Mom 2 Two

Scary Times

2009-01-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

I know this economy (such as it is) is a scary time and place for many of us. I’m feeling the effects now more then ever and I’m scared.

Just over a year ago we moved back to the Pacific Northwest when my husband was offered an amazing job opportunity with a new up and coming company. With the joy of knowing we were heading back home we packed up our shipping boxes and headed back after just one little year in California.

And now… well… now that new up and coming company is on it’s way down and out. My husband and all of his co-workers are looking at being unemployed within 6 months.

I know we are just one of millions of families in or entering the jobless front. I don’t expect any sympathy. I’m just scared.

Decorating

2009-01-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

When we visited my sister this summer my daughter fell in love with some curtains in her cousin's bedroom. They were bright (very bright) with PINK. Like most little girls, my daughter loves any thing pink.

A few weeks after I got home from our holiday a package arrived in the mail. My sister had gone out and found the fabric for me to make her niece a set of her very own curtains.

It is now January.

I finally made them this weekend. Ugh. The guilt I feel about how long it took me.... it pretty much equals my hatred for sewing. I think my dear sis should of sewed them before she mailed them. Ha, ha.

What is important is they turned out... okay. More importantly, my daughter is thrilled!!!!

A Tired Muncher

2009-01-08T18:32:00.001-08:00

Wow! This first week back to school has been a long and tiring one. I realize that doesn’t make sense, but non-the-less I am in fact very tired.

My mind is mush and I’m not even the one in school learning all day. If you were to ask me what a Plantar Fasciitis was right now, I’d be too tired to look it up so I could answer you.

Maybe I’m tired, because like so many people I made the resolution to lose weight and get fit. This week I started working out at a gym. I am motivated and I hope I stay this way. Now what I really need to do is improve my diet. I’m great at making sure my family eats well, but I’m a slacker and a muncher of junk food. All my working out won’t do much if I don’t eat better.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could always have the motabolism of a 16 year old??

Random Thoughts of a 4 Year Old

2009-01-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

Random Thoughts of a 4 Year Old

Sounding annoyed in the car this week, my daughter said,

“Mom, why does God live in Canada? He is supposed to live up there.” (and points to the sky).

Me: “Honey, God doesn’t live in Canada. He lives up in Heaven”.

Daughter: “Oh yeah… I want to go to Heaven”

She has wanted to talk about Heaven a lot lately. I try to answer her questions in ways she can understand.

So I attempted again…After a short moment of silence (to digest my great wisdom and then disregard it), she replied...“After we visit Heaven can we go to Canada? I miss my cousins”.

Oh, to be 4 years old.

Back to the Gym

2009-01-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

So…I started working out (a little) in December. I used to go to the gym religiously before my son was born. So it feels good to be going back (7+ years later). However it is really showing me how out of shape I am. I know, I know, it has been 7 years and 2 children later. Of course I’m not going to be in the same physical shape.

How did I get here? Have you ever wondered that? Like, when did I become a middle-aged mom. I don’t think I’m going through a mid-life crisis. I’m not depressed either. I’m just sad that life is flying by. My youth is LONG gone.

It shouldn’t bug me. I’m so blessed in my life with a wonderful family and my health (knock on wood). Life is good… it is just zooming by. For example I swear just yesterday my son turned 2 years old. Today he is 7. Even harder for me to comprhend is on my next birthday I’ll be 40. Yeah. 40 years old. How did that happen?

It’s too bad you couldn’t by replacement parts for your body like you can for, say, your computer. You can buy a new Rackmount monitor for you home computer, but I can’t buy a mid-section (ha, ha). So… that’s why I’m going back to the gym…

Anyone a Plumber??

2009-01-05T20:13:00.000-08:00

Ugh! Yesterday was frustrating. As the last day of vacation before school resumed, my husband and I decided to treat the kids to a movie. While we were gone the dishwasher ran. It is really loud and runs for over an hour. I swear when that hour is up I have a headache. I know you think I’m exaggerating, but I’m seriously not. Any way, we always try to turn it on when we are leaving… I guess that isn’t always the wisest idea. Especially if a pipe under the kitchen sink decides to spring a leak…

Yeah, so we returned to a bit of a flood. I am most upset over the damage it did to our hard wood floors. It pains me every time I have to step on our newly warped floor boards. Ugh. I don’t think we could anything but replace them. We don’t have the money for that right now though.

My husband (being the non-handyman that he is) fixed the leak with duck tape. Yeah, I’m serious. So you know what that means. I can’t leave the dishwasher running when I’m not home again. Maybe one day I’ll be able to talk my husband into getting a plumber in to replace the pipes and maybe we’ll get new faucets. Or better yet a new quiet dishwasher!!!

Oh, the joys of home ownership!

Movie Day

2009-01-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to see a movie with a girlfriend. We both wanted to see a happy feel good movie. So even though we both have heard great things about “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, we went for “Marley and Me” thinking it would be more light hearted.

Now, I’ve read the book… so you’d think I’d know better.

We both didn’t have high expectations on this movie, but it was really good. It also stayed true to the book. However (like the book) it wasn’t all light-hearted. To say we didn’t shed a few tears throughout the movie would be a lie.

So even though we left with red eyes and tear-stained faces I highly recommend this movie. Especially if you are a dog lover… just remember to bring Kleenex!

Life

2009-01-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year celebration! I hope that those of you who needed time to recover from all the celebration are feeling better! LOL! Sadly, this year the strongest thing I had to drink was a Coke. Whooo hoooo, do I know how to party or what? I guess I am officially a middle-aged mom. Who, by the way when asked by her husband, had no idea what coilovers were!

All my Christmas decorations are down and packed away for another year. It was sad to see them go. Although, I must admit my house seems a lot bigger and much less cluttered with it gone. It has been a different holiday season this year. Or, maybe I should say, it has felt a lot different. I think because we were held hostage by all the snow for almost a week. My kids made their very first snowman and we spent a lot of time tobogganing, which are great memories. However not being able to drive to the grocery store or escape my family for sanity purposes was a little hard!

Now, in a few days we will be back to our regular routine. My one girlfriend made this exact comment, however she added “… what ever that might be”.

Oh the life of stay-at-home mom. Endless laundry and bathroom scrubbing just wasn’t what we had envisioned. :o)

Wishing you...

2009-01-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

Snowed In!!

2008-12-29T10:46:00.001-08:00

So… did you survive the Christmas holidays? I guess those of us with kids are still in the mist of Christmas break.

The Pacific Northwest was basically snowed in for almost 2 weeks. As much as I love my family… being stuck at home with them for so long got to be a little much. We did enjoy the snow though. There is a hill near our house and all the neighborhood kids used it to go sledding. My children loved it. They also made their very first snowman, with a carrot nose and all. So in that sense the snow was wonderful and many great memories were made.

However… indoor time got to be a little tough. I found myself searching for new things to do. I even found myself flipping through old collage textbooks. Maybe I was just being nostalgic for the days past when I had all the freedom in the world. Ha, ha.

Yesterday the snow was more or less gone. I can get my car out of the drive way and onto the street again. Even the grocery store sounds like a fun adventure to the kids and I. Just to be among other people is a treat!!

Merry (almost) Christmas!!

2008-12-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

I hope you are enjoying the holidays. It has been a crazy time weather wize out here in the Pacific Northwest. Before the holidays began my kids had several snow days as we were basically snowed in. Yesterday was the first time I actually went out of the house since last Thursday! My husband had gone out a few times to get groceries, but not me. I drive an 11 year old Neon. With the unplowed streets I would of never made it far. Our streets are still clogged with snow, however I was able to get around a little. The kids and I went to Wal-mart and then treated ourselves to McDonalds for lunch. It was nice to just get out among people again.

The snow returned again today, so I won’t be braving the streets. I can’t believe tonight is Christmas Eve. With being held captive in my house by snow storm after snow storm time felt like it was standing still. So the holidays really did sneak up on me.

I fell like all I’ve been doing is eating lately. Snacking on a regular basis. I’ve already gained 4 pounds, which is a little embarrassing to admit. I might have to look into diet supplements if I flake out on my New Years Resolution of going to the gym at least 3 times a week!!!

Anyway, I am very thankful that we are staying home for the holidays. We won’t be braving the streets or the airport in this very unusual pacific Northwest weather.

I wish you the best this holiday season! Stay warm and safe!

Where the Snow???

2008-12-17T22:32:00.000-08:00

Our weather people have been promoting another huge "snow storm" since this past weekend. We heard warning after warning of snow, ice and rain. Our school division (a long with many others) decided to play it safe and close the schools down for the day this morning.

So... the kids and I waited (and waited) for the storm to hit. Occasionally we'd get momentarily excited when big flakes would appear. However the snow never lasted long enough to really add to our snowfall from Saturday.

Most of our regular television shows were not aired so our local newscasters could give uninterrupted updates on the storm... that wasn't...

They had reporters positioned every where and they'd rotate to each one looking for an update. For the most part there was never a new update... so instead we were reminded every 5 minutes on how quickly things COULD change and what COULD happen if they did.

One newscaster must of been a little bored or maybe she felt a little pressured to bring something new. So when it was her turn again she proudly shared the little snowman she made (with last weekend's left over snow).

Yeah, I hit the DVR rewind button to take this picture... I too was bored...... and a little annoyed that I was watching her little "one armed snowman" instead of The View!

Anyway, the kids enjoyed their day off and spent some time in the backyard playing. They didn't seem to mind that our promised snow storm was a no-show. However, I was left a little miffed!!! :o)

Holiday Woos and Cheer

2008-12-12T15:50:00.000-08:00

First it was my computer and now it my blog. Crazy. I don’t have the time or the patience for computer stuff. It just isn’t my thing.

On a positive side, Christmas is almost here and I am ready for it!!! Whooo hooo! The kids are getting so excited now too. They are bouncing off the walls morning to night. I have been recording all the Christmas specials for the kids as well. It is so fun to watch the old shows that I grew up with them. I feel a little old, when I realize how old those shows are… and then my age… but that is okay. :o)

Tomorrow night, I am going out. Not to Westgate, but to bunco. I’m looking forward to a night out with my girlfriends. With all that hustle and bustle of the holiday season it will be fun to enjoy a glass of wine and good conversation.

Holiday Tired

2008-12-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

I’m tired today. I’m feeling so stressed over the holidays. I hate feeling this way. I want to be in the Christmas spirit. Instead I just worry about every little detail.

Do I have all (and I mean absolutely all) of my Christmas shopping done? Did I forget anyone? I need to get my Christmas cards mailed out... sooner than later. Especially the ones I need to send to Canada. I haven’t even thought about my baking. Then there is the question on how I’m going to keep my kids busy during Christmas break.

I need to remember to breath.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could to go to one location and purchase everything you need for the holidays wholesale? I mean everything. Down to decorations, groceries, gifts, and holiday cards for cheap!!! A one stop, one afternoon Christmas preparation trip. You could walk out of the store with your cards mailed, your gifts wrapped (and mailed if needed).

That would be great. A stress reliever. A dream, but a nice dream!

2008-12-07T23:26:00.001-08:00

Tonight after the kids had their bath we decorated our gingerbread house. Okay, they decorated it. I let them just go for it. I did however help with the white icing as it was very thick and hard to spread.

They had so much fun. I was impressed with how little of the candy they ate. They were too busy making their gingerbread house “beautiful”. I’m sure they’ll enjoy eating their hard work tomorrow night though! :o)

It was a cloudy, rainy day today. I heard a little extra “water” this afternoon when I turned on the kitchen tap. My husband has “fixed” the pipes below twice now. However, again the waterfall started pouring from below the sink. Yikes. I’d love some new Kohler faucets. However at this point, I would prefer a professional plumber. LOL.

Tree Lights

2008-12-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

Tonight we will be headed to our local tree lighting ceremony. We’ve never taken the kids before, and I’ve been looking forward to this evening. My son loves looking at all the Christmas lights, so I think he will really enjoy it. I’m not sure how they do it here, but I’m sure the linear motion of the lights turning on will be fun to watch.

However it is a very cold day. This means an extremely cold night. I am sure we’ll be okay as long as we dress warmly. The older I get the more wimpy I become it seems. I’ll survive with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands. :o)

It is going to be a busy weekend. I can’t believe how quickly the holidays are coming. My goal is to get my cards done and then mailed out on Monday. I have a lot gift wrapping to get done as well. I tend to worry, worry, worry. So the sooner I get this stuff done, the better I feel.

As for tonight. It will be just be about looking at the lights and staying warm!

Naughty Girl

2008-12-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

Wow.

It was a L-O-N-G day yesterday with the little misses.

She was a great little girl at preschool and when we visited a friend in the afternoon. However the moment her little body would enter our house “sweet” would turn into “naughty” (to put it nicely). Even a call to Santa didn’t set her attitude straight.

Late in the afternoon while I attempted to start dinner I had to send my daughter to her room for a time out. After a lot of screaming and yelling things became oddly quiet.

I went upstairs and found her asleep on the floor. However, even in sleep she defied the rules… as she laid half way out of her room. :o)

I can’t wait until the teenage years… (said with sarcasm of course!)

What They Will Become

2008-12-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

I took my allergy pill late last night. I forgot all about it until around 9 PM. It has something in it, which makes me feel as if I drank 20 cups of coffee. I knew this would mean a late night… but I decided a few hours of great sleep vs. a night with terrible sleep would be better.

Finally around midnight I attempted to go to sleep. I shut the TV off downstairs and went up to my bedroom and hoped I would drift off to sleep.

Instead I lied there for a long time (wide awake) and I just started thinking the most random and odd thoughts. I was wondering what type of people my children will grow up to be. I know we all want the same for our kids. For them to be happy and well adjusted adults. For them to find their passion in life and live it.

My mind took things a little further. I started thinking about their passions now and what types of jobs it could lead into. Like most 4.5-year-old girls my daughter loves to be center stage. She loves to dance and sing and.. well… basically if she is performing she is happy. She is also very bright for age. She is already reading at nearly the same level as her brother who is in first grade. She doesn’t let anything stop her, even failure. She just picks herself up and tries again. That’s my girl!

My son is unfortunately more like me. He has self-doubt. He is more tentative about trying new things. He doesn’t like to fail. I worry that it might stop him from doing what he really wants in life, as he gets older. If he thinks it is too hard, he might not even try. However he is very social, energetic boy. In fact his teacher commented that he is one of those kids others flock too. Everyone is his friend. My son has a kind heart and is overly thoughtful of others at times. I truly think he will grow up to be a kind and loving man. Maybe he’ll be teacher or a Vet. There is no way of knowing at the age of 6 what he’ll become. For all I know he maybe end up being the very best ac compressor salesman in the State of Oregon. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. :o)

Christmas Shopping

2008-12-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

I think I am done…Christmas shopping that is. Okay, I’m not 100% done, but I can honestly say I am 98.5% finished. Whoooo Hooooo!

I just have “the spouse” to complete. I have his main gift and I want to pick up a little some extra. We do stocking for one another and I still need a few more things to fill his up. So if I keep motivated I won’t have to enter another store this time next week.

This morning I have been working on my Christmas cards. For 6 years I have done a Christmas letter. I started one this year, but it just seems so lame and so much like last years. The same people visited us this year as last. My son still is into art and playing with pirates and Bionicals. My daughter still loves her ballet classes. We went home in the summer, just like we always do. The only thing different or new would be the fact that we went to Disneyland last year. Who really cares about that? No one but us, right? So… I could make a few changes and send last years letter or I could just scrap it. Ha, ha. Yeah, I’m going to scrap it.

I am just thrilled that I seem to be on top of all the holiday preparations this year. Knock on wood this continues! :o)

How Time Flies!

2008-12-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been just over a year since we left California and moved back to the Pacific Coast area. In some ways it feels like it was just yesterday that I was calling moving services and arranging countless of things that needed to be done.

I think it is safe to say it was one of my most stressful times in my life. Since the housing market well… sucks… we couldn’t sell our house (without losing a lot of money). So we had to entrust our home to strangers who are renting it… and the property management group that is suppose to keep an eye on it.

It is strange knowing that someone is living in “my house”. I mean hopefully the market will pick up and in a year or two we will be able to sell it. Most likely I will never set foot in it again… still, we own it and are entrusting another family to love it like we did.

If we could of picked up that house and took it with us, we would of. I’m doubtful a moving service could do that though – LOL.

Our Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day. We hosted a small dinner for some fellow “family-less” friends. Family-less… is that even a word? Probably not, so I will say friends (who like us) live far from family.

My kids were so excited for our company to arrive. They spent the morning checking our front window in hopes of seeing a van pull up. :o)

Once everyone arrived we barely saw the boys. They kept busy upstairs playing Star Wars and Power Rangers.

The girls enjoyed the snack food!

The men folk got comfortable in front of the TV and watched some football.

The woman kept busy in the kitchen (and enjoyed their wine) :o)
The wine was good, but I have to admit it bugs me how it is always the women in the kitchen. Are we still living in the 1950’s? Can’t the men ever cook? I’d even accept BBQ chicken. Obviously I do not enjoy cooking… and well… to be honest I’d rather sit in front of the TV watching some sappy chick flick on TV while the men folk worked the kitchen. Wouldn’t that be nice? It will never happen, but it would be nice.

After dinner we enjoyed a friendly game of Ramoli (or as our friends jokingly call it: Rigatoni) :o)

Around 10:00 PM we said good night and I fell asleep shortly after.

My one girlfriend and I re-united approximately 5.5 hours later to hit the crazy (but fun) Black Friday Sales the next morning. :o) We love the adventure, the crowds and the amazing deals. This year (like past years) we both came home with a majority of our Christmas shopping done! Yeah!

So far the rest of this weekend has been on the quiet side… which has been nice!

A Happy and Healthy Computer

2008-11-26T12:18:00.000-08:00

A few blog posts ago I wrote about my sick and dying computer. I just didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I just needed more system memory or if something more serious was wrong and perhaps unfixable with my beloved computer.

I have up-to-date virus protection on my computer. I don’t visit questionable websites and I don’t download off the internet. So I wasn’t thinking my computer had a virus. To be on the safe side I manually had my virus program do a full scan and it came out clean.

I also made sure all my files were copied onto our external hard drive. As my lap top totally crashing seemed to be only a matter of time.

Sunday night my computer started typing ***YAK***YAK***YAK*** My arrow mouse on the screen suddenly had a visitor… something that looked like a magic wand.

So I did have a virus! Thanks for nothing Norton.

Any way, I reloaded Windows and my computer is back to performing at 100%. Now I am in the process of re-loading my programs and files. It is worth the extra work though. My lap top is the only computer in the house… and I would be lost without it!!!!

Time to Clean

2008-11-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am hosting. Yikes! I am trying not to stress out too much. We are having 2 couples over with their children. That will equal 7 children 8 years and younger at my house with 6 adults. Okay... wording it that way is causing me to stress a little.

Thankfully we are doing Thanksgiving pot luck style. Which is a good thing as I'm not much of a cook. We are doing the turkey, appetizers and wine. The side dishes and dessert will arrive with our guests.

So today I have to make a trip to the grocery store and then do some major cleaning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Computer Woes

2008-11-22T08:04:00.001-08:00

My computer is sick. My beloved lap top isn't acting quite right. I don't know if I need more computer memory or if I have some sort of virus that my virus protector missed. I don't know enough about this kind of stuff to know for sure. So if I stop blogging for a while, you know why.

My lap top is the only computer our house has right now too. I think I would be lost without the Internet. My friends and I chat more on line than on the phone. My sister (in Canada) and I chat throughout the day via email too. It's nice and it keeps me connected and it is a part of my daily routine. So I don't know how it would be without a computer. I might actually have to pick up the phone. LOL.

Plus I have my blogs that I visit and read daily too. They are modern day soap operas sort of... okay maybe not... but you know what I mean. :o)

So let's hope this illness is just a cold and my computer will be okay! I can't afford to buy a new computer. Especially so close to the holidays!

Movie Night

2008-11-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight the kids and I went to my son's school for Family Movie Night. The dress code was pajamas and the seating was blankets, sleeping bags and pillows. We snacked on pizza and popcorn while we watched the movie "Kung-Fu Panda". Our sleeping bag was soon shared with several of my son's friends. There was a lot of laughing and talking going on.

His girlfriend came by quite frequently to swoon and giggle. Seriously... how do 6 years olds know how to swoon? I sat there looking at this girl and thought, "Oh my goodness, she has it bad for my son". Then I looked over at him and realized the feeling was mutual. This shouldn't be a surprise to me as every time I join my son for lunch at his school the two of them make eyes at one another. It's cute and she is adorable... but they are only 6 years old!!! :o)

After the movie everyone was hugging good-bye. My son and his girlfriend shared a hug too. Her mother and I just exchanged smiles. It was quite a night! I can only imagine what it is going to be like when he is actually old enough to date. If I'm not gray by then, I will be!