La La Land

Out with the old year...

2011-12-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

Go on, kick it out.

2011 was a weird year for us.
I'm glad it's over.
I'm hoping 2012 is a bit calmer, tamer, mundane...

One can only take so many upheavals in a year.

I don't want to scare 2012, so I'm not going into the New Year with a huge list of resolutions, must-haves and how-it-will-be-in-2012-isms. I mean, there's still the possibility that 2012 is the end of the world, so my dreams, plans and goals for 2012 will reflect that possibility.

I have three things I will do every day starting Jan. 1.
Well, I've already started, but these are my New Year's goals.

I will not go to bed until I've:

Written something, at least a page
Read something, at least a page
Exercised, at least 30 minutes

That's it!

That's me in 2012!

Happy Day After Christmas Day - best day of the year

2011-12-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

I do enjoy Christmas, but by the time Christmas arrives, I'm almost ready to be done with it.

One of my favoritest days in the entire year is the day after Christmas Day.

It's not that I'm a grinch. I love the music, the lights, the simple traditions we engage in with the kids every year - cookie baking, tree decorating, singing mutilated versions of Christmas carols - it adds some festivity and brightness to a normally dark time of year.

I grew up fully engulfed in the religious context of Christmas, but as history and the religious holiday don't quite match up, I'm not going to dwell on the religious. Those who truly celebrate the holiday in a fully religious capacity aren't affected by.... Santa, elves and the crushing realization that Santa provides presents solely based on your parents' economic status.

Right now, my kids love it - Santa, presents and stockings and all.

But really, Santa is us telling our kids some magical, mythical creature exists solely to bring them toys in some mythical place called the North Pole. Lets hush up about the poor, starving kids that get nothing.

I'm guilty, I really am. I perpetuate Santa.

I justify it by my belief that childhood belief in magic and myth helps kids' imaginations. It helps stave off the ho-hum reality of life and helps transition them from belief in magic to fascination in science - why no, a big fat man isn't going to come down a chimney we don't have and drop off presents, but we can TOTALLY travel in space and build a bio-dome on Mars.

I will say, though, at 8, this is their last year of belief. Mr. logic, Turbo Boy has already figured it out but is hanging on to the dream, while Bear suddenly realized that um, if Santa is magical, why didn't he get a DS? And how come Santa always brings things that Target sells? And um, the kids at school, they got DS' and consoles and snowboards and a trip to Bali and ummm... hmmm....

This is what I think ultimately breaks the myth of Santa -- Johnny Rich Kid and siblings gets snowboard and gear, a season pass, a new console - elite version - for the entertainment centers in their bedrooms, 5 best selling games to match, and a crap ton of designer clothing. Danny Dad Works The Night Shift gets 1 new game and a console for the whole family, some socks and a sled, but that's okay because hey, sleds are cool.

But that's the kids. Me? Presents? Ack! No, anything. Ask me to do anything, but do not ask me to find meaningful gifts my family will cherish every. single. year. Inevitably, I fail. There's so much pressure! Even if I had deeper pockets than I do, I can't do it. I. Just. Can't give the perfect gift.
Get your child the best gizmo! And the gizmo games! Do something big - buy your husband a new toolbox, with all the tools, in a new workshop. Give the gift of diamonds. Spend more money than you actually have because if you don't, you're admitting you're you know... economically challenged (to be fair, being economically challenged is very 2011, and is rumored to remain the smokin' hot trend of 2012...).

The entire point of 2012 for my "economically challenged" and so-smokin-hot-trending-2012 family is to become less 'stuff' oriented. Christmas defeats that entire purpose. It's the time of year when you buy a bunch of random stuff for people who only think they want it. Inevitably, one or two gifts are used, kept and loved and the rest become destined for basements, yard sales and re-gifts. Then, of course, there's the silent disappointment - oh, is this what you got me? Do you even you know, know me?

So here's to the Day After Christmas Day.
My favoritest day of the year.
The day where everyone is chill, the kids aren't yet bored by all their loot and the brand-spankin' New Year hangs over us all, about to come in all blinged out and optimistic, where the only thing you need to buy is some good wine and Chinese take-out.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

2011-12-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

That pretty much sums up today.

I have two weeks off. In the Corporate World, that means I'm a programmer, software engineer, or work somewhere else in tech where the idea of working the weeks between Christmas and New Year's Eve is so mind-boggling awful, they shut down and send everyone home. And mostly don't pay them.

In the world of education, it's just you know, Winter Break.

I'm on Winter Break.

YAAAY.

In celebration of Winter Break, I did every conceivable chore I need to do before I go back to work next year. All in one day: Bills, paid. Christmas presents, mostly bought. Appointments for everyone for eyes, teeth and whatever else, made. (Oh crap, I forgot the cats!!! They'll be February) I spent today doing all the stupid, annoying things that I never actually have time to do any other time of... well... any other time at all.

So now I can goof off and write. quilt. swim. bake. run (after eating the baked things).

I'm soo excited.

I'm so excited, that on this cold, snowish Monday, I dug out the fine paper plates and gourmet Campbells, and made some awesome Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup for dinner.

Woo hoo!

Happy Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Monday.

Bizarro Lisa

2011-12-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

I changed my twitter name to BizarroLisa. How cool is that?
It's because I have two twitter feeds, and it has been annoying my friends, all five of them, that follow me... 'who will you choose, will it be you, or bizarrolisa?' and that is awesome.

This by the way, is yet ANOTHER attempt to kick start my writing :)

I've got a cool job I love now, so yeah. Totes to me!

I'm sending my baby out to be published, the one I've spent so much time on, that's been done for a year and a half, but that I never bothered sending out. TROLLS!

There are those who know me who feel the only way to move on with writing is to send that one piece out.
Next up: do I do demons, biological metamorphis' or crazy teen angst?

Did I mention, I'm a runner? and my new fave drink

2011-06-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Three miles every other day! Woot.
I've completed the couch to 5K and now I'm just running every other day. Next month, I plan to add 5 minutes to my daily 30 minute run. I want it to get up to 45 minutes of running.

Lost a few pounds. Lost a few inches.
Feel stronger, better :).

Also, if you have never blended coconut water with some frozen berries, than you have never truly had a refreshing drink.

Mmmmm....

Seriously. Try it.

11 oz. of coconut water
2-3 frozen pineapple chunks
2-3 frozen berries
Straw

Blend.
Drink.
Bliss.

Careful you don't make it too thick.
It is more refreshing than ice cream. Than frozen yogurt. Than heavy milk or soy-based smoothies.

Quick update and Battle of the Content management systems

2011-06-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

I've got WordPress.
I've got Blogger.
Now, I've got a Google Site.

I just can't make up my mind!

I think I'll be spending the next month working this out.

Quick update: still here, still carrying on.

June accomplishments: Finished the Couch to 5K, can now run 3 miles in 30 minutes, and do so about every other day. Garden is blooming like crazy. Still missing: job. Will find, now that I can run three miles and have become quite the proficient gardener, the only thing left undone is the job, which is still in progress... waiting, waiting...

Vegebaconarism, Day 3

2011-06-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

Still going in there!

We made it through Day 2, despite a late-night crisis revolving around Husbear's belief that there is an actual, super-secret special Healthy Man Food that doesn't involve brown rice, celery, veggies or other normal healthy food.

This resulted in a trip to the grocery store at quarter to nine at night to discover that, no, health food is health food, and there's no secret, yummy tasting man health food.

We left with ingredients amazingly similar to the ones we already have in the refrigerator: celery, lettuce, cucumbers...

Yesterday was a yummy bagel breakfast, a Greek luncheon platter of cheese, olives and tomatoes with an olive dressing and crusty bread, and dinner was tuna skewers. Yep, Tuna. It isn't bacon, but I made an allowance.

Today, we did have bacon, lunch was a BLT sandwhich, and Hungry Husbear only had one sandwhich today, since two is ridiculously fattening and defeats the entire purpose of trying to lose weight/eat healthy, and so filled up on a salad with veggies.

Dinner is a treat for tonight: Taco Pizza, ala The Pioneer Woman. Wednesday is mid-week, and so it's really important that everyone go to bed happy tonight, because tomorrow's dinner is Risotto... just sayin'!

Vegebaconarian week

2011-06-05T15:09:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned this yet?

The whole family is going meatless for a week, with the exception of bacon.

Left the bacon in to reinforce the 'I promise I'm not trying to make everyone vegetarian' notions.

The idea is to learn to enjoy other flavors besides meat, and to discover recipes we can eat so that not every night is a meat night.

I'll let you know how it goes, with pictures!

Cool weather crops ripe for picking, and I totally rock the Couch to 5K

2011-06-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

This is going to be mostly about my garden. Just warning you. If you're not really interested in gardens, could care less about turnip greens, and don't like long-winded explanations about how a garden grows, then just click away :).

Although, I am starting Week 7 of Couch to 5K on Monday, yep, WEEK 7! And I still don't have a job, which kinda sucks, but I got some good advice, made some changes to my res and CV and got a couple of leads, nothing hot to trot, but leads lead somewhere... which is why they call them leads... and it goes with my motto, if you follow a path, you'll get somewhere. And it's true.. for instance, if my garden is a path, look where it's led me, not only to a bountiful spring harvest of cool lettuces, radishes and other greens, but to a new appreciation of fresh greens... I've been devouring chard, turnip greens and spinach all month for lunches. And if the Couch to 5K is a path, it's gotten me from not running at all since I first moved here, to running for 25 minutes straight without a break (that's Week 7!!) and to 3 miles in Week 9. So the job path, it's a bit longer, but I've already learned tons of stuff about me, about what I want to do, and about how perseverance is essential. Not all paths are short, or easy, but it's not about the end of the path, it's about what you do while you're on the path.

And now, it's the beginning of summer, my spring crops are in, my summer crops are mostly planted and ready to fill the bare spots when the spring crops are done, and I can run a goodly distance!

All my spring weather crops are in and mostly being happily harvested. See those tall shoots reaching for the sky? Garlic! Can't wait! I love fresh garlic. When I prepare the garden for winter, I'll plant more along the sides. I want enough garlic to braid next year.

This photo isn't that great. I discovered after I took all the photos, I had them on the super close up setting. That's why the cilantro is so in focus.

I have a mini-field of cilantro. We eat it THAT much. When my tomatillos and peppers come in, I will be making my homemade salsa verde with the cilantro, tomatillos and peppers, and lime. I need to figure out how to grow a lime tree in Colorado. Maybe I could winter it indoors. Hmm. Guess what I'm going to google after! I already googled Kholabri.

This is one of my tomato plants. It's in a bit of a sad state, so I'm concerned. But so far it's holding up. The problem is after I planted it, we had a cold front come in. We didn't get below freezing, but I think the cold weather may have stunted its growth.

I love chard.

I planted bright lights. I love the variety of colors that particular chard has. I also planted green chard, and out back on my patio, ruby red. See this chard? See how cute it is? I've already been harvesting baby leaves. I can't help it. Fresh chard is one of my favorite greens.

Field of Romaine. I planted some spicy salad mix on my patio, too, but this is for the non-adventurous eaters in my family, mainly everyone except me and Turbo. Turbo is my mini-soul mate. He's my running partner, my gardening cohort -- he's growing his own eggplant out back -- my yoga-buddy and my mini-BFF. He eats radishes with me. His brother, Bear, is adorable, and my baby, but he hates gardening, can't stand running and gets bored with yoga... so we bond in other ways. He's an artist, so as long as he's got art supplies he's happy. Turbo, though, genuinely shares the same interests as me. Right now Bear is leaning against me cuddling and fiddling with his skeleton ring that he picked out of the 25 cent toy machines at the Safeway. I told him it would turn his finger green, and after, his finger would fall off, but he is still wearing it.

See all those blurry carrot tops? Can't wait to harvest these! I got bunches of multi-color carrots... white, purple, orange... I thought it'd be fun for the kids to help pick them when they are ready. Last time I did carrots, nothing happened, so this time I made hills. See, what happened last time is I planted them, forgot where I planted them, then all these crazy tops appeared way late, and around November i pulled one and found all my carrots, too large to eat. Oops.

This is my strawberry plant, from last year, at least. Aren't those some crazy large leaves?

I can't wait til these babies ripen. I only have two strawberry plants. One of the peeps in my hood has a bed which is half strawberries. I suspect it's an abandoned garden bed, so will probably snag some of those strawberries. I refuse to have more than two strawberry plants though. They spread like crazy! If I had a third bed, I'd probably do strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. But three beds is a bit excessive. I'd feel like I was hogging a chunk of the community garden...

I love our community garden. I love that I look out my window, and see the garden. I love they are making a better fence to help the garden look better -- right now it's surrounded by chicken wire. I love that most of the beds are taken, and being used. I love that empty ones eventually get cleaned out and suddenly, used by people who have a spare plant or three they can't fit in their garden.

Not that I'm keeping an eye on any of the abandoned plots. No sirreeee. I wouldn't want to be greedy.

My green beans are probably done for, but these sugar snap peas are happy sugar snap peas. I didn't thin them out, but they are still doing fine, so I'm excited. I love fresh snap peas, but never buy them at the grocery store. This was this year's garden treat.

This is the treasure of my garden. Turnips! I love turnips. I really do. I love them mashed. I love them roasted. I love them lots. And, after reading some stuff about how you should eat turnip greens, I love turnip greens. I love turnip greens so much, I planted a variety of turnip grown specifically for the greens. I haven't harvested any of the actual turnips yet, but I'm so excited. I am sure they will be ready soon, maybe another two weeks, at most. Most of the seeds took, and I was really bummed about having to thin them out, but I ate the greens so it wasn't all a loss!

Turnip greens are packed with nutrients. You should eat them. This one has holes in them. Aphids. I've got a pocketful of ladybugs that'll solve that problem... well, I will... soon.

This is the other end of the garden. Radishes and carrot tops galore. There are some onions in the middle, and my poor ridiculous green beans. Next year, I won't transplant them, and next year I'll buy those nitrate packs they sell at the garden shop to help green beans. I've got some squashes sprouting up, which is exciting, because I love squashes. Mostly, I love how they start out ridiculously teeny and you think, I've totally got room for like, six, and then realize your garden can only fit three because my August they have overtaken everything. See those radishes and carrots? They will be harvested just in time for the squashes to overtake everything. Oh, and those leafy things? Celery. I'm a bit nervous about the celery, but Bear wanted to grow celery and I was so excited that he showed an interest, I got him some celery. He has not been in the garden to see how the celery is doing, but I'm sure when we harvest it he'll claim it's all his.

So that's the spring garden. It's just totally rocking. Along with my running. And the best thing about the garden is now most of my lunches are ridiculously healthy. And my breakfast. Nothing beats an egg with greens and radishes for breakfast.

Week 5 Couch to 5K!!

2011-05-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's really coming along.

Today, even though it was cold and rainy and I have to run by my neighbor's house on my route, and I know she's home, and fully stocked up on chai tea, and all I ever have to do is knock and look pathetically deprived of a good cup of tea, which is easy for me, I didn't.

I ran through the cold misty rain and completed Week 5, Day 1.

The most motivating part of the run was the older woman with pure white hair that sprinted past me with these huge, gazelle-like steps with no noticeable breathing issues while I was hunched up in a ball running and gasping slightly for some air.

I saw her and did that thing where you pretend you're not really about to fall over into the grass and roll into the creek because you have no stamina, and I stretched up real tall, well, for as tall as I could manage, held my breath, and took five long(ish) gazelle-like strides until she was past me. I figure, if I keep this up, then in 10 years or so, I'll be able to run with gazelle-like strides, too!

The best part is now that I have the stamina to do this, ie., I can walk after I complete the run, I am now eating healthier too. Especially breakfast and lunch.

Lunch I love though, because I just walk on over to my garden, pick some spinach leaves, turnip greens and radishes, and make myself a nice salad topped with an egg. I am a huge fan of eggs lately. Easy protein. My current dream is to have my own urban chicken coop.

Yes. I said turnip greens.
I was meh on them, but check out their nutritional value!

Later this week, I'll have some awesome pics of my garden. To be honest, I haven't been posting pictures because I lost the do-hickey that lets me upload pictures directly from the camera. Sad, I know. But I found it!

So the garden pics are coming! It's doing really well! The beans, alas, are not doing well. Nor the cucumbers. But everything else! Turnips! Spinach! Radishes! Lettuce! Swiss Chard! Peas! Cilantro! It's crazy good happy spring garden!

I love it when friends visit

2011-05-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

We have had a couple of friends drop their bags here now and again, passing through here to somewhere... and this past couple of days, we got a visit from some Seattle weather and a good friend from Seattle. He left the weather on his way to Wyoming, for which we thank him, because rarely do we get rainy days out here... and a belated apology for sticking him in the 7-year-old boy room with robots on the wall, but hey, it's a full bed...

He's just been laid off along with just about everyone else at SOE (Okay, not EVERYONE) and is taking some time to figure out, really, is games where it's at? Which seems to be the question Husbear and I were faced with. We have already come up with an answer to that, but our friend seems to be still in the exploratory stages of '...maybe I can do something else...'

But while he was here, shooting the shit with Husbear, talking about cars. He spent some time working in Detroit, land of cars. We talked some more about cars, some more cars, and cars, and while all that car yakkity-yak was going on, we introduced him to some of Colorado's finest offerings and he talked about what he could do, might do, should do and wants to do.

Turns out, there just comes a point when you think, wow, there's got to be more than what i just left... there is. There's always more. It's just having the perseverance and the courage to go after the 'more' rather than settling for the 'what i just left.'

So I hope he finds his way into either a brewery, or the automotive industry, because those are, from the brief visit, two real passions of his.

I should send him to her, the brazen careerist, because if anyone is in the place to leap and start their own business, it's him.

But now he's off, exploring Wyoming, life at higher altitudes, and the rest of his life, it's time for us to hunker back down and get on with the business of getting on with our own lives.

Husbear and I are still going after 'something more than what we had' because frankly, what we had was kinda crap, and what we're going after is pretty awesome.

We just need perseverance. And possibly an ocean. That would be nice. It's a stretch, but it would be nice.

The tooth fairy is not dependable

2011-05-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

The tooth fairy has been flaky lately.

It's not her fault, really.

What with the dodgy reporting habits of boys who occasionally forget to inform the tooth fairy that they lost a tooth, or forget to put their tooth under their pillow, or worse, put their tooth under their pillow two days after losing it, and neglect to inform the tooth fairy, is it really her fault that occasionally, what with all the tooth losing in this house, that she forgets or doesn't know to replace the tooth?

And then there's the teeth that get lost! How is she supposed to use her magic to, as Turbo Boy explains, wave her wand and turn the tooth into money, if the tooth goes missing?

Why, mom, why did the tooth fairy not come?
Why did she forget?
How come she came so late in the morning? After we were all up?

These are hard questions.
And the answers even more difficult. For the boys didn't know that there were rules with the tooth fairy, that they can't just PUT a tooth under their pillow and MAGICALLY expect a magical creature to magically know it's there.
But she's magic?
Well yes, but there's soooooo many kids losing teeth this time of year.....
(Yes, it sounds weak even to me, but I was desperate)

See, it's not so much me or the tooth fairy. It's the boys. When they first started losing teeth, they thought it was so cool, they didn't want to give the teeth to the tooth fairy. Now, they think money is cool. But I missed the memo on 'what's cool' -- money and 'what's not' -- collections of baby teeth.

But in the end, now that the boys understand the magical rules of the magical tooth fairy, she rarely misses a tooth.

Just some thoughts

2011-05-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

So I've been doing this couch to 5K thing. I think it's part of my personality make up. If things seem out of my control, I take stock of things I can control, and then focus a lot of energy on doing that. Oh, and I really want to lose some buh-ooty.

Week 3, Day 1 of this program just about kicked my butt, but I'm glad I did it today instead of postponing it until tomorrow.

My waist is already down a couple of inches, and I can do the full program without cheating! It reminds me how much I enjoy jogging and being physical. Who knows, after this, maybe I'll spring out some kart-wheels...

But it also helps me clear my head, and move forward with other projects and plans that have been put on the back-burner, for far too long. Running, exercising, just being physical has a strong effect on my thinking. Now, I can't fathom missing a run. I have to have my 40 minutes of running and walking! I have to have my outdoor time. If I don't, I get grumpy and restless. If I do it, I am clearer, focused, more set and determined on whatever path I'm following. What became a goal to keep me focused during this unfocused time, is now a necessity.

I'd really like to dictate the time, circumstances and place of my next place of work, but since I can not do that, I can do what I can do, and when I've done that, live my life.

So to that end, I'm practicing agent cover letters for my first unpublished novel. Mostly it's to go through the exercise, but also, because if anyone is a bad judge of their work, surely it's the writer who wrote it! But while I do that, I'll continue on my second novel, of which already has a beginning, middle and an end, it's just not written ;).

I don't know my future, I can't pick up a crystal ball and visualize it in it's entirety, but I do know that I'm headed in the right direction finally, and not just me, but Husbear as well. What we're doing, it's changing our future by making hard decisions now. By refusing to do the easy, well-trodden path. It's scary, it's exhilarating, it's nerve-wracking, it's hard. But the struggles of today pave the success of tomorrow.

So here's to tomorrow!

Thursday before the Friday

2011-05-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

Can you feel it?

The frost... it's... gone. For good. And won't be coming back til Fall. I feel it.

Spring is truly here, finally!

For some parts of the country it probably feels like summer, but for us? It's all spring! I can bring my crazy tall green beans outside and plant them. I can put squash in the ground, and hope my loofah growing experiment goes well.

Today I discussed with HusBear the paths we should take. I'lll take the high road, you'll take the low road...

Listen to it, you should, really... I'll be in Scotland afore ye...

Right. So while I'm here on the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond... we sat out with our iced tea and Azure Blue skies, and just had a nice afternoon in the sunshine, talking.

The conclusion we came to, is, retirement is gonna be a lot of fun.

Lickety Lime or Zombie Green?

2011-05-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have a nail thing.

I love nails that are polished, and even better, neatly manicured and polished.
Neatly manicured and polished nails do not, and have rarely ever described my nails. I don't have the patience to wait for nail polish to dry, and even if I did, I don't have enough nails for the polish, since I bite them so far down the nail bed I can't even get clippers underneath them.

The only time my nails could be described as manicured and polished was when I was pregnant with my first-born, 20 pounds heavier than I'd ever been in my life, and high on pregnancy supplements that had the lovely effect of giving me strong, fast-growing nails. Such beautiful long nails never before seen on my hands! Then Drama Girl was born, and the brief glory period of my nails ended.

So after my neighbor showed off her shellac'd nails, looking all posh and cute and well, polished, I thought, hmm, neato.

Then I found myself at one of those end shelves at Target staring at Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry nail polish.

And saw a bottle of Lickety Split Lime. The image doesn't do it justice. It's spring! it's lime! It's lime spring! It's lickety split springtime in a bottle! It's happiness incarnate, as far as nail colors go. And who knew, you could buy nail polish on Amazon?

This is the color of my nail polish.

The refreshing citrus zing is how it makes me feel. Does this look like Zombie food to you?

And it's only one coating needed, insta dry!
Insta-Happy!

Then. Out in the Garden, with Posh Shellac Nail Chic:
Why do you have zombie green nails?
They are not zombie green, they are Lickety Split Lime! A bright, spring, sunshine-y color of joy!
Looks like zombie green to me.
What do you know?

In the house... what do you think of these nails dear Drama Girl?
Reminds me of Zombies.
Zombies? Cool! Oh totally, it's like, zombie green mom, says Turbo.
Zombies?

Yeah. That's so cool... then Turbo starts kinda drooling at the bottle, because zombie green to a 7 year old means something, man...

It's... it's Lickety...
Zombies, Mom, it's Zombie Green.

Fine. I like Zombie Green. Zombie Green reminds me of spring and makes me happy.
I like it too mom! says Bear and Turbo in unision.
It's kinda creepy, says Drama Girl.
It's braaaainnnnssss....

It's a powerful lesson on perspective really.

One person's lemon is another's lemonade.
One person's junk is another man's treasure.
One gal's Zombie Green is another's Lickety Split Lime of Happy.

It's all in how you see it.

April...Snow!!!

2011-04-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

I Still don't believe it.

My weather forecast says cloudy and does not mention snow, however, this may be April saying, yo, hey, it can totally still snow in April, even sometimes, in May...

We'll see.

But that means I can't put my beanstalk out, the one I'm growing so I can climb into the clouds and steal a Golden Egg. This one:

It is totally exactly the same as the one I have in my windowsill waiting to be planted.

I'd take a picture of that one, but I lost my camera card.

This is why gardeners in Colorado don't plant anything that says 'wait til last frost' until Mother's Day, just to be safe.

Climbing the beanstalk is partly why I'm doing the Couch to 5K. Once I get to the top, I'll have to run away from the big mean giant, and I can't really do that if I can't run a block.

So it's the end of Week 2 of the Couch to 5K, and I've faithfully run/walked three miles, for 30 minutes: 15 running and 15 walking, alternately every 2 minutes. I had to jump ahead because I'm using my iPhone clock as a timer since Turbo stole my running watch and neither he, Bear nor myself can find it, and that timer doesn't have a 90 second option, just minutes.

In other news, there is no other news. I blew off yesterday's networking meeting because I just wasn't up to it, because the secret of networking is based on building relationships, not just attending events, and while this group does help build relationships, I haven't really found the right mix for me, and trying to build relationships while you're trying to redefine just about everything you've ever believed about work and career and home life, is a bit exhausting. So I'll pop in next week, hopefully with a better definition.

Also, yesterday was gorgeous, so Husbear and I popped out to Home Depot and lunch. This, I have to admit, is a nice thing. I'm beginning to see my husband again. Anyone who's ever been married to someone who was solely defined by work will understand what I mean, because being married to a job is really crappy, because jobs as personality goes aren't exactly nurturing, loving, or fun. And people who are their job tend to not be happy. Do I need to quote more happiness data? So everyone should endeavor to be anything but their job. Of course, we all need jobs, because doing something every day is good for us, just as long as you remember that hey, it's just a job.

I think kids are the best barometer for this. Watch how kids play. I'm looking at my kids now, and yesterday's school day is a distant memory. They are engaged in the moment right now. We should all play like children!

April showers bring May flowers, the theory

2011-04-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

I like to think that all the job seeds I've planted and have been nurturing will explode in May, sort of like those turnip seeds I planted. I went out to check my garden and they are just everywhere. I've thinned most of them out, and learned to trust that seeds, when planted, want to grow, and will overcome most normal garden challenges to grow, and despite all concern and worry on my part, most will sprout and burst through the ground suddenly, creating a layer of green buds across the soil. It makes me giddy.

I think of my job search like that, and it sets me off on the right mood to go on with the day.

I have a new policy for my search, because two months in I'm seeing how easy it is to let the search become stagnant, which makes me feel stagnant, which drags me back to the days when I stayed home and watched the kids and hung out at the parks and reservoirs and such, which sounds nice, and then I think, oh I should do that... and then I realize I'm only saying that because the job search is stagnant, and then I drink some coffee and analyze the situation.

I came up with a new idea that isn't new or original, but hey, what idea is new or original?

Every week, I do something new. This week, it was go check out every good job-guide book from the library, re-do every cover letter to make it more impactful, change my resume to highlight skills over titles, and my most favorite, to start seeking out jobs in the industry and career I actually want to be in. I took the husband to the library... BOOKS! all the books!! -- I can assure you the career section is now mostly empty, except perhaps for the career books from 1983. They really aren't going to be helping anyone anytime soon.

This one is a big one. I'll go into it some other day, but one of my minor regrets (I don't believe in regrets, because the things you regret are the things that often teach you the most) is not pursuing the industry and job titles I really want in exchange for the easy-to-get job. It's probably the biggest change I made, and I'm hoping it will pay off.

April, now that we're at the end of it, has also brought some serious spring fever to the children in the house. Bear, in particular, can barely make it through a day at school without some sort of attack of spring fever affecting his mood and behavior. They are all up earlier, more energetic and filled with a longing for summer. Kids are a great reminder that life is more than just work. Kids excel at balancing work and play. The moment that school bell rings, they've forgotten they've just spent a full day working, and with full abandon, run off and play. More adults should be like that.

It's the sun and weather, though, that are making them so well, springy. They only have 4 weeks left of school and they know it. Homework is lagging, kids are staring out the window and when the bell rings they are gone. I remember these last days of school during the school year -- that happy place of daydreaming in math and running across green fields and feeling giddy at the first warm, not rainy-wet day -- nothing beats it. **Unless you live in a place where it's really hot, then I imagine every day is like this, except maybe January**

Ah as April ends, May should be a blooming month full of goody jobs, or turnips. For certain, radishes.

Two months in and still going

2011-04-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

During the past two months of my job search/not-working/alligator-wrestling/fairy hunting, I discovered a few things I think would be worth sharing:

I love being outside. I'm giddy about my garden, the Couch-to-5K program I started on, and my new love of my rollerblades, which I'd be on today if it weren't for the rain thing going on outside my house right now.

The best job hunting and career advice can be found from this blogger, who has the added benefit of not being a professional career advisor/job hunter. Reading this blog has helped me create the most effective CVs and Resumes, and her blurbs on people finally making it are really inspirational. So much of job advice and career advice is a series of All The Things you Must Do that you're Not Doing and Your Life Must Be About this Search. Which is untrue, unwise, and soul-crushing. Especially if you do not want to be your job.

I love Pocky, but not the creepy, weird cheesecake flavored Pocky.

I stole this directly from the Asian Food Grocer's website:

Pocky is a delicious, fun biscuit dessert from Japan. The name "Pocky" is derived from the sound that this crispy snack makes when eaten. At Asian Food Grocer, shop the many varieties of delectable Pocky treats from traditional favorites like Strawberry and Chocolate to more unusual flavors such as Chocolate coverd Coconut. Not only are Pocky sticks covered in a diverse assortment of frostings, but they also come in a broad array of styles and shapes. Give Glico's Pocky bits a try for a fun twist on an original favorite. For a more grown up taste, try Pretz - the same mouthwatering Pocky without the sweet outer frosting.

Satisfy your sweet tooth, check out more of our Japanese Snacks & Candies.

Penelope Trunk says you should never be your job, too. I agree with her. The best keep-it-real advice comes from this woman. She's funny, and does a great job reminding people that hey, your life is your life and you shouldn't stress because you try new things with your career and you don't care about moving constantly upward. I don't care about moving constantly upward. I care about being in a job where I love what I'm doing, can advance should I choose to do so without bumping into a ridiculously low advancement ceiling, and working with a good team. I need to take care of my career path, not follow an archaic set-path.

The best way to get what you want in life is to be who you are, do what you must do as yourself, to get what it is you want, to have the things you need to have to be happy. This from Gawain's popular book on Creative Visualization. Even if you don't buy the theory, you can't argue with the truth of the statement. Most people do this backwards, they try to make a lot of money, or do a bunch of things that go contrary to their nature/who they are in order to get the things they want, so they can be happy. So what you have is a lot of people working very hard at things they don't enjoy, because they aren't looking at who they are, doing things that fit with who they are, to get the things that will really make them happy.

This is why, despite my complete lack of employment, I spend so much time writing about my garden. I love gardening. It started when I was really young, trying to grow a rubber plant in my dorm room when I was in the military, to my attempts at container gardening in my apartment in Virginia, to the awesome garden I left behind in Washington, to today, in my community garden plot conveniently located right across the street, the view from my side-windows. It's also why I write about Pocky, Children, Writing, and my constant attempts to become an Avid Runner. It's also why I spend so much time reading the Pioneer Woman. For the longest time, I thought I was the only one who entertained the fantasy of living a life on a cattle ranch blogging about gardens, photography and children. Then I checked her comments page.

If I were an Avid Runner, I would have been able to apply to a job at a company where that was one of the qualifications. However, everyone I spoke with agreed I was not an avid runner, but given some time and effort, I could become one.

There are entire studies on "happy" and they all point to the same thing: stuff, money and jobs do not for happy make. The How of Happiness pretty much tells you how to be happy, but if you're not pre-disposed to being happy, it'll require work. People mix up jobs and happy all the time. It's what helps people be unhappy, this belief that the right job will make them happy. A good job you enjoy will help your happiness, but won't make or break it. That's why instead of being unhappy while looking for work, I'm only mildly stressed and panicky.

Pocky doesn't just come in chocolate, it comes in a bajillion other flavors! This makes me happy, because you can only eat so many chocolate-covered biscuits.

And those are the few things I've learned so far.

Happy Easter!

Where'd this come from!

2011-04-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here I was minding my own business dealing with my least favorite thing of all time, job hunting/alligator wrestling/lion taming, when I stepped on the scale, and saw the number had increased.

By five!

Now, this isn't a huge deal, except maybe that I was well on my way toward losing (thinking about losing) ten!

So that was not fun, and led me to decide that yogurt breakfasts and salad lunches are pretty much going to be the standard until I get down ten pounds.

With some slight deviations to account for Pocky. Be sure to spell it Pocky, if you're googling it, and not pokie or pockie. Two completely different sets of results, trust me.

Pocky is this Japanese biscuit-treat dipped in chocolate, and now that I've found it, I just can't let it go. Look, you can buy some here. Or you can just go to Sunflower Markets. Or Safeway, really. But with only 90 calories, I'm justifying it.

Except the salad flavor ones. Not really sure how those are appetizing.

And really, I don't know if I wanted to share my new weight loss plan, or just talk about pocky, because I ate all the almond chocolate pocky and am resisting the chocolate ones.

Or maybe I'm just procrastinating life, and pocky is the means by which to do it.
Because if you're going to procrastinate, you might as well enjoy some pocky, while you're at it.

Gardening and hunting

2011-04-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

It’s early spring, and I’ve got my plants started indoors. Zone 5 means you really should start seeds indoors, or risk losing them to the mid-April, end-April and early May snows that rarely fail.

See, here are my happy seedlings.

They only took up one windowsill, yes, they, there are more trays than just the one above. But I had to put some of the seedlings in bigger pots. So now this other kitchen windowsill is taken up to.

These are ready for the garden.

Of course, I’m not really gardening. What I’m doing is looking for a job. Only, I love gardening, and my seedlings needed to be put in bigger pots, which reminded me, I need to sort the flowers for my sons planter. And anyhow, the past two days haven’t been really great job hunting days for me. So I pulled out his planter and set it up for him.

Turbo built this ALL by HIMSELF. Hammer, nails, yep, all of it. Painted it too, each color represnets a crop! Turns out Home Depot has a kid workshop on the first Saturday of every month. Everyone knows this, of course, except me. I only sorta knew it, in the way that there were signs out occasionally and on some Saturdays, I noticed kids in little Home Depot aprons with pins stuck to their chests like medals wandering around. But I mostly ignored it, until a friend of my son’s ran up to him and showed him the planter he made.

So now my son has a Home Depot apron with his very first pin: the planter pin, and I have instructions to make sure I take him to Home Depot every first Saturday of every first month.

The liner in the planter is coconut liner cut to fit. I never knew planters were often lined with coconut hair.

So of course, I’m looking for a job, but first I had to garden. Then I had to take pictures so I could share them. Then I had to make sure everything was ready for my boy to plant his flower seeds tonight.

He already has some flower seedlings and eggplant seedlings. But for his planter he wants flowers.

Also, he and I are the only ones who’ll eat the eggplant he’s growing. No one else will touch the stuff.

And now I’ll commence job hunting. I’m not sure if you can accurately call it ‘hunting’ however. It resembles more of a casino visit. If you hang around long enough, and wander around enough of the games, and play enough of them, then eventually, you’ll win something.

But no one ever admits that. Everyone talks about targeting your search or networking (yes, I realize that's an e-how article, that's the thing, the only people who know how to network don't actually need to network... ah, cruel irony) or guerilla hunting (It has a certain appeal, the same kind of appeal that say, alligator wrestling has...). But really, it’s doing a bit of everything, tossing some salt over your shoulder and considering that maybe a career in retail isn't all that bad... until you land somewhere.

And since, my friends tell me, I am SO MUCH MORE than just a job, I am doing my best to maintain all the other parts of my life that while I enjoy, don’t actually provide income. Vegetables and herbs, perhaps, but not actual income.

Speaking of vegetables, here’s my garden bed:

And look, radishes! And a pea!

And daisies (I think)!

And my friend’s garlic. Really, that seems to me an excessive amount of garlic. Makes me wish I’d thought to put garlic in the ground last year.

And so that's how my job hunt is going.

Some peas and radishes sprouting, a bit of luck, some fertilizer, a targeted cover letter and resume, and hopefully, in May, I can have a yummy salad with a side of salary.

Early Spring

2011-04-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

Is it still early spring?

It feels like it. I see tree buds ready to blossom and my seedlings are just beginning to emerge. I've got some late spring transplants happily growing indoors waiting for the end of the month when I place them in the garden.

I was going to take pictures of the start of my garden. I love taking pictures of the garden throughout the growing season to see how it starts, all neat, tidy and almost empty, through the end of the season when everything has grown in full and takes up all the space in the garden, however, I forgot to charge my camera battery.

Oops.

So there's no pictures.
But I assure you, the spring garden is sown, the seedlings developing lovely, and I'm hoping there's no sneaky frost coming before May, because some of these babies need to get into the ground soon!

Garden time -- but first a digression

2011-04-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'll posts some pics of my newly planted garden.

I only planted early spring crops, because we're not past the frost date. I did have some success with seedlings I planted inside, and yep, I'll have pics of those too!

But today I had the weirdest morning ever.
I've been kinda in a reflectory mood lately (reflectory may not be a word, but it should be) and have been thinking about how to structure my days, how to create a plan moving forward, and how to hunker down and prepare for the ups and downs I'm going to end up going through, it's just how it is.

My biggest thing is my weekly networking group meeting which I have a love-hate relationship with.

I love this group, I really do, but I'm not quite sure how to actually truly be a part of it. They are a pay-it-forward group, which is great, and they do help, all you have to do is ask. The trick is, being specific about what you're asking for, and I'm not good at this. It's so... forward.... and direct... but it's key to the success and the entire point of the group. You ask, you receive, someone else asks, and one day, you can help. I'm a forward and direct person, I am even a pay-it-forward person -- but not when it comes to just me... I figure I should do things on my own, without help. I'll go do it, fix it, solve it... but that's not the point anymore.

So while I love the group, I alternately dread it, (see, me as an introvert) because it requires me to step out and do all the things I hate doing. Mainly, putting myself forward, being very specific and asking total strangers to help me out on all those tricky things... contacts, resume reading, how to handle situations, mock interviews... etc etc.

Igads. So this morning's meeting is done, and I have a couple of things to do, that bring me waaay out of my comfort zone, but must be done. And for some people, these things are ridiculously easy, and they think, what is your problem? I wish I was one of those people! Igads!

Keep Calm and Carry On

2011-04-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

Today's little affirmation.

I don't handle things that exist outside of my control well, and when life gets a little out of control, some people batten down the hatches, grab their stash of library books, comfort foods and a blanket and hide out until some friendly soul practically beats down their door to let them know it's all right, it's over.

Not me.

No. I grab large rations of coffee, put on my beat something up gear (metaphorical, I don't really own beat up people gear) a rain poncho (because if my life is out of control, the weather's probably crappy, too) and whatever weaponry I feel I might need (metaphorical again, the closest thing I own to a weapon is my tween daughter's attitude).

Then I go looking for the thing in my life that is not being controlled by me, the person who SHOULD be controlling it and I don't care if there are things that exist out of my control, if there are, I will find a way to contain it, explain it, put it in a place where I can you know, control it somehow, even if by avoiding it... forever.

And all I have found currently, is that it is raining (literally, now), I haven't gotten things under control, and my plan isn't going as well-orchestrated as I had hoped.

So all I can do, to borrow a phrase I saw at Target, cuz it's AWESOME.

Is

Keep Calm and Carry On.

This little boy, eternally 13

2011-04-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

There was this little boy, who was only 13, who decided, for whatever reason, for whatever pain, that enough was enough and he couldn't take whatever it was, anymore.

He killed himself the last day of school before Spring vacation. 13. He would have been 14 in May, but now, he is eternally 13.

Now, there are only 200 kids or so in Drama Girl's 8th grade class, so she knows him but she wasn't a close friend, just an acquaintance. She said Monday, at school, will be really hard. There will be an assembly. There will be counselors. There will be tears. There will be kids who are confused, kids who are devastated and kids who don't know what they should feel because they didn't know him, but for some reason, are still feeling like they did.

Suicide is such a harsh word. Killed himself. Took his own life. Whatever or however you phrase it, I wish there was a less harsh way to convey that there was something in him he couldn't reconcile with. At 13. And the people around him couldn't reach him, couldn't reach through this barrier... whether it was grief, depression, anger... it all reads as a barrier of pain and for some reason that barrier was too much.

And now a little boy is lost.

I can tell you he has a baby face.
I can tell you he looks happy in the picture they chose.
I can tell you he had friends.
I can tell you a bunch about him that is the stuff of typical 13 year old boys.

I can tell you I look at my girl, who's 14, with a baby face, and her 14 year old girlfriends, with their baby faces, and the 14 year old boys she hangs out with, and I can't imagine that any one of them would be lost that way.

The truth is, we cannot imagine that someone so young would be in so much emotional pain that it would drive them to act in such a final way.

And then I look at the picture of that smiling boy, eternally 13, and I mourn for him.

H&M... online in the U.S..... next year....

2011-03-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of talk about this little Swedish shop that doesn't provide online shopping in the U.S. and only exists on the East and West coasts, and in Minnesota. (Seriously, how do you miss out on the most consumer-obsessed nation in the world?)

(Minnesota?)

Anyhow.

Michelle Obama wore a $35 H&M dress.
Natalie Portman wore a $50 H&M dress.
Kate Middleton, who's marrying some prince or something, is said to shop H&M for some of her tops.

So what is the big deal? Why are we so excited about the fact that Natalie Portman and the First Lady, and the future Queen of England shops at H&M?

Because the clothes at H&M are affordable. Because most of the clothes that stars and celebrities and First Lady's and Queen's wear make them look amazing, and cost a lot of money, more money than most of us spend.

So if our fashion icons (all three are said to be stylish, sophisticated dressers) can wear outfits that cost less than $80, well, by golly, we can too! And... and maybe we'll even look as stylish and sophisticated!

But not yet.
Because I'm not anywhere near an H&M store.
But next year, when they pop up online in the U.S, I'll be as addicted as I am to BodenUSA.

So okay I'll write a post

2011-03-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

My hoodie, DeNice, said she wished I'd write more in my blog.
I think she said it because I talk a lot about my blog, and about how I might write in it eventually, and she said, I wish you'd write in it.

So I'm going to write about my job search, and how my personality, INTJ, is directly at odds with the personality needed to do a successful job search, mainly the E part.

Oh, I can do the charts of jobs I applied to, track which resumes are getting pings and call-backs (keep those resumes, and apply to jobs of similar nature) and force myself to go out and talk to people I don't know because we all have to be nice and network.

But I'm an INTJ.

Which essentially means I like systems and processes and order and if those things are missing, I will create them. From scratch, enthusiastically. I'll hide myself away, come out occasionally to get information from other people, and then I will scurry back into my little world, and find solutions. That's me.

The other me likes to take something new, something shiny, an idea, and help it through to it's forever home, whether it's a product, a kid (still working on my three, they have some years left before they can fly away) or an idea.

I like to talk about both, systems and processes, and shiny new things.

Enter the screening call. I write good cover letters, well, I like to think I do, anyhow. I consider any cover letter that is accompanied by a call, a good cover letter.

So I get a screening call for a job I think I want at a company I've scouted out and done some research on, because I can't apply for a job unless I know who the company is, what the product is, and then, what other people think about said company and product. I like to be thorough. The person calls me.

Before the person calls me, I think, wow, I have to talk to someone, about a job that I want.

The thought makes me nervous because I'm an I, and not an E, and that pretty much sums that up, but it's not just the talking. I can talk. Anyone who knows me knows that talking isn't the problem. It's the stop-talking bit, and the interrupting-bit, and the nervous with strangers when I'm not the one in charge of the conversation bit. And the fact that I am fairly certain this would be a good company to work for, even if it's 40 minutes away and not a 9-5'er check-in/check-out job.

So I read that walking is good while doing a phone interview, because, well, I'm not sure why, but it's supposed to be good. But I forgot that I walk fast, and then realize I sound a bit too loud, a bit too short of oxygen, and I slow down. And in the end I think, wow, I totally blew that one.

But then the person who called said they'd schedule another phone interview.

I think, for that phone interview, I will pace slowly.

Date with Creativity

2011-01-10T16:58:00.001-08:00

My personal theme for 2011 is Foundations, creating a life defined by me. Part of this is being more than someone who goes to work, comes home, puts dinner on the table and then collapses in front of crazy throw-back sci-fi shows from the early 90s, as enjoyable as that is. To accomplish this, it's important to ensure that when I do have time, I use it to do something I think is fun.

And so, Sunday, I worked on a little wreath project. I have a newly developed affection for wreaths. Drama girl made me a great fall/Thanksgiving wreath. For Christmas the year before last, I made a plaid holiday wreath.

What I was missing was a winter wreath.

I believe in having a wreath for all seasons. It's a new thing.

Yesterday, I dropped Turbo off at his birthday party, and hung out at Michael's.

The ingredients to my wreath.

I wanted it to reflect that beautiful cold, glittery winter, but also capture the hint of spring that we all look for sometimes on a really cold day.

I used a moist paper towel dipped in snow tac to make the wreath all snowed-on looking.

Then, I placed all the pieces on the wreath haphazardly, in a way I thought I might like.

It looks awful tacky. But it's a good start.

Less gaudy, still too much of everything. Nothing has been glued on or weaved into the wreath yet, so I can make lots of adjustments.

By the way, nothing beats a clearance sale at a craft store.

Nothing.

This is the outcome. I only used a 14"wreath because I knew I wanted to use a lot of sparkles, blues and silvers. It sits on my door very nicely. I love the red cardinals and butterflies.

It is a bit blingy, but in the cold days of winter, bling is good.

Coffee Table chat

2011-01-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

Literally, a chat about coffee tables.

In a large living room, they are the centerpiece. The furniture your guests can put drinks on. The place to put pretty art books and cute candles. For those with children, the place children color (preferably coloring books and not the table), climb all over and generally help create the aged, distressed look so popular nowadays.

We had one of those. We still do, hiding out in the basement until we get have a living room large enough to contain it or children old enough to not destroy it. Coffee tables. Currently, we don't have one. We use an ottoman. This way, we don't have to get angry when the children sit on it.

This is our current coffee table.

(I'm not taking a picture of YOU honey, I'm taking a picture of the ottoman.)

Mother never lies.

But for real, are those not some of the scrawniest gangliest legs ever? I think that's all he is now, scrawny chicken leg boy. There really isn't much else to him. Just bones and knees and elbows.

Anyhow. It's not just an ottoman. It's an ottoman with Purpose.

We're big Mario fans in this household. Except Super Mario Galaxy. We find that one mostly frustrating. By We I mean my Turbo Boy. Not me. I have gotten to be quite an expert at catching the bunnies and star pieces...

Anyhoo. The point is, this is our coffee table/ottoman/storage because it's the only thing that works for us.

One day I like to imagine the children will be beyond distressing our furniture.

One day we'll be able to lug the ole distressed coffee table out.

One day, I will have a blog filled with pictures of lovely living room covered in white upholstery and decorated with delicate candles and art books.

Until then, I'll have to accept that most of my household decor is faux-everything from Target, our candles are big lugs of wax that mostly no one gets hurt by and our upholstery is a washable twill that is not white.

This way, we don't have to be angry when the children distress it.

Heart of Winter

2011-01-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

I always view January as the Heart of Winter.
It is often (where I live) the coldest month.
I always find January to be extraordinarily long.

But it's not just that it's the midst of winter, or the longest month.
It's also a time I view as sacred to the growth and energy spring brings.

It's a time to go back to the ground, back to earth. A time to stay quiet, reflect on the past seasons and prepare for the rebirth that spring brings every year. January is the time to reflect, plan, and store energy.

Soon, sooner than we think, the snows melt. The days lengthen. The winds change. Green sprouts through muddy ground. Birds sing through sunrises. Children run wild with the first scent in the air.

Now is the time to withdraw just a little within, to slow down and savor the time of solitude, using it for yourself, for your spring.

We're in the heart of winter.

Embrace it!

2011 - Building a Foundation

2011-01-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

One of my fave friend bloggers came up with a word to define this new year, 2011.
She, the newly-stay-at-home-mother of just-turned -1-year old twins chose the word Nurture.

I loved this idea, and had to come up with one of my own. I love other people's ideas!
The past year I would best describe as react. I simply seemed to do things based on things that had happened. Nothing was really chosen by me, but by the things I needed to deal with.

This year, I'm choosing the word, the vision and the path:
My word for 2011 is Foundations.

Foundation.

This year I will set the foundation for the next 20 years, probably more, but Ilike the number 20. It took me 20 years to get where I am now, and so i'd like to focus on the next 20.

This year will be dedicated to setting up the basis for me to achieve and live the life I want to live, a life dedicated to meaningful work I choose and a life filled with time for
family, friends, husband, prosperity, happiness and the things that come when you choose your life.

So this year I work toward those goals. Of course every vision must have defined specific tasks to help reach that goal of creating a year of foundations. I have the standard life-long goals: taking care of myself healthwise, the constant battle to get in optimum shape and stay fit, to lose the eternally present 15 pounds, but for my vision, my word, Foundations, I have three major areas to work on throughout the year that will build my future, each with tangible goals I'm in the process of writing out now:

Financial improvement (notice I didn't say freedom, I don't see that happening in one year ;)

Adding creativiy daily - a focus on not only writing my novels, but incorporating the creative process of into my life every day not just writing, which is now a part of my daily existence, but taking a picture from a different angle, making a wreath. Doing something small every day that is crafty, creative, unique, and requires a sense of play.

Choosing my work -- I never wish to be marked by life's circumstances, unless those circumstances happen to be the ones I am hoping for. Sometimes, life does mark us, does create circumstances we aren't prepared for, and we have to face it and revise and adapt. But there
is much about our life we can choose and make our own, and work is often one of those. My work
will be an extension of me, a part of me. So the work I choose to do, that will pay the bills while still helping me achieve the life I want, doing the work I want, will be work that I choose.

Foundation.

I will build the rest of my life on the foundation
of the choices I make this year!

Anyone else have a word for 2011?

Bored Children Requires Project

2011-01-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

Answer: Caterpillars and Ladybugs.

Question: What to do with two bored kids, a cold winter day and an egg carton?

2011, the year before 2012

2011-01-02T14:52:00.001-08:00

...and the year after 2010.

I think most of us have some very strong opinions about 2010.

It wasn't exactly our best year yet.

Certainly not my best, but it wasn't the worst, and here's to hoping that 2011 is a step in the OTHER direction.

To be quite frank, to be one-hundred percent honest, the entire decade was a bit shaky for me.

So I look to 2011 as a chance to move toward a better year, a better future, a better life.

I wrote something similar on my other blog, so no need to go into details here, but I expect that 2011 is going to be a busy year for me, because I'm making it about me.

Yes.

Me.

2011 is all mine baby.

Yeah yeah the kids, I know, I'll take care of them.

There's the job, yeah, I'll show up there.

Husband, yup, I'll take care of him.

But... but there's more... there's... ME!

And 2011 is going to be all about me being me. It will make me a better worker, a better mom and a better, yes me.

I have no hard and fast goals for 2011. It's not like by 2012 I expect something concrete. No.

What I expect, is that by 2012, I'll be living a life defined by me, for me, that benefits my entire family.

Wish me luck!

....

p.s. okay I lied... I'm also going to try to blog regularly again...

Dastardly Dentistry

2010-09-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

I, like many people, am not a fan of the dentist.

Or the orthodontics.

Or hospitals.

I still have my wisdom teeth. (Yes! For real!)

I visited the dentist today for a general exam.

Many people like to combine an exam and cleaning into one.

I'm not one of them.

I discovered the joyful news that most, as in all but two, of my fillings will need to be redone.

Also, before I continue on my orthodontric path to braces and jaw surgery, I'll need three wisdom teeth pulled.

There's a chance I'll get to keep one, and I hope I do.

Just because, how many people have a wisdom tooth actually come in?

If I get to the point of orthodontics and so forth, I'll be sure to post about it. With pictures.

If there's one thing I learned from the leek juice in the eyeball incident, it's that I should have taken pictures.

Washing without shampoo

2010-09-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a lot of articles lately about how we shouldn't wash our hair with the modern-day chemical concoctions we call shampoo. I can get behind that. Chemicals are drying and icky and tend to give you scalp issues if you have a sensitive scalp.

Millions of Americans use shampoo every day and don't have hair or

scalp issues, but that's beside the point. Lets just agree that chemicals are icky.

And lets just say that, yes, shampoos are chemical concoctions.

There are alternatives! We don't need to be held slaves to sodium laurel sulfate.

1. Wash with water and a boar and bristle brush.

Welcome to pre-Cleopatra. Welcome to pre-civilization. Welcome to England, in th

e dark ages.

You get the point. However, if you have a boar bristle brush, and you do a good vigorous brushing after washing your hair in water, you should be set to go. The brushing is essential to get particles, dust and you know, dirt, off of your scalp, and to distribute the natural oils evenly. You'll have a point where your hair goes through a de-tox stage and becomes a source of fuel with the amount of grease and oil it produces. But after that, and with 100 brushes a night, it'll look fab.

2. Wash with water, baking soda paste. Rinse with vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is acceptable, too, I believe.

This also creates a greasy, oily hair phase, but not as intense as straight not washing, from what I understand. This one is to me seems acceptable. After all, baking soda is used in toothpaste, so it's not a far stretch to use it in place of shampoo, right? And who doesn't love the smell of vinegar? The key is to make a paste out of a small amount of the baking soda, no more than a teaspoon (claims the all-knowing internet). Then rub it into the crown of your hair, and rub rub rub. Then wash it out with water. Then, do a vinegar rinse. Your hair will.... feel a sight more clean than if you only washed with water and a bristle brush. Speaking of boar bristle brushes, you'll still need one for this option.

3. Wash less, with a natural shampoo.

This one sounds the mainstream compromise. You avoid chemically concoctions, but still don't feel as if you're hair, while smooth and shiny, may not be fully clean, in the American definition. It also lets you off the hook for washing your hair every time you shower, and lets you claim that you only use natural products in your hair. No sodium laurel sulfate for you. I believe for this option, a boar bristle brush is not required, but is recommended, as brushing your hair with a boar bristle brush is good in any option.

I tried the first option. For about three days. Half-heartedly. Besides, it was the weekend. But I have no tolerance for oily hair, and with fine hair, it was oily on day two and a half.

Option two sounds appealing only if you're out camping and run out of normal shampoo. "No, no suave, honey, looks like you forgot it, but hey, we've got some baking soda and vinegar...."

Option 3 seems to hold the most promise. Pay a lot of money for natural shampoo or make your own, and wash less. Maybe two to three times a week.

I have to admit, I'm curious to find out for real, what will happen if you choose option two. Option one is not really a good one for people with fine hair, but baking soda, vinegar? That could work. Unfortunately, I don't have the gumption to try it. I admit it. I would choose option 3, and toss in a boar bristle brush for good measure. I say would, because natural shampoos are pricey. Sodium laurel sulfate is inexpensive, lathers well, and makes me feel all American clean and squeaky shiny.

The Prissiest Prince

2010-09-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

A bit of a writing blurb:

"And to what," said I, "do I owe this? You had a fit and pranced about, you prittled and prattled and flapped all about. You twirled and you stomped and you glared and you almost, almost shouted. You pouted and sulked and for what, do you even remember?"

"Yes mommy queen," said the prince. "I did. And I don't remember why. But just let me give you a gentle lovely kiss."

"What would you do with this kiss, you know my answer and though I love nothing more than for my prince to kiss my cheek, I don’t for a second believe your dance is over."

"Just one kiss mommy queen, just one. Take three steps forward, three steps sideways and one little hop. Just one kiss I want to give."

I took three steps forward, three steps to the side, one little hop and a kiss I did receive.

And that is how the prissiest prince who ever pranced had a mother who was a frog.

Leek Juice Attack

2010-09-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

I have somehow managed to get leek juice in my eye, causing an allergic reaction, causing my eyeball to swell up.

Awesomeness.

Now my eyeball is sore.

I have eyedrops.

I have a patch and look like a pirate.

Arrrgh.

Rosemary forests forever

2010-06-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

The one thing that threw me off is getting adjusted to working and finding a schedule that lets me do the things I love more than anything: writing, gardening and messing around with pics on the camera.

Today's pic is Rosemary, brought to you by my love of fresh rosemary, usually mixed with lemon and crushed garlic smothered over lamb chops. I've got a bunch growing on my back patio and my front porch.

Yes, that is weak, sad basil growing out of one of the pockets. It'll bounce back. It's basil!

Now, I also love the way Rosemary looks.

Earthy green and strong. I've got a bunch growing on my back patio and my front porch. But the photos alone didn't capture that deep, earthy feeling that Rosemary gives to me. So I changed it a bit.

See the strong branches that the rosemary leaves use for support? The color?

If only there were forests of Rosemary.

I'd walk through them every day.

The best dinners are someone else's

2010-06-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

Since I'm working now, but still determined to not suffer the 'i work, therefore the family eats fast food death' conundrum, I've re-discovered those quaint little places where you go and prepare like, a month's worth of food, and then stock your freezer.

Defrost it the night before, and the only thing you do to cook after the third 'one of those days' you've had this week week, is come home, toss some veggies in the microwave and some rice in the rice cooker and whatever is already pre-pared in the oven. No prep time. No cutting. No dicing. No slicing. No dinner-preparation clean-up. It's all done.

This is brilliant. I even found a place that puts it together for you, so all I have to do is GO PICK IT UP! For reals! Seriously. All I do is glance at a website, think, hmm, ginger and lemon pork tendorloin, yes, mushroom gouda burgers, yes, avocado fish tacos, no, and so forth.

Sometimes, sometimes... I even order the side dishes...

Something happened though, in the second month, after the 12th pre-prepared meal was cooked and served...

"Mom, this brown sugar meatloaf is yummy." Umm er yes.

"Can we ALWAYS have this dinner?" Err err they may not offer it next month.

"Mom, this garlic bread is the best ever!" Hmm.

"Mom, this chicken is my FAVORITE." ahh. yes.

See? Suddenly, all the food on the table that they eat is... delicious. But. Not. Mine.

I'm torn. I mean, I do still cook. Occasionally.... but those comments on those nights seem lacking.

On the other hand.

12 out of 30 nights a month, food is ready for the oven!

Lets talk REVISIONS!

2010-06-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

I was told to just send out what I'd written (ACK).

I was advised (by smart, writery people, mind you, not just random people) to just suck it up and push it out the door.

But.

I. Must. Revise.

I'm doing my best to revise, not rewrite, but just.... revise.

I need to stick to the things I know I need to look out for:

consistent age of character (yes, I changed her age four times, what of it?)
consistent story line (as in, does it make sense?)
reads correct for targeted age group (re: I changed her age four times...)
is actually decent

I started the revisions and to my not so much joy, I discovered something.

It is very hard to revise one story and write another when you have a day job.

Help.

ggooglelot

2010-06-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

It seems no matter how hard I try, I end up writing back here. It's like my safe spot. My 'no one knows about this place' spot, it's my 'unfocused, unfettered writing' spot.

Wherein I detail all the sordid details of staying at home and now, working and not staying home.

I'll tell you what, now I understand why there are more stay at home mom bloggers than working mom bloggers!

Who has time? Who ISN'T TIred?

How many nights up til midnight can I handle?

And, more importantly, how can I be entertaining when I can barely stay awake?

hmmm

By Golly I think I've Got it

2010-06-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

A balance I mean.

Check out my website: http://www.digifuss.com/ I changed it around (again) and am fiddling with what I want it to do.

It's where I will slowly (VERY SLOWLY) be transferring all my blog posts.

It seems that after a year and a half of working, I may actually have found a sort of balance.
Mind you, with my life, this will disappear quite quickly.

Anyhow, check it out. There's a lot of fine-tuning I'm trying to work out. Mainly, how to be less dry lol and what topics to focus on. I'll probably add a gardening blurb on their too, since gardening in Colorado has become somewhat of an obsession for me!

The Pondering Week

2010-04-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

It's 5 a.m.

This is the time I wish I got up every morning. I'd like to be up, an early riser, at 5 a.m. every morning. Sadly, I only wake up this early when I've got that special allergy medicine head that makes it hard to sleep, or when a child wakes me (despite them all being school-age now!) or you know, I just can't sleep, or I have a bizarre dream, or I have one of those panicky check on the kids moments because I heard one coughing or crying.

And all I can think about is, all the things I'm not doing that I want to do, and how I can fit time into my day to do the things I really enjoy, like, oh writing, spending time with the mutt, and actually taking pictures again.

This is going to be my 'pondering' week. Because at the end of the day, I'm sure I CAN find time to fit these things in. It's, I'm sure, a mindset change. The same mindset change that lets me get up and jog three times a week and do a bit of a workout twice a week.

Maybe, just maybe, I can get up at 5 a.m. to write. Or maybe, maybe I just have to face that I must write at night (I'm by nature a morning writer, all my great thoughts are in the morning. My brain is fried at night). Maybe, just maybe, it's time to win the lottery, so I can stay home again and write more.

This week though, by the end of this week, I will have a solution.

Otherwise, why am I up at 5 a.m.?

Martinis and writing

2010-04-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

After one of 'those' days at work, I went home to recreate my favorite, but not-oft indulged, treat: a dirty martini. I like two martinis. I like dry martinis and I like dirty martinis. A dry, dirty martini is a glass of awesomeness.

While making this concoction of Gin and Vermouth, I thought of many of our great writers, and their little problem with alcohol. And how alcohol fueled their creative processes. Well, so I imagine, else why would so many writers be alcoholics?

So I decided to see if a martini, a blissful alcoholic beverage, would help my creative process. I took my 3/1 gin/vermouth ratio (turns out I like 4/1 but hey, I wasn't going to waste the drink) to the writing table. Okay, the couch. And wrote.

We can all breathe easier, knowing that the only thing enhanced by this martini was my opinion of what I had previously written and the word-count, by about two paragraphs.

From this one attempt, I can honestly say that alcohol should not be involved in my writing process, however, since I think myself so much more clever after a martini, it SHOULD be involved in the submission process.

Pleasant Surprise at Tax Time and Running Shoes

2010-03-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

How literal my title is!

But we did get a pleasant surprise at tax time. Turns out education credits this year ROXXOR the HOUXXOR. Hmm. Houxxor doesn't work for house, but you know what I mean.

However, one thing work has, yet again, done to me.

The Epic Work Weight Gain.

Yes, it has struck.

So now I must diet, as in, not eat... no just kidding, but seriously, now I am back to the stringent eating plan and working out plan that I did when I first moved here and ended up looking amazing.

Lesson?
Do NOT ever stop moving, working out or eating right. And do not eat food provided at work.

Trust me!!!!

Now, if only I can find a way to fit three pages a day back into my life for writing!

aaaarghhh

Happy Spring!

Health care reform, a brief thought

2010-03-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

I am a big proponent of health care needing to change. I've had enough personal experience to have a deep-seated loathing for the insurance companies and their vested interest in doing as much as possible to deny coverage. I'm still fighting my previous insurance company because of one day my son spent in the hospital. They disagree with the doctor and the hospital who kept him in. Because, they would know.

So Health Care Reform? I'm sorry, but yes. Absolutely.

Here's where it gets tricky though. I believe this debate is less about health care and more the Republican's Great Stand in a power-play with a Democratic Washington. Because, when you look at the bill provisions, both parties aren't that far apart. Republicans and Democrats absolutely could have worked on this together, but instead, Republicans chose this issue to stand over, and lost.

I think the consequences to the Republican party are irreparable, because now that the day is won by the Democrats, the news focus will change from news of the battle to news of the victor. And, when the provisions start taking effect, and more Americans actually have insurance coverage, more individual plans will be made available, and the down-and-dirty process of enacting health care reform starts, people will pipe down. They might not want to give up their new health care policy. The fight was charged, and bitter, but in the end, as always, it was Politics, and the true effects of this decision won't be felt for years.

I will say, whichever side you are on, the one thing that absolutely needed to happen was a reform of the health care system in America.

I will also say, whichever side you are on, this fight was more politics than policy.

Will Healthcare Reform cure all? No, but it's a step in the direction everyone wants: better healthcare coverage, more healthcare coverage for poorer Americans, and better choices.

Hate it, love it, it matters not. Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, whoever, at the end of the day, prior to today, health care policy in Washington was written by the insurance companies. You may not agree with how health care is being reformed, but you have to agree it needed to be reformed, and America, IMO, couldn't afford to not do something. It's just a shame this had to be the battle ground. It's a shame we can't have a united government working in the interests of America. It's a shame Democrats and Republicans are so caught up in party politics they forget that the majority of Americans suffer for it.

And, at the end of the day, I believe most Americans were in the middle on this particular battle. The majority wanted a reform, but between the bullets flying from the Right and the Evilization of Health Care Reform, and all the noise, the majority, like me, stayed quiet, watching, wondering, hoping that at the end, what we end up with is not what we already have, a ridiculously broken system based on profit margins for insurers.

Spring sunshine and... snow?

2010-03-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

So today was in the 60s, sunshine and happinesss....

Tonight and tomorrow: snow. Piles of it.

I personally don't believe it. I'm a big spring fan, and like to think that winter is done when it's done. But this is Colorado, and blizzards in spring are not unheard of.

Still.

I'm hoping for rain!

SUPERMOM

2010-03-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Except not.

I was thinking the other day about some of the articles in newsweek regarding the gender gap in pay and promotions.

Studies show it doesn't have anything to do with women having children and the dual role many women find themselves in, but I think I disagree -- it is because women with children are balancing two major roles and whether or not the husband does equal share, for most women (and really just ask most women) they take on the family role in ways that can't always be measured, but have an effect on work.

I think it's still only a small percentage of men that leave the workforce to raise a child, and we live in a culture that has taken a turn toward placing more value on moms that stay home -- it's okay now to take a few years out of a career. This is a good thing, but it does mean going back into a career can be a bit dicey, and the income you earn may not be as high as if you hadn't, and in some cases, as when you left. Here's a few non-statistical reasons the gender gap could still exist:

Many women take on jobs and careers, but put a lot of effort into balancing the two -- this balance often leads to women not working overtime as much, not doing the political-social games work requires as much and having to take time off to be with a sick kid. Whether or not the father is doing the same is moot. When a women leaves work to take care of a sick kid she's a 'mom' first.
Women without children are still expected to leave the workforce and have a baby by their male counterparts -- think I'm kidding? I worked in a largely male environment and when new woman came onto the team through conversations she let people know she had no desire to have children. I was flabbergasted when through casual conversations, many of the men (young men, mind you, who should know better) still believed that in a year or so she'd end up wanting a baby. What they told me? All women come in saying they don't want kids, but most really do and they'll end up getting pregnant and leaving.
Women who have babies are considered 'questionable' after their pregnancy/maternal leave is over -- this is called risk management, and probably affects every pregnant working woman. The risk is that the woman will decide she doesn't want to return to work after maternity leave, even if she says she does. Some women do find they don't want to return to work, so despite what the woman says, the possibility still exists she won't return. Therefore, a pregnant woman will find that key projects, roles or responsibilities don't land on her plate.
Women often have multiple priorities in their life -- this is the biggest one I think. Women aren't just living in a world where the top of the ladder is the goal. They are looking for that plateau with a wonderful view where they can both work and raise their children. This means they may not climb as ambitiously as some men might, or it may mean they take a year or five off to raise young children. Or it may mean that they have other goals and desires not met by their career.

I'm not trying to make a statement here. But I think until women get to a point where the rules of the workforce work in our favor (and ultimately in mens' favor), where there are many different routes and options to success than one ladder up, and where taking time off isn't the death knoll it currently is, the gender gap will exist. We still live and work in a very patriachal culture that views work as one big game of King of the Hill.

Sometimes you have to share

2010-03-09T11:40:00.001-08:00

New vocabulary word:

Vajazzle

Yes, it's something you could have easily lived without knowing.

Countdown to Spring

2010-03-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

Well now that I'm back, I was hoping I'd be wittier. My posts would be meaningful. I wouldn't just babble about Bear and Turbo and the Drama, or worse, talk about how I am starting seeds indoor now for the garden and my peas sprouted so crazily that I have to already replant the sprouts...

No... I wasn't going to do that.

Except that I am.

However, when I am witty, and post intelligent thoughts, it'll be on my other site, which I started a while ago and aptly ignored :)

But back to Countdown to Spring... ready?

Here are my top five goals to accomplish before spring:

The Ability to Wear Shorts and T-Shirts -- this requires eating better, losing weight and explains why I've re-subscribed to Shape magazine

The Ability to Use a Rip-Stick -- I call it a wiggle-board, and for me it's easier to deal with than a skateboard, but I have yet to accomplish going more than 10 feet on it.

The Ability to Consistently Blog -- Because I'm convinced my spring blogging will be SO much more entertaining than ever

The Ability to Grow Plants -- Last year I grew a cool salsa verde garden: tomatillos, cilantro and tomatos -- I'm hoping to have a rousing success this year with everything... and not go overboard on tomatoes. Seriously. One tomato plant is enough.

The Ability to Wake Up at 5:30 a.m. and Be Happy About It -- It's a long shot, but hey, if I can just get up at 5:30, I could do sooo much more by ten a.m. then most people do in a day...

It's been that long!

2010-03-02T10:31:00.000-08:00

Time passes quickly, but you don't realize how quickly til you check your blog and you're like oh my holy hell, the last time it's been updated, was December! YIKES...

Today is a day of spring. It looks like spring. It feels like spring. My six year old is coughing like it's spring. Therefore it must be spring. I have, however, spent enough time in Colorado to know that we've got a few more cold days, and a snowstorm or two left to go, before we can honestly yell about spring.

So...

Happy Spring-like day!

And to celebrate this spring-like day, I shall remain here, home, with my coughing 'allergic to spring' child, and plant some seeds indoors. Because, yeah, sure, I can take the day off from work for my sick kid and you know, do laundry and clean, or, I can do fun spring stuff, like plant seeds.

Cuz I sure as heck n crap didn't stay home to clean and do laundry!

Late night flare up

2009-12-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

I don't think I can leave this blog.... though I tried...

Anyhow, things have finally sort of settled down. I'm in my new job, which so far I'm enjoying as much as one can enjoy a job. The boys are in school, the tween in 7th grade and tonight, at 11:14 p.m. I'm listening to Bear snore. He had an asthma flare, if that's what it's called. I saw it coming earlier today. He starts talking in a rushed, fast way and then gets tired. I was listening to his voice, but he didn't seem tired, so I just left it. Then, he told me he was going to go to bed soon...at 6! because he was tired. Rushed talking? Check. Tired? Check. Fever? Check. So when I heard what sounded like Darth Vader taking off his mask, I went into his room and saw how awful his breathing was, and gave him his meds. Because I'm not a rational parent at moments like this, I refuse to leave him in his bed (I know, I know) because I can tell right now, that at 2 a.m., I'll have to give him another treatment, and that I'll probably drag him into the bathroom and run the hot shower for some steam for his congestion. I'll also probably start giving him his daily meds too, now, just through the winter.

Now, I know this is probably the dullest post ever, but hey, it's 11:14 p.m. on a cold, dry night and I'm listening to Mini Vader. I can only be so creative!!!!

New Beginnings

2009-09-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

This still doesn't feel real, this new life. The kids are all in school during the day. I'm working from home part time, and writing. For me. For real.

I don't know how long this reprieve will last, it depends, I suppose, on how successful I am at marketing my writing, and if I go back to work full time.

But, rather than add to my 'professional site' (which will start being updated regularly tomorrow) the personal ramblings will remain here.

Day 1.

I did my part time work, tossed some laundry in and took my spastic Allie for a walk. She's a breed that needs both company and exercise, and my being home suits her just fine. It means a nice long mid-day walk, more dog park time and constant companionship. For both of us. Without being chased down by little boys and caught up in a tween's drama.

The house is so quiet, it's amazing how much I'm enjoying it. I didn't think quiet could be this satisfying. It is. A girl could get used to it. After my morning of not quite 'getting' that this was my new place, this quiet time, I took Allie for her walk and passed by a house I always passed but never noticed. It's on a corner lot, a big brown brick square that was prevented from looking imposing by the two full old trees that leaned toward it, keeping it pushed back. The yard was fenced with those adorable brown log fences and had a cute circular patch of flowers. It was messy, and the little tricycle in the path, tossed there on a whim and left for some other distraction, gave me an indication of why. I decided to like that house on the corner. I had never noticed it before, but now that I have, I shall notice it every time, and see something new and lovely about it. It's just what happens.

I also passed a creek on my walk, the same creek I always pass. But this time, the rushing of the water seemed more enticing, and I lingered there and saw just how clear the water was today. I saw the stones on the creek floor and understand now why it was that one day this summer as I was passing the creek, I found two kids playing in the water under the bridge. I wouldn't recommend it, but I now understood what drove them in.

So next time, I have decided, when I take Allie on her afternoon or morning walks, I will have to bring a camera, take some pictures and practice some reflective writing. If I don't do it here, it ends up in my stories, usually to their detriment.

Me Be Done

2009-09-09T08:24:00.001-07:00

I'm still doing my other blog... and will start dedicating official time for that in the next week and a half.

But... in exciting lahdeeda news...

I'm going to pursue writing full time!

YAY.

Kids in school.

Well, along with some remote p/t work for my current company which, sadly, I decided to leave the f/t position.. but... happily.... FREE WRITING TIME!

I have one book I can finally edit properly and try to send out for publishing (scary!)
I have one book in the works mentally (seriously, I should take notes on my thoughts)
I have a bunch of short stories I'm going to try to get out!

Tah!

School Countdown

2009-08-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

T-Minus Nine Days.....

First day of Kindergarten for the boys... bit worried about my Bear, he's not happy about it, Turbo is... well... ready to get on with the rest of his life already.

First day of 7th Grade for Drama Girl. Hoping there is less drama this year... really, could use a less dramatic year!!!!

Harry Potter summer fun

2009-07-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

Saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

I just think Snapes is very cool, I know, it's weird.

Family had fun, and I can't think of a better way to spend an overly hot summer day than to hide out in a cool movie theater watching a fun family film.

Day = Success.

BACK with news

2009-07-18T11:46:00.001-07:00

Nothing grand or exciting news but news :)

I have a serious site here.

I work as a career advisor (crazy I know).

I'm working as community manager for an indie game -- re: no money :) or community yet heh.

I'm one month away from finishing my MBA and being done with school for, pretty much, ever. :) cuz you know, when you're done, you're just SO very Done.

My boys are starting kindergarten at a charter school I've drooled over since we first moved here and I heard of it :) Yay.

I survived my tween surviving sixth grade.

I've decided to 'go for it' and you should see me blogging about a variety of attempts to actually get published in print in various mediums.

I'm going to be a writer that gets paid for writing.

Come hell or high water.

Wanna come along for the ride?

Best Writer Blogs

2009-04-29T12:23:00.001-07:00

Okay people,

Who are still reading... ha ha ha....

Best writer blogs? Any favorites?

Welcome to the Darkness

2009-03-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

So,

We're in a recession, unlike anything ever seen before, except the Great Depression.

Which isn't going to happen. But boy oh boy we might get close...

Doom.
Darkness.
Destruction.

Any paper you open, any news article you read, any opinion, it is nothing but bad news.
Where is our American spirit? Where is our American faith? Where is our American 'we can do this' attitude?

According to our papers, our media, our 'fourth estate' there is no American optimism, no American spirit, nothing to work toward.

I can not believe that.

Times may be hard, but are not the strongest borne from hard times?

Ahh, February

2009-02-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

I disappeared again. It just happens.

It's insane what working full time, going to school and taking care of kids will do to time. Mainly, make it disappear.

What I have discovered, however, is now I have a clearer direction than I did before working.
I have... a plan.

Goals. Ideas. All these things I thought I didn't have time to make, it turns out, whoa, that it wasn't time that I needed, but a jump start, a boost, a new beginning...

So... I've got my job. But it truly is just the beginning, and I'm excited to think of the possibilities for where I can go from here.

Not the sky, I'm not aiming that high. Just the realization of long-held desires (that, ironically, have absolutely nothing to do with the job I know hold...).

It's going to be an interesting year!

Employment -- welcome back to work

2008-12-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Well,

Five years I stayed home and took care of Turbo and Bear, and Drama Girl.
Five years, while I stayed home taking care of them, being the stay-at-home-mom of these kids, I went to school.

I've gotten my masters. I'm finishing up my M.B.A.

And I have a job.

I start in January, and while I'm happy I have a job, truthfully, I have a lot of mixed feelings.

It's not the ideal job, it's not the job I would have wanted to go back to work for, but I am taking it because jobs are quite quite scarce.

It is the first job where there seems to be little amounts of freedom and creativity. They did mention there would be creative latitude in the job, but we'll see.

It's further away than I'd like -- I hate driving at night, and I hate driving in the winter. I'll be driving at night in the winter because the hours are... off-hours. I get off work at 7.

Saying all of that,

It'll be good to make a paycheck again.
I'll still get the kids off to school in the morning.
It seems like a job I can leave at the office.

It's just that, I had jobs before that were cushy, nice, jobs, and I wonder, is this the right job?

Now, clearly, I'm not wondering so much as to turn it down. Not an idiot, here... The second income is going to help us, it's going to be nice knowing I can work, it's a start into a new career that will potentially lead me to exactly what I had before, only in a field I like.... but... I'll miss being a stay at home mom, and I"ll miss having a creative job and I'll miss all sorts of things I'm not aware of right now. I'll certainly miss the freedom!

It's a new thing, on a new road and I have no plans for it. I have no idea where it will lead me, if anywhere. It's an unknown.

Honestly, though, I don't know if I should be receiving congratulations or condolences!!!!

I will, however, be going shopping for new clothes.

One of those days

2008-11-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

This sums up my feelings today:

Lisa's Mood!

I'm so Angst! It should make my friends proud ;)

Writing writing writing

2008-11-20T08:09:00.001-08:00

One thing I've discovered, is when I write, I blog less.

Thus, this blog, is less... ha ha ha ahh... coffeeeeeeeee........

Where have I been?

2008-11-19T15:25:00.001-08:00

I am sorry. I know Idisappeared for a few weeks. I know I tend to do that.

This time, it was for reflecting.

There were a few weeks when I stopped doing everything and started thinking instead. Doing and Thinking are both important, but often we spend our lives simply Doing and never stop to actually Think.

I did some thinking, and here's what I came up with:

It's not too late, after all, to do the things I want to do.

It's okay to want two very contradictory things.

You can't have everything you want is true, but it doesn't mean you can't have anything you want.

I am less the river I was, and more a mountain. I still wonder, how'd that happen?

I enjoy cooking. Seriously, I did not know that.

We are paying too much money for too many channels (Yes, we're joining all the rest of the sane folk who are downgrading or canceling their cable!)

I have something special with my little boys, forged because I've stayed home with them for five years. I love that. Love that I COULD do that.

It will take me a long time to find a job in this economy, with my changing career fields. And that's okay.

And most of all....

I think that this crappy economy has taught a lot of us a good many things on need vs. want.

And it's On

2008-11-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

So, the election is 'on'

I've already voted, mind you. I live in a state where mail-in ballots and early-voting is allowed, so all the delays and problems other states encounter will mostly be avoided here. Early voting makes sense, even if it's only opening the polls for two or three days instead of just one, but that is not my point. The merits of early voting will sell themselves today.

What I'm on about is tonight.

Election Eve.

Hubby McRed and I have two bottles of wine. We've invited a neighbor who lives without television. We're not sure what she'll be drinking (ha!).

The plan is to eat leek and potato soup with sourdough bread, drink some wine, watch the election, walk away from the election, watch some more, and hopefully, at 10 p.m., pronounce victory.

If victory is not pronounced, well. We'll have to do a few things.

First, go to the liquor store for more wine. It closes at 11.
Second, pack up and head to Canada, the Last American Frontier for Blue State Refugees.
Just don't tell Canada we're coming.
Hate to have them close their borders and all.

I am cautiously optimistic though.

The polls are all predicting a landslide, but polls can be wrong.
So I'm not celebrating early. But I feel slightly confident.

Election Eve.

Happens once every 4 years. Really, I'm surprised they don't make it a Federal day off, well, except for all the poll workers!

Nano writing

2008-11-02T06:40:00.001-08:00

November is nano writing novel month!

I've decided to see if I can crank out an obnoxious rough draft in one month!

Stay tuned to see if I do it, go insane, or just give up.

But I want to make it clear, my goal is to establish an absolute habit of writing, not so much the finishing the novel, as the writing at a specified time every day. IF in the habit of doing this, the rough daft of my serial killing vamp gets completed, it's all bonus.

Good luck me.

Lets talk Daylight Savings Time

2008-11-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

I understand this actually held a purpose a long time ago, what with farmers and picking and train schedules and whatever other reason it was imagined we should play with time.

But, what is it's purpose today?

It used to be to give me an hours extra sleep in the fall, followed by a depressing loss of an hour in the spring.

But what is it's purpose?

Particularly, to those of us with children, who didn't wake up this morning and go, 'oh, we fell back, I can sleep for another hour?'

So now, not only do I not get my extra hour of sleep, but I get an extra early hour of darkness in the evening.

Bah.

Happy Halloween,,,, trick or treat

2008-10-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

I was going to go on about the horrors of sugar and candy, but this is not really the time.

I love Halloween. I love getting dressed up in costumes, though this is the first year in many that I've bothered... I love taking the kids trick or treating.

Candy?

I generally toss it.

For me, it's all about the experience.

Oh sure, the kids eat come of it. But it quickly disappears. I wish more parents would hand out raisins and toothbrushes, but tradition is tradition, and what would costumed kids without overflowing treat bags filled with healthy food do to Halloween? Hmm....

So tonight we'll visit our friends in the 'hood, the homes we know, the people we see every day, and some we don't, but as we'll be right there, it'll be okay, and we'll teach our children that it's okay to knock on people's doors and demand candy one night out of the year.

And why am I not going to complain about the sugar, the excess candy, and the deeper message we're sending our children by letting them ask for treats?

Because life is hard, and can be full of many hard things, and some people have it harder than others, and some have it easier, but right now, we're in some rough times, and a lot of people are having it hard.

Because childhood is short, and adulthood filled with responsibility, concerns, and the knowledge the world isn't such a great place all the time.

Because they are young only once, and they haven't yet learned about how the world really is.

Because I want them to learn to laugh, and to dress up, and play, and be frivolous, and have fun.

Just for one night, let the world be a magical playground.

A great parenting moment -- wasted

2008-10-21T07:17:00.000-07:00

"Mom, Mom," said Bear, a slight panic to his words. "I can't find Henry."

Oh no. Not Henry... Henry was an old 'hood dog that the boys loved. He passed away recently, and I gave a very simple, but seeming satisfactory answer as to what happened to him. But now, Bear was looking for him.

I am one who believes in not blowing off these conversations. Children need to understand the world around them, and death is a part of that world, as is life.

I get down on my knees and take his hand.

"Now Bear," I say. "We've had this conversation. Henry is gone."

I'm about to continue.

But the potential Viggo-like neighbor steps in.

"Um, He means Henry, my cat...."

.....

Ah, yes, Henry is also the name of the old cat the boys like to play with....

So I said, "Oh, WELL THEN," and patted little Bear's hand... "maybe he's just hiding from you hon."

Horrifiedly Aghast

2008-10-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Not really sure if Horrifiedly is a word.

But I have a slight confession.

I think I may perhaps find campy vamp movies funny.

We watched Bitten, with that guy from Clerks, you know, real high budget, and um, I want to watch it again because I can't remember laughing that much in a long time.

Now, Iron Man was all good and well, but it was too slick and not plotless enough. It tried to have a plot when really, it would have been better just admitting there was no real one.

The Dark Knight was superb, but, lets face it, not really a comedy.

So,

Me and campy vamp movies.

Who woulda thunk?

The little things they say

2008-09-26T08:01:00.001-07:00

So I realize now that one reason my husband and I together is because of the little things, not the big things.

He drives me insane, mind you, quite batty at times... but... it's things like when we first moved here and he said one day, out of the blue... 'You're losing weight, I can tell, it's showing in your face.' And that one comment spurred me on to new efforts... it was REALLY noticeable because he noticed and, one thing about my husband, he doesn't lie, and when he attempts to, it's obvious.

And other things like, like this morning...

We'd had a rough week, his work is getting to him, to me, and to be too much with all his side projects and school and my school and life, yawn, you get the idea, but this morning I took the boys to school and came home and when I came upstairs because he wanted to chat about something he stopped, and said...

"you look kinda sexy today, in a slightly bohemian way..."

And now, I'm in a great mood.

/aw shucks.

The boat is sinking! The boat is sinking!

2008-09-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

So we're sinking. Well, no, Wall Street is sinking, and apparently, if I'm reading the news right, is doing it's damndest to take the Everyman down with it.

I'm not an economics major, although, apparently, neither are any of the executives working at the big companies that are currently falling, but I am uncertain as to why the 700 billion dollar bailout is necessary. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a plan that will help, but so far, the only reason I can find that explains it, is to 'avoid financial panic.'

Bit late for that.

And, what about the Everyman? It's not like this is going to help the Everyman, bailing out these buffoon companies that, from the headlines this morning, may face angry mobs of protesters demanding pieces of their overblown compensation checks. Because lets face it, even with the bailout going through, and limits on 'compensation,' the checks are going to more than equal people's retirements, retirements that are currently being lost.

So, we need to pass on this great debt to our children and grandchildren, to avoid panic, and a recession?

Haven't we been in a recession?

And can't we, as a nation, come up with a better solution than having the Everyman pay a price the Everyman didn't exact?

I can hear the Everyman asking these questions:

Will OUR debt be forgiven? Will we keep OUR homes? Will we be able to find jobs? Can we relocate Wall Street to another part of the nation, and restaff it with competent people? THIS is what America has come to now? Making the Everyman who's already suffering in an economy of errors, who's already been watching the financial markets warily for some time, wondering why, if we weren't in a recession, things were hard, pay more money they don't have, to bolster the very financial institutions that caused the mistake in the first place.

For shame.

Solution to Wall Street

2008-09-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

Give me the $700 billion stimulus package money, and I will personally save the real estate market by buying lots and lots of homes, than refinancing them for the people who lost them... then I'll go shopping and buy lots of consumer goods.

Lets all hate HBO together

2008-09-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

I like Netflix because I can get entire seasons of shows that I can't be bothered to pay extra money to get on premium channels. For the most parat, I find that premium channels don't really have anything worth watching.

The exception is HBO.

HBO has Band of Brothers (which you can netflix now)
It had the Sopranos (Netflix!)
Deadwood.

And now,

True Blood.

I want to watch True Blood. I was told True Blood would be available on Itunes shortly after each episode aired. Only now, it seems that information is incorrect. True Blood will only be available after the entire series has aired.

So I hate HBO.

And to be fair, I hate cable television in general. There's so few really good shows worth watching, but to watch them, you have to pay for a lot of crap television. There's no a la carte packages, which, frankly, in today's age of media gluttony, really, there should be.

So I hate HBO because it wants to make money and the only way to make money for its programming is to, apparently, put one or two really good shows on, and then expect people to pay extra money and give them one or two good shows with twenty more crappy shows.

Now, Itunes lets you download shows immediately. Sci-Fi offers some shows on Itunes right after airing. Netflix lets you download some videos and shows immediately. But, not HBO shows. No, I have to wait til the series ends, or I can get HBO.

Is one show worth an HBO subscription fee?
Nope.

I can barely justify regular cable.

I think we ought to start a media revolution. Everyone should cancel their premium channel subscriptions and extended cable plans and demand a la carte service.

Lets be done with crappy televison! Lets demand only good shows! Lets make those shows downloadable immediately, because lets face it, that's where the future is going to be. Eventually, these industry giants will collapse under the weight of all their crap and there will only be shows that people actually want to view, all downloaded on itunes, with no cable bills...

Lets all hate HBO, and bring the future that much closer!

Dang it!

Boys Room, part one

2008-09-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

See? I did actually finish a project!

This is the first of the four walls I'm doing in the boy's room... It's all painted, and I added the wooden airplanes and stars I painted...

Remember, these are five year olds!

I will eventually remove the painter's tape. And it's not the final placement. I am spacing the stars so they fill more of the wall and have more space in between. I need to get some ubah-3m adhesive tape stuff for the wood planes.

But hey, the boys' love them!

Brady is out!

2008-09-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

I know it's not rational, but I am seriously bummed about Brady's knee injury.

It most likely will keep him out of the season.

He was my guy! He was my favorite player. I loved watching him play, I loved watching football knowing that Brady was the best QB, no matter what some grumpy red heads in the house might say...

...how can football season be the same?

Kids in the hood

2008-09-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

There was slight drama in the hood yesterday.

I never handle these things well, I just don't.

I go two ways.

I go 'whatever' and let someone else eventually deal with it.

Or I go and say stupid crap and be all cranky and pissy.

I'm sure somewhere there is a middle ground, an appropriate way to not say things in high-pitched whiny ass cranky voices (how I imagine I sound) without doing nothing.

I really need a Teacher voice. I might ask my teacher friend for some pointers.

But it comes down to, in the end, I wouldn't have to say things in whiny cranky voices if people paid attention to their own kids.

So we have kids in the neighborhood that do stupid things. Of course they do, they are kids.

It's what parents are for. Most parents get that parenting is an active thing... some not so much. I feel some of the kids are good kids who'd do less stupid things if there was occasional parenting.

As for the kids not from the neighborhood, well, they usually get bored and leave.

But what is it with signs and kids? Why must children hang on signs, pull on signs, tear signs down? Is it some inner desire to break down the confines of authority and society, or is it just cuz it's there?

When I was 17, I snagged road cones with some friends and we tossed them out the window.
Then, we stole a Stop sign.

It wasn't easy.

We had to settle on snagging some construction signs first -- they were much easier to pull down and take... and it wasn't until a snow storm blew a Stop sign down a few weeks later that my friend and I were able to um, obtain, one for her. I kept the construction signs. It was because in my mind I envisioned a cool urban bedroom with cool urban signage.

We lived in rural New Hampshire. There wasn't really much 'urban' to it.

So my solution for the hood?

Take down the stupid signs before the kids pull them down on their heads, and put in speed bumps so the idiot adults that speed through will be forced to slow down and less likely to hit one of the blissfully unaware kids that ride on their bikes down the middle of the road.

My soul in a mosaic... i guess

2008-09-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Okay,

here is my mosaic:

Go to More Gravy's website for instructions on how to make yours! I would do it for you, but I've been up all night playing facebook scrabble and making silly mosaics!

Yay! The Bear is home.

2008-08-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

My little Bear is home! For a nice, long detailed account of what I've been doing this week, here...

It was a crazy week, where I learned you can frett away a pound and a half, and that it's possible to forget to eat, even if you are the type that loves food, like I am. Mmm.

It's the sort of week where you're thankful that you know you're neighbors and they don't mind letting your daughter hang out, so you can deal with things that need to be dealt with, knowing she's safe. Or the neighbors that let you carry their half-exhausted Turbo over to their house, dumping him off, bathless (sorry for the stinky toes!) hungry and overtired. The sort of neighbors' who ask how the little Bear is.

And while it wasn't the worst week, there are far worse weeks one could have, the first bit was very scary. The second was chaos. The third was his coming home, and happy.

But now he's home, happy, and a bit skinnier, his baby pot belly is gone! I guess that makes sense. He's alright, and Turbo and Bear are upstairs playing happily, as if he'd never left, as if Turbo didn't have three and a half days without his other half, and only a niggling little cough and some breathlessness remains of Bear's ordeal.

Yay Bear!

The Granola Mom

2008-08-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

I no longer know what 'being granola' means, and I don't care. I'm way past the age where labels actually matter, despite the media's attempts to label everyone into neat sub-categories... but that's an entry all by itself.

I do know that I was never going to be 'that mom,' you know, the mom that baked home-made snacks for their kids, packed neat little lunches, and made sure everything was somewhat healthy.

Except, I am that mom.

Last year, I left it all to the school system. My daughter wanted to buy lunches. Toward the end of the year, after I began to pay more attention to what Drama Girl ate, I decided I needed to pay slightly more attention. And I read the school menu. That pretty much sold me on the idea that the school lunches just are not nutritious. Oh sure, their are 'nutritious choices' but how many kids do you really trust to make those choices, when most of us, as adults, can't make them?

Yeah.

So this year, I've been packing her lunch and filling it with healthy snacks. The thing is, the healthiest snacks are pricey.

So I baked.

I set aside two hours on Sunday, figuring this is something I plan to do weekly, and baked an entire week's worth of healthy snacks that can be alternated with fruit (which, happily, requires no baking).

And what did I bake?

Honey-wheat muffins with sunflower seeds -- mainly for breakfasts... if you think you're kids won't eat healthy, HA. My sons tracked these muffins down from upstairs and through the paper bags that were concealing them. My only inkling they found and scarfed some down were the crumbs falling from Turbo's lips...

Home-made granola --this sounds a lot more complicated than it is -- it was embarrassingly easy)

Energy bars from that kick ass 'Foods You Crave' cookbook -- with a nice peanut butter layering

And that was it. These snacks and the breakfast muffins will take my kids through the entire week, with a fruit or two tossed in.

So yeah, I'm that mom now.

But you know what? It's cheaper this way, healthier, and it spares my kids the nutritional joke that is the school lunch menu... oh with one exception, because I'm not TOTALLY that mom -- Drama Girl can eat a hideously unhealthy lunch every Friday.

Oh, and if anyone has read Lunch Lessons... let me know.. I"m thinking of picking it up, because it's hard to creatively think up healthy lunches.

How Does My Garden Grow

2008-08-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

It's a very small garden --

a container on the back patio garden, to be specific, but, it grows.... maybe not as well as some gardens grows, but it grows enough for me.

It grows...

Beautiful marigolds

Plentiful tomatoes

ready to ripen

Sweet and plentiful basil used quite frequently

a chili pepper plant that's spiced up a chili really nice

Bushy strawberry plants, sans fruit though

Rosemary picked almost bare and mint for yogurt sauces and pho

Oregano for anything and everything

Overflowing flowers

and lovely native blossoms

How does your garden grow?

Does it bloom?

How so?

Welcome To Middle School Momhood

2008-08-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

Today is the second day of middle school.

I'm a mom of a middle-schooler.

Drama Girl, personally, seems a bit young to me, to be a middle-schooler, but she's the right age, even if she looks younger, and is smaller than the other kids.

So I dropped her off and she disappeared into the throngs of other walking news-flyer ads for J.C. Penney, Justice for Girls, and Kohl's. I lost her rather quickly, and drove home, wondering, where'd all the time go? How'd I even GET to be a mom, much less a mom of a middle-schooler (yes, I know the facts thank you, we're speaking philosophically here) and what happened to the kid I was, and how come, even though I don't LOOK remotely like I used to, what with aging and lines and crows feet and such, sometimes I FEEL like I used to, and if I feel like I used to, than how on earth did I end up where I am rather than where I thought I would be (granted, I never did have a solid grasp on 'where' I would end up).

And the biggest thing is, is it too late then? Not to go back, I mean, to middle school? That was a nightmare. But is it too late to go back to where I wanted to end up, from here? Can I do it?

I don't know.

I want to find out.

Watcha' think?

A Tisket, A Tasket, Lets Hear it For Baskets

2008-08-16T09:58:00.001-07:00

I love baskets. Baskets are one of the single most useful creations beside the wheel. Seriously. Now, you can have too many baskets laying about looking all cluttery and undecorous, but there is no such thing as too many functional baskets... I have lots of baskets, and it ocurred to me that for every basket I purchase, an area of my house becomes cleaner. Hmmm. I know you're thinking it seems silly to dedicae an entire post to inanimage objects, but these inanimate objects contain clutter, therefore, helping me keep my house clean.
So, in tribute, here are my baskets.

Meet the Baskets

Dragon Basket -- this fine hanging baskety fellow holds a Dragon Basket -- this fine hanging
baskety fellow holds a few train tracks and stuffed animals in the boys' room.

This basket is the all-encompassing toy basket. There is no 'seperate bins' because four-year olds are not interested in clearly-defined bins that are toy-specific. What that means is, my boys aren't organized enough to appreciate organizational basketing.

Except for the train track basket. Tracks MUST have their own basket.

Here we have the hamper frog basket... look, there's a frog! Oh, it's just Turbo.

This blurry basket holds mom-things. Stay out. All of you. It's my basket. It keeps the sink area clean and free of clutter.

The dog basket... this holds all of Crazy's toys. The boys' 'chore' is to pick up dog toys at night. Every night they rush around the living room picking up dog toys and tossing them in the basket.

Everyone needs a remote-odd-video-laying-around basket.

A tisket, a tasket, a brown tree basket.

The 'Man Basket.' It's not a frou-frou woman's basket. It's pretend-leather, and dark, and manly, and such. Hubby McRed needed his own basket because he kept messing up my kitchen basket. However, I took the picture out. It had (gasp) mail.

The kitchen basket that contains our kitchen clutter. If it overflows, it must be cleaned out. It's close... real close...

My beloved shoe basket. This basket is the most essenial basket in our house. It holds all of the kids shoes and my shoes. The rule is only one pair can remain in the basket. In the winter, I'll get a storage ottoman and line the inside with a towel, for the winter shoes.

I also have a book basket, a papers-I-need basket and a few other storage baskets. I didn't talways have these baskets. And you know what? Before my baskets, my house was even messier than it is now!

So, yes, this is a silly post dedicated to inanimate objects, but I'll be, I need my baskets...

Back to the ole writing...

2008-08-15T20:08:00.001-07:00

I intentionally took the summer off from my writing. I was getting too stressed, and writing nothing. I spent the whole summer forcing myself not to try to write, to just let things be...

Monday, I'm baaackk. Well, the writer in me is back.

You'll find me whining about my characters, writers block and struggles every now and again, along with the normal whines about how my whole family just so doesn't get it maaann...

I'll be wearing flannels, uggs, and a scowl.

I bet you can't wait!

Out of the mouths of babes

2008-08-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

"Mom,"

"Yes, Turbo?"

"Mom, sometimes kids don't need moms. But sometimes kids need moms." (smiles with a four year old's smile)

"Yes, Turbo, sometimes kids don't need moms, but sometimes kids do..."

/sob... waaahhhhh

Dear Snarky School Counselor's Secretary

2008-08-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter has an IEP. She's had one since she was 9. I just would like to clear that straight up.
I am her parent, and I like to be involved. I'd also like to make that clear.

I understand you were in the middle of chatting with your BFF about adopting poor children overseas, and I'm sorry to hear that Ukranians are no longer adoptable, and I realize I'm interrupting your most interesting conversation, at 10:45 a.m. during your workday.

It's just that, when I asked you to take a message for the counselor because I wanted to touch base and have a short conversation with her about my daughter's IEP, you seemed to misunderstand me.
Somehow, you believed I needed a lecture on IEP Process 101.
You explained to me the IEP process, the same one I've been working with since Drama Girl was 9, but thank you kindly, for assuming I never actually bothered to read her IEP. But you didn't take down my message.
You then proceeded to explain how the special education teachers and regular teachers and principles from both schools all met together to have a nice little chat about my daughter and her IEP. I already knew this. It's mandated by law that I receive notice of and invitations to all IEP meetings and reviews, and I'll be damned if I never miss 'em.
I'm sure it surprised you, what me being a parent, and all, that I was disrupting what you perceived to be as sound process.
Anyhow, what you clearly should also know, since you know so much, is that last year, your counselor was in a foreign country, and didn't make my daughter's IEP meeting. Neither did I, although I did send an e-mail and discussed beforehand with her current teachers what I felt were important things that hadn't been dealt with before. The fact your counselor was absent is the reason I'm sitting in your office smiling through teeth that really want to gnash you to precious little bits, trying to get you to give me a piece of paper so I can deal with someone I really need to deal with.

That was all I wanted -- a simple piece of paper so I could write a note to the counselor requesting a brief chat about the transition.
I understand that you are a process person, so clearly caught up in the process that it never occurred once to you that all the while when you were discussing meetings about MY child with counselors and teachers and special education helpers you neglected to mention me, the parent. You seemed to think I was an unnecessary complication. My presence or involvement in the matter unnecessary. Your precious process handled it.
And you still didn't give me a piece of paper.

Well, Snarky School Counselor's Secretary, I'm afraid you've given me the impression we'll be seeing a lot of each other these next three years, so let me start all over and reintroduce myself properly.

I am a mother of a child with an IEP. I care about her education, the help she's getting or not getting, and what goes on during her day at school. I am an involved parent. I am not satisfied with any process that involves my child, specialists and teachers, but not me, the parent. You'll be hearing from me fairly frequently. Try to be less snarky. Oh, thank you, now, for finally giving me the piece of paper. Don't think to toss it. If I don't hear from a counselor soon, I'll be calling Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday... you get the idea.

P.S. By the way, regarding your precious process, let me assure you, no one can spin in and out of process, paperwork and red-tape than someone who's worked ten years in government. I know what process is. It's why I'm damned if I'm going to leave my child to it.

Summer Winding Down! Panic! Flee! Deny it!

2008-08-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

This may be the first summer in a long time that I'm grumpy about it's inevitable (but not here yet) end. It's not over, but it's winding down.

It's been a GOOD summer for me. Relaxing, enjoyable, mostly stress-free, and filled with oh, FRIENDS, and NEIGHBORS, and CHILDREN to play with my own HORDE. I'm going to try to prolong summer into the very early days of September, but I fear September, for me, has meant the 'the end of summer' for too long. But hey, I can try.

So I've decided to do a wind-down-of-the-summer post.

First is my list of things I've learned this summer.
Following that is the comparison of what I SAID I would do this summer with what I ACTUALLY did this summer. It's not as bad as I thought it would be...

Now here's a list of things I've learned this summer:

My neighbors are cool (love the neighbors/friends).
I adore amaretto sours, I verily verily do.
I have a slight addictive attraction to badminton.
I may be more crafty than I thought --I will be blogging about the boy's room and my uber-crafty-cutesy ideas as I do them . It won't get me in a mag, but it SHOULD be cute).
It was easy to get rid of all high fructose corn syrup in the house, and follow the Healthiest Kid in the Hood guidelines.
My dog really is crazy.
My daughter does better with chores, schedules, and no television.
The chore chart is uber effective for four year olds.
Despite wanting to be cool, I'm really mommish, only without mom jeans -- really cool moms don't do chore charts, thought bubble boards, and obsess over how to get fish oil in their kids...
I looove sushi still.
I suddenly want jeans embroidered with animals in bright colors emblazoned on my ass -- motivation to drop another size.

Here is April's list of 'things I will do his summer' compared with what I actually did, and if I can finish it by the end of summer (ha).

1. Read insanely long classics

No. I instead delved into the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyers and am on Book 4. While I didn't delve into Anna Karenina or Crime and Punishment, I'm thoroughly enjoying this series, and can complete it by the end of summer. It could be a classic, what with it's total passionate and unrealistic love tale, so I can half-count it.

2. Learn how to do a website.

I can do this by the end of summer. I know enough to do a basic website using dreamweaver. I am not sure though, that I will get to cascading style sheets in the next two weeks. I'm moving this to the 'fall' list, if I do one.

3. Learn how to use new fangled camera which allegedly will be my graduation present.

WOO HOO. I did I did. I haven't yet conquered the manual settings, but I love love love this camera. And as soon as Hubby McRed changes out some computer parts, I'll be able to upload photos directly to the main computer, and not just my laptop, which I'm very excited about.

4. Get Bear to go in water.

A success. He is in a regular swim class with Turbo, and has no fear of the water. It's not his favorite thing to do, but he goes to swim class, and enjoys it while he's there. We'll be continuing swim lessons on a once-a-week basis through the fall/winter to keep them moving forward with swimming.

5. Get Turbo to go underwater.

Yes and no. He is doing better at putting his ears and head back in the water, and he's gone under twice, but he doesn't yet do it freely like it's no big deal.

6. Learn to swim, take three.

Um, yeah, maybe we'll be doing that in January again...

6. Help Drama learn multiplication table by heart (she's like, going to middle school... ack)

We'll be working on this next week. I don't know if she will remember it all, but we've made an agreement to work on it the final week before school.

7. Lose Ten Pounds.

Well, I lost a size, but not ten pounds. I did lose a few, but I'm the size I wanted to be by the end of summer, so I count this a success. I have a new goal now, one more size down. I know some people go by 'pounds' but I like going by 'sizes.' If I succeed, by the holidays, I will be at the size I want to be for, like, ever.... bwaahahaha... (and I don't cheat, if I have to suck in my gut, and move things around to 'fit' it doesn't count as 'fitting.'

8. Overcome fear of grilling.

Um, to be honest I totally forgot about this one. I am not afraid of grilling, for some reason, I've never learned the fine art of charcoal grills.

9. Paint two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen.

You'd think... truthfully, I've done a bedroom and a half. I'm working on the second bedroom now. I find it doubtful that I'll paint the kitchen, but it's possible I could get to one of the bathrooms. I'll be moving this to the fall list.

10. Raise beautiful container tomatoes, peppers and strawberries.

Well, my peppers and tomatoes are going strong, and I should get a decent crop out of them, but only one! The strawberries, alas, have borne no fruit. The problem, I think, with the strawberries is they keep sticking out runners, rather than growing fruit. I've gotten two teeny strawberries out of them. The plants are strong, but no fruit. My basil, rosemary, oregano and mint are doing well, but I had to ditch the cilantro and thyme.

11. Explore the green way walking trails (some of us have 'walking down walking trail' issues)

Um, yeah. It was like, too hot, and I'm a whiner in the heat. We'll do some of these in the fall with the boys and the dog... maybe.

12. Find cooler music to listen to.

Ha. Success. Hubby McRed couldn't take my dated music and updated my Ipod with Portishead and some other cool music I like a lot but can't tell you the name of.

13. Give up Diet Coke, take 323.

Done. All hail iced tea. It's got caffeine but isn't nearly as bad for you as diet coke.

14. Figure out how to program cell phone.

I can do this in an hour, but I just can't be bothered, but I want to change my ring tone and figure out how to email pics so I'll be doing this before the end of summer.

15. Keep house clean enough to enjoy summer.

Success! It's been 'clean enough' to enjoy summer.

Countdown to School

2008-08-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

13 days left before school starts for Drama Girl.

20 days left before school starts for Turbo and Bear.

This means:

6 a.m. wake up calls (waah)

Smoothies, oatmeal bars and other wholesome, pre-thought-out breakfasts.

Time to make school lunches.

A new more rigorous, scheduled routine.

But most of all?

Two hours and 20 minutes of MOM ALONE IN THE HOUSE TIME.... WOO HOOOO

Now, here's a short list of things I will NOT be doing in that alone time:

Grocery shopping.
House cleaning.
Laundry.
Chores of any sort.
Stuff for the children.

This is a short list of things I WILL be doing in that alone time:

Writing.
Reading.
Visiting various coffee shops to write, or read.
Shopping for me.
Dancing around the house singing.

You get the idea.

AND it goes without saying...

I'll be missing the 'hood posse...

Lahdeedah's Hood Post

2008-08-04T09:14:00.002-07:00

So The Munki and Me and Helping Garden Gnomes have both done a hood post.

Here's mine.

I love my 'hood man.

Okay, so lets clarify that a bit.

This is a nice little high-density community with two common areas (and next year, allegedly, a community garden... woo hoo!). This past spring and summer, the place has been overrun by hooligan children from the age of 1 up. Throughout this past summer, I've discovered Bear really really really really likes a little blonde girl, Turbo likes her to, just not really really really, he just really likes her.

They've also begun to acknowledge the existence of the 16 month old little girl.

And they play. Oh how they play. They run barefoot through the grass, dig in the trees, vroom on the little sidewalk which they are sure is JUST for scooters, chalk and skateboards and run into the 'castle' (gazebo) or just flop on the grass and look at the clouds. You can hear them laughing, giggling, fighting, crying, laughing and giggling in turns. It's great. It's what summer is meant for. Not being bored indoors moping and driving your mom/dad/whoever crazy. But being outdoors, barefoot in the grass, smothered with dirt and grime and little boy/girl sweat, and happy.

I love how some of the adults play badminton occasionally (seriously, folks, what's up? I mean, I count it as my aerobic exercise...). I love how we had a little bbq gathering with the neighbors. I love that I actually KNOW my neighbors, and their kids, and dogs, and who belongs to who and where, and all that jazz. I especially love that we all get along and that over the course of spring/summer they've morphed from neighbors to friends.

I love that on the other end of my area, the neighbors are friendly, and sweet, and know my boys and my girl and are tolerant of the pesky little fellas. I love how they know my dog and when she escapes, they catch her, and find it amusing. I love the good naturedness of them. I know the 'circle peeps' don't really know the other end of my row, but they are nice, generous people who love seeing the neighborhood alive, as long as the kids don't kill their flowers, maim the trees, or kick their dogs...

And as for Helping Garden Gnomes observation on the particular neighbor who shall not be named, well, I understand everything she wrote, and she's right. She's negative, and she always wants to come out occasionally and make her presence known, and sometimes she'll stop you and give you some negative energy, and sometimes, I swear I'm sure it's my imagination, but sometimes it seems she's beaming it out from her windows with secret/not-so-secret glares, but it's okay. If you think about it, it's rather silly. Because we don't have to return it (be the force Garden Gnome, feel the happy la la zen flow through you... hee hee). Yes, there will always be negative people, and occasionally, when they feel everyone is tuning them out, they make their presence known, but it's okay, because there's a group of happy positive people, and negative people aren't so upset with everyone else as they are with themselves. The only solution is to trivialize it, which I think I shall do, by simply smiling, and keeping it where it belongs, on her end.

And I hate giving this much space on a positive post to the negative side, but I feel it should be said, I want to put it out there, to make it as meaningless as possible. I don't want a loud intrusive negative brat to ruin our happy hood parade. So I've said it, I'm done with it, and all the glares, groans, and 'accidentally loud' comments will thusforth be ignored, until such time as an occurrence occurs in which I have to deal directly. And thusforth we shall not speak of the neighbor who shall not be named lest by speaking of said neighbor, we ourselves get sucked into the um, big negative energy vat in the ground... cuz um, it's filled with molten lava...oh how it burns...

And so, I just want to say,

I love my 'hood.
I love the circle peeps who became my friends.
I love the tree peeps who are great neighbors.
I love the silly dogs of the 'hood with their various crazy personalities. (Seriously, a french bull dog who thinks he's a mastiff? for reals?)
I love how my boys have kids to play with.
And I love amaretto sours when someone else makes them.

Tah!

Obnoxiously Healthy Lunch

2008-08-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

My new fave book:

The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood.

I borrowed the book, Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood from my neighbor, and as soon as my copy comes in, I'll return it, I swear... really... I promise...

.. but I'm totally sold.

Eating healthy is vital for kids. None of this 'they're young, it's fine crap anymore.

Saying that, I like the 80-20 or 85-15 rule, 80 to 85 percent healthy, 15-20 percent 'anything.' Which, lets be honest, is pretty darned good.

It's not easy. But I've started 'going healthy' a ways back (last summer I made huge progress) so it's a bit easier to take the next step.

We eat way lots more veggies. Less fast food. More salads. Now, I am checking labels for high fructose corn syrup and numbered dyes. I'm making healthier snacks.

I'm making obnoxiously healthy lunches for my kids.

And you know what?

They don't mind.

See?

I cut up some fresh veggies, tossed in some arugula and red onions, cut up some tofu and put out some cheese.
My tip here is: to make it easier for the 'next' time, cut up/shred all the veggies and put the leftovers in a plastic bag... that way, the next time, there's no chopping.

Here are their tortillas: I bought the uber large ones by mistake... ooops, so I cut them in half.

This is the end result.

See that nice, bubbly cheese? And check out the overdose of zuchini on Turbo's half. Bear was all about the tofu and carrots. Yes, I said tofu.

And even the big kids like it... here's Drama Girl, finally getting that health food can be good food.

And you know what?

It was ridiculously easy. The boys loved putting on their own toppings. And there isn't anything in that entire meal that is bad for them. Even the sauce doesn't have the High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFC).

If I can do this, anyone can.

Extra health hint for free:

And snack time? What do you do with snackers?
Put out a bowl of 'snack whenever you want' items in it: stash with carrots, bits of rice cakes, apples and fruit, raw veggies, anything you don't mind them eating. And don't worry, they'll rarely get to the bottom of the bowl, but if they do? If you have power snackers? Well, raw veggies are near impossible to 'overeat' and just limit the fruits!

Chore Chart Extreme

2008-07-29T20:44:00.001-07:00

Okay, here it is.

The ULTIMATE chore chart...

Be amazed, be very amazed... just not at like, how I didn't do such a good job with the whole cutting straight thing. You can be amazed at what foam board, foam paper and velcro can do...

We've got your basic themes:
Sun = Day = What we are doing that day.
Moon (it DOES look like a moon...) = night = what we do at night.

Behavior = what we want to be doing or not doing.
Chore/Play is interchangeable for what is next.
Now = what we are doing now.

And the little charts next to it all? The sticker tally! Woo hoo! Stickers = Treat cards = Varying treats!!! Woo hooo I want a treat card! Okay, I really am fine.

Now, check these babies out... Did I mention that I had Turbo and Drama help with their chore chart? It made them love it even more. The colors? Pink and pastel lavender? They also picked out...

Now these babies, well... each 'task' you do gets you a point, which goes in the point bank. We clear the point bank out and trade points for stickers at night. This is because they are OBSESSED with geting 'points' or poker chips. So I bought these wooden box things at Michaels for $1 a piece and let them paint their own...

I then stamped a happy Wow and Amazing stamp on them.

I am giddy with my craftiness tonight.

It doesn't happen very often, successful crafting and me...

Chore Chart

2008-07-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Chore Chart will be created today.

BWAHAAHAHAA BWAHAHAHHAAA

My kids will do chores and behave, all for poker chips in the hopes they can get a train...

Soon, my Empire of Poker Chips Will be Complete...

...

and then I will start on my next Conquest.

I will create 'cards' and put them in 'collections' and my neighbors and friends will scurry around endlessly, hoping to get full collections of cards so they can get....
...
more cards.

Oh wait, that's PackRat... Nevermind.

Mom has HAD it. Like, yeah, totally... in all caps...

2008-07-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Before I begin, those of you with children under 4, look away. Don't read. It doesn't apply to you.
This is about cleaning, and any woman with a child or children under 4 who has a clean home needs counseling, because no sane woman with a child under 4 can maintain a clean home for more than, maybe, half a day, tops.

For the rest of us, or for those who wonder what's coming Bwwahhaaa, well, this weekend, MOM HAS HAD IT.

And I hate using 'Mom.' I like to pretend I have an identity that isn't so close to Moo or Ma'am, or Mumu. Something about the 'mmm' sound. Anyhow, LAHDEEDA has had it. Okay? I have HAD it.

I am not a 'neat' person by anyone's standards. My OCD 'can pick a minute jelly stain on the wall from 30 paces away' guy, Hubby McRed, and I have come to an uneasy peace. He avoids the kids' rooms, my desk, the laundry room and the closet if it's messy, alone. This does mean I have to occasionally get him his clothes, but whatever works. The rest of the house I try to keep well, at least clutter free and swept. I'm not so good at vacuuming, but in a prior incarnation, Hubby McRed was the God of Vacuuming, and nobody, I mean NOBODY can vacuum to the perfection he can... the straight 'freshly vacuumed' lines that are so neatly parallel to each other, the way the carpet stands up, cheering, at the end... it's a skill.

Anyhoo...

I had the house clean for a week. Sunday to Friday. We weren't even home most of Friday. Yet, somehow, upon waking on Saturday morning, I see...

Dishes to the ceiling.
Counters filled with wrappers and dirty spoons, leftover food cans, cilantro on the cutting board...
I move to the dining area... my eyes sweep over an un-wiped-down table, crumbs the size of whole bread loaves on the floor, a yogurt stain mocking me in it's peachy little way.
I scan past it to the living area and there's the dog bed, ruffled up into a ball. The couch pillows askew and ascatter. Dog toys everywhere. The ottomon blanket twisted. Oooh. Was I upset.

So I went up the toy-laden stairs into the hall of trucks and cars. To the laundry room (yeah, it's upstairs, I know, sooo cool) with the pile of 'tween girl clothes hanging out of an open dryer (seriously, do you have to wash your sneakers?) and the cat food all over the floor. I go look into Drama Girl's room, where the rule generally is clothes stay in the closet and nothing is on the floor, and discover her floor littered with, well, Tween stuff.

This is all BEFORE my first cup of coffee.

I glare at Hubby McRed. I can't help but think if we'd GONE to that playgrounds cafe this morning, I wouldn't have quite had it. I'm sure somehow it's all his fault. I mean, I see red beard hairs in the sink... he's not innocent...

I drink two and a half cups of coffee... and discover MORE dishes have been made. TWO dishes to make one bowl of oatmeal. Why?

So I exploded.
And created my own universe. It's like, cool. Life has just begun on one of the planets I accidentally created, and on another planet, they are wondering if they were created intentionally or if life was a haphazard accident.
I spent some time creating order in my new little universe.
Then I returned to my house.

I made a DECISION that ENOUGH was ENUFF.

I informed the Bear and Turbo that they need to clean the hall.
I told Hubby McRed I was cranky so he could hide.
Then, I sent Cinderel.... I mean Drama Girl to the sink.
I had her unload the dishwasher, and then, had her rinse EVERY dish in the sink and EVERY dish overspilling the sink. I had her do it properly, (I was checking) and to then load the dishwasher.
She was indignant, and attitudey, and I told her the truth.

"Perhaps, if you understand how much work I have to do because you don't rinse your own dishes or put them in the dishwasher, or because you just casually use three bowls, six spoons and seven glasses just to make one meal, perhaps you'll appreciate the effort, and you know, STOP MAKING SO MANY MESSES!"

The boys have 'dog toy' duty. They are responsible for putting the dog toys away and taking the toys upstairs after they've played with them. They also have to clear the hall of their toys. This week, they will be doing their new chore: helping unload dishes.

They required some prodding, but it's expected. They are um four.

Drama girl though, well, she's DRAMA. She whined and moaned and though she worked, it did sound like she was being tortured. She calmed down though when Hubby McRed told her the more she moaned and whined and yelped about it, the more we'd give her to do. I was ready to gag her, for all the whining, have you EVER heard an 11 year old whine?

But Hubby McRed took the rags out of my hand.
"You don't understand," he said. "To her, this is torture. I remember dishes and doing them. It's awful, they just pile up, and it seems like they go on for eternity. This is the WORST CHORE for a kid... hey, there are some dishes up here, lets go bring them down..."

It may have been cruel, but it was worth it...

And the whole time I was trying to put into words just WHY besides having a greater understanding of what her obliviousness does, she should do chores, Hubby McRed stepped in with a surprisingly good reason. I mean, I knew the reason, he just had a better way of putting it...

"Drama Girl," he sighed. "You do chores because you're part of the family. Everyone does their part. Doing chores teaches you to respect the work that goes into being part of a family. By doing chores, you become a more responsible respectful person. It makes you a BETTER person. If you never did any chores and you never worked, you wouldn't value anything or care or respect anything. It's not just about doing chores because we don't want to do them. Although we don't. Do you think your mother likes doing dishes every day? And by the way, you and your brothers are doing the dishes every day now..."

See? Wasn't that insightful of him?

And to prove his point, he pointed out who the polite kids were, the kids we liked, that were respectful, well-behaved and liked for who they were... they were all kids we knew who had chores. Then he pointed out the kids that had no chores (Seriously, I have no idea how he knew this...) and asked how she thought they behaved.

Well. It was a winning closing argument.

After her bout with the WORST chore EVER, she did her normal daily chores and then realized she had the whole afternoon to play. See, it wasn't so bad doing chores.

The kicker? Because the universe has lately been very good about reinforcing my points... she knocked on her friends' door, two polite boys that live in our hood... what did they say?

"We'll be out in a half hour. We have to finish our chores..."

Shady Tree Park

2008-07-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, I posted about the Burning Stones Park. I mentioned we would be headed to Shady Tree Park.

Shady Tree Park is older, which explains why the trees are big enough to provide shade. Nothing like a New England canopy, or the tall ever-aspiring-higher trees of the Northwest, but, tall enough and wide enough for some shade.

Since the entire point of this post is about the shady tree park, you'd think I'd have taken some pictures of the soft green grass and said shady trees. You'd think.

Anyhow, trust me, the grass is soft and green, and the trees are shady.

But the kids? The kids were still hot.
And brave. Too brave.
But at the end of the day, despite some drama, and an unfortunate bloody-nose incident Cutie suffered, it was a good shady day.

Hot Diggidy Dog

2008-07-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Oh dear.

It is July, and can someone please tell me, where the school supply lists are this year?

I can't seem to find mine for my daughter, and while I'm certainly in no rush to send Drama off to Middle School and introduce Turbo and Bear to pre-Kindergarten, sometimes, I like to look at the school supply lists.

It makes me happy, especially during these dog days of summer (who knew the Romans blamed the constellation Sirius for the hot, oppressive days between July and August?). And these are the dog days of summer... too hot for my liking. The sun just sort of beats down on you and every breeze is the sort that brings heat and fire and misery. Why, it's a wonder I didn't just fall down halfway through my walk with Crazy, what with all the hot winds and burning sun.

And perhaps, perhaps I exaggerate slightly, but not by much. It's dog-panting weather out there, and no rain in sight except for an overly optimistic rain cloud last Saturday night that finally dispersed.

Oh I know, I know, waah waah waah, I live in Colorado, the dog-days of summer pass as quickly as they go, but I live in the moment, and let me tell you, this moment is hot, oppressive and the reason why I will never live in the Southern Hemisphere. Unless it's like, on the beach, or in one of the micro-climates where somehow it never gets above 75.

Burning Stones Park

2008-07-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here is Bear and Turbo at the Burning Stones Park, also known by its proper name, Sandstone.

It's one of the uberest parks I ever did see.

But there's one teensy eensie small problem. They did such a great job with this park, the open spaces, the huge playground contraptions, the kiddie area to die for, the big kid area, the mini-climbing wall, the rocks to run around in, why, heck, they even have a water feature.

Here's Turbo going down the closed slide that's part of the stone-theme.

The bridge to the right connects it to an ubah-playset.

But...

There are no trees.

Oh, there are trees, you can see them off in the distance. But they aren't shaded trees, and they aren't anywhere near the play area.

This means that in the summer time, the time most children are seen at parks, the kids just boil. And, more upsetting, the moms boil, too. I don't know where you are on the 'enjoy boiling' scale, but I hate the heat with a great passion that requires I live in places where summers are either short or non-existent. Now, of course, Summer here will never end, but it will get cooler... and I'm fine with that.

But with this melanoma breeding ground of a playground, I am not fine. Because as much as I love taking Turbo and Drama there, and as much as they love going there, and as much as the water feature is neat, and despite how much sunscreen I lather on their little non-burning bodies (seriously, am I the ONLY one that didn't get the nice Italian skin? wtf?) it just isn't enough. The sun beats down til sweat rains down their foreheads and their pores open up and flood their skin.

See, here is Bear and Turbo boiling in the summer sun.

Which is why, next week, rather than go to this lovely park, we are going to a tree-lined park... a nice, cool, shady place where squirrels can be seen climbing trees and occasionally, one imagines, someone gets bombed by bird poop.

There will be photos...

...of the park. I am not so lucky to catch bird-bombings.

SLACKER

2008-07-09T06:41:00.001-07:00

Wow,

What a slacker I've been.

I can't help it. It's summertime. I have the right to be lazy.

Plus I'm addicted to the Twilight series, so that's been keeping me up.

Can we all say, wow, it's July?

And listen, summer isn't FULLY over, there's still July and August. Half of August if you're in Colorado and you have kids. But, July is a VERY LONG MONTH.

So don't fret. You still have time to languish away at parks, lakes, sandy reservoirs and coffee shops.

It's not time to be sad or panic yet. Why, heck n crap, I bet the summer weather lingers on into September!

There's STILL MANY DAYS AHEAD TO ENJOY....

And I will not mention fall or cool weather or anything until at least August. Even though it's my favorite season, and I'm having crazy Fall urges to nest and be cozy and make pies and cross stitch and buy school supplies.

I just... can't...help it.... make.... it.... stop....

It is STILL SUMMER.

Summer is Over

2008-07-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

Oh, I can hear you now, all arguing, disagreeing, but the FOURTH is just around the corner, there's TWO WHOLE MONTHS LEFT.

Well, sorry to correct you, but no, no there aren't.

The Fourth of July marks the end of summer. Especially in Colorado, but elsewhere as well.

You mark my words. The Fourth of July will end, we will all return to our daily summer lives full of gooey potato salad, slimy slaw and greasy dripping burgers or chicken, and a nagging ringing in the ear from the fireworks, thinking summer is now FULL BLOWN WOOTXOR.

How wrong we'd be.

You see, NEXT weekend, there will be sales.
Back to school sales, to be precise.

You'll walk into Target to discover that they've set up the back-to-school bins. I love the back to school bins. I get positively giddy whenever I see them. I buy myself stuff from them, just to get into the mood. Wal-Mart will have it's aisles all done up, and then, the ads will start to come in the Sunday paper, on the television, and your kids, my kids, all kids, will shout 'TURN IT OFF' and run screaming, because... it's Back To School Time.

The first lines in the battle for Back To School Shopping will be drawn the weekend after the Fourth of July. From office supply stores to Target bins, from Microsoft to Apple, from Justice and Limited Too to Abercombie and Fitch, the lines... are drawn.

So, as a parent, you're thinking, YES, and "how, seriously HOW, can we prolong this 'back to school' feeling?"

Here are some tips.

Start shopping for your child's school wardrobe now. Just buy some things that will be a necessity, for Drama girl, it's jeans from Justice (which is now allowing you to shop online as of July 28th, for parents who despair of Tween Trash clothing, check them out, they aren't half-bad). (Note, they are owned by Tween Brands, which owns the Limited Too) Then, a couple of weeks later, buy a couple of outfits. This prevents the kids from buying an entire wardrobe spur of the moment that they'll hate in two months. Buying the stuff in a few, shorter trips guarantees they will mostly like what they buy.

Prepare your child for the school day schedule. Oh this is the fun part. Start waking them up earlier by 30-minute increments until, a week before school, they are on the school day wake/sleep routine. Think this is cruel? Well yah, but you'll thank me come that First Day of School wake up time.

Get the supplies now. If you have 'the list.' The list is the entire supply requirements for your child's grades. If you get them now, you can avoid injury and foul play at the various supply bins mid-August (which, btw, is when Colorado kids go back to school... Colorado for the Win!).

Start talking about your fall plans. This one drives the kids crazy. But, they cry, it's SUMMER. This is your opportunity to show them the calender. Yes, dears, but look, it's ALMOST school time! Save this for the third week in July, or first week in August, depending on your child's school start time. And don't get too carried away. This is how shopping for Christmas Presents in August starts, and really, there's no need for that.

Meet Jose

2008-06-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is Jose.

Dodge Durango, Gas Guzzler, Carrier of Cargo, Deliverer of Children.

The boys named him Jose.

He has been a member of this family since the boys were born, oh those long four and a half years ago...

... and if you happen to know where those long four and a half years went, please let me know, I'd really like some of them back...

Anyhow.

Jose carried this family from the East Coast to the West Coast to the good ole' Colorado range. At least, I think it's a range. Or the frontier. Either way, it's Colorado and we have mountains, cattle and ranges.

Jose is currently out of favor with the country, gas prices rising and all, but we love Jose, and we'll keep Jose, as long as Jose lasts, which should be a pretty long time.

The thing about Jose though, he's always dirty. Seriously, the guy is a pig. And clutter junkie. Oh, the things he collects in his back seats, the food he munches on practically non-stop on every drive, and seriously, how long must the wet-dog scent last? It was months before we stopped smelling regurgitated goldfish. Don't even get me started on his Diet Coke and Starbuck's addiction...

The Final Five.... Pounds

2008-06-22T08:54:00.001-07:00

I'm there.

I have talked for some time, but not here, about the Eternal Ten.... those mysterious final ten pounds that you just need to lose, but that won't budge, no matter what you do. Oh sure, the Eternal Ten mock you, maybe letting you go down three, only to up back three and a half, snickering and mocking and pointing, yes, those Eternal Ten Pounds...

Five pounds ago, I was there.

I finally realized that for the Eternal Ten to give way, I needed to eat a bit less... Coffee Heath Bar Ice Cream, I abjure you, Starbuck's Frappucino's, Cinnamon Dolce Latte's and Cinnamon Bread, mourn you. Hubby McRed's Hidden Stash of Peanut M&M's, I pretend I don't know where you are...

I also walked a bit more.

Chasing run-away toddlers also helps.

Then, the Eternal Ten gave way to the Final Five.

I hit the Final Five last night, but thought my scale was broken. I mean, after all this time, how could I have finally lost those 1.6 pounds that would end the stale-mate between me and weight loss? The scale has registered at the same weight for so long, surely, it's just that the battery died...

So I checked it with the gym scale while dropping my son off for his swim class (You didn't think I went to, like, work out, did you?) and it turns out it's not broken.

Welcome to Lahdeeda's Final Five -- the Personal Struggle To Not Eat Coffee Heath Bar Ice Cream.

I'm now determined to hit my target weight by fall... those Final Five will give way in the next two months or else.

I'm so giddy, I could munch on a celery stick.

I've got a runner

2008-06-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Note: Season is a new cast member, and is a neighbor named after a season. Real vague, I know...Sweetie is a cute blonde pre-schooler that rules the neighborhood with blue eyes and a mischievous smile.

"Poor Season," I'd say to Hubby McRed.
"She's always off chasing that running toddler of hers," and I'd point out the window to the blur that was Season, off chasing her running toddler down the sidewalk past our window.
I'd shake my head. Oh, poor thing, I'd think. But, well, he does keep her in shape. (She's quite the little hottie, and I say that with lots of green envy).
"Tsk Tsk. He can even open the doors now. That's how he does it. She'll need to get higher locks."

And then I'd go back to watching The Deadliest Catch, tsking tsking about runaway children.

Then Turbo got his rocket pack.

One day, when I said 'come on, it's time to go home' he fired it up and took off. It'd been awhile since I used my rocket pack, and for some reason, Bear took off too. I chased Turbo, since he's the one with the rocket pack. He went around the corner and out of our little 'hood, to the neighborhood street and was about to fire off a booster into the overgrown weed field that leads to the bus depot and the street. A nice little ten year old asked if I needed help catching the rocket boy. I said no, booked it in flip flops, quite a feat alone, you should try it sometime, and caught him.

Then I back-tracked to Bear, found him hiding in bushes, pulled him out, spanked both their booties (Spare me the no-spanking rule, lines MUST be drawn) and walked two crying preschoolers back home.

I thought it was over. We had a talk. There was a spanking, but no.

Second time we're outside, Turbo chased a bunny with Bear and Sweetie. Bear came back, Turbo and Sweetie wandered down the sidewalk. I YELLED at Sweeite and Turbo to stop. This was more to alert Sweetie's parents that I found them and they were WAY beyond the boundary. But then I had a dilemma. Sure, Sweetie stopped, but Turbo, he fired up his rockets....

I caught up to Sweetie, what to do what to do, well, I'm certainly not going to leave a pre-schooler alone on the side-walk, so I said 'You're coming with me, honey' picked her up and took off after Turbo, who DID listen to me when I said "NO THAT"S A ROAD" and instead went around the block, to be intercepted by Sweetie's Dad.

There was speaking, spanking and tears.

And today, new boundaries for the Turbo.

I've confiscated his rocket pack.

As for Season? Well, she was last seen booking it around the corner of our house after dark...