things I love

chocolate
Alan
tequila
my ugg boots
camping
girls night out
reading
jeans that fit
my family
chick flicks
my friends
salty snacks
a day off
Mexico
sleeping in
salad
Valentines day
Blochtoberfest
wool
gnomes
natural stones
jewelry
vacation

when you are feeling down, make a list of things you love, and it will make you feel better. (especially if you love tequila and you have a little of that)

merry new year

howdy one and all, hope the new year is treating you right so far. We are doing well still hanging in studio "G", and watching the new house take shape.
If you are like most americans, you have probably decided to do a few things differently this year, you know, all the stuff you screwed up in 07, or whatever--the new year is a great time to make a fresh start. Yesterday I took the girls for a big walk in the rain. It was great! the fresh air felt cool on our faces and it smelled fantastic and clean. We decided that we wanted to do this everyday-no matter what. (well, barring some things of course, but for the most part--you know) We met a llama that lives down the road, his name is Buster and he is a watch llama. He watches a herd of sheep and protects them from coyotes, I guess he can get pretty vicious if you are threatening his heard--how cool! A llama with a job-who would have guessed! We also spotted some of our favorite birds, and noticed how high the creek is getting that runs by our house. Then today, the power went out, and we had to leave home (for emergency phone calls and a mexican soy mocha) and the new pact got left behind. I guess resolutions are mostly for good days, when you get a nice hot shower first thing in the morning, and the day isn't frigid, and when your home doesn't happen to be a cold and dark garage; but then again, maybe that's when you need one the most.
I am trying to stay on track, I want to feel great, and walking is a fun easy way, and it's FREE and I can take the girls (most important). Oh-I guess I forgot to mention that I am going on a cruise soon, it is for my birthday (and because I deserve it). We leave on March 29th, so I need to be looking and feeling my best for my holiday at sea. I will be joined by two of my very favorite people ever (my Aunties!!) and am having a hard time waiting. Alan says he thinks I look and feel great (heehee) so if cold wet walks in the rain get too tiresome, I guess I'll just have to go shopping for leisurewear instead--now that is a great resolution and I'll bet one even I can stick to!

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.