ok, maybe not actually. I thought I blogged here about my upcoming Olympia trip, but apparently it was on my other (private) blog, which you are probably not able to read--oops. Well then, let me catch you up to speed. On Friday Alan came home at noon and my good friend Sarah and I caught the train to Olympia to spend the night with Aunt Wendy (not my aunt, but somebodies, and that's what she answers to, so that's what we call her) We snuck some cheap beers on the train and were having a great time heading out on our mini vacation. I have had a few mini vacations lately, and they might be one of my favorite things. For a trip to count you can not bring more than a back pack, and it has to be less than 48 hours, oh and you have to leave your home county--otherwise I don't know what it's called, but it doesn't quite count for mini vacation status. We were girls on a mission-there is a big market on the day after graduation and it is called Super Saturday. I hate to condense it, but the weather was great, the fair was awesome, we got some cool stuff and came home. I do want to mention that I saw a 300 pound man wearing nothing but a longish tutu made of purple tulle and dancing while waving 6 foot tall white feather angel wings (possibly the highlight of the trip). The point was to make it home in time for fathers day--and we did.
I got to spend fathers day with a few of my very favorite fathers. There are a few men I know that are great husbands, amazing dads, and well, basically just a little better than most every body else. Alan of course is at the top of the list, but my good friend Tyler is also high at the top, we got to have a barbecue with both of them and Tyler's dad, and it was a really great day. We ended with a fire in our new fire pit. Alan got a "SuperDad" shirt and a weed whacker--what more could a man want? We have been having fantastic weather lately and got some of our garden planted (about a month later than usual-yikes). It has been great, but is supposed to turn again soon, hopefully we can finish up before the rains come, and they can water our new plants for us.
you're all caught up now; we'll do something entertaining soon so I can tell you all about it, until then........
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
drugs are bad
well, most of them probably are-but this week I, for one, am a huge fan of antibiotics!! WOOHOO! I am feeling much better (and it happened about 12 seconds after I started taking them--a little freaky really). In general, I am not a big backer of antibiotics, I think they are over prescribed and mis-used. I woke up sick on Tuesday, and woke up SICK on Wednesday and called the doc. She said it was probably viral (which doesn't respond to antibiotics) so we should wait until Friday to see if I got better on my own. Good plan I thought, until I was sick for 3 more long days, and cranky and crying and started neglecting my own personal hygiene. (I still had to hop off the couch to attend to various wipings and clean ups etc.., just none of my own) BOO! Finally on Friday I go the go ahead for the drugs and voila! I'm a new woman-just like that. Yay! Today I am all in favor of them, well, for the next 10 days, and then, I will resort to my presick mind set of overuse--but today, look out--I'm back.
In an entirely different direction, today we tried something wonderful! It is called maple butter. As you probably know we are a family with diabetes (only one of us gets injections, but it affects us all). For the past few years we have been using sugar free syrup for our pancakes and things, it is good because it mostly tastes like maple syrup and is low carb, so it seemed like a good choice for us. (it is bad because it has 89 ingredients and I can only pronounce 3 of them) As you also probably know I am a tad bit freakish about what we put into our bodies, so this chemical syrup was bugging me to no end. My dilemma is that I want Layla to feel like a normal kid, but at the same time she isn't. (honestly we always knew my kids wouldn't be completely normal by outsiders standards anyway) I have been looking and looking, and almost switched to pure maple syrup, it only has one ingredient, it's all natural--never mind it has more sugar than a snickers bar-hey, breakfast is where you get all of your energy for the day. (right?) This month I searched "maple syrup" on my co-op website so I could get me some, and there were a few variations--could this be? One of my choices was maple butter, it's only ingredient is pure organic maple syrup, and it is thick like whipped frosting. It isn't quite as sweet as syrup and only has 16 carbs per tablespoon. In case you don't know, maple syrup has about 60 or so per serving-whoa! Hmmmm...frosting for breakfast? How fast can this get to me?! We had it this morning on crepe-cakes with fresh strawberries and I wanted to kiss myself, I wanted to start a B&B, I wanted thirds. This stuff is good. Yay me, I get my good mom star for the day. I didn't have seconds even though I get a diet break on the weekends, I am a pillar of strength (a roundish pillar, but whatever). Tomorrow is my one week weigh in, and I have done great this week (possibly from not enough energy to get to the kitchen mixed with the very strict rule of no eating on the new couch, which I NEVER left).
I have heard the creeping crud is making the rounds right now, hope you are all feeling spry and fresh as a daisy. I am off to shower and brush my teeth (and then go dig in the mud that will one day be my yard)--see ya!
In an entirely different direction, today we tried something wonderful! It is called maple butter. As you probably know we are a family with diabetes (only one of us gets injections, but it affects us all). For the past few years we have been using sugar free syrup for our pancakes and things, it is good because it mostly tastes like maple syrup and is low carb, so it seemed like a good choice for us. (it is bad because it has 89 ingredients and I can only pronounce 3 of them) As you also probably know I am a tad bit freakish about what we put into our bodies, so this chemical syrup was bugging me to no end. My dilemma is that I want Layla to feel like a normal kid, but at the same time she isn't. (honestly we always knew my kids wouldn't be completely normal by outsiders standards anyway) I have been looking and looking, and almost switched to pure maple syrup, it only has one ingredient, it's all natural--never mind it has more sugar than a snickers bar-hey, breakfast is where you get all of your energy for the day. (right?) This month I searched "maple syrup" on my co-op website so I could get me some, and there were a few variations--could this be? One of my choices was maple butter, it's only ingredient is pure organic maple syrup, and it is thick like whipped frosting. It isn't quite as sweet as syrup and only has 16 carbs per tablespoon. In case you don't know, maple syrup has about 60 or so per serving-whoa! Hmmmm...frosting for breakfast? How fast can this get to me?! We had it this morning on crepe-cakes with fresh strawberries and I wanted to kiss myself, I wanted to start a B&B, I wanted thirds. This stuff is good. Yay me, I get my good mom star for the day. I didn't have seconds even though I get a diet break on the weekends, I am a pillar of strength (a roundish pillar, but whatever). Tomorrow is my one week weigh in, and I have done great this week (possibly from not enough energy to get to the kitchen mixed with the very strict rule of no eating on the new couch, which I NEVER left).
I have heard the creeping crud is making the rounds right now, hope you are all feeling spry and fresh as a daisy. I am off to shower and brush my teeth (and then go dig in the mud that will one day be my yard)--see ya!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
sicko
I am sick, sick, sick! My symptoms are: complete lack of any energy, and my glands are swollen, making me look like I am sprouting twin goiters or perhaps am a member of some intergalactic Galaxy as seen on Star Trek. The gland issue is extremely painful and makes it hard for me to even turn my head, and forget about swallowing- it brings tears to my eyes. If my mom or grandma were closer, I would be on the phone campaigning for them to get over here asap and take care of me, but, of course, they live in a land far, far away, and I am on my own. Well, I wish. I am actually here with the girls, and they have been making a game of trying to get me to completely lose it, and shout at top volume, making a vein poke out on my forehead, and the goiters stick straight out at attention--apparently it is funny enough for them to risk the rant, so it must be pretty good. I have debated trying it in front of the mirror, so I can at least get a laugh too, but it hurts too bad, and I just can't seem to work up the anger looking at my (poor) self in the mirror, it just makes me feel sick and sad.
The silver lining is that I started my diet on Monday, and nothing kick starts a good reduced calorie intake than a kick ass viral infection-yehaw!! I'm pretty sure I'm on track to drop about 5 l-b's by the end of the week. Granted, if I could move off of the couch, the loss would be even more significant, but hey, I take whatever I can get at this point. Well friends, the room is starting to spin, I must crawl back to the couch for now, just wanted to check in, and remind you that we can't kiss this week (unless you're trying to kick start your diet too....)
see you on the flip side, when the sun is shining, and I get the energy to brush my teeth again (hoping like heck it is soon)
P.S. if you bring get well gifts of sparkly things or dinner, leave them on the picnic table on the porch, and I will send my minions out to collect them.
The silver lining is that I started my diet on Monday, and nothing kick starts a good reduced calorie intake than a kick ass viral infection-yehaw!! I'm pretty sure I'm on track to drop about 5 l-b's by the end of the week. Granted, if I could move off of the couch, the loss would be even more significant, but hey, I take whatever I can get at this point. Well friends, the room is starting to spin, I must crawl back to the couch for now, just wanted to check in, and remind you that we can't kiss this week (unless you're trying to kick start your diet too....)
see you on the flip side, when the sun is shining, and I get the energy to brush my teeth again (hoping like heck it is soon)
P.S. if you bring get well gifts of sparkly things or dinner, leave them on the picnic table on the porch, and I will send my minions out to collect them.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
here comes the sun
today started off rainy (truthfully I didn't see it, I slept way in, until about 10 or so I think-yay me!) but then the clouds parted and the sun came out. We took the family to the Hockinson fun days parade and country fair as per Bloch family tradition, and had a great time. The girls played some games and got Popsicles and we came home. Then we worked outside until the sun went down and are now relaxing and getting ready for bed. Alan got the fire pit area almost finished up and I got lots of seeds planted and reclaimed my mint patch. It was a very productive day, not to mention that we get our "good parent" badge for the day-woohoo. I have been doing yard work every day that it hasn't rained and I have done enough squatting for 3 life times-my legs are sore! I hope it comes out tomorrow too, so we can keep up the momentum--there is so many things to do for this place to be in tip top shape. We are slow and unskilled at landscaping, but keep lumbering along hoping eventually it will all get done and we can sit back and admire our work and finally get to enjoy it instead of working so hard all of the time. (I have heard that this magical time of enjoyment never actually comes, but I hate to think that is true).
ding-pizzas done-gotta scoot.
don't forget the sunscreen!
ding-pizzas done-gotta scoot.
don't forget the sunscreen!
Friday, May 30, 2008
back in the day
when I was little we did cool stuff like go treasure hunting. You might have heard of these scores referred to as "road finds" and were a favorite and exciting treat. The treasures were varied and rare, so a find was a pretty big deal. Now don't get me wrong, some things you would find quite a bit of, bingy cords, for instance were not as exciting as most anything else, as you could find about 3 or so on the way home every day. Some things though, were really neat. I once got an Elk Grove Park Pool hoodie sweatshirt that was almost new and super big, like high-schooler size at least (when you are 9 this is a pretty big deal) that I wore almost every day for a really long time. (this was sunny California, so a hoodie was hardly a necessity by the way) There were random coolers, lawn chairs (barely bent or anything), well, you know, stuff that flies out of peoples cars that they don't know about or can't be bothered to stop for. We, on the other hand were known for slamming on the brakes on the freeway at rush hour to check out a mysterious lump in the opposite lane of traffic--usually nothing of interest, but hey, you never could tell. We never went on specific trips to look for these goodies, we just were always on the look out, just in case. I do believe that the sweatshirt was probably the nicest and item of highest value that we ever had the luck of finding. The reason the road finds are on my mind tonight, is that this evening I went to the store and on the way there, there was a stuffed garbage bag sitting in my lane. There were 2 lanes and no other cars, so I casually pulled around it (not even slowing down--I'm trying my best to evolve) but did venture a peek in the rear view--it was filled with what I think were lawn clippings, but it brought back the blue sweatshirt faster than I would have liked to believe it could.
Tonight I would like to raise a toast to all of the weird things our parents put us through that we hated, or embarrassed us, but that now we look back on and giggle (usually with family members that had to endure it right along side of us); and to that 300 mile road trip with my dad after I was an adult, where just for fun, we stopped for every (single, stinking) bingy cord turning the 6 hour trip into a much longer one. Laughs and memories are free, but, as with most things that matter, their value is much higher.
I would not like to raise a toast to the times we went to the dump and stayed to shop....just saying.
Tonight I would like to raise a toast to all of the weird things our parents put us through that we hated, or embarrassed us, but that now we look back on and giggle (usually with family members that had to endure it right along side of us); and to that 300 mile road trip with my dad after I was an adult, where just for fun, we stopped for every (single, stinking) bingy cord turning the 6 hour trip into a much longer one. Laughs and memories are free, but, as with most things that matter, their value is much higher.
I would not like to raise a toast to the times we went to the dump and stayed to shop....just saying.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Home Sweet Home
you know how when something is gone, you want it really bad? Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's human nature--who knows. I am fine without a snickers bar until my friend has one and then I think it's possible I will actually die if I don't have my own snickers bar. (not just a bite of hers either, I want my own super sized bar and one to stash in my purse for later and one for the freezer too, in case of an emergency) long story short (or vise-versa, I get confused) I really, really missed home when I was gone. And Alan and my sheets and my hand soap and well, just about every darn thing, things I take for granted daily, and I didn't even notice until they were gone.
I had fun in Klamath, it was good to see my family, and the weather was sunny for the first 3 days we were there--and the temperature hovered somewhere close to 90*, it was hot and dry and hot. The girls ran in the sprinklers and we barbecued, it was fun. Then the sun went away, the clouds moved in, and the rains came full force. It made me miss home even more-haha-I'm such a geek! Layla got to eat tuna sandwiches almost every day for lunch, which is her very favorite food at the moment, so she was in heaven. We went hiking in the woods a couple of times and the girls got some botany lessons from Papa, but unfortunately we didn't find any of the morel mushrooms we were hunting for, they were most likely burned into dust from the fore-mentioned 90* weather a few days before. (shrooms are very fragile and temperamental--probably they are girls)
I went out on a date with my very best friend from high school and we had sushi and then went to a martini bar (ok, it was a brewery that served martinis--but still--pretty impressive for K-Falls!!) Then Anna got me and we went out to the new Ashton Kutcher movie-that boy is yummy-mmm. I give the movie a 5, it was watchable and I will probably get it again for free from the redbox, but at almost $10 to get in, I am not sure they can make a movie good enough to justify the price of admission. If the leading man was not as good looking, I very well may have stormed the ticket box and demanded my mom's money back. (also, the fact that I didn't have to pay made it a little easier to swallow-heehee)
During the days, I stayed at my folks' house and hung out with my girls, it's kind of like hanging out here, except the toys are worse. All of the toys I hate, now live with my parents, they are plastic and take batteries (lots of batteries) and talk and sing and all kinds of annoying things, and there is a HUGE bin of them. So I took to reading and napping and digging through stuff that belongs to my parents. This is actually a favorite past time, the only bad part is when I get discovered, I usually get totally busted, and the conversation that follows is a bummer. Here's how it has gone in the past:
dad: "what is all of this stuff in the garbage?"
me: "I helped you sort out some things in your medicine cabinet"
dad: "that's my stuff, stay out of it"
me: "dad, that cologne is from 1973 (this is hardly even an exaggeration) and it was brown and thick, why don't you wear the new cologne I got you for Christmas?"
dad: "I like my stuff, stay out of it--that old spice is perfectly good still" (I assure you it wasn't)
kind of yelling now "Where is my bug spray?!?!"
me: "dad, deet is bad for you, and the can was actually rusted to the shelf"
dad: "GET OUT OF HERE!!!" this last bit is said while rummaging through the things I have discarded in the small corner waste bin
as you can see, after a week in Klamath Falls, what else would you expect me to do? They have cable there, but we are only allowed to watch the extreme fighting challenge (or something like that--I am still trying to block it out) This time, I accidentally stumbled upon the mother load. There is a weird corner in the kitchen, the microwave is wedged into it, but beside the microwave, things are hidden. Now to be honest, I have seen the corner before, but obviously I have never been this bored, because I never ever gave it a second glance. It is a drug hole. There are other things too, like some various supplements, but basically it's a lazy susan stacked with a random assortment of bottles of pills. Hmmmm. Fun times. Although, being an evolved human, this time, I just looked for the sheer fun (or boredom--hard to say) let's just say that I wasn't up for the conversation again, just for trying to help--geez. I got a good laugh. There were things there that I had never even heard of before, things for the dog (what dog) things for aches and pains that I didn't know could hurt, but the queen mother score was a bottle of PMS formula (what is that I wonder) that had expired in 1993. That's 15 years ago that it expired-wow. I think it is possible we brought that bottle of pills into that house when we moved there and it may have already been expired--cool. I just laughed until I had to sit down, and then I put it back on the turntable and walked away. What's a girl to do?
anywhoo-glad to be back--I missed you. (now about that snickers bar......)
I had fun in Klamath, it was good to see my family, and the weather was sunny for the first 3 days we were there--and the temperature hovered somewhere close to 90*, it was hot and dry and hot. The girls ran in the sprinklers and we barbecued, it was fun. Then the sun went away, the clouds moved in, and the rains came full force. It made me miss home even more-haha-I'm such a geek! Layla got to eat tuna sandwiches almost every day for lunch, which is her very favorite food at the moment, so she was in heaven. We went hiking in the woods a couple of times and the girls got some botany lessons from Papa, but unfortunately we didn't find any of the morel mushrooms we were hunting for, they were most likely burned into dust from the fore-mentioned 90* weather a few days before. (shrooms are very fragile and temperamental--probably they are girls)
I went out on a date with my very best friend from high school and we had sushi and then went to a martini bar (ok, it was a brewery that served martinis--but still--pretty impressive for K-Falls!!) Then Anna got me and we went out to the new Ashton Kutcher movie-that boy is yummy-mmm. I give the movie a 5, it was watchable and I will probably get it again for free from the redbox, but at almost $10 to get in, I am not sure they can make a movie good enough to justify the price of admission. If the leading man was not as good looking, I very well may have stormed the ticket box and demanded my mom's money back. (also, the fact that I didn't have to pay made it a little easier to swallow-heehee)
During the days, I stayed at my folks' house and hung out with my girls, it's kind of like hanging out here, except the toys are worse. All of the toys I hate, now live with my parents, they are plastic and take batteries (lots of batteries) and talk and sing and all kinds of annoying things, and there is a HUGE bin of them. So I took to reading and napping and digging through stuff that belongs to my parents. This is actually a favorite past time, the only bad part is when I get discovered, I usually get totally busted, and the conversation that follows is a bummer. Here's how it has gone in the past:
dad: "what is all of this stuff in the garbage?"
me: "I helped you sort out some things in your medicine cabinet"
dad: "that's my stuff, stay out of it"
me: "dad, that cologne is from 1973 (this is hardly even an exaggeration) and it was brown and thick, why don't you wear the new cologne I got you for Christmas?"
dad: "I like my stuff, stay out of it--that old spice is perfectly good still" (I assure you it wasn't)
kind of yelling now "Where is my bug spray?!?!"
me: "dad, deet is bad for you, and the can was actually rusted to the shelf"
dad: "GET OUT OF HERE!!!" this last bit is said while rummaging through the things I have discarded in the small corner waste bin
as you can see, after a week in Klamath Falls, what else would you expect me to do? They have cable there, but we are only allowed to watch the extreme fighting challenge (or something like that--I am still trying to block it out) This time, I accidentally stumbled upon the mother load. There is a weird corner in the kitchen, the microwave is wedged into it, but beside the microwave, things are hidden. Now to be honest, I have seen the corner before, but obviously I have never been this bored, because I never ever gave it a second glance. It is a drug hole. There are other things too, like some various supplements, but basically it's a lazy susan stacked with a random assortment of bottles of pills. Hmmmm. Fun times. Although, being an evolved human, this time, I just looked for the sheer fun (or boredom--hard to say) let's just say that I wasn't up for the conversation again, just for trying to help--geez. I got a good laugh. There were things there that I had never even heard of before, things for the dog (what dog) things for aches and pains that I didn't know could hurt, but the queen mother score was a bottle of PMS formula (what is that I wonder) that had expired in 1993. That's 15 years ago that it expired-wow. I think it is possible we brought that bottle of pills into that house when we moved there and it may have already been expired--cool. I just laughed until I had to sit down, and then I put it back on the turntable and walked away. What's a girl to do?
anywhoo-glad to be back--I missed you. (now about that snickers bar......)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
All Aboard!
I wanted to brag just a bit about Mother's day-I got breakfast in bed, and jewelry--both were a big surprise and I don't know which was sweeter. It really made my day, and made me feel special. It was the first time ever that I got breakfast in bed and I think it is my new favorite thing, I will be staying in bed as long as possible every single weekend day and hoping for breakfast to appear on a little tray, while I sleep in. I will keep you posted on how this works out, in case you need to try it as well. I also got the hot dogs I wanted-although this was not much of a surprise as I bought them myself when I went grocery shopping last week. All in all a great weekend, and now the rain is back.
Yesterday my sister called and invited me (and the girls) to come watch as she receives a prestigious award in Klamath Falls this Friday; so we are packing our bags, and tomorrow, boarding the Coast Starlight, to Southern Oregon. I love the train, but I'm a little nervous about the trip. Not to sound like a princess or anything, but it's hard not to have reservations about a trip that I am taking by myself with 2 little girls, and includes a dinner of premade pb&js. Now on a good day this journey only takes 9 hours (give or take about 9 hours), and we are due to arrive at 10pm (about an hour past bed time). I'm guessing the novelty will wear off about 20 minutes into it and I will start hearing things like "I'm bored", "are we there yet" "I miss Daddy" and Layla's recent favorite "this is a disaster". I am taking a big bag of food and entertainment (just like always when I ride the train) and checking the rest, and keeping my fingers crossed. It should be a fun trip, we are going to stay in Klamath for 9 days (kind of a long time to be away form home by myself!!) and then hitching a ride back home with my mom and will be back for the long weekend, just in time to plant my new lawn and flowers. I wanted to tell you about my trip, so you would know (in case you're familiar with Klamath Falls) that I won't be blogging until I get back, there is no internet there and they just recently got electricity and indoor plumbing (well most people anyway)
I will try to tell you about my trip when we get back, but will probably forget as I also have a reduced little span of attention. If anything of note happens I will write it down and then tie it to the neck of a pigeon and send it your way. (this is the preferred method of long distance communication in KFalls) and then someone will probably shoot the pigeon and grill it up on a stump for a potluck--that's kind of how they roll down there. Which is why I love it--you can take the girl out of the sticks............anyway here we go-wish me luck, I'll see you when I do!
Yesterday my sister called and invited me (and the girls) to come watch as she receives a prestigious award in Klamath Falls this Friday; so we are packing our bags, and tomorrow, boarding the Coast Starlight, to Southern Oregon. I love the train, but I'm a little nervous about the trip. Not to sound like a princess or anything, but it's hard not to have reservations about a trip that I am taking by myself with 2 little girls, and includes a dinner of premade pb&js. Now on a good day this journey only takes 9 hours (give or take about 9 hours), and we are due to arrive at 10pm (about an hour past bed time). I'm guessing the novelty will wear off about 20 minutes into it and I will start hearing things like "I'm bored", "are we there yet" "I miss Daddy" and Layla's recent favorite "this is a disaster". I am taking a big bag of food and entertainment (just like always when I ride the train) and checking the rest, and keeping my fingers crossed. It should be a fun trip, we are going to stay in Klamath for 9 days (kind of a long time to be away form home by myself!!) and then hitching a ride back home with my mom and will be back for the long weekend, just in time to plant my new lawn and flowers. I wanted to tell you about my trip, so you would know (in case you're familiar with Klamath Falls) that I won't be blogging until I get back, there is no internet there and they just recently got electricity and indoor plumbing (well most people anyway)
I will try to tell you about my trip when we get back, but will probably forget as I also have a reduced little span of attention. If anything of note happens I will write it down and then tie it to the neck of a pigeon and send it your way. (this is the preferred method of long distance communication in KFalls) and then someone will probably shoot the pigeon and grill it up on a stump for a potluck--that's kind of how they roll down there. Which is why I love it--you can take the girl out of the sticks............anyway here we go-wish me luck, I'll see you when I do!
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