Things going on these days in my world:


1. Basketball season started for both girls. This is Shawna’s first year in basketball. Her coach is a head college basketball coach for men and coached 3rd grade girls last year for our sports program. He has a 9 year old daughter. He and his wife (team mom) are really nice and Shawna is diggin’ her first couple weeks so far. She thankfully fit into Paula’s old bb shoes. Size 4. A tiny bit large but not too bad. Paula on the other hand required new bb shoes size 7. I wear a size 7 shoe. Geez.


2. Shawna’s last 9 year old well-check shows she’s 70#’s and 4’6” tall putting her in the 75% for her age bracket for height. Doc said she’s all good, just needs to up her calcium (remember the broken arm??) so we’ve added lots more chocolate milk to her diet. She doesn’t like plain milk unless it’s in cereal. She eats various things with calcium but not enough all the time.


3. Both girls are still in church choir. Paula complains most of the time about it so I told her she can quit if she wants. So far she’s not quitting. Shawna likes it. We missed the last mass performance on Super Bowl Sunday. We ditched it for a day in Santa Cruz with a friend of mine. It was totally worth it. We had great weather and the girls had a blast with the other kids. The ocean was freezing but they don’t care. Crazy kids.


4. Girl Scout cookies are here! I have tons of boxes just for Paula’s troop. I haven’t even picked up Shawna’s cookies yet. You should see my “store” set up in my cubicle. I’m all over this selling thing. Weekend booth sales start soon. My calendar is filling up with all the girls’ events.

5. Speaking of calendar and events, track & field is starting next week for both girls. Paula gets to do the high jump this year for the first time now that she’s in 5th grade. She’s sooo excited and talks about the high jump a lot.


6. A friend from my past called me 2 days ago saying she was thinking about me. She’s the 2nd friend to do this in a month’s time. My high school friend called a couple weeks ago to say she’s removing her profile off Facebook, which she barely used anyway, and wanted to make sure she had my current contact info. It’s nice to reminisce with old friends. I’m having lunch next week with the one who called the other day. She was in my wedding in ’99 so that tells you how close we were at one time. Now with both of us having older kids and several cities apart, getting together isn’t so simple. Or at least we make it difficult on ourselves. I guess it could be simpler by just making it happen. The high school friend lives in Colorado now but she was out here 2 years ago visiting and she stayed at my house one night, which was fun. We had some good times in middle school and freshmen year in high school. She taught me how to use my first tampon!!! Swear to god. Why I remember that fact is beyond me. Do we all remember this? Like when and where we were when we first used a tampon? I gave her the name of this blog so maybe she’ll comment if she reads this. Haha


7. Speaking of memory, I’m told I have an amazing memory for useless facts. Like the one above for example. I remember really strange things. But don’t ask me where Ohio is on the map cuz I can’t remember important stuff that I should know.

Todd and Paula getting lunch for us on Super Bowl Sunday



Kidless

Yesterday my mom took both girls up to her house for a few days. My mom plays in USTA tennis and had a tournament today which she didn't want to miss while babysitting my girls this week.  My mom is in great condition for close to 70 years old. I was checking her legs out the other day and they do not jiggle like mine do.  Her ankles give her problems these days but her knees are fine.  I couldn't do tennis w/my knees. It sucks to have bad knees.

So, Todd and I are kidless for a few days. The house is more quiet and Rosie, our dog, is looking at us like we should be doing something to locate the children. 
Tomorrow night we're going on a date. San Jose Improv has the comedian Ralphie May there right now.  We always enjoy the dinner, drinks and entertainment there when we go. 

Saturday Todd works and I'll head up to my parents house to get the girls.  I'm hoping to stop at my friend Jen's with my girls to see her house. She bought a total dump of a house on some large land last year and with lots of elbow grease has made some major improvements. She has baby chickens too and I'm dying to see those.  Todd will get most of Sunday to himself for Father's Day.  The girls and I will do something for him, what yet...I don't know.  We used to go to theme parks when the girls were little. That was easy. 

I had my interview today for the wine and spirit disty today.  I liked the supervisor I interviewed with and I think she liked me.  I may have been too chatty because I was so comfortable with her.  We'll see what happens.  It's sooo close to my house.  I drove there in under 10 minutes.  I could ride my bike!  She had a gal waiting when I left.  Our interview ran long.  There is no telecommuting, no iphone, hourly salary and apparently parking sucks.  But, the closeness to my house would be a huge bonus. I haven't heard anything back from the semi-conductor interview yet.  If they don't pick me I'll be disappointed only because I think I'm awesome and everyone should want to hire me!  but won't miss doing that commute. That commute is daunting. 

Vignettes of Cabo ~ October 2009

My friend of over 15 years and I went on a week long trip to Baja California also known as Cabo. We had a fabulous time together. I've attached some pictures down below.

Vignettes of Cabo ~ October 2009

1. While casually walking back to the resort swinging her hands, the water bottle Sandra held flies out of her hand, thru the air landing in a ditch in the street. The width of the ditch was so narrow, you couldn't have made the shot if you tried. Since it is pitch black in the ditch Sandra yells for help. HELP. A strange man appears. However, she chooses to get the bottle herself. Sandra removes her shoes to wade thru the mud to retrieve the worlds smallest bottle of water. All the while, Kim stands on the sidelines laughing hysterically.

2. While in town visiting a popular destination known as Cabo Wabo, Kim and Sandra are approached by a cute blue eyed guy who calls himself Tom. Tom is smitten by Kim so he proceeds to buy them drinks to keep them there. They oblige. A set of cute guys sit behind them. The tall skinny guy who turned 40 invites them back to their resort that night, but they don't take them up on their offer. Instead, they head back to their own resort where Kim starts working on #3.

3. Kim takes a serious approach to getting out of timeshare spiels by concocting a never before had condition, known only to others, and gets a ride via ambulance in a major tropical storm to the Mexican hospital where mystery meds are put into her body. She spends the entire day resting (stoned) on drugs. She is on vacation after all. She receives a $4000 bill, more drugs and slippers for her trouble but still had to go to timeshare presentation. They are ruthless people after all.

4. Brewhoe the horse trots quickly in an attempt to take first position over the other horse ridden by Kim named Toy Story, and his master Martin (pronounced Marteen). "I know the way!" Sadly, Brewhoe is squeezed back into his pre-determined position by his master. Can't blame him for trying.

5. The Playa Grande Resort thought long and hard about how to confuse their patrons. We prefer to think of it that way rather than the patrons just being confused. Elevators at the Ridge, a private section of the resort, are a never-ending sense of amusement. 2 is really 1 and 4 is out. Sometimes 3 is the required number to get out but yet again, sometimes 2 gets you out. It all depends on which elevator you choose. In addition, they created walkways that lead to no where. Ceilings go lower and lower like a fun house taking you to a dead end. Take the 2nd floor elevator from the lobby to the 3rd floor. Walk 1/4 mile down one hill and up another hill to yet another elevator on the 4th floor. Walk down the breezeway to another elevator where you can get to the main lobby on the 2nd floor that cannot be accessed any other way. Getting out of the resort on our first try will forever be our goal.

6. If you want to fly to and from Cabo and choose American Airlines, you'll be happy to know that not only do you get to visit Cabo, but you'll visit Dallas and L.A. as well. On the brighter side, you get a lot of extra miles!

7. When you observe a group of people sitting around the outside of a Jacuzzi instead of enjoying the warmth inside of it, one might reconsider the action of walking directly into the said Jacuzzi since the temperature might be 109 degrees. Don’t mind the skin hanging from her body as she exits the water at lightening speed.

Bar menu at Cabo Wabo, owned by Sammy Hagar

Sandra trying to get a picture with Cabo Wabo in the background. Kim found this very amusing.

Someone else took our picture

Kim has chest pains so she gets a ride in an ambulance to a Mexican hospital. Here she is being pampered by the paramedics

Sandra following Kim who is on the gourney. Smile!

The 3 day tropical storm was amazing. 90 degree weather and tons of rain. This is one of the clouds about to unleash itself on us.

Apple tart dessert at Galeons Italian restaurant in Cabo. Delic.

Sandra and Kim at Galeons. I left feeling like a weeble wobble.

City lights from our balcony.




Kim rides Toy Story, I ride Brewhoe. (spelled differently I'm sure)

On the beach

This one one helluva large cacti

Mexican saddle horns are huge. Had to take a picture of it.

Desert sunset

Looks like a good place for tires

More cactus

We zip lined. Fun Fun fun!

3 days of tropical storms caused the desert to turn a beautiful green

Friday night a Mexican rodeo group came to our resort for a show.

When I returned home my kids were of course thrilled to see me. I opened a package I received and Shawna promptly turned the box into a toy.

These flowers were delivered to my work as a thank you gift from Kim.

"Thank you for the trip man!"

I say Tomato, you say Tomato

One of my best friends, Jill, is part owner of a vegetable farm and nursery here in the Bay Area. She even raises chickens! They grow lots of things for local restaurants and farmers markets. I've tasted what they grow. O.M.G. Yum!

Their website, Baia Nicchia, has some great tips, especially if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've copied the below info on tomatoes off their site because, well, I learned something new so I thought maybe you could too.

32 things that might be true about tomatoes and tomato growing

1. Never, ever refrigerate tomatoes

2. Small-fruited tomatoes perform better in cool weather

3. Small-fruited tomatoes perform better in containers

4. Check the soil beneath tomatoes every morning

5. For container grown plants, water daily when soil is dry
at surface in the morning.

6. Grow plants in the ground when possible

7. For plants in the ground, water consistently as plants get established, and then water deeply, only when the soil is dry 3 inches below the surface, or when the plants begin to wilt

8. Once fruits begin to ripen, water less, if you can do so without killing your plants

9. Over watering at the soil surface promotes disease and algal growth (associated flies & pests)

10. Over watering leads to mealy, watery tomatoes. It is impossible not to “over water” tomato plants in containers

11. Pick large tomatoes before they are completely ripe, and let them ripen in a bowl with other tomatoes or fruits – they will ripen more evenly, and you can see when they get perfectly ripe

12. Never, ever refrigerate tomatoes

13. Tomatoes can ripened more slowly between 55 and 65 degrees (and spread out)

14. Tomatoes can be ripened rapidly between 75 and 85 degrees (with other tomatoes)

15. You can’t save money growing tomatoes in containers

16. You might be able to save money growing plants in the ground

17. Never, ever refrigerate tomatoes

18. Don’t wash tomatoes after you pick them. Wash them right before you use them

19. There are no “red” tomato pigments. Red tomatoes have pink, orange and other pigments

20. Throw out diseased plants immediately. UC Davis has a good website for recognizing tomato diseases

21. It is normal for older tomato plants to have drying, “burnt” leaves. The young shoots should look vigorous

22. You can decapitate your tomato plants. It is often advised when growing in containers

23. Trimming the leaves near the soil surface can reduce disease risk

24. The most common tomato diseases are fungal, and prolonged damp/wet periods promote them

25. Lousy soil will give you lousy tomatoes

26. Fox Farm “Ocean and Forest” potting soil is the best we have found

27. Over-fertilizing with nitrogen reduces harvest

28. Never, ever refrigerate tomatoes (obviously this is a sticking point with them)

29. Local field-grown tomatoes are in the market mainly from August to October.

30. If you want to know when locally grown tomatoes with the best flavor are available, shop at the farmers’ market

31. Tomatoes are tropical plants

32. Good sources for seeds – Seed Saver’s Exchange, Seeds of Change, Tomato Grower’s Supply
Wala!

Over the hill

On Sunday two of my favorite friends, Dina and Susanne, and I hiked up the hills near our house. They hike all the time. Me, not to so much. Usually they give me 10 minutes advance notice before they're leaving and frankly, I need more mental preparation to exercise than just 10 minutes. I need hours. Days even! For this hike we had to drive to the start off point but it wasn't too far from our house.

The beginning of our hike starts off creeping under a barbed wire fence. Technically we're not supposed to be on the hills. We also saw what looked like monarch butterflies, but they could have been similar looking moths. It was the caterpillars that blew us away. I have pictures and a video down below.

What do 3 ladies talk about while on a 3 hour hike? You know, life insurance (my new hobby), sex, leg hair, pubic hair, vacations. The usual.

One of the views from the hill. I zoomed this one.

Way out there is the bay More bay Part of the city I live in
The thumb of our city Check out all these caterpillars!!!!!

There were hundreds and all on top of each other.

This is a steam train that runs on the weekends.

Dina and Susanne Creepy bones
Me
Dina & Susanne
Susanne and I

Video of them dancing

In honor of St. Patties day next week I went green on my template. Are you feeling the spirit?

So I have news! Huge news! So huge that I want to scream it from the rooftops. I'll have to scream it out into the Internet instead.

I reserved our timeshare in Cabo AND booked my airfare! Not only that, Todd isn't coming. Instead my friend Kim is coming w/me. A girls trip! Squealing with glee. Actually, she's meeting me there. She needs to take one airline due to free miles, while I'm taking another one for the same reason. Anything to save a buck.

We go in October. Right now October seems years away. I know it will be here before I know it, but I need a tropical vacation now. Yesterday in fact.

Yesterday the girls brought home report cards. Paula's was stellar. She just needs to work on her writing. Everything else was great. Shawna's on the other hand didn't go so well. Lots of needs improvement. Reading, writing, listening, participation. I'm not completely surprised. Although "needs improvement on participation in Music" was a surprise. What kid doesn't love music class? When I asked Shawna about it she said the songs are boring. I guess the kids raise their hands and pick songs they like. Many of the kids choose Christmas songs. Shawna raises her hand but doesn't gets picked. She wants a bird song. Either way I told her she needs to sing no matter what the song. I emailed her teacher too, for guidance. Shawna is in tutoring once a week. I'm not sure that will fix the problem. She'll also have summer school so that should help. I reminded her teacher that dyslexia runs in Todd's family. The fact she needed glasses didn't help either. Am I grasping? Yes. When kid #2 is so different from kid #1 I have to wonder if it's anything else other than just slower learner vs. fast learner. I'm fine either way, I just want to know the reason.

Did anyone else notice it seemed like a full moon last night when in fact, the 10th was a new moon?

Friday night reunion

In high school I was really close to a guy named Aran. He and I were always just friends. Never any kind of sexual interest for either of us. His mom really liked me. That was huge considering she doesn't even like the mother of his 4 sons. He's an only child and kind of reserved. I'm the opposite of reserved so we clicked. He's a mechanical freak. Always wrenching on cars. Even today he's a plumbing contractor. He had a 55 Chevy. That thing was so cool. And FAST. And Loud. He also had a flat top ? Volkswagon he overturned one day smashing his fingers big time. He had to wear finger mittins. His mom drove a VW bug. When I dated Todd, my husband, back then at the end of high school, he and Aran could really relate because Todd had a '67 VW bug and is also a mechanical freak. They got along really well.

Later Aran got into the low rider trucks. (This was the early 80's) I remember going with him to Tahoe w/his truck club. He had a motorcycle too. He dated a friend of mine named Lisa for awhile. Aran and I used to call each other sister and brother. (I had a real life brother but he was useless!) When my first serious boyfriend in high school took away my virginity while we were drunk and in the back of car, Aran had something to say to him about it. I didn't often put him in a position to need to stand up for me but I knew he would in a heartbeat. That went for most of the guys I hung around with back then.

First off let me say that I've always been more comfortable around guys than girls. I always had girl friends, but I was more comfortable around guys. And guys were comfortable around me. It wasn't until I lived with 3 other girls in my 20's that I became more comfortable and understood them better. Shoot, I learned to understand myself better too in those 4 years.

Aran and I are back in contact thanks to Facebook. He wanted to get together with some of the old high school gang. This would include Terence (my 1st serious boyfriend), Aaron (very close friend who I work with now part-time and guy I dated on and off for years), Kirby (friend and backdoor neighbor growing up). There were others too but either I'm not in contact w/them or they don't live here anymore. Terence was on a plane coming home from Singapore so he couldn't make it but Aaron, Kirby, Aran and I sat caught up on Friday night. I'll post some pics of us from Aaron's cell phone.

I stole this picture from Aaron's facebook. This is him and his wife. Use binoculars if you must.

This is Kirby, aka Steve. He's single, never married, and lives with his parents! I asked Aaron the other night if he likes girls, cuz, you know. How would you know?! Apparently he lived w/a woman for many years and is now back at home w/his parents. He needs to get an apartment. FAST.

This is Aran, my bro. He has 4 sons, ages 17 - 8 years old.
And for you non-car folks, this is a 55 Chevy. Aran's was bondo'd out and all grey in color but the shape is same. Can you imagine how COOL it was to drive around in one?


We also bumped into another high school classmate on our way out of the restaurant. Danny was on a date. Sadly, many of our classmates are divorced now. It's like an epidemic these days.

I'm normal. Sort of.

Quick update. My mammogram tests came back normal. Yay! I go back in 1 year.

Shawna's glasses are missing. Again. Todd thinks they might be in her share bag. Well, that's a great place for them. Too bad I didn't know that this morning as we're heading out the door to school.

Somehow Todd or I have to make it to the soccer office by tomorrow between 10am - 3pm to buy the girls their uniforms. That should be easy. NOT. Their first games are this Saturday. Nothing like waiting till the last minute. In our defense, they provided us with zero info on uniforms because apparently, most of the girls are return players from fall season so they're using the same uniforms.

My body is achy. Not sick achy but PMS achy. I hate that.

I'm going to attach a blurry picture of my friend Kim and me at a Lacrosse game for the Stealth. She's gorgeous. WTF is up w/all my chins???

Is it a lizard?

I'm watching my neighbors house for a few days. They have 2 cats I'm in charge of right now. One cat, Stewart, is notorious for bringing home presents. The last time I watched their house he brought in a bird. It was dead by the time I saw it, but it lay in their inside entry way with feathers everywhere. Nice.

Last night I'm sitting on their couch watching something I Tivo'd (knowing I'd be there an hour to visit w/the cats). I see something moving along the wall over by the entry way. It was almost slithering. I'm thinking Snake? I see Stewart over there too so I go to investigate. It's a lizard. It wasn't a green lizard, it was more yellow in color and almost transparent which creeped me out. I'm used to green lizards. It was trying to make it's way behind the shelves so I grab it. Ick! It didn't look well. I noticed a puncture wound on it's right middle side with blood coming out. The cat is freaking out now. He wants me to drop his toy. I opened up the front door and tossed the lizard into the bushes and quickly shut the door so Stewart couldn't retrieve it. Stewart is meowing like crazy. After I washed my hands I called the girls because that's what I do when their pets leaves me presents. I got Dina's cell phone voice message system. They owe me.

Edited to add a photo I found online. He kind of looked like this gecko so as my commenter said, I think it was a gecko.

Jerry's Surprise Party

Whoa Nelly! I had a crazy night on Friday. We spent Friday evening with our old neighbors, Jerry & Olga, who are also Shawna's God Parents. Jerry turned 45 so Olga had a surprise party for him at a place called City Beach. City Beach is a very diverse place. They have rock climbing, volleyball, billiards, bar, dancing, restaurant, arcade games and more. I drank about a 100 glasses of wine (exaggerating, sort of). Part of the birthday party package included 2 drink tickets per person. Olga had extras which she kept handing me (when I wasn't reaching into her bra to get out more) when I'd be low in my glass. At the same time Jerry showed up tipsy. He'd been out having dinner and drinks beforehand. We were posing for someone taking pictures. Jerry pulled down the neck of his shirt for some reason, so I stuck out my tongue towards his hairy chest. Jerry had me recreate that pose several times. I think (know) I was scaring a woman who is the admin for our preschool. There is no way she's ever letting me near her husband. haha

In addition, Olga and I felt the need to do some dirty dancing. Together. Some of the night is a blur. Like after the cab dropped us off at home when Todd told me I needed to take Susie and Dina's garage door opener down to their house because Keenan, Susie's son, was visiting on a break from the Marines and needed to get into the house. Dina & Susie were camping so I was in charge of feeding their cats. I guess Susie called Todd while we were out and told Todd that Keenan was coming. I did not remember any of this on Saturday. In fact, on our way to pick up my minivan later in the day, we drove by Susie and Dina’s house and Todd said he’d seen Jessica (Keenan's girlfriend) but not Keenan and I was like "Keenan isn't here." We had a back and forth conversation about what I did with the garage door opener. haha I did finally recreate (imagine) where I'd put the opener and had vague memories of walking stumbling down to their house.

My memory lapse continued, but not just about Friday night. I was so tired (hung over) that when I received a phone call from our Crab Feed chairperson asking who was selling Crab Feed/Auction tickets that night outside the 5:00pm mass I had completely forgotten I was in charge of the volunteers. Oops. I guess I’m selling them. So I called Todd telling him I’d be gone for dinner. He and the girls were at a park at that point. It all worked out though. I went to church that night to confess (forget) my sins. Afterwards I sold 1 whole ticket. Sunday night I did the same thing only I sold 3 tickets! (Other volunteers sold something like 45 tickets that day at earlier masses so it wasn’t all bad). While I was waiting for mass to finish the sky was gorgeous. I took a picture with my camera phone. Look at the awesome color in the sky.

I'm around!

I know I've been lagging. I'm rarely on the computer at home and 2 days into work I've been too busy but I'll fill my readers (the few of you I have) in on what's been going on lately.

We did not go to the snow. I decided if Todd couldn't go with us since he had to work thru Wednesday I didn't want to deal with it myself. I had planned to go the sled place we've been to before, but the more I thought about it I knew Shawna would complain and want to be carried up the hill and that was NOT going to happen with me. The girls and I actually had a nice time at home. They did arts and crafts, watched TV, played with their new Christmas gifts, and we went to the movies one day to see The Tale of Desperaux. I really thought it was cute and well done. We only pee'd 4 times (rolling eyes). The girls and I were surprised with free t-shirts for the kids of the mousie little guy when we paid for our tickets.



New Years Eve was quiet. I spent most of Wednesday (NYE) packing away Christmas. We didn't ring in the new year awake sorry to say. We're old folks now and were content to go to bed apparently. To sleep!



We did go camping on the 1st. Our friends Dina & Susanne had planned to camp nearby w/some lesbian friends they met in October. They called us on the 1st to say how nice it was and how our trailer would fit into a few of the sites. Our trailer is very long and requires a longer pad. Todd and I decided in that moment to pack the trailer meet them that afternoon. Susanne had doozy of a hangover from the night before so she didn't really emerge until the next day. That night it poured rain. It also rained most of the next day. Thankfully I packed the girls rain gear so they could stomp in puddles and get totally soaked. They also got muddy. Mostly Shawna since she found the muddiest puddles to stomp in, which is typical Shawna btw. And genius Todd stuffed her rain pants into her rain boots, rather than pulling them down the outside of the boots, so the rain and mud pretty much ended up in her boots. Can you imagine how thrilled that made me?? I managed to wash them up in the shower, then turned on the trailer heater where I placed the boots upside down over the bathroom vent so they'd dry. I only brought 2 pairs of shoes for the girl so with the rain and mud I needed those rain boots!



We went on a walk, where Rosie proceeded to get soaked on her underside. That's the problem with dogs who are vertically challenged. Dina and Susanne's dogs picked up a couple ticks. Thankfully Rosie didn't. Paula made me turn around early with her since she was getting nervous walking to the unknown which was foggy in the distance. She had also got her pants wet when climbing over a low gate. She didn't like the feeling and I didn't like the complaining so we turned back. I do have to say it was pretty cold out. We had had temps into the 40's.



The final evening Todd hung out in our trailer w/our girls while I got drunk w/the other gals inside their RV. 2 sets of lesbians makes for some fun conversation!!! Actually, they all say they're bi-sexual even though they all prefer women. Gwen was with a man for 10 years before Julie came along. Like I said, fascinating conversation. Both Gwen and Julie have Harley's so I said I wanted to ride one some time. I've always wanted to ride on a Harley. We have neighbors who have them and we've had friends too, but I've only ever ridden on regular motorcycles. They said they'd come up for a visit and take me for a ride. Sweet!



Saturday Paula needed to get spacers in 2 teeth at the ortho. We had planned to camp thru Sunday but everyone else was leaving and with the wetness AND having to go back to work Monday (lots of laundry to do) we left early Saturday morning. After the appointment was over Paula and I visited the library. We got a bunch of books for her, myself and Shawna. I did in fact do tons of laundry all weekend. I still can't understand how a camping trip makes so much more laundry than usual.



I did a huge shopping trip for groceries on Sunday, then hung out at Dina and Susanne's for awhile. Todd was also helping fix their trailer. Throughout the weekend he took Paula and Shawna to fly the heli's and planes where they could also ride their bikes or scooters.



It was really a mellow vacation all around for the most part. As for a Todd update, there is nothing too exciting to talk about. Todd and I have been getting along well. We even had sex the other night, for those of you who care. Sorry for those of you who don't!. I will continue to be skeptical that this will last. At some point he'll screw up majorly again, but for now I'm hopeful things will stay status quo.



The news of the week is Paula has another ortho appointment tomorrow, I'm getting my IUD replaced on Thursday (Todd is fixed but I love not having AF!!! The Mirena is awesome!!) and on Friday night Paula has her 1st Reconiliation which for non-catholic folk is where they do their first confession with a priest and there is a ceremony of sorts too. You can imagine the sweet confessions the kids come up with. No mortal sins with 2nd graders. LOL



That pretty much brings us to current! I will leave you with a group picture and a photo I really love. Before Christmas we went to an adult only Xmas party hosted by Paula and Shawna's ex-softball coach Sam and his wife Danielle. It was a fun night. We used our new tenant to babysit the girls which also went well. Johna and Steve have a daughter in Paula's class and were also on our team. They're also camping buddies now.

Left to right: Todd, Sam, Me, Johna, Steve and Danielle.

I love this picture of my husbands neice Dayna with Paula. Paula's face is just so sweet in this shot.

Jill Visit

Yesterday I visited with Jill. To update you all, Jill and I have known each other for about 16 years. We met at a previous work place. 11+ years ago her ex-husband helped my husband get the job at the company he still works at today. (Although their doing layoffs as I type this so I'm hoping he still has a job!) She was the matron of honor in my wedding and her daughter was one of my flower girls. We go through long periods where we don't talk, but thankfully we always come back together. I love her.

I was there from 3pm to 10:30pm. I filled her in on my life saga involving my husband, which, most of you usual readers know the basics of, but she and I hadn't really talked in a year and a half so she was way behind. I also told her some stuff about me that went way back to before the Todd days. That kinda surprised her. As much as you might think I'm an open book, I'm really closed lipped when it comes to the aspects of my life I'm not proud of. It's one thing to share with perfect strangers, but telling friends and family causes them to worry, plus I don't want to be judged by my friends or family by what they might consider mistakes I've made or are going to make. At the same time I love them dearly and need their guidance so it's a tough line for me.

She offered great opinions and insight which I really appreciated. She's an awesome friend.

I felt the need to confess to her that I recently tossed out a t-ball baseball card picture I had of her oldest son when he was about 7 (he's 20 now) that just kept popping up in my drawers. She teased me about that! She showed me pics of her daughter now 18. OMG she's gorgeous and so smart. I first met her daughter when she was 2 years old. Her son who is 20. Her youngest son is a mini Jill. It's so wild to see those kids so grown up because when I was hanging around them all the time the older two were in elementary school and the youngest didn't exist yet.

As for the dogs, Fred, her other half, had taken the 2 greyhounds with him on errands so she and I could be alone. Her whippet, Jordy, and her foster dog, Malcolm, stayed with us. I had many noses in my lap or looks that said "please pet me". All the dogs were very sweet. Jordy, however, has a squeaky ball fetish where he squeaked the damn ball non-stop as I was trying to talk. I couldn't think!!!! Finally Jill had to put out of his reach.

There are dog beds everywhere. She has to fill up their two water bowls about 10 times a day. While I was there I filled them up twice. I was told I got the preferred guest treatment as the couch had been uncovered for my visit. The excitement of the night was when one of the greyhounds stole a good chunk of chicken (our dinner) off the counter. Funny stuff.

Below is Jill looking lovely. She's going to hate that I posted this picture but since it's all she gave me it's what I have to show. I'm sending her my blog address after I post this. lol

Dress Up Fashion Show

First off, Tuesday and Wednesday did not go as well for Paula in summer school as Monday. Some of the kids didn't want to include her a couple times. Once she talked, not knowing they were going to pray, so the kids near her yelled NO at her. She got teary from that.

Then on Tuesday Todd got pissed at her after swim lessons for not getting changed after repeatedly telling her while they were in the girls dressing room. He made her walk to the car naked, with just her towel around her and she had to drive home like that. She was mortified. I'm hoping school went better today.

While driving home after picking up the girls Todd called to say Shawna told him they're having a fashion show at her school tomorrow. huh? Understand that our Shawna LOVES dressing up and it's not too far a fetch to think she made this up just so she can wear a fancy dress to school. Todd asked her "Do you have any paperwork backing up this story". LOL She said no. There was no papers. Calling the school at this hour will connect me to an afternoon teacher who not always knows what the day classes are doing. She's basically after school daycare. Thankfully she did know that Miss Mary was doing a fashion show and the kids could borrow some of her outfits or bring their own. Shawna will collect a few items tonight but knows she has to wear play clothes to school.

My friend Jeannie from grammar school called today. She lives in San Diego with her husband and daughter age 8. Our birthdays are 4 days apart. I'm July 4th and she's July 8th. Our friend Terri is July 6th. Terri called me last week and then those two hung out that day. Terri lives in Huntington Beach, sort of near Jeannie. We don't talk often or visit often but we do keep in touch and care about each other. We're good about remembering each others birthday too!! LOL

The latest and greatest softball game pictures. Paula whacking the ball. She writes right handed but hits left handed.


Shawna running to first base. She cracks me up at how stiff she looks. haha

Adults Only

What's been going on?

1. I'm feeling much better. I'm still on antibiotics but they didn't have to "clean out" my sinus'. I am back to work as of yesterday (Monday). I saw the ENT on Friday and he did another probe up my nose. I'm all clear in the upper sinus'. I'm still draining and could relapse but I'm hoping I don't. My implants also look good. I saw the periodontist on Thursday who wants to see me again in 2 months.

2. Friday night we had a fire in our hills. At night it seemed much closer than it was so we got our important papers and things together in case in the middle of the night they said to evacuate. We didn't even let the kids know there was a fire or Paula especially would have been panicky and very upset.
I made Todd prepare the trailer for easy hookup. Normally it can take him 45 minutes to get it ready so he did some set up so in case he needed to hook up the truck we could leave faster. My mom was there to keep him on track. He didn't think all our preparation was necessary and kept saying so, but I didn't want to risk it. By morning the fire was out so he was right. Still...you can't be too prepared for that! We had ashes all over our cars, house etc. Even in our computer room where we'd left the window open.

3. Saturday afternoon my mom drove Paula to her house for the week. Already I've talked to her each day and she's having a grand time. Yesterday they swam in the pool at the club and she met a little girl who might be there again today. Too cute.
That night Shawna had a sleep over at Tyler's house which she LOVED.

4. Saturday night we had an adults only party at our friends the Coulthards, one of our school/softball families who we've camped with and adore. There were 8 of us. We had so much fun. For awhile the ladies chatted together and the men chatted together, then after dinner we all hung out around his backyard bar. They have the best backyard set up for summer parties. I laughed so hard my sides ached from their stories about Paula and Shawna during softball practices. I never make the practices since I'm at work so it was fun to hear what my kids do. We definitely need to do that again. Below is a picture of us all.

Left to Right: Danielle (married to Sam), Patty (married to Brett), Me, Johna (married to Steve), Todd, Brett, Sam, Steve.

5. Tonight starts swim lessons for the girls, although only Shawna is here this week. She's excited since she's been asking me for a year when do they get to go back to swimming. It's hecka expensive for the place I like to take them which is why I didn't sign them up for an entire year. But Shawna needs to learn her strokes and Paula hasn't graduated yet from the school so it's time.

That's it for the past few days. Busy busy as always.