are we there yet??

so I just took a little trip down to Sacramento..(it was 2 days and only 1 night, I do NOT recomend this itinerary!!) I got the call on Tuesday that my great grandma Maggie was not doing well and that we all needed to rally together as soon as possible. My parents headed down that night and got in about 10 or so. Alan has taken a lot of time off this year and is down to only a few days left, which are already designated for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I was making myself sick trying to figure out what to do. I had a few options, most of which included me taking my girls alone, for a 13 hour car trip down California way, none of those were very tempting, considering they have a hard time in the car to Costco, and it only takes 12 minutes. I finally came up with a plan that I thought would work. Alan would get 1 bereavment day on Friday and this would let me leave Thursday at 7 when he got home from work, and start my trip. To tell you the truth, I was nervous about the drive, sad about my grandma, and worried that my family could make it for a whole weekend without my superior care and guidance. I was already doubting my decision before I left. Plans changed at the last minute and I bought a ticket for the train. The next day at 1:37, I boarded the Pacific Coast Starlight, with a huge bag of snacks and a book, and smiling, left my hubby and kids waving in the parking lot. This would be much better. I rode the train for 17 hours until I finally arived at 6:30am-whoa!! At least someone else was driving. We stopped for a bite at my Aunt Debs--(sidenote--I have gotten to see my famiy a ton lately and frankly I think it is great for my overall health and well being--I'll get back to you after we spend Thanksgiving together in a 3 bedroom house, that math breaks down to about 10 per room-yikes!!) Then headed over to see gram. Now, up until this point I had struggled. I wanted to be able to say goodbye, and was hoping she could hold on until I got there to love on her one last time. When I was walking up to her house, I had a different feeling entirely, I was scared, but it was for myself--what if I couldn't handle it? What if this was a mistake? Now, it was real. I went in and it was great, and peaceful and I was so glad she was still there and that I had made it in time. We left around 1 and finished our day. We got the call about 10 that night that gram was gone. I had just made it-barely. I learned 3 things on my trip, and since you are special, I am now going to share them with you:
1)death hurts, I mean, really bad and deep. Even if the person is old, really old, and ready to go, it still hurts more than just about anything.
2)there is a new wine that I like, and I prefer to drink the whole damn box by myself, it is Three Thieves Bandit wine in a lime green box-cute! It tastes like Kool Aid-mmmm... and doesn't have any glass to break and you can recycle the box-yay (beware the next day if you take on the entire box yourself, but hey-it's worth it I say)
3)I was made for first class. I upgraded to my very own sleeper car on the way home (since I was sleep deprived and losing my mind among other things)and had a perfectly glorious trip! Too bad I didn't have the bandit with me for that, I really would have had a good time. Anyway, I'm spoiled now, and there is no way I'm riding in the back anymore--sorry Alan.
And I made it. What a tiny huge trip. I am still spinning a bit, but coming home to the garage had a way of plopping me back in real life pretty quick (and hard). It's good to be home. I am so lucky and blessed to have such a great family, WOW, I really do love you guys, thanks for softening the blow. (And if that conductor was just a little cuter, or I had my box of Bandit, I might not have made it back-whee!)

Vrrroooom!

I walk around making that sound because I now live in the garage-yipee! The move actually went really well, and we are now cozy and snug as a bug (or family of bugs I guess) here holing up in our garage/loft. I make it sound nice right?? Well, it is better than I thought, but let's be real for a minute--it's still a garage. Sorry I haven't paid you any mind lately, but as you can imagine--we'vre been crazy busy. We aren't quite done moving yet, and will need to be fine tuning it this weekend. The problem is that there is too much stuff and not enough spots for everything--we even have a storage unit- and still stuff with no spots-hmmm... it's starting to feel an awful lot like math, and I am not liking it one bit. We just went to Sacramento for a visit and to attend my cousins wedding, it was unbelievably beautiful. (the wedding-not Sacramento-haha) We had a great visit as always, my Aunt Deb is the hostest with the mostest for sure. We are currently contemplating another visit shortly because my great grandma Maggie is not doing well, and probably won't be with us much longer--at 95 she has lived a full life and is actually ready, but it is hard for those of us that she is leaving behind to let her go. At this point we are not sure how much time we have, but it is being measured in days-so please pray for us. On a happier note-Layla has been taking ballet class on Fridays and loves it!! She is the star of her class (ok-I might be a little biased) and is so cute when she is dancing. Maggie has been learning her letters and numbers (even though I don't want her too, she just absorbs what she hears Layla doing!) And also walks around singing Layla's song from dance class and is just dying to be a ballerina like her big sister--so we will be looking into programs for her shortly I'm sure. It will be good to have an excuse to get out of here a little more often anyway. Well, I'd better run-I't time for family movie night and the whole family is snuggly on the couch waiting for me, so how can I resist. I apologise for any spelling errors, but my computer completely died recently and the geek squad erased a lot of programs--one of them being the computers dictionary, and Alan hasn't reinstalled it yet--I would but, haha, oh yeah, that's not really my department. I'm afraid I would accidentally set something on fire. I'll try to post again soon-I wasn't ignoring you --really.
love-j

Hanging in there

We have been running lately, we are so busy our heads are spinning. We spent this last long weekend at the Rogue river in a beautiful house recently purchased by my grandparents for our whole family to enjoy. We certainly did enjoy it. The river is beautiful and the view really is amazing-wow. We didn't catch any fish though--apparently the trout didn't have a taste for the princess bait I chose (hot pink glittery marshmallows) whodaknew? The girls had a great time though, and Maggie only fell in and floated down river once. (don't worry, Alan got her, but it's scary seeing them do the dead man float) One of the days we decided to take a drive to Galice, which is a spot on the road you can rent rafts and they have a restaurant where you can over look the river. Alan and I had been there lots of times when we were in high school and would go on day trips rafting, and thought it would be a nice drive and a good (garden)burger. We sit down to have lunch, and I spy a friend from college that I haven't seen in 10 years! It was so weird-let me tell you--this place is tiny, down a long winding road and not by anything. SO that was fun. (and strange) We also finally made it to Winston to see my friend Jeff's house. He bought it about a year ago, and we had never been there before, cute house, and a great guest room--the girls loved it. The drive was a bit long and hard, but the weather was perfect and the girls really did a good job, so we survived. (the car DVD player is my favorite invention--nevermind that they watched TV for 5 hours straight, and were cross eyed and drooling when we finally got there)
Then we got home, checked the email, and got our new house plan and proposal--it looks great, with the exception of a few small changes, but has me crazy because we only have 2 weekends to move into the garage-yikes. I've been having crazy mood swings from really excited about picking out light fixtures, to scared about being poor, to nervous about being homeless, back to excited that our house is getting fixed and will be custom,l and also a bit of relief to think that we can get it started so it can just be over sooner. Oh yeah-of course anxiety over packing and the big move---and my mom is nowhere to be found. She is off gallivanting around England-whatever. When she FINALLY gets back, I'm going to be a garage dweller already. I'm am going to forward her the therapy bill for being gone when I am seriously contemplating a nervous breakdown! (seriously-ENGLAND??)
Also, the kittens are getting big (remember the kittens???) and pooping on my porch, and I want to kick them. SO far, they are quick (and maybe smart too), and I haven't made contact. I am trying to get rid of them now, but they are boys, and everybody wants baby girl cats. Please, is there even a difference? Except for the one major high point that I can see, and that is that they won't get knocked up and have kittens on your porch! We still have 3 of them-maybe it's my add, touting all natural/organic kittens (with a few fleas and ear mites) that have never been exposed to harsh chemicals or sprays.
Anyway, to the main reason I decided to post today.........we went to the doctor and Layla got hooked up to a continuous glucose monitor that she will have to wear for 3 days-straight, even at night and in the shower. This thing is really big, and the piece that is stuck in her is big, and she's grumpy and cranky and mad. (and I'm hormonal and stressed, and almost homeless) And it has a HUGE piece of tape that is pulling her skin and making her yell and yank on it, and I'm afraid she's going to dislodge it and make this whole ordeal null and void. Anyway, pray for us...(my grandma already is, I told her this weekend that we'd most likely vote democrat in the next election, and now I'm on her prayer chain) we have a tough bit right now, and directly ahead. We'll pull through--as if there's options right? But it's going to be hard, especially for me. So think of me often, and then buy me dark chocolate and invite me over to play at your house. And then, babysit my kids and let me eat my chocolate in peace while I raid your wine rack. (or whatever) I better go. I hope it's gray and rainy in England, and that the food is mushy and overpriced.

hahahaha--it is!!! See, God loves me.

until next time-j

cool tool

usually something has to be pretty super for me to get excited about it--well, guess what-I'm excited!! The other day, Layla was frolicking in the blackberry bushes (?) and was having a grand ol' time. She had failed to change into "play clothes" even though I had asked her to, no less than a dozen times. Long story short, she ridiculously stained one of the two pairs of shorts she has to wear this summer. Of course, this was the cute khaki pair, not the blue denim pair, which we maybe could have just called "funky" and left the stains alone. So, I put the shorts by my bathroom sink, fully intending to stain spot them when I had a free moment. Fast forward to late last night, which was an entire week later, and I finally got to give the shorts some undivided attention. I sigh, and reach for the "Tide to go" stick thing (let's just be honest-I grabbed it because it was the closest thing, and I didn't hold out much hope for the shorts--I have memories of pouring boiling water from on top of a ladder to get berry stains out of things before-true story-ask Mary) sorry-I get side tracked easily, strangly I have the attention span of a 2 year old-wierd. SO.....I "color" the shorts with the pen- it's like a clear Sharpie, the berry stains are still there, I give a small laugh in surrender, brush my teeth and hit the sack.
This morning I wake up, and I kid you not--the shorts are berry free. These were week old blackberry stains might I remind you. I didn't scrub, scour, or even add water and rub. So of course I "color" every other stained thing I can think of, until my sharpie runs dry, and I quickly formulate a plan to rush to Target and buy a case of these magical stain fighting wands. Alas, real life intervened and I still have yet to get a replacement, but luckilly, we have been stain free so far--and we are currently at 3 hours and counting. So, I highly reccomend the "Tide to go" pen thing, you can get it almost anywhere, and it will pay for itself the first time you use it. Carry it in your purse or glovebox-just get one and keep it handy. Get me one too if you would, I'm kind of on Target restriction right now, but we'll get into that later.......

spit the pit

Maggie is 2. Her latest thing is that everything has a crust, so she leaves bits of food on the side of her plate uneaten--because it is the crust. Toast of course has crust, but Maggie's grapes have crust, her soup has crust, noodles--you're getting the picture. Yesterday was the dawn of a new era....... The pit. Alan gave her a malt ball. She sucked off the chocolate coating, and spit out the malt ball, proudly proclaiming, "You don't eat the pit!" She has decided this after eating no less than two thousand cherries from our tree, pit and all. Well, better late than never I guess. 2 year olds are cool.

livin' on love

The guys came on Monday to start installing my new siding, my house was to look amazing (or almost) here shortly. Instead, we have extensive damage that needs to be replaced, so not only does my house look in shambles (we had the front deck removed for the siding install and now there is no access to my front door) but will not be fixed for quite some time. We need to get dry and wet rot fixed and we also have quite an enormous colony of carpenter ants living here with us. We are currently having numbers worked up to the price of all of the repairs and also, the cost to remove this house and built a new one from scratch. So, you say, is Janina a bit stressed-the answer to that my friend is a resounding YES! However, besides doubling our mortgage payment, and living in our garage for about 6 months or so, there is an upside. (I know--always the optimist) I will get new carpet and counters, which I have always wanted-so yay me.
Also, Alan has taken this opportunity to show me once again how amazing he is and how blessed we are to have him, so truly it could be worse. Just think, someone could be sick--worse, I could be pregnant--WAY WORSE!! (sorry if you've already heard me talk about this, I need to keep it on play on an inner loop, as my pep rally, so I don't completely crumble) So to fund new and big life changing project we need to sell everything we have of value-fun. As if I don't have enough projects going on right this second! If we have anything you want-let me know, I might could get you a 2 year old--cheap! Just kidding (kind of)

just a minute

phew!! I have just a minute or 2 before things get crazy again around here......so I thought I'd throw out a blog. These past couple of weeks have been crazy! We had a wonderful trip down to California to see my family. The weather was pretty warm, but we managed ok, and even (mostly) kept the blood sugars under control. We even took a road trip down south a bit and met Alan's grandma. I've met her once before at Alan's sister's wedding, but it's been like 15 years or something, so that was an adventure. The 95th birthday party for my Great grandma was a huge success, as was the trip over all. Even the airport was a breeze, it makes me think we can do it again sometime--good thing since we just bought tickets back down for my cousin's wedding in October.

Shortly after we got back, my cousin Belinda and her family came for a visit, and it was great to have them, they haven't made it up in about 4 years I think.

We are in the middle of finishing our garage/loft project, which is currently in the painting phase, so we've had workers here for that running all around, and a new fence put in, so there were workers running around for that, and also we've been getting estimates for the siding and deck projects, so we've had workers running around for that.....If you are beginning to see a pattern here, it's a little nuts--just like me!

Add to that, that it is time to get our JDRF walk team put together and start fundraising, and Blochtoberfest is tomorrow, you start to get a pretty good picture of what has been keeping me so busy lately. Oh wait, the cat that adopted us had kittens, and we need to have a few of the structural supporting beams of our house replaced (that will leave a gaping hole in the side of our house until it is fixed)........oh, and I'm in charge of stuff this year at the walk--namely putting together a big to-do next weekend at Oaks Park and I have pretty much no idea what's going on. Ok-now you're up to speed. Wait, Maggie has a horrible diaper rash that won't go away, and Layla's staph infection is back with renewed force--oh, and I can't button my shorts anymore. I'm sure I'll think of something else, but for now-that's enough.

The good news is that Alan arrived home tonight with 2 kegs of beer in his trunk, and he doesn't have to go to work tomorrow so we can stay up late. I love the fest, maybe even more than Christmas, so I'm really excited to get to have all of my friends and family here with me for the weekend. And-there will be smores--enough said. Hope to see you all here, if not, see you later. I'm busy again for a while, but I'll try to get a blog in every now and again to keep you up to speed about the goings on around here, as always, no promises.

**Special note to the Cali. family (& Retta)--I love you guys more than anything, we had a super time, and I can't wait to see you all again in a couple of months.

oh-I have to run--looks like it's beer-thirty