Auds and Ems

There are idiots out there

2009-01-17T21:44:00.000-08:00

This has irked me for years. And for some reason it seems to be happening more and more lately. Please tell me, what is wrong with the following?

20$

Did you notice anything odd? Wrong? Completely and utterly STUPID???? No? Well then please smack yourself upside the head.

I'll tell you what's wrong... the dollar sign /$/ is on the wrong side of the number. It should be

$20

Yes, I know that when one says the phrase it is "twenty dollars" and not "dollars twenty", but isn't this a basic rule that is taught in elementary school?? So why do I see it written wrong as often as I do? Today I was shopping at Claire's with the girls and noticed the sale tags on some prominently displayed items had the dollar sign on the wrong side of the number. grrrrr.... I probably shouldn't have said anything, but I did. I probably shouldn't have made any purchases there, but I did anyway. I guess even idiots need to make money somehow.

Is this a change that's being made? Did I not get the memo??

Before we work on artificial intelligence why don't we do something about natural stupidity? ~Steve Polyak

Last day of vacation

2009-01-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

School resumes tomorrow. I'm honestly a little worried about getting everybody up on time. We've been sleeping in a lot!

The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more. ~Wilson Mizener

Let the 2009 Blogging Begin!

2009-01-01T12:49:00.000-08:00

Did I get behind on my blogging or what?? Not that there hasn't been anything worth blogging (or maybe there hasn't), I've just not been doing it. I guess it could be a good thing since I've been rather a maudlin-blogger in the past. But this is also a way for friends and family to keep up with us, so I'd better get better at it!

2008 is over. That's probably not a bad thing. It was kind of a wonky year. Some not so good stuff and some pretty darn good stuff. I wonder what will happen in 2009? Will Justin continue to like his work? Will we complete the Mustang? Will Audrey like taking dance lessons and will we really get her a guitar? Will we find a piano teacher for Emma and will we also get her into a physical activity? Will Emma and I be ready for her to start 5th grade, have homework, etc? Will Joy's back stop hurting? Will Joy finally feel good about herself on more than a temporary basis? Will Joy actually follow Weight Watchers this time?? (whoa....are those two related??) Who knows what will happen!!

We had a very nice Christmas. We were planning on heading over to the Spokane area the day after to see family, but decided not to. Spokane has been under a very very heavy blanket of snow and half our family there was housebound! We could maybe get across the pass to them, but likely get stuck at one house and not see all the other people. So we'll wait until a 3-day weekend in January or a 4-day weekend in February. We had snow here too---upwards of 18"! I'll post some pictures of it soon. It's pretty much all gone now though. So what does that mean?? Muddy dog!!!

Our big family Christmas gifts were a Wii and big tv. Right now the girls are about to play a game that looks kind of fun to watch. We're renting some from the local video store to find some we like before we pay big bucks. So I think I'll sit and ice my back while I watch the girls play.

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. ~Anaïs Nin

Wondering what we did New Year's Eve??
The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears. ~W.H. Auden

Don't worry, we were with friends, not in a brothel.

A Lesson Learned...

2008-12-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

My mom gave the girls a book a while back. "Fold a Banana" It's a book of things to do when you are bored. We flipped through it a little, and I wondered about my mom's sanity a little. The girls got the book out again yesterday. Of course they got this book out just about an hour before Justin and I needed to leave for an event.

Sorry, it's hard to read this but it says "Open everything". And they did. They opened all the drawers in Emma's dresser.

Check out what happened!

See the white shards of pottery? That would be the big piggy bank. Luckily it was empty.

So the girls learned a lesson! Oh my....

I Know You Want to Know...

2008-11-22T00:26:00.000-08:00

...what did I think of Twilight (the movie)??

Possible spoilers. I don't know what I'm going to write!!!!

Hmmmm...

OK, right now I want you to regress and think about The Flintstones. You got it? OK. Now think about when Fred drives his car--y'know, the feet on the ground and the sound it makes? Yeah. That's what I/we thought of the "special effects".

So, the "special effects" certainly leave something to be desired. I truly hope that will get much better for the second one. (yeah, I'm sure there will be a second one--did you doubt that?)

We all know that a book is highly preferable to a movie version. So I'll spare you all the "but the book was so much better" comments. But overall it was a good movie. Viewers could pretty much see what happened in the first book and be ready for the second.

Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes. ~John LeCarre

Las Vegas!

2008-11-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

Chris, Chad, Heather, Holly, Justin, Laura, Joy, Bud

We enjoyed a yummy meal! Our last night together in Las Vegas.

Chris, Justin, Bud, and Chad

Our first night. Woo-hoo!

"Look Ma, no hands!"

Five boobs.

More Mudgy & Millie

2008-11-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

Everyone enjoys Mudgy & Millie!

Why yes, I am beautiful. And yes, I did know my mother was taking this picture. So yes, I posed.

Audrey with Mudgy. This is a sight you will not often see....Audrey wearing a sweatshirt--and with the hood on even! She must have really been cold!

Mudgy & Millie

2008-11-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

We had a great time in Coeur d'Alene with David and Hazel! We followed the path of Mudgy the Moose and Millie the Mouse. Great statues set up around town with a book (and lots of signs) as a guide. Of course we had to pose the girls on all of them!

Here's the first statue we went to. We realized later that it's actually the last one in the story. Oh well!

Mudgy, Millie, Emma, and Audrey at the lake.

I tried putting more pictures on this, but not all of them went through. I'll post the others separately...

Happy Almost Halloween

2008-10-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, this blog background will go away soon. I just had to be a little witch-y for a little while.

Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or "forbidden" in the title. ~From Scooby-Doo

The house moved!!

2008-10-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here's the boom truck, ready for action. The truck was hooked to the house; the truck would stay in place with the boom winch pulling until the house was too close--then the truck was moved forward.

This is the foundation onto which the house will be pulled. The day after the big event, Allen and Justin spent most of the day under the house getting everything done.

Of course nothing was going to go wrong.... But just in case the house started to slide backwards this was in place.

Does Justin look official or what??

The house move/The moving house

2008-10-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to just have a visual of this (video) instead of trying to write it out, but since it hasn't happened yet I guess I have some 'splainin' to do.

It's not our house. Our friend Allen Danskine built a house (well, he's built three; we're living in number two) next to the foundation on which it will rest. Why?? A few years ago Allen and Laura bought a house. A nasty, stinky, foreclosed mobile home on a beautiful spot. Allen pretty much gutted the mobile and made it livable--and quite nice. So does this mean he's built four houses? But I digress.... Instead of building the house somewhere else on the property, he decided he wanted the house right where the mobile is. That's fine and dandy, but where do you live while you're building? Hmmm.... They lived in the mobile, and built the house on stilts next to it. Do not try this at home! Allen is a professional engineer. And all-around great guy. So the idea is, using winches (wenches will be watching) and the boom truck, they will roll the house onto the foundation. Yeah, I know! That's why I'll be taping it. I mean, just the idea of it rolling like that is enough to want to save it for posterity! Everybody seems to think I'm going to tape it in case there's a big problem. Oh! I forgot to mention, Allen and Laura have been living in the new house for a while now. It's totally furnished, cabinets are in, stuff is hanging on the walls...

So does that clear things up? I'll be sure to take some pictures to post here. It's nice that the boom truck is being used for something more than our giant Christmas-light-Christmas-tree.

Today was the first time I had to have volunteers in place for something at school. It was individual pictures and I had four people in place to help. Um, one I got just this morning when I walked into the school. I was amazed at how stressed I felt about all of it! But of course everything went beautifully. And yes Mom, I did tell them about the snotty nose picture of me in second grade or so. Forget making sure the hair looks good--check the noses! I had my picture taken too for a volunteer badge. I. Am. A. Bimbo. I have a brown shirt that I wear over a turquoise tank top. For some reason I put on a plum colored tank top instead. I did not realize my mistake until I was leaving the school at 11:45! I hope I didn't look hideous..... Luckily the picture is mainly of my head.

Yikes! QuoteGarden won't open. Guess no quote today.

I have only myself to blame

2008-10-06T22:50:00.000-07:00

I can't blame anyone else. It all comes back to me..... Let's start at current time:

Joy is obsessed with Facebook

Joy joins Facebook

Joy reads that Kimm is on Facebook

Joy finds Liberty High School Class of 1988 20 year reunion page

Joy Googles Beth

Joy reads a comment on her blog from Beth Anne

Beth reads about herself on Joy's blog

Beth Googles herself

Joy writes in her blog and mentions Beth Tensfeld

See? "Joy writes in her blog". Now I'm staying up late trying to locate old friends/acquaintances and respond to those who find me. I'm being labeled an "old hag". I'm becoming obsessed with people I used to know and trying to figure out how to locate them. And I'm really, really enjoying myself! I keep laughing....the phrase "oh my goodness" has become a part of my breathing.....I'm feeling bad about not keeping in touch with people after high school and college and work. And I'm having so much fun! It's like every reunion you've ever dreaded....but then enjoyed.

Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven. ~Tryon Edwards

The house hasn't moved

2008-10-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, the house didn't get moved yesterday. They're going to do it next weekend instead. The girls had fun playing in the foundation though!

I'll give more information as the week goes on.....

Random Comments

2008-10-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have this blog set up so that when I get a new comment, I receive notification on my gmail address. What a shock yesterday when I had a comment on my "Things I Will Miss About Ephrata" post from Beth Tensfeld! When did I last see her? Eighteen years ago or so? Of course I Googled her.... And found the web page for her 1988 class reunion. I got to vicariously find out what some of her classmates are up to now. Fun fun! I really have to wonder if Liberty High School Class of 1989 will have a 20 year reunion next year. I won't be surprised if that one just slides right under the radar...

So after reading the comments on the Class of 1988 page, I decided to check out Facebook. Now I'm on that, but I'm not sure why yet. William had suggested a while ago that I join---but I hadn't looked into it yet. I'll keep playing around with it for a while. We'll see where it goes.

Now I just feel like Googling everybody I know. Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time...

Fall is officially here! I love this time of year. Yeah, I'm sure pretty soon I'll be missing the sun, but right now I love the cool fall weather. Of course right now Justin and Allen are likely hating this weather! Today is the day the house moves. Yep, the house will move. Physically! The girls and I are supposed to go there in a couple hours to watch this happen. My video camera is charged and ready! Hopefully nothing exciting will happen.

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter. ~Carol Bishop Hipps

I've become one of them.....

2008-09-30T16:54:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's official. I have started reading the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. I really didn't know much about it other than the covers looked a little too mature for all the teenage girls reading them and it's about vampires. Justin read an article about the books and was shocked to hear I had not read them. (this was especially surprising in light of my recent genre of choice) So I borrowed the first two from a friend and I'm hooked. Sheesh! I read the first one Saturday and Sunday morning and finished the last bit of the second one when I got off work today. I'm dyin' for the next two!! I've already cursed Patti for getting me started..... But at least it will be over soon. Surprisingly, I even kind of want to see the movie! In the theater even!! I've never wanted to do that with Harry Potter. Wonder why this is different? Wonder if I'll actually go to the movie? Since I go to movies oh so often.....

We're going to Vegas baby!! And I'm determined to look good. Well, at least not as blubbery as I look now anyway. I started Weight Watchers last week (say it with me "again") and I've been staying on track pretty well. Hence the hunger pangs I'm currently experiencing. But I should show a loss on Thursday of around 3 pounds. A friend is joining too so we can support each other. And compete against each other too! Hopefully that will help me. I was stressed about a recipe I figured points on last night. I entered all the ingredients into the Recipe Builder on WW's site and it came up as 6 points per serving. Not too bad. After I ate I realized that it actually served more so it changed to 4 points. But then I remembered that it called for 9 1/4 ounces of tuna but I'd put in two 6 ounce cans instead. Suddenly it came to 14 points per serving!!! Whaaa??? Was I originally looking in the wrong place on the screen? I can't believe I just had a fairly small dinner for a total of 18 points. Yikes! I was honestly wondering if I shouldn't barf some of it up! Before I went to bed I looked again and noticed that when I was re-entering the information I didn't change cups into ounces. So 12 cups of tuna is a little more than 12 ounces I'd have to say. Heck, if I'd realized my mistake sooner I could have had a glass of wine!

The girls are doing great in school. Emma ran for ASB Representative for her class. Two are chosen, and she won the Alternate position. There were actually quite a few who ran. I'm so proud of Emma for actually trying this. It's not quite typical for her to do that. Audrey is a Student of the Month for October. This means we all get to go to the school Friday morning for a cinnamon roll breakfast and watch Audrey get a certificate. Will I have pictures to post of this? Who knows.... Audrey is going to start meeting with the school counselor and Speech Language Pathologist. For a couple years now Audrey has had kind of a stutter when she talks. It's happening more often now and becoming more apparent. I talked to the SLP and she went to the classroom to observe Audrey and noticed it right away. She thought she also appeared anxious, so we'll combine speech with working with the counselor on ways she can help her anxiety. Hopefully the combination will help to calm her down a bit and ease her speech. I'm excited for her to start.

Justin is really enjoying his new job. It's still pretty slow for him so far, but as he learns more he'll get busier!

It's Bingo Night at school tonight and I'd better get ready to feed my family before we go. I'm not sure that we should subsist on popcorn and water only....

Widgets Went Awry

2008-09-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

Oops. I changed my blog template and lost my widgets. Of course there's lots of info on Saving/Backing-Up your blog and widgets, but virtually nothing on actually restoring them! So I've started over again. And I also switched to a background designer with templates that will support widgets. Er, not support, since the other one did that too. But actually keep them instead of deleting. We'll see how this one works out.

Since I've been messing with this for a while now, I actually need to get off the computer and do other stuff. But I knew that if you showed up here and saw my book list dramatically reduced and other stuff quite likely missing you might get worried and demand to know what happened. Now you know. I'm impatient. :)

A bit of a week

2008-09-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

Yeah, a little more than usual went on this week.

Let's see....

Monday I started my new job. I'm officially the Family Involvement Coordinator at Bay View Elementary. Most people seem to be happy about this. Including me! But of course the few who feel the need to justify this as a "job" seem to poke at me a bit more. I did not apply for this as a way to make money. I did not apply for this as a "job". I applied for this position because the school and PTA have this position set up to support the teachers, staff, PTA, etc and I want to help this. I want the PTA to be strong. I want the teachers to feel free to teach because somebody else is helping to make sure the grunt work is getting done. I want to be involved---feel involved. OK, and so the stipend is nice too..... But you know that whoever works as the Family Involvement Coordinator (can I just call it FIC?) will be working more than the three hours/school day. Whether it's at the school or at home you know more will be done. And not so much as "it's my duty as FIC" but more of "even if I wasn't in that position I'd still do it to help".

Tuesday Justin and I celebrated 13 years of marriage. Wow! I feel way too immature to have been married that long!

Emma and Audrey both had friends spend the night tonight. Whew. Just go them to bed around 11:00. I know, I should have done it sooner. But we needed to paint nails and watch Eight Below! OK, maybe not. But it was fun! Remind me in a month and a half when Emma is planning her birthday party to not suggest a slumber party. Same goes for Audrey's February birthday. Aww, I suppose it wasn't that bad. I mean, I had wine!

The top five acts in America's Got Talent have been decided. Alright, so maybe that's not a huge deal. But darn that Nancy for getting me hooked! I tell ya, if Nuttin' But Stringz wins, we may have to book a trip to Las Vegas and watch them perform!

I guess that's really it. Pretty pathetic that those items constitute "a bit of a week".

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. ~Mignon McLaughlin

Cows

2008-09-08T18:22:00.001-07:00

Yes, I grew up on a farm.

Yes, we raised cattle.

But I swear ours were never as noisy as the ones down the road!

Between the moo-ing and cock-a-doodle-doo-ing my head is buzzing!

If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, then the happiest individual would not be either a man or a woman; it would be, I think, an American cow. ~William Lyon Phelps

Procrastination

2008-09-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

I am just so darn good at procrastinating! Here it is 10:19am, I've been up and showered since 7:00am, and have done pretty much nothing. Still have boxes to unpack and cupboards to sort out. Floors to clean. Resume and cover letter to write. Bills to pay. And yet here I am, updating my blog with essentially nothing to say.

Yesterday I tried to add a new gadget onto my blog and the "Add a Gadget" box was missing. So I changed my template back to an official blogger one and was unable to change it back to a LeeLou template. So I have this one instead. Whaddya think? Does it look writer-y?

Yes, in the opening paragraph I did mention writing a resume and cover letter. I can only imagine your reaction. Please, you may close your mouth now. That's it...pick your jaw up off your chest. Good. OK, are we ready? The PTA has an opening for a Parent Involvement Coordinator and I'm applying for it. The resume isn't required, but I have much more fun writing that than I do writing the cover letter. I guess maybe it's easier to mention what are possibly good things about myself in bullet form, but much harder to actually write sentences about it. I need to have the letter in by September 10th. Hopefully I'll have it all done enough for Justin to look at it tonight and give me his opinion. The position is Monday-Friday 8:30 to 11:30. Yes, it means I'll have to be up and showered (and dressed, duh) and have both girls ready all by 8:20ish. I know, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get up and ready early every morning. I'm doing good on that so far!

Hmm...have I put things off long enough?

Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment. ~Robert Benchley

First Day of School

2008-09-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

Audrey started second grade on September 3rd. Think she has a funny smile? She's trying really hard to show off her newly missing tooth! Audrey's teacher (Mrs. Miller) asked her if she was scared. Aud replied that she was not and Mrs. Miller told her she should be. hee hee hee I met Mrs. Miller about 8 years ago at MOPS.

Is Emma really a 4th grader?? Yikes! She was a bit nervous. Sounds like the day went well though. She made a new friend named Tia. She was excited to meet another Tia since that is her cousin's name and I don't think she's met any other girls with that name. So now here's where it becomes weird.....Tia in Em's class has lived in Jakarta Indonesia! (for those of you wondering why this might be "weird"---that's where Cousin Tia lives right now)

Two happy girls on their way to school! The first day is always nice. Everyone has first day jitters and gets up really early. We were ready in plenty of time for me to drive them to school. Today the girls made it to the bus on time and I had even taken a shower! Of course I'm sure every day we'll wind up sleeping just a liiitttlle bit longer. No! No! Mustn't do that! Must awaken early! Oh who am I kidding?

I guess school is really the only big excitement right now. We're still slowly putting things away in the house. Justin worked on the garage quite a bit. He said he didn't put anything away yet, but has it all set up where things should go. It looks great in there! And yes, the Mustang looks lovely in there too. That heated garage will certainly make car work more pleasant this winter!

On Monday Justin and I tackled some of the excess growth in our landscaping. It's amazing how much changes in a year. I was so excited to see how big my hydrangeas had become! I'd wondered if they'd ever really do much. There's still so much to do---mostly inside the house. Many things are at the point of "OK, exactly where do we want this rather trivial item?" I have the most amazing kitchen! But I'm waaay too short to reach many of the cabinets. So I still have plenty of space in the upper cabinets---I just need to figure out which items I use so rarely that I won't mind climbing the big step stool to get to them.

I don't have anything else to do today, so in theory I should get a lot of our things put away. But in reality?? Ha!

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford

Hooooommmmeeeee!!!!!!

2008-09-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

Yep, we're really here. Home! We're experiencing a bit of a weather shock though. Didn't we just come from temperatures in the 90s?? Now we have rain and temps around 60. Bizarre! Of course with my excessive weight gain over the past year, I have no long pants that fit. Luckily I went to Goodwill the other day while Audrey and Emma were with friends--now I have three pairs of jeans! Now if I could just convince myself not to eat....

We're getting unpacked. I just have one box of kitchen stuff to find homes for, and the junk drawer/phone stuff needs to get sorted out. Upstairs is massive chaos! All my craft supply bins are scattered about. The computer is set up, but all the things that need to go into the desk are still in boxes. We sold Audrey's huge dresser before we moved last year (obviously didn't expect to return so soon), so I'll figure out what to do with some of my things and give her my purple dresser for a while. Once we get that downstairs for her we can really work on the girls' rooms--putting away clothes, finding space for trinkets, etc. Next will be hanging things on the walls. One of these days it may look like we really belong here!

Lucy is loving living in a giant mud pit again. Happy Dog!

School starts on Wednesday. The girls are both pretty excited. They can't wait to see their friends again! They both have some good friends in their classes. Tonight is the PTA Back to School Ice Cream Social. Hopefully by going to that I can figure out things like....what time school starts....you'd think I'd remember that after only a year. But I guess not! I'm wondering if there's a letter from the school spinning in the black hole of mail forwarding....

What do you think of the new blog template? I finally clicked on the ad for LeeLou Blogs on Alecia's blog. Guess what? It's a site filled with great free blog templates! Any bets as to how often I will change the template?? I'm not completely thrilled with the left alignment. It was set as centered for some reason (the designer wasn't sure why) and I used the directions on the site to change it to left alignment. Now it looks cut off. Maybe I'll just deal with the silly centeredness.

I suppose I should be working on setting up the house. We just finished playing a game of Skip-Bo. It takes a looong time to play a game with two easily distracted children! Holy cow! Justin and I might have to play it alone tonight just to be reminded of how easy and fun it can be.

Always strive to excel, but only on weekends. ~Richard Rorty

Things I Will Miss About Ephrata

2008-08-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

1. Friends

Yes, I know, I've complained all year about my lack of friends here. But I did meet some great people through Justin's work, the school, and library and feel like if we'd stayed longer more of them would have become friends. Or maybe I just have this fantasy of having "book friends", or more likely "British book friends". Not like a Book Club, but having friendships like the ones I read about. Women getting together for coffee, lunch, plotting revenge, covering up crimes, shopping, etc. Oh wait! I did go to a movie with a friend this past year. Haven't done that since I went to Dead Poet's Society at The Garland Theater in about 1990 with Beth Tensfeld. I kind of felt like a real grown-up with a life. No children were involved in the screening of that movie night.

2. Grant Elementary School

How lucky were we to enroll the girls in this school last year? I mean really, a school as great as Bay View? (because yes, we are looking forward to returning to BV) The staff and teachers were phenomenal. Friendly, helpful, grateful, all sorts of great -ly and -ful words! Both girls did great. It'll be interesting to see how Audrey does with handwriting since they learned D'Nealian this year. Emma's doing cursive now so it shouldn't be a big change for her. But will they ask Audrey to now remove her "monkey tails"?

3. The library

Not only because I didn't have to pay to use it. (yes, I realize I still pay for it with my taxes, blah blah blah, but I'd rather do it that way) I had so much fun volunteering there and chatting with the staff. Yes, I know, chatting rather too much! The access to books was outstanding! I think 28 libraries are in the North Central Regional Library as well as the mail order book department. I've gotten pretty much every book I've wanted. There are a few series I've gotten hooked on (you can probably tell from my book list), and absolutely none of the authors I've been reading like that are available at the Burlington Library. None! No Kelley Armstrong, no Lori Avocato, no Kerrelyn Sparks, no Marilyn Pappano...

4. That certain smell

I have no idea what it is or quite how to describe it. It arrives in the late afternoon/early evening on the hot early summer nights. You know how you can smell rain? Well this is almost like you can smell plants growing. Not the flowers, but the actual stalks. It feels like I'm smelling a field of wheat mixed with wildflowers close in together. Did I smell this growing up in Spangle too? Is that why I notice and like it? The nostalgia?

5. The cute downtown

Downtown is home to lots of gift type shops. Jewelry, home decorations, Webkinz, lotions and soaps, books, and whimsy. Just cute enough to take friends and family to when they visit. And it's easy to park! Sure Burlington has a downtown, and maybe it's even cute, but all that angled parking freaks me out. It's bad enough that I'm often about to hit somebody coming out of a parking space, I really don't like being the one backing out!

6. The lack of rain

Can you imagine a summer where you could plan an outdoor activity pretty much any day and not worry about it raining on you? And in the fall and winter the sky can actually be clear and blue. I've thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I don't need to wipe Lucy's paws each time she comes in the house. However, this lack of rain does mean an overabundance of dust.

Well, that's about it. What a strange year! It started out with me sure we'd hate it, suddenly realizing that I really really liked it, then going back to the "what on earth are we doing here" feeling, and finally thinking that it could be a good place to be for a few years. Of course that last one happened to coincide with Justin switching jobs.

That was certainly a good procrastination moment! I suppose now I should start filling some boxes. I hate moving. I hope the next time I move it's in a body bag.

The best things said come last. People will talk for hours saying nothing much and then linger at the door with words that come with a rush from the heart. ~Alan Alda

I think it's really happening

2008-08-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

We're actually moving! I mean, I realize I've known about this for a few months. But still! Of course now I'm heading into panic mode. And believe it or not, my panic is not necessarily regarding the packing portion of the move. It's all the stuff I'm normally quite good at that has me freaked. Because I haven't done anything about it. What am I normally good at? Setting up/cancelling utilities and changing addresses. All those great things that I can do instead of actually packing!

Justin has started his new job and is liking it so far. Today is only Day 3, so it could change....

The girls are at Grandma Sugar's house until we get moved. Thanks Barbara and Del!! I've been able to pack up their bedroom completely. Well, OK, not completely. But I'm getting there. I talked to the girls last night and they are having a blast. Lots of time on the boats, playing in the fort, swinging, bike riding, sewing, and just plain having fun. Audrey stepped on a nail under the fort, but she's doing fine now. Grandma got it all cleaned up. And since she's only 7 her tetanus shots are up to date!

Last Saturday night we went to the Tom Petty concert at The Gorge with Dan and Nancy. It was very fun! The best part of course was seeing D & N. Before we left for the concert we had a few people over for clams and crab. The best part was serving those two yummies to people who'd never had them before. At least not like this! It all went over fairly well I'd say.

I have no idea why I'm awake right now. You know me, I can usually sleep in quite well. (hey, maybe I actually have two things I do "quite well". I wonder if there are any others) Despite going to bed late last night I was wide awake at 7am. I really do need to train myself to get up earlier---especially with school starting soon.

I think I've procrastinated long enough. Time to shower so I can make my zillions of phone calls and pack some boxes. I may actually have this house packed up by the weekend. I've never accomplished that with any of our moves. I sure hope this is the last move.....ever!

Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment. ~Robert Benchley

The End of an Era

2008-07-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

Today is Justin's last day at Katana-Summit/T BAILEY. It would have been 13 years in September. That's a fair run I'd say! He's so looking forward to starting at Transpac Marinas in a couple weeks.

The house is still not sold. But we have a move-in time for our other house. Our renters will be able to move into their "mother-in-law apartment" just before August 23rd-ish. Unless of course they are lying to me and they'll actually be homeless until their house is done and I will see them lurking in the blackberry bushes behind our house. We're excited to have them as neighbors! At their house around the corner, not in our bushes.

Tonight our realtor has an Open House scheduled. I've known about this for a while, so obviously I've taken that time and cleaned house. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha haha. Whew. OK, any of you who actually know me realize that there is no way I would have done that so "early". I mean, I have 8 hours to completely clean the house today. Oh, and get my hair trimmed. And take Lucy to the groomers. And pack! Yep, pack for the weekend in Oregon. I suppose I should also do things like feeding and caring for my children.

So here I am writing in my blog instead. I've never claimed to be smart!

Unemployment diminishes people. Leisure enlarges them. ~Mason Cooley

We're considering the two weeks between his jobs leisure. When he's not packing up all his tools and stuff to move anyway.

Yearly Yak

2008-07-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

Today was the Katana company bbq. All four of us attended, and I commented more than once on how nice it was to be there and not home with a barfing kid. Yup, jinxed myself! So once again Emma and Justin are at the post-company bbq gathering and I'm home with a sick Audrey. Poor kid. At first we thought it was just heat and whininess, but it doesn't seem to be going away. At the bbq she kept complaining of the heat and wanting to go home. Whine whine whine. Nothing but whining. So we headed out to the car when it was all over and she threw up a couple of times. Then we couldn't shut her up! All the way home, blah blah blah happy happy blah. Then again later, as soon as she's done getting sick we can't get her to be quiet! Hopefully nobody else in the house will get this. This time.....

Wes, Sara, Amelia, and Gus were here last night and this morning. Gus hates me. And Wes loves it!! One of these days.......

Justin only has nine more working days left at Katana. He plans on taking a week or two off before starting his new job. Our big stress right now is this house in Ephrata not selling. Of course our other housing stress revolves around just when we get to move back into our other house!

Audrey asked me to sleep with her in the guest room tonight. I think it's time to get myself ready for bed. Of course once I go into my bathroom to do that, she'll wake up and be sick again. That's how it works, right?

If I had my way I'd make health catching instead of disease. ~Robert Ingersoll

Possible Reasons Our House is Not Selling

2008-07-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

Some possible reasons why people are not clamoring to buy our house:

Beezely Hill is actually an active volcano, the likes of which has not been seen since Pompeii. People do not want to move to a town that is about to be decimated.

Cross B Estates was built on an old Indian Burial Ground. Film crews for Poltergeist Ephrata: Sage, Sun, and Spirits are requesting the area be untouched during this time. Unfortunately, this is an independent film and funds are not available to purchase the "for sale" homes in the area.

Unbeknownst to us, we are currently starring in a reality tv show. The premise: a family thinks their house is for sale, but nobody is coming to see it. How long will it take before they crack?!?

Also unbeknownst to us, Lucy is a vicious guard dog and will not let anyone near the house or the flyers. Realtors fear for their lives.

Wednesday is Snake Day

2008-07-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday Lucy caught a bull snake in our yard. And here it is, Wednesday again and there's another half-dead bull snake in our yard. Lucy certainly had fun whippin' that puppy around like a chew toy! Of course the poor thing (snake) isn't completely dead but I can't quite convince myself to throw it out of the yard. I can get within a couple feet of it (toes curled into my heels) but that's about it. Justin had better come soon!

I have bangs now. Most of you know I've been letting my hair grow. My last haircut was in the middle of November. My hair is about to my collar (if I wore shirts with collars) and curly. Weird, huh. I've been putting the front back with clips, but was getting tired of that and thought it looked too young with my grey temples. So now I'm trying bangs. What I really should do is just cut it all super short again!!!

We had a great Fourth of July weekend in Coeur d'Alene with Justin's dad, et al. Emma learned how to water ski! I have some video of it that I'll put on the blog later. And yes, also the video of Emma's piano trio.

The girls want to go swimming, so I'd better get out there. Luckily the snake is off in the grass and if I look toward the pool I may not see it very well. eek

I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy. ~W.C. Fields

Emma's Recital

2008-06-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Emma had her piano recital Friday evening. She did a great job!! All the students did well, but of course we're partial to Emma's performance. I convinced Justin that we needed a new camcorder so that I could email videos and upload them to my blog. This is my first try--I hope it works!

I know it's hard to hear her (but she was so much louder during the performance than she was at the rehearsal); her songs are Theme From Symphony No. 5 by Peter Tschaikowsky and Music Box Rock by Willard A. Palmer. My mom and Justin's dad were both able to attend. Yay! Emma's other guest was "Nanny" Kay from the library. She's the reason Emma spoke as "loudly" as she did. I'd told her how darn quiet Emma was and she threatened to shout "What did you say Little Girl?!?!" if Emma wasn't loud enough. Scared Emma enough that she made sure she was audible.

Justin and I (yes, even I) worked on the Mustang this weekend. Justin pulled out the engine while I was at a candle party. My "work" consisted of pulling off the bumper, trying (and failing) to remove a few bolts, and handing Justin tools. But I got dirty!! Not as dirty as Justin of course. Most of the exterior hardware is off in preparation for painting. The interior looks different! We removed the seats and carpet. Wow. This is all going to look great when it's done.

Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. ~Confucius

Boat (still) for sale

2008-06-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

I’m not pretty. I realize this. I may not be pretty, but I am strong. I am dependable. I am safe. And I will be good to you.

I’m not some flashy boat that you own just to brag to your friends that you have a boat. I’m not a trophy boat. I’m more than that. You expect more of me, and I expect more of you.

You have a four wheel drive truck. And you use it.

You work hard. And you use your free-time to the fullest.

Being on the water is a pleasure. For you and for me. Your happiness makes me happy. I enjoy being with you on the water. I love the splash of beer on my deck as you thrust a cold, brown bottle into your buddy’s hand so you can grasp your pole and reel in the fish fighting against you. I’m happy listening to your conversations; about family, work, and fun and smelling the cigar smoke wafting in the air. And then I hear those magical words: “time to bring in the crab pots”. The rhythm of pulling. The excitement. The wonder. And then I feel it…the crab claws tickling me. And I hear the pleasure in your voice. Oh how I love those days!

It may sound as though I’m only here for men. But it’s not true. My current owner bought me so that his wife and young children would feel safe on the water. I’ve done that, and I’ve done it well.

So you might be wondering what brings me here to Craigslist. If I’m the perfect boat, why does my current owner feel he needs to get rid of me? Let me tell you his story. He fell in love with me before I was ready for the water. He agreed to take me home with him once I was ready. He was so excited! Living in Anacortes was heaven. All he could think about was taking me to Washington Park on the weekends and launching me into that cold, welcoming water. But by the time I was ready to go home with him, he’d bought a new house. Not as close to the boat launch. And this house needed more care on the weekends. The entire family was happy to stay home and enjoy this new neighborhood. It became more difficult to take me out. But of course things could change! The landscaping would be established. All those “new house” issues would be taken care of. He’d be back for me! And then things changed….

Work changed. No longer was he able to work close to home and enjoy the weekends. Now he was working four hours from home and only coming home on the weekends. That meant that his precious time at home was spent on upkeep at the house and on spending what little time he had with his children—and that often did not include me.

So now I am all alone. My owner and his family have had to move. And I’m just not the right boat for their new home. Of course I’m sad. But I’m happy that my owner and his family are together again. He is too. But I know he’d also like to see me happy. I haven’t been out on the water in so long. I hope that you can help me. That you can take me home and play with me. All you need to do is contact my owner. I want to meet you. I know he wants what’s best for me, and maybe that is you! So please contact him; even if the price seems a little bit out of your range. You never know what might happen…..

1980 24.5’ Wellcraft Sportsman
Cuddy Cabin (all cushions intact)

The following were new/newly rebuilt in 2003-2004 and have been subject to fewer than 35 hours:

1989 200 HP Mercury motor and 1988 25HP Mercury
Canvas
Gauges
Fish finder
VHS
2004 Galvanized King trailer

Pretty Boys of 1988

2008-06-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

21 Jump Street "Best Years of Your Life Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt!!! OK, Brad Pitt just looks silly. But my Johnny looks wonderful, especially when he's deep and introspective like in this episode.

Wow. Between 21 Jump Street every weeknight at 9pm and New Kids On the Block making a comeback I am a happy wom, er, girl! Now I need an asymmetrical haircut, a neon sweatshirt, huge plastic earrings and the tightest stirrup pants I can find!

Doug Penhall: This guy's the worst burglar I've ever seen.
Tom Hanson: Hammered.
Doug Penhall: Pickled.
Tom Hanson: To the gills.
21 Jump Street "Best Years of Your Life"

Allow me to introduce.....

2008-06-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

.....my new toy! er, project.

As you can see, she's going to need a little TLC.

OK, a lot.

And then a little more when that's done.

Check out that sunshine glinting off the bumper!!

Definitely in need of a new paint job. I'm picturing something shiny and metallic. Still blue of course. Although Auds and Ems keep talking about bright pink. I'm pretty sure Justin and I (and everyone else) will win this one!

I don't know if I've ever wanted to wash a car. Need to, yes. But actually want?? Hmmmm... Maybe I should see a doctor.

There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect. ~Gilbert Keith Chesterton

If it did, I wouldn't have this car!

Mustang Joy

2008-06-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

Yep, you read me right. Mustang Joy, not Mustang Sally. And why is that??? Because Joy now owns a 1965 Mustang!!! Can you believe it? I can't either. But it's true. Of course it's going to take a lot of work before you can see me cruising in it. But you know it will be worth it!

I've always wanted a Mustang. My dad had a 1967 (blue with blue vinyl hard-top) and my aunt had an orange 1965. Now I have a blue (Caspian Blue at that) 1965. I don't know why it's always been my classic car of choice, but it has. I can't wait to have it all done. I'm pretty sure Justin is looking forward to having a car project like this too.

Hmmm...since I'm already blogging I may as well continue. But not for too long. I do need to sleep eventually. At least Justin's dad arrived tonight and he'll take the girls to school in the morning. That gives me an extra 45 minutes!

So what else is new?

Not much really. School is out next week. You know how much I like to sleep in, so of course I'm looking forward to doing away with a morning schedule. There may be a few activities here and there, but nothing daily. Whew. I like to sleep. (so why am I not in bed now, at 11:09pm)

Ahh, but now it's time to sleep. Good night.

Take most people, they're crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they're always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that's even newer. I don't even like old cars. I mean they don't even interest me. I'd rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake. ~J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye

Attack of the Cheese Zombies

2008-05-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

Did I catch your attention? I just get tired of my boring blog titles! I had to ask the girls last night if they still loved me even though I totally forgot to make their lunches. The one school lunch both girls absolutely can't stand is Cheese Zombies. Sorry kiddos! I'll make it up to you...tonight is fast food night! Also known as "Thursday".

So, what's new, what's new......

Oh yeah. We're moving! Yup, back to Bow. Justin has accepted a fantabulous new job with an amazing company in Anacortes. So we get to move back to the land of trees. And mud. Not looking forward to a muddy dog again. But looking forward to not having to dust every time I turn around. I'm hoping that everything will work perfectly: our house will sell, but we won't have to be out until the end of August. Why is that, you ask? Well, because the summer in Ephrata is hot, hot, hot. (and by that I mean the temperature) I want the girls to enjoy the pool every day (and I get to enjoy my new lounge chair and many many books). Also, we don't have a house to move into in Bow yet. Our renters will be done building their house in mid-late-August. Uh, yeah, that's cutting it a bit close. But I'm just certain it will all work out! Right??!!?? Justin isn't so sure about my plans. He wants to get over there and start working. Well that's just fine. The girls and I are used to spending the weeks alone. And it's going to be much easier for Justin to find a place to live for a month or so than for our whole family including a dog! It'll all work. Yep.

Only about 13 days until school gets out. Zowie! I'm Field Trip Goddess the next two Fridays. Tomorrow I'll be with the 1st graders when they go to the library (my favorite place) and to the Ag Extravaganza sponsored by Ephrata FFA (my favorite organization) (well, not that particular chapter per se, but as a National Association). Whee! Then next Friday I get to go to Grand Coulee Dam with the third graders. Last time I was there was probably....1982 maybe? I hope I don't get bus sick.

We went to the races at Ephrata Raceway Park Saturday night. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I didn't dislike it. A couple of the drivers work with Justin, so it was fun to feel like we "knew" some of the people on the track. Of course the two guys raced against each other (and a school bus---that was Auds and Ems favorite) so I didn't know who to cheer for.

We had hot weather last Saturday. Nearly 100 I think. So we put up the pool. Of course you know what that means.....the hot weather is gone! The girls went in the pool on Sunday--it was around 85 out, but breezy so didn't feel as nice. Since then it hasn't been much above 72. Of course we have the whole "if you build it they will come" phenomena occurring. Sorry daughters and neighbor kids, just because the pool is up and full of water does not mean it is automatically warm enough to swim! Nor is it warm enough for Joy to sit near the pool and watch you. And no, Audrey, adding together the ages of Emma and Alexis does not make them an adult.

You know, if I were to ever actually put my mind to something and work I could actually accomplish things. Crazy concept I realize, but still..... With that said, er, written, I shall now take a shower and continue the decluttering of the house. Can't sell a messy house, right?

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Charlie McCarthy

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm just going to play with my Webkinz that Audrey gave me for Mother's Day. I have so much sense! And absolutely no ambition...

Fun in the sun

2008-05-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we seem to have finally gotten over winter. It's 84 degrees right now and I have a sunburn. I helped with the bike rodeo at school this morning. It was fun and very easy. The hardest part was driving Justin's truck there with the bikes, then knowing I need to go back at 2:45 to take the girls and bikes home.

There's some serious nest-building going on at our house. I'm watching birds with beaks stuffed full of grass and weeds and who knows what.

I really don't know that I have much to say today. I just knew it'd been a while since I last updated this blog. Other than my book list--I've been trying to stay on top of that. Hmmm...speaking of books.....I think I'll eat some lunch and read!

Heat, ma'am! it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones. ~Sydney Smith, Lady Holland's Memoir

What? Wednesday?

2008-04-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Is it really Wednesday already? Tomorrow I will take Justin to the Tri-Cities (or one of them anyway, I guess I'll find out which one tomorrow) so he can have LASIK eye surgery. I know.... ewww! They even have a viewing area. Blech. Yes, I will have a book with me.

But which book shall I take? I've been reading kind of a weird genre of books lately. I'm not embarrassed by my book choices, per se. I guess it's sort of a guilty pleasure. I suppose paranormal romance could be the category. I've always liked ghosty stories, but now I seem to have made the leap to vampires, half-demons, werewolves, guardians of the Goblet of Eternal Life, dragons and their slayers, etc etc. Actually, I think Justin is the one who is embarrassed! One of the books in my "to be read" pile has a manly, naked chest on the front. Maybe that's the book I should take tomorrow! Actually, I'll probably still be trudging my way through Love and Other Near-Death Experiences. This author was recommended on the website of Christopher Moore (absolutely the funniest author ever) as one to read while waiting (impatiently) for another Christopher Moore book to be published. It's a good book, but I've been in a rut of quick, funny, weird, romantic books so it's hard to read a "real" book. Hmmm....how many authors could I offend with that statement? Um, none since they don't read this blog.

The WASL is over so I go back to helping in Emma's "class" on Wednesday mornings. I'm not really in the classroom, I usually make copies, grade papers, or work one-on-one with students who need more help. This means most of the kids in Emma's class know me, but I can't put names with their faces most of the time. Audrey's classmates on the other hand....I definitely know them!

Audrey lost another tooth. She finally fulfilled her dream of having Mr. White pull it. Well, it sounds like "flick" is more accurate than "pull".

I'd better start getting ready if I'm going to make it to Emma's class at 8:30. I'm also hoping to put in an hour or so at the library. Otherwise I won't be in until Monday or Tuesday and my basket will definitely be full! I've barcoded all the adult and teen paperbacks and yesterday I started on the children's paperbacks. The end is in sight! I also need to make sure I have enough time at home to straighten up before Justin's mom comes this afternoon. She'll be here to take care of the girls and get them to school tomorrow so Justin and I can leave in time. There's just nobody here that I feel I know well enough to ask for help with this. But you know back home I'd have no trouble! (this is where Kristi and Nancy sigh with relief that we aren't there right now)

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. ~P.J. O'Rourke

(I don't think that'll happen with me)

Just another entry

2008-04-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the date on this photo. What's with snow in April????

The snow is gone and today we have rain. Wow, it could almost feel like we're back "on the coast". Except for the lack of trees.

Last weekend we went to an auction. I bought a Bunco Party for 20 couples. I don't even know 20 couples around here! I'll definitely need to import some when the time comes for the party. It's one of those things that sound like it would be a lot of fun, but then when I really start thinking about it (after I buy it of course) it doesn't look quite as good.... Where could I host an event with that many people? We would need some tables. And who the heck could I invite? And what would we do with the kids while it's going on if we have it here? Oh well. It's not like I have to figure it out right away.

Emma and I had a difficult morning. Audrey got up first and was in the tub. I finally roused Emma and told her to get her clothes together, brush her teeth, etc while Audrey finished and then she could take a shower. Of course I had a screaming urge to use the bathroom, so wasn't around to supervise. I came out and Emma is lying on the couch with the flashing Rudolph nose on (Justin found it in the pocket of the coat he's wearing in the picture---wonder when he last wore it) (the jacket, not the nose). I started pulling the nose off her and the strap must have caught on her earring and she started yelling that it hurt. She took it the rest of the way off and it went (further) downhill after that. Tears, yelling, "you're mean", "I want to go back to Bay View so I don't have to get up at 6" --um, you didn't get up at six it was after 6:40-- "well, in the sixes", begging for forgiveness, hugs and I love yous on the porch. Hopefully she'll feel better.

So a couple of weekends ago I had a breakdown. I have no idea what triggered it, but Justin found me in the back of the closet curled up on shoes. As you can imagine, it freaked him out considerably. Also our two friends who were over are now afraid to come back to our house. Of course Justin tried to talk to me about it the next day. He knows me better than that. Even if I knew what was wrong I probably wouldn't tell him. Because that would make it too real. And once something is said to another person I know that someone else knows, and I then have to try and go through life knowing that someone else knows something negative about me and I have to wonder how much that will color their perception of me and whether or not that knowledge will come back to bite me. This is why I chose to not confront or talk about a problem I have with somebody directly to that person. If we don't talk about it, I can assume that they are over it or were never bothered by it in the first place. Right? Completely screwed up thinking, I know. But it's the only thought I have.

Anyway, the other day it dawned on me that a large part of why I behaved the way I did was hormonal. There still must have been something to trigger it, but I haven't remembered that. (And no, I'm not trying to.) I miss the days when I was on The Pill. My body just chugging right along. Then after Justin had the Big V I stopped taking them. And I discovered ovulation. And it hurt!! Well, it no longer hurts, but looking back over the past few months I realized that my "PMS" feelings occur during ovulation. Not always to that awful extent Thank God, but at least I can warn Justin ahead of time.

OK, so has there been anything good lately? I guess I'm just feeling bogged down in the bad stuff right now. I really should blog when I have something good happen. How many times have I thought, "ooh, I need to write about that in my blog" and then by the time I do, I've forgotten what it wanted to share.

We went to a movie last Sunday. Nim's Island. It was pretty good. There was a lot of information and character development in the beginning. And then it felt like the director decided that they needed to hurry up and end the movie because it's a kid's film and they can only hold their attention for so long. So the end seemed a bit abrupt. But by then Audrey was squirming in my lap and saying she wanted to go home so it was OK to end. We very rarely go to movies. The last one we saw with the girls was The Game Plan, I went to a movie with a friend a while ago (I haven't done that in nearly 20 years---I've never really had the "let's go to a movie" friendship I guess), and I have no clue what the last movie was that Justin and I saw in the theater. There are a few out or coming soon that look good. Maybe I can convince Justin to take me to one. Ooh, maybe this weekend! I'll have to see. Wish me luck.

I got a call last night asking if I would help serve lunch at school today. Normally lunch is served by 3rd and 4th graders, but since they are taking the WASL this week the parents are stepping in. I signed up to help tomorrow, but was also a fill-in last Wednesday. I should probably work on taking a shower and getting dressed. But my robe is just so darn comfy! I don't need to be there until 11. Plenty of time!

No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head. ~Terry Josephson

Spring Break pictures 4

2008-04-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

Is this a Bad Mommy Moment?? A stormy morning. But the last morning, so we have to let the girls boogie board. Right? What an amazing sky and surf!

Audrey rides the wave!

And she rides it a bit farther.

And all the way to the end!!!

Spring Break pictures 3

2008-04-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

This doesn't need a caption, does it?

A boy and his dog.

The Crab!!! The Crab who likes to buy souvenirs. Really really really likes to buy them....

OK, and so Mom likes a big sale at the Claire's Outlet in Lincoln City. But who can pass up a purple fancy mask for 50 cents????

Spring Break pictures 2

2008-04-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

See that second house up the hill? The brown-looking one above the one with the green roof? That's where we stayed! Umm...angle down to the right to the base of the trail we took to the beach.

Remember the kid-sized wet suits I mentioned? Here are the girls wearing them. Justin didn't have a wet suit, but did have his rubber boots on. So when Audrey "almost drownded six times" he was there at the ready to get her.

I have the camera. Therefore, I get to take pictures of the weird stuff I draw in the sand. I just need to figure out how to turn this kind of drawing into my tattoo. Help.

Why is it that we visit the tidepools on the chilliest day of our vacation?? Well, the chilliest other than the last day that is. We had fun checking out all the cool creatures in the tidepools. Mostly anenomes---green and a couple of pinkish-purple. Also a couple sea stars and a sea urchin among the mussels. Lots of wet feet and fur.

Spring Break pictures 1

2008-04-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

We bought the kites at Costco a while ago. It was driving the girls crazy that we were "saving" them for our vacation. Justin put them all together. We eased our way down the trail to the beach to fly the kites. We had lift-off!

And less than ten minutes later Justin and I are holdng the kite strings because the girls are bored.

See this rock climbing?? That is exactly why Joy held the camera all week! Hmm...climb the slippery rocks or stand on the beach with a camera in my pocket. Yep. I know which one I'm choosing.

Audrey had a great time wading in the surf. Up to her ankles. In her shoes. Hey!! That's my hat!

OK. So it's not exactly an artsy fartsy shot, but I just really like this picture of Emma drawing in the wet sand.

I'm pretty sure I can't post too terribly many pictures at a time. So I'll do four at a time until I feel I'm done. Is that OK with everyone?

Break's over

2008-04-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

We're home! We had an absolutely wonderful trip to the Oregon Coast. I uploaded my (188) pictures yesterday, so I'm hoping to take the time today to go through them and post some on this blog. We'll see if it happens today....

Hi-lights:

the girls boogie-boarding (the house we rented had kid sized wet suits)
tide pools
generally deserted beaches
the aquarium in Newport (and running into our neighbors there!! bizarre!)
no internet access & hardly any work calls for Justin
just finally getting to spend a lot of time all together as a family

Now I need to get ready to head to school, then grocery shop. We have no food! Audrey's wigging out without her milk! Then pick up the girls from school and take Emma to piano lessons. I might find enough time to post pictures..... But don't hold me to that!

Lists

2008-03-28T07:30:00.001-07:00

We leave tomorrow!! So of course I have a big list next to me. The most satisfying aspect of a list is the crossing off of completed items and tasks. And since that crossing out is so pleasurable, I make sure to have lots of little things to cross off.

For example, instead of "change guest bed sheets" I wrote "wash guest bed sheets", then crossed it off when completed. And I had written "make guest bed"--so two crossed off items for essentially one task. Yee-haw! I've been known to write:
wash
dry
fold
put-away

for each load of laundry (listing whites, jeans, reds, etc). Yup. I'm a dork.

Of course my list isn't quite done. I still have:
laundry
pack
balance checkbook

Y'know. Just the little things. Luckily laundry is almost done and I can get packing later today.

Hay!

Sorry. Just saw a truck of hay go by. Justin likes saying that when he sees hay as we're driving. One day last summer he said it, we laughed, and Audrey said, "that just never gets old". Seriously! So that's why I say it and why I giggle a little.

Emma will attend the Math is Cool Competition in Wenatchee today. She's pretty nervous, but as a third grader her role is fairly small. This is more for them to see what it's like so they'll be ready for next year. I hope we aren't the only parents not going tonight. I can't see that there is much for us to watch. There is a Math Bowl or something, but it sounds like Emma is really only doing a written test. So of course I'll spend all evening stressed that I'm the horrible parent that didn't go. And Emma will be the only child riding the bus home. Oh yeah. I think that way.

There is a possibility that I could get called to the school to help Audrey with her Accelerated Reader test, so I should get showered and dressed. Audrey finished a Junie B. Jones book last night--her first true chapter book (82 pages). When she told her teacher she was reading it, Mrs. Jones said that I would probably have to come in and help with the computerized AR test. We'll see what she decides today. I need to run into town and get a spare key replaced anyway. I finally had spare house keys made for the girls, and one extra one for the neighbors or a hide-a-key kind of thing. The one I had made for Audrey (meaning the blue one rather than red or plain ol' silver) doesn't work. Bummer.

Off to start the day!

Oh, why can't we break away from all this, just you and I, and lodge with my fleas in the hills? I mean, flee to my lodge in the hills. ~S.J. Perelman, Will B. Johnstone, and Arthur Sheekman, Monkey Business

What shall I write about today?

2008-03-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well, it hasn't been a whole month since I last wrote on this. And I know I should post some pictures on this blog. But I won't be doing that right now. First, I have to take them off the camera and put them on the computer. I'm so bad about doing that! But I do have some (hopefully) good pictures to post later.

Last Saturday we had our cat Smokey put to sleep. Last week she was vomiting like crazy, so I took her to the vet on Thursday--and again on Friday. Not sure why she was vomiting, but after I put her in her carrier she urinated. And it wasn't the usual smell! Believe it or not, this was worse..... So the vet took x-rays and found she had something in her bladder. Couldn't tell what exactly without an ultrasound. Poor kitty. The vet suggested that my family really talk about this before referring us to a vet with an ultrasound. We talked. That afternoon Smokey ate some food. That evening she threw it all up. And that night she vomited harder than ever---of course with nothing to come up. The vet said we made the right decision. She probably wasn't going to get better. Of course the girls are already asking when we are going to get a new kitten. Not for a long long long time.....

What else? I got a "new" car. That's been exciting. I think Justin heard me say too many times that if we didn't have renters in our other house the girls and I would move back. I guess this is his bribe to keep me here. I can accept that. My 2007 Tahoe has more bells and whistles than I could ever imagine. Justin drove it for only the third time last night and was trying to figure out all the buttons. He sounded a bit surprised when he turned off the ignition and his seat started moving back. I think he's looking forward to driving it when we go to the Oregon Coast for Spring Break!

I've been volunteering more at the library. They hosted a big meeting for all the local libraries to talk about the Summer Reading Program and wanted the library looking great. Poor Kay, the head librarian, was just in a panic over getting it done in time. So I came in more often and helped decorate. But now that that is over I can go in and play with my books! I'm trying to make the adult paperbacks look better. I'm separating the categories more and alphabetizing. A few of the people think I'm crazy and are convinced that it won't stay like that and that the library patrons will just stick the book back wherever they want, just like they always have. Well of course they did. It's not like there was any order to it! My hope is by opening it up more, people will notice that there is some sort of order. Hey, they said it couldn't be done with the juvenile paperbacks and it's stayed nice for months now! Granted, the adult paperbacks do get more use so might be tougher. But I'm sure I can make it work. I'll be going in again today to work on it. A lot.

When I looked at my blog today I was disappointed at how far back my Books I've Read list was. I figured there was no way I'd remember everything I've read since I last updated it. I came up with as many as I could but knew I was still missing a bunch. Then I realized that I had listed eight books and I last updated it just over two weeks ago. A book every couple of days? I still don't think my list is complete, but it's all I could think of. I think I'll take my copies of the Demon Hunting Soccer Mom books with me when we go to the Coast. So I'd better be quick and read all the other books I have checked out from the library!

The girls and I went to a Girl Scout event in Spokane a couple of weekends ago. It was Hina Matsuri. It's a Doll Festival/Girl's Day in Japan. The Girl Scouts got to dress in the yukata, try they hand at origami and calligraphy, and play with some Japanese toys and games. The Japanese students (all girls) were wonderful. I had a great time! Emma and Audrey enjoyed it too--their favorite part was playing with the toys. My mom got to come with us too and she had a good time as well. Hopefully I have some decent pictures on my camera that I can later post here.

Speaking of my camera....no, I'm still not completely happy with it. It's great for outdoor pictures, but indoor leaves something to be desired. I just don't understand the science of photography enough to figure out who I need to set everything. I do love the big viewing screen though!

Back to Spokane....Justin didn't go with us (he went back to Bow instead and brought the boat back here). The girls and I got to see everybody except Andrew and Grandma M. Andrew was at his dad's that weekend. After the long day on Saturday we decided not to travel to Colfax on top of it all. I need to go over sometime just to visit family---not when we have an event and then shopping all afternoon (I'd already planned on taking the girls shopping in Spokane and it worked out to combine it with the GS thing). Wes, Sara, Amelia, and Gus came for dinner Saturday night. As usual we didn't see much of Laura--too much working! But we did stop by Wal-Mart on our way home to say good-bye to her. Emma had so much fun taking care of Madelyn. She's two months old now. When we first saw her she was only a few days old and Audrey was the one who liked holding her. This time it was Emma who wanted to play with her. Audrey did too of course, but Emma just couldn't get enough! Heck, she even changed diapers. (with Kara's help of course) On Sunday we met Dad and Grandma S. for lunch. Dad didn't tell Grandma we were coming. She was pleasantly surprised!

I don't really think there's been much else of note lately. The girls are doing well in school. As usual. Audrey was getting a sticker at the office for Being a Good Friend (she volunteered to take another girl to the office) when I came to pick her up and yesterday she receive an Above and Beyond ticket for something. Can't remember what... She also has over 20 Accelerated Reader (AR) points for reading books and taking tests on them. Now she's reading a Junie B. Jones book. Sound like when she's finished and ready to take the test I'm supposed to go in and help her with it. Hmmm....Maybe I should read it first.....

Emma has completed her multiplication facts through 12s. They've been taking WASL practice tests lately. A bit stressful! Emma is used to getting top grades, but with something timed like this she isn't always able to finish. Her teacher had me grade the tests one day. I hated reading the tests and seeing that nobody did well. Only a couple people answered all the questions, and often they didn't answer them completely enough to get full credit. At least Emma is excited about getting "breakfast" on WASL days. I think they start in mid-April. Guess we should take a bunch of practice tests with us during Spring Break. ha ha ha ha

I've written enough and I'm sure you're tired of reading it. Time for me to shower and dress. And look up remedies for canker sores. I have one under my tongue. Those are awful! Makes it very difficult to talk.

No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch. ~Leo Dworken

2008-03-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

I really need to keep my list of books I've read updated. I know I'm missing a couple.... I've wished many times that the library system or Library Elf would keep track of books I've checked out. Yesterday I was helping out at the library and finding even more books to check out! Dangerous.....

I stayed up way too late the night before last. I decided to take a bath, so instead of reading the hardback I was borrowing from the library I took with me the mass market paperback of The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks that I had just received from half.com. That was at 9. Eventually I got into bed. And at 2:30 I finished the book and went to sleep. Aaarrrgghhh! Not easy to wake up later that morning! But I so enjoy the Love at Stake series. Too bad I have to wait so long for the next one. At least I bought the first four so I can read them again. However, I also need to read the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom books by Julie Kenner. I've read the first one, Carpe Demon, and recently bought it and the next two. Maybe after I finish the four library books I currenly have I can start on those. But first I need to finish another Kasey Michaels book in her Maggie Kelly series.

Ack! I need to get moving. I still have to shower and I'm supposed to be helping in Emma's class in half an hour. Plus I took home some cutting and pasting from the library so I could have it all done before I get there today. And as we all know, I didn't do it. Such is the life of Joy.

bleah

The Bunny Vampire

2008-02-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

She no longer looks like a mutant bunny rabbit! Now she's a bit more like a vampire. Audrey is way cute with those missing teeth!

Justin was one of many children who went sledding down the roof of the shed next to the house our group rented. Let's see....that's Emma with the pink hat. And it looks like Chad is getting ready to toss Audrey and her sled across the gap between the snow bank and the roof.

The snowmobilers! And look, nobody is pushing anyone else in the snow....no snowballs being hurled....a rare photo op!

So what has been happening lately? Well, I'm convinced that Ephrata is cursed. Two big bouts of stomach bug, a round of pinkeye for each girl, lice lice and more lice, and colds that don't ever stop. All that since we moved here in July. The girls brought home their report cards a couple weeks ago (excellent grades of course) and they had 4 or 5 absences each. Emma has a cough and a headache today. Gave her some Tylenol and sent her whining butt to school! Oh I hope she feels better! You know how you always feel worse first thing in the morning. By the time I get out of bed it's about 30 minutes before the bus comes. So by the time I get the girls out of bed they have about 20 minutes to do everything. Including whine about how I'm the worst mother in the world becasue I won't drive them to school. I can live with that.

Audrey will be seven years old in only one week! Wow. Hmm...guess I should maybe plan her party. Justin's mom is coming over this weekend and so is Nancy. So we'll have Audrey's party the Saturday after her birthday. Just a little party at the house.

There's really not much else to say. Guess now is a good time to stop.

Politics

2008-02-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

Justin's dad threw his hat in the Idaho ring! Uh-oh, I hope that doesn't mean I have to pay attention to politics.....

Rawls for Idaho

The politicians were talking themselves red, white and blue in the face. ~Clare Boothe Luce

Short, sweet, and long overdue

2008-01-30T07:24:00.000-08:00

I don't have much time this morning, but I figured I should at least write a line or two. (yes, we all know how that is going to turn out!) This way, if you are someone who peeks at my blog every once in a while to see what we are up to you can see that I'm still around.

What's new?

Audrey looks like a mutant bunny. Her top two teeth are loose and one is loose enough that it hasn't been aligned with the rest of her teeth in quite a while, and it kind of sticks out at an angle. Of course I'm completely and utterly grossed out by the protuberance and it's wiggly-ness.

A couple weekends ago we went to a "cabin" in Plain (near Leavenworth) for two nights with a bunch of people Justin works with. There were a total of 12 of us (including the four kids). We kept saying the word "cabin", but it was really a big house. I have some pictures of the kids (and yes, that does include those male children over the age of 30) sledding down the shed roof. Also a couple pictures of the group during our snowmobile ride. The weekend was a lot of fun. The only downside was the dinner. Holy cow!! $160 for the four of us to have below average buffet, two hot chocolates, a glass of wine, and a beer. So if you are ever in Plain, don't have dinner at Mountain Springs Lodge. Yikes!!

We starting to plan our Spring Break trip. Of course the girls were begging for Disneyland, until we explained that Daddy just needs a relaxing time, and spending hours in line with thousands of people just to ride a ride is not his idea of relaxing. The girls have taken this very well. We are currently considering the Oregon Coast. I wanted to go back to Jerome, Arizona but I looked at flights and they were around $700 each. We could drive, but it is just far enough, that with kids the travel time would eat into our "vacation" time a lot. So I guess we'll have to forget about a warm vacation spot and go for pretty and closer to home. We'll see where this takes us. We're thinking that Spring Break 2009 will be somewhere like Jamaica. That gives us a year to save, plan, and diet.

I discovered yesterday that the people who used to have our phone number not only didn't change their number with the school, credit card companies, emergency contacts, but they are also using it to order stuff online. I looked at my phone bill yesterday and it was double the normal amount. There were two charges on it for third party companies. I finally got through to one of them. I told her I had a charge I was unsure about and so she told me that their company provided Internet voicemail, etc etc. I had already been wondering if this was some scam to either get people to blindly pay or to sell them services when they call to dispute it. I said something like that to this woman but she told me that it had been ordered. She told me the name and I came unglued. So that one is cancelled and I'll deal with the other one today---I'm sure it's the same kind of deal. Every once in a while I read through the Ephrata High School bulletin online (I started doing that after the big Orange E Carnival---one of those fun things that doesn't get advertised because it's a tradition that has survived for eons and therefore everybody knows about it) and noticed that in the announcement that if any parents want to help plan the Senior Trip they should contact a certain person via email. Guess who? Yep, the same woman I keep getting phone calls for. I may just have to send her a little email. If only I had just gone ahead and picked up her check at H&R Block after they called.....maybe then she'd figure out what needed to be done.

Speaking of Ephrata High School.....Emma and Audrey performed at half-time of the boys' basketball game last Saturday. They had attended a Cheer Camp that morning and learned a dance and two cheers. So all 50 or so kids performed that night. They split the kids into K-2 and 3-6 to learn different dances, but they all did the two cheers together. They had props for the dances and got to keep them. They had a good time and Justin and I enjoyed watching them. Of course, halfway there I realized my camera was still in the house. Not that I could have gotten very good pictures anyway.

Ohhhkaaayyy....there goes "short and sweet"! But we all knew that would happen, right? Time to shower and head to the school.

If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? ~Stephen Levine

Look out---you may not have their updated number!

Nancy!! Avoid this movie!!!!

2008-01-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

Zoom: Academy for Superheroes

It was a decent movie, but it made Audrey barf. Not in the "ewww it makes me want to barf" way but in the "Mommy, I threw up" way.

In the movie "the powers that be" (Rip Torn among them so y'know it's gotta be good) are trying to get together a Superhero Team. Of course there has to be auditions (even though we've already been "introduced" to those who will make it onto the team). One of the kids blows a booger out of one nostril and it explodes onto the scientist's (Chevy Chase) face. Completely and utterly gross. I'm surprised I didn't barf. Not at all surprised Audrey did. But oh so glad we didn't ever see it in the theater!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not exactly enough to get me to write my first epinions.com review in well over a year. But enough to write in my blog late(-ish) at night. Blech.

On to my photomosaic puzzle!!! Maybe that will be epinion.com-able.

Finally getting around to posting pix

2008-01-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

Santa put a Google in Audrey's stocking. This was a good thing. Can't you tell???

Christmas afternoon chaos.......

The Singing Vegetable Heads! Justin's mom and stepdad gave us a karaoke machine for Christmas. It's been a hit! Especially since they included a karaoke CD--High School Musical 2. I'm not sure which song the girls are singing right now, but they were having fun. Despite the fact that they had vegetable oil smothering the remaining lice on their heads.

It looks like we are done with lice. For now...... Damn things. It's so hard to get rid of them, I just feel like they are going to try and come back another time. But to help matters I'll often be doing my now-nearly-perfected imitation of a mother gorilla. Except I don't eat the nits and lice!

Justin bought me a new camera for Christmas. The first picture was taken with my old camera and the other with my new one. The new pictures seem very grainy. (I've learned that that is called "noise" in photography.) I read online that other people have the same problem and one suggestion was to lower the ISO. Really, that should be a task left to people who actually know what the heck ISO is! I was experimenting yesterday with different ISO settings and other various settings. But it may have to go back (if they'll take it back that is). I'm not much into taking pictures to begin with, I definitely don't need a camera that makes me have to think before taking a picture!

This is my first day sans kids in a while. Woo-hoo! I'd better get moving. Library and grocery store. I have a big day ahead!

Is it over yet???

2007-12-28T09:02:00.000-08:00

Today is December 28 and my Christmas tree is still up. That's kind of a long time for us! As you all know, I am in no way a clean freak or at all organized (unless it's totally unnecessary things like Polly Pocket shoes) and my house always looks messy (uh, 'cause it is?!?) it just seems like the Christmas tree makes the house look even more cluttered. Maybe because as long as the tree is up the gifts will stay scattered under it instead of put away. "Put away"? Like anything around me ever gets put away. I actually asked Justin if he'd hidden one of my shopping bags to teach me a lesson about putting things away instead of letting them sit out. (Actually, I accidentally left that bag at Wal-Mart.)

You wanna know what I'm really, really, really ready to be done with?? Lice!! No clue where they actually came from, but Audrey's head was infested!!! Emma had them too, but not to the extent Audrey did. Dang it, now my head is itching. Ha! I'll bet yours is too now!! It's been nine days since we discovered them (a real Bad Mommy moment for me, I won't go into it) and they've been treated with Nix twice. I look forward to not washing sheets every single day. Oh what am I saying? Justin's done most of the work the past few days.

My fingernails are too long to comfortably type on the laptop. And anyway, Christmas pictures are on the other computer. So I'll post again later. With pictures!!

I can understand people simply fleeing the mountainous effort Christmas has become... but there are always a few saving graces and finally they make up for all the bother and distress. ~May Sarton

A child is born!

2007-12-21T11:32:00.000-08:00

No, this isn't some big theological posting regarding Jesus and the Christmas season. It's just announcing that my sister Kara had a baby this morning!

December 21st is:
Forefathers Day
Humbug Day
Phileas Fogg Win a Wager Day
Underdog Day

and now....Madelyn's birthday!

I'm feeling very......done

2007-12-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

I...uh....bluh....erk......eep.....gah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just...

I can't....

Oh geez.....

What else can be piled on top!!??!!??

Two-legged creatures we are supposed to love as we love ourselves. The four-legged, also, can come to seem pretty important. But six legs are too many from the human standpoint. ~Joseph W. Krutch

Just an ordinary day

2007-12-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated! The only other decorations are the saltshaker angels (they'd been stored in the kitchen and not with all the other Christmas stuff), little snowmen that the babysitter made with the girls, and my nativity snow globe. (can you call it a globe if it's rectangular?) I found my Christmas cds. But when Justin had the Christmas boxes down I forgot to look for my Christmas jewelry. Darn it! So all I have is my snowflake earrings. Cute, but I'd like to have some of my other things as well.

I started painting the snowman pavers yesterday. I think they need another coat of white this morning and then maybe this afternoon I can paint the faces. I do have one major problem: I cannot find the Wal-Mart bag containing the fleece and glitter paint. Where would I have put it?? I need to hunt for it this morning so I know if I need to go buy more. I did find my old cans of glitter spray paint yesterday (I knew they were around, just didn't look in the right spot before buying the new ones). I at least need two done by tomorrow for Emma and Audrey's teachers.

Speaking of Audrey....she's sick! A little ear infection, swollen glands, an eye infection (uh, make that two eyes as of last night), stuffy nose and cough. She hasn't gone to school yet this week. And since tomorrow is the last day, she probably won't go at all until January 3rd. Poor kid is missing the Christmas Program today (well, she'll come with Justin and I to the 1:00 performance) and Thursday afternoon the students are watching The Polar Express in their jammies. I told Audrey that we would do the same thing at home. And it's even better for her---she doesn't like popcorn, so she picked out her favorite chips to have instead.

Tonight Justin and I are taking the "upper management" from work out to dinner. This was supposed to be darts at the Moose Lodge night, but this will be fine too. I ate at the restaurant (Michael's by the Lake in Moses Lake) for the first time Saturday evening. We had a gigantahuge plate of appetizers. Then Justin, Emma, and I each had a salad. Audrey knew she wanted mac and cheese, so she stopped eating appetizers so she'd have room. I look forward to trying an entree tonight!

I haven't heard anything from/about my sister Kara. Her baby was due on Monday.

I started working on my Christmas-or-maybe-Groundhog-Day letter yesterday. We'll see if I ever get it done and mailed. So let's add that to the list!
1. Laundry
2. Snowmen
3. Christmas letter
4. Parent gifts
5. Cat diapers
6. Start packing for weekend
7. Buy gifts for family in need
8. Put more Christmas music on mp3
9. Pop popcorn and put in baggies for third graders tomorrow

That should be enough! Any bets on how many of those things get done?

If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it. ~Olin Miller

You weren't here when you were gone

2007-12-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

But I was gone! Sort of. I mean, I'm here. But just not posting. But now I am. I'll keep it short though. (yeah right)

I elfed my family.

You know it just wouldn't be my blog unless I was bragging, so here's today's. A note from Audrey's teacher:

Dear Audrey,
Thank you for showing so much kindness to "M". The note you wrote to her was incredibly wonderful. You are a good friend and we are so fortunate to have you in our class. "M" really loved the note and it made her feel so good. It was above and beyond what I expect of of 1st grade friends.
Mrs. Jones

I guess "M" can be a bit difficult, and mean. Audrey wanted her to have friends, so wrote her a note saying that they are Best Friends. And yes, Mrs. Jones and I both were nearly in tears. The teacher told me that "M"'s overall behaviour has been much improved since this happened. Audrey must have gotten this from her dad!

Huh. It's snowing. Of course it is....the girls didn't take their boots to school!

My Christmas spirit is pretty much nonexistent this year. The girls have a little tree (thanks David and Hazel) set up on a table. I told them that it could be our Christmas tree. I explained that with a tree so small, any presents will look huge and like there's a lot of them. So Audrey wrote a note: Santa put our presents here. And propped it up against the little tree. I just really don't feel like putting up decorations and then taking them down again in two weeks. Maybe if we'd started earlier. Or maybe if I was interested in leaving the house decorated longer....(remember, we're the family that has been known to take down the tree the day after Christmas)

I guess it's not just Christmas. I don't have any spirit right now. I know, I know. "But Joy, you've always been lazy." I agree! But this feels different. Not good. Oh well!

Let's see. I bragged about Audrey. What can I tell you about Emma? She's in the Math Club. Obviously I will be of no help to her! She's still doing just as well in school as usual. I still don't have a piano teacher for her. Maybe in the new year.

Almost 10 and I haven't showered. I was planning on wrapping a bunch of presents today. I decided to make more paver snowmen this year for the girls to give to their teachers and our neighbors. The pavers are in my car. The paint is in the garage and the fleece is waiting to be cut and glued. That's as far as I've gotten. Last day of school is Thursday---I really should start working on those! Maybe they won't need me at the library today and I can stay home.....

It's the perfect weekend!
December 15 is Cat Herders Day
December 16 is both Barbie and Barney Backlash Day
and
Chocolate-covered Anything Day

Catching up with pictures

2007-11-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

Here we are at the Wild Horses Monument overlooking the Columbia River at Vantage. Wow. I'd never been up there before. Audrey's favorite part was "rock boarding" down the hill. I guess that would be careening and sliding over dirt and rocks. Perhaps my Crocs were not the best choice of footwear that day.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth? I've got a tiger by the tail? I've got a horse by the mouth? I'm sure we can think of something! These horses are incredible. The downside? All the vandalism!! Why do people feel that can write on something like this? One person has come up there three years. She signed her name and then puts the year. It's disgusting.

You can tell Audrey is a bunny. But what's Emma supposed to be? Why, she's "the one and only Olivia Vertigo" from the Charlie Bone books! The girls stayed warm while we scoured the neighborhood for candy.

OK, my pictures made it on her out of order. Before we went to the Wild Horses Monument, we went to Puget Sound Energy's Wild Horse Wind Farm. Wow! Those things are huge!! No, Justin's company did not make any of these towers. I believe they came from Korea....but don't quote me on that. There's a beautiful Visitor's Center at the top of a winding road. It's amazing to see these towers looming up from around the bend. If the sky is clear enough we can see the wind farm from our house. I think there are 126 towers up there. They will have the grand opening for the Visitor's Center next spring. Right now they are just open weekends and only through the end of the month. I think. There are some videos showing how the towers are made and erected. My favorite was a slide show of still photos--some taken during construction of the Visitor's Center and the towers, turbines being attached, elk grazing at the foot of a tower, etc etc. I'd read somewhere that people are concerned about the noise the wind towers make. I liken it to the sound of the surf. Yes, you can hear it, but it's not overpowering at all and we were standing in the middle of it all!

Fun time waster!

2007-11-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

I had a little too much fun with this

Luke Wilson is my UPS Man

2007-11-07T08:55:00.001-08:00

I swear!! Looked just like him!!! Gotta order more stuff.........

If I can find my camera I'll post some pictures of the girls on Halloween and of our Sunday trip to Puget Sound Energy's Wild Horse Wind Farm and a trek up to the Wild Horses Monument.

Halloween: Audrey was a white bunny and Emma was Olivia Vertigo from the Charlie Bone book series. Of course nobody knew who the heck Olivia Vertigo was. The girls and I have about 50 pages left to read in Midnight for Charlie Bone. My highlight came the other evening when I read the last sentence in the chapter and Audrey gasped and opened her eyes wide. Yes!! She is sucked in! I'd better put a hold on the next book in the series.

We have more furniture! We went to Spokane on Saturday (yes, Saturday---Justin didn't go to work) and came home with the bed of the truck full of furniture. Dining room table and six chairs, pub table and four stools (in a box), two nightstands (in boxes), and a red microfiber sofa. Yea! I'm loving having my clock and lamp at a decent height by my bed. And the sofa is soooo much more comfortable than that other one I bought. Of course none of these items would be considered heirloom quality by any stretch of the imagination, but that meant we could get a few pieces of furniture instead of one.

I went to the Wenatchee Valley Mall yesterday. Trying to get presents for Emma's birthday and start on Christmas too. I didn't make it to Target and JC Penney like I wanted, and when I got into town I saw Fred Meyer but didn't get there either. I'm debating about going today. I suppose if I'm going to I should leave soon. Even if I don't go, I should still take a shower and get dressed, huh.

The only really good place to buy lumber is at a store where the lumber has already been cut and attached together in the form of furniture, finished and put inside boxes. ~Dave Barry

Everything is blurry.....

2007-10-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

Actually, it's much better now. I went to the eye doctor earlier today. He put some drops in my eyes, but at least it wasn't as bad as last time when I couldn't read or even see myself in a mirror to try on frames! Today I could see myself in the mirror, but couldn't quite read the price tags..... I got to bring home six frames to try on and get Justin's opinion. One pair looked really fun, but when I put it on, I didn't like it for every day. But I would love it for sunglasses! I'll have to see what the girls think of them.

Emma can stay in school. We went to the doctor yesterday and she had her MMR shot. I also had her in to ask the doctor about some white spots on her skin. She has a large white spot on her leg---it showed up all of a sudden this summer. I wasn't terribly worried, but it hasn't gone away, and of course now I'm noticing a few other small, lighter spots. The doctor couldn't say if it was vitiligo or not. I'm used to vitiligo spots that start small and grow, so I didn't think that first one was vitiligo since it showed up fairly good-sized. We'll see if any of the other spots grow, or if she gets more. The doctor is right though, there really isn't anything we can do about it. So why worry too much? I was really hoping this would skip a few generations!!

Justin and Audrey went to the school last night to carve a pumpkin. I guess there were only six kids (and their dad's) in her class who made it. The time did get changed to 5:30 so they could be done in time for the PTO meeting and performances by Grant Singers and Grant Ringers. I'm glad Justin was able to leave early to go!

Emma is in Grant Singers. The group is made up of third and fourth graders. They practice before school two days a week. Initially she didn't want to do it, but the other day she said she was really glad that she did! Grant Ringers is fourth graders playing bells. They all did a great job.

Monday morning I attended a workshop for teaching school aides and para pros how to teach kids to read and help them with reading comprehension. (Emma's teacher asked me to attend because he'd like me to help some of his students with reading comprehension when I help in the class.) Yet another one of those times when I feel totally out of my element. Well, not totally. We learned about phonemes, and that was something I studied when I was majoring in Speech and Hearing Sciences. But still, I had to keep reminding myself that I am not an idiot, that I really even have a university degree! I'm afraid next week will be even worse. Uh-oh. Just remembered that I haven't done my homework yet!

What else? I went to Spokane for a day last week to shop for a table at antique stores. Mom drove me around and helped me look. I must admit that we maybe looked at a little too much not-table stuff at first. At the end I was "speed antiquing". I had to get home by 6:00pm so the babysitter could get to a 4-H meeting. I made it! Didn't find a table though. I found one on Craigslist in Spokane. We'll see what comes of that.

Justin made a terrible, horrible, awful discovery on Sunday. (you have to promise you won't tell Emma and Audrey, especially Audrey) Black Widow spiders. Say it with me now, "eeeeeeeek!!!!!" OK, my toes are curling now just thinking about it.

The girls should be home soon. I'd better get ready for them. We're going to go to Justin's office so they can sell candy and nuts for Girl Scouts. yee-haw Can't wait for cookie sales.....

If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive. ~American Quaker Saying

Unh-uh. I don't think so.

Getting out of the house

2007-10-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

The words "bored and lonely" formed in my head last week. I realized that it is time I got out more! So today I'll be in Emma's class at 8:30 (only if I don't take too long blogging) and Audrey's 1:45 to 2:45. I certainly don't want to work full time, or even part time for that matter (read the profile, see the word lazy?) but I am enjoying doing a little volunteering.

OK, looking at the layer of dust on my desk, maybe I should stay home and clean. ha ha! ha ha ha ha ha! HA HA HA HA! Whew. I about wet myself with that one.

Last night was the open house for the recently remodeled and updated metal shop at the high school. It was kind of fun. Justin got up to speak for a bit about Katana and what they do and what it takes to get hired there. People asked some good questions. I had a lot of fun talking with the shop teacher's wife. Remember back before school started and I mentioned that the intern principal was someone I'd gone to high school with? Well he's also the shop teacher, and I hadn't necessarily known his wife when we were all in high school, but as often is the case in small communities, I knew who she was. (OK, how many commas did I just use?) We talked for quite a while--she's a lot of fun! A weird thing about last night.....there were some Ag teachers from the area there, and the one from Wilson Creek recognized me. Yeah, from nearly 20 years ago! He made a comment about my hair being longer now.

Did you know that there is a roller rink in Soap Lake?? Emma went to a birthday party there Saturday night. Not exactly a state of the art facility, but a fun place to go. We might have to check it out some other time.

Emma has just over a week left of school before she is expelled. Actually, what I need to do is find a doctor around here and have her get another MMR vaccination. I'm afraid that I may accidentally forget to tell her that I think this is the one Audrey refers to as "the burning shot".

Writing Audrey's name (and as usual having my fingers hit the /e/ and /y/ keys backwards) reminded me of the girls' name "changes". Emma was starting to use the name Emmy. Know why? She likes to write the letter /y/. And now for some reason Audrey started spelling her name with an /ee/ at the end instead of /ey/. But she was also using a /b/ in place of the /d/ too. She wasn't writing backwards---she knew she was writing the name Aubree. I remember in first grade trying to go by Ellen (my middle name) because I didn't like my name. And who can forget my freshman year in high school when I changed the spelling to Joi? And not just an /i/ with a boring ol' dot, or even a heart or smiley face. Oh no, I put a slash mark in place of the dot. What a rebel!!

I'm sure the third graders would appreciate it if I came to their class showered and wearing clothes (as opposed to jammies, not nekkid!), so I should end this and get ready.

Leisure tends to corrupt, and absolute leisure corrupts absolutely. ~Edgar A. Shoaff

Pumpkin fun!

2007-10-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pumpkins I just finished decorating. I found the ideas in a Better Homes and Gardens Halloween book. The black sequin stripes didn't work as well as I would have liked. Now I'm glad I didn't find the perfect big pumpkin for it!

Emma faces expulsion

2007-10-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that correctly. After all my bragging in the last entry you'd think this wouldn't be happening. But it is.

Emma received her first MMR vaccination 15 days before her first birthday. So it doesn't count. I need to remember not to put the correct date on forms, and to pretend that I no longer have her record book. I mean, it gets brought up every year, you'd think I'd have it figured out by now! (I think there's also something funky about Audrey's, but maybe I took care of that.) So I'll go to the school today and find out to whom I need our doctor (in Anacortes) to fax a form to saying, yes, it is OK that Emma's MMR shot was done before she turned one. And of course when I do that I'll hear again that the state only requires the month and year so why is the school making a big deal of this. Even if she had another booster now, it wouldn't make the problem go away. Every time it gets typed into the computer it would reject it for the same reason. I'll have to see what I need to do to make it permanently in her records that she is OK.

We went to the library yesterday and Emma checked out Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry. I finally found a section on the Accelerated Reader website that would give me the AR levels of books. This one is a 4.5 or so. She started it last night and took it to school to see if the school has an AR test for it.

I was enjoying a little trip down book memory lane. Lois Lowry also wrote A Summer to Die and Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye. I can remember reading the first one, and the other title sounds really familiar. The fun part was finally realizing that the Lois I had been looking for was Lois Duncan. Stranger With My Face, Down a Dark Hall, Summer of Fear, and Daughters of Eve. Those are some great, and spooky, books!

I'd better get going so I can save my daughter from expulsion!

I guess I'll have to wait for tomorrow for International Moment of Frustration Scream Day.

Warning: Severe bragging about kids

2007-10-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Don't say I didn't warn you! Yesterday we had conferences, so of course I have many things to brag about! Not sure what else I'll write about, so how about when I'm done bragging I'll type, in bold, that it is safe to read now. OK? So those of you with strong constitutions may continue.....

Audrey
Audrey is doing great in school and is learning more and improving every day. One of her challenges has been learning to add "monkey tails" on her letters. And she's doing it! She is right where she should be as a first grader. She has proven to the teachers that she can count to 100, and we were told that very few students in her class can count that high. Audrey also told her teacher that she counted to 400 the other day "want me to show you?" ack!

Audrey is seated next to a boy who, ermmmm, has a hard time sitting and paying attention. Without any prompting Audrey has taken to reminding him that it is time to sit and pay attention, etc. I'm assuming she does this in a nice way, since the teachers were pleased. The student teacher says she catches her doing it sometimes and gives her a thumbs up. Which you know has just got to thrill Audrey to no end! It's so nice to hear about our kids being good, respectful, and responsible. Audrey is also now sitting by, and in reading group with, her best friend (and neighbor), but both teachers said that it hasn't been a problem at all---no excessive visiting.

Audrey has been journaling at night. Nancy gave her a diary this summer, and she's just started writing in it. And by writing I mean writing. Really! Just like her journals at school, she writes a sentence then draws a picture about it.

Emma
Emma is also doing great in school. Her teacher encourages students to come to their conferences, so we brought her with us. Her teacher started by telling all of us that he does not use conference time to discuss discipline, etc so the student doesn't have to worry about hearing any bad things. Well, unless they aren't doing well academically of course. And Emma has nothing to worry about academically. She's had to learn a few things specific to this school's expectations (labelling, organizing, different terminology and teaching aids). She'll be tested in Reading and Mathematics in the WASL, so that's what they are concentrating on. She reads at a 7th grade level; in one of the tests, the average is 190 and Emma is 215. The same test in math the average is 192 and she is 205. Algebraic Sense is the only area she needs to improve on.

Emma's teacher told her that she can be reading more difficult, higher quality books. He's not pushing her, but eventually if she isn't doing that on her own he will pick a book for her. They use Accelerated Reader; books are given an AR Level and a computerized test is available. The student chooses a book, reads it, then takes the test. The tests are worth a different amount depending on book difficulty. She's reading books with an AR Level of 3.1 to 3.8 and each test is worth 1 point. (the Zack Files books she's reading are worth 1 point, a Harry Potter book is worth 32 points) The teacher requires 4 points earned per month. He'd rather see Emma reading books with higher AR Level/Points Value than what she's reading now. I asked him about this, since it seemed last year Emma wasn't willing to read more challenging books because it meant fewer AR test available to her. He explained that in second grade the focus is more on quantity, but in third grade the focus is quality. So hopefully this will encourage Emma to spread out a bit in her reading. I'm especially glad she was there to hear all that.

I think that's about it.

End Parental Bragging

Holy cow my dog stinks! Sheesh! What has she eaten??? At least I'm no longer finding piles of diarrhea up here. How fun. We go from me bragging to my dogs bowels. Aren't you glad you stopped by??

After all that, what more is there to say?

Last Sunday we went to Cashmere to the antique malls. Apple Annie's is "70,000 square feet of no touch". So of course the girls were beyond thrilled! Many tears were shed, but no table was found. (have I mentioned that we are table shopping? ours will go to one of the Katana houses and we get a new one. oh the sacrifices I make!) I'm going to spend part of a day next week in Spokane going to antique stores there with my mom. I'm hoping I can find someone to watch the girls after school so I can shop longer.

I haven't been walking. I know, we were all just waiting for that announcement. No excuse really, just not doing it. I really should get back to it. I need to wear my fancy dress next month! Of course I've been afraid to try it on and see how it fits right now. David and Hazel are taking us and Hazel's kids to the Festival of Trees dinner. Sounds super duper fancy schmancy. Should be fun. I hope. We will have met Hazel's daughter, son and his wife the day before at David and Hazel's wedding. The girls will have a sitter while we are out. They'll be ring carriers at the wedding. Since the wedding may take place on a dock, we'll be praying extra hard that rings don't drop!

Well, it's half-days this week. So I don't have as much time to do, well, nothing before the girls get home. So I'd better get on it!

The problem with children is that you have to put up with their parents. ~Charles DeLint

I have my car back!

2007-10-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

Yea!! My car hath returneth. I filled it with gas and added wiper fluid so that I would have no warning lights lit up on the dash. The ABS and Brake lights disappeared after the car's stay with the dealership's service department. And now that it's back from the transmission shop it doesn't tick when I drive it! Hmmm....where can I drive today?? Um, the school and library I guess.

Emma is Student of the Month for her class. This month is Trustworthiness. Last Friday at an assembly those students were announced. And today she gets to have a special lunch with the principal and counselor. She's excited. Audrey's jealous.

I told Emma I might have to make a surprise visit to her classroom to see if she really is trustworthy. I was filling out her Reading Log slip this morning and marking the "did not read" box when Emma tried convincing me that reading another student's shirt counted. I told her it was no big deal that she didn't read, but it was more important to turn in the Log slip. She agreed then said "well, I am the one who does the Reading Logs" (she collects and records them for the class). I had to laugh. Ummm.....Emma.....what's the first part of the word "trustworthy"??

We went out to dinner last night. There are not many dinner choices in Ephrata!! Emma loves Chinese food (Mommy Yum Yum's); Audrey hates it. Audrey loves Mexican food; Emma isn't a big fan, and she and I both had very disappointing dinners at Tequila's. So for evening dining (for the under 21 crowd) that leaves McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, the other Chinese restaurant, the taco truck by the overpass, the homestyle place that advertises a banner that they are open for dinner Tues-Sat but when I went in once I got strange looks and there were no employees in sight, and Basaltz--the nice restaurant in town. So we went to Basaltz. Now Basaltz to Katana is like The Keg to Red Samm--meaning: Justin is there a lot. Without his wife and kids. So last night we walk in and one of the waitresses tells him that another waitress had asked her if Justin was married. She said told him that he was and that the girls and I had just moved here. So there's a disappointed waitress! And I will be in there every day so I can find out who she is! Bwahahahaha!!! Emma told Justin that she wasn't surprised that someone liked him because, in Emma's words, he's a "hottie".

I've started putting out our Halloween decorations. I was worried because I couldn't find my little Halloween Sweet Treat village and my ghost holding the bubble light. Finally found them in a big box that was on it's side. Of course I'd only labeled it "Halloween" on the top. Oops. I told Justin I need to go to Target so I can get the girls Halloween shirts, and see what I hope to find on super clearance after Halloween. I think the nearest Target is in Wenatchee.

Tomorrow we're going dining room table shopping. Yee-haw. I think we're going to try and find antique stores, then look at furniture stores. We'll see how this goes. The girls are going to just love doing that!!

I realize it's not yet 11am, but I should probably go take a shower anyway. I've been even more pathetic than normal lately--if you can believe that! Today I'll get moving sooner.

I have more photos on Grave Addiction, you can see them here. And I even made it onto the very special thank you page (I'm down near the bottom). Now I just need to head over to the Stratford Cemetery--it's not too far out of town and looked like it might be a good, older cemetery to visit. I'd also like to play around with some of my pictures and print them. We'll see if I ever get around to it.

Squirrel Appreciation Week begins October 7th!

That wacky internet!

2007-10-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

I must admit, it always surprises me a bit when I receive the same email from two different people within a day or two. You know the ones....the latest You Tube hit, the touching mother story, the petition to "sign". The other day I received the William Tell Overture singing mom from a friend, and a few hours later from my mother-in-law, and then a couple of days later from another friend. None of these people know the others.

Now this one made me smile. Justin's aunt sent me one of those "get to know you" emails. This one listed questions like "Two things you are wearing right now" "Two favorite pets", etc. And you know the drill: copy, paste, remove the previous person's answers, type in your own, then forward it to your friends, including the person who sent it to you. So of course I did. I sent it to a bunch of adults and a couple middle and high school age friends. A few days later I received an email from Emma's former piano teacher. It was that same "get to know you" email. I thought it was a little odd. Maybe she accidentally clicked on my name when she meant to send it to someone else (we've never exchanged emails like this before). So I scrolled down to see her responses and my eye caught something. " Joy Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again? ~Winnie the Pooh" Hey! That's my current email signature!!

Sorry, but I just really get a kick out of those wacky internet coincidences.

Hopefully I'll get my car back today. I need to go to the school and distribute the Book Order books for Audrey's class. And I need to get to the store--I only have one tea bag left. Yea! The guy at the transmission shop just called! Now to coordinate with Justin to drive me there...

I was flipping through a Rachel Ray magazine and found a fun gift idea for the girls. Personalized Fruit Roll-ups -- how fun is that? I'm thinking for Christmas, or for takeaway gifts at birthday parties.

I've started thinking Christmas already. Just with regard to presents. I have no idea what the girls want -- that isn't electronic or attached to a screen of some sort. Actually, Emma wants new roller blades and Audrey wants a scooter. I think we can handle those. Of course the My Twinn catalog came in the mail and the girls gushed over it. Neither of them are really into dolls, until they see something like that.

I suppose I should take a shower and talk to Justin about getting me to my car. With my luck, if I call him now he'd be able to take me right away. And again with my luck, I'll call him after my shower and he'll tell me the rest of the day is crazy and he can't pick me up. But at least at that point I'll be clean!

The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom. ~Jon Stewart

Note to Self:

2007-10-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

1. Do not stay up until midnight working on a puzzle and watching Ghost Hunters. It makes it even more difficult to get up in the morning.

2. Do not wear jammies all day. It may be comfy and cute (look at those gnomes!) for a while, but suddenly negative thoughts start pouring in. When that happens, it is probably best to shower and dress (not update blog which may result in further negativity).

3. When you put detergent in the dishwasher, either run it immediately or set the timer so that it will run at a later time. Otherwise, the soap sits in there until you decide to put some dirty dishes in there and discover that it is full---of dirty dishes that really should have been washed a while ago.

4. After posting pictures to the blog, do not sit for an obscene amount of time watching Blogger Play hoping to see the pictures just posted on the blog. This is especially true if already wearing jammies.

Catching up with pictures....

2007-10-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

What's that on Emma's ear?? Why, it's a monkey earring! Yep. Her ears seem healed enough to start wearing earrings. That picture was taken yesterday morning. She has little heart with jewel ones in today. She's so excited!! But not thrilled that I make her wear her starter earrings at night. Tough noogies.

Did you know that if you put bubble bath in a tub, and then turn on the jets, you get lots and lots and lots of bubbles?? I found that out one night and shared my discovery with the girls. They had a good time!

Rain

2007-09-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

It's raining here. I mean really raining. Not hard, pounding rain, but just rain. And a dark, cloudy sky that makes it look like it isn't going to stop raining any time soon. I think this is the third time we've had any rain at all since moving here on July 1st. Of course our sprinklers are still on...... Anybody else want to smack me upside the head for not seeding the spot where the pool had been?? And now the grass seed is in the back of my car. And my car is at Mike's Transmission.

Oh yes, the car saga continues. Yesterday I took it to Mike's. I'd called the day before to get pricing on a transfer case. He asked who told me I needed one, then suggested I bring the car in for him to drive and see if he could determine the problem based on the noise and hopefully not need a new ($1500 at the dealer, around $1000 anywhere online Justin has looked) transfer case. So I brought it in. He drove it. He said he'd never heard a sound like that before. Uh-oh. That doesn't sound promising. He brought it in the shop and listened to it---definitely coming from the transfer case, and sounds like something wants to blow apart. He highly recommends that I not drive it. So it's still there. Hopefully he'll be able to dig into it today. So now I have Justin's monster truck. eek

Audrey had her first Girl Scout meeting last night. Oh my. She was awfully quiet. Yes, I am talking about Audrey. She didn't know any of the girls, and some of the other girls do know each other. She'll make friends soon.

What a lucky thing the wheel was invented before the automobile; otherwise can you imagine the awful screeching? ~Samuel Hoffenstein

Just had to add this.....I minimized my internet screen and saw something unusual on my sidebar. I thought, wow, did I take a picture of a meteor shower? Uh, no. It's the little weather tag. I've never seen it show rain before. Usually there's a sun!

I'm not dancing any longer

2007-09-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

OK, this is pretty big news.....I have made the decision to not watch Dancing With the Stars this season. I know, I know, this is crazy talk! But I had been enjoying not watching much TV, so I figured I would abstain from the one program about which I was obsessed. Of course that doesn't mean I'm not going to watch any TV. But at least this should help a bit. But don't tell the girls! I don't think they even know the show has started again. They were just as into it as I was!

Last week in my blog I mentioned that I felt there was a lack of communication with the school. Guess what came home in the girls' folders that day! Yup, the info packet and membership form for PTO and the newsletter from the principal. Also, Emma's teacher sent home a letter. So of course I signed up for PTO. They only have two meetings a year. We'll see what I get called upon to help with.

Emma had her first Girl Scout meeting yesterday. And Audrey's is tomorrow. Both girls are excited to be Brownies! And I guess I'm excited to have them doing it. I just have a feeling I'll get sucked into volunteering more than I'd like. I may have to draw the line at any camping though!! As long as the girls are happy, right?

Bad news for Emma!! Today she was supposed to be able to take out her earrings. So last night I took them out so we could see how they were doing and she could try putting earrings in. One ear is a little infected. So we'll keep them in another week or so and take them out every other day to make sure the ears are really getting cleaned well. She was really upset.

Last weekend we went to Spangle for my nephew's dedication. Gus is such a cute kid! Hmmm....I should have gotten an all-cousins picture. Emma, Audrey, Andrew, Amelia, and Gus. I suppose I could have gotten Kara's belly full of Madelyn in there too! It was fun hanging out with Wes and Sara (well, with Sara anyway---you know how Wes is!) and seeing some family. Didn't see Laura at all (she was working), and only got to see my Mom at the church, but Kara and Andrew, my dad, and grandma all came to the house for brunch following the service. The pastor even pronounced Gus' name correctly!

I went walking again today. I did one fewer cul-de-sac than last time. My back is a bit sore and I just wanted to come home and stretch. My new mp3 player arrived on Monday so I tried it out today. It's such a cute little thing! A lime green Creative Zen Stone. I listened to the first hour (of ten) of Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I charged my player when I got back--I hope that doesn't mess with where I paused it! I found I walked much slower while listening to a book rather than music.

Justin's dad is coming today, so I should work a bit more on getting the house ready. And maybe myself too. I also need to get more information on where to take my car to get fixed. Like I even know what a transfer case is!! Luckily other people do, so I've been making some calls. You know, when I'm not shopping online for a new car......

Each day, the American housewife turns toward television as toward a lover. She feels guilty about it, and well she might, for he's covered with warts and is only after her money. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

Crusie & Kirsty

2007-09-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Have you read any books by Jennifer Crusie? I'm really enjoying her books. Her female characters are strong women often in their 30s, of normal size, and pretty darn lucky! No 20-something waifs here. You know how sometimes you read a book and just want to throttle the character? How many times have I thought to myself "if you'd just tell him the truth it would be OK, why must you try and 'fix' it in this sordid way?", and yet I still keep reading! With Crusie's books, I think more along the lines of "buck up and sleep with him already!" since the guy in question is often gorgeous, kind, generous, and a lover of woman of a normal physique. I just finished reading Bet Me and just had to reread the end scene again. It's been hard to get into this Iris Johansen book after that!

So that's Crusie. Now what about Kirsty? Well, they are actually somewhat related subjects. I read Don't Look Down a while ago and the main character listened to Kirsty MacColl--especially the song Us Amazonians. So I was on a quest to find her music. Found it. Like it.

(Regarding Don't Look Down, that book was a collaboration with Bob Mayer. An unlikely pair it appears, but who wrote a really fun book! Why unlikely? Read this.)

Yesterday I went walking (Kristi! Get off the floor! It's not that unlikely, is it? OK, I guess it is. Please, continue laughing.) and listened to Kirsty MacColl's Tropical Brainstorm. There were a few songs I didn't care for, but enough to keep me interested that I decided to walk long enough to finish the whole album. You should hear the girls and I sing Us Amazonians when we're in the car! Now that is an experience.....

I'm thinking this walking thing should continue. I walked up and down every cul-de-sac in our development twice. (Kristi! C'mon, you're going to wet yourself if you keep laughing like that.) It took me an hour. Of course I haven't done it yet today...... But I will! I think.

I bought a new, cheap, mp3 player to use for audiobooks. I am afraid that if just listen to music while I walk I'll start to sing. Bad idea. Why?
1) Nobody wants to hear my croaking
2) I'm sure if I did start singing I wouldn't be thinking and just sing whatever I'm listening to. Even if the lyrics are "she's hot she's hot she's hot/she's just a wild and wicked slut". And who can keep themselves from singing the refrain "sha-la-la-la-la get your rocks off baby"

So I'm sure you understand my plight. Now of course I have to pick my audiobooks carefully. Do I want something sad and wind up crying as I walk? Will people look at me strangely if I walk by them laughing while listening to a comedy. Or will I mutter to myself things like "if you'd just tell him the truth it would be OK, why must you try and 'fix' it in this sordid way?"

Wow. I should really find something to do with my time and stop obsessing about random things. Naw!

I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering. ~Steven Wright

Just another day

2007-09-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

It's just another day in the life of Joy. Not much going on, but since I updated my book list, I thought I'd post. Something......

Yesterday I helped out in Audrey's class for a while. I was with a group and one boy asked if I was someone's mom. I told him that yes, I'm Audrey's mom. A girl sitting beside him said "No wonder you're so bossy." Huh. Not sure about that connection. Is Audrey bossy? Or was this just an easy way to let it out that she thought I was bossy. And I am! Oh yeah!! I was telling the kids they needed to (are you ready?) do their work. So now if Audrey comes home and says she wants "K" to come over I'll know to direct her to another friend instead.

I've really been enjoying this school and the people who work there, but the lack of communication is a little frustrating. I noticed a sign on the door yesterday about choir auditions, but didn't take in the particulars figuring the girls would bring something home about it. I mentioned it to the girls last night and they said, "yeah, it's tomorrow". I try to avoid being a pest (I know, I fail miserably at that), but do I need to drop by the school every day and look for flyers? What has really shocked me is that there has been nothing from the PTO. By now you'd think they'd be pushing membership at the very least. Emma of course still prefers Bay View. When I said I'd found something I didn't like about the school she said "Just now? I've found 50 things wrong with it. Maybe we should move." I reminded her that she absolutely loves her teacher.

The weather is starting to change here. But it's still blue skies and t-shirt weather. It's been starting a bit overcast, but getting nice. Yesterday I was surprised that it was under 70* and I was still comfortable in pants and a t-shirt. Fall is my favorite season, so I'm looking forward to it. And I can't wait to get out my Halloween decorations!! I know, I have a little more time to wait on that one. But I do have my Halloween craft books and magazines out......too bad there isn't a craft store in town.

I'll have my first volunteer shift at the library on Friday. I'd better practice my alphabet.

Happily we bask in this warm September sun,Which illuminates all creatures...~ Henry David Thoreau

'Tis the end of summer

2007-09-17T08:56:00.001-07:00

Yep, it's over. We put the pool away yesterday. Now we have a big brown patch in our yard that smells like poo.

We swim because we are too sexy for a sport that requires clothes. ~Author Unknown

Happy Anniversary!!

2007-09-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yup. Twelve years ago today I donned my Gone With the Wind wedding dress and said I DO! Last night we celebrated with dinner at Tendrils. It's located near The Gorge Amphitheater at Cave B Winery. Beautiful location! Getting to the restaurant, we kept wondering if we were going in the right direction.....afraid we'd wind up in some Restricted/Winemakers Only area. But eventually we wound our way to the parking lot and enjoyed the easy walk past the Chef's Garden and grape vines to the Inn and restaurant. I'd called for reservations and we took the 5:30 option--the next one was at 7:30 and I figured with how many hours Justin has been working, and having been sick this week it would be best to go earlier. The dining room was empty when we arrived, but when we left it was full and kind of noisy. Justin's dinner was amazing!! He did the right thing in taking our server's advice and having the pork. We'd both been trying to decide between the pork and the lamb, so I ordered the lamb. It was very good, but after tasting the pork I just couldn't get excited about it. And yes, of course we enjoyed a bottle of Sagecliffe Cabernet. Yum!

So obviously, if we were able to go out alone we must have found someone to watch the kids! Finally!! I asked at the school office if anyone knew of babysitters. Lucky for us, the principal lives in our neighborhood and has a babysitting age daughter. Yahoo!!! The girls really enjoyed her too.

I updated my book list. It's kind of heavy on the Chick Lit right now, which I enjoy immensely of course, but still need to mix it up a bit. I really liked Paging Aphrodite by Kim Green. She's a great writer! Strong characters and I want sequels to both Paging Aphrodite and Is That a Moose in Your Pocket. I also just read Queen of Babble in the Big City. I really think Meg Cabot just needs to sit down and write more Queen of Babble books and forget about everything else!! C'mon Meg!! Get writing! I need more Lizzie!!!!!

The girls are still enjoying school. Tomorrow I'll help out in Audrey's class for the first time. I was supposed to go in last Monday, but I was sick....and so was Emma. I'm looking forward to helping out and meeting the kids. We'll see what I have to say at the end of the morning.....

It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. ~Rita Rudner

"Maybe Baby"

2007-09-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

That's the book I forgot! It's by Lani Diane Rich. The female character's last name is Wiley and the male's is Maybe. Whew! I'm glad that's all been figured out. I was at the library today and that cover happened to be facing out on the paperback carousel nearest me.

The girls are still liking school. And I'm still liking my alone time. :) Today I wandered into a couple of gift shops in town and picked up the new schedule for the local art studio. I'm almost feeling like a grown-up! Now I just need to find babysitters so Justin and I can go out. Heck, our anniversary is coming up soon---wouldn't that be a nice time to go out??!?

Well, I guess that's about it. I was just so darn excited to find that book! I'm sure I'll discover a ton of books I want to read when I start volunteering at the library! But first I need to figure out when I'll help out in Audrey's and Emma's classes. About time I had a schedule!

Might we not say to the confused voices which sometimes arise from the depths of our being: "Ladies, be so kind as to speak only four at a time?" ~Madame Swetchine

The Life of a Recalled Toy

2007-08-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

A bunch of Polly Pocket toys were recently recalled (little magnet that can fall out). And guess what, we had a few of those sets. So I told the girls and we started gathering them up. And now they are the favorite toy! Do I keep them? They are pretty safe around my girls, they aren't going to put something like that in their mouth. I'm afraid though, that once they do finally get tired of playing with them that I'll forget about the recall and donate it somewhere, putting lives in jeopardy!! OK, maybe not so much.

You know the phrase "don't know what you've got until it's gone"? I've been having some "didn't know I'd not had it until I had it again" moments. Like last night. We had lightning! I grew up terrified of it (OK, actually I was terrified of fire; didn't help that 4th of July when we were at the neighbors and Bert said "oh, looks like that one hit your house") but I really enjoyed watching it last night. You don't get that kind of streak lightning in Western Washington very much. Another thing I didn't realize is absent on the west side of the state: magpies. Yup, those big black and white birds that are all over the place here.

I spent my first two school days doing pretty much nothing. Today I should probably do something. Time to go return things at Staples, go to the Post Office, and and and.....who knows what!

National Waffle Week begins Sunday!

Back to School!!

2007-08-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today was Day 2 of the new school year for the Rawls girls. Yee-haw! Justin was able to go into work a little later yesterday so he could be around for their first morning. I drove the girls to school and they took the bus home. Sounds like it was a good first day! For the first time in three years, Audrey did not state that "snack" or "lunch" was her favorite part of the school day! It was music instead.

Audrey made some new friends. But in typical first grader fashion, she didn't know their names. Emma said she didn't meet anybody. Today though, she came home and said she'd made two friends!! Both girls like their teachers and seem to be adjusting well to a new school and town.

I'm sure you're wondering how I did this morning getting them on the bus. I appreciate your concern.... The bus came early. Not super early, but before I had started a look-out. (the bus drives up the hill into our neighborhood, then stops at our house on the way back---just fine for watching the bus come and then heading out to wait) Luckily the bus driver called me to see if he'd be picking up the girls. So now I'll be looking out earlier. But....Audrey got off the bus today and said the bus would be ten minutes late tomorrow. Okaay....in the morning? afternoon? both?? Guess we'll find out tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can keep up with this new schedule, if for no other reason than to look at Kristi and say "Ha!". :) hee hee hee.

I watched Akeelah and the Bee today. Holy cow, did I bawl or what??? Was I supposed to cry like that, or was I overly emotional? Whatever the reason, it was a good movie. Glad I went ahead and watched it instead of returning it tonight unwatched. All thanks to Brian and his blog "Word Daze"!

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers. ~Edgar W. Howe

How true is that??

Similarities in books

2007-08-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Worthy was about fraternity hazing.

The Mangler of Malibu Canyon had beheaded bodies.

Size 14 Isn't Fat Either has a body without a head, and there's a teaser about fraternity hazing.

Anyone else sensing a theme here??

"Off with his head!"
--From King Richard III (III, iv, 76)

Waverly Cemetery Photos

2007-08-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

I emailed some of my photos of the Waverly Cemetery to Grave Addiction and they were posted on today's update. Grave Addiction Update Look for number 15!

I found the pictures!

2007-08-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Emma's having fun tubing on Hayden Lake.

Audrey has fun too!

Here's my new computer background. I love old cemeteries! This one is in Waverly--you can see my dad or brother's combine in the background.

I just kinda liked how this one turned out. Too bad I never remember to turn off the date stamp on my camera! grrrrrrr

I'm glad I finally found these pictures. I think I need some computer help. Like making sure everything is where it should be and accessible to me. Maybe someday....

This is not going to be good for me.....

2007-08-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

....or maybe it will. I called the bus garage yesterday to find out what time and where the bus will pick up the girls. They catch the bus down the street at (ok, give me a minute.....breathe deeply.....sip tea....pop a Xanax....ok, maybe not the Xanax, but they always do that in books!) 7:12 a.m. And I thought I got up early today when I stumbled out of bed at 7:30!!! Justin said something to the effect of "Golly, we can get up at the same time and have coffee together." Yeah right. It's going to be both of us in bed, staying in as long as possible, and then when one of us thinks "well, fine, if he/she isn't going to get up I guess I will so I can get in the shower right away" that's when the other one will get up out of bed (because he/she had been thinking of it mere seconds before the other one) and into the shower. I suppose I should start practicing this whole "get up early thing". I have a little time.... School starts Wednesday and I'll drive them that day.

Last night we attended the New Student Orientation at Grant Elementary School. It was great to go and see the school, find out about some of the programs, meet the principal and the intern principal and the counselor. Mr. Garcia, the counselor, is a kick in the pants. Sounds like he is extremely kid-focused and fun. He says when it snows he heads out to the field and helps kids build forts, he teaches students to sing the WSU Fight Song to teachers who are Husky fans, all sorts of fun stuff! Last night Justin said that Mr. Garcia's job sounded awfully tempting...(Justin's having a really stressful week at work; yeah, maybe even more so than usual)

So I mentioned the intern principal...Guess what. I went to high school with him. Brian Ellis, he was a year ahead of me. It's funny to realize that in a town this small (by some standards, although it's fairly good-sized to me) there are three of us who graduated from Liberty High School in the 80s/90s.

The lack of household organization is starting to drive me batty. I'm still using a card table for my computer (alas, that means no puzzles), my printer isn't even hooked up, and I have a corner filled with craft supplies and no place to put them. Yet. Add to that the mess of toys, and the boxes of games and puzzles that are still homeless. I shoved most of our movies into a three drawer bin, but there are still others waiting for placement. The good news is that it is no longer sweltering up here in the computer/TV/play room. I told the girls that we may soon be able to rent movies---and actually watch them! Oh, seating would be nice up here too. I reclined on pillows and watched a movie the other night (Take the Lead with Antonio Banderas, it was really quite good) until my buttocks fell asleep!

I updated my "Books I've Read" list the other day and realized I'd forgotten one. This is one of the many times I've wished the library kept a record of books I've checked out. I can't remember the title or author. And I tried Googling keywords and doing the same at NovelList, but came up with nothing. So if you know of a book about: a woman who owns a winery; the theft of a takapu (an endangered bird from "New Zealand"); it's a romance and a mystery; let me know the title! I think the character(s) have names that can have double meaning like "Trouble" or something (like the guy is Damien Trouble and the title is "Playing with Trouble", y'know, something kind of punny). Need to add the book I started this morning after staying up a couple hours last night to finish one. And then....I couldn't sleep!! I considered starting another book, but although reading might help some people fall asleep, it doesn't work that way with me!

Enough procrastinating! Time to pay bills, clean the house, shop for groceries (maybe even figure out dinner), and shop for school supplies and a desk and other storage. We're almost done with the school supply hunt, but for some reason I cannot find loose leaf paper at Wal-Mart. Isn't that something that is usually on pallets and set in the aisle right by the other school supplies?? Not in Ephrata I guess. Oh, I have laundry to finish too. Guess I have my day set!

The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in the morning feeling just plain terrible. ~Jean Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, 1957

Oh my goodness!!! I am "average, healthy, and well-adjusted"!!!!

I have a "carpe diem" mug and, truthfully, at six in the morning the words do not make me want to seize the day. They make me want to slap a dead poet. ~Joanne Sherman

OK, had to pay homage to one of my top three movies of all time!!!!

But I'd gotten used to the heat.....

2007-08-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

And now we're having highs in the low 80s? Brrrrr! OK, maybe not brrrr, per se, but it still doesn't feel the same. Guess that means summer is ending.

I took the girls to their new school yesterday. They'll be attending Grant. First thing I saw when we walked to the door was a flyer announcing the New Student Orientation on August 22nd. Of course I'm rarely aware of the actual date....so I panicked. Did we miss it? I hastily flipped open my Anne Taintor Engagement Calendar and was thrilled to note that we had not missed it. It's tomorrow night. Whew! The secretary and counselor were extremely helpful and very nice. As a bonus we met a first grade teacher in the hallway---won't know until Wednesday night if she's Audrey's teacher though. School starts next Wednesday.

The weekend before last we went to Silverwood Theme Park. And get this.....Justin took Friday off!!!! He even stopped answering his cell phone when I gave him the withering look of wifely disgust. We all went on Timber Terror---one of the big wooden roller coasters. Audrey and I vowed to never go on another one again. My shins still hurt! I felt like I was being pulled out of my seat, so I forced my legs under the car in front so that I could stay in and then clutched Audrey so she wouldn't fall out either. Yes, I know that we wouldn't really fall out. But that didn't stop me from being totally neurotic about it! Sheesh. Emma loved the roller coaster and she and Justin went on another one, twice. This one was metal and went upside down. They both said it was much smoother than the wooden one and easier to go on. Maybe next time. Yeah, right!

After Silverwood we stayed in Hayden with David and his friend Hazel. Wonderful hospitality!! And now we have a new obsession.....finding lakefront property. We don't need much---just some water access. I could sit on a dock and read all day. Aahhhh.... The girls wore their life jackets and swam near the dock. We took the boat out and the girls had a blast tubing. Yes, I do have pictures, but I seem to have experienced a large problem with my photos/computer today. Hopefully I'll get it figured out soon and can post some pictures.

Last week the girls and I went to Spokane to shop for school clothes. And get this....Emma got her ears pierced! Yeah, I know, I always said 12 or 13, but for some reason I changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that, right? OK.

I've raised a couple of city girl hicks. They were afraid of the combines when we went out to see my dad and Wes. But then at the mall they wanted to ride the escalators because they were so exciting! Funny kids.

Wes was harvesting right across from the Waverly Cemetery and I took some really great pictures--including some black and whites that I'm quite happy with. But again there's that whole Kodak/pictures disappearing. Gotta work on that. I was going through those pictures to send to the GraveAddiction website when it all went kaplooey.

On our way to the field Audrey said "I just saw a chicken cross the road! Or maybe it was a cat." Oooookaaaayy... On our way back I pointed out two pheasants to the girls. Audrey said, "That's what I saw!" Oh dear. A career in zoology is not in that girl's future.

Oh, Audrey also has a very cute new haircut! I was planning on posting a picture, but y'know....

I guess that's about it for now. Time to feed the girls and get them to bed (thier new bunk beds that is). We need to get in the habit of going to bed earlier. A lot earlier. But it's hard to make those changes.

Are you ready? August 22nd is Southern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day!!!

Scouting.....

2007-08-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

So if you don't hear from me for a few days, you may want to check Moses Lake. The girls and I are going to go over there after library today. I have no idea where I'm going! I found out yesterday that Wal-Mart here in town is out of kids lifejackets. Hence the need to travel. blech Moses Lake feels like one of those towns that's built at an angle. I don't deal well with that.

Wish me luck!

This week is Don't Wait! Celebrate! Week

Is Ephrata "home" now?

2007-08-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've written anything here. Been a while since I updated my list of books too. I think I'm forgetting one after Pretty is as Pretty Does. By the way, don't read that particular book. A reviewer on the front cover called it "funny" but for some reason I didn't pick up a lot of humor in a book about a vain, self-centered young woman who has an affair less than a month after she gets married.

I finally broke down and bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm feeling rather sad at not being able to look forward to another book. But what do you think? Will J.K. Rowling do a spin-off? Take another character from the book and turn it into an all new best-seller? And if she does, would I read it? Hmmmmm.

We're starting to get used to living in Ephrata now. The girls have made some friends. We've met a couple of neighbors and they are all very nice. School starts at the end of this month!! That will certainly make some huge changes. I need to find out when the class information comes out---y'know, find out what time school begins and ends, which school the girls are in (for sure), where and when the bus comes. All those minor issues!

Time to be productive. Ha ha ha ha ha!! OK, time to drink tea. How's that?

Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. ~Proverb

I miss my floors!!!!

2007-07-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

So we've been here what, just under three weeks? And I am so missing my concrete and laminate floors! Carpet is so frustrating. Well, not carpet itself so much, but what gets on it. And so far we've had:

coffee
dog barf
sick dog poo
cat barf
child barf (multiple)
sick dog poo (again)

The girls and I just got back from Wal-Mart with a Bissell SpotBot. I'm just sittin' here while it cleans the sick dog poo from the upstairs carpet. One spot is done (and appears to look fine) and I'm now hearing the beeps that stain number two is done. And now number three. After this I'll try it downstairs on the other stains too!

I've finished the first six books in the Harry Potter series. I'll be living in fear for the next who knows how long until I get to read the newest one. Why fear? I'm afraid I'm going to accidentally find out what happens in it! Childish, perhaps, but I really want to find out myself. Is Snape good or evil? Will Harry live? Will Tonks and Lupin have a double wedding with Bill and Fleur? Will Ron and Hermione finally confess their undying love for each other? So much to find out!!

Almost two. I should eat. But I really wanted to get these spots started first. Now I can eat!

Don't cook. Don't clean. No man will ever make love to a woman because she waxed the linoleum - "My God, the floor's immaculate. Lie down, you hot bitch." ~Joan Rivers

Harry Potter and the Joy of Reading

2007-07-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

I'm almost done with Book 4 in the Harry Potter series! (thanks Barbara for giving them to me for Christmas) The final book is coming out soon. When I read the last one I wasn't able to enjoy it as much because I couldn't remember half of what had happened in the previous books! Not letting that happen again though. I'm doing my homework! Good thing the girls love to hang out in the pool so I can read. And read. And read.....

Well, here we are in Ephrata! Yup. Most everything is unpacked and quite a bit is put away. We even have some pictures up on the walls! And a bunch more leaning against walls that we might want to hang them on. It's not a quick and easy process y'know! I'm trying to do away with as many knick-knack thingies. I have great shelving in the guest room closet for candles, so that helps. I no longer have to figure out the safest way to get them into the cupboard when I don't want to display them. One thing that is bugging the heck out of me is the absence of my scale and bedside clock!! My newest theory is that it accidentally got put in storage in the other house (kind of like the two boxes of books that were supposed to go into storage and instead showed up here).

Of course just because I no longer live in Bow, doesn't mean I can't catch you up on what's going on there:
OK, funny thing happened this morning! Shock and surprise the J's water well went out again! I know, I know, don't ask! I have cursed all I can for the rest of the month in just a few short hours!
Anyway, I sat there in bed and thought, no biggie, I can go to the R's! So, off to the R's I go at 7:45 am shampoo and TP in hand (just in case you didn't leave any!).
It dawned on me just then that oh yes, O (house cleaner) was coming today, not to worry, she never comes before 9 according to Joy! 7:55 with a head full of soap, ding dong! Now I know I said earlier that I had sworn my share for the month but after that one, I felt I deserved to dip into August!
Luckily I left the bathroom door open so I shouted "Oh hi O! I'm one of Joys friends, I'll be out of here in 10 minutes!" Yea, like she had a clue as to what I just said! So, on my way out the door, thanking her under my breath for not calling the cops, I did laugh and say "your early today"! She laughed in her "I don't understand a word your saying so don't bother" look.
Add that to your blog!
Well, Nancy, don't mind if I do add that to my blog! I miss that neighborhood!!!!!

Tomorrow is Justin's birthday. Wow. That means a year ago we had the Hawg Roast. Now that was a good time! Of course I did a very very lousy job regarding Justin's birthday. Hopefully I'm doing better this year! (but without roasting a hundred pound pig in the ground)

Tomorrow I also get wireless internet. I can hear what you're thinking. "but, if she doesn't have internet then how can she be adding to her blog?" I'm using my laptop in the front room and very guiltily accessing the wireless feed from the neighbors. Fortunately that will end tomorrow! At least I hope it works....

Hopefully I'll have more to add soon. So far it's just been lots of heat, swimming, reading, and family here.

Do what we can, summer will have its flies. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

(July 10 is Don't Step on a Bee Day)

So how far behind am I?

2007-06-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not even going to look. I don't want to know the date of my last blog entry. I know it's been a while! So, what's new, you wonder?

We're moving. It's officially official. Only a week and a half left here. And so much to get done! I really should be packing right now....

School is out. PTA is over for me. Well, not quite. I still need to type the minutes from the last general and board meetings. And get all the stuff to the new secretary. And get the website and book fair information to someone too.

That's really about it for now. Especially because I really need to be packing right now! Barbara came last week and got a ton accomplished. Now I'm trying to figure out what I can probably live without for the last week. The kitchen is almost completely done. I'm working on the computer/desk stuff next. I think. aarrgghhh!!!!

If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it. ~Olin Miller

At what point....

2007-05-22T00:36:00.000-07:00

At what point during the filming of the movie Legally Blonde 2 do you think Reese Witherspoon said, "oh man, this is crap"? Not too long ago I bought a two DVD set: Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2. I'd seen the first one and been amused. I'd never seen the second one. Until tonight......

I really should have read a book instead.

A sequel is an admission that you've been reduced to imitating yourself. ~Don Marquis

But if they'd imitated themselves but had more Luke Wilson screen time, then we'd be OK.

Beauty Queen or Oompa Loompa??

2007-05-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

Little Beauties: Ultimate Kiddie Queen Showdown. What the?????? Oh I loooove VH-1!! OK, these six year old girls have full make-up and wicked hair. They are wearing false eyelashes for goodness sake! Spray tans. $2000 dresses. Oh my goodness. So I'm watching this thing (Shear Genius is on in 15 minutes so I have to watch something)and I'm getting a bit freaked out. They don't look like girls. They don't quite look like women. What is it? Oh yeah, Oompa Loompas! But wait, what was that? A different look. Ahhh....a Who from Whoville.

Do you know what a flipper is? Fake teeth!! Yeah, 'cause heaven forbid a six year old not have a perfect full set of adult teeth. And yes, that is another $200 plus the $50 impression kit. Oh my gosh, did that mom just say her daughter needs "butt stick" to keep her six year old's cheeks in her bathing suit??? "I truly buhlieve in bribery", says another pageant mom. Well yeah, don't we all? But shhhh....we aren't supposed to admit it. So we have slutty six year olds and moms who are even frumpier than me. Blech.. Ready to find out how the parents, er, moms, get their girls all set for this event? Sugar!!!!! Pixie Stix!!! No wonder they need flippers.

Oh good. Shear Genius is on.

Against Him those women sin who torment their skin with potions, stain their cheeks with rouge and extend the line of their eyes with black coloring. Doubtless they are dissatisfied with God's plastic skill. In their own persons they convict and censure the Artificer of all things. ~Tertullian

Waiting for Gandalf

2007-04-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

The wait is over! But alas, Gandalf is not his name. Instead, my brand new nephew is named Gustav Wesly. (I think. I kind of forgot to ask about the spelling and really can't remember how my grandpa's middle name--Gustav or Gustaf--was spelled.) But however it's spelled, Mom, Dad, Baby, and Big Sister are all fine. Yay!!!!

Wow. Two nephews in one week. My sister Kara left me a message that she has her son back. I couldn't understand part of the message, so need to call her and find out the details. Good news all around it sounds like!

Getting down on all fours and imitating a rhinoceros stops babies from crying. (Put an empty cigarette pack on your nose for a horn and make loud "snort" noises.) I don't know why parents don't do this more often. Usually it makes the kid laugh. Sometimes it sends him into shock. Either way it quiets him down. If you're a parent, acting like a rhino has another advantage. Keep it up until the kid is a teenager and he definitely won't have his friends hanging around your house all the time. ~P.J. O'Rourke

Mmmm....no title really.....

2007-04-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

I wrote a great blog entry the other day. Pulitzer caliber! But you'll never get to read it, because my Internet Explorer decided to shut down. grrrrrr

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!!!

(that was for my sister)

So one thing I was writing about the other day is my newest televsion obsession. Yep, Shear Genius. It's a competition among hairdressers. They started out with twelve, and as of last night they are down to ten. They do two challenges each week. A "short cut" (which I thought the first week meant they were to design a short hairstyle, of course it irked me to see all these long hairstyles when I thought they should be short. I guess short just refers to the shorter amount of time they have to complete it.) after which they are ranked and the top stylist gets first pick of model for their next challenge. The elimination round. bwahahahaha! The first week the elimination was Hair Art. Last night they had models who showed up with a photo of a celebrity who's hair they wanted emulated. Some of it turned out good, some not so good. I feel like they need a third challenge in there. Or that the first one should have some more weight with regard to elimination. But that's just me. Until the execs at Bravo get in touch with me, I guess they'll just have to muddle through with what they have going now. sigh

Leavenworth Alefest is coming up. Yee-haw! Beer and brats! Come on good weather too! At least we are guaranteed good friends---that sure helps! Too bad some other friends of ours can't come too........(yeah, you know who you are)

Well, I've read a few of the 22 or so books I checked out from the library before they closed. Wonder how many I'll finish by May 21. Any guesses??

Nothing much else to say today.

Hair style is the final tip-off whether or not a woman really knows herself. ~Hubert de Givenchy, Vogue, July 1985

Finally---the second week of April!!!!

2007-04-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Why, you ask, am I so darn excited about the second week of April? Because this is the first week I've had in a while with nothing major happening. And it's likely to be the last week like that for a while too.....

Last week was Spring Break. So we just got over having an exchange student for two weeks on top of me helping with the teaching for that program, and now we're off to Spokane! Uh-uh, not so quickly! First, we buy a house. Yep, you heard (er, read) right, we bought a house. In Ephrata. Saturday morning we went to the house at 8am and by 10am we were writing up an offer. I'll keep you posted on the dates of the big yard sale!! The house is very cute. It's good-sized, but the way it's set up I'm not sure that all of our furniture will fit in it. And the girls will--gasp--share a room. They are OK with it. All we had to do was say the magic words: Bunk Beds.

After we bought the house we went to Colfax for my Granddad's memorial service. (my mom's dad) Very nice service with stories and a slide show. I swear in one of the pictures Granddad looked like Nicolas Cage---if he'd been cast in O Brother, Where Art Thou? that is. It's great to see all the family members that we never get to see anymore. When we were kids I'd see some of the cousins at the fair and Junior Livestock Show. Now it's only at weddings and funerals. Of course we heard the "we should get together at the lake" and "family reunion" phrases bandied about. We'll see what happens..... Guess it might be nice to move closer. We'll be two hours away instead of six.

The girls and I stayed with my mom until Friday morning. What a week! Andrew is still with his idiot father so we didn't get to see him, but I think we saw everyone else. My friend Amy had a baby last month so the girls and I went to her house for a couple of hours. The last time I saw her daughter was three years ago---in the hospital a day after she was born! It was great to see them. I'm so bad at keeping up with friends. I hope I redeem myself when we move!

Easter weekend we spent in Ephrata. We went to an Easter Egg Hunt in Moses Lake. Couldn't find one advertised in Ephrata, but found out the next day that there was one. Bummer. I think the girls had fun though. Emma got a prize egg and won a basket with a stuffed lamb and some candy. Justin's dad met up with us in Moses Lake for lunch and then we took him to see our new house. (the couple who we're buying it from are super sweet and very accommodating!) The girls and I left Sunday around 1pm. I was wiped out last night! However, that did not stop me from starting the puzzle I'd bought at a thrift store. It's a big mug of beer. We'll see how long it takes me to finish it.

Audrey has a doctor's appointment this morning so I'd better get her ready to go. Tomorrow I'll go to the library with a big list of books to check out. The library will close this weekend and then reopen in their new, big building in mid-May. So I figured I'd stock up. And it's less for them to move, right? So I'm being helpful.

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position, and be bruised in a new place. ~Washington Irving

"I couldn't put up with it"

2007-03-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

That phrase was going through my head tonight and I realized that there are different connotations regarding it. (or maybe I'm just sensitive to hearing more behind it....) It can come through as a positive--someone sees you as stronger than they are. Or as a negative--someone is wondering why the heck you put up with something (or someone) and why you don't do something about it.

Now that's nothing that is really bothering me. It's just something I was thinking of tonight. Yes, I have felt I'm the recipient of the "why isn't she doing something about it", but it's definitely not an issue that will bother me too much! (at least not tonight....)

So, what's been going on????
For the past two weeks I've been an Assistant Teacher for a group of Japanese girls. It was great fun!! I really enjoyed myself and felt like maybe I did an OK job. Yes, the lead teacher did rescue me on more than one occasion, but I wonder if I would have figured it out myself if she wasn't there. Y'know, all that nervousness around the expert thing.

We were originally going to host one of the students, but then she dropped out of the program. I figured that was a blessing! The girls arrived on a Thursday evening and on that Sunday morning I had a call from the program coordinator asking me if I'd take one of the students. Her host mother had been in an accident Saturday night. So we had Sanae living with us for a while. A good experience, but a surprise!

Last week our school hosted a tour from the Missoula Children's Theater. This is such a great program!! Two actor/directors arrive at the school on Sunday/Monday and at 4:00pm Monday they hold auditions for a play. Ours was The Jungle Book. At 6:00pm they announce the cast. Our school had 97 students try out. And there are parts for about 55 or so. On the following Saturday they perform the play two times. Yowza! Emma and Audrey both auditioned. Audrey got a part as a monkey. Emma wasn't chosen this year (last year she was a Magical Mexican Jumping Bean for Jack and the Beanstalk and two years ago was a flower in Tales From Hans Christian Andersen). It was a little tough for Emma to accept at first, but she was OK with it pretty quickly. So we had a busy week with that too!

Tomorrow morning we will take Sanae to Burlington to get on the charter bus with the other 12 students and their escort and head back to Japan. Well, to go to Disneyland for two days first.....Once again, it was a great experience, but it'll be nice to kind of relax for a while!

Justin found a house he likes. We'll look at it together this weekend. Damn that reality!!! I guess it could really happen. We could move to Ephrata for a while. I feel like Wile E. Coyote with a sign "Yipes". How weird is all this???

I'm tired and I loathe and despise getting up in the morning. We'll see how I do!

We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write more

2007-03-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

OK, so maybe if I write in this blog more consistently I won't just write when I'm feeling all moopy. (I watch way too much Kim Possible with the girls!) Not that I'm unmoopy now, but maybe a bit less so than yesterday.

No new houses in Ephrata. But there are now pictures on the MLS of my brother and sister-in-law's house. I have them on my list of "favorites" and was taken aback when I was scooting through them today and saw a picture of a house I didn't recognize. Well, that I didn't recognize from the Ephrata houses on my list that is.

My moopiness is making me feel like we should just go ahead and move. But we won't really know exactly what is going on until the end of April, so by then I guess we might as well stay here until school gets out. Or we could get rid of the dog and cat and rent in Ephrata now and then buy in April/May when we know what's going on. I just feel like I need to step away.

My life expectancy is 71 years of age. Too damn long if you ask me! I finally got around to reading Sunday's paper and there was an article in the US Weekend (or whatever it's called)on life expectancy. It listed a site to go to and use the life expectancy calculator. www.livingto100.com My expectancy could be even lower if I'd remembered my cholesterol levels.

There's a PTA meeting tonight so I need to make copies of the minutes from the previous meeting. That and work on publishing student's stories in Emma's class. Then it's off to the grocery store! I have been eating like crap for months and months. And I'm really craving vegetables right now. Let's see if I am able to buy veggies and actually eat them instead of letting them rot in the fridge. Maybe I should focus on frozen instead.....

Think I'll peruse a few recipes before heading out. Just enough time to do so it looks like.

There is no pleasure worth forgoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward. ~John Mortimer

Blah blah blah

2007-03-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

That's how I feel today. Blah. And I've been feeling that way a lot lately. I mean, more than usual! Not sure exactly what is happening with me, but will try to remember to take all my meds now. If only the time release (one a day) pill wasn't three times as expensive as the "try to remember to take three pills a day" generic version. Hopefully that will help. Hopefully something will help. Until then I will try to avoid people and situations that may put me into contact with people. Easy, right? Ha!

I updated my reading list again. I removed a bunch---thought I'd just keep 10 books listed at a time. I can't wait--the library bought You Suck by Christopher Moore. I can't wait to read it! Only 100 pages to go in Goodbye, Jimmy Choo until I can crack open You Suck. Sounds like it's a continuation of Bloodsucking Fiends. I just need to get my hands on a copy of Fluke and I will be all updated with Christopher Moore's books. Time to make another library request......

Not much going on. Or at least not much that I want to discuss. The 13 students from Japan will arrive next Thursday. We are no longer hosting a student (two dropped out of the program and one of them happened to be ours) but I'm still going to help teach. I'm nervous and excited. Fortunately there's a real teacher making the lesson plans--I just have to facilitate what she has put together. We'll be meeting this weekend to go over things and make sure the other teacher and I aren't too freaked out.

No new houses coming up for sale in Ephrata. Well, at least none that appeal to us. We looked at nine in one day and two of them have potential. We still have another month before all this is in writing, so there's no hurry. Maybe over spring break we'll take some time to look at some again---and maybe there will be more! Justin and I started talking more about one of the houses he liked. We discussed having him look at it again (as we were trying to figure out where this fourth bedroom listed is). I told him that it would pretty much guarantee that the owners receive an offer over the weekend. It's happened a couple of times. A house doesn't seem to be quite right, then we start discussing what we could do to it and when we call our realtor we find out that there's been an offer. Messes us up but helps the seller! Wonder if we could market ourselves somehow.....

Wonder if I'll take a shower today. I guess I should.

Many of us go through life feeling as an actor might feel who does not like his part, and does not believe in the play. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Zowie

2007-02-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Looks like I haven't done the blog thing in a while. Sorry? Mmmmm....gonna update my books real quick. OK, done. Although I think I may be missing one or two. Wouldn't it be nice if you could call up your recent "items checked out" from the library.......

We looked at houses in the Ephrata area over the weekend. Is it too much to ask for a yard???? Maybe we'll be the only residents of Ephrata with a dog.

The PTA auction is coming up. I'm looking forward to it. Not sure if I can afford any of the auction items though! I was talking with someone today, wondering who are the people in our school district for whom it is nothing to pay over $1000 for an auction item. Personally, if we are going to spend that much money, we've done some research. It's not exactly petty cash at that point. But it sounds like some people on the committee know who these people are. So I guess they exist!

So I'm reading this book--Birdwing by Rafe Martin. It's a YA book. So far it's quite good. (I won it at a Scholastic Book Fairs Chairpersons Workshop) But it bugs me that in the story the main character's left arm is actually a swan wing. But on the cover of the book the right arm is the swan wing arm. Usually it's word stuff that gets me. Not Right/Left or North/South/East/West. Not sure why this bugs me so.

Speaking of word stuff. Did I mention that in the Bay View PTA Newsletter I had been using the wrong form of the word /to/? Yep. For at least three issue I used /to/ instead of /too/. How embarrassing! How can I ridicule others for their lack of English skills when I am lacking!?!? I've passed it on though....While waiting at a stop light Emma was reading the sign of a man on the corner. He stated on his sign that his wallet had been "stold". I was quite impressed, and pleased, to hear Emma comment on that "word". She knew it was incorrect. And she knew what word should be in place of it. Yay! She's not just a math girl!!!

Audrey is getting so much better at sounding out words. Not only is she better at that, but she also seems to....not mind it. Can't say she enjoys it exactly. But at least she's doing it and not throwing a fit!

I swear I thought I'd go to bed early tonight. Put the girls to bed around 8:30. Work on PTA stuff on the computer and go to bed early. Nope. Almost 11:45 and I'm still up. And I haven't worked on the PTA newsletter yet. Oh well. It'll all get done. Right?????

Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it is the sickening grammar that they use. ~Mark Twain

"Remember me on this computer"

2007-01-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

How many times do I sign into things on the internet and click the little "remember me on this computer" box, or "save user name and password"? And then how many times do I still have to input that information the next time I try to access that site? What am I missing?

Pretty average weekend. I'm still reading the same book (getting closer to the end--maybe tonight) and started a puzzle. It's an I Spy puzzle of marbles. It's hard to tell looking at it if it would be really hard because it's a bunch of marbles or if it would be easier because there are so many colors and variations. I still don't know! The pieces are weird shaped too. But I do love a good puzzle!!

No major plans for the week. I'll be going on the field trip to the Pacific Science Center with Emma's class on Thursday. Hopefully it will be fun.

Oh, Emma and Gracie's baton routine? They are going to do it again on February 22 at our church's annual Variety Show. The girls are pretty excited. We finally made it to church yesterday. We've been making it to Sunday School, but not to church. As I sat there yesterday I started wondering about churches in Ephrata. If we move, where would we go to church? Guess we'll do some church shopping again..... Or maybe we won't move and we'll stick with Westminster. And try to get there more often. Even 9am would be better than 8:30........

My dog has owies. She's licking the heck out of her hind foot and her side. Blech. Last night I gave her a bath. I even found the special shampoo we'd used before and the prescription ointment to put on it twice a day. I just put some on her and she just laid there. She's not quite herself right now. Poor thing.

Can you tell I'm putting off doing laundry? I keep telling myself that I should just get it all done. It's always so nice when all the laundry baskets are empty. Such a good feeling! I don't remember the last time I had that laundry related feeling. I recently went through the girls' clothes---put away too small stuff and tried to get out stuff that fits. A lot of Emma's too small shirts went straight to Audrey's drawer. Hardly found anything for Emma. She needs more jeans, it's just so hard to find some that fit! Huh, guess that feeling never really ends (she types as she's attempting to breathe while wearing jeans that are too small).

OK, that's it. Laundry. Really. I'm going to do it.

I like the word "indolence." It makes my laziness seem classy. ~Bern Williams

Twirling

2007-01-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

Emma and her friend Gracie were in the school Talent Show today. They did a little baton routine. I can't technically say that they "twirled baton" because they did more of a march-in-place/strut but they still did a darn fine baton routine.

Where are the pictures you ask???? Well, since the staff in charge of the show did not notify the students beforehand when they would be on stage we were not ready. Ergo I did not get my videocamera/digital camera ready. Just by chance when Emma and Gracie were called up they had their batons. Because Kristi got them out of Gracie's classroom!!! I'd never experienced this before so I just assumed (and yes, I know that makes me an ass---thanks) the kids who would be performing would be told to start getting ready. But no, it starts with "So-and-so will now do such-and-such". Uh......do you want to let everyone else know that they should eat quickly (this was during lunch) and get themselves ready. Oh, I guess not. Until Joy bitches about it that is.....

OK, I really need to stop now. Hmmm...just started reading a book today. "Mumbo Gumbo" I'm not too far into it though so maybe it would make sense to read "A Dirty Job" instead. Too bad the library didn't have "You Suck" in yet. Somehow that sound appropriate tonight. In short---I think it would be best to shut down the computer and read in bed. Any bets on my mood when I wake up in the morning? I thought not.

I know well what I am fleeing from but not what I am in search of. ~Michel de Montaigne

(the quote above would be more appropriate if I truly knew from what I am fleeing)

Don't even bother reading this one.

2007-01-26T22:07:00.000-08:00

Aaaaarrrrrggghhhhh!

Tonight I laid on the kitchen floor. Crying. I had rented movies. Movies I wanted to see, and had planned on watching one tonight. But instead I was on the floor crying. How does a professional find a job? I went to www.monster.com ('cause it gets all the commercials) but there are so many headhunters on that site that you don't know what you are getting into. I'm just trying to find something new. I don't even care where we live, we just need to start fresh. I love this house. I love these neighbors. But above all I want my family back. I want our family of four plus a dog and a cat (yes, I realize there are chickens, but they just don't feel like an integral part of our family---heck, we don't even eat that many eggs) back. That's all. Actually, no, that's not all. I want my family back and I want us to be in control. Have an opinion about how we are doing things? Keep it to yourself!!!!!! Yes, Justin works a lot. Buck up 'lil trooper! Think his company is taking advantage of him? Maybe you don't truly know what is going on. Think you know what's best for Justin? Know what's best for us? WRONG!!!!!! Yes I'd like to have my family back and completely in tact. Yes I'd like Justin to have the girls and then have me completely fall off the face of the planet. But unfortunately none of that is happening right now. Deal. With. It. (and that goes for me too)

Shit. Now I'm crying again. Yes, I know other people have it worse. I may be a "single mom" but it's not permanent. We are still married. Yeah, my husband's job situation isn't ideal--but at least he has a job! I know I know. I can't/shouldn't complain. All I'm going to do is make people feel bad. Do you think having me tell this to Justin will make him feel better about what is going on? No!! He'll feel worse and then I'll feel like a complete and utter piece of crap for even having brought it up. I'm starting to feel the way I did pre-medication. But with more emotions. shit again.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know that people I know and love will be reading this. That was the big struggle I had in the beginning. "Do I allow people I know to read this blog or not? I mean, it's not exactly like a diary where I can write in it and lock it up so no one else can read it. Even someone I know could randomly stumble across this blog. Might as well just tell people it exists in the first place." Please, either read the title and stop there (but if you did, you wouldn't be here right now) or read it and take it with a grain of salt. This time tomorrow I could be totally fine. Who knows!

I thought I was finally happy. Like I finally mattered. Like people would actually care--and maybe even liked me. Now that I've gotten to that place I want out.

OK. Deep breath. Have you read this far? Congratulations. Or not. Either way, I have to say I'm feeling better. I guess that's part of what I thought of when I started this blog--it's a way for me to vent. Unfortuntately it's also a way for me to let friends and family know what's going on in our lives. So you read waaaay too much about me tonight. Deal with it. However you want to, just deal with it. Pretend you stumbled across the blog of some unknown person and that's what you are reading right now. Please.

Computer changes

2007-01-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

I had a friend here this weekend helping me with the PTA website and he commented on how much he likes IE7. I knew I had upgraded to that, but with the way I sign in to the internet I use MSN Internet Explorer and not Microsoft Internet Explorer. Not that I actually knew there was a difference (and maybe there's not, I'm just clueless). So I'm trying this new Internet Explorer 7. Which means I have to add all my Favorites back (OK, there's probably some easier way to do it, but I don't know how). Since I was adding this one I figured it wouldn't hurt to update my blog.

I'm mad at Meg Cabot. I read Princess on the Brink this weekend (the latest in her Princess Diaries series----thanks for loaning it to me Cass). Mia turned into a character I don't like! I just wanted to slap her. And then she finally had a chance to redeem herself, but Meg just wouldn't let her. Oh no, mustn't make Joy happy!! And then Mia went back to being slappable. sheesh (Note to any high school English teachers who may be reading this blog---you caught me. I read Chick Lit and mindless fiction. Did you expect more of me? I thought not.)

I'm trying to stagger my book genres lately. I tend to get kind of heavy on the Chick Lit---and I get obsessed with series. If an author I'm starting to read has a series I just have to read them all! So of course I'm not too happy with the person (or persons) who have had numbers 3 and 9 in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series out from the library for so long. They were due November 13, 2006. Come on!!

I need to see if my library has the newest Christopher Moore book You Suck: A Love Story. I just love his books. I am on a constant quest to find a copy of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal at a thrift store. I found one on www.half.com but am still looking for the elusive cheap copy. Sorry Mr. Moore, but I rarely buy books new. My Momma taught me well.

I have a treadmill now. I told Justin I wanted one, but he figured I wouldn't use it. So we're borrowing a friend's to see if I follow through with my "oh yeah, I'm gonna exercise" thing. I tried walking on it while watching a DVD of Grey's Anatomy, but I had to turn the tv up really loud, and I didn't want to do that for too long since the girls had friends over and I needed to be able to hear them. Originally I figured I would borrow books on CD from the library and put them on my mp3 player. Then Justin said, "uh, the computer is just a few feet away, why don't you just listen to it through that" and I said, "oh. duh." But with the treadmill being a bit loudish it might work better to have something directly in my ears. If only I could find those headphones I dislike least of the ones I have.....

Emma and her friend Gracie will be auditioning for the school talent show tomorrow. They are going to do a baton routine. I am a horrible teacher. But they are doing pretty well despite that! I ordered another baton from ebay the other day. It won't be here in time for the try-outs, but it had better be here for the actual talent show. Emma will be using my old baton. Everybody say: awwwwwwww.

Guess that's about it. I should get moving so I can start my project for the day: putting the clothes that are too small for the girls in storage and getting out the stored clothes that (hopefully) will fit. Not a quick and easy process, but it needs to get done. And soon! I'm tired of seeing my kids' bellies poking out through too small clothes---y'know, the clothes that fit last week.

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. ~P.J. O'Rourke

Uh-oh, that does not bode well for me.....

Grrrrrr

2007-01-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

OK, I just tried twice to publish pictures and text to this blog. And it won't work!! It says it's working but I can't find the draft. Oh well. Maybe I'll try another day. Maybe not.

I watched the movie Brokeback Mountain last night. I suppose it was good, but I couldn't understand a damn thing Heath Ledger said! Is my hearing really that bad?

Audrey lost her first tooth this morning! Fortunately I did not have to pull it. I was on the computer (trying to put pictures on my darn blog) when she yelled "Mommy my tooth fell out!" Of course we immediately called Daddy and then took a picture to send to the relatives. She's pretty excited. Emma had told her that if she lost a tooth during vacation she wouldn't get to put her name in The Tooth Book at school. I told her that I was sure Mrs. Moller would write her name on the tooth for whichever month she lost it. But even today she was hoping it would stay in and come out tomorrow while she's at school. Now that it's happened though, she's pretty excited!

Yesterday I exercised. I did a Walk Away the Pounds video. I listened to my own music so I could enjoy myself and not listen to the host prattle on. However, I need to find my other headphones because the ones I used really hurt the inside of my ears. I need to exercise again today. WATP again or Belly Dancing? Whatever I do, I do it upstairs so nobody can see me. Not that we get a lot of visitors, but those windows sure leave me feeling exposed. If I do belly dancing I don't have to put shoes on. That may be enough motivation for me. It amazed me yesterday how much my feet hurt yesterday just walking in place.

Time to get some things done.

I found some good exercise quotes at www.quotegarden.com and couldn't decide on just one.

My idea of exercise is a good brisk sit. ~Phyllis Diller

A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise. ~A.A. Milne

I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon. ~Ellen DeGeneres

Rain rain go away

2007-01-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

A little while ago I read through my last blog entry. Here's an update:

I took a big black trash bag filled with clothes to Goodwill.
The Christmas decorations are down.
"New Year" cards have been printed, stuffed, signed, and (mostly) addressed. Mailing will have to wait since there is no mail service today (and I don't have them all stamped and return address labeled or even sealed).
I've entered my current info into my Weight Watchers account and am even considering some form of exercise today. And my one meal today has been healthy!

Not bad, not bad!

We spent a very nice weekend at Salmon Run Beach Getaway on Whidbey Island. It's in Coupeville right by the Keystone Ferry that goes across to Port Townsend. It's a nice house (although we tend to call it a cabin to make it sound more vacation-y) right on the water. Full kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom and loft with beds for the girls, TV with VCR and DVD player and tons of movies, lots of games and books. And even some toys for the kids to play with! It's surprising how two girls who tend to be at each other's throats and can't agree on anything to play will have a wonderful time at this cabin/house! There's a doctor's kit and they played lots of doctor, some fake food and we wound up eating many a fake meal. Lots of hide and seek and just general fun times. And no projects for Justin to get sucked into!! He was able to just hang out and play. Yay! Although none of this necessarily took work stress out of his head, but really, what would?

Justin's mom, sister, and her daughters came over on Saturday. It's generally a three hour trip from Barbara's house to ours, but since we were right near the ferry landing it only took them 1 1/2 hours. This is the last time we'll see Paula, Tia, and Sara for a long long time. Their family is moving in Indonesia in just a few weeks. It was great to have one last visit with them. The four girls have fun playing together.

Audrey got wet. We were outside on Saturday and Audrey decided to start wading into the water. First with her boots on. Then barefoot with her pants pulled up. Then a bit higher and who cares about the pants. Then the ice cold (ocean/Puget Sound) water touched her belly. Whoa! What a look. Of course a picture was needed so we sent her out one last time. Then we rushed her into the house and into a warm shower. Silly girl. But happy!

Holy cow it is raining. Absolutely pouring. Hmmmmm....I'm pretty sure Lucy is in. I'd hate to have to dry her off after being out in this. The downside to a long haired dog in a muddy area. I just looked out the window. You should see all these puddles! Grrrr.....recycling and garbage went out today. I'm not looking forward to bringing the bins and can in later. Ahhh....the roar is gone. Still raining a lot, but not quite dumping right now.

More work to do: laundry to fold, PTA stuff to type, cards to finish addressing, light bulb to change, puzzle to work on, book to read, movies to watch. OK, so some of those things aren't "work". Guess it's more just a "to do" list.

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow