Wednesday, September 28, 2011

My Three Sons

Sunday morning.

All three together.

One mom, just trying for ONE good picture.

=0)


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Last Weekend

Sometimes, you just need to repaint your house.

At least that is what I (somewhat stupidly) tricked myself into believing this weekend.

=0)


We've evolved from September Leaf to Mountain Gold to Indian Autumn..all fancy names for YELLOW.

They all look exactly the same but they make me very, very happy.  And that new Behr paint WITH primer already in it?  

Worth the extra few dollar's.

As for rehanging everything back on the walls?

No time.  

No energy.  

Can't find the nails.

And then there was Blog Sugar.  Definitely a step out of my comfort zone, talking to people who I had never met in real life but had met online and learning more about blogging...and more about blogging with purpose.

And it made me question lots.  Does my blog have a purpose?  And does it need a purpose?  Can it just be what it is...a little blog written from my little house on my little street or should it become more?  Or is more simply too much?

Welcome into my brain.  Fun, isn't it?

=0)

It. Was. Inspiring.

Love when that happens.

And that cupcake topped with a doughnut?

YUM.

=0)

Monday, September 26, 2011

A Disney Date

Saturday involved one guy and one girl on a date...a 'let's escape from home without children in the backseat' kinda date.

A Disneyland date.

=0)

It was cloudy.  It was crowded.  It was Halloween-y. It was perfect.

We had grand plans for our evening...first up, Star Tours.  

LOVED it.  

So will my chiropractor.

Next up, the mother of all corn dogs.  

Yummy.

And finally?

Swing dancing.

And here's the thing.  We are REALLY good swing dancers.  

Seriously.

=0)

OK...so we thought we were really good swing dancers.  I mean, we are...in our little house on our little street.  But in public?  Not so much.

I'm thinking our next set of lessons should be somewhere other than the senior center.

There were some fancy moves happening on that dance floor...time for us to learn to jitterbug!

Think it matters that I have two left feet, no rhythm and serious issues with who is supposed to lead?

=0)


Friday, September 23, 2011

This Week On My Camera


I am hoping that next week is my week for pulling it all together...one can hope, right?

=0)

Part of my new job is doing crossing guard stake outs, sometimes in the middle of nowhere and always in the wee early hours of the day.  It's fun and I like it...but I am struggling with some parts of my job.  More on that later...

In Bible study we are studying Jonah and I am loving it.  Love that at this moment I am dealing with my own personal Ninevah and am just maybe running from my calling...but my calling doesn't pay money and is that really where God wants me to be when I need to make money?

So is it God's call or my call?  That is the question...

=0)

Lunch after with the neighborhood girls...a group that bless me and pray for me.    And (thankfully) shared my watermelon salad cuz there's only so much watermelon one person can eat.

There's something to be said about an avocado burger.

But I'm speechless.

It actually made up for the group of SUPER grumpy teens I was with at the time who did NOT want to go with their mama apple picking but the mama didn't care and made them go anyway...and guess what?

They.  Had.  Fun.

And that burger?  YUM.

My oldest.

He's a man now.

Can someone please tell me how my little pickle got so old without my permission?

And then there's ginormous boy.

Hello?  He was listed as 'failure to thrive' people.  Can you tell?

=0)

Last season of basketball happening here...he's decided not to play after this year.  Lot's of big decisions being made, but in the end he needs to make them...and I'm proud of him.

The things one learns along life's path...my new one?  A plate of veggies on the dip when everyone walks in the door STARVING and supper is not quite ready.

Only took 15 years or so.

=0)

Well everyone, how was YOUR week?

=0)

(thanks again, Jeanett!)

life rearranged

Monday, September 19, 2011

Apple Picking


That guy that I like so much was gone for the weekend with his college students and I am settling in to my new reality...a super quiet house.

Now, I LOVE me a super quiet house during the weekdays.  That seems normal to me.  But weekend quiet?  That's a whole new bird.

So I painted.  

=0)

On Sunday the boys that still live in my little house on my little street and I drove kinda far away to church so we could listen to that guy that I like so much's choir.  

And after...we drove into the hills to pick apples.

I will say...it was hot.  As in, HOT.  90 degree hot.

Isn't it Autumn yet?
 The boys, well, they weren't thrilled to be going.  Even after feeding them HUGE burgers and fries and sodas, they continued to grumble.  

In fact, their dad had to throw out the 'DON'T ruin this for YOUR mother!' statement...which totally cracked me up.

I wasn't too worried...I knew it would happen.  Full bellies, fresh air, lots of room to run (just as important for teen boys as it is for toddler boys) and suddenly the smiles were found.  And the rotten apples, which are (supposedly) fun to throw at each other.

Sigh.

=0)

We came home with TONS of apples and I have bowls of them all over the house.  OH, and the most amazing pie ever...is there any better smell than that warm appley, cinnamony smell?

On the way home the boys totally crashed in the backseat,  so that guy that I like so much and I even got a date out of the deal.

Bonus.

=0)

Friday, September 16, 2011

This Week, from my camera

I can't keep up.

=0)

Desserts for one of that guy that I like so much's choirs.  I made all the cookies,  had them cooling on the counter and ran to the store to get a few things...in the meantime, enter Alex and a bunch of his friends.  HUNGRY friends.

Lesson learned...always put a note on things you don't want eaten.  Lesson #2...don't EVER leave freshly baked cookies on the counter and run to the store.  Lesson #3...find the joy in the whole thing and be OK with baking second batches of everything.  They're just cookies after all...

=0)

Bible study began this week, too (Jonah, this time around...I'm excited!)...but with that comes precious girl time with a friend.  

Throw in a cucumber lemonade and a caramelized onion, fig and gorgonzola tart and, well, life is complete.

These boys...each of them responsible for a few of the grey hairs on my head (mine is in the back seat who you can't see), are true friends.  Since KINDERGARTEN.  Having moved tons as a child (7 different schools in 12 years), I love this.  

My new job has me working from home more, but every so often I am out in the field training crossing guards to be...well, crossing guards.  Good ones.

=0)

This is one guards corner...check out that view.  Amazing.

Laguna Beach, early in the day.  Ocean at your back, hills in front.

Yes, please.

Late night snack of champions...pizzelle and nutella.

(can't add anything to that except a big 'ole SIGH.)

Thanks, Jeanett!
life rearranged

What was YOUR week?

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Lime Truck...Again. And Again.


I'm not sure if you've been catching The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network, but my favorite food truck guys are in it.

We've been stalking the Lime Guys since their beginning days and are probably some of their biggest fans...they're just really cool guys who make and serve the most amazing food.  In a truck.

I'll be honest, I'm not exactly thrilled with the way they are choosing to portray themselves on national TV...but then I wonder what I would come across like, so who am I to judge?

Their food?

Still amazingly awesome...though I am looking forward to the day when they start varying their menu a bit again (boys...please bring back the roasted beet salad.  And the arancini.  Please?  For me?) and also start showing their smiley faces again.

It'll happen.  I know it will.

In the meantime, we had tacos last week.  Not just any tacos, but shredded pork that cooked for 9 hours...with roasted peppers on the side that were salty and kinda spicy and kinda sweet.

YUM.

I will say that since appearing on the tele, their lines have trippled...so I guess people don't mind the green headbands and purple pants and kinda rude comments.

=0)

Still rooting for you Lime Truck...hope you brought home the big money!

=0)

Monday, September 12, 2011

Quiet Weekend


In the last week we've been reintroduced to schedules and structure...I'm not complaining because for as much as I thrive on the freedom that summer brings, I also like the routine of having regular supper times and bedtimes.

I have a dual personality.

=0)

I remember when my boys were small and I would day dream about quiet and would relish in those moments where I could sneak in a quick afternoon espresso or tea or diet coke...but even now that my boys are big, I find it is just as important to take those moments and just be.  

To recharge.  Refocus.  Say thanks.  
 Saturday morning a storm rolled through southern California...a THUNDER storm (we don't have thunder out here.  I KNOW...isn't that weird?) and as I was huddled on my couch with a blanket listening to the majesty of it, I had to laugh when the warning came on the television.

Us SoCal'ers can be a tad bit dramatic.

=0)

Once the storm blew over, that guy that I like so much and I hung out in our little garden playing cribbage and sipping cocktails...we had boys milking this weekend for every second they could as it's the last one before real life knocks us for a loop  (basketball season starts next weekend!) so they were in an out.  And in an out.

We both worked lots...me, inputting school and sports and work schedules into my computer calendar and that guy that I like so much preparing a big lecture on Berliotz (whose music gives me goosebumps), but it was nice to be sitting outside and working on stuff at the same time.

And throwing in a game or two of cribbage...and yeppers, those were really our hands!  I didn't notice until just now...  =0)

This week...my little house on my little street needs a scouring.  I am training lots of new crossing guards this week, making cookies for a rehearsal tonight, figuring out how to stretch the groceries until payday, removing the old tomato plants from the garden and also taking a moment here and there to enjoy a coffee in the backyard.

And just be.


Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A Little Date


That guy that I like so much was able to end his work week early (the boys spent the day at the water park) so we climbed into his car, put the top down and headed up PCH to Belmont Shore.

Sounds fun, eh?

In reality, we were both actually super grumpy so it started out kinda ugly.  There wasn't a smile to be found.  I'm blaming it on low blood sugar, a shattered full jar of pickles on the kitchen floor and a free spirited teen...not necessarily in that order (but close).

=0)

So first up...lunch at Le Creperie in Belmont Shore.

I actually veered from my normal crepes and had a croque madam...which is now my most favorite thing there.  SO AMAZINGLY AWESOME...and worth every single calorie.

In the midst of lunch, happiness and harmony reappeared and all was well in the land.  

Love how that works.

=0)

After, we hung out in the bookstore where each of us got lost in our own sections.   Music for him.  Gardening for her.  Travel for both.

 One quick stop on the way home for a new wand for that guy that I like so much...he gets paid to wave that stick around, after all.

Wand?  Baton?  Same thing.

=0)

And that was that.  Back to real life.  The floor was still sticky and the teen was still free spirited, but my blood sugar was once again in a normal range which made everything seem a bit more manageable.  

Thankfully.

=0)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...