Change: constant.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about change. And how it can be so gradual. Who hasn't felt completely overwhelmed with an event, only to later look back and think, "Why was I so freaked out about that?"

Like being a new parent...I remember thinking what have I gotten myself into? Will I ever feel "normal" again? Will I ever be able to shower? Go out? SLEEP? And guess what....Time passed and I figured out how to shower on a regular basis and time to time actually slept through the night.

But at the moment when the new born was home for the first time, I felt completely out of whack and overwhelmed.

I adapted. I changed.

Or when I moved. I wondered if our new place would ever feel like "home" and then one day I pulled into the driveway after a long day and thought "Home sweet home." How did that happen? My good friend change helped.

Benjamin Franklin said: When you are finished changing, you are finished.

So as I get ready to flip the calendar over to a new year, I will embrace the changes that come in 2011. It proves I'm still ticking.

Am I on candid camera?

Have they decided to relaunch the oh-so-funny show?

So after a long day at work, (which should be it's own blog entry. I realize I haven't given it proper props. Quick summary: working at a local community paper covering lifestyle and culture of the county. I am thrilled to be finally putting my journalism degree to use....and get to meet some interesting and kind people that I otherwise wouldn't have met. I'll write more later.)

ANYWAY....so it's Christmas Eve-Eve and I'm finished with work and stop by the grocery store for a few things and find out they are out of butter. I need butter. I have to make my grandmother's famous potato recipe and it practically uses a stick of butter per serving. How can they be out of butter?

I'm heading home, feeling happy (but yet frustrated with lack of butter) when I receive a call from Brian.

"When are you going to be home?" he asks. I tell him I'm about 5 minutes away.

"Okay," he says. "Don't park in the garage though. The dogs peed all over the presents under the tree and I've stacked them in the garage."

WHAT?? Wait a second....what???

So, yes, I come home to urine soaked gifts in the garage and a mess under the tree. Upon discovering the pee, Brian realized it had soaked under the adjacent rug as well. The dogs (and by dogs I mean Lucy, the repeat offender) must have used this spot for awhile, because there are now LARGE pie-plate size black spots on the wood floor from where her urine sat, unnoticed for days? weeks?

Breathe. Breathe.

Meanwhile, I go to investigate the gift damage. Luckily, most items were wrapped in boxes so the actual contents were okay. I did have to wash a few items of clothing that Brock was receiving. "Merry Christmas! Your gift is in the dryer."

Now, Brian and I have to rewrap the gifts. But do we really? Would it be wrong to traipse in and out of the garage when it's time for another gift?

This morning, probably because they were jealous that the dogs received all the attention for the present fiasco, I woke to cat pee on the mud room floor.

Remind me again why we have pets?

At least the cats had the decency to pee on flooring that is easily cleaned.

Once I cleaned up the early morning pee, I go to get a cup of coffee only to find that the coffee maker isn't working. And the Christmas lights aren't working. And the fridge is off. And gosh it's cold in here. Oh of course! The heat won't turn on.

Okay candid camera. Show your face. Don't ruin any more of my Christmas.

Just incase, I'm bracing myself for the next logical event: the crashing of the Christmas tree.

It's really only a matter of time. The tree we happened to pick out leans a bit (okay a lot) to one side. Straightening it out involved using stacks of magazines and free weights to hold down the base.

Merry Christmas everyone!

A Public Service Announcement:

It is perfectly acceptable to begin decorating for the Christmas Holidays. It's wonderful to spread cheer in your neighborhood with festive lighting and whimsical characters.

However, please remove the rotting jack-o-latern from your front porch, and the scarecrow sign from your front door. You should never-ever-ever overlap holiday decorations.

As cute as the pumpkin bag stuffed with leaves once was, when you break out the moving reindeer, it's time to retire the pumpkin.

Thank you for your understanding.

I've never....

I've never played a round of golf and I've never run out of gas. I realize those are two completely unrelated activities, but one almost happened yesterday.

When I went to go run some errands yesterday afternoon, I turned on my car in the garage and saw this:






That's right. 0 miles 'til empty.

Perhaps I should have stayed home, but I was feeling daring and decided to go ahead and push my luck. Plus, the gas station is less than two miles from my house, so if worse came to worse, I could be one of those poor souls you see carrying a red gas-can down the highway.

Of course, the stop-light-gods were working against me. I had to stop and wait at the two stop lights between my house and the gas station.

I turned off the heat and the radio. I am fairly certain that the radio runs off the battery, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to turn it off.

I coasted down hills and up hills as far as I could go.

I was living on the edge.

AND I made it. Suckers! 0 miles 'til empty....whatever! Now I know how far I can push my empty gas tank. I wonder if it will display negative miles....because what's the point of 0, if they don't really mean it?

Crossed the line.

When I worked in retail, my Thanksgiving holidays were always a bit "sad". I knew I'd have to be rested and ready to open the store at 6am for those Early Bird Specials. As much as I dreaded it, it was at least doable. Now days, stores are opening on "Black Friday" earlier and earlier....I've seen advertisements for 4am openings.

But this takes the cake. OPEN ON THANKSGIVING! Is nothing sacred anymore? I lost some respect for Old Navy on this one. I believe they are under the impression: Open and they will come. I urge you to resist the temptation for screaming deals on fleece and denim. Wait until the civilized hour of 4am on Friday. Instead, spend Thanksgiving hanging out with those you love, or at least can tolerate. Trust me. You will remember those moments for a much longer time than the $2 Hoodie your scored while your turkey charred in the oven.

BFF LYLAS 4EVR

Happiness is when one of your oldest and dearest friends comes to visit. It makes you feel like you are 12 again, back when you were goofy and silly. Who am I kidding? I'm still goofy and silly and with Fran I have a partner in crime.

We even got crafty and built replacement noise canceling headphones to replace the ones she left on the plane. We are a resourceful duo. Don't be getting all jealous. For a small fee, I'd be happy to make you a pair of sweet recycled jar headphones. (In all honesty, they actually worked. When she had them on, I tried to talk to her and she couldn't hear.)

We spent much of the weekend reminiscing and jamming out to Journey and Chicago. Having a friend that gets you, and understands your crazy thoughts and feelings, is a gift that I cherish.

Tuning out but ready to tune in....

Enough already! I can't wait for tomorrow (Election Day) to be over so our radio and TV waves are no longer filled with negative, hateful and confusing commercials.

What will play in their place? How will the media survive without them? Oh. I know...it's time to break out the holly and the bells. It's time for Christmas Commercials, my most favorite time of the year.

I'm not kidding. I love the way Christmas/Holiday commercials make me feel. All cozy and warm with the hint of excitement.

This one can still make me choke up a bit. So does this one. Notice I didn't list any Macy's, Kohls or Wal-Mart commercials. Retailers need to go back to the classic styles. Give us meatier commercials! Draw us in....make us remember, make us feel.

A must read.

Wow. I don't recall ever reading a news story like this one.

Seattle Times Article

Is it true? Was it Kenny's mind playing tricks on him? I have often had weird visions in my dreams, and have chalked them up to just that. Dreams. I have wanted to believe that my dreams were actual messages from loved ones. Maybe they were......

Any thoughts?

Surprisingly, no saga.

He did not make the JV team. Only 12 kids did. Instead, he is one of 36 kids on the C Team. The last time I checked, the game of basketball requires five players on the court at a time. How will they manage a roster of 36? It will also be interesting to see how many C Team players quit because they didn't make the star team. Maybe the roster will get smaller.

We are growing up. And by we, I mean my son and me. Brock and I took the news well. I think it especially helped to see that many talented kids were on the C Team, even some talented 8th graders. The process seemed as fair as it could be. No dads on the side lines picking their favorites. No cliques. No secret meetings. Just good ol' fashioned school sports.

Phew. I was prepared for a storm of drama. Instead, I was met with a gentle breeze that didn't even ruffle our feathers.

Here we go again....

Just when I thought it was safe to relax, Brock decides to try out for the junior high basketball team. EEK! Tryouts begin this afternoon and run through Wednesday.

Brock's grade is known for having stellar athletes who also happen to be stellar jerks. In fact, it's a serious enough issue that it's often brought up at school district meetings. Teachers ask, "What's with the class of 2016?"

I actually discouraged him from trying out. If he ended up making the team, why would he want to hang out with a group of bullies? His response was that if he makes the team, he will be proud of himself. I told him I have never been more proud of him than when he was "demoted" in soccer, but continued to hold his head up high and practice extra hard. He showed great character. The way he handled himself was amazing, and something I don't know if I could have done. That my son, is something to be proud of and is a skill that will serve you well in life.

I think during tryouts, the junior high basketball coaches should give the kids a manners and personality test along with their skills. That would be a sure-fire way to weed out the bad seeds. Shouldn't your personality and sportsmanship play a part of whether make the team?

Stay tuned for the try-out saga. And I'm 99% sure it will be a saga.

Where have I been?

Life has been extra hectic. I apologize to my loyal reader(s).

My days have been filled with home schooling my eldest, nursing a sick chicken back to health and entertaining.

Eldest is back in school full-time, the chicken is better and in-laws are gone (sniff).

Hopefully I can reacquaint you with the comings and goings of our household. The important things like: who used the toilet brush as a plunger again, Brock's latest schemes and Kate's professional banking abilities.

For now here's a picture of the on-the-mend chicken.

Cross that off my list.

For the first time ever, I have completed all my Christmas shopping early. I hate to give away the surprise, but family and friends can expect one of these under the tree this year. Merry Merry!

A bit slow on the up-take.

Note: I'm blaming this on lack of coffee. When this flyer fell out of the newspaper this morning, and I read "Fresh Blackberry Pie", my first thought was: "Gross! What type promotion is this? How did they make pie out of a Blackberry?" (Yes, I was thinking Blackberry, as in cell phone.)

So imagine my surprise when I saw in the Safeway circular that Apples were $1.29/lb. That would mean an Ipod Nano would be just pennies!

One bloom.

Makes me smile. I could stare at it all day.

It's just a regular old farm here....

The chickens are doing their job and producing lots of yummy eggs for us. The eggs are much smaller than store-bought eggs. I've heard as the chickens get older, their eggs might get bigger. The yolk color is scrumptious. It's a dark yellow-gold. And the taste....yummmm.

We had a mishap with one of the original chickens, so we've added three more to our flock. Say hello to Daisy, Lola and Maria.

A flower is the Earth's way of saying "I love you".

Like I've mentioned before, we live deep in the woods. Our back deck gets about three hours of sunshine. As much as I wish I could, I can't grow bright and beautiful flowers.

Thankfully, just up the street is a flower farm. For $5 you can pick one dozen flowers. Kate and I love walking up to the farm and purposefully walking down each row, searching for the perfect flower. Kate claims that she wants these same flowers for her wedding bouquet. I'd have to agree. They are show-stopping.

From now until they are gone, we are planning on picking flowers from the farm until the end of the season. We are thinking that next week we will do a mono-tone bouquet. Stay tuned.

Sweeter than sweet.

So yesterday was a beautiful day....highs in the 70s and bright blue skies. We took a jeep ride to get ice cream. All was well until we began driving down the road and Kate hadn't finished her cone. Her hair was whipping around and kept getting into her ice cream. Without being asked, Brock reached over and held her hair for her until she finished her treat. Unbelievably sweet. Truly. Yes, Brock can bug the crap out of her and purposefully drive her crazy, but he really loves her.

I tried to sneak a photo of him holding her hair, but I wasn't sneaky enough. Instead, I have a picture of the two of them being disgusted with me.

Home is where you lay your head.

I keep experiencing the erie feeling of not knowing where I am when I awake. I'm pretty certain it is due to the fact that since July 1st, I've been in six different cities and now am finally home. Last night I was so disoriented that I got up to use the bathroom and it wasn't until I was washing my hands, that I figured out I was home. I knew those towels looked familiar!

What I can't figure out is, why this is happening to me now that I'm home? I would of guessed it would have happened to me on the road. My guess is that I must have not been able to get in a deep sleep when I was a house guest.

Our trip to Colorado, New Hampshire, St. Louis, Kansas City and my parent's lake house in Kansas was a lot of fun. Due to a phone mishap, I lost half of the pictures. I'll try and post some later.

Down and out.

June hasn't been a very hot month (both figuratively and literally). For the past week I've been down and out with some sort of virus.

Whenever I am sick, a side effect for me is that I want others around me. No need to talk. No need to touch. Just to be present with me in my sickness. Honestly, that's one of the first signs I know that I am sick and not just tired. The kids were at school and Brian was at work, so these two stepped in and kept me company.

Here's to sweet animals. They somehow always know....maybe it's because I was warm and since I'm refusing to turn on the heat in June, they had no choice but to cuddle up with me.

Happy May Day!

Eight years ago I started a tradition on May Day to surprise teachers and friends with a small bud vase of flowers. This year, May Day fell on a Saturday and I almost took the year off. Then I remembered what the PE teacher at my daughter's school said to me last year. (He's a rather shy fellow around parents, great with kids and a gentle soul.) Last year he said, "I look forward to May Day every year. It's one of my favorite days." How could I not keep up the tradition this year?

Here's hoping that your May Day is full of sunshine and spring happiness.

Injured.

This child owns new elbow pads, but they didn't do him much good laying in the garage. He went to the skate park yesterday and came home with his elbow swollen. It looked like his elbow swallowed an orange. He was really fishy about how the injury happened. He kept changing his story.

We still weren't getting the full story this morning when Brock woke up. His elbow was still swollen, I told him we needed to go to the doctor.

Brock: Will I still go to school?

Me: Yes. You should be able to go to school after the appointment. That is, unless they need to amputate it. If that's the case, you'll need to go to the operating room, so you'll probably not make it back to school in time today.

Brock: Really?

Me: Yeah. But I doubt they'll need to operate. You said it happened playing soccer. They will only need to amputate it if it was caused from a skate boarding injury.

Then the truth came out. He did in fact injure it skateboarding, but he wasn't sure how exactly he injured it. Apparently, he fell too many times to pinpoint the exact injury.

A couple xray's later, and he's in a sling. The doctor doesn't think he fractured it, although he's sending the xrays to a radiologist. Brock will need to wear the sling for the next few days. No baseball this weekend.

I'm not sure why he felt he needed to lie about his injury. He's been lying a lot lately. I'm sure it's a developmental thing, but I'm not enjoying this stage. Good thing he's still not a good liar. It makes it so much easier to catch him in his web of lies.

Spring!

The joy of having a sweet, thoughtful husband who works downtown, near Pike Place Market, where these gorgeous bouquets run about $10-$15 each. In the spring and summer, it's always touching to watch people walk off the ferry carrying these colorful flowers, wrapped in brown paper. Who will be the lucky recipient?

Well they're movin' on up....

The coop is completed and the chickens spent their first night in it last night. I am really impressed with the hard work that Brian put into building the deluxe chicken accommodations.





The chickens don't know what to do with all the space. They like to stay huddled next to the door.



Last night was a relatively warm night for us (lows in the upper 40's), but Farmer Brian was worried about his hens. Before going to bed, he set up the heat lamp for his little ladies.



With any luck, we'll be eating fresh eggs in July.

Agonizing for the old mother.

As you walk towards the mound, I get up from the bleachers and move away from the rest of the crowd. I can't be with other people when you're out there. I lean against the fence, grasp my hands and clench my jaw. I can feel the stress in my shoulders. My fingernails dig into my palms. I hardly breathe.

I watch you, while sending you good vibes and cheering. "You can do it bud! Throw it hard." I try to sound relaxed. I don't want you to hear my nervousness in my voice. When I can't take the stress any longer, I watch the umpire behind home plate. it is music to my ears when he calls out "STRIKE".

I go between watching you, the umpire and the score board. Full count. Two outs. YOU CAN DO IT.

You did it.

Concert Update/ Chick Photos

Pre-Black Eyed Peas Concert:



Kate's first ever large venue concert.....She thought it was great, but it took awhile for her to get used to the sound level.


See how I'm leaning to the side a bit.....my darn back was and is still hurting.

The Black Eyed Peas concert was really fun. Really fun, but really loud. Really fun, really loud and something I don't need to do again. I'm so glad we went, and the kids were on cloud nine, but I truly am too old for those types of outings. The highlight of the night, was driving with Anne to the concert and completely missing the Tacoma Dome, and ending up near Ft. Lewis. We even each had a GPS. Here's a picture of my cautious driver with double glasses:



The chicks are doing well and growing larger every week. Mabel is definitely the "clucker" of the group. It's so cute to hear her talk to the others. Tammy~ aren't you proud of me to have these pictures posted in a timely manner?

Mabel:


Mel:


Roxy:


Group Shot:

Hula-hopeless

Yesterday I decided to try out a new hula-hoop fitness class. I loved hula-hooping as a child, and how difficult could it be? I was very smug in the class.....I wasn't the star pupil, but I was a close second. I could ALMOST make it look effortless (for a few minutes), I left the class thinking, "Well, that was a nice work out, but no big deal. I'm not even very sweaty."

I have now spent the past 24 hours in pain. As I type this, I have a heating pad on my lower back. Holy cow! What did I do? My lower back feels like I'm back labor. I can't bend over, when I sneeze, I see stars. To get in and out of the car, I have to rely on breathing exercises.

Getting old sucks.

This weekend we are going to see The Black Eyed Peas. I was fairly sure I'd be one of the older attendees. Now, I will get to be an older attendee with a Ben-Gay patch on her back and ibuprofen in her pocket. If any teeny-booper gives me trouble, I'll fend them off with my Aqua Net and my Polident.

Slowly....very very slowly.

This whole coop building thing is taking a lot longer than I would have guessed. Why? Oh, the fact that my husband has a full-time job and that the kid's schedules take up a lot of free time on the weekends, and the fact that we live in a rainy area so even if there is some free time, it is often wet.


The coop is starting to take shape and Brian has done a terrific job on it. It's almost time to start painting it, if the weather is ever dry and warm enough. The chickens are starting to really look like hens, including their pretty tail feathers. Here's a picture of Kate holding Mabel. Check out her talons.

Paradise found.

The kids and I just returned from a fun week in paradise, aka my aunt's condo in Florida. Thanks to Orbitz Deal Detector, we got a screaming deal on tickets to Florida. (Note to self: the airline trip nearly did Kate in, if we are ever fortunate to go to Europe, she will need to be medicated or will need to fly first class.)


(Jet lag nap.)


Brock was like a different kid in Florida. The reason? Because he spent countless hours doing this:



He has always had a gift and a knack at finding small creatures. He is incredibly gentle with even the smallest bug. I wish there was a school where he could spend all day searching for and learning about animals. He would excel and shine. On this trip, I realized the importance of helping him nurture this passion.



He even found joy in finding grasshoppers.

And the crazy thing is that the animals don't leave him. They rest on him and crawl on him. If I try to hold something, it immediately jumps out of my hand.

Florida was a perfect nature lover's paradise. On one side of my aunt's condo is the Atlantic, on the other side is the Indian River. We searched long and hard for Manatees, but unfortunately didn't see them.






But we did find lizards, fish and interesting birds.

My kids were very brave at sticking their hands in trees trying to capture lizards. With the high snake population in Florida, I wouldn't take part.



But I didn't realize I needed to worry about wild life in my aunt's condo. Look what greeted us after an afternoon of shopping. Thankfully, Brock had brought his Reptile Guidebook with him so we were able to feel fairly confident that this was a rat snake, and not venomous, but we still had to call animal control.



Kate got to fulfill her horse passion and ride on the beach. I went along as well, and it was the LAST TIME I'll ever ride. Even though we were on soft sand, and even though the horses were slow and tame, it scared me to death and I couldn't wait for the ride to end. It didn't help that Kate's horse was kicked by another horse. She handled it way better than I would have. I think I would have gotten off and walked back to the car.



And of course, I enjoyed my time spent with my Aunt. She was an excellent tour guide and host. She put up with hours of Sponge Bob and the fact I have picky eaters. She exposed us to the joy of Publix mint chocolate cookies and Florida's signature chocolate covered coconut candies. She carried on the Brock Family tradition and had pie for breakfast. (Growing up, my Grandma Brock would give me cake for breakfast because it "has milk and eggs in it.") And she provided us a window to my mom....thank you Aunty S for the great time.

I needed a good cry...

I've been on the verge of tears for weeks. Thursday night, I was finally able to release the dam of tears.

For those who are near and dear to me but live other places, I check their weather on my phone every day. It makes me feel close to them, like when it's snowing in Missoula, or windy in Chicago, I can picture my loved ones in their element (ha-ha.) We found out on Thursday that I will get to add another city to my daily weather checking. Our dear, close-as-family- friends announced they are moving to Reston, Virginia.

And while I know it's the right move for them (another unintended pun), it is breaking my heart. I love these peeps. They understand our quirkiness and our humor. For the past seven years, our families have gotten together as well as bread goes with butter. Their daughter is like a daughter to us. Our kids look to her as an older sister and mentor. They've been there for holidays, birthdays, championship games, vacations and anytime we need to unwind with some card playing fun.

We are the ones who usually do the moving. It's hard to be on the other side of things this time.

We will weather this storm. Our friendship can handle this.

Chick Update

Sorry I'm late posting the pictures we took on Monday. It's been a bit hectic around here. The power went out on Tuesday afternoon and didn't come back on until 9am on Wednesday. I was worried about the chicks since they lost their heat lamp during the outage. We heated water and poured it into hot water bottles. It was cute to see them all huddled together around the water bottles.

My sweet and loving husband was so worried about the chicks that he got up around 3:30am and heated new water for them. Who knew Brian could be such a farmer?

Here they are during their supervised play time in the yard.