Snow Day!

So - the kids did end up having today off - but schools on for tomorrow. They start Christmas break on Wednesday. We have a total of about 20 inches, 15 or so from last night and 5 from the last 2 little bouts of snow fall.

The girls had a blast sledding, fort building and snow shoeing today. We had blue sunny skies and it was a great winter day!

We're expected to be clear again tomorrow with more snow heading our way on Wednesday and then again next weekend.

Funny note - the UPS trucks are having a hard time getting around because of the large snowbanks along driveways so our UPS driver told me today that they are being mostly dispatched in UPS minivans. :)

Our neighbor had a refrigerator delivered this afternoon and the store delivery truck for that could get no where near the house - so the truck parked on the street and the unloaded the fridge onto a dolly and wheeled it down the street and up the driveway to their door.

It's still coming!

The wind has abated for a while - but the snow keeps on a coming! This was the midnight picture... the photo of the snow at our sliding door fails to impress because we turned the heater on and it's actually melting agains the door. :) So - swing pictures it is. Dan and I went out and shoveled and we easily have 14 inches right now - and the snow started at 11am! The weather report says we could see another 2-4 inches... school hasn't been cancelled yet.

It's kind of a storm...

Apparently we're having a thundersnowstorm - with freezing fog too. The snow started here at about 11am and at 7pm I'd say we have about a foot of snow. No sign of slowing yet either...

The pictures on the left are from 5pm and the pictures on the right are from 7pm...

Lesson learned

I've recently learned that I need to give things another shot... even if it sucked the first time.

A long, long time ago I received a very cool Pampered Chef cookie press. When we lived in Arizona I attempted making cookies with my press. Let's just say it was a terrible experience.... melting cookies, nothing sticking and it ended up being a mess.

I decided that it was worth giving it a go - because darn it - other people can do it! So, the girls and I whipped up a batch of spritz dough... colored a pretty green and then loaded it into the cookie press.

Oh my goodness how much fun! Adorable little tree cookies in just mere seconds. The girls each got to shoot dough into little trees and squeal in delight.

They baked up great and are just awesome. Now I can't wait for other reasons to create more press cookies!!

Finally.......

We have snow people!

I woke up this morning to three little girls squealing that there was snow on the ground and it was still SNOWING!

Emma is by far the most excited mostly because I don't think she remembers snow - and certainly doesn't appear to remember how much she hated it last year.

So today begins my insane work schedule so if possible you will see me even less than before... or maybe more if I need a brain vent outlet.

I will sit up in my toasty office (this is by far the coldest room in the house and Dan bought me a little room heater for under my desk!) and plug away... watching big puffy snowflakes fall...

She did it!

Anna was so proud of herself.... and when they put the picture of her holding her hair on the wall she just beamed.

She loves her new do - she says it is exactly what she always wanted. She clapped and laughed as they cut 11 inches of hair off of her head!

So... check it out!

it's beginning to look a lot like...

"I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel. " ~ Charlie Brown

"Charlie Brown, you're the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem. Maybe Lucy's right. Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest." ~ Linus Van Pelt

"And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were sore afraid ... And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord." "And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men." "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." - Linus Van Pelt

Emma is sooo damn cute

I don't know what it is about Emma. She really is turning into a giant sweetie. She is still the ferocious, independent, tempermental little chick that we have come to know and love, but she is charming. Ohhhh so charming.

Her new favorite person in the world is my dad. Just about everynight she'll bring me the phone and say, "call poppa now" and then she calls him, tells him the same things, laughs at his "what time is it" joke (It's howdy doody time)... tells him, "I've got my eye on you"... and then sings him Twinkle twinkle and Merrily Merrily Bop bop... usually finishes with a version of the ABC song. It's pretty darn cute.

She has also started a couple of other cute sayings, like after she has a couple of gulps (she's a gulper) of water, she'll exclaim, "I had three scoops of water!"

She is often seen climbing up on laps to give kisses and hugs.

Last night after we tucked Julia and Anna in we were walking out of their room and Emma calls back to them, "goodnight girls!" :)

Now she is insanely excited about Thanksgiving because there will be turkey. I'm about 90% sure she thinks we're getting a real turkey - not that the thing in our fridge defrosting is the turkey.

She's pretty darn cute...

Bah Humbug

Oh - wait, is this not the holiday for that?

I don't want to be Debbie Downer - but really! I am just so frustrated. Since August at least, Dan and I have been in a pattern of he works/I watch the kids, I work/he watches the kids, and then we both work. We have had very little time as a family where the 5 of us are together without one of us working. We are OK with this because we're trying to work ourselves out of a deep hole (that apparently has quicksand in the bottom..). It does get old, and it's becoming more and more evident that it's taking it's toll on the kids, which was never our intention.

Don't get me wrong - I know kids are resiliant and they will be fine - and we are trying to spend more quality time together as a family.

The other side of this gripe is that on one hand I firmly feel the hand on my shoulder, that comforting hand, the hand that makes sure no matter how tight it gets, how bare the cupboards get, that things get taken care of to keep us out of real trouble. I also feel that weight on my chest though.. the weight that constantly keeps a tally of bills due and due dates on my mind at all times. The weight that never lets me forget that we're one mis-step away from that trouble. I'm trying to relax, and let some of that stress go. Knowing that we are doing our best right now, and that we will not settle for this, that we will do what it takes to rise above this, that it can't always be like this.

I know this. I really do. It doesn't mean I can't hate the rest of it.

The hair...

Well - we had it measured and it's long enough! YEAHHHHHH!

Unfortunately there was an hour wait and I had to work, so we'll go back on Locks of Love day and get it cut then. Anna is so excited it's long enough. She wanted to look at the pictures of what her hair might look like again. She did have us take a picture of her today so that she can "member her long hair". I told her with as fast as her hair grows it won't be too long until it's back to that length. Her reply was "I could just keep growing hair!"

Locks of Love

We're hoping this weekend will be the big weekend. Over a year ago we took Anna to get her hair cut (she wanted it short like mine) and she saw a wall of photos of kids holding their hair. She asked me what it was for and I explained that those kids were donating their hair so that they can make wigs and/or raise money for people with cancer. I reminded her when her Grandma had cancer that she had a wig to wear.

When she sat in the chair she told the lady she was going to donate her hair. The stylist told her that her hair wasn't quite long enough. So Anna decided (at 3 years old) to forego the short do and grow her hair so it was long enough to donate.

We think it has finally made it to the 10" that it needs to be to donate. We are taking her in on Saturday to have them measure it and cut it if it's long enough. She is so excited.

I hope it's long enough because she has started chewing on her hair - and if it isn't cut soon it won't be there to cut!

We'll update you - of course with pictures - after her appointment!

Here she is...

Ain't she purdy??

It's coming....

We received Julia's school picture from yesterday and let me just say - WOW. I loved last years picture - but this year blows it away. I can't wait to share...

In my e-mail

This is an email I received today - apparently from myself in the past to the me in the future - which is the present. Get it? good.

"Greetings from your past. In the fall of 2005, you agreed to receive this

message, which has been preserved for a year in the Forbes.com E-Mail Time 
Capsule. 
 
Here is the text of your message:

Ok - yeah, it's me.  I just want to say that you should love you.
You are a great woman and a wonderful mom. 

I bet you have the most beautiful three girls on Earth. 
Treat them with kindness and lots of love. 
Remember to tell them you love them MANY times a day!

Remember to tell yourself you love you!"

Today as I read this e-mail I had to remember what was going on in my life at this time in 2005. I had just recently found out I was pregnant with Emma, and obviously had just found out to expect another girl. My parents had just arrived back to Arizona after their accident and things were really rough.

I love how optimistic this was.

So to my past self: I do have the three most beautiful girls on Earth, thanks for the reminder and I do love you/me.

Overheard in the Dough house...

Anna: "No, you only eat your own boogers. I'll stick to just eating my own, OK?"

Lap of luxury...

So - I'm kind of craving sushi. We aren't exactly on a sushi budget right now so we decided to have rice balls (Onigiri) for dinner. We just happen to have a lot of the components already (toasted sesame seeds, pickled ginger, rice vinegar, soy sauce and wasabi) so it was going to be relatively inexpensive. Rice (we use regular white rice and "sushify" it by making it a little gummy and adding the vinegar and sugar mixture- it works out just fine and it's $1.20 for a big bag of rice vs. $5.79 for a small bag of sushi that is a pain to make but yummy), cucumber, avocado and some form of a fish/meat. That's it.

I like to leave my raw fish handling to the professionals and for my at home sushi/onigiri making I only use cooked seafood and stay away from the sashimi.

Oh by the way ... remember what happened the last time I made sushi? Knife stuck in the bone of my thumb bringing back any memories? Thankfully this adventure with sharp knives (thanks Kam) and avocado did not produce any blood. So that's a good night for me!

Some things I have learned. Wet hands are a must for handling sushi rice. It doesn't stick nearly as much and other than getting pruny hands - it's great. Instead of hand "ball ing", I put a square of plastic wrap into the bottom of a small bowl (very small - like golf ball size) and then pack some rice into the bowl. Using my fingers (or a spoon if your not into touching your rice) I then sort of pack it down and make a little bowl. Tonight we had lobster - because that's how we roll here in the 207 (Ok - it's $3.49/lb right now and we only needed one chick for this).

So in that little pocket goes a little lobster, some diced cucumber and avocado, making sure not to overfill and to leave a little rice on the sides. Then another little handful of rice goes over the top and gets packed down. Pull up the sides of the plastic wrap and twist it like you would a bread bag to put the little metal tie on (remember those?) you can then pull the ball out of hte bowl and keep twisting the plastic until the ball compresses. I also pack the rice a little more by hand take out of the plastic- then roll in some toasted sesame seeds. Dan makes a little soy dip with the ginger and wasabi. The plastic wrap eliminates most of the mess.

My kids go nutso for these. They also like sashimi (the raw fish variety) though so they are a bit freaky. Oh... and they eat frozen broccoli - like - on purpose!

You can fill the rice balls with whatever you'd like or have on hand. It does take some time to roll them. If the kids are a little older they can make their own and it's fun. We sometimes wrap them in Nori - but it's more expensive and a bit of a pain.

Someday......

THIS will be my pre-Christmas vacation...

Thanks to Scattered Mom for this tip.

I went to bed tonight secure in the fact that when I woke up, no matter which candidate was chosen to be our new President that we would be in good hands.

I've heard such heated debates, I've heard people say hateful things (about both candidates) and quite frankly I am glad this part is over.

We had two amazing men run to lead our country. One amazing man has won. I am proud that he will be my President.

I do have hope we can all move forward...

Comments & Myspace layouts

Here they are!

Here are the kidlets out getting their trick or treating on...

This is the dude that watched over the bowl of candy we left out front while I joined the ToT tour of our street.

Part of our Halloween display

This is our Halloween decor.... it included Halloween music (think generic Monster Mash, Purple People Eater, Thriller, etc... ) and a fog machine. This picture doesn't do it justice looks like Christmas on crack... in the dark with the fog... it's really kind of cool looking.

Our little witch (notice - no Elmo, Abby cadabby or Zoe Monster???)

Our Sleeping Beauty. She wouldn't hold still for a picture, but her hair was really sleeping beauty-esque. She started out with a giant round bang and the big pretty curls... considering I don't have any hair spray - I was surprised it lasted as long as it did.

This is the kid I was most proud of. She was super helpful getting everyone ready - but really, in the end she chose to be BUNNICULA! From the James Howe series. The majority of her friends were dressing up as HSM characters, Hannah Montana or the like - but she chose to go her own way. She was so proud of her costume - including the WHITE CARROT her Dad bought her...

What - you want Halloween pictures????

Ok.







Later.

on the phone...

Back in September I needed to have some dependable income coming in so I contracted with a company to do customer service from home. I thought it would be tolerable at best but I have been pleasantly surprised.

It pays as well or better than they indicated during the hiring process, and although there are many little technical issues and some kinks to be worked out - it's a pretty well run business.

I have never liked "punching a clock" and still don't enjoy having obligations (yes, I'm one of THOSE people) but I essentially tell them the hours I would be willing to work and they schedule me according to those times.

The biggest surprise for me is that I love it. Some moments are stressful as any customer service job is - but for the most part, it's FUN. I know FUN seems a bit of an exaggeration but really it is. I spend 50-60% of my shifts shopping with people - on clothes and other high end items I couldn't dream of affording (trust me, this gig and my other clients don't pay me nearly enough to jump on a $1700 pair of shoes - or a $5600 purse!). It's like window shopping except you are shopping for other people AND getting paid for it.

Anyway... that's one of my "hats" I'm wearing right now. I had a couple emails asking what my four jobs I'm working are from my mom's comment. Everything I do is under my business so technically it's one job... but it's quite a variety of work. I spend about 15-25 hours a week doing this CS contract, I am still doing ChaCha (which is starting to bring in some $$ too), I'm helping my client the insurance agent build her business by following her warm/hot leads, I am subcontracting for my mentor, and I have my own clients (and a new one this week!! YEA).

Here's the scoop.

Dan has finally taken the leap and jumped into the finance industry (what a time right?). He was a finance major (and marketing) back in the day at the University, but went with marketing to shave a year off his schooling. When he was getting his MBA he did a lot of coursework in finance and kind of fell back in love with it.

When a bunch of things were going down with his job earlier this year and he knew he was going to be looking again, he contacted a friend of ours who is a financial advisor. Our friend gave him some advice and helped him with the process, and so he has spent the last 3 months studying to be a financial advisor. He passed his Series 7, Series 66 and now the Health Insurance (there was a glitch with getting scheduled for the life portion of the exam). He was offered a branch here in our town and Dan is thrilled at this opportunity. During the business building stage though - it's 60-80 hour work weeks and a little more than minimum wage during this training stage.

I had a lot of questions about these two topics so I thought I'd share with all of you. Things are really ok, just stressful and a little worrisome at times - but we know there are better days ahead.

Did I mention..

that my parents might be coming for Christmas!! Well, they might be coming NEAR Christmas.... which is almost as much fun!

Dan and I were thinking of keeping it a secret from the girls... how long do you think that will last?

Another post all about Emma...

Emma has been blaming everything on my mom. Since my mom was here, Emma uses my mom as her excuse for everything.

Get's in trouble climbing on the table, "meemaw said I could"

She wants candy and we say no, "but meemaw said"

She has to come inside to eat dinner, "but meemaw said I didn't haf to!"

She will occasionally blame me, Dan or her sisters but Meemaw bears the brunt of most of her blame.

Emma

Today was a big day for Emma. Let's just say it's like she's graduating to big girl status.

Oh ... and she is sooo my little clone. Today while we were putting away our Halloween decorations and putting them in the attic, she kept saying "mwah ha ha ha" in her evil little kid giggle. I so love it.

Advice on Winter please...

So I'm looking for recomendations on snow pants (preferably bibs) and boots. For Julia I'm looking for a little more rugged pants and boots since she will wear them practically everyday for 6 months.

For the little un's I just need warm and dry pants... and warm, dry and easy on/off for boots.

Also - I'd love info on how you store your coats/jackets/pants/boots/shoes. Our entry way is just packed with 5 people's coats and winter accessories. Right now we have a peg board down low so the girls can hang their jackets up, and one up high for other stuff. I have a hanging basket with 4 pockets for gloves, hats, scarves, etc.

I did just see an awesome idea in Family Fun magazine for storing/drying gloves, etc. It's a heavy cord or string you hang from the ceiling and then knot clothespins to it going down the string so you can attach your gloves, hats, etc and they they have room to dry. Not sure if it would work in our current set up - but it looked like a good idea.

So... what do you do?

Trunk or Treat

Halloween starts early around the Dough house...

Here are some pictures of the girls in their "practice" costumes. Not one of them wants to wear these costumes on Halloween - but for the party they went to today they worked out fine.

Krogers

When I was growing up, my mom was the lady at the grocery store everyone knew. The other shoppers, the people at the deli, the check out people. In fact when my mom had her last hemoragghic stroke (aneurysm rupture) one of her daily visitors was the woman who checked her out at the grocery store everyday. That says a lot about both my mom - and June, the check out lady.

Dan is now that person. Whenever he goes to the store he runs into people he knows - and the grocery store people know him. The best part of this is that the sushi guy loves him. So much that we got a big platter of sushi and rolls tonight.

Awesome huh?

Even more awesome is that I barely had any because my 2 year old was devouring it. Why can't my kids be repulsed by sushi like normal kids - and leave more for us???

Darn kids....

Have I mentioned that my children don't like me much?

Emma was just sitting next to me on the couch, sort of cuddling in her winding down for bed kind of mood. I'm half paying attention to her and half watching Life on the DVR.

She starts rubbing my leg - and says "Mom it's lotion, I rub it for you"

That got my attention since there is nothing even resembling lotion around us - and I realize perhaps I should be paying closer attention to the 2 year old.

Is it bad that I was relieved to find out she was only spitting in her hand and wiping it on me?

yeah - my kids don't like me much...

Noggin says it all...

Doom on you...

Well, I'm alive.

Whoo hoo!!!!!!!

For those of you nice enough to email me to find out if I fell off the face of the Earth - well - I sort of did.

As I mentioned - we have been sick. Two and a half weeks ago I came down with the scary 105 degree fever - vomiting - chills, etc.

Tuesday it was Anna's turn at the doctor - nasty ear infection. Antibiotics (the fun orangy bubble gum tasting stuff)

By Wednesday I was feeling somewhat human again and didn't call the doctor.

Thursday night the 105 degree fevers returned and I couldn't breathe. On Friday - Dan literally drove me to the doctor where I was promptly diagnosed with pneumonia.

Did I fail to mention that Dan was flying out Saturday afternoon for 8 days??? Oh... well he was. Dan dropped me off at home, and ran out to pick up the Big Boy Antibiotic - the antibiotic that was going to kick the infection out of my body quickly so that I could be conscious and care for my children in his absence. Apparently I'm not quite man enough for the Big Boy and promptly had a fun little allergic reaction to it - and violently removed it from my system.

Then Dan ran Emma to the doctor where she could be diagnosed with her own nasty ear infection. More antibiotics.

Here is where my Mom called and asked if we wanted her to fly out and watch the children while I huddled in bed with fever.

We quickly conferred and agreed that having Mom traipse across the country was much preferable to having our children fend for themselves like wolves, or paying the $2K change in fare for Dan to leave Monday.

This brings us to Saturday - more fun fevers - Dan to the airport to fly out, Mom to the airport flying in. I had 6 hours alone with the kids and I thought I'd never make it. Mom arrives to the rescue.

Three nasty days of fevers and breathing issues ensued and then magically I began to feel better (ok - so not so much magic as modern day science and lots of antibiotics... but hey, it's sort of like magic). Now - another week later I feel about 60% better. I am still exhausted, still coughing and can't breathe but I can function. Anna and Emma are also doing much better.

So - now that you have had a full blow by blow re-enactment of my illness you may carry on. I'm sure that your life is now complete and full of meaning now that you wasted 2 minutes on reading this drivel.

Oh yes - and a huge, gigantic shout out to my mom (and my Dad for flying her out here!) for being there for us. You would be short at least one grandkid if I had been left to care for them. So thank you. We love you!!

October 15, 2008

MB

I just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you today. If you peek your beautiful head out of your shell I want you to know how much we love you and your three boys.

I will pray for you today - for the strength to get through this day and for some healing for your heart.

Smell this...

That is one of the first things that would be in the parenting book - don't ever smell what they want you to smell.

Last night in my semi-conscious medicated state Julia was sitting next to me on the bed, cuddling.

"Mom, smell this?" she said with a quizzical look on her face, holding out her hand in front of my face.

Not thinking twice in my dazed state, I smelled her hand.

It smelled terrible - terrible isn't even really the word.

Pulling my head back into the pillow as far away as I could from her hand, "What is that??"

"Oh, I farted on my hand."

Happy Halloween Month!

Seriously I so love October. I love May... and Fall... and the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas... but I really enjoy October.

Oh yeah - and Happy Birthday month to my Mom!

We are thinking of having a Halloween Open House this year. We don't have room to have a party - but we really like doing something for Halloween. So I was thinking of having an Open House type of get together from 4-6p or 430-530p before Trick or Treating. We have amassed quite a collection of Halloween decorations over the years and it's easy to go dramatic on decorating the front of our townhouse.

So - we were thinking of just having a couple of tables set out front with my semi-famous snake sandwiches, veggies and dip, some other snacks and drinks. Nothing too crazy but something for the kids to do before it's trick or treating time. Maybe some unattended games that the kids can do. I'm guessing they'll be able to occupy an hour...

What do you think? Is that time too crazy for parents on Halloween? It's a Friday this year so I'm hoping it might be a good time.

Yes Mom...

Since I do as I'm told - I'm posting. We have indeed been sick. Julia came in our room last Thursday night with a fever. She woke up with a sore throat but her fever was gone by noon. Other than a bit of a cough by Saturday morning she was back to 90%.

Cue next illness... Sunday Anna is next with a fever and congestion. She never gets really sick but enough to spend a lot of time resting. On Monday, Dan and Emma follow. Tuesday, it's me.

Wednesday Anna is better, Emma is doing much better, Dan is ok and I am ok except for the cough.

Thursday I wake up and feel like a Peterbilt hit me. Thursday night Anna is complaining of an earache. By 10pm it has escalated into moaning and crying (Anna - not me). We settle in for a long night. Friday morning Anna is feeling a bit better but still has the earache.

Did I mention that Emma is acting up? Not eating???

So it's Saturday - I'm doing better but have a nasty cough (yes I know I NEVER get a chest cold), Dan is doing great, Julia is fine, Anna is still congested and has ear pain but it's manageable with the occasional Tylenol. Emma on the other hand is currently resting ON my hands as I type this. Holding one ear and starting, eyes glazed over, at the TV (which has Wow Wow Wubbzy on it), and I can feel the heat from her that her fever hasn't gone down yet.

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Kyle is on it's way and it's been raining for 24 hours already. I hope it blows all this illness right out of the house.

So... there is a post!

Ring Ring

Don't you hate waiting for the phone to ring when you are expecting a call?

I've been on pins and needles all day waiting for a call - hoping for excellent news. I thought I'd hear by 3pm and absolutely by 4pm. No call yet.

Waiting...

Waiting....

Waiting.....

Oh my I'm not very patient.

I'll keep you posted!

I GOT THE CALL!!!!

Dan passed his Ser*ies 7 exam!!!!!!! WHOO HOO! After 6 hours of testing he not only passed but he killed it!

Craigslist

So - we finally got rid of the furniture our neighbors "left" us when they moved (a little computer desk, some end tables). People actually showed up when they said they would and brought money! The last two things we tried to sell ended up being a disaster so my faith in craigslist has been renewed.

I also listed all of my cloth diaper stash - and I think those are going too. Now I just have boxes of the girls clothes to get rid of. We have donated a bunch - but we could use a couple extra bucks so we're going to give craigslist another try.

Soccer balls and ice cream trucks

Anna's soccer debut
Julia leading the pursuit
Julia (purple giving it a run)

So - Today was soccer game #1 for the girls. Of course it started in the traditional Dough family way...

Julia's game started at 915 and she had to be there at 9a. Anna's game started at 1030a and she had to be there at 1015a. Did I mention the fields are 15 mintues apart?

So the plan was for Dan to take Julia to her game, and I would follow with Anna and Em. Dan would then leave with Anna at 10a for her game. When Julia's game was over I would bring Julia and Em with me to Anna's game. Complicated but doable - right?

Well - that's only if you have 2 working vehicles. Which as of 845am this morning we didn't. Dan's alternator cap (or something - I have no idea) has a crack in it and so there are some issues. Not to mention that the battery probably needs to be replaced. So - the entire morning was chaos.

I had to take everyone to Julia's game - which she was 5 minutes late for. Then Dan had to leave at 10 to take Anna to her game - then drop her off and drive back to pick us up from Julia's game and then drive us back to Anna's game. We missed the first quarter of Anna's game - but it all worked out in the end.

We did luck out though and only one of the girls' games is at the same time - the last game. The other ones are spread out just enough that we should be able to watch some of each.

Both girls teams lost by a wide margin (like 12-1!!)- but they had a blast.

I was really impressed with how well Julia did. She doesn't seem to have that URGH competitive thing going on but was still fast and has some good ball handling skills. Anna also did great. She looked joyous as she played - it was cute to watch. She almost scored a goal and spent a lot of time with the ball. As she added, "I also made a new friend" So a winner of a day for her.

We left the game and I had one of my clients call that she was having a local event with the Good Humor Ice Cream truck. So we were invited to stop by and have free ice cream. You couldn't get much better than that - free reign over an ice cream truck!! Emma was happy about that - and I was glad to be able to reward Em for her great behavior at her sister's games. She really wanted to go out and play too, but she stayed on the side and watched.

Fires, Insurance and rambling

My cousin is an amazing woman... she was the one I wrote about in this post .

She and her husband were married over 4th of July weekend.

This past weekend - Sept 6 - my cousin and her husband moved into a new condo to start their lives together. The unthinkable happened - Sept 10 (4 days after they moved in) - some men were refinishing the floor in their condo and it exploded. The three workers were very seriously hurt (one has burns over 80% of his body - all three are on ventilators and in comas - not doing well), so we have been praying for them. Apparently the company had the employees trying to save money by using a combination of chemicals that was unsafe. My cousin and her husband are ok - but literally everything they own is gone. Including ALL of their wedding presents, wedding photos, clothes, memories... etc.

Thank God they are both okay.

Wayne was the one who had let the workers in - and had just left to run an errand when this happened. I'm in tears thinking of what could have happened.

There are some links to the news articles at the end of this post. If you could keep them in your prayers - and the other families who have been displaced (their condo was the only total loss - but the others in the building lost some things as well - and had to leave their homes) - and the workers who are in such terrible shape.

Also - As some of you may know but I just recieved binding authority this week as a Property and Casualty Insurance Producer - and my whole life the last 3 weeks has been insurance while I completed my onboarding. My point here is to make sure you are properly insured. Most of the people I know in our complex do NOT have renters insurance, and lately I've realized that so many people are under insured. Jewelry, fine art, guns, etc have special limits that lower the amount you would get in case of a loss (jewelry in most states is $1000 - do you have more than $1000 in jewelry???). Also - consider if you own a home or have a measure of wealth - to carry an umbrella policy to cover your liabilities. I will get down off my soap box now... but make sure you are properly insured!! (BTW - this isn't a sales pitch since I can only bind insurance in the state of Maine...)

Links to articles about the fire:
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/NEWS/80912044

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6382159

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080910/NEWS/80910024/1020/NEWS0402

http://www.goleader.com/08sep11/

http://www.tricountyredcross.org/2008/09/red-cross-responds-to-scotch-p.html

SOCCER

Anna had a blast at her first soccer practice. We're hoping her first game Saturday isn't rained out. Julia is also loving soccer. Her bestest friends are on her team and they are learning a lot!

Comedy of Errors

Seriously, I have no idea why computers hate me. It is true in the past I was a little less than tender with them and subjected them to little hands and prying fingers (as in prying keys off the keyboard). I am ashamed of my past and have begged for forgiveness many times over the years.



My laptops now live in a graveyard on a shelf in my office. One shelf that has 3 - yes 3 laptops on it. Each came to an untimely end. I shed tears for each of their deaths. The big boy (which has been resurrected HALLELUJAH!!!) who was my best computer ever until the "power adapter debacle of 2006". The Toshiba so beloved because it was free died a long painful death while the screen slowly died out (I have recently learned that with a new monitor it would be fine if used as a PC). Then of course Replacement who died a brave death (the blue screen of death) this summer after recovering at Christmas from "power adapter debacle of 2007".



My livlihood depends on internet access. I can't exactly be "virtual" if I'm stuck handwriting and faxing.



So - my point. I have two working computers (Dan has a NICE one from his new employer but since he uses it 16 hours a day to study - it's not an option). The Big Boy who has been rehabed and called to duty as my Customer Service workhorse (I have an awesome client that I'm doing customer service for!!) and my little HP. Lil' HP is fast but a little dense if you will. He has a bit of a short term memory problem, and that's on top of a long term memory problem. I can't put a lot of my software on it - but it gets me from point A to B.


I still haven't made it to my point - have I?

Last night I almost threw Big Boy out of the 2nd story window. My friend CW came to the rescue today and pulled me back from the brink of a computer nervous breakdown. A simple system restore brought order to my chaos.

I think when anyone goes through something traumatic and comes out the other side - it's important to share with others. To give people that may go through the same situation hope if you will. I have created a fix for those suffering from the "Microsoft Service Pack 3 debacle of 2008"

- Remove Service Pack 3 via the Remove Program feature

- Find a restore system point from before the Service Pack 3


I had more to this post but seriously it escapes me. I am terribly sleep deprived and just plain exhausted - my brain fails to work.

Emma strikes again...

Last night I was cuddling with Emma at bedtime. She was being particularly sweet as she often is when she's sleepy.

She gives me a kiss, then a hug and then says, "Goodnight Mommy, I love you."

I told her goodnight and that I loved her too. She says, looking me straight in the eyes, "dank you care me, Momma."

I said, "What did you say?"

She says, clear as a bell, "dank you taking care o' me"

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....

2nd grade!!

Emma is SOOOO cute!

Tonight Emma was playing on the bottom stair. She was being silly and then fell an hurt her arm. She was fine but needed a little extra love from her dad.

Dan was holding her and she wrapped her little arms all the way around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder.

In her sweet little voice you hear her say, "I love you Daddy Warbucks!"

Maybe she's been watching a little too much Annie!

Bend it like Beckham...

Anna is playing soccer for the first time this year. She is so excited to be just like Julia. She was terribly disapointed that she won't be playing on Julia's team - but we're gearing her up to play on her own team with her own friends.

Julia has been teaching her how to kick the ball and they have been practicing their dribbling. Anna loves to pick up the ball and put it back down in the right place to kick it - but she's slowly growing out of that habit.

So, next week starts soccer practice for both girls (Em is devastated she's not playing too!) and they have their first games the week after that. I so love soccer with the pre-school set. It's a little early for heavy duty competition and they really are just having fun and making lots of "video moments".

This is Julia's last year in this age bracket. Next season they get serious and start really playing competitively. She just found out that her 2 best friends are on her team and she's thrilled!

It begins....

School starts on Wednesday and we're almost ready. Backpack has been purchased (gotta love the back to school sale at LL Bean), and the Kleen Canteen for the daily water.

We don't buy school supplies here, so a backpack, new shoes and some supplies for lunch are much less expensive than $150 in paper/crayons/notebooks. :) I love that.

We learned our lesson with the backpack from last school year. It was also a Bean bag - and it held up great - except the fact that it is FILTHY! Julia wanted a purple bag and it was a solid light purple color. The first time or two it cleaned up great in the wash. After that - not so much. Lesson learned. Dark bottom - check. Pattern - check. Her backpack from kindergarten is in perfect condition still it's just too small to hold snowpants, boots, lunch, etc. I'm hoping this bag with it's dirt camouflage will hold us over for a year or so.

We're not buying a lot of school clothes - well, actually right now we're not buying any. We have some clothes from last year that she never grew into that she's getting close to, and until it's time for long sleeves and pants - I want to wait and see what size she is in.

Let's just say it's time for school to start. She misses her friends and the occasional play date isn't cutting it. We've had a great summer and it's time to start 2nd grade!!

I'm DONE!

The training is over and for all my complaining it really wasn't as horrid as I made it out to be. Boring - yes! It was helpful though and I did learn a lot. I think it could have been one week... but that's ok!

So - now I'm just waiting for my appointment and I'm ready to released out into the world to bind P&C insurance policies.

Well... not exactly since I'm not working as an agent, I'm just going to be using my new talents and skills to cover the office for my client when she's gone - but still.

Are you properly insured???

Brain... Fried.... Overload....

I have completed one week of insurance hell. It actually hasn't been too bad. I've been able to get out early all week and I really have learned a lot. I have learned I'm pretty darn good at it - which is a bit of surprise to me (and I guess to everyone else). My instructor told me today that when she first met me she wasn't sure if it would be my thing - but after this week she's impressed with how effective I am with MY style. I should be training them...

Having such ease with computers really does help since I find myself a heck of a lot faster than the others - but it also makes the day a lot more boring.

I like the people I've met and although we have different goals from our endeavors (they are going to actually be full time agents) we seem to be pretty cohesive as a group.

I'm also surprised at how much I remember from the studying I did for that ridiculous licensing exam!!! I really thought it went out the window as soon as I passed - but I did store some in my long term memory!

So - this week was a bit of a surprise. I always am shocked when I'm good at something (I was so nervous I vomited Monday before I left!!), and it's nice to participate in a training that is actually useful!

Julia starts school after Labor Day. So, next week is my last week of training, and then we'll get Julia in school.... then I should be back around more often! I had 1300 blog posts on Google Reader to catch up on, so I dumped them all and I'm going to have to work my way back into my favorites!

Enjoy the end of summer!

Holy Olympics Batman...

So, I'm caught up. The Olympics are awesome.

The opening ceremony was just amazing. The girls managed to sit and watch 90% of it - an amazing feat if I say so.

Loving it!

Done

So. We're home. Everyone except Dan is suffering from post-lake depression. The kids are out of their minds insane. They miss their grandparents, they miss the freedom they have at the lake, they miss constant access to friends, swimming and well... just the lake.

I know it will just take time but it sucks. I have always had a hard time adjusting when I got home too and it's no different now. It may even be more difficult since we spent so much time there this summer.

Pinochle

Who the hell invented Pinochle? What an F'ed up game that is! I'm fairly sure someone was sitting around high on something and said, "let's make a fairly easy game really messed up by rearranging the values of the cards. A ha, let's make 10 worth more than a King but 9 still be less than a Jack."

More lake ramblings

We have had an amazing summer up at the lake.

It rained so hard that the beach completely disappeared. It has only been like that one other time in my life. The girls have fallen in love with the lake, mountains and people just like we all have. It's not unusual for them to spend 10 hours a day in the water and to fall asleep during dinner.

The rain hasn't even been enough to stop us since we play cards and read books instead. Without computers, tvs, etc... it's really as Leave it to Beaver as it sounds.

After the kids are asleep there has been lots of adult bonding time as the middle generation (not quite adult fire and no longer kid fire material) hang out by campfires, makeshift campfires, oil lamp lit tables. There were new drink discoveries (whoo hoo Chris for lending us your faith in Midori) and a wonderful night with Rum Punch, popcorn and rain.

A momentary break....

We're back in reality for a few days to regroup, do laundry, catch up with clients and take real showers. Really we're back so I can erase the DVR to tape the Olympics while we're gone!

I'm so excited for the Olympics - it's ridiculous.

The biggest news in my absence was that my beloved computer has come down with the blue screen of death. It's sad, but my hard drive went kaput. Now I am busy reconfiguring my back up with the programs that were loaded on the other computer and yanking stuff off of my external hard drive. For all that we've been through - that computer and me - I'm sad to see it go. I'm not sure how to proceed since I was hoping that computer would get me through at least March.

Dan is back to work (did I mention he was out of work? Oh no, well he was, and it has made for a super fun May - July) and is in the trenches for 8-10 more weeks. I think this big change is a good thing, but it is making our complicated lives even more complicated. I'm just endlessly hopeful that this is the beginning of a great thing.

Our dryer is taking 2-3 cycles to dry things and it's too humid to hang anything to dry. Let me just tell you how much I hate that. We normally air dry 50-75% of our clothes, and with this ridiculous humidity nothing is drying on its own. My superpower sense of smell leaves me unable to handle even a slight hint of that musty smell so I'm left with abusing my dryer. Now it's fighting back and making my life hell.

So, Project Runway anyone? hmmmmmmm.... that's what I thought.

Last week I read the Twilight series. It was delicious and fun and just what I needed on the beach (or in the cabin late at night to battle my insomnia!). I'm not entirely sure I'm happy with the ending, but it might be that I have never enjoyed the end of anything. It did provide me with some big laughs and I'm relatively at ease with the whole happy ending thing.

The pull of reality is out there and our time at the lake is quickly coming to an end. I have two weeks of training the end of August to complete and then school starts and it's just back to our other life.

Visual Aids

Ohhh... you want to see what we've been up to???

That's a good summary...

What I did on my Summer Vacation... Part I

So.

Long time no see.

HI!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Trips to New York for a beautiful wedding. A long visit with my parents while the girls showed them around our town. Parades. Trip up to the lake. It's been great so far.

I probably won't be around all that much over the next two months, but I'll be thinking of you. I'll miss you. I promise. Will you miss me?

I'll send pictures and try and write when I can! I know separation can be hard, but we can do it, right? We can make a long distance relationship work!

Take care, I'll talk with you soon.

Love,

Het

The Wedding

Sometimes people do extraordinary things that take your breath away. Sometimes they do it for YOU and it's amazing.

My cousin and I are very, very similar. So similar in fact that Julia usually can't tell our voices apart on the phone. We have the same body type and a lot of the same personality quirks. She is the chilled out Metro version of me. I have spent time over the years being there for her. I knew a lot of her struggles intimately as they were so familiar to my own. I hope I had helped her through some rough times, and that I always provided an ear and a soft landing when she needed them.

Over the last couple of years something changed. Instead of the big sister/little sister relationship I imagined we had, we had become friends, equals. She has been there to support me through so many times when no one else understood or knew how to console me. We have gone through some ugly times with our families and their health scares and have been there for each other.

She was married last weekend to a man who eerily reminds of Dan in many ways - but a more chilled out Metro version of Dan. My cousin is beautiful and smart and accomplished and now she knows it too. She has finished school and graduate school (and she hates school just as much as I do!!) and is embarking on a wonderful career that I know she will be amazing in.

In light of Dan's recent job loss, we weren't all going to be able to make the wedding. She stepped in and made sure that our entire family could be there. It was a wonderful weekend and the girls, Dan and I had a terrific time. We were surrounded my family and other loved ones and really felt re-connected to them.

I don't know if she realizes what an inspiration she has become to me. She is a no-nonsense chick, who says what's on her mind, sincerely cares about those around her, loves her family, adores her husband and is now going to be a fantastic Speech Pathologist, someday she will be a fantabulous mom too.

The wedding itself was personal, touching, moving and you could tell that she and her friends really care about each other. Her matron of honor and maid of honor were fantastic. I have never been to another wedding where the bride was so well taken care of - even in the months leading up to the day. You could just see how loved she is, and how much she means to those around her.

The wedding was in Lake Placid and it was a gorgeous setting. They had a rooftop rehearsal dinner for everyone that over looked the lake and a prime seat for the fireworks. It was an amazing time.

So Congratulations to my cousin and her wonderful new husband. I can't wait to park our butts in some sand and have many a drink by the fire in 2 weeks!

Summertime!!

The girls finished their week at Vacation Bible School. It was Anna's first time going to a class - and she had a blast. The girls really seemed to enjoy every minute. I don't think Anna has realized she's not going back this week.

At the end of the week, Anna's leader gave her a note to give to us. It said what a wonderful little girl she was and how much fun they all had with her, and she'd love to babysit her if we ever needed someone.

I don't think she knows there are three of them... and she never met Emma... but it's good to know someone out there wants to babysit.

Speaking of babysitting (tangent... I know) how much do you pay for babysitting? We finally found someone who we were comfortable having watch the girls - and she charges $15 an hour. Holy Moly. We have paid $3 per kid in the past - but $15 - that's a lot of buckage. So - please tell me how much you pay.... and if I'm just behind the times!

So, summer...

We've been spending some time at the beach. We're lucky enough to have access to many different Ocean beaches within 4-10 miles of us. We usually go to Lake Beach and Wavy Beach. Those are the names the girls gave them. Lake Beach is actually an Ocean beach - but because of the set up, it's pretty tranquil. The girls can play un-attended (but well supervised) in the water and they usually have plenty of beach to spread out on to build castles or make houses for their snails. Wavy beach is a more stereotypical Ocean beach with well... waves. Anna and Emma don't enjoy the waves very much. They mostly run out to their shins and then run back to the beach when a wave comes. Any deeper and they have to hold our hands. Julia, though, has discovered the fun of big waves. Boogie Boarding and body surfing are her favorite beach activities.

This weekend was our last quiet weekend (with just one birthday party!) until the middle of August. Can you believe it? From here on out it's a bunch of wedding trips, visits to the cabin, day trips, etc. Crazy. If only gas prices would creep down a bit - we'd be able to do this without the pinch!

Loading the ipod

I should be working. (I have clients people - clientS !!) It's Sunday and I have hours I can invoice by Tuesday... but I found a stack of CDs next to my computer and I had the brilliant idea of moving music from CDs to my computer. Brilliant - right?

Except my computer didn't really have the memory to lose - and it's addictive. Especially if you are one of THOSE people (which I am) who have a mix making addiction.

So, I've been listening to music that I love, music that I fondly remember from way back when.

I have been know to be sidetracked, veer off on the occasional tangent if you will. It's a well established fact that I have Music ADD. I have a hard time listening to an entire song if I'm only listening.

My internet use is the same way. Once I start researching a subject (one of my more well aspects of my business) I find something of interest and start following that trail and before you know it I have 50 tabs open about combination gardening in the Southwest.

Ummm - anyone notice how I just went off on a tangent, about going off on a tangent.

TOLD YA!

At first I started by uploading entire CDs to my itunes. Then it dawned on me - download the songs you might actually listen to. So I have found I have many a CD where I only really want 1-2 songs. Then there are others (Pearl Jam Ten, Eric Clapton Journeyman & Time Pieces, Peter Gabriel So immediately come to mind as recent uploads) that I pretty much just upload the entire CD.

We're getting to Road Trip (of course it's capitalized... have you never been on a Road Trip??) - and of course this used to mean hours spent pouring over my Cd player/Cassette player Duo deck and making the "perfect" mix. Now I usually spend about 5 minutes syncing my ipod and off we go. Nothing like having 5,000 songs with you at any time. Unfortunately Emma is too young to keep the headphones on for the rear DVD system - so we're mostly stuck listening to "Barbie Mariposa", "Mary Poppins", "Annie" or some other kid movie addiction du jour. Hell, Hard Knocked Life can be fun too!

Lu*nesta

Tonight I watching some random tv show while I was folding laundry. A commercial came on that completely cracked my ass up.

It was a commercial for a sleep aid. It mentions, "Call your doctor right away if after taking Lun*esta you walk, drive, eat or engage in other activities while asleep."

I have heard of this phenomenon before, but tonight it got me thinking.

How is this not the excuse of every drun*k driving, philandering, fat person out there (and not necessarily all three at once...).

Driver to police officer, "No sir, I'm not drunk, I'm sleeping."

Cheating husband to wife, "I have no idea how I got here, or how I ended up in bed with this woman, I was asleep, I SWEAR!"

Woman - to herself, "Ah hell, here I am again in the kitchen at 3am, eating the leftover potato salad from the picnic, this medication is terrible!"

Seriously. That's a pretty messed up side effect of a medication if it can make you DRIVE while you are asleep.

Just a thought.

howdy doody

Don't get me wrong - there are lots of good things going on. When I sit down to write here though, I feel the need to preface everything with what is going on that is not so fun. I've been doing a lot of writing (for money this time!!) and I do notice that it seems to drain me a bit and it's harder to write creatively after hours of technical writing.

So, this was my half assed excuse for the lack of content here.

Things are good. We have our health (Julia's face/mouth is quickly healing and my thumb is finally closed (did I not mention I hacked through my thumb to the bone while showing my kids how to take the pit out of an avocado - with a de-boning knife? Oh - well, I did. It was so much fun the knife actually stuck in my thumb, I was apparently trying to de-bone myself. That takes a special kind of skill my friends. Some of my friends thought it was so funny she bought me brand new shiny Santoku knives to slice off more skin. Thanks KAM!)) and we have each other.

A lot of each other.

So much together it's a bit much. 24/7 of the family. Julia at least gets to get out of the house for 7 hours a day - the rest of us - together. ALL OF THE TIME! Usually this is when I am on the phone or in the bathroom. I find that's when my family likes to be with me the most. Julia has two more days of school... then all five of us will together. ALL OF THE TIME!

Trust me, I'm regretting the day I made the decision to work from home. Anyone have a full time job for me?? Anywhere else but here?

Just kidding. Well, sort of. We have definitely reached the saturation point of time together, but it is nice to have someone around.

So Julia is done with 1st grade on Friday. WOW. Dan and I are going to ambush her off the bus on Friday with a couple of balloons (of the water variety) and the Super Soaker Sneak. I put together a little summer gift basket for her and we're using our gift certificate (thanks Wendi!) to go out to dinner to celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer. Her gift basket is a little sand pail (she wanted one like her sister although she plans to use hers as a temporary snail holding facility), a chapter book (she actually already owns it but hasn't seen it in a year so I'm re gifting it back to her), bubbles, a 1st/2nd grade bridge workbook (that she also already owns - but I'm cool like that), some colored pencils, handmade coupons for fun things (trips to the beach, a treat from the ice cream truck when it passes by one of the million times a day, trips to the library, play dates with friends, etc) and a little journal. So for $10 including balloons, I think she'll be thrilled.

Saturday I am having a little double birthday party/going away party for her two little buddies next door. They chose a jungle theme and so we're planning quite the bash. Other neighbors offered to chip in certain things so it should be really nice for them.

This was going to be a little update and became quite the saga. That's what "they" tell you to do with writer's block - just sit down and start writing and eventually something will come. Apparently what came for me was a bunch of rambling - but hey, that's me!

Finally...

Julia has finally lost a tooth...

Sadly, it occured as a result of yet another injury to her face. She has just finished healing from being smacked in the nose with a plastic bat two weeks ago, and is completing a treatment of Mederma to reduce the scarring on her chin from her road rash accident.

Apparently she had a run in with the playground equipment. Another tooth went all the way through her lip...

Update: Her bottom lip is bruised and swollen but will be fine. Her jaw is sore from the impact, but will also be fine. He tooth did indeed go through her lip, and she had three stitches to close it (it's on the outer edge of her lip so the plastic surgeon did it).

More fun on Friday the 13th.... her inner stitches popped and so we are heading back to the ER to have them done again.

The fun just never ends around here.

So many questions...

I don't like not having the answers. I really don't like it when I don't have the answers to the BIG questions.

How do you respond when someone your child knows almost dies (practically in front of them) from an overdose?

How do you explain that not all drug users are "scary bad people" but still warn them about drugs?

How do answer when you kid watching the ambulances assembled outside asks you, "Mommy, what's an overdose?"

Parenting can sometimes be hard in ways you don't expect. I certainly didn't expect this topic at 7 years old.

I didn't want this for my kids. I didn't want to answer these questions today.

Cute or what!

This is Emma's new Summer MUST have fashion item. It's the bow from her sisters Vermont Teddy Bear Birthday Clown... Last night we had to trick her out of taking it off at bedtime.
Aren't they cute???