Bloggers block

I am alive but I am having bloggers block so I will leave you with a picture that is hopefully worth a thousand words...

Hee, hee! Isn't that funny?!?!

quick hey...

I'm sorry girls! I won't forget you next time! Although...I am havin a blast and we are mostly eating, drinking wine and yak, yak, yak...so much talking! Scio is GORGEOUS!!!! Sherry lives on 150 acres, on a creek, green, green and lots of trees and critters! She has a great house and deck too. Don't be jealous!

I'm leavin' on a jet plane....

...don't know when I'll be back again!
Actually...I'm leavin' in the back seat of a Toyota 4Runner and I do know when I'll be back but I just like the song.
WOO-HOO...4 days with no kids or husband in beautiful Scio, Oregon. Don't ask me where the hell I am going...I'm just along for the kid-free, husband-free, free-in-general cuz I'm going with my mom, ride.
See ya'll Monday!

It was a good Tuesday...

Here's the proof:

We had wine, we had a fire....Life doesn't get any better!

Jimmy's brother-in-law came for a quick visit last night. We have an interesting relationship...I love him dearly, he's fun, we get along really well but I hate the way my husband acts when he's around! Drives me nuts! Oh well, I usually end up having a blast when he visits.

The pictures below aren't from last night but they tell the story of Kordon. He is Jimmy's sister's husband and they have a boy, Morgan. Jimmy's sister passed away 8 years ago after giving birth to Morgan. She was 29 years old.
I never knew her but I see her every time I look at Olivia or Morgan or Moira. They all look exactly like her.
I really admire Kordon for continuing a strong relationship with her family even after she was gone. He and Jimmy are like brothers and he always provides opportunities for Morgan's grandparents to see him as often as they want.

Thanks for the laughter Kordon, I needed it!

Pictures!

I have been in la-la land....here are my camping pics. Geez, I am such a picture slacker. I need to strap my camera to my neck. So, since I don't have the pictures to prove the fun that was had I will relate my favorites...Natalie style...things overheard while camping:

1) "It is so hot when he says, 'Get in the truck woman'".

2) "Lets drink this bottle first so we won't notice that the second bottle is rancid"

3) "Don't do that to me, kid. I will retaliate."

4) "Did you sleep last night?" "No, I thought the wind was going to pick the camper up and fling it across the campground."

5) "Grilling hunks of meat on a stick over the campfire is so hot"

6) "Don't you dare start flinging blobs of flaming marshmallow!!"

7) "Did you see that kid? He just jumped on my back and yelled go horsey go!"

8) "PAMELA!!! She was teetering on the edge!!!!"

9) "Oh my God, If I eat one more gourmet rice krispy treat I am going to blow"

10) "MOM! I am old enough to poke the campfire with a stick"

11) "But girls who poke the campfire with a stick will pee the bed"

12) "Remember that one time when you were on my shoulders and farted on my neck?"

Ok, here are the pictures that don't tell the story at all:

I love "trampin"

Just got in the door from some camping over the weekend. Olivia calls it "trampin". I think that's a mix of camping and going on a trip. I will post some pictures later but I just have to say...I love our tent trailer so much! It is so nice to just throw your clothes and some food in and off we go! It definitely makes spontaneous trips more feasible for us and our little munchkins!
Pictures later!

FUNK

I don't know why it happened. The moment I walked in the front door of my house after having dinner with some friends on my birthday I could feel it descending on me. The funk. It happens. It's OK. I don't need medication or psychotherapy. It will last about one more day. I have several theories about why it happened but I know that these conditions exist in my life all the time and are not the reason for the funk they are just exacerbated by the funk. Someday I will figure out the pattern and maybe I will overcome or at least see it coming and I will stock up on chocolate and clean pajamas.

Do other people get the funk? I'm sure they do. This is what my funky condition consists of...

*I hate my husband because I am overworked, underappreciated, he never does nice thoughtful things for me, he thinks of me as his maid/nanny/sex slave and not as a human being with needs, he made me have these kids and quit my job and become a worthless blob of maid/nanny/sex slave. He gets to live out his dream of owning his own business while I mope around in my pajamas as his maid/nanny/sex slave.
* My children are eating animal crackers, marshmallows and easter candy as a snack and I don't care.
* I have sat at the computer reading dooce archives for three hours only getting up to make my kids breakfast, put a movie in the DVD player and pee. (They got the snack on their own)
*I have consumed massive amounts of jelly beans and chocolate
* When my husband asks me what is wrong I won't tell him because I know that I am crazy and the fight that will ensue when I accuse him of all the aforementioned things will possibly result in me calling my dad so I can borrow his truck to pack my shit up and move the hell out of here! Then when my dad tells me to "get a grip and go home" I will feel really stupid because all the things I accused my husband of are totally not true they are just a product of my overactive crazy lady thing I got goin' on here.
* I know I am crazy but that is comforting to me because if I didn't know I was crazy then I wouldn't have the self control to avoid doing crazy things like mentioned above. (One time I didn't know I was crazy and that thing above actually happened except when my dad told me to get a grip and go home I didn't feel stupid I felt enraged and crazier than ever...but I didn't know I was crazy because I was so over the top hormonal and deeply entrenched in postpartum depression)
So...that's about how I am feeling today. Don't worry...my kids aren't being neglected, I will put clean pajamas on before I go to bed tonight and by the time I go to bed Friday night I will be all better. If I'm not....my mom will smack me and then I'll feel better.

It's been a long year

This time last year...I was newly married and just returning from a trip to San Francisco with Jimmy. It was a fantastic trip. I spent a lot of time alone while Jimmy was in classes and meetings then we'd meet around dinner time and talk about the stuff we did all day. It was a really good trip.
Looking back I can clearly see that I have changed a lot over this past year. Because of some circumstances I have become a little different, a little older, a little more hardened (sadly).
But some good has definitely come of this year. I am closer to and more appreciative of my family. I have set some really clear goals and priorities. I am closer to my husband and I really appreciate how hard he works everyday. I especially have come to admire him for his wisdom in taking small steps and not staking our entire lives on his business. I used to get frustrated with him because I felt like his vision wasn't broad enough. I didn't want a Rogers' Northside Garage only. I wanted Rogers' Southside, Eastside, Westside, Kuna, Meridian, Nampa. He has said to me repeatedly...give it time. I've only owned this business 2 years and I'm only 28 years old. There is time still on our side, have patience. His patience has come through just fine. His business is making money. He's looking at another property to buy and he's going into it with a clear head and realistic goals.
I've written about me and I've written about Jimmy's business because we share a birthday month. I'm 26 today and he's owned his business 3 years now. I've also known Jimmy 5 years now. It's been quite the ride for us in this short five years. It's amazing to me to think of all the things that have happened in such a really short time. We are different people today, that's for sure!
I have spent this past year in a lot of transition. Mostly good things have happened and I am ready to say goodbye to 25 and a big fat hello to 26. It's been a great 25 years...geez that sounds so young! Woo-Hoo! Here's to many many more!

I love a good purge

I have been cleaning out our office/storage room. It is a seriously multi-purpose room. It's where we store all of our books, magazines and photo albums. It's where Jimmy pays the bills. It's where I waste a phenomenal amount of time on the computer. It stores some random extra scrapbooking stuff, all of our filing, holiday decor, kids artwork, gun cabinet, giant chalkboard, map of our travels, childhood memorabilia, fabric, sewing machine, toys out of rotation, fun containers I can't get rid of, Jimmy's crap that I refuse to hang on the walls of our home, a photo printer, a paper shredder, two desks, two chairs, kids art supplies. I could go on. If you saw the remarkable variety of things stored in this room you would congratulate me on my ability to get rid of a lot of shit and really pare down to the essentials. I have fit a household and life time worth of stuff in this one room. Giving myself a huge pat on the back right now.
So, in the last few weeks my "room of wonders" has been getting a little...not so wonderful. So today I purged. I have two baskets full of stuff destined for a yard sale. A lot of stuff in the trash. I can spin a circle in the middle of the room. Everything is put away. I feel GOOD!

I'm so cliche

I went to church today. Back in the day I used to go to church 3 or 4 times a week and I always made fun of those people who only went on Easter and Christmas. I also made fun of people who sent their kids to church but didn't go themselves. Well.....I am that person now. My mom takes my kids to church every Sunday and the last time I went to church? Last Easter. I'm laughing at myself. I really am.
I have to selfishly admit that I love sending my kids to church with my mom on Sunday. I love spending those couple hours alone with my husband.
On a lighter note....tee hee. I had a wonderful dinner with my family. My mom and Casey and I made plans to go on vacation in a couple weeks. My girls got fun gardening Easter baskets from my mom and dad. We planted seeds yesterday that got watered by the lovely rain all night. We had dinner and an Easter egg hunt with Jimmy's family yesterday. His mom and I polished off a bottle of wine.
It was a good weekend!
Happy Easter!

I always wanted to...

Make a mini album of my favorite things. I have the album, I have the format in mind...I haven't started. Hmmm. I don't know why. I think that if I start and don't get finished in one sitting then it will never get finished.
So, I am starting here by posting two of my favorite things everyday until I start the album. One small thing and one big thing.
The small.....
White washcloths. I only own WHITE washcloths. As soon as they get grey or stained they go to the cleaning rag bucket. I buy them in a 24 pack at Costco every few months. Heavenly. There is nothing more satisfying than a big pile (folded in half and neatly stacked) of fluffy white washcloths. It makes me want to wash every face I see with a warm white washcloth.
The big....
My mother-in-law. She is so sweet, so real. She does nice things for my husband (her baby child). She does fun, sweet things with my kids. She always watches them when I need her to. She's flexible, she's laid back, she's a go with the flow kind of person. My kinda gal. I know that it's hard to get along with a mother-in-law sometimes but she is very easy to get along with and I know that she tries very hard to get along with me. She tries not to "step on my toes" when it comes to parenting her grandchildren or being the wife of her baby child. She's a really great mother in law and I am thankful for her every time I hear someone complain about theirs.

So....anyone else? What are your favorite things?

I got this email from my mom. Thought I'd lift it for my blog. So here is some info about me... I was surprised at how many questions my mom and I answered the same!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:50
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Because I Said Do
4. What is your favorite TV show? Seinfeld
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Coffee and maybe a yogurt or toast
6. Favorite cuisine? Chinese
7. What is your middle name? Jean
8. What food do you dislike? Tomatoes
9. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Neil Diamond Greatest Hits. I stole it from my dad. Great to sing along to
10.What do you drive? Lexus GS400
11. Favorite sandwich? Club
12. What characteristic do you despise? Wimpiness
13. Favorite item of clothing? Velour (ha, ha that's for you mom)
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Somewhere with a grass hut. Over the water (like Bora Bora) or right on the beach.
15. What color is your bathroom? It's called hazelnut. It's yellow-y
16. Favorite brand of clothing? Old Navy
17. Where would you retire? Mexico on the beach
18. What was your most recent memorable birthday? 21st (I'm 25 now) Although my 25th was memorable because no one, including myself, remembered it.
19. Favorite sport to watch? Hockey (I don't watch any sports on TV though)
20. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night
21. What is your shoe size? 7.5
21.5 Pets? Harvey (ugh)
22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?
I believe we are going to start building our new house soon
23. how old do you feel? 25
24. How are you today? Sneezy
25. What is your favorite candy? any chocolate...with caramel is better
26. What is your favorite flower? Wisteria for it's smell
27. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? April 13...camping
28. What are you listening to right now? Olivia watching Clifford on TV
29. What was the last thing you ate? A vanilla yogurt and some chocolate covered peanuts (at 8 am..so healthy)
30. Do you wish on stars? No
31. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Orange
32. How is the weather right now? Cold!
33. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom
34. Do you like the person who sent this to you? She's my mom
35. Favorite soft drink? Coke
36. Favorite restaurant? PF Changs (kung pao scallops are so heavenly my mouth is watering just thinking about them)
37. Hair color? Brown
38. Siblings? Warren, Joe, Gene and Paula
39. Favorite day of the year? Any spring day in the mid 70's
40. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbies
41. Summer or winter? Summer
42. Hugs or kisses? Kisses
43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate
44. When was the last time you cried? I'm usually a big cry baby but I can't remember the last time
45. What is under your bed? A horsehoe pit set, two baby bed rails, a wrapping paper organizer and assorted toys
46. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Jen
47. What did you do last night? Went grocery shopping with Jimmy. Someone remind me to never take him grocery shopping again!
48. Favorite smell? Sheets on the clothesline
49. What are you afraid of? The dark
50. Plain, buttered, or salted Popcorn? Plain
51. How many keys on your key ring? 1
52. How many years at your current job? the mom job....3 years, The teacher job...10 years
53. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
54. How many cities have you lived in? 2
55. Do you make friends easily? I think so

Free-wheeling Director

Yep, that's me. I took this test from a link on my mom's friend Kathleen's blog. Very interesting. You can check out my personality here and then you can take the test for yourself. I thought it was pretty cool. It takes a few minutes but it's worth it!

In other news...I am a total dweeb and forgot to pack Olivia a lunch today so I had to pick her up at noon. Then Jimmy sent me on a wild goose chase and by the time all was said and done it was way too late to put my kids down for a nap. They are in the bath tub right now (it's 4:00) I always put them in there when they are tired and cranky and I don't know what to do with them. Calms them down, calms me down, win-win. I am probably going to put them to bed at 6:30. HAAAA HAAAA!!! So much for the first day back at school. Que Sera!!

A quote for you... it applies to many, many situations. It's also a tribute to my scrapbookin' buddies on Friday. Thanks!

"So many tangles in life are ultimately hopeless that we have no appropriate sword but laughter"

No more productive than usual

*The problem with this experiment is that I just used a book I bought to enable my "chore avoiding" problem. Whatever.

*It was a pretty good spring break. We didn't go anywhere or do anything in particular. Olivia and Jamie spent a couple days at "big grammys" house playing with their cousin Moira. (That's Jimmy's mom and she is really tall.)

*I scrapbooked on Friday night at It's All About Me. Cute store, Marianne is really really sweet. It was so relaxing, refreshing....I could breathe. And laugh! Did 3 pages. I'm only mildly happy with two of them and I really like the third one. I've been scrapbooking Jimmy and I a lot. I did a couple wedding pics a few weeks ago and some valentine and anniversary. Fun, fun. Now I need an album for them?! I'm eyeballing American Crafts modern album with the colored spine and chipboard cover. The best part is that they are 3-ring. Love that!

*It feels like it is really spring now and not just that wacky February phony spring. We turned the sprinklers back on yesterday, busted out the round-up for weeds in the cracks, doctored up the pond. Oh my gosh....our fish survived the winter!! Amazing! At one point the ice was so thick on the pond that my girls and I stood in the middle of it! And the dang fish survived! It's pretty cool but at the same time I am a little annoyed. Jimmy and I had a deal that if the fish died I could drain the pond, scrub all the rocks and chlorinate it. No more gunky "natural" stuff. My parent's pond is chlorinated and it's so pretty and clear. Don't ge me wrong...our is beautiful...but it takes a lot of work to keep it from growing gunk.

*There is progress on our "lot in the ghetto" new home project. The guy piped in the ditch on Thursday. I asked my husband.."So what's next?" and I almost peed my pants when he said. "Excavating and pouring the foundation" WOO HOO!!!

*I am looking forward to sitting at the computer all day tomorrow to catch up on all the reading I missed!