Buried To My Roots

Laughy or Sleepy Taffy

2011-07-31T11:01:00.004-05:00

After a hard night of partying on Friday, then a birthday party that included unsupervised access to face paint.....the child eats his Laughy Taffy (part of the party favors) as he sleeps. This same child would now like to be called Captain Strong.

The Next Justin Bieber....name that tune...

2011-06-24T14:22:00.002-05:00

My favorite part of this is when he stops to look at himself for a while before continuing....

OLD and Crazy

2011-04-28T10:06:00.001-05:00

Something about the revived realization of getting old throws me into a depression each year. Of course the reminder is my birthday. Unfortunate that my brain finds a way to ruin that day (and usually at least 2 weeks following that day) for me.
I’ve always been one for lining up events that give me something to look forward to. In the spring the event is my birthday. In addition I just really love spring- the green showing through , flowers, birds, hope that we aren’t living in a frozen hell year round. This year spring has mostly sucked. Here it is April 28th and it’s sleeting outside. BLA!
The anticipation of holidays in general has always been big for me. Good and bad. As a kid I would barely sleep the night before in anticipation of the gifts and fun the next day. Christmas was the biggest bit of excitement. My cousin and I would wake up VERY early, still dark outside, and do our best to wake up the rest of the family…so that we could go downstairs and start the fun. A magical time. Some guy shows up and breaks into your house while you sleep and then leaves gifts. AWESOME! The bad part was the dysfunctional anticipation of my parents fighting and the dichotomy of pretending we were a happy nucleic family – so the rest of the family didn’t know how messed up we were. I was torn between living in my make believe world in which my parents slept in the same room and liked each-other AND the reality of the play we were acting out. So holidays continue to excite and depress me.
This year my birthday was like any other…at least for someone in their mid-late 30’s. Really nothing is about you anymore at this age. It’s about my kids. They should pick out a gift for me because that teaches them to think of others, I should tell my husband to take the kids to get me said gift, I should tell my husband which gift that should be. We should get a cake, because the kids like cake and birthdays include cake. So my birthday becomes about a teaching opportunity as well as to minimize the financial impact to my family…because truthfully getting me something I really want for my birthday—we can’t afford. Exciting items on the top of that list would be – a house keeper, new wardrobe, a vehicle with a working radio and door….let the good times roll.
Part of my dysfunction includes my desire to provide for others thoughtful gifts. I want them to be happy with what I picked or made for them. I want them to know I thought about them and who they really are. I put time into it. It’s fun for me. The joy in the giving. That said, I have the unfair expectation that I will get the same in return.
Here is the ungrateful part. I know. Yes I am a spoiled brat. I get that. The gifts are usually a disappointment. I don’t want big $$ gifts. I just want someone to think about me and create that thought in something tangible. The only way to achieve that would be to tell someone what I want…which ruins the fun.
Time to accept the reality of being past the prime time in life where there is excitement like that. My role as a mother is to provide the experience to my kids. As a friend, provide that to my friends,etc.
Buzz kill.
On that happy note, another appointment with the gyno. today. Good TIMES!

More stuff and a side of PMS

2011-04-13T20:08:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I tripped while carrying a safe up the stairs...and then slammed the safe into my own noes. Small hairline fracture and a nice swollen nose for a few days...really coordinated and pretty!

Now on to PMS which has only helped aid me in being crazily obsessed with some weird drama at the office.

Alas

I am still into painting right now. But, what to do with all the flowers I pressed?

Sold on the iphone- camera filters and all

2011-04-05T14:21:00.002-05:00

Platypus and Hedgehog

2011-04-05T07:39:00.002-05:00

In relation to the previous post

Your view?

2011-04-03T16:11:00.003-05:00

I've had some time lately to play around with doing some mini watercolor paintings. Specifically paintings of various flowers, vegetables...and now on to some whimsical animals.

Got a little giddy when making the latest bunch on which I also used stamping to put some random phrases on them.

I really have no idea if these are things that other people will want or like.

But I cut the mini paintings out and glued them to postcard size cardstock...match them with an envelope. Then I have notcard sets.

I sent a set (shown in the above picture with all displayed together) to my aunt. It was spured by a little push via facebook where the first 5 to repond to my post got a handmade something or another from me. Which reminds me I signed up on a couple myself and haven't received anything yet.....hmmmm.

Now I just don't know. I have fun making them...but do others really want them?

If I put a set as part of a donation to our school fundraiser...will I just get pitty response? I think the set would end up in the raffle section..where people can drop tickets in the bag for various items in a drawing.

I have about 2 readers...so not sure I will get an honest response....but if you read this...do tell?! If only to save me the embarrassment.

Pics:)

Positive, really, going there

2011-01-16T17:02:00.005-06:00

Just some randomness.

Quotes from Arden recently-

On bailing mom out of jail.
"Mom if you ever get in trouble and are put in jail, I will save all of my money to get you back to where you are now."

On Nirvana song Come as You Are:
"Wow this guy really needs a drink of water."

On a new friend.
"Mom will you run with me and my clear friend? He is clear. At night he walks on the floor and he glows green, during the day he is just clear and he walks on the floor. He isn't very fast at running though, he just runs as fast as this (as he shows me how he walks)."

NEW TOPIC

Things I like:
Cuddling with our dog
Cleaning my kids ears
My husband scraping the windshield off for me
Taking pictures

The movie Amelie
Old Lisa Loeb music
The book : Shit my Dad Says
Making bread
Family history
The beach
Sleeping
Old Keys
Crystals

PROCEED TO THE NEXT CHAPTER

My kids playing stuffed animal doctors. Arden is the dr.- he mostly specializes in giving shots -- although he claims they do not hurt. Baker is the admin. person , he writes out the treatment plan and assigns the cost. Some items on his list included: "Fever" "Butt Sroes" "Poop" these ailements are treated for the following low price respectively : 10001, 2000, 25.39

Oh, Hi!

2010-12-21T13:58:00.002-06:00

Some interesting tidbits.

1) I could not find a good winter coat for my son in River Falls or Hudson , so I had to drive to Woodbury to get one. This is Wisconsin, it is cold here. We should have several places to buy good winter coats near by.
2) Glitter, all stores in River Falls are sold out of glitter. They at least had glitter at one point but now it is gone. All stores no glitter.
3)Small barn animals, not living barn animals. Little plastic barn animals. Finally found a small set at Shopko in River Falls...they were overpriced. But all the other possible stores here did not have them. Again, this is Wisconsin...farm animals?!

On the colposcopy fun front. While the biopsy results were normal, turns out that doesn't really matter much because my PAP was high grade abnormal. So now I get to choose between two really lovely options a) another PAP and Colposcopy in 6 months or b) an agressive LEEP now. Yipee. Choices and options. Both of which suck.

So to get through the holiday I think I will have to consider drinking a lot.
All gifts are purchased and wrapped.
Turns out I am a hard person to buy for from what I hear. Wonder if one can purchase a more normal cervix?

Stuff and Things

2010-12-14T09:34:00.001-06:00

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. While I don't want to eat breakfast first thing after I wake up, after about an hour I do. Problem is that I don't always want breakfast foods for breakfast. Dinner for breakfast would be great. Favorites would include left over India food, macaroni and cheeses, pizza, mushroom stroganoff, pasties, ......sounds like I want carbs for breakfast huh? I also would mostly like to eat the same portion at breakfast time that most people would save for dinner.

If this all worked out, I would be happy to just snack the rest of the day and not have another big meal.

The problem with the whole scenario above is that I wake up early and am out the door within an hour. So I am not ready to eat my breakfast dinner until I get to the office. Once I am in the office, my choices are limited. Therefore I spend the morning trying to fill up ....to get my dinner portion. I am therefore eating junk. Hot chocolate, potato chips, candy from my co-workers desk, french onion dip, some microwave mac n cheese. None of this fills me up and I just keep eating.

What's a breakfast gal to do?

In other news. These snippets just in.

Things that suck:
Colposcopies suck.
Waiting for biopsy test results sucks.
Cold weather sucks.
Property taxes suck (especially in WI)
Spending money you don't have on stuff you don't want sucks.

A few of my favorite things:
Snuggly warm big dogs
Cute 6 and 4 year children of mine
Good Bloody Mary's with a pickle in them
Science documentaries

Funny things:
Labrador retrievers that are afraid of water.
14 year old little brothers with girlfriends.

That's all for today.

Bah Humbug! and Perspective

2010-12-06T21:03:00.003-06:00

Well, not exactly bah humbug..but sort of.
I started out my week with an 8 am dentist appointment today to have a cavity filled. So not a fun beginning. To top it off, during my appointment they were playing Christmas music. It isn't that I hate Christmas but the music...not a fan. A bit ironic that was playing while I was having my teeth drilled. Appropriate probably since that music really couldn't have gotten any lower in my liking unless I was able to associate it with one of the things I hate most - dental work. Voila!

Two shots of novacaine, some Winter Wonderland tunes, a noisy drill...and one hour later I have a fancy new filling.
On the upside, now that the novacaine has worn off I can feel the left side of my face now and for the first time in over a month I can now chew on that side of my mouth. Yipee.

A week of adapting to another change in the office and lots of coworkers in town from around the globe.
And then for fun on Friday I have an appointment with my ob/gyn for a colposcopy. They may even be playing Christmas music there too...although that seems a little less likely than it did at the dentists office. As if it wasn't disappointing enough to have an abnormal pap, I've been thinking on those results for 3 weeks until this appointment on Friday. If you believe that stress and anxiety have negative health benefits, well then you understand why the wait for this is INSANE for me. If only I could make my brain relax for a while.

On to Saturday for a company Holiday Party. The good times never end!

Of course all of this complaining is just words and dumping it like this does make me feel better.

I have been reminded in the last month about how precious life is. Putting into perspective my minor gripes I have some friends that are dealing with the awful diagnosis of cancer. One a seemingly healthy woman not much older than myself and the other the young daughter of a friend who recently learned of a relapse of lymphoma.

Not being a religious person, statements like "it isn't fair" don't mean much. It always bothered me when I heard people say "you are never handed more than you can handle".

I have faith in the human minds ability to overcome and adapt. I also find great hope in the abilities of science to find treatments. I hope those two important things bring renewed health to anyone suffering from disease. If praying and religious faith is what a persons mind needs to cope or move forward than I am all for it. Life isn't easy and we should take whatever "pill" works even if it only works because we think it is.

Oh my what a disjointed post for no one to read:)
On that note, I have an adorable four year old who is sleeping soundly and I am going to cuddle up to him and enjoy every moment of my wonderful life that I can.

Goodnight!

The Jones'

2010-11-15T13:02:00.004-06:00

Keeping up with them could sure be an exhausting endeavor. Lucky for us I rarely try.

It is tempting though. These grown-ups, the same age as I am, making similar incomes...but man, do they have some nice stuff. Matching furniture, beautiful decorations, new homes, nice vehicles, .... lots of stuff.

We don't have most of that stuff, and mostly it doesn't bother me. Until I think about inviting the Jones' over and I think our world might scare them. The only furniture I have actually purchased are a love seat and couch and a mattress....everything else is some form of hand-me-down. Without all that we have inherited from grandparents...we would be mostly furnitureless.

I love our antiques, they are mostly functional.

With 3 cats, a dog, 2 young boys...having anything really nice seems like a pretty futile effort.

So then I ask where o where does the money go, if not to an immaculately decorated home with an lcd tv , nice hardwood floors,etc......

I think it goes mostly toward buying organic food and paying tuition at the Montessori school...not to mention the ridiculously huge mortgage we carry as a result of buying at the tail end of the boom.

So Jones' we love ya, and we might like to invite you over but you will have to excuse the cat hair that gets on your cloths, the mis-matched furniture, the scratched wood floors...and my mom and step-dad living in half of our house.

I think someone should make a sitcom about this situation. Although it would probably bore most of you to death.

Whatcho lookin at???

Money Comes and Goes

2010-11-04T13:51:00.003-05:00

Oh a big week at our house. Top of the list are:

a) new mini-van
b) Jared's b-day
c) Arden's b-day
d) Arden swallowing a penny
e) Baker's first school report

After much ado and on-going expression of my OCD tendencies toward over-researching and not being able to shut off my brain...we finally took the dive and bought a mini-van. Alas, it would have been more fun to purchase just about any other kind of vehicle...but we are in the practical phase of life with 2 kids and a big dog and lots of shit to haul around. Speaking of shit....

Arden swallowed a penny. We are only one bowel movement into the search so far. Jared had the honor of searching the first bm with a chopstick...and he even got to do that on his birthday. Happy birthday Jared! It was quite a scare for Arden and I think he may have learned his lesson about putting things in his mouth...although at dinner last night he did lick the top of the soy sauce bottle at the restaurant. I asked him why he had the penny in his mouth, to which he responded - "It was a hay penny, and I just forgot the rule about not putting hay penny's in my mouth."
UPDATE: The penny has been recovered, as of about 9 pm last evening.

My big guy Baker...he wrote a report on his Halloween hero..Thomas Edison. His report he wrote in perfect cursive, accompanied by a visual he created from a box and light bulb, and then he delivered his report verbally to his class and all of their guests. I am so proud of him and he really seemed to love the experience. Funny part is that he could have picked anyone he wanted to do the report on....some kids picked family members, their dad, etc....He is really growing up fast.

Halloween was fun this year. Both boys dressed up as Ninjas - which I am convinced was mostly because they wanted the plastic swords. Trick or Treating was fun and we have the candy to prove it. Now Jared and I have a good bribery tool to enforce good (just better) behavior.

Pics to be posted soon....I am really behind on that.

Fighting the Good Fight

2010-10-21T15:41:00.005-05:00

The bad guy ship shooting water bombs, the good guys parachute out of their good guy space ship and land safely on the ground. They knew it was only water bombs and so decided to go to the ground to catch them and play for a while. Fantastic.

Fighting the Good Fight

It's been a good week. Letting something go that should have been gone a long time ago. Speaking up for my feelings. Very empowering. Some things you have to except, some things you can make a choice about. Just accepting something that hasn't been good for you just because you are used to it....well that is just plain d-u-m-b!

It is fall and it has been lovely. Last week we had a summery few days, now we are back to windy and chilly fall. Colors are pretty much done and we are on blue skys with bare tree's.

Jared has been studying and preparing for the PE exam...exam is on the 29th. Preparing for Halloween....both of the boys have chosen to be a ninja. I think they chose that based on the avaiablity of the swords with the costume. A ghost with a sword --nope, Frankenstein with a sword-- nope....but yes ninja. Two of the cutest ninjas in the world - no doubt.

We'd like to come up with the perfect costume for Howie- the dog-- any ideas????

A story of a friend

2010-10-06T13:15:00.005-05:00

So there I was living in a place I can’t quite remember, but I am sure it was mostly good…. I have no scars and am not harboring any angry feelings toward anything living.
Somehow I ended up searching outside of my place, I doubt I really wanted to…but I did. I got lost, had no food, no shelter, no one to help me. Ended up in a jail of sorts, on death row….for what I did not know…I wished someone would find me and bring me back to my place…but that didn’t happen and time kept ticking. I think I am in Iowa, some clues point to that.
The sun started to shine again and a kind soul picked me up and escorted me to a new place. This place was great. Kind people, great food, love, a doctor to see that made me feel better. I could finally relax. These people call me Howie. It doesn’t sound familiar but it sounds nice and everytime they say that name I come running…because I know I will get some love, food, walks, and fun!
About a month later these two crazy people showed up at my new place. The lady was nice and she talked to me in a silly voice. The guy was fun and had long hair…he ran around with me. They touched my feet, pulled my ears, looked at my teeth, threw the ball for me, hugged me, wrestled with me ….and then….I went with them into their car. A small car, but it had windows and I hung my head out and took in the smells. They gave me a treat and some ice to chew on.
Then we arrived at another place. They said “Welcome home Howie!” I met two more of the crazy people…energetic, loud, and fun little boys. More treats, more walks, hiking, fun, love!!! I found my family! I feel like I have always known and loved them. I have my own couch in Baker’s room , yummy food to eat, cats to play with, dog friends to visit, a big yard to run in….I am happy and my people family are happy.

A note from my people: Adopt a homeless pet.Don't buy from breeders, pet stores! We especially love to adopt older dogs that need a home. No biting, peeing, no issues...just perfect!

Wearing many differant hats...

2010-09-30T10:48:00.001-05:00

Labor Day Weekend Excitement

2010-09-06T19:41:00.002-05:00

Oh we had a trip to Hayward, hiking with friends, swimming in the hotel pool, frantic calls from the family about my dads smash-face-on-the-ground-black out-wake up-look like hell- worry his kids-roller blading fun. Baker lost his first tooth! The boys had their OFFICIAL first days of school on September first.

Oh and because

2010-08-30T12:27:00.005-05:00

it's been so long, I have mess of random things to include in the update.

These tidbit are:

Hot Pepper Jelly making.

First day of preschool -technically phase in week.

Wii Tennis in the buff
Business Booming at the lemonade stand
A moment of silly creativity

This week is official first day of preschool and 1st grade for my little one's. Hard to believe time has flown so fast. This weekend - Labor Day Weekend- we are camping. Very much looking forward to that.

My big complaint right now is allergies. Hay fever, rag weed....grrrrrr!

Got away

2010-08-03T21:28:00.003-05:00

Time got away from me. It's been a fast summer so far.

We spent a wonderful weekend in the UP of Michigan over the 4th of July. Visited Copper Falls to camp and hike, a night in Copper Harbor, another night in Hancock. Just wish we had more time.

We also spent a long weekend in Grand Rapids, MI for the in-laws 40th wedding anniversary. That was fun, minus the 4 hour trip to the urgent clinic for pink eye. Seriously, it was insane. The dr. at this clinic refused to just accept my diagnosis..which was that Baker had pink eye...and instead made the child put some glow in the dark oooze into his eye's, looked with the microscope at his eyes, made him take an eye test (he can't even read all of his letters yet), and then decided on prescribing the standard drops for pink eye AND oral antibiotics AND childrens Benadryl AND Patanol eye drops. Overdoing it a bit???? I thought so, so we just used the drops, and it cleared up as expected. Can't wait to get the bill from the clinic!

Jared proceeded to get pink eye and then so did I. Top on a couple of high fevers and the last two weeks have been a blast!

We are on the upswing now though! Packing August full of fun. Cabin weekends, time with friends, all good stuff.

The garden is a neglected mess of weeds. Yet somehow we are still getting tomatos, zuccini, basil, dill, cucumbers, peppers, and some very cabbage worm infested napa.

And what would a post be without some recent pictures:

The "Hoola Hoopin Arm" Band sings us a song titled "Dad Mowing in the Lawn in His Red High Top Shoes"Brave Sir Romeo , aka Romeo Salsa or Smelly Cat or The "Fat One"

RIP Bear

2010-07-02T08:12:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, Bear has been in a downward decline lately. The poor dog has lost a lot of weight, and on Monday of this week he stopped eating. The vet has tried with iv fluids, etc. to spark some interest in eating again...but no luck. We've tried turkey, hamburger (yes in our vegetarian household), peas, cheese, beer, cheetoes, crackers, beans, anything and everything. No luck. All he has eaten since Monday is about 1 tb of turkey and 12 peas. Prior to that he was on a roast beef only binge for 2 weeks.

Bear is certainly the best dog any family could ask for. We were very lucky he found his way into our lives when he was already 7 years old. We've enjoyed having him in our family for nearly 6 years. He truly is the perfect dog. No issues at all. Really, never.

Last night we said our good-bye's. Some funny conversation was had with our boys while we were in bed trying to fall asleep. We talked about some fun memories of Bear. The boys asked alot of questions around his impending death such as what would be done with his body, etc. It was a pretty insane conversation but it was also funny. He was a quirky dog in a quirky family.

As I write this, Jared is preparing to take the most humane step of bringing Bear to the vet's office to allow him a quick peaceful death. To say Bear will be missed is an understatement.

This has saddened Jared and I more than either of us expected. Even knowing he has been getting old and more sick hasn't made this easier.

I can't recommend enough to everyone that reads this that you should go to a shelter and adopt an older dog. Even though our time with him was shorter than we would have liked, he was truly a blessing to our family and I would do it again 100 times.

we love you bear!

Visual Voicemail- Voice Recognition

2010-06-29T11:26:00.002-05:00

Just a sample of the messages I receive via email. I have to admit, the voice recognition software is pretty slick..I like being able to read then vs. accessing my voicemail. BUT...they do make for some funny interpretations of what was actually said. Any phone numbers I replaced with an xxxxx.

Happy Reading.

"Hey Joe, this is mom calling. Just calling to say hi and we actually finished the porch a little while ago but I also took a nap dad(?) and have a mess around. So anyway, we're driving home to get some one. Give us a call that will be great. Bye. "

"Hey guys, I got a message from Sarah on Monday. Borrow the expedition for 4 July and see if you go. If you because is camp so he doesn't get back and actually until the third from camp. So we will be to go up but you can borrow the expedition here and I'm not sure. Just let us know what days you're planning on leaving coming back so we can kinda make plans. Our site as to how to get around without the expedition. So give us call back. Talk to you soon, bye "

"Hi this is Jessie with USI and I'm calling to let you know your delivery is scheduled for Thursday at about 8:45:00AM. And if you have any questions, give us a call at 1XXXXX ext. 21149. Thank you "

"Hi, this is [...] from Vonage. Just do online testing with the incoming call. Get a fast busy signals and the rain know the course should be completed fine. Please retest and also would send you the email. Thank you very much. Take care now. bye bye. "
"Hey Sarah, this is Diane. I don't believe I'll be coming to the shutterbug bonanza, so, so, I just want to let you know, I know it's kinda late. I thought that you kind of thought it was coming but then you got said didn't think I was coming soon. I took that as an option for out. So, anyway, I'll just let you know. Bye "
Oh you know, it's just me calling to say hello. I hope you having a wonderful weekend. [...] soccer game and [...] going to movie this last all and then we're going to beer(?) tasting tonight, and I'm [...] for a little bit tomorrow, that we got another soccer game. And then we have some down time Sunday evening the beans spurred(?). So, we're gonna put those in the ground. That's [...]. Alright, see you later. Bye. "
"Hey Sarah, it's Joan. I just thought deal, just got home. I just thought I'd let you know that Thursday. Just left a blank checks in your mail box, so I don't know if your mom is around and and grab those. I thought let you know, I'll. Email you too. Bye "
"Hi Sarah, this is Dwayne with United natural foods. I have an address. I have two different addresses and I was just trying to get the right one. And I'll try calling my company right now. It's a 8:45 and I'm I just got finished at whole earth gardener groceries. So I'll be headed that direction but I just want to make sure the address before can. Thank you. Bye oh, my number xxxxx is like a hold me. Thanks "
"Hey, I don't know if this is your number or not anymore. My phone's here like almost dying didn't have reception [...]. I completely forgot that I was supposed to watch [...] today. And I spoke with Sarah yesterday and she must've forgotten as well 'cause she [...] getting there. So, [...] so I don't have Zeny's(?) number I can't call her. So I won't be there till tomorrow. Hello(?) guys you're on your own. Bye. "
"Happy Birthday Baker Boy(?). Happy Birthday Baker Boy. Happy Birthday Baker Boy. Happy Birthday Baker Boy. From Grandma [...]. And I'll be waiting you down. You're very old and helping him through Barb [...] here in the future. Hope you have a great birthday. bye bye. "
"Hi this family, it's Jane. Long time no talk. Just wanted to get in touch before my sister got here see if we can make some plans find something maybe halfway between here and there to picnic and party together. Give me a call when you get some free time. You remember. My number is xxxxx. Bye "
"Oh hello Leon. I'm sorry, I haven't read the wrong time. I don't know your in-laws are in but I just called to say hello and I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. Piece out. Talk to you later. Bye "

Rock on

2010-06-11T15:34:00.003-05:00

Yes I found some cute little rocks on the beach.

Yes I took them home.

Yes I got out my sharpies.

Yes I drew faces on the rocks.

Yes I brought them to work.

Yes I lined them up on my keyboard.

Just sayin....

Back by demand...

2010-06-09T10:05:00.005-05:00

If three out of a total of 5 readers requests, I guess that qualifies as demand!

Beginning of summer life is raining along nicely. The rain and warmth has really been perfect for the garden and new seedlings seems to grow inches over night. Everything is so green the woods surrounding our house are like a magical little wonderland. Garden successes so far include having grown all from seed, harvest of lettuce-spinach-arugula and lovely garlic scapes.

The boys have really taken to swimming as a result of their ymca swim lessons. We now have an advanced pollywog (Baker) and an eel (Arden). Baker successfully passed the waterslide test and has earned the privledge to take several runs on the waterslide each time we visit the pool. He is given a wristband each time we visit to indicate he passed the test and is diligent in saving each band by taping it to his bedroom wall. Very proud he is.

Creativity hasn't been at the top of my priorities...just no time. The small bits I am able I made a couple of plant stakes with personalized bodies and cut outs of the subjects faces....3 for mothers day for my mother that displayed the three grandkids, another for a friends daughters first b-day....they are a lot of fun to create. Make a nice little gift when stuck in a plant with a nice pot.

Taking a mental health day today...so PTO from the office. If I could just convince my brain to lay off the CrackBerry, I could let it all go and actually reset. In spite of Jared's on-going drive to plan every moment of the day, I am resisting that and will state that I do not yet know exactly what I will do today. This PMS just might dictate laziness all day.

Made it to 10:26am with only one planned event-- taking a picture of the cedar chest Jared refinished for us.

The Cedar Chest-- found this at the local second hand store at a steal for only $30.00 It was covered in warped veneer so i wasn't sure where it would end up. Jared committed a lot of time and talent to sanding the whole piece which revealed beautiful cedar. This piece will now play the role of footboard and linen chest in our bedroom. Next is to stain the door we'll use as the headboard. The two pieces will then coordinate nicely. I will make sure to take a picture of the final display when that is all done.

Okay, now it is 10:29am and I have an inkling to plan my dad's upcoming 60th b-day party. Might get creative with the invites...sounds good!

Recent pictures of some fun around here:

Time keeps on ticking

2010-05-12T11:05:00.003-05:00

And I have been terrible about posting. Life is good.

Boys are doing well. Birthday party this weekend for Baker. Grandma and Grandpa are visiting and bringing a family gift...wii!! We are officially entering the world of video games.

The boys will be excited...and I am not gonna lie...so I am!

Garden is wonderful and plants are growing. I will try to get some pictures this weekend.

For now, a photo from this week that makes me smile...

Spring has sprung...

2010-04-20T21:54:00.003-05:00

I celebrated my birthday over the weekend and enjoyed a wonderful time with friends and family. A true weekend warrior, I live for the weekends.

Our friend Joan celebrated her birthday last weekend as well, to follow this text is a picture of my "creation" for her. I envision it hanging in her and Dale's house to welcome guests with a little bit of whimsy.

Seedlings are growing fast, although hopefully not too fast and too leggy. Ideally we'd find a perfect sunny and sheltered spot for the greenhouse...but so far no luck there. The seedlings are living their life in the basement under grow lights for now. I don't think it'll be long before we get them outside.

Seedlings

2010-03-24T19:56:00.002-05:00

We've been busy...

Flowers, leaves, something green?

2010-02-12T14:07:00.004-06:00

Last year, summer and spring I started a collection of leaves, flowers, etc. that I pressed. I've been struggling with how to work with them. Finally I came across the clear contact paper or self adhesive vinyl sheets and that took me one step closer to preserving these items.
A couple of weeks ago at a shopping trip to Ikea I picked up these fantastic hanging frames...Finlar Fladdra....and the combined results have brought a smile to my face:

Not very useful but fun

2010-02-08T19:35:00.004-06:00

Today was rough. Some set backs and some self esteem crushers.

Besides that I wanted to share some recent projectsthat have been a bit random, serving very little purpose. I like them. I would put them in plants, hang them from curtain rods or door knobs, or on hooks, or bring them to work and hang them on cubicle walls. Could put it on the outside of a gift or on a tree.
They are made with a small bit of creativity and a lot of random inspirational misc. stuff I have been collecting and saving.
All three, yes three. Have been gifted away and now exist only in the following pictures.
Would you ever purchase one of these useless items? If so how much would you pay for it? Who would you buy it for?
honesty is good. do tell.

She awakes anew...

2010-01-25T11:02:00.002-06:00

After my visit to the darkness of the flu....I return awakened and turning over a new leaf.
Priorities must be in order.
Top priority is my family. I have three wonderful boys to live with and enjoy life with and no longer will I let stress of work dim that happiness at all!

Fun plans in the works for a small business with a friend...will roll out those details in due time:)
Getting ready to order seeds.

And a nice reminder of my favorite quote:

"When you feel yourself starting to become whole, it's all right to accept positions of power, but not before then. The overriding problem with our country, and our world in general, is that we are, in large part, managed by incompetents. Most of these are men who have spent their lives seeking power rather than themselves.Consequently we are confronted with the grotesque spectacle of working for childish figures --half-baked little generals with overblown egos and no more understanding of the seach for meaning than some primitive, base organism spending its time feeding on the lives and feelings of others, guzzling them up like strained peaches, cackling to themselves as they play shell games with other people's destinies." -Robert James Waller

On the birds and the bee's...

2010-01-05T09:51:00.002-06:00

"Let me tell you a story about crows and some other birds" said Mom.

Both boys sit down on the couch attentively, the light of the fire flickering in their eyes.

"Some birds decide to stay together forever once they meet eachother. They like eachother so much that they decide to stay together their whole lives" said Mom.

"Do they date first?" said Thing 1.

"I don't know about that, they might. But mostly they just like eachother and then fly around and build nests together and stay together their whole lives" Mom replied.

"The BackYardigans do that" said Thing 2.

"Really, do they, I didn't know that about them" Mom returns.

"Yep they really really do" says Thing 2.

"The BackYardigans mate for life, I just learned that from our youngest son" Mom says to Dad.

Artist

2009-12-29T13:41:00.004-06:00

I am a bit of an artist. I dabble in ink on paper. Original prints.

One example below....

Check

2009-12-29T13:36:00.001-06:00

baby check, baby 1 2 3

Anyone reading this?

Testing

Love these kids...

2009-12-02T13:23:00.002-06:00

total mom post, but I really do love these boys

Metal Eater

2009-11-19T11:01:00.002-06:00

Baker is very fond of writing stories. He can't actually write, but he tells me the story outloud and then I write as fast as I can to capture the story. He also illustrates his stories.

He likes to write stories that involve some type of recycling and also any "potty talk" he can slip in there.

Thus this story about the Metal Eating Dinsaur Monster:

Yeah, I know.

2009-11-15T13:44:00.003-06:00

It's been a long time since I posted। No good excuse। Same old excuses। We are well into Fall right now, so the garden posts will be quiet for a while। We celebrated 2 birthdays around here last week. Jared and Arden. Arden is now 3 and Jared is 35 going on 15. We had a beautiful weekend to celebrate birthdays. The odd 60 degree days in November fell perfectly for us so we could have some outdoor parties. Wonderful to say the least. I didn't have to clean the house!

Keeping this short and sweet. Wanted to post some videos of the boys. First is a clip of both of them riding their UrbanX big wheels. Can't give a high enough rating on these bikes, the boys love them. Thank you to Grandpa Arnie and Grandma Di for buying one for each boy on their 3rd birthday. By next year Arden will grow into his, for now he is happy to keep up with Baker.
They Bike...

They also dance...

Busy Day.

2009-09-19T22:04:00.000-05:00

There was a rumor that we would get a frost on Thursday of this coming week. So we made a good effort today to get as much harvested as possible. Of course now we have reason to believe that was just rumor, there won't be a freeze...but oh well...we got a lot done!

Jared and the boys helped.

The onions were done drying by the barn:

And a beautiful end to the day...Arden and Jafar passed out in bed.

Busy weekend! Tomatoes, berries, and flowers Oh My!

2009-09-13T15:45:00.000-05:00

Tomatoes of all colors are ready in the garden. I am harvesting vast amounts each day. Here are some pictures from Friday's harvest:

We spent a good part of this morning at our friend Joan's house. She has a beautiful garden and lots of raspberries that she let us pick! Yum!
Thank you Joan!!

After picking and also enjoying a nice lunch at Joan's we headed to Rising Sun Farm to buy some eggs and maple syrup. If you haven't been to Rising Sun... you should. A local organic farm with a wonderful supply of all things grown right there.

Right next store to Rising Sun is the White Pine Apple Orchard. Another local organic treat. This is a farm you should absolutely visit. Organic apples are hard to find locally, and wow do these farmers earn their money. The owner of White Pine, Keith, is a gracious friendly man and full of knowledge. The apples can't be beat!
Keith's tractor-

When Arden was napping upstairs (a miracle in itself) I had time (another miracle) to do some work with my pressed flowers and leaves. Jared was kind enough to build me a huge press that will surely increase the number of dried items in the near future.

Here are some of the items I placed between laminate sheets. Now, what will I do with them????

On other things and growing too

2009-08-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

Where I sleep.

I have opinions on where I sleep, shower, and in general relax. When traveling and selecting a hotel/motel I have minimum standards. Yes, I read the feedback online at every site I can find including TripAdvisor(the one I like most), yahoo, hotels.com, and in addition I rely on opinions from people I know who live in the area or have stayed at locations in the area. Sounds logical. I think perfectly logical?

Of course other people have differant standards. So, the less scientific part is where I take what they say and then apply to what I know I can tolerate and voila! I make a decision. Not a problem in any way. I decide where I will sleep, shower, and in general relax.

No issues with all of that- right?

WRONG.

Apparantly if you travel for business, leaving the comfort of your own home and family... in order to represent your company. In exchange for that you get...nothing. Well, you get behind in your everyday work, you get a larger daycare bill, and you get stress. But also...and here's the kicker. You get no say whatsoever in where you sleep, shower and in general relax.

Quick logical solution. Yes, look at me being all logical again.

Logical solution= I pay the differance in cost between the hotel they pick and the hotel I pick.

No one loses. All is good.

WRONG.

Everyone and their brother (no really) gets in involved and we will meet about it again on Monday.

Oh and if they agree to that logical solution you can add to the list of things I get for going on the trip- add lose more money so that you can stay in a place you are comfortable in.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

New topic.

Ragweed is kicking my ass this week. I have made a drowsy friend named Benadryl. Yes, I have tried all of the perscription stuff it does not work for me. These allergies are limiting my time in the garden which is sad since the days are numbered. Fall is in the air. 42degrees last night! That is too close to freezing for me. Doubt my tomatoes love it either. Most of them are still avoiding turning color. Here is a shot of yesterdays harvest:

Also spent some time yesterday freezing broccoli, cauliflower, and making basil pesto. And one final round of bread and butter pickles (yum, and thank you to Pearl for the recipe!).

Final picture of the day, had a fun night at our friend Nora/Brent/Blake/Paige's house last night. Kids played, hurt themselves, ate pizza, watched Spongebob, and were very loud. Grown-ups drank, ate pizza, and were very loud. A good night. These folks live out in the country and are surrounded by some beautiful land on which cow's graze. This particular cow and I had a staredown- in insured him I had no plans to eat or wear him and we came to an understanding so he posed for the picture:

Camp, Garden, Eat

2009-08-27T16:23:00.000-05:00

August has been a busy month. Feeling the end of summer and the rag weed. Had a wonderful time at Pizza at the Farm with friend Pearl, Dave, and Joan.

The garden continues to produce, but the tomatoes are slow to ready. Put up a fair amount of pickles, dill and bread/butter around 18 quarts.

And of course a camping trip with our friends Mary, Dan, Lily and Sam. We headed to Merrick State Park- which should be named Poison Ivy State Park.

A good August. Wish it wouldn't end. School starts for Thing 1 next week already!

Can't stop...

2009-08-12T20:11:00.001-05:00

Starting the fall planting- carrots, cabbage, arugula, spinah, turnip, radish, lettuce, chard.
Well actually planning to start the fall planting. So far I planted carrots in the cold frame....and we have a lead on a hoop house for the rest. Just need to plan the space and figure out how we will regulate temps during the winter months.

We enjoyed a hot and mosquito filled night in the garden....here are pictures to prove we were out there..but it was beautiful none the less.

Castor

Another good night in the garden.

I LOVE the garden.

Things are going very well in the garden!

2009-08-12T16:22:00.000-05:00

stuff and things

2009-08-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

Highlights:
got a new bike
zuccini
and hot weather upon us= tomatoes soon...I hope.

dance party usa in our family room

Kitten doing her thing...

Huck Finn?

My name is blue sky...

2009-07-23T23:45:00.000-05:00

Are you still reading? anyone - anyone? I wouldn't blame you if you deserted me....this is my way of boring the riff raff so only my true readers are left. Yep, you bet.

Where are you Katy?

I have been busy with work, not at all my favorite task.
However have taken some time during the off hours to have fun. On Tuesday night we went to Pizza at the Farm in Stockholm with our friends Joan and Dale. Incredible. All around perfect. We drove there in a beautiful Midwestern summer storm. Passing through the same system 3 times during the drive we experienced heavy rain, small hale, beautiful views of storm clouds. Of course I forgot my camera. When we arrived the storms hadn't arrived there yet so we parked and went up to order our pizza's. We ordered pizza's number 149, 150 and 151 and the wait would be an hour. Time to tour this beautiful organic farm where we say seemingly unending rows of basil, chard, kale, onions, tomatoes, squash, and more. A site to see as the colors were made even more vivid by the light of the pending storm arrival. There were old steer as docile as can be, greenhouse, hoop houses, people people people of all kinds. We set up camp in one of the hoop houses with our table straddling a line of basil.
The pizza's were ready on time, and they were delicious. We had a 1)Mediterranean version with calamata olives, local cheese, etc. 2)a chipotle pepper and tomato pizza 3) a garden pizza with fresh everything. All of the crust is made with wheat they farm, harvest and mill. They cook their pizza in an outdoor brick oven.

Without further ado, pictures of a few of my favorite things recently (my boys, my garden, baby birds, chalk drawings). Click on the image to view in a new window larger....not sure how well the collages are viewed otherwise.

Pictures speak a thousand words?

2009-07-12T20:07:00.000-05:00

Collards, Chard, and Kale oh my!

2009-06-25T07:53:00.001-05:00

Good amounts of rain. Really hot weather. The garden is happy.
No issues to report...knock on wood.

Made my last harvest of radishes, turnips, spinach, lettuce and arugula until I plant again in the fall. I have a lead on a green house we may be able to attach to the barn....so I am hopeful for a fun fall/winter and early spring of planting in the coming months.

The broccoli has sent out some yummy shoots that don't even make it into the house...as the boys gobble them up before then. I can see some cute little cauliflower bunches growing within their leaves also...can't wait for that. Lesson for next year...plant at least twice as much broccoli so I can preserve some.

A LOT of greens have been ready each day. In a picture below you can see my harvest from Tuesday night....this amount has roughly repeated itself every two days for that last 2 weeks. Success on the greens. I have had enough to enjoy eating right away, give some away to my sister, and even managed to freeze a few baggies full to enjoy this winter.

Beets...I am worried about those. They look beautiful but I am not detecting any bulbs yet....should I be thinning?

Tomatoes...some plants have flowers already. I can't wait too see what we end up with this year. No signs of blight yet!! Yipee!!! I think I may have successfully avoided that. I think mulching with straw has been great.

Some pictures:

A full view of the garden-

Tuesday's harvest

The boys having fun in the "fort

Sunday's harvest

Green

2009-06-16T16:01:00.001-05:00

It's all green here. No, I didn't win the lottery. The yard, the garden...green and happy.

On the other hand all my kids seem to do is bother eachother all day long. Morning to night. Why can't you just get along?!!?!? They do love to be outside, so most of our time is spent outdoors playing in the yard. Lately the big hit has been the sandbox. Arden digs holes, throws dirt around and generally makes a mess. Baker has taken to creating sandcastles that include a co-op with a food storage basement, a place for the "bad guys", a place to store arrows, and several hidden doors. Kids love sand.

The garden is producing radishes, turnips, arugula, leaf lettuce, chard, spinach, sage, red russian kale, and collard greens all ready to eat! Next will be broccoli I believe. The garlic has sent up scapes and we have enjoyed those in our dinner the last few days.
All of the seeds I planted are moving right along including sunflowers, basil, delicata, zuccini, cucumber, bunching onions, cantalope!

As promised some more pictures!

Bear keep digging and prefers to spend most of his time in this hole he created:

Arden showing off his "digger" that can actually hold a whole dinosaur.

Baker displays his sand castle handy-work.

and dirty little boy feet-- yep, it's summer!

Spring and into Summer

2009-06-09T17:03:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends!

My favorite time of the year. I have been so absorbed in the outdoors, the garden, playing with the family outside that I have been avoiding off-work time use of the computer at home.

The camera finally filled up with nearly 400 pictures taken over the last month so it is time to unload, upload and update.

The winds of change are blowing at work and I am hoping for the best there...could mean more money, less time, more time, same money, could be good, could be bad...I am hoping for good change, more money, same amount of time. Should know more next week.

The family is good and we are busy working in the garden and making plans for camping weekends this summer. Did I mention this is my favorite time of the year?!

We have also been doing a fair amount of socializing and entertaining. Friends over, cook-outs, kids play dates, family visits, etc. Again, did I mention I love this time of year???

Without further ado.....some glimpses of the happiness I have seen in the last month:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

2009-05-10T09:18:00.000-05:00

And now a word from our sponsers...

We love you!!!!

Too long...

2009-05-07T20:33:00.001-05:00

It has been too long since I last posted. I know this.
Had a few moments on the home computer tonight to upload some video's. Basically we have a video from Feeding the Geese, Easter, a video of my garden:

Getting older

2009-04-13T09:31:00.000-05:00

I am fast approaching the age of 35. The oldest I have ever been. To some that sounds old, to others that sounds young...I understand that. To me, it sounds old and sometimes feels old. I thought that by 35 I would be a grown-up with a lot figured out? In many ways I feel like I am still stumbling through life except that now I have a lot more responsibility that affects other lives. Sigh.

Deep breath.

What I hope to do in my life. And no, this isn't a midlife crisis....I plan to live past 70 thank you very much.:
Raise two happy healthly sons.
Grow old and happy with my husband.
Be in fantastic physical shape. Enough to turn heads again.
Have a successful career doing something I love.
Get another degree.
Have a farm, rescue some animals.
Live frugally, yet take a warm relaxing vacation every year.
Have long beautiful gray hair.
Inspire others to do what they love.
Learn to let things go.
Welcome calmness and serenity to my days.
Teach my children to let things go.
Teach my children to seek calmness and serenity.
Not worry about money.
Live truthfully in every way.
Be the best I can be.

For today I will:
Enjoy my blueberry caffeine free green tea.
Drink lots of water.
Leave the office at 3, and try to forget about work until tomorrow.
Cook a good meal for my family.

Today's reading

2009-03-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

"When you feel yourself starting to become whole, it's all right to accept positions of power, but not before then. The overriding problem with our country, and our world in general, is that we are, in large part, managed by incompetents. Most of these are men who have spent their lives seeking power rather than themselves.Consequently we are confronted with the grotesque spectacle of working for childish figures --half-baked little generals with overblown egos and no more understanding of the seach for meaning than some primitive, base organism spending its time feeding on the lives and feelings of others, guzzling them up like strained peaches, cackling to themselves as they play shell games with other people's destinies." -Robert James Waller

What it is?

2009-03-19T14:55:00.001-05:00

I need to make this blog more fun...right?

More multi-media. Last weekend I had the opportunity to see Manah Hontana live at the Hudson High School. My very funny and talented cousin Adam is in the band. I have a clip of that to post....but will have to do that later.

In the mean time, I would like to share with you the drawing of our house created by our in-house architect:

Hope

2009-03-18T16:36:00.001-05:00

Spring is sort of here. It has almost kind-of arrived. We hit 60 degrees earlier this week.

I spent last Saturday getting the growing area (otherwise known as my basement) set up. Grow lights, tables, heating pads, and the onions seeds are planted in the flat.
This coming weekend I will plant pepper seeds, with my good friend Katy's help. I borrowed some soil blocks from my friend Joan, have the organic soil ready.....success will be had!

This weekend will also provide some time for Katy and I to discuss plans to sell some produce and other items at farmers markets and maybe the local co-op. Katy had a lot of success with hot sauce last year so we will hopefully build on that this year.

In other news, I have negotiated a 30 hr/week schedule with my corporate job. That will allow me more time with the boys, getting stuff done around the house, and hopefully relieve some of my guilt about taking care of home.

Spring, spring, my favorite season. Can't wait for the tulips to bloom!!!

Snob.

2009-03-07T06:57:00.001-06:00

Dilemma at hand.
I was never a facebooker or a myspacer, and truth be told...I still am not a big fan. I see value in LinkedIn in that it is for the most part functional in terms of business connections and the personal/political/opinion/silly-crap stays out of it. I like that.

HOWEVER, I did create a facebook page at the urging of my family members and a few friends. For years it sat there unchecked and then I started about 5 months ago paying attention to it.

What I enjoy is the general monitoring of the younger family members because I get a kick out of remembering what "those days" were like and find it fascinating how different their lives are now with facebook, text messaging,etc...the days of passing notes in class are over.

I also enjoy the daily updates from my dearest friends and family. A quick blurb from them can make my day (if it's a happy blurb) or even throw me into friend-role to help someone out. That is wonderful and a human connection that would be hard to have otherwise given the normal schedule of my life.

What I don't like...are the random friend connections from people, who for the most part...I had not connected to anyway for a reason. This presents a dilemma for me:
Do I want them to read what my friends/family are up to?
Do I want to read what they are up to?
Am I interested in engaging in non-like minded chatter?

It has even occurred to me that I find some of these "random friends from the past" embarrassing. They just aren't of the same political and religious beliefs as I am or my current social circle is.

Okay, okay...I know. It is good to have a balanced group. Makes you think..blablabla. But my feeling is that I get that "balance" by being around most of the people I work with and see around town. I am pretty maxed out on that way of thinking. I need balance in the other direction.

So, I started removing the "random friends from the past" from my facebook. I guess I must have decided facebook is important to me. That is not to say that all of those removed are people I don't want to be friends with or keep in touch with...but what I am trying to promote is a nice sanctuary for me. A place that I can check throughout the day and find inspiration, connections to people, and NOT silliness and I do NOT want to have to apologize for any ignorant comments made by anyone NOR to I want to feel compelled to respond. I have a forum for that...and that is most of my life.

Rant complete. Anyway, thoughts?

Time for spring.

2009-03-03T16:36:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since my last post.

Work has been busy. Too much work for too little money.

That is my only excuse.

Things look better this week.

I finally placed my seed order today. That means spring is certainly around the corner. I am ready!! Well, sort of. Now I need to start my seedlings indoors this year. Time to set up the grow lights, heating pads, etc.

Still, plans are in the works to hopefully go part-time by summer. This will give me more time with the boys and more time to tend to the growing of our food. As a family, we eat a lot. The more I can grow and preserve the better off we will be. I am lucky to have a few friends that can provide a lot of very good guidance this year in the garden. With any luck this will be the biggest most successful growing season I've had. I CAN'T WAIT.

As promised included within this post are some pictures from my trip to Key Largo.....

You look tan, did you go somewhere?

2009-02-20T13:37:00.000-06:00

Just returned from a lovely 4 day vacation to Key Largo. The weather there was fantastic, beach was beautiful, bed was comfortable, resort was clean. What more could I ask for except maybe another month of being there?
The quiet trip gave me some time to relax and do some thinking about my plans. I settled on the idea that my goal is really to either work part-time or have a flexible schedule that allows me to work from home often. Jared and I feel rather strongly that it is important for one of us (me being the chosen one) to spend more time with our boys and in the future to always be there before and after school, to attend and help out with extracurricular events,etc. We want to be involved in their lives, do our best for them...and this we think is a huge part of it. Hopefully I will put my plan into motion in the June time frame, my company seems open to it and I am relieved at the prospect of spending more time with the boys and getting our house back in order again at some point in the near future.

I also managed to finish a whole book on the trip! I read Loving Frank. It kept my interest and I learned a bit from it also. Timely that I read it when I was on this trip thinking about my plans...since for the most part instead of this book touching me as a feminist, or as a free-thinker...it touched me as a mother and I found myself mainly sad for the children in the book and angry at their mother.
The book spends some time discussing Ellen Key, a feminist writer and thinker from the early 1900's. I am intrigued to at least learn more about her and study her ideas. When I have time of course.

This weekends plans include a play for Baker and I (Charlotte's Web) as well as the fun of ordering seeds for the upcoming growing season!!!

Next post will include some trip pix of manatee and sunshine!

If I were a drinker

2009-02-09T13:53:00.000-06:00

Oh what a week it has been.

I learned that hell is actually a very cold place, in spite of the fact that is smells like an ashtray and there is a sunny window at my back.

I learned there is nothing that a group of smart funny women can’t get you through. I can’t quite describe how wonderful it was to meet up with some new and old friends on Saturday.

I learned that in spite of the fact that I hate stupidity (the definition of which is repeating the same steps and expecting a different outcome) I still do stupid things over and over again and encourage my friends to do the same.

I was reminded of how important a single decimal point can be in a string of numbers. And how much happiness can be bought by moving that decimal point just two spaces to the right.

My creativity has been draining away slowly. With hope my upcoming vacation will bring that back to life. For now, I think I need a drink.

PMS I hate thee.

Here is a sample of my art. A portrait of my dear friend AJS:

Perfect Weekend with a Label on Top!

2009-02-02T15:08:00.000-06:00

A fantastic weekend was had by all in our house this weekend. Friday night we had some friends over for dinner and general visiting. It was so great to get together with friends that we are totally comfortable with and we didn’t need to worry about the kids behavior, etc. Poop jokes abounded, food was thrown, and everyone laughed a lot. We made Ethiopian food including a spicy red lentil dish, Yetakelt W'et, and I even took a shot at making injera. The injera wasn’t the best, I think because I only let it ferment for 1 day vs. the recommended 3. Nevertheless, the teff flour had a fantastic taste….and we ate it all.

Saturday there was a heat wave in our area. In the sun the temperature measured 50 degrees WOW! We spent the day at a friends house helping to cut down a dead tree, the kids went sledding and complained about how hot it was—so they got to take off their coats and hats. Good times in the Midwest!

Sunday a visit from Grandpa Arnie brought us a new (to us) buffet, table, and chairs. When folded out the table can seat up to ten people. So, more dinner parties are to be had! I organized all of the kids art supplies into the buffet (yes I know, most people put their fancy utensils, table cloths,etc. in a buffet…I am not most people) . We went sledding with grandpa, out for some yummy Mexican food and then home to enjoy our family time. Another perfect day…that could only have gotten more perfect if I added a trip to Target’ boutique. So I did. I purchased a label maker and some pull-ups. The label maker I have put to use labeling all of the drawers of the buffet according to art supply – glue and stuff to glue, paint and brushes, paper, markers, pencils and crayons. OH THE EXCITEMENT!

I love my new label maker.
Next step is to label the heck out of kitchen stuff including spices, beans, canned foods, etc.

Blue sky and springtime please?

2009-01-28T14:10:00.000-06:00

I just want someone to walk in, pick up the cloths off the floor, dust off the surfaces, and open up the window for air. Some new sheets on the bed, fun throw pillows, fresh flowers…and then I will stretch out to relax a little. A nice long morning walk along the waterfront, a healthy brunch and then a day to be creative. Organize my pictures, make some boxes, hem Baker’s pants, sew a giraffe or two. Follow this by some work in the garden, a nice bath and a dinner out that includes some wine. Finally to bed, a nice rain and thunderstorm outside, the window open.

In other news...

2009-01-27T16:12:00.000-06:00

On to other subjects of interest in our life:

Goodbye Bingo!

Bingo, the Betta fighting fish has died. He spent about 3 days dying before finally being flushed after his life ended on Saturday. I don’t know what was wrong with him, the water looked clean, I was feeding him,etc. Baker took the news in stride. He was most interested in getting a new fish. The funeral flush was attended by both Jared and Baker and brought few tears. Later that day when visiting the facilities I was reminded by Baker that there is a fish in the toilet. Umm, yeah buddy…he isn’t around anymore.

Hello Lego’s!

Arden and I took a trip to IKEA and the Mall of America on Saturday. Leaving Jared and Baker to finish (oh not quite finish exactly) painting the kitchen. A stop at Lego Land that included the purchase of small mass produced plastic blocks with pegs amounted to a quick $50.00 spent. Yikes.
The boys seem to like playing with Lego’s.

Arden is very specific about how he builds his towers and seems inclined to have like colors together. He likes to put the “guys” in the towers and build around them.

Baker likes building the more complex cars, Star Wars ships, and Sponge Bob land. With a little help from Jared and with any luck Arden out of the room that is a fun project for them.

Finding time to cook/bake again? Sort of…

One thing I need to be better at is planning ahead for our meals.
Last weekend I prepared some tofu jerky for sandwiches, strawberry chocolate chip scones, blue berry chocolate chip scones, banana bread, and pasta salad with veggies (tomato, olives, cucumber, sugar snap peas). This has made for some quick lunches and dinners so far this week—but it’s only Tuesday!
We’ve pulled out some other meals I made and froze earlier including sweet and sour cabbage soup and veggie pot pies.
Last night I prepared the hash browns for this morning’s breakfast. Coupled that with some smoothies made from yogurt, a banana and some frozen strawberries (I picked these last summer) and the boys were very happy to eat breakfast today.

Prioritize? Fit more in with less time.

I would like to schedule some time each week to work on my projects. I have been collecting some beautiful paper, empty boxes, random garden catalogs and it is time for some productivity in the creative department for me!
Also, I miss my camera so I need to get out and take some more pictures. Should probably organize those that I have taken and get them off of my computer…time time time….where have you gone?

Drowning

2009-01-21T20:45:00.000-06:00

Oh my, am I learning alot about who I am and what matters to me now.

Working full-time outside of the home, a mandatory 9 hour work day (can't guarantee a lunch break in that time, usually work through lunch) has been so very hard on me and my family.

I miss my kids. I miss them so much that I actually feel an ache in my heart.
I feel guilty that I am not there to pick Baker up from school and ask him about his school day.
I feel guilty that I get home after 5 p.m. and can't get a good healthy meal on the table for them.
I feel so sad to only spend about 3 waking hours a day with my boys.

The theme this week seems to be guilt and sadness.

I don't know how mothers who work outside of the home do this. Any ideas, suggestions? Something other than "you'll get used to it" because I don't want to get used to being away from them...

The World

2009-01-13T12:39:00.000-06:00

My world has been a bit wobbly the last month or so. Getting laid off from a company I have worked for over six years sure has been a trip! First the freak out about how to pay bills, find a job in this economy, childcare and then the best part...the emotional ringer this has put me through.

In the past, when a company I worked for had layoff's I was always safe. We all sort of knew that layoffs were a good way to weed out non-performers. But this, this was something different. This wasn't predictable, had nothing to do with productivity, performance, etc...this was all about money. I have spent the last four weeks training in my replacement. The whole thing has been very, very, very demoralizing. The only thing that saved my brain from exploding through all of this was that I was very lucky to find a great NEW job and secure the offer within three weeks of having been laid off.

I must admit, for a moment the thought of not working and collecting unemployment didn't sound so bad...and I think I would have rested with that idea if it were summer vs. the middle of winter. I could have used the time to garden, play with the kids, relax....but my work ethic got the best of me...oh and the whole "pay the mortgage" thing. I even went ahead and found a second job, so I now pick up hours at a local deli/coffee shop on the weekend.

Someday we will all look back on the Depression of 08 and 09 and dish forth knowledge to the young'ins about how to watch your back, save, and work hard.

Meanwhile, at the dining room table...our in-house map maker and inventor (a precocious 4 year old) has been busy sketching up alternate worlds for us to live in. First there was the Raccoon World and then he created another more interesting world for us to live in...I will let him explain. It sounds like a great place to live...and if Obama hadn't won the election- I think we would have moved here.

Coupons and stuff

2009-01-11T08:38:00.000-06:00

Going to try to post this while the boys play with their Nerf guns and Jared is napping, SO...excuse any weird grammar or spelling.

Overheard this conversation this morning:
"What does mom have these coupons for?" Baker
"She uses them to absorb liquids." Jared
"What does that mean?" Baker
"Kinda like a sponge, you put it in liquid and it sucks the liquid up." Jared
"Oh." Baker253
"I don't want you playing in that drawer anymore." Jared

Let me help interpret this for you-- coupon = tampon in Baker's world.

In other news, I bought a gallon of paint for the kitchen. I hate the color, haven't painted yet luckily. There is a wasted forty bucks. Not sure what the heck I was thinking, it looks like mint green. I hate mint green. Anyway, back to Home Depot to try to exchange it for a more brown taupe like color.

And now Arden has a song for you, actually it's more for Aunt Bevy--
HI AUNT BEVY!:

Day is done...

2009-01-08T18:42:00.001-06:00

gone the sun. from the earth, from the hills from the sky, blablablablablabla. That is what I remember from a song I learned in Girl scouts or Brownies when I was a kid.

Spent most of today dealing with an incompetent service provider for my soon to be former company. Exhausting that people like that have jobs when hundreds of thousands of other people who could do the job better are getting laid off. This economy is a hoot.

The buying club driver told me today that all their local drivers were laid off. Rumor that a certain software company is going to lay-off 20% of its workforce. HTI laying off 25% this month. Best buy offering buy-outs to get people off the payroll. Seems things aren't going to turn around anytime soon. It took at least eight years to create this mess, I suppose it will take at least that to get it back to something good.

What does an economic depression mean to us in this day and age? I heard some about the depression from my great grandma years ago. I remember when we were cleaning out her house after she passed away I found she had saved nearly everything. Old zippers, buttons, empty take-out containers, pine-cones, old hearing aid batteries, old nylons stockings, random pieces of animal hide taken from old clothing I guess, and more. She was saving thinking that at some point anything would be worth something. I feel like doing that now. I feel like stock piling food, saving money, selling the house and going somewhere cheaper, buying cheap shampoo, trading organic for conventional, closing the cell phone account, turning off lights, turning down the heat, getting a second and third job, etc. But that is silly right? Or is it? I don't know.

What I know for sure is that I don't want it to taint my boys childhood...I guess it would be good for them to learn they should be frugal and save (I could have benefited from that lesson) but they shouldn't worry. That said, I need to watch what I say around them.

Things as they are, with starting a new job, the economy, a family to take care of....someone like myself who is a worrier and thinker needs to try to put things into perspective. Compared to a lot of people we are doing well and are very lucky. I must stay a hard worker and a good mother and that is what I intend to do.

Here it is the middle of winter and I am ready for spring. A quick look through the pictures I took last May 23rd brought a reminder of the prettier landscape to come. The seed and bulb catalogs are already arriving-- HOPE!

It all began...

2009-01-07T14:40:00.000-06:00

Finally time for me to jump into blogging. It seems this will match nicely with the ridiculous number of pictures I take and to add to it, videos I hope to upload.
Thank you dad for the fun insignia digital video cam.

For now, let me start by saying this will mark a new beginning for me. A fence if you will. When I was a kid my parents were really into bowling, and when they had a bad series of frames I think I remember them drawing a fence before the next frame.

Anyway, I am a lucky lady. A great husband (yes really), two handsome little boys, land I love, and a wonderful family. My job had been lacking in anything even remotely positive for a number of years and I am happy to say I am on to something very new in just two weeks.

Let the blogging begin!
And for fun, here is a practice shot at uploading a video...

The Lazy Cats