the neutering is very involved and is therefore more expensive which is the reason I didn't get him done earlier.

Thus our adventure into "pig farming" begins. I'll admit that I am kind of looking forward to seeing the little cuties.

If you are interested in owning a guinea pig, please check out these sites FIRST and read up on their care http://www.cavyspirit.com/ and http://www.guinealynx.info/ .

This is How I Entertain Myself at Work

As the host/cashier at the casino restaurant I've learned how to keep the seating rotation for the waitresses, how to greet and seat a customer, how much our buffets are, and on Friday they trained me to cashier. I'm liking cashiering much more than seating, because to be honest, seating is kind of boring and at least I get to use my brain when I'm cashiering.

We have a point of sale computer system that can be a bit tricky to get the hang of because it's extremely redundant, and the casino has cards that most customers have that allow them comps and points to pay for their food. I think I've got it down now after working the weekend, and to my knowledge, I only made a minimum of screw ups.

On Friday though, it was a bit of a slow start, so I found myself with nothing to do but stand behind the register and contemplate life. Then I noticed the pens chained to the counter for the customers to sign their lives away with. The chains were quite long and swirly which reminded me of cursive writing, so I got inspired to write my name with the chain.

I did quite well with my name, so then I thought how cool would it be to write a clever message for the observant guest to read when they approached the counter? My first thought was "Some Pig" ala Charlotte's Web, but I wasn't sure everyone would get it, so I decided on a simple "hello".

I was busily getting the chain to loop in just the right ways when a customer approached. Imagine my chagrin when I realized that they would be greeted with "hell" if they should look down at the counter. I quickly distracted them and plunked their bill folder on top of my chain creation. Whew, disaster averted!

From then on I left writing messages alone and instead decided I would stick to shapes and swirly flowers.

Cheap Thrills

We just discovered the street view option at Google Maps and are having a lot of fun searching for people's houses that we know, and looking at our house and everything. Nat doesn't quite get that the pictures aren't recent (like a minute ago) so she was a little confused at first!

My own cheap thrill is that on a corner in San Francisco, you can see my son and his girlfriend walking on the sidewalk. That makes them practically famous, right? Well in my book it does.

I'm having trouble linking it. I don't know why, so if you go to 204 Font Blvd. in San Francisco you should be able to see them. (And no, they're not really there RIGHT NOW, Nat).

Fighting FOCA

I don't believe in abortion, especially late term abortion and girls getting abortions without their parents consent, that's pretty much what FOCA is all about. Here is some linky goodness about fighting FOCA from Arya and Rose, who's had several posts about it, just keep scrolling down.

Life on Overload

Well, as I start my new job hostessing at the restaurant in the casino, I am overwhelmed by lots of thoughts. This morning I woke up to a tingling on my upper lip which means a cold sore is on it's way, which indicates to me I'm stressing out.

This past week has been crazy what with attending new employee orientation for two days, training all weekend, still showing up for work at my other job, and trying to absorb all that is new and different in my life over the past few days.

Some of my musings:

Getting used to the casino atmosphere is challenging for me. It's like a whole different world inside those doors. The amount of money that people spend "gaming" is incredible, as the employee perks, expansion of the casino, the large estates on the reservation and the crowds testify. Wow. That's about all I can say. Wow.

I'm currently working swing shift, and started stressing out about that last night. Swing shift will mean that during school days I will have to leave for work about a half hour after the kids are home from school and will get home long past their bed time, so in essence I won't see them at all during those days and I will miss our bedtime reading and dinners together. I'm feeling neglectful as a mother just thinking about it.

I know there are a lot of wonderful opportunities available through the casino career wise, and the elusive medical benefits that I've been trying to find through other jobs.

I know this job is a foot in the door and in 6 months time I can transfer to a different department in the casino so it's just a matter of hanging in there for now and making the most of the time that I do have at home. I think "hang in there" is going to be my new mantra.

I'm truly going to miss my other job at the restaurant where I've been bussing/hostessing/waitressing. It is such a wonderful place to work and I feel like everyone there is family. Too bad they can't offer me anything more than 2-3 nights a week or benefits. Sigh...I know I will have to quit working there soon just for practical reasons. I worked double shifts at the casino and there last weekend and will again this weekend but 13 hour work days are not conducive to sanity.

So I guess I'm feeling a bit insecure, a bit overwhelmed, and a bit indecisive. I know it's normal to feel this way and I also know I'll adapt. All I need is time (and some good cold sore medication!)

Land of the Wee Folk

We were watching the Superstars of Dance of tv just now, and the dancers from Ireland performed.

I commented to Nat that they were Irish and she said, "If they are Irish people shouldn't they be this big?" and she held her hand about 6 inches off the floor.

Then I had to explain that just because they're Irish doesn't mean they're leprechauns! Too funny!