Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Alex's Birthday

Happy Birthday to my boy in the middle.

The boy who makes us laugh.

And pray.

=0)

(Alex, laughing...it's catchy!)

Seventeen years ago our hearts grew.

LOTS.

=0)


Monday, November 29, 2010

Back Home

We're home.

Unpacked, sort of, to a house that smells like cats live here.

Which they do...I just don't want to smell them.

Oh...and Chinese food, which we picked up for supper.

Cats AND chinese food.

Mmmm...(not)....but it is always so nice to be back home, even if we were somewhere really fun.

My oldest is back at his dorm and the Christmas lights are on the outside of the house....though it's still Thanksgiving on the inside for a few more days.

I'm missing this:

My sister-in-law arranged for a photographer to meet us on the beach for a family photo shoot...so fun to be able to have those memories.

=0)
It's 5am and I am up...worried about all that has to happen today.

Pretty sure worrying is NOT going to help, so I've made a list.

Which has me worried.

=0)

First up....COFFEE!

(with peppermint mocha creamer...YUM!)


Friday, November 26, 2010

Happy Day

Thanksgiving Day 2010 has come and gone...sad, but the fun continues for us since our vacation doesn't end for a few more days.

For me the best part is my biggest boy is home from college and my not so little family of boys is complete.

=0)

Pie success. A very public thank you to my sister-in-law, who makes the best pecan pie for me every year even though it makes her gag.

Love.

=0)
Today we skipped the whole Black Friday thing since believe it or not, most of my shopping is done.

Or figured out anyway.

We did find a gem...a used bookstore with miles and miles of books.

Miles. Of. Books.
We ate fish and chips eaten picnic style with some great cole slaw.

Life is a good.
A skatepark find for the youngest shrub and his same age cousin...Brian said, "fish AND a skatepark...this is the best day EVER!"
That is until his dad pulled out the wetsuit card and he and his cousin Maddie boogie boarded in the frigid water as the sun got lower and lower.
I can't even tell you how he's going to feel when he finds out we are having pizza for supper...and then watching Elf.

Joy is contagious.

Trust me.

=0)

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving Day


This morning I woke up while it was still dark, threw on my shoes, bundled up (39 degrees!), brushed my teeth, grabbed a blanket and my Bible and left the warm, quiet, sleeping house we are staying in.

I walked down the 101 steps to the beach (my niece counted them yesterday) and walked as near to the water as I could and plopped down.

And then God gave me morning.

I watched as the sun crept over the bluffs behind me and kissed the waves awake.

I prayed. Prayed for my husband and my sons and my family and friends. And read Proverbs in the early morning light, settling on Proverbs 31:25....'she speaks with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.'

Hmmm.

Strength AND dignity.

Dignity. Yowza. Hard for a woman who tends to speak and then think...but words I need to pray over for sure.
And the words 'she can laugh at the days to come'...

Carefree.

Secure.

Not worried.

How much can I learn from that?

We are spending the day together with family. I am thankful for the roof over our head, food on our table, a God who gives and gives, a family to love, health and friendships that span the world.

We. Are. Blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving.

=0)

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Real Deal

What a road trip in our family is REALLY like.

  • 8:00 am - wake up. Think about packing, knowing we need to be on the road in 2 hours. Not woried...we'll have a washing machine where we are, so how much stuff do we need?
  • 8:30 am - middle son arrives home from sleeping at a friends where they did everything but sleep.
  • 8:35 am - send middle son to pack. He sits on his bed and falls asleep.
  • 8:45 am - finish coffee. start packing.
  • 9:00 am - oldest son comes home from his dorm, dumps stuff and falls asleep on couch.
  • 9:15 am - shove things in suitcases, pile stuff on kitchen table, unload dishwasher.
  • 10:00 am - that guy that I like so much starts packing the gas guzzling SUV with everything from boogie boards, skateboards, trumpets (4 of them) and various other strange things like an arsenal of nerf guns.
  • 10:30 am - that guy that I like so much ceases speaking and starts throwing things back into the house...among them: one trumpet, boogie boards and all board games.
  • 11:00 am - time we had hoped to be on the road even though we had told my in-laws we would be on the road by 10. Son #2 is still sleeping, son #1 is still sleeping, and son #3 is bouncing off the walls and adding things to the pile of things to come with us. I hop in the shower.
  • 11:45 am - in the car.
  • 11:50 am - car is making a strange rocking noise. Discover it is child #3 in the 3rd row, rocking back and forth just because.
  • 11:51 am - the four people in the front two rows all turn around and yell at the overly excited to see his cousins 12 year old, telling him to SIT STILL.
  • 11:52 am - middle row boys are already sound asleep.
  • 11:53 am - sniffles heard from the 3rd row.
  • 11:54 am - calmly calm down the child in the 3rd row.
  • 12:30 pm - hunger. Try to stop at a Five Guys for burgers but discover I cannot figure out my own GPS. That guy that I like so much still isn't speaking much except to say 'find. me. food. now.'
  • 12:40 pm - settle on In n Out and have the worst experience ever. An onion on my cheeseburger with spread only? Really? Uncrispy fries? really? Non-bubbly diet coke? REALLY?
  • 1:15 pm - rain. traffic. rain. traffic. rain. traffic.
  • 2:30 pm - stop for gas in a gas-less (minus the boys in my car) town. Comment that I would use the GPS to find gas. Get no response.
  • 2:45 pm - find gas. Whew. Get lost trying to get back on the freeway. Comment that I would trust the GPS. Get no response. Drive for 10 miles and comment AGAIN that I would trust the GPS. Still no comment.
  • 2:55 pm - find freeway.
  • 3:20 pm - drive by miles and miles of vineyards. That guy that I like so much smiles. Progress. =0)
  • 4:45 pm - pull up to the house. Unload.
  • 4:46 pm - boys sit down to food Grandma has ready for them. One (not quite sure who) comments that I could learn a little something from her.
  • 5:00 pm - cocktails. All is well.

=0)


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Road Trip

The beginning was great.

The middle was great.

The end was FANTASTIC.
Pismo Beach. One week. 17 people.

=0)


Sunday, November 21, 2010

What My Weekend Looked Like

This weekend was pretty full.

The sky was cloudy, which I love. It's this time of year that I miss Boulder so much that it hurts...there's nothing like Fall in the Rockies.

But God has been giving me lots and lots of clouds because he knows I need to see them.

=0)

We worked all day on a 3D project building a plant cell.

And by 'we' I mean the royal 'we'.

I watched. Michael guided. Brian built.
The rain came and nobody took the trash from inside the house all the way out to the can, so it got rained on and snails crawled all over it.

And by 'nobody' I mean one boy. Or another. Or another. Or another.

Nobody came forward to confess.
This morning we went to church in two separate cars...both arriving at the same place an hour or so apart.

After church my oldest decided that he's had enough warm fuzzy family time and decided to take the bus home.
And then he decided not to and drove his mama home.

But I think he thinks I ask too many questions and that I laugh too much and that I stare at him all. the. time.

Which I do because I don't get to stare at him or talk to him or laugh at (I mean with) him every single day so I have to submarine him.

It's my JOB.
We then went to watch Brian's basketball game.

The score at the end of the first quarter was 4 - 3.

Sigh.

But I did think this was cool:
And my question for the day....why is it that the cutest of shoes give the biggest blisters?
And now I am eating pumpkin bread pudding with homemade caramel sauce while watching Julie and Julia.

So amazingly, amazing that I don't even know how to explain...it is THAT good.

=0)
How was your weekend?


Friday, November 19, 2010

Friday Get Away

I waited all week long for today.

All week.

A week where I was both spit on AND called a nazi by two different crossing guards.

For reals.

But all week long, I had my eye on the prize.

Today.

That guy that I like so much and I got out of the house right after the boys left for school and headed out to breakfast.

An incredible breakfast featuring granola pancakes in front of a roaring fire.

Sigh.

We then walked across the street where I tried not to look at this because I am just not ready yet.

I've got my eye on Thanksgiving....THEN we can start thinking about this:
Full. Caffeinated. Harry Potter.

The movie didn't disappoint. Yes, it was different from the book but I liked it...liked it enough to want to see it again so I can process it some more.

Then we found out my car needed $1500 worth of work which rained a bit on my parade because I am struggling (still) to understand God's plan for our financial well being.

Sigh.

But then we bought 3 caramel apples and the lady gave us a 4th free and then I sat at a neighbors house and she prayed with me and then our family came from the next town over and we had a big 'ole family dinner and then we watched Private Practice with a fire in the fireplace and then I slowly started realizing (again...one of these times it will stick) that I cannot control it all and I just need to let Jesus take the wheel.

I'm working on it.

I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.

=0)

Autumn in So Cal

Tuesday morning:

Thursday morning:

Just thought I'd share.

=0)

What is the weather like where you live?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Out Of Gas

Sometimes, when it just becomes too much you just need to run away.

And then you run out of gas.

Literally.

As in, the gar has NO GAS in it and not only that, there is not one single one of the boys you birthed (two of them drug free, thankyouverymuch) is in the car with you to push.

So then you call AAA and they tell you your membership has expired, which you knew about but played dumb like you didn't know about it but you had thought you really didn't need it so you chose to not renew it. Until you ran out of gas, that is.

You tell the nice lady at AAA that you will just renew it right now and you give her your credit card number over the phone and it is declined.

Declined.

Actually, it wasn't declined. It was EXPIRED and the new one was on the kitchen counter where just this morning that guy that you like so much said, "aren't you going to activate that? You might need it."

You told him you would do it after you got home, and out the door you went.

So there you were, out of gas.

You told her you would figure something else out while you waited to reach your knight in shining armour.

Or a neighbor...you weren't picky.

You emptied your ashtray (cars don't have those anymore, but it's what used to be the ashtray if your car had an ashtray) and walked into the nearest place.

A bakery.

And there was Jesus.

Really.

Jesus (pronounced hay-seuss) was making bread and you had just enough for a coffee and a roll.

Warm, with butter.

Sigh.

As you were eating the lady from AAA calls you back and said she noticed you had another card on file and should she run it?

Ummm...yes.

The tow truck showed up 20 minutes later with enough gas for you to get to the gas station. You said goodbye to Jesus, who works THREE jobs (and pays taxes, he told you) to support his family (God love him) and get in your car.

You drive home, activate the card on the counter and drive back to the gas station.

And now all is well and you vow to never run away again.

The End.


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Thankful Tuesday

Today is Tuesday.

Thankful Tuesday.

(the weekends best seller...available HERE!)

The top 10 things on my thankful list, in no particular order, are:

1. whipped honey from Trader Joe's
2. iced gingerbread men from Trader Joe's
3. my girlfriends who sacrificed their weekends to help package at the boutiques...I couldn't have done it without you!
4. the lotions from Bodytopia...seriously, her fragrances are incredible.
5. jumper cables. how else would we get Matthew's car started?
6. the women in my life who hold me accountable and aren't afraid to do so. =0)
7. the old fashioned oatmeal from corner bakery, with the toppings on the side...hmmm, I must be hungry?
8. Friday. Friday I have an all day long date with that guy that I like so much, who I should rename the guy that I miss so much! Let's just say it will involve breakfast at The Beachcomber and Harry Potter...
9. dental insurance, even though I am struggling with how little it really covers. At least it covers some.
10. a royal engagement which leads to a royal wedding...how fun is that?


Sunday, November 14, 2010

I Made It!

For weeks I have been preparing for this weekend and it didn't disappoint, though right now I am sooooo tired that I cannot even think straight.

Or maybe it's because this is what I had for supper...filet mignon and a grilled portobello mushroom stuffed with spinach. Oh...and don't forget the garlic mashed potatoes.

I've often said I could easily be a vegetarian if it wasn't for beef.

=0)

The reason for the original, before food coma, exhaustion were two back to back jewelry shows that I was slated to do. I had hammered and hammered and made enough for both shows ahead of time and then....THEN I sold out at the very first show, which meant I came home yesterday and had to make a whole lot more.

And then sold almost all of that, too.

What. A. Blessing.

Crazy, but a blessing.

(And if I 'met' you at one of the shows...Hello. And welcome.)

=0)
Tomorrow brings my re-entry into real life.

There's not a clean stitch of clothing in the whole house.

No food.

The floor is sticky and let's not discuss the boys bathroom...ok?

Corner Bakery has pumpkin whoopie pies. Be still my soul.

Crossing guards need to be evaluated.

Esther is lonely and wants me to study more about her.

38 custom jewelry orders need to be made, packaged and shipped.

A car needs two new tires and a smog test.

Peter's Canyon is practically begging me to hike it...anyone want to come along? It's fall after all!

Somehow, all of the above seems LESS stressful than preparing for those shows...bring. it. on.

=0)

Friday, November 12, 2010

Friday Night at Home

I've been missing in action in blogland lately...not enough hours in the day it seems.

The saga of the dryer ended with the removal of some non-rent paying tenants in our dryer duct.

And to think it started innocently enough...a couple of college guysfrom a budget vent cleaning company, a shop vac and a broom...and ended with animal control.

I chose to step away, but let's just say that one family of five in 1282 sq ft remains. The human family. Plus two apparently useless felines.

But the dryer works again. Whew.

The other thing keeping me busy, aside from crossing guards...jewelry. Lots and lots of jewelry. I've had more orders in the month of November than I had all of last season. Fun!

=0)
In boy news...the college boy popped home for supper, the high school boy is at the football game and the baby boy is playing a new video game.

In grown up news...the guy that I like so much is watching Men In Black and I am blogging on a computer with a broken space bar key. Both are annoying, to be honest.

In cat news, Mollie is sleeping on the chair and Maggie is sleeping on the couch.

Exciting, eh?

=0)
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