Takayo, Audrey, and Emma.
Audrey, Emma, and Cousin Mike on the Gator at Centralia. 
Sunday, July 30, 2006
And now it's Sunday.....
Last time I wrote it was Wednesday. Has this been a busy week? Oh yeah!! Let's see.....
I can't even remember what happened Wednesday evening. Aha! I got a haircut Wednesday afternoon. The girls played with Ellie and Adam. After I picked up Takayo from school we got the girls and went home. Then I think Emma and Audrey went straight into the pool. And Alyssa and Gracie came over. Gracie stayed and even spent the night. Obviously nothing monumental happened that day.
Except for Emma losing another tooth! She went to Big Scoop with Ellie, Adam, and their mom Anita and Emma's tooth came out in her waffle cone. She was so busy with Gracie that she forgot to put her tooth in a glass for the Tooth Fairy! Fortunately the Tooth Fairy came anyway. What a smart and resourceful Tooth Fairy!
Thursday was a loooong day! We went with the exchange students to Birch Bay Water Slides. Everybody had fun, but boy did I get a sunburn!! Right at my straps so wearing a bra really hurts and carrying my purse is torture! Audrey had a ball on the kiddie slides and eventually felt comfortable enough there to tackle the big slides. This was great progress for her, but the downside meant Mommy had to get wet. We got to the top and I asked the life guard what the best slide would be for Audrey's first time. We got in line for the Corkscrew. Just as we were ready to sit down Audrey screamed "no". Surprised? I think not. I talked to her a little and we watched some people go down and decided to give it another try. She sat on my lap, I hugged her tight and down we went. Lots of fun and we didn't go under at the end. So you know what that means! Yep, back to the top. We ran into Emma and Gracie and they decided to get brave and join us. They had been going on a wide slide that they could link arms and go on together. I guess they figured if I could do it, so could they. They were a little nervous, but both of them tried the Corkscrew (they really wanted to go on the Snake, but decided to stick with what Audrey and I were doing). This time when Audrey and I went down we went under at the end. Audrey thanked me for getting her up. What else would I have done? Audrey and I went on the Corkscrew two more times that day and the final time we nearly ran into the kid who had gone before us. After someone goes, you are supposed to count to 15 and then go. I counted to a very loooong 15 before going. You should have seen the look on this kid's face! He started paddling to move faster and Audrey and I started reaching out to try and slow ourselves down. Yikes! I can only imagine how panicked Auds and I looked. Emma and Gracie did finally go on the Snake one time before we left.
So this was an Exchange Student activity, so where is my student? Out having fun with her friends. One Japanese and that girl's host sister. Takayo had a great time. We went to the beach right after that. I got left behind! I hadn't found out any leaving time and when I asked the plan I was told "we're leaving within the next 10 minutes". Oh crap. Luckily the students were all riding together in the bus! I had no kids with me and all four of us were in our wet suits. I found Audrey and then surprisingly ran into Emma and Gracie. whew! We changed and all four went to the bathroom--I knew it would be an hour before we got home so this was essential! We got done as quickly as possible, but when we got out everybody with the group was gone. Hmm, maybe they're still in the parking lot. Nope. OK. They went to the beach. I can see water from here, let's go that way. We got to the end of the street. Left or right? Since the UPS truck behind me was already heading right we went left. You guessed it, wrong way. We turned around and started heading to the other side and there was the bright blue bus. Just as I saw it my cell phone rang and it was Dayle from the program. I pulled into a parking space as she was apologizing. Oh well. The students were supposed to spend a little while on the beach but their teacher vetoed this because she didn't want them getting sick. I think she was afraid of them being out in the sun so long. We got in the car, along with Takayo, and headed south. By the time we reached the north end of Bellingham, maybe even by Ferndale, I was the only person awake in the car. Four worn out girls!!
And then there was Friday.......Take Takayo to class, stop at Target for Emma to buy a birthday gift, go to Anacortes for TGIF, McDonald's drive-through for lunch, home long enough for Emma to wrap the gift and for me to frantically pick up the house in preparation for the housecleaner coming -- oh, right about now! --, and then racing out the door to get Emma to the skating rink for a birthday party (yep, 10 minutes late), and then pick-up Takayo (now 25 minutes late), then to the mall so Takayo can shop, then pick up Emma, then to the mall again. Exhausted? Oh yeah.
On Takayo's info sheet she lists shopping as a favorite activity so I thought some time at the mall would be fun for her. She didn't buy anything, and I don't know if it's because she didn't find anything or was uncomfortable with me. The second time into the mall I asked her if she wanted to shop alone or have Emma, Audrey, and I with her. She said she wanted us with her because she isn't familiar with American money yet. Boy did I feel old going into some of those stores! I'm too young to feel that old!!!!!
Ready for Friday night?? Passion Party at Nancy's!!!!! What were those drinks Colleen was mixing? Chi-chi? Shi-shi? Something yummy anyway. The guys all went to the Edison for steak night. And the ladies learned about sex toys. Wow! The beginning of the presentation was on lotions, lubricants, powders, etc. The consultant told us to pick an edible arm and a non edible arm. As she talked about the various products she would put some on our arm---hence the edible vs. non-edible. And then there was the stuff for the nipple. Edible, but not by us at the time...... Did I buy something? Yes. Will I tell you? No.
I'll give the abbreviated version of Saturday: drove south. Stopped in Des Moines for Justin to see his grandma who had a stroke last week. Went to Centralia to Aunt Helga's house for a family party. Grandma, Bud, and Louise were there too. Nice time. One of the guys there speaks Japanese so I asked him to talk to Takayo for a little while. Hope she liked that. Hope he didn't mind it. Very tired. Very very tired. I got out of bed around 10 am. I didn't wake up at all until 8 am. Now it's 1:50 and I'm about to take a shower.
I've been taking some pictures. I need to put them on this blog somehow. It looks like I can only put one on with Picasa's Blog This or I can set them up on a hosting site and get them that way. I suppose neither way is too difficult, but still. Just takes time I guess.
Never underestimate the power of passion. Eve Sawyer
Last time I wrote it was Wednesday. Has this been a busy week? Oh yeah!! Let's see.....
I can't even remember what happened Wednesday evening. Aha! I got a haircut Wednesday afternoon. The girls played with Ellie and Adam. After I picked up Takayo from school we got the girls and went home. Then I think Emma and Audrey went straight into the pool. And Alyssa and Gracie came over. Gracie stayed and even spent the night. Obviously nothing monumental happened that day.
Except for Emma losing another tooth! She went to Big Scoop with Ellie, Adam, and their mom Anita and Emma's tooth came out in her waffle cone. She was so busy with Gracie that she forgot to put her tooth in a glass for the Tooth Fairy! Fortunately the Tooth Fairy came anyway. What a smart and resourceful Tooth Fairy!
Thursday was a loooong day! We went with the exchange students to Birch Bay Water Slides. Everybody had fun, but boy did I get a sunburn!! Right at my straps so wearing a bra really hurts and carrying my purse is torture! Audrey had a ball on the kiddie slides and eventually felt comfortable enough there to tackle the big slides. This was great progress for her, but the downside meant Mommy had to get wet. We got to the top and I asked the life guard what the best slide would be for Audrey's first time. We got in line for the Corkscrew. Just as we were ready to sit down Audrey screamed "no". Surprised? I think not. I talked to her a little and we watched some people go down and decided to give it another try. She sat on my lap, I hugged her tight and down we went. Lots of fun and we didn't go under at the end. So you know what that means! Yep, back to the top. We ran into Emma and Gracie and they decided to get brave and join us. They had been going on a wide slide that they could link arms and go on together. I guess they figured if I could do it, so could they. They were a little nervous, but both of them tried the Corkscrew (they really wanted to go on the Snake, but decided to stick with what Audrey and I were doing). This time when Audrey and I went down we went under at the end. Audrey thanked me for getting her up. What else would I have done? Audrey and I went on the Corkscrew two more times that day and the final time we nearly ran into the kid who had gone before us. After someone goes, you are supposed to count to 15 and then go. I counted to a very loooong 15 before going. You should have seen the look on this kid's face! He started paddling to move faster and Audrey and I started reaching out to try and slow ourselves down. Yikes! I can only imagine how panicked Auds and I looked. Emma and Gracie did finally go on the Snake one time before we left.
So this was an Exchange Student activity, so where is my student? Out having fun with her friends. One Japanese and that girl's host sister. Takayo had a great time. We went to the beach right after that. I got left behind! I hadn't found out any leaving time and when I asked the plan I was told "we're leaving within the next 10 minutes". Oh crap. Luckily the students were all riding together in the bus! I had no kids with me and all four of us were in our wet suits. I found Audrey and then surprisingly ran into Emma and Gracie. whew! We changed and all four went to the bathroom--I knew it would be an hour before we got home so this was essential! We got done as quickly as possible, but when we got out everybody with the group was gone. Hmm, maybe they're still in the parking lot. Nope. OK. They went to the beach. I can see water from here, let's go that way. We got to the end of the street. Left or right? Since the UPS truck behind me was already heading right we went left. You guessed it, wrong way. We turned around and started heading to the other side and there was the bright blue bus. Just as I saw it my cell phone rang and it was Dayle from the program. I pulled into a parking space as she was apologizing. Oh well. The students were supposed to spend a little while on the beach but their teacher vetoed this because she didn't want them getting sick. I think she was afraid of them being out in the sun so long. We got in the car, along with Takayo, and headed south. By the time we reached the north end of Bellingham, maybe even by Ferndale, I was the only person awake in the car. Four worn out girls!!
And then there was Friday.......Take Takayo to class, stop at Target for Emma to buy a birthday gift, go to Anacortes for TGIF, McDonald's drive-through for lunch, home long enough for Emma to wrap the gift and for me to frantically pick up the house in preparation for the housecleaner coming -- oh, right about now! --, and then racing out the door to get Emma to the skating rink for a birthday party (yep, 10 minutes late), and then pick-up Takayo (now 25 minutes late), then to the mall so Takayo can shop, then pick up Emma, then to the mall again. Exhausted? Oh yeah.
On Takayo's info sheet she lists shopping as a favorite activity so I thought some time at the mall would be fun for her. She didn't buy anything, and I don't know if it's because she didn't find anything or was uncomfortable with me. The second time into the mall I asked her if she wanted to shop alone or have Emma, Audrey, and I with her. She said she wanted us with her because she isn't familiar with American money yet. Boy did I feel old going into some of those stores! I'm too young to feel that old!!!!!
Ready for Friday night?? Passion Party at Nancy's!!!!! What were those drinks Colleen was mixing? Chi-chi? Shi-shi? Something yummy anyway. The guys all went to the Edison for steak night. And the ladies learned about sex toys. Wow! The beginning of the presentation was on lotions, lubricants, powders, etc. The consultant told us to pick an edible arm and a non edible arm. As she talked about the various products she would put some on our arm---hence the edible vs. non-edible. And then there was the stuff for the nipple. Edible, but not by us at the time...... Did I buy something? Yes. Will I tell you? No.
I'll give the abbreviated version of Saturday: drove south. Stopped in Des Moines for Justin to see his grandma who had a stroke last week. Went to Centralia to Aunt Helga's house for a family party. Grandma, Bud, and Louise were there too. Nice time. One of the guys there speaks Japanese so I asked him to talk to Takayo for a little while. Hope she liked that. Hope he didn't mind it. Very tired. Very very tired. I got out of bed around 10 am. I didn't wake up at all until 8 am. Now it's 1:50 and I'm about to take a shower.
I've been taking some pictures. I need to put them on this blog somehow. It looks like I can only put one on with Picasa's Blog This or I can set them up on a hosting site and get them that way. I suppose neither way is too difficult, but still. Just takes time I guess.
Never underestimate the power of passion. Eve Sawyer
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Our student is here!!!
Today is the beginning of our second full day with Takayo, our "daughter" from Okinawa. Monday at 5 pm we picked up Takayo from her orientation and brought her home with us. The students had been traveling for about 20 hours at that point and in Japan the time would have been around 2 am. Wow! We came home and gave Takayo a quick tour of the house and had dinner (spaghetti with crab in Alfredo sauce---good first American dinner, right?). After dinner we went outside for a little while so she could see the area around the house. She seemed impressed with how much property we are on. Emma and Audrey were tossed, fully clothed, into the pool and had great fun playing for a while. Takayo had kind of caught a "second wind" and wasn't tired yet. She didn't go to bed until after 10 pm! Tired girl!!
Tuesday morning Emma, Audrey, and I took Takayo into Mt. Vernon for her class at Christ the King Church. (note: this is not a church-based exchange. the area coordinators have access to this church for use as a classroom. it appears that many of the host families are Christian and know the area coordinators through church.) Class begins at 9 am. In the afternoon, the students were taken to downtown Mt. Vernon to go to the bank and post office and walk the downtown area. Emma, Audrey, and I ran a bunch of errands and didn't get home until 2 pm. Just enough time to get the girls ready for Carissa's birthday party across the road. After dropping them there, I went back to CTK to pick up Takayo at 4 pm. I was met at the door by Dayle, one of the coordinators, who told me that my daughter was not just tired, she was TIRED. Uh-oh. I had been asked to take another student to her host family's house on my way home. Whenever I looked in the mirror I could see Takayo slumped forward sleeping. As soon as we got home I sent her to bed. The downside to this shadily is that we had to be in Mt. Vernon at 6 pm for a Welcome potluck. How much good can a one hour nap be for this girl?? We wound up letting her sleep a bit longer and didn't leave home until 6 pm. I'm hoping that I remember at the end of the program to recommend the Welcome party be on their second full day instead of the first. It would have been much more fun for everyone. When we arrived home I helped Takayo with her homework---American money identification and a questionnaire about the family to help her understand some of our rules and whatnot. A slightly earlier bedtime last night.....
So now it is Wednesday. One of the other host moms took Takayo in to town for me today. She will have class in the morning and then in the afternoon the students will go to the mall for shopping and a learning activity. After I pick up Takayo today we'll go to the grocery store and see if we can figure out some foods that she likes. We'll try and keep this evening as low-key as possible.
Takayo's English is pretty good. We were told at the orientation that the student's conversation skills will be much lower than their reading/writing English skills. During homework last night Takayo was able to read pretty much all of her questions and needed help with spelling only a few words. It's difficult to get into the habit of speaking more slowly and clearly and using fewer words to communicate. Today I'm going to work with the girls on that. Once they are able to grasp the better way to speak with Takayo they will have even more fun.
Emma and Audrey were quite nervous Monday evening. They are really enjoying their new big sister though! They take turns sitting beside her in the car. We received some wonderful gifts from Takayo. The girls got little juggling bean bags, origami paper, and gorgeous festival clothing. Audrey has been asking every day to wear it! (I took a picture, let's see if I can get it on here.) Justin and I each got shirts from Okinawa and a beautiful calligraphy that she did herself. It's a kanji which represents "Good Luck". She also gave us local cookies and candy and a set of Shi-Sa. Little "lions" for good luck. The owner is supposed to display them by the front door. Ours are up above it (and I need to dust up there!!). Takayo is very sweet and courteous. Tomorrow we will go with the exchange students to Birch Bay Water Slides. Should be fun!
We added two new additions to our family on Monday. Takayo and a rooster. I can hear him cockadoodledooing right now! Our neighbors (with 16 chickens) were surprised to have three of their hens actually turn out to be roosters. So now we have one of them. He's beautiful and looks a bit like our Silver Lace Wyandottes. We have two eggs so far this week (since Saturday when we'd eaten all the previous fresh eggs). Still only one--or none--a day though.
Still a lot to do around the house and I have a much needed haircut appointment in two hours. Yay!!
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. Japanese Proverb
Today is the beginning of our second full day with Takayo, our "daughter" from Okinawa. Monday at 5 pm we picked up Takayo from her orientation and brought her home with us. The students had been traveling for about 20 hours at that point and in Japan the time would have been around 2 am. Wow! We came home and gave Takayo a quick tour of the house and had dinner (spaghetti with crab in Alfredo sauce---good first American dinner, right?). After dinner we went outside for a little while so she could see the area around the house. She seemed impressed with how much property we are on. Emma and Audrey were tossed, fully clothed, into the pool and had great fun playing for a while. Takayo had kind of caught a "second wind" and wasn't tired yet. She didn't go to bed until after 10 pm! Tired girl!!
Tuesday morning Emma, Audrey, and I took Takayo into Mt. Vernon for her class at Christ the King Church. (note: this is not a church-based exchange. the area coordinators have access to this church for use as a classroom. it appears that many of the host families are Christian and know the area coordinators through church.) Class begins at 9 am. In the afternoon, the students were taken to downtown Mt. Vernon to go to the bank and post office and walk the downtown area. Emma, Audrey, and I ran a bunch of errands and didn't get home until 2 pm. Just enough time to get the girls ready for Carissa's birthday party across the road. After dropping them there, I went back to CTK to pick up Takayo at 4 pm. I was met at the door by Dayle, one of the coordinators, who told me that my daughter was not just tired, she was TIRED. Uh-oh. I had been asked to take another student to her host family's house on my way home. Whenever I looked in the mirror I could see Takayo slumped forward sleeping. As soon as we got home I sent her to bed. The downside to this shadily is that we had to be in Mt. Vernon at 6 pm for a Welcome potluck. How much good can a one hour nap be for this girl?? We wound up letting her sleep a bit longer and didn't leave home until 6 pm. I'm hoping that I remember at the end of the program to recommend the Welcome party be on their second full day instead of the first. It would have been much more fun for everyone. When we arrived home I helped Takayo with her homework---American money identification and a questionnaire about the family to help her understand some of our rules and whatnot. A slightly earlier bedtime last night.....
So now it is Wednesday. One of the other host moms took Takayo in to town for me today. She will have class in the morning and then in the afternoon the students will go to the mall for shopping and a learning activity. After I pick up Takayo today we'll go to the grocery store and see if we can figure out some foods that she likes. We'll try and keep this evening as low-key as possible.
Takayo's English is pretty good. We were told at the orientation that the student's conversation skills will be much lower than their reading/writing English skills. During homework last night Takayo was able to read pretty much all of her questions and needed help with spelling only a few words. It's difficult to get into the habit of speaking more slowly and clearly and using fewer words to communicate. Today I'm going to work with the girls on that. Once they are able to grasp the better way to speak with Takayo they will have even more fun.
Emma and Audrey were quite nervous Monday evening. They are really enjoying their new big sister though! They take turns sitting beside her in the car. We received some wonderful gifts from Takayo. The girls got little juggling bean bags, origami paper, and gorgeous festival clothing. Audrey has been asking every day to wear it! (I took a picture, let's see if I can get it on here.) Justin and I each got shirts from Okinawa and a beautiful calligraphy that she did herself. It's a kanji which represents "Good Luck". She also gave us local cookies and candy and a set of Shi-Sa. Little "lions" for good luck. The owner is supposed to display them by the front door. Ours are up above it (and I need to dust up there!!). Takayo is very sweet and courteous. Tomorrow we will go with the exchange students to Birch Bay Water Slides. Should be fun!
We added two new additions to our family on Monday. Takayo and a rooster. I can hear him cockadoodledooing right now! Our neighbors (with 16 chickens) were surprised to have three of their hens actually turn out to be roosters. So now we have one of them. He's beautiful and looks a bit like our Silver Lace Wyandottes. We have two eggs so far this week (since Saturday when we'd eaten all the previous fresh eggs). Still only one--or none--a day though.
Still a lot to do around the house and I have a much needed haircut appointment in two hours. Yay!!
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. Japanese Proverb
Saturday, July 22, 2006
I smell puppies!!!!
Ten of the cutest little three week old puppies were just at my house. Oh my goodness!! How can anyone not fall in love with a three week old Golden Retriever puppy??????? Then again, there's a fine line between "falling in love" and "taking home". Cute? Oh yeah. Living with me? No way!
Monday afternoon we meet our exchange student. I can't wait for her to actually have a name. A personality. A presence. Unfortunately, for now, she continues to be "our exchange student". Even though we know her name; I'm still not using it in this. No good reason. I kind of feel that until I know how to pronounce her name, I don't feel comfortable writing it Her name is Takayo. I'll find out how to pronounce it Monday night.
Sunday morning we will go to church. (second time in two weeks. unfortunately that's a record this year.) Emma and Briauna will get their certificates and pins for the God and Me class this week. Good reason to go, right? We must get back into the habit. But why? Hmmmm.....I think that's for another day.
My turn to brush teeth and get ready for bed.
No quote tonight. Too tired. Joy
Ten of the cutest little three week old puppies were just at my house. Oh my goodness!! How can anyone not fall in love with a three week old Golden Retriever puppy??????? Then again, there's a fine line between "falling in love" and "taking home". Cute? Oh yeah. Living with me? No way!
Monday afternoon we meet our exchange student. I can't wait for her to actually have a name. A personality. A presence. Unfortunately, for now, she continues to be "our exchange student". Even though we know her name; I'm still not using it in this. No good reason. I kind of feel that until I know how to pronounce her name, I don't feel comfortable writing it Her name is Takayo. I'll find out how to pronounce it Monday night.
Sunday morning we will go to church. (second time in two weeks. unfortunately that's a record this year.) Emma and Briauna will get their certificates and pins for the God and Me class this week. Good reason to go, right? We must get back into the habit. But why? Hmmmm.....I think that's for another day.
My turn to brush teeth and get ready for bed.
No quote tonight. Too tired. Joy
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
I am so not a morning person!
Emma has now had three days of God and Me. She and Briauna are really enjoying it. Yesterday I had Briauna's sister Carissa with Audrey and I and we went to two parks in Anacortes. I think the girls had fun. When we got back home we all went to Dawnell's for lunch and the girls played in their pool. I ran some errands in the late afternoon and the girls didn't come home until just after 8 pm. They were beyond exhausted. They hardly touched their dinner and actually admitted to being tired! The good news is: they went right to sleep. The bad news is: they didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning. Not too bad except we have to leave here around 9 am to get to Anacortes on time! We made it though. Audrey went with Carissa's family to a movie and we swapped kids at the mall. Whew.
Yesterday I picked up the info on our exchange student. She says she's looking forward to shopping and making American friends. She's had four years of English, so hopefully we will have a workable language barrier. The girls are getting more and more excited. I guess Justin and I are too.
PTA
I think I might actually like this PTA Secretary thing. The one board member who made me more nervous than the others seemed less scary the other night. There's so much to do! I kind of volunteered myself for something awful----the Bay View PTA website. I guess someone got it up and running a few years ago, but nothing has been done to it since. Since this person is one of my neighbors, and I'd love to see the site actually updated and usable, I said I'd contact him and see if it was something I could learn to do. We'll see how it goes. I still haven't emailed him about it. Wonder what that says about my level of commitment to that?
The girls and I were out of the house waaaay too long today. I can't believe it's almost six o'clock! I'd better help Emma with her God and Me homework and feed the girlies. And straighten up. sigh Justin and Dan are crabbing tonight. Good thing Dan just bought a boat 'cause we're still hoping to sell ours! According to Justin it sounds like we have three or four people coming to see it between tomorrow and Friday. I sure hope we sell it! Sad to see it go, but the money will be nice to see.
When a naked man is chasing a woman through an alley with a butcher knife and a hard-on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross. -- Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry, 1971)
Emma has now had three days of God and Me. She and Briauna are really enjoying it. Yesterday I had Briauna's sister Carissa with Audrey and I and we went to two parks in Anacortes. I think the girls had fun. When we got back home we all went to Dawnell's for lunch and the girls played in their pool. I ran some errands in the late afternoon and the girls didn't come home until just after 8 pm. They were beyond exhausted. They hardly touched their dinner and actually admitted to being tired! The good news is: they went right to sleep. The bad news is: they didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning. Not too bad except we have to leave here around 9 am to get to Anacortes on time! We made it though. Audrey went with Carissa's family to a movie and we swapped kids at the mall. Whew.
Yesterday I picked up the info on our exchange student. She says she's looking forward to shopping and making American friends. She's had four years of English, so hopefully we will have a workable language barrier. The girls are getting more and more excited. I guess Justin and I are too.
PTA
I think I might actually like this PTA Secretary thing. The one board member who made me more nervous than the others seemed less scary the other night. There's so much to do! I kind of volunteered myself for something awful----the Bay View PTA website. I guess someone got it up and running a few years ago, but nothing has been done to it since. Since this person is one of my neighbors, and I'd love to see the site actually updated and usable, I said I'd contact him and see if it was something I could learn to do. We'll see how it goes. I still haven't emailed him about it. Wonder what that says about my level of commitment to that?
The girls and I were out of the house waaaay too long today. I can't believe it's almost six o'clock! I'd better help Emma with her God and Me homework and feed the girlies. And straighten up. sigh Justin and Dan are crabbing tonight. Good thing Dan just bought a boat 'cause we're still hoping to sell ours! According to Justin it sounds like we have three or four people coming to see it between tomorrow and Friday. I sure hope we sell it! Sad to see it go, but the money will be nice to see.
When a naked man is chasing a woman through an alley with a butcher knife and a hard-on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross. -- Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry, 1971)
Monday, July 17, 2006
Hmmm....I don't seem to be doing a very good job of keeping up with this blog. Guess I'll just have to accept that I'll jump in and out of it as I move along.
Justin and I went to the Host Family Orientation. This is going to be quite the experience!! We still don't know anything about our student. We found out the next day that the area director---who was in attendance---had the paperwork but didn't give it to the coordinator until after Justin and I had left. grrrrr I should be getting it tomorrow some time. My guess is that once we have our student here I'll be writing a bit more.
Emma started going to God and Me at church this week. Neighbor Briauna is attending too. Audrey and I were treated to drinks at Penguin Coffee (yay Nancy!) then we browsed/shopped at Read Me A Story before picking up the girls. We should have gone to a park, but didn't quite get there. Next time. Um, which would be tomorrow I guess.
Tonight is another PTA Board Meeting. Could someone tell me again why I agreed to be Secretary? Oh well. I'm sure it will be good for me. Maybe give me a little more confidence in myself? Maybe make me not quite so afraid of the dreaded "Bay View Moms"? Oh who am I kidding? At least one person on the board scares me to death and a couple others frighten me a tad. But golly, I'm sure by the end of the school year we'll all be just best buds! (that was sarcasm)
Speaking of friends.... Boy do I love this neighborhood! And I love that we've become pretty good friends with most of the neighbors. Of course I do have the irrational fear that one day the niceness will cease. I guess I just can't imagine people--especially those living in close proximity--can be friends for so long. This is yet another thing that I have not had exampled to me (exampled is the wrong word, but maybe I'll remember the right one). My mom never really had any long time friends that she still spent time with. And anybody I could recall as her friends when I was in school also aren't around anymore. And my dad..... Same thing really. It's too bad that I'm already feeling--only three years into living here--that there will be a time when it will end. And I'm not thinking of people moving, just of friendships dying. And of course I'm only picturing mine. Everyone else will still be friends, but I'll be way off on the edges. OK, Stop It! Enough of this.
Time to straighten up the house before Justin gets home. I need to leave in less than one hour so he should be home in 45 minutes or so. Plenty of time, if I get moving.
"We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence."
Joseph Roux
Justin and I went to the Host Family Orientation. This is going to be quite the experience!! We still don't know anything about our student. We found out the next day that the area director---who was in attendance---had the paperwork but didn't give it to the coordinator until after Justin and I had left. grrrrr I should be getting it tomorrow some time. My guess is that once we have our student here I'll be writing a bit more.
Emma started going to God and Me at church this week. Neighbor Briauna is attending too. Audrey and I were treated to drinks at Penguin Coffee (yay Nancy!) then we browsed/shopped at Read Me A Story before picking up the girls. We should have gone to a park, but didn't quite get there. Next time. Um, which would be tomorrow I guess.
Tonight is another PTA Board Meeting. Could someone tell me again why I agreed to be Secretary? Oh well. I'm sure it will be good for me. Maybe give me a little more confidence in myself? Maybe make me not quite so afraid of the dreaded "Bay View Moms"? Oh who am I kidding? At least one person on the board scares me to death and a couple others frighten me a tad. But golly, I'm sure by the end of the school year we'll all be just best buds! (that was sarcasm)
Speaking of friends.... Boy do I love this neighborhood! And I love that we've become pretty good friends with most of the neighbors. Of course I do have the irrational fear that one day the niceness will cease. I guess I just can't imagine people--especially those living in close proximity--can be friends for so long. This is yet another thing that I have not had exampled to me (exampled is the wrong word, but maybe I'll remember the right one). My mom never really had any long time friends that she still spent time with. And anybody I could recall as her friends when I was in school also aren't around anymore. And my dad..... Same thing really. It's too bad that I'm already feeling--only three years into living here--that there will be a time when it will end. And I'm not thinking of people moving, just of friendships dying. And of course I'm only picturing mine. Everyone else will still be friends, but I'll be way off on the edges. OK, Stop It! Enough of this.
Time to straighten up the house before Justin gets home. I need to leave in less than one hour so he should be home in 45 minutes or so. Plenty of time, if I get moving.
"We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence."
Joseph Roux
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Exchange
Well, tonight Justin and I will go to an orientation meeting for host families. Through Compass USA we'll have a Japanese student stay with us for a month. Sounds like we'll get more information on her tonight, all we know so far is that she is sixteen. The girls are really looking forward to this experience! I think I'm excited too, but I'm also pretty nervous. Mostly concerned that she'll be bored out of her mind when she's not at her classes or sponsored activities, and then there's my cooking..... How much spaghetti will she be willing to eat?? Hopefully she won't go back to Okinawa with bad feelings about the USA.
Emma and Audrey are working out right now. They have a Belly Dancing video in and are doing it. Much cuter than when I do it!! I really need to do some sort of exercise. Something! And eat less. A lot less. sigh
I think that may be enough for now. Time to feed the girls and myself.
I prefer Hostess fruit pies to pop-up toaster tarts because they don't require so much cooking. Carrie Snow
Well, tonight Justin and I will go to an orientation meeting for host families. Through Compass USA we'll have a Japanese student stay with us for a month. Sounds like we'll get more information on her tonight, all we know so far is that she is sixteen. The girls are really looking forward to this experience! I think I'm excited too, but I'm also pretty nervous. Mostly concerned that she'll be bored out of her mind when she's not at her classes or sponsored activities, and then there's my cooking..... How much spaghetti will she be willing to eat?? Hopefully she won't go back to Okinawa with bad feelings about the USA.
Emma and Audrey are working out right now. They have a Belly Dancing video in and are doing it. Much cuter than when I do it!! I really need to do some sort of exercise. Something! And eat less. A lot less. sigh
I think that may be enough for now. Time to feed the girls and myself.
I prefer Hostess fruit pies to pop-up toaster tarts because they don't require so much cooking. Carrie Snow
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Hawg Roast 2006
We tried and we succeeded!!! A grand time was had by the 30 or so adults (and a gaggle of children) in attendance. 104 pound Becky Sue was lowered into a hot pit of coals close to midnight last Friday. We were eating her up around 6pm Saturday. Wow. Justin learned a lot about hawg roasting prior to the event and learned even more throughout it. Here's pretty much what went on.
Dig hole with Allen's backhoe. (insert Tim the Toolman grunt here) and place rocks in the bottom.
Add fire.
Wait for fire to become hot coals.
On a table, lay out a piece of chicken wire big enough to wrap around the whole hawg. Lay banana leaves on that. Reverently place hawg on top of banana leaves belly side up. Season hawg with rock salt and pepper, shove onions, garlic, and apples into belly cavity. Sew up the cavity.
Wrap chicken wire around hawg. Tie chicken wire encased hawg onto long metal pipe.
Move hawg to the pit and set down so the hawg dangles above the coals and the pipe rests on the ground on two sides of the hole.
Cover with metal roofing. Cover roofing with dirt.
Wait.
Periodically check the temperature of both the hawg and the pit.
When hawg temperature reaches 150 or so (remember trichinosis is very very bad) remove hawg and let dangle in it's chicken wire home for one hour.
Lay hawg on table and unwrap. It's just like Christmas! Pull that pork and eat!!
Continue eating BBQ pork sandwiches for many many days following the event.
What was even better than the food? The friends! We had friends from the neighborhood, from work, and from just about everywhere.
Now let's see if I can figure out how to add pictures of this event. Wish me luck!
Grrrrr......this whole posting pictures thing isn't working as well as I'd planned. Wonder where the five pictures it said it uploaded have gone.
So What Else is Happening?
Hmmmm.....What Else indeed. Justin's birthday was yesterday. We all know I'm not very good at doing stuff for other people and this was one of my worst! I did nothing for the poor guy. He had a big weekend (the hawg roast was kind of his birthday party--with cake and pie even thanks to the kindness of Kristi and Nancy). And he bought himself a great gift. No way could I have come up with that! Maybe his 36th will be better. Justin's dad did come up yesterday though and it looked like the two of them had some good talks. David is heading south to Sonoma and then to Mexico and will be gone nearly a month. Wow! He certainly needs that vacation.
Audrey won a raffle prize at the library yesterday. During the Summer Reading Program kids can enter their name into a drawing when they read over an hour in a week. There are a bunch of different gift certificates to choose from and she chose one for a free doughnut from Krispy Kreme. No, we did not use it right away. Last night Audrey woke around 1am in a horrible mood. Holy Cow! She was at that incredibly tired point when everything is magnified. In this case it was her anger and frustration over her jammies. About half an hour later she was done crying and I could go back to sleep. Today she made me a card with a penguin on the front of it. Very cute. She pointed out one of the feet where she had to add a couple of toes. Otherwise it would have looked like a hoof. She was right! Those little cutenesses make up for the nights of insanity.
Emma is a reading machine! She's pretty fickle though. Well, kind of . She loves the Junie B. Jones series of books and doesn't have an interest in reading anything else. I'm trying though! The last two times we've gone to the library they haven't had any Junie B.'s that she hadn't already read. whew. I convinced her to start Charlotte's Web the other night. Here's where her fickleness comes in. She read one chapter of Charlotte's Web and the next day we went to the library and she checked out a new book. Charlotte's Web has been pushed aside and she's read the first chapter of this other book. I think it's called Dear Mr. Whiskers. She has also partly read Elevator Family and Only Emma. She gets a new book and starts it, leaving the other one behind. I think she and Gracie are also reading a book together but don't know how far they've gotten in it. Emma gets obsessed with the number of chapters in a book. If there are "too many" chapters she isn't interested in reading it. I've tried to tell her that if she's worried about the length of a book she should look at the number of pages not chapters. I even showed her a book I read with 10 chapters but well over 400 pages. Nope, not gettin' through. Funny kid. I've noticed she is a bit like me in that now that she can read well she reads pretty much anything with words that she can see. Yay!!
It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own. Jessamyn West
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Knitting
I've been wanting to learn how to knit, so with the girls at Grandma's last week I decided the time was right. The local yarn shop offers free beginner lessons if you buy your supplies at their store. So I went in, bought my expensive needles and two skeins of moderately expensive yarn and had my first lesson. First of all, let me say that I have spatial issues. The rare occasions that I have tried to sew I spend quite a while with each seam. I have to figure out which way it needs to be sewn and then, knowing that the fabric must go through from front to back, I then need to determine how to line up the seam for sewing. This requires many twists and turns of my head and body and much flipping of the fabric. Frustrating. Unfortunately the woman teaching me to knit did not know of my problem. I heard a lot of "no under. no, under. noooo, under." OK, so her idea of under and mine were not identical. I chose not to purchase an expensive book at the shop (especially since the one they had for me that my "instructor" was so excited about appeared totally useless to my twisted mind). Instead I went to the library and checked out three children's books on knitting. Now that's my speed!!
Cheap as I am, I later went to Michaels' and bought more yarn and different sized needles. With much concentration and twisting of my hand I remembered how to cast on. Woo-hoo!!! Then I remembered what they had taught me about knitting. And y'know, I think I'm doing it right.
But here's my other issue (ok, another one of many). Instant gratification!! My guitar languishes in the corner. Why? Because I want to play a song. Not chords. Not notes. I want to pick that baby up and be ready to sing around the campfire. It doesn't work that way. I knitted for over two hours straight last night. And what do I have to show for it? A scarf? Pot holder? Wash cloth? Uh-uh. Just a chunk of soft, olive green yarn knitted together. (side note: I keep typing "yearn" instead of "yarn". Wonder what that means?) Granted I knitted a ton of stitches on (I'll count later) but it's only about 4" long. sigh
Last night Audrey was upset. She was in her bedroom crying. I went in to see what was wrong and she told me that she doesn't want me to ever die. Yikes!! Where did this come from? She said she wanted to be with me forever. This girl is a little too much like me----she said that she wants the two of us to die at the same time. Hmmmm.....I say the same thing about Justin and myself. Then he has to go and remind me that that would leave the girls without a mom or a dad. Darn unselfish husband I have...... I suppose I should learn from him. Audrey finally went to sleep. After I responded to her crying one more time and Justin another. He had the magic touch though---she went to sleep after he talked to her.
Emma had her teeth filed yesterday. Not quite vampire-like. (and they weren't top teeth anyway) She came out looking a little woozy. They said she did fine. She didn't talk about it too much---although she studied herself in the rear view mirror until I got in the car. Late afternoon she mentioned the contraption used to keep her mouth open and the cotton swabs placed alongside her teeth and under her tongue.
You have to love your children unselfishly. That's hard. But it's the only way. Barbara Bush
I've been wanting to learn how to knit, so with the girls at Grandma's last week I decided the time was right. The local yarn shop offers free beginner lessons if you buy your supplies at their store. So I went in, bought my expensive needles and two skeins of moderately expensive yarn and had my first lesson. First of all, let me say that I have spatial issues. The rare occasions that I have tried to sew I spend quite a while with each seam. I have to figure out which way it needs to be sewn and then, knowing that the fabric must go through from front to back, I then need to determine how to line up the seam for sewing. This requires many twists and turns of my head and body and much flipping of the fabric. Frustrating. Unfortunately the woman teaching me to knit did not know of my problem. I heard a lot of "no under. no, under. noooo, under." OK, so her idea of under and mine were not identical. I chose not to purchase an expensive book at the shop (especially since the one they had for me that my "instructor" was so excited about appeared totally useless to my twisted mind). Instead I went to the library and checked out three children's books on knitting. Now that's my speed!!
Cheap as I am, I later went to Michaels' and bought more yarn and different sized needles. With much concentration and twisting of my hand I remembered how to cast on. Woo-hoo!!! Then I remembered what they had taught me about knitting. And y'know, I think I'm doing it right.
But here's my other issue (ok, another one of many). Instant gratification!! My guitar languishes in the corner. Why? Because I want to play a song. Not chords. Not notes. I want to pick that baby up and be ready to sing around the campfire. It doesn't work that way. I knitted for over two hours straight last night. And what do I have to show for it? A scarf? Pot holder? Wash cloth? Uh-uh. Just a chunk of soft, olive green yarn knitted together. (side note: I keep typing "yearn" instead of "yarn". Wonder what that means?) Granted I knitted a ton of stitches on (I'll count later) but it's only about 4" long. sigh
Last night Audrey was upset. She was in her bedroom crying. I went in to see what was wrong and she told me that she doesn't want me to ever die. Yikes!! Where did this come from? She said she wanted to be with me forever. This girl is a little too much like me----she said that she wants the two of us to die at the same time. Hmmmm.....I say the same thing about Justin and myself. Then he has to go and remind me that that would leave the girls without a mom or a dad. Darn unselfish husband I have...... I suppose I should learn from him. Audrey finally went to sleep. After I responded to her crying one more time and Justin another. He had the magic touch though---she went to sleep after he talked to her.
Emma had her teeth filed yesterday. Not quite vampire-like. (and they weren't top teeth anyway) She came out looking a little woozy. They said she did fine. She didn't talk about it too much---although she studied herself in the rear view mirror until I got in the car. Late afternoon she mentioned the contraption used to keep her mouth open and the cotton swabs placed alongside her teeth and under her tongue.
You have to love your children unselfishly. That's hard. But it's the only way. Barbara Bush
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Well, I guess it's about time I jumped into the blog pond. They say it's easy---we'll see about that.
Now, what should this blog be about? Is it a diary of what we've been up to? Is it somewhat incoherent ramblings? (who am I kidding---the incoherent ramblings will occur no matter what I write) Do I write whatever I want? Or do I let family and friends read this and need to censor myself? We'll see where it ends up......
Today is July 5 and Emma is going to the dentist. Poor kid inherited my closely spaced teeth and has to have two of her baby teeth filed in order to give a bit more room to the new ones coming in. She'll still need braces in the future, but this will help temporarily. Lots of shopping to do today too--some of it in preparation for the hawg roast this weekend. (I'm sure I'll have lots to write about after that is over!)
What I'm Reading
I'm rehooked on Nancy Drew! (thanks Sara) Right now I'm reading book 12 The Message in the Hollow Oak. What a hoot! It's so fun to read these books now as an adult. I highly recommend Confessions of a Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain. It's an autobioparodyography about the "real" Nancy Drew and the "real" Carolyn Keene. It's written in a very similar style to the original Nancy Drew books. By the way, Nancy's "titian hair" is "of a brownish orange color" according to Merriam Webster.
I just finished Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner. It's about a demon hunting stay at home mom. It was fun to read, and according to the author's website there is a sequel. Unfortunately, it looks as though my local library doesn't have any of Kenner's books. sigh
Still struggling through Under the Banner of Heaven. I'm just not a non-fiction girl!
I hear the laundry calling and need to get the girls ready for the day. Let's see if I come back to my little blog and continue to post. Wish me luck!
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Little
Now, what should this blog be about? Is it a diary of what we've been up to? Is it somewhat incoherent ramblings? (who am I kidding---the incoherent ramblings will occur no matter what I write) Do I write whatever I want? Or do I let family and friends read this and need to censor myself? We'll see where it ends up......
Today is July 5 and Emma is going to the dentist. Poor kid inherited my closely spaced teeth and has to have two of her baby teeth filed in order to give a bit more room to the new ones coming in. She'll still need braces in the future, but this will help temporarily. Lots of shopping to do today too--some of it in preparation for the hawg roast this weekend. (I'm sure I'll have lots to write about after that is over!)
What I'm Reading
I'm rehooked on Nancy Drew! (thanks Sara) Right now I'm reading book 12 The Message in the Hollow Oak. What a hoot! It's so fun to read these books now as an adult. I highly recommend Confessions of a Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain. It's an autobioparodyography about the "real" Nancy Drew and the "real" Carolyn Keene. It's written in a very similar style to the original Nancy Drew books. By the way, Nancy's "titian hair" is "of a brownish orange color" according to Merriam Webster.
I just finished Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner. It's about a demon hunting stay at home mom. It was fun to read, and according to the author's website there is a sequel. Unfortunately, it looks as though my local library doesn't have any of Kenner's books. sigh
Still struggling through Under the Banner of Heaven. I'm just not a non-fiction girl!
I hear the laundry calling and need to get the girls ready for the day. Let's see if I come back to my little blog and continue to post. Wish me luck!
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Little
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