Shopping, Swimming and Shaping Up

I took the girls school shopping on Monday. We took a quick trip out to see Grandpa and Aunt Tracy and visit the malls.

I tell ya, shopping with three girls is not for wimps! They are slave drivers! We shopped all day, going to several stores, driving all over town then came home and had dinner with Grandpa and they were ready for more so we went and closed the mall.

The next day I went to the thrift store and bought a few things I needed, then we spent time with Aunt Tracy at her pool. Here's Sis and Aunt Tracy's little dog Bridget:

and Nat and Moo tried to figure out how to dive:

Anyway, my one splurge was a pair of Skechers Shape-ups which claim to help you exercise while you walk. I needed new work shoes and I figure I might as well be exercising while I'm at work waiting on tables. I wore them for the first time tonight at work. They're nice and squooshy but I feel like I walk a little clunky.

I was going to go with the all black

but Sis said it looked more like I had hooves than feet so I went with the black and white instead

The bonus to their big curvy bottom is that it makes me just a bit taller. I'm not sure if their big curvy bottom will do anything for the curves on my bottom, I guess we'll see. In fact as I clomped around the dining room at work tonight I began to wonder if they're just another version of the ballet dancer's magic toe shoes---making me believe I'm getting an extra workout when actually it's all just in my mind. I guess time will tell!

Out of the Loopy, or Maybe Just Loopy, I Don't Know

So...what have I been up to you wonder? (At least I hope someone's wondering and interested in my fascinatingly mundane life.)

Well, the move of course (the elders of our church are awesome and didn't even complain about moving us again in less than a year), and painting and minor decorating (hung a bunch of curtains today, by myself even), cleaning up the old house (I love the Rug Doctor, he rocks, but actually he really sucks, and that was even more helpful), working way more than I want or need to (but that's the summer season for ya at a lodge in the mountains--make hay while the sun shines and all that jazz), and still waiting for the internet at my house (which is why I'm at work during my off time using the free wi-fi) and also cursing Comcast (telling them to shove it yesterday, and now waiting for DSL to be hooked up instead) and basically trying to regain some semblance of normalcy and sanity, because moving really takes it out of a person.

I'm really happy in our new place. It's really homey and has a good feel to it. When I have normal internet access again I will post the livingroom's transformation. Now I can't wait to do the kitchen, and the dining room, and the laundry and the office and Moo's room...yeah I have a lot to look forward to.

Plus I interviewed today for a special ed position but if that doesn't work out, the middle school wants me as a lunch lady, so I have employment of some sort starting August 19 when the kids return to school. Yay!

Plus I turned 45 on the 28th!

So no, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I'm here muddling through, and hope to be back to my normal routine soon.

Moving Into This Old House Update

Well, here's the update:


The church is moving us this coming Saturday, and I still haven't packed a box (although I have moved miscellany loose items up to the new place) and Mike took 2 loads of boxes (still packed from November's move) up yesterday.


I finally finished all the carpet cleaning and vacuuming cobwebs (I've never had to clean a house so much to move into! Not fair!).


The one and only bathroom is still in demolition mode.



The livingroom looked like this:



but there was a rumor that there was hardwood underneath, so now it looks like this:




I still need to paint the walls and pull up umpteen billion staples out of the floor before Saturday. So all of you that offered to help if I needed it, guess what? Your phone will definitely be ringing.

Oh and I have to work, and pack, and keep up with regular chores like laundry and dishes (and blogging), and then do a dancer's flea market I'm involved in on Saturday as well (that I committed to long before this move came along). Of course my employer needs me more than ever right now, and I'm weighing extra money vs extra time. Money is winning, but I may still try to find someone to work for me one day this week.

Other than that it's been hotter than blazes, and the air conditioner in our current home has only been working intermittently (despite the fact that I've been cursing at it quite consistently). At our new home, however, it's about 20 degrees cooler with a nice breeze blowing through the pines. I'm sure loving it now, but I know this winter it will turn into Little Siberia and I'll have snow up to my fanny!

Nat and Moo are excited to move, and they are actually looking forward to having snow up to their fannies this winter. They've actually packed a couple boxes too and did a great job helping me pull up the livingroom carpet the other day and spent a good hour pulling up staples even going so far as to claim it was fun!

So there ya have it. Maybe by next Monday I'll feel a bit more sane. Or not. Oh well, "this too shall pass".

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 B who has Down Syndrome.

I accompanied B 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 B turns the lights out. I say, "B 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, "B I need the lights on." but this time I hear a giggle. From . 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!