Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Goin' Solo

This week my husband is traveling, again, to San Diego. He was there all last week, too.  I'm doing fine, being solo.  Last week I only had my 13 year old home.  Shawna was at my parents house all week. Paula and I got along really well.  No fighting.  No disagreements.  I really enjoyed having her all to myself.  She opened up a bit with me too and shared more.  We shared some funny laughing moments that I'll cherish.  I love her so much but it's hard not to butt heads. Plus I'm very annoying to her.  Shocker, I know, given she's a young teen.  I will have to endure these next rough years.  Thank god for wine.

Paula had volleyball camp at Stanford last week for 3 days.  She went for 2 days in 2013 and really enjoyed the camp.  This time she was in a 3-day camp.   She loved it!  She learned a lot, did better than she thought she would.  On the last day they had a ball control contest.  Out of more than 100 girls competing, she made the top 5 and won a jersey worn by previous Stanford player, Carly Wopat.  She cried when she won it, she was THAT  happy.  When she got home she put a different photo on her Instagram,  tagging Carly.  Carly wrote back "Congrats!" with a thumbs up picture.  Talk about excited!  Even her friends were impressed.  We're so proud of Paula. 

Paula really wants to be in a club volleyball.  Some of her friends at school are in club.  Why does club volleyball cost almost $2K more than other sport clubs?  Seriously, we have friends who are on softball travel teams and pay 50% less than what V-ball clubs charge.  Not to mention the time commitment by her and us required when you're in club.  We're struggling with what to do. She LOVES volleyball and she's obviously good at it.  She's also very tall, which is a bonus in this sport.  We measured her Sunday at 5' 6.5" already at age 13.  She's gonna be tall! 

Every parent wants to give their child the world and we're no different.  November is try-outs.  We'll have to decide by then, I guess. 


 
 
Speaking of tall.  We measured both girls Sunday.  I'm just barely 5' 3".  Shawna (age 11) came in at 5' 2" and as mentioned above Paula was 5' 6.5".  Todd is 6' 1" so they get their height from him, clearly.  My dad's side of the family is tall, too.  I'm glad they're tall.  Tall is better than short! 
 



The dog is making us crazy. Rosie CAN'T STOP SCRATCHING AND BITING.  We've gone to the vet twice.  Both times she got cortisone shots which helped, but didn't fix her.  We're giving her pills twice a day.  Yesterday the cone of shame had to go on because she won't stop biting at her tail. It "might" be pollen, it "might" be an allergy to flea bite, it "might" be nerves.  She got really bad after our Memorial Day Weekend camping trip where she stayed home with a dog sitter.  We gave her flea treatment.  I just changed her food.  We know she's allergic to wheat since a puppy but I was suspicious of a brand we got about 3 months ago.  I went back to Wellness brand, which she doesn't love, but I know its grain free.  She's cute, damn-it, but she needs to STOP SCRATCHING.   


 
 
Until next time. 
xoxo

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

It's been more than a year!

Wow, guess I need to update this blog!  Unfortunately I can't put much right now since I have to catch my shuttle to the ACE train in a short bit.  I'm a train commuter since October and loving it! 

Life is different here on the farm (so to speak). I have a 13 year old now, who's really good at being 13.  I apparently annoy her at every turn, even when I'm not trying, and I do try, sometimes.
Thankfully my 11 year old still loves me and wants me around.  We tell her if she plays her cards right she can remain the favorite child for a long time. 

Todd's work has changed to where he's traveling now.  This is fine except he's a very hands-on dad who picks up the kids and stuff.  He's leaving for China on Friday the 13th (he's not thrilled about the date of his departure).  He's also traveling to Tijuana/San Diego now.  This is all good news for his job, which is expanding. 

Rosie the dog is still doing well when she isn't drooling, scratching or biting herself. 

We still have the snake. 

We have added a beta fish for Shawna. Shawna is a very good fish mommy. 

We're currently redoing the upstairs hallway bathroom a little at a time.  The entire house needs to be updated from the 90's.  We're tackling little things here and there. 

I'm painting furniture with milk paint.  It's my new favorite thing. 

Okay, gotta run! 

xoxo