Thursday, October 30, 2008
Yea for teachers and parents!
As a parent... it's so unnerving to sit across from these people who are going to tell you exactly what they think of your kid and (in your mind) exactly what they think of your parenting.
As a teacher...it's so unnerving to sit across from these people and tell them exactly what you think of their kid and convey that they are doing a fine job and you know it's hard and their kid is great. Whatever areas we may be supporting her in are completely normal and part of normal development and please, please don't worry.
Halfway through!!
Crazy Is As Crazy Does
"No one notices that your socks don't match because they are too busy worrying whether their socks match!"
-Pam O'Dell
Sunday, October 26, 2008
More Beach Pictures
The beautiful sunset. *sigh*
A little bit scary but cool! Olivia wouldn't stop bouncing (She's the bouncing blurry blob) and it was making me a bit nervous. It looks like it has posts but it's actually suspended.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Perils of Motherhood
(And said the f-bomb A LOT!)
Then I thought to myself, "Hmm? Where in the hell did my kids get a Barbie shoe that looks like Hooker Barbie should be wearing it??"
Then I called my mom to tell her that she was going to ruin my kids' lives if she continued to willfully disregard my wishes. And if she didn't quit buying them Barbies I was going to plant these tiny little killer hooker Barbie shoes all over the floor of her house.
Cry Baby
I was really tired from not sleeping Thursday night and I have been a bit emotional but dang it was good.
I started crying at one of the previews before the movie ever started and I didn't stop until about 5 minutes before the movie ended. At some really good parts I had to stifle the sobs so Jimmy wouldn't notice what a cry baby I was.
PROZAC!! Somebody get me some!
Ok, that isn't why you should go see it. "I sobbed" is probably not a good reason to see a movie. It was just really, really good. If you've read the book you won't be disappointed by the movie.
And take my recommendation with a grain of salt. Jen and I saw Evening at the theatre and she threatened to drag me out if I didn't stop crying. So yeah, I cry at movies.
Friday, October 24, 2008
I lost my mind today
No more! I am hauling this mama in with me! Oh, she's so lovely. I want to pet her.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
A Day At The Beach
A cool exhibit about the Coast Guard. The area at the mouth of the Columbia receives A LOT of Coast Guard action.
Kids checking out the shipwreck. Gabe and I hunched up against the wind.
Gross!!!
I always wonder how Melissa manages to look so fantastic. There are 4 pictures of me throughout the day and I am scowling in every single one!!
We stopped at the management company to get the key and had a brief panic over not being able to get the key out of the lock box. We finally got it open and crashed hard at the house.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
It's the Saturday Night Special
- Woke up way too early (8:30) for a Saturday. Olivia and Jimmy were already up. Shuffled around the house, drinking coffee.
- Sat at the kitchen counter and read some magazines while Olivia bugged Jimmy. Neener, neener.
- Jamie finally woke up around 9:30. Lazy baby.
- Jimmy took the kids to grab lunch at about 11. I continued to do nothing.
- Jimmy brought Olivia back home. She didn't want to go to Costco and the Stereo Shoppe, she wanted to watch a movie, in bed. Oh twist my arm.
- Read magazines while lying in bed next to Olivia. Laptop shut off because it was getting hot. Perfect opportunity for a nap.
- Snuggled down in bed with Olivia and took an hour long nap.
- Got up, showered, and got ready to go to The Children's School carnival.
- Carnival fun but freezing. Drank beer to get warm. Took note of how much I love this school. Do you get to drink beer at your kid's school carnival? I don't think so!
- Headed home for more of a whole lot of doing nothing.
- Grammy and Grampy came over to play cards. Hung out for an hour, put the kids to bed. Got down to the card playing.
- I won everyone's money!! Ok, not really.
- Went to bed around 11:30.
- Lazy day.
Friday, October 10, 2008
It's Friday I'm in love
So today...
- Took Jamie to school and headed over to my class to help them get ready for their outing to the shop.
- Loaded up 972 kids (seemed like it) and headed to Rogers' Northside Garage to learn about fixing cars!
- Spent almost an hour touring the shop. I scored major cool teacher points with one of the dads when it came to talking about my Cadillac.
- Headed back to school so I could switch classes and work the 3-4-5's lunch bunch.
- Ate lunch with 5 little monkeys. I ate hummus and crackers that I scrounged from the kitchen at school.
- Walked to the Co-Op with Betsy and got a cup of clam chowder and hunk-o-bread.
- Walked back to school so we could eat our soup and bitch about one of the other teachers.
- 4-5's class started outside. Borrowed a coat from Nicole because it is FREEZING!
- Worked in the 4-5's until 4:00. Made yummy nachos for snack.
- Had a great time working with Betsy.
- Headed to the shop to pick up Jimmy so we can get the kids from my mom and dad's house.
- Got really annoyed at having to wait at the shop for over an hour.
- Started snowing.
- Picked up kids let them play in the slushy snow in grammy's front yard.
- Drove down Hill Road toward home and noticed that some cars were covered in snow.
- Drove down Cartwright road to look for that snow. Lots of snow!!
- Headed home. Picked up a Little Ceasars Hot N Ready pepperoni pizza. $5 and it feeds everyone.
- Girls played in the snow in the backyard.
- Came in, took a bath to warm up and ate their pizza.
- Spent 2 hours cleaning the house.
- Went to Fred Meyer for light bulbs and bought some small clear containers.
- Brought them home with the announcement, "Ok girls! It's sorting time!"
- Sorted a mountain of stuff into 4 containers. Littlest Pet Shop. Polly Pocket. Barbies. Barbie Clothes and Accessories.
- Sorted and pared down dress up clothes, stuffed animals, baby dolls and random small toys. Made room for the pretend kitchen to come down out of big grammas storage. And two other things that can fit into some small-ish baskets. I'm voting for unit blocks and cars.
- The girls are really good at saying, "Yeah, we play with that." or "No, we don't really use that."
- Made a "donate" bag and a "rotate into storage" bag.
- Had a little nacho feast in the girls' bedroom while Jimmy read another Curious George story.
- Now, they are in bed and Jimmy is asleep too! I am going to read magazines and drink an entire bottle of wine...in the bathtub, probably.
- Tomorrow is the school carnival and carpet shampooing at home. Gosh my life is exciting!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
I should be doing homework but a C is a passing grade, right?
Let me clarify... I'm really not a sappy person but I love this story about a girl and her brother and a time (he may not even remember) that something he did changed her life.
I have a similar story about my little brother, Joe. He must have been only 15 because he didn't have a driver's license yet but the story is basically the same.
I Love you Joe! (I love you too Warren but I get to tell you that, in person, all the time.)
Gah! I AM sappy and emotional today!!
And Thursday was your favorite day
Fell off my shoes twice and tripped over the power cord to the laptop and during the falling down, I whacked that adapter (what is that?) against the back of my leg.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
- Up at 6:30 with Olivia
- Coffee
- Shower
- Pumpkin bread
- Olivia's eyedrops. She requests a movie so I set her up with the laptop on the couch.
- Finish getting ready. Spend a little more time than usual on my hair. Wonder why. It looks the same. Maybe worse.
- Another car ride all alone. Ahhh.
- Coffee and blurry day at work. It's a blur because it's so busy.
- Pick up Jamie from her class. Oh yeah...first I went rushing in to pick up Olivia, went all the way into her class room before I remembered she wasn't there. She's at big grammas because she has pinkeye.
- Take Jamie to the shop with me while she waits for gramma to pick her up. She "works" on Jimmy's side of the desk.
- Do a little bit of the bookkeeping work at the shop.
- Quit after two hours and go shopping with my mom. Ignore the fact that Jimmy is annoyed that he's working and I'm not.
- Hit the jackpot! I bought 7 stinkin' cute sweaters!
- Mom takes me back to the shop.
- I catch a glimpse of the side of my hair and jump online to find a picture of the hair style that I want. I've had it before (many times) but I can't seem to get anyone to do it right. I think I found it. Make a mental note to get a hair appointment.
- Check out the box full of gauges for my Cadillac!
- Meet the in-laws to pick up kids and eat dinner
- Home for bath and bedtime
- Plead with Jimmy to go to the shop and get the laptop because I need to do homework. Know that I won't do homework.
- Put kids to bed and read my favorite Curious George story to them. The one where he gets high on ether. hehehe Still can't find that one where he holds up a liquor store with the man's pistol. (wink, wink)
- My mom comes over to do minor surgery on me.
- Ahhh. Sitting in bed blogging.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Ruby Tuesday
"It's morning honey."
"You have to snuggle me on the couch for 2 minutes."
Revisiting. Halfway through my year.
Check-a-rooney! I'm a collage-ing fool! I made one on Thursday night that I just love, love. I am in the process of another more complicated one.
2. Write letters
I suck
3. Park my car once a week. Take public transportation or ride my bike to work.
I suck
4. Surprise someone with exactly what they want.
I didn't have anything in mind when I put this on the list but I do now and I don't know whether it will happen before my next bithday but, oh man, I hope so.
5. Make out at the drive in movie.
This will have to go on next year's list because the drive-in is closed for the season and won't reopen until after my birthday. Unless I can sneak in and make out anyway...movie or not.
6. Watch 5 classic movies.
I have watched WAY more than 5. I'm addicted. It's almost all I watch now.
7. Switch to re-usable bags for grocery buying.
Check-most of the time
8. Take Olivia skiing.
Olivia is signed up for "private" lessons with 3 girls from her class at TCS for 4 Saturdays in February.
9. Go on a weekend trip with my best friend...like we used to.
Hmmm. I think I still want to.
10. Go on a weekend trip with just my kids and I.
Check!
11. Go on a weekend trip alone.
So need to do this. I'm such a sissy.
12. Remember to floss every day.
Check-ish. Way better than I used to be.
13. Call my oldest brother.
Hmmm. Not yet.
14. Keep in better touch with my sister.
I suck.
15. Unsubscribe to all that crap that floods my inbox.
Check. Also an ongoing process.
16. Take my kids rollerskating with my dad.
Not yet.
17. Go paperless as much as possible at home and work.
I suck
18. Go without eating at a restaurant or fast food for a month.
Check-ish. I want to do it again.
19. Get a front porch. However it has to happen.
Sigh.
20. Spend at least 4 nights of this summer with my backpack only.
UGH! I was going to be so good at this one! Move it to next year's list.
21. Get out of the city limits once a month all year.
Doing pretty well. It will be hard to keep this up in the winter but I definitely need to.
22. Eat more green stuff. Encourage my family to.
Getting better at having more variety in our meals.
23. Write in a journal 2 times a week.
Pretty good. What qualifies as "writing" is pretty broad but I am putting pen to paper and getting thoughts and ideas out there.
24. Don't flinch.
Not yet.
25. Say what I want.
Working hard on figuring out what it is that I want. I am saying it as I figure it out. That's good.
26. Read more non-fiction.
Doing pretty well. I've been reading for work. I just checked out "Children's Healthy Sexuality Development" (something like that) from the teacher library.
27. Figure out that whole map and compass crap.
Not yet.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Monday, Monday
So today...
-Up at 730
-Laundry
-Chilly in the kitchen but I couldn't bear the thought of turning the heat on so I turned the oven on and contemplated baking something. Decided not to bake, turned off the oven and opened door to let the heat out into the kitchen.
-Unloaded and reloaded dishwasher
-Talked to Jen while getting Olivia dressed for school.
-Rice Crispies for breakfast for Olivia, Corn flakes for Jamie. Coffee for Jimmy and I
-Said goodbye to Jimmy and Olivia. Off to school and work.
-More laundry (stripped beds and washed sheets).
-Skimmed some real estate magazines.
-Surfed and blogged while Jamie stood next to me chatttering about her baby named "Alaksa".
-Put on clean, presentable pajamas disguised as clothes.
-Ate a slice of the pumpkin bread that I baked last night.
-Packed up Jamie to go pick up Olivia from school. Pick up Olivia and chat with a couple moms about ski lessons for our kids.
-Post office and a peek into Thomas Hammer to see if Uncle Warney was there.
-Stop by the shop to see which envelopes I need.
-Drive through the car wash (wash off the mud form the drag races. I didn't race but it was muddy all over out there)
-Office Max for paper, envelopes, a mouse and a memory card
-McDonalds. Fries for me, nuggets for kids. Feel disgusted with myself by the time I start in on the kids' fries.
-Bank
-Dry cleaners. Find out they are going out of business! ACK! It's the only dry cleaner I've ever gone to! She informs me that they also own Norge on 15th and State. Phew.
-Fabric store for buttons. Girls talk me into buying fabric to make blankets for their babies. I pick up a pair of wicked sharp scissors to keep by my sewing machine.
-Home for nap time! Olivia sleeps. After about 30 minutes in bed Jamie belly crawls across my bedroom floor and scares the crap out of me when she pokes her head around the end of my bed. She can't stop laughing and neither can I. I give up and tell her she can get up.
-More laundry.
-Internet surfin'
-Kids up playing outside. Cheese bread for a snack.
-Start prepping dinner.
-Sew baby blankets for girls with the fabric they picked out today.
-Olivia says her head hurts and she needs a tylenol and a rest. SHIT!
-Dinner in bed for Olivia, at the table for Jimmy, Jamie and I.
-Mix cookie dough for Halloween cookies. Do it wrong. Cookies have to be balls, not shapes. Kids ok with it. Decorate the heck out of the cookies. Olivia seems fine by now.
-Play outside a bit.
-Olivia and Jamie watch part of a Scooby Doo movie. (While Jimmy and I argue in the kitchen. Too much info, I know. But hey it's my life. Don't worry mom, we weren't arguing in front of the kids)
-Bath time.
And here we are! Except that bath time actually ended a while ago and I have put them to bed and am now finishing up this! I'm going to put the clean sheets on my bed and probably read a book for an hour or so. Ahh. Quiet. I'm alone too...maybe I'll take a bath or talk on the phone. Oh, the possibilities.
I know this is pretty detailed today but I anticipate that it will get less detailed as things get redundant. We'll see.
A week in the life
I'm not making an album like some people are. Just photos and words on my blog.
I'm pretty sure that I'm going to look back on the week and see the same photos and words over and over again. Oh well. Such is life, I suppose.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
I might just move to Weiser
Rodeo! Craft Fair! STREET DANCE!!!!
Actually the street dance was right after the drag races but I could not convince anyone to stick around for it! My mom wanted to but had to get back to Boise to babysit. I was really bummed.
We got a little lost on our way home and ended up driving around the town a bit and that was when I decided to move there.
There are a ton of gorgeous old houses downtown then I jumped online today and holy schmoly...inexpensive!
Check out this one. 165,000! That's less expensive than the tiny house I live in right now!
In Weiser $600,000 gets you the biggest, coolest house in town!
Ok, so I'm not moving there but I want one of those giant old houses!
(And then I want to walk to the street dance at the Train Depot)
Add Weiser to the list of small towns that I love but could never live in.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Some Friday random stuff
It's down at the bottom of the post. I suppose I could link to it through youtube but I want everyone to read Dooce.com whenever possible because it's so incredibly funny.
* My sister-in-law and nephew are going to be here (from St. Anthony) for a long visit. Very excited!
*Some funny words to get me through some long days and give me hope for the future:
"I've got the murder and you've got the crows. We're a perfect couple!"
* Long story here...my car is dead. I had been driving whatever I could get my hands on for a month (we have a lot of cars just lying around) and then Jimmy bought me an old-ish Rodeo to drive until I decided what to do in the car department. I really wanted to look for the exact same car that I had before. Same year, color and everything. Apparently they are a little hard to come by so there was much debate around my house as to what we should do.
A brilliant idea then came to me!! I just happened to have a bitchin' 1963 Cadillac parked in my side driveway. It needs a little work. But, I could sell the Lexus for about $9,000 and use the money to fix the Cadillac! It's going to take quite a bit of work because I'm a big, fat whiner and I want it to be black. (The interior is blue right now.) I think Jimmy is a little annoyed by it because it's going to need a custom fabricated dashboard since there aren't a bunch of black '63 Cadillacs at Barger-Mattson to salvage from. But I really NEED it to be black!!
Anyway...it is rollin'! The interior is totally gutted and Jimmy's mechanics are working during slow times on the little things that need done. I picked out gauges last week and the seats have gone to the upholsterer! I'm so excited!!
I couldn't find a picture of how it will look exactly but this is about it...I picked this pic as the closest even though it's a convertible (mine isn't) because mine will have air suspension like this one so it will look lowered. This one is quite a hooptie but mine won't look quite so...ummm...well, ya know.
It will be shiny black on the bottom and matte black on the top (there is a distinct line made by the chrome trim) No flames (bummer...I wanted pink flames). The interior will keep it's original bench seats but they will be black vinyl (oh yeah) with pink piping and pink embroidered Cadillac emblems on the center console. It's getting a donor engine from a totaled '98 Z48 Camaro. The original engine is fine and runs right now but Jimmy wanted to put a fuel injected engine in for reliability.
I'm so excited!
Yes, I will take you for a ride when it's done.
Ok, well...happy weekend!