Barncats in Ellensburg

Lessons in Gratitude

2009-01-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

The lesson in Relief Society Sunday was about gratitude. I think. At least that's what I got out of it. The story that stuck with me was one about a bishop and his wife who were hosting a general authority at their home when one of their dear friend's husband's died. Before they went to help and minister to her they knelt to pray for her, and before the bishop's wife began to pray the general authority suggested that instead of asking for anything she offer a prayer of gratitude, asking for nothing. The bishop admitted that he was confused, because he wanted so much to ask for peace and comfort for his newly widowed friend, but his wife followed the counsel and gave a prayer of gratitude, thanking Heavenly Father for our knowledge of the Atonement, for the great Comforter, the Holy Ghost. She thanked Him for the plan of salvation and the opportunity to live forever as families, and our great support system in the church to see each other through tough times.

The lesson was a great reminder for me of all the many amazing blessings we have to be grateful for. Last night as I knelt to pray before bed I tried a gratitude prayer and it was an amazing experience. Instead of asking Heavenly Father to get my kids to do certain things I simply thanked Him for strong, intelligent children and for free will. That sentence alone changed my attitude about certain situations I've been praying hard about. My children are very intelligent, very strong-willed, and they do have their own free will. Which they are adamantly exercising. The more I get out of their way the better off they will be. The moment I embraced that thought in my mind I felt the Spirit strongly impress on me that this was the answer I've been looking for. That the certain child I've been so worried about will find their way on their own if I get out of the way.

I thought I knew how to pray- and how to listen for answers. Imagine that—you can teach an old dog new tricks

Liberia and other stuff

2009-01-21T12:01:00.000-08:00

Hope you had a great Christmas and you're still going strong on your resolutions. My big one for this year was to cut down on the DC and I'm still doing pretty well. I've cut down to one 12 oz can a day and am pretty much sticking to it. I also resolved to cut down on the migraines, which I've also been doing with the aid of some new drugs. And a neurologist convinced me that too many of the old ones were causing more headaches. He was right.

The best news of my year is that Dave got a job, though. Yep. WOOHOO! It's a freakin' miracle. Not a lot of construction guys are getting new jobs so we're feeling particularly blessed. For me that's proof that The Big Guy is looking out for us.

There's also this minute chance that Dave could get the opportunity to work in Liberia for a little while. Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa between Sierra Leone (Blood Diamond) and Côte d'Ivoire. If you do a Google search you'll find pictures of beautiful tropical beaches alongside utter devastation brought on by more than a decade of civil war that completely decimated the infrastructure of the country. The only electricity in the Capital city of Monrovia is provided by generators. If he goes he'll be employed by a Japanese? Lebanese? company, live in a compound and have a personal, unarmed bodyguard (because guns are illegal in all of Liberia- only the U.N. peacekeepers are armed).

Why on earth would he go there? Two and a half times his current pay, that's why. Plus, it'd be a grand adventure for him. As well as a humanitarian mission. He'd have the opportunity in the evenings and on weekends to go into nearby villages and help them rebuild their schools, homes and businesses. For $50 american he could deliver enough rice to feed an entire village for a week. With the construction skills he has he could really make a difference in their lives. Many of the remaining Liberians are unskilled and uneducated and he could teach them how to build, how to read and write.

Do I want him to leave me here to raise 3 teenagers and run the house while I also work full time? Nope. I'm not that crazy. But if the opportunity does come around I'll probably let him go. If that's what the Lord has in mind for us. And believe me, he won't go without absolute confirmation that it's what's supposed to happen. Can you imagine, though?

Driving in a Winter Wonderland

2008-12-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

Seattle with snow and icy roads is not Utopia. Just sayin'. If I were trying to finish my Christmas shopping I'd be in a panic because of all this snow, beautiful snow, but I'm not, so I thoroughly enjoyed my snow day yesterday. There was no way I was getting to work by bus or car, so I stayed home and watched t.v. and sewed. I couldn't run errands either, so it was wonderful. About 5:00 p.m. I was especially glad I hadn't made it into work since the buses had quit running, cabs were non-existent and the news people were telling everyone to stay off the roads, and those stuck downtown to find 'alternate transportation.' Exactly what would that be? Snowmobile? Horse? Hovercraft? If you can't drive, ride the bus or take a cab, you're walking. Am I wrong? We have brilliant news people here.

Lack of any more paid time off forced me to risk life and limb to get to work today. Yes, I'm just being dramatic—it wasn't too bad. Here's hoping I can get home!

I Caved.

2008-12-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

The tree is up. There are no decorations on it yet, but it is standing in my living room window. Don't you love those little switches you plug in then you only have to step on a button to turn the tree lights on? That was a great invention. If you drive by my house and only see the glow of the television and no Christmas tree lights that's because the tree puts a GLARE on the t.v. Heaven forbid.

And does anyone else feel like they're bleeding money? Decorations, presents, giftwrap. If I planned ahead maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Christmas Decorations? Not at my house!

2008-12-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Not yet anyway. See, there's all this kitchen construction still going on. Not that I'm upset about that in any way- the fact that it's happening makes me absolutely ecstatic. The mess however, does not. And the dog bed that the dumb dog never uses is totally in the way. And covered in dog hair. Ew.

I've got this tiny living room and too much furniture in it to fit a tree. I'm not sure what to do about it. The house is a split entry, and the stairs going up are twice as wide as your average stairs, which looks great when you walk in the front door, but it also makes the living room three feet narrower than it would've been.

Then there's the main reason there are no decorations up at my house. I'm just not feelin' it, and I'm too lazy to bring them up and do it. Okay, that's two reasons, but they're decidedly linked. I think I'm hoping that if I put it off long enough someone else will do it. Dave, that was a hint.

Pumpkin Pie and Cheese Balls

2008-11-26T11:01:00.001-08:00

My favorite food is my mom's roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy. Not turkey. Turkey's okay, but can't we have roast beef for just one Thanksgiving? It's easier- no fussing with stuffing, thawing, cleaning the bird.

Mainly I LOVE my mom's beef gravy. I would drink it if I could. Forget the meat and potatoes, make me some beef gravy and put it in a mug. This love of all things beef gravy is probably why I also LOVE French dip sandwiches. That savory beef flavor with LOTS OF SALT just makes me drool.

I didn't really have anything interesting to say. Happy Thanksgiving, and don't eat so much you get sick. It happens every year, no matter how much I tell myself I'm not going to do it.

Black Friday anyone? I don't think I have the energy to fight the crowds this year. It's been my my experience in the past that unless you're one of the first five in line it isn't worth it anyway. I do have to get up early and help my spa friends over at JoAnn Fabrics in Lynnwood. We're going to be treating people that are standing in the unholy line. Aren't we sweet? If you live up here come visit us. We'll be there at 6 a.m. (ergh).

Trust in The Lord

2008-11-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I'm forced to my knees. This is one of those times. We're here to be tested—to our limits. I think the Lord trusts me too much. On the other hand, He hasn't really left me out to dry all by myself. I have loving friends, a mom who never quits, a husband who loves me in spite of me and healthy kids. It's clear to me the lesson I need to learn now is endurance. I'm not sure how you train for something like that. Marathon runners train by pushing themselves a little further every day, but they can really only go the full 26.2 once every few months. Even the best-trained runner has to give their instrument a rest.

Was it really only a few months ago when I wrote that post about waiting for the other shoe to drop? At least I was realistic. The shoe has definitely dropped. In fact, I think it's still falling...

Slacka Blogga

2008-11-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

Um it's been how long since I posted? Yeah, I know, who cares? Exciting things since the last post: nothing. Stuff that has happened: Dave got laid off twice, I went crazy twice (see the correlation?), half of the kitchen counter got re-tiled with porcelain tile instead of the ugly marble tile I've grown to hate. Word of warning: do NOT use marble for counter tops. The soccer season ended (hurray!) and wrestling season started yesterday. We're not sure if Shane will be varsity or j.v. yet because I guess there's one other skinny kid that wants to wrestle 103, so they'll have to duke it out (or wrestle it out, rather). If I remember, I'll update you on the outcome.

So I find myself at the height of Christmas shopping season with nary a penny to spend on Christmas. I'm not being dramatic- there's really zero money for gifts this year. I know it isn't about giving the kids every electronic toy or snowboard or whatever it is they want. But it is about giving, which is going to be a bigger challenge since I won't be giving anything of monetary value this year (unless of course I buy a lotto ticket and hit it big before then). So if you one or two folks who read my blog have any ideas for 'homemade' gifts that require little to no investment in supplies, please share. Did I say 'please?' Yeah. Please. I know- I'll do all their laundry. That would be a first. Nothing says, "Merry Christmas" like clean underwear. How do you think they'd feel about an 'IOU a Christmas present once Dad gets a job?' It might have to do.

How silly is it that Christmas is what I'm stressing over when making the mortgage payment is getting tougher and tougher?

This would be a good time to start some no-cost traditions. Maybe a Christmas service project or 'count our blessings' family home evening.

Mercury in Retrograde

2008-09-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

What does that even mean? I looked it up and it just means that Mercury appears to be going backward because of the angle it's moving in relation to the earth. The web site I looked at said it's not a good time to start anything new, but it's a great time to finish projects, edit your manuscript, etc. Whateva!

Work is no longer boring all the time, but totally hoppin'. It makes the workday seem to go by so much faster, which is good. Who wants to count every minute when you're at work? Not me.

My Marine friend Scott is overseas again and has been regaling me with some entertaining stories. He's currently on a ship somewhere near Okinawa and he sent me some pictures of a Harrier jet hovering over the deck of his ship. It's such an amazing thing- that those jets are able to seemingly hang in the air and lower slowly down to the deck. I'm sure it's nearly as frightening to land that way as it is to touch down on a deck the length of a football field praying your tailhook will catch, or that you'll have enough thrust to head up instead of down into the water if it doesn't. My uncle who used to be a Navy pilot said that was the most frightening thing he's ever done- landing on a carrier. And I believe it.

Oh, how I'd love to ride with one of the Blue Angels in an F/A-18 Hornet. Did you know there's currently a female on the Blue Angels' roster?

Things Change, Shoes Drop

2008-09-10T11:59:00.001-07:00

When I wrote the last post I failed to mention that every time things seem to be going well in my life I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. While I realize things can't be great all the time, I was hoping it would last. The blessings haven't changed but I guess my attitude has. Don't get me wrong, I'm still fully grateful for all I'm given on a daily basis. What I'm getting at is this: I was really hoping that the beginning of the school year would be different this time. I hoped I wouldn't have to fight Brayden to get him to go to school, but alas we're back to more of the same. He's 17, thinks he's invincible and that he knows everything- just like every other 17-year old. I always feel like I'm balancing on this high-wire when it comes to him, not knowing how to get across. On one hand he's a big boy and should be responsible for his actions (or lack of). On the other hand he makes bad decisions and there need to be immediate consequences. If I wait for the natural consequences to catch up with him it'll more than likely be too late. Like not going to school = not graduating. This is the natural consequence, but if I just allow that to happen then I feel like I'm setting him up to fail. I just don't know the answer. Do I stop pushing and let him fail, or do I act the dutiful mother part and drag him to graduation by the noose around his neck?

A Gratitude Attitude

2008-09-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Recently I've had a few discussions with my friends about blessings, and how I feel like they're literally pouring down on my family right now. I can't say that this is the first time it's happened, but it's the first time I've been fully aware of the abundance. Some of them might seem inconsequential from the outside, but to me they're huge, and proof that Heavenly Father is acutely aware of my specific needs and wants. Like Dave being continually employed for over a year. The construction industry is cyclic, and layoffs are a part of life, but not this year. That's a huge blessing. Not only because of the fiscal ramifications of a layoff, but the fact that each time it happens I get a little closer to permanent insanity. Also, I've been praying for years to be able to be at home with the kids. I've always felt this was a righteous desire, but I'd given up on it being possible because I just didn't see a way. Dave's pay is basically set at a particular level and it's unlikely it'll ever just double. In the past month I've realized that it could happen, just not the way I had envisioned it. I'm not even sure exactly when I realized what the solution might be, but once I did I knew I had to act on it. And more importantly, acknowledge it.

Then there are the daily blessings, like healthy kids and a semi-clean house; or even little miracles like the fact there's a possibility Brayden will be able to make up enough credits to graduate this year. These are things I worry about constantly, so to have even a little of the anxiety lifted is a blessing.

Reconnecting with a few old friends, and making a couple of new friends has also been great for my attitude.

That's not an exhaustive list by any means, but those are the blessings that're on my mind today and for which I'm extremely grateful.

Excited

2008-08-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

I think I must be a huge dork because I'm really excited about the company I'm a consultant for now. Maybe it's the newness of it all, but I really feel like I'll be able to make it work for me. When you're selling anything it's really important to love the product/products and I really do love them. I see a difference when I look in the mirror, which is the biggest test of all, right? And my fingers have stopped peeling since I started using the hand care. Yeah, my fingertips are constantly peeling and I always have hangnails that hurt (it's lovely, really), but I don't right now, which is great.

Besides feeling excited about the products, I'm a little nervous that I won't be brave enough to sell them to other people. It's silly, because if I didn't stand to make any money from telling my friends how much I love this stuff I'd be shouting it from the rooftops. I wonder what it is that makes us clam up the minute we stand to benefit from sharing our opinions? I guess at that point it's no longer an unbiased opinion even if you're saying the same thing you said before you started earning money.

Anyway, I'm heading down to Utah Sept. 4 to do a spa for my friends and sisters-in-law. I'm really excited to see everyone, and I'm sure they'll love it all too!

Oh yeah- the company is BeautiControl. I'm ranting on about it and forgot that part. I have a new website that you can look at all the products. It's www.beautipage.com/juliemerrill.

In other news... Camille is going up to Bellingham today to fight a speeding ticket, so everyone send good vibes her way. A prayer or two wouldn't hurt, either. We can't really afford to have our insurance premiums increase, you know?

Brayden and Shane have band camp for 6 hours a day every day for the rest of the week up at the high school, so Chloe will be the lone ranger for a few hours a day. One of our friends that moved to Indiana is coming back for a visit and bringing her twin boys that we've never met and Chloe will be babysitting them for a few days. Their mom Adrienne is here on business so she has to work for Wednesday and Thursday.

I hope everyone's having a great week.

Yesterday. All my troubles seemed so...

2008-08-12T12:33:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I didn't have a great day yesterday. I think that may've been due to these rhodiola drops I took that are supposed to give you energy. They gave me anxiety instead. Major anxiety and grumpiness. I refrained from shooting anyone or getting myself in too much trouble, but my post was obviously indicative of my mood.

Today is better. Can you believe Michael Phelps and all his gold medals? He's awesome. My friend Marie turns 40 on Thursday, so go over to her blog and wish her a happy birthday. The link is over on the right.

I'm ready for another vacation—I think Italy would be great. Anyone want to take me to Italy? Can't hurt to ask!

Experience vs. Joy

2008-08-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I think I mentioned a few posts back that depression is one of my challenges. It's challenging me today. It's one of those days where everything is overwhelming, nothing seems possible and I feel like a fool for even trying. In my mind (today) there will never be enough money to pay the bills AND raise the kids, the house will never look good, the blackberries will take over the entire yard and I can't do anything about it, I have no friends and I'll never be able to make extra money, no matter how hard I try or how many books I read. I try to cast my burdens on the Lord, but He helps those who help themselves, and I can't seem to help myself. By the way, which is it? Are we supposed to give all our problems to the Lord and let Him sort them out, or are we supposed to try to fix it ourselves and He'll help us out eventually?

I'd also like for someone to explain this dichotomy to me: 'Adam fell that men might be; men are that they might have JOY.' But then in the Doctrine and Covenants Joseph Smith is suffering terribly in jail and he gets this: 'And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.' Where's the joy? How could anyone, even a prophet of God, be joyful in that situation? It seems to me that Experience and Joy are mutually exclusive, so how can we have both? Anyone? Beuller?

I'm not saying it isn't possible, I just want to know HOW? Is it that 'men are that they might have joy'...eventually? In the afterlife if we live through the experience? I consider myself a semi-intelligent person and I can't make sense of this. But I want to. I really do.

Money, money, money must be funny in a rich man's world.

2008-08-08T10:27:00.001-07:00

Mama Mia! I thought it was a cute movie, but I liked the stage production better. Pierce Brosnan absolutely CANNOT sing, but the rest of the movie was good.

No, I'm not starting a movie review website. Who cares what other people think of a movie anyway? It only makes a difference to me if everyone I know hates something—then I don't bother.

I am trying to start a business though, and I want to do it right. I'm going to try as much online marketing as I can, so I'm learning how to write web copy, write a sales letter, and my biggest challenge will be getting people to my web page. I've sent an s.o.s. letter to my brother who's the google/yahoo/etc. guru when it comes to placing and using key words. He actually does it professionally, so I'm bribing him for some of his expertise. We spent 13 years living in the same house, so that should count for something, right? I've decided the hardest part so far is balancing expenditures. It's easy to get carried away spending money on marketing systems, websites, etc. when you don't have any money coming in yet. I realize it takes money to make money, so it's tougher when you don't have the investment capital. I'll make it work somehow—I always do! Sometimes to the chagrin of my dear husband.

Today's been eventful so far. I tripped on the curb walking to work from the bus and landed basically face-down on the sidewalk. My shoulder is sore and I skinned and bruised my knee, so that's a lot of fun. But the day got better because I got a 'cash call' award at our quarterly department meeting for helping with a quarterly newsletter (which was fun to do). So I got a little mad money to spend at Nordstrom. Hmmm. Purse. Shoes. School clothes? Nah.

If you live around me and didn't get an invitation to my spa escape party (that would only be because I don't have your email address), try to come on August 22nd at 6:30. If you're out of town and want to come, even better!!!

Oh, and you should definitely click the new link to 'Merrill Madness' and see my adorable Great Niece. My technically retarded sister-law (love you, Wendy!) has joined the 21st century and has a new blog.

I hope everyone's having a great summer. I'd love to hear about your vacation joys and mishaps.

Mine are Depression and Migraines

2008-07-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

I'd like to know what your CHALLENGES in life are. As I was completely melting down last night (it took TWO Xanax to calm me down) I actually said out loud to my husband, "I think God has completely overestimated my ability to handle my life," obviously referring to the belief that He will never give us more than we can handle. What caused the meltdown? I have a history of travel anxiety, but it's not what you're thinking. I do okay when I'm the one traveling- no fear of flying, driving, etc. But I tend to freak out when my loved ones travel without me. When my parents started jet-setting to exotic places like Africa, China and Russia I'd lose my marbles about two days before they left and come back to reality when they came home. I never really knew exactly why I had this anxiety—I'm sure it was based in fear I would never see them again. Then a few years ago my dad died and my worst fear was realized- losing a family member. Since then I've been fine every time my mom travels. I thought I was done with that neurosis, but then Brayden left town on a road trip with a few friends and one of their dads. That's what started last night's tailspin. Lord, thank You for Xanax. I firmly believe that sometimes the answer to our prayers comes in the form of pharmaceuticals. When the chemicals are wonky sometimes only other chemicals will fix it. Don't get me wrong—I'm not advocating the daily/hourly use of pills to get through life. Only when they're called for, like last night.

So there's one of my challenges- dealing with depression and anxiety. I usually have that one under control. Migraines are my other challenge as most of my friends know. I've prayed a lot to be relieved of them and I've come to the conclusion that I have to work this one out myself, or with doctors at least. There's got to be a lesson in them somewhere, but at this point in my life I'm not sure what it is. Some days I think I have them so I'll appreciate the days I'm headache-free. Or maybe it's to keep me out of trouble—it's more difficult to do evil when you can't move your head, right? If you know someone who suffers from Migraines here are a few things I've learned from them:

1) As soon as you feel it coming on TAKE YOUR MEDICINE. Don't wait until you're blinded and ready to chop off your head.

2)Not all neurologists know about migraines. Find a headache specialist or pain clinic.

3)Many migraines are triggered by hormones. Women: Look into bio-identical progesterone. NOT the kind found in birth control.

4)Magnesium helps, but can give you diarrhea. But it has to be a chelate. Try Magnesium aspartate, gluconate, glycinate, stearate or citrate.

5)Pain medications can actually GIVE you a headache if you take it too often. It's called 'drug rebound.' So be sure you don't take a particular type of pain drug more than three times a week. Mix it up with acetaminophen, ibuprofen, aspirin, etc.

6)There are many different and new migraine drugs, so if you've tried Imitrex and it didn't work for you, try another migraine drug. One of them might work. But you'll need a headache specialist, so find one!

7)There are now prevention medications that work pretty well. Topamax worked great for me for about a year. It also has a weight loss side effect, which was no problem for me.

8)If all else fails, try botox injections. It only worked for a few weeks for me, but it works really well for a lot of people.

I hope this might help someone!

Trying to cut my electricity bill...

2008-07-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Dave and I have talked for a long time about putting solar panels on our roof to cut the power company out of our lives, but then we looked into it and it's REALLY expensive. I mean, cost-prohibitive. I was out surfing the net today and found something that looks interesting and I'm thinking I might give it a try. Look at it and see if you think it looks feasible. I'd like to think it is. But I'll have to wait till the next paycheck to find out!

Click Here!

My Pictures

2008-07-15T14:39:00.001-07:00

Photobucket Album

Happy Birthday, America

2008-07-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend (if you don't work retail). It's a great time of year to remember the sacrifices made on behalf of our liberty, and the sacrifices currently being made for the liberty of others.

It brings to mind the words of Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

Have a happy and SAFE 4th of July holiday!

Just Some Pictures

2008-06-09T13:10:00.001-07:00

I finally downloaded the contents of my camera's memory card. The first picture is from a few weekends ago. My friend Brittany is getting married at the end of June and she had a fairly tame bachelorette party at which we met a few of the guys from the Canadian national soccer team. The guy between Brittany and me is Adrian Serioux.

The next picture is my mom and me at M&M's world in Vegas in March, and the last one is my friend Heidi who is a Sargeant with the St. George P.D., also in Vegas in March.

Chloe turns 13 and Camille comes home from Western in three days, and school gets out in nine. What do you get a 13-year old who wants everything?

Spring has Sprung

2008-05-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

How do we Seattleites know when spring is here? The rain is warmer. Actually, it hasn't been very rainy the past week. It was even sunny for Memorial Day weekend, which was an unexpected treat!

Our plans for the summer include: working, cleaning, having Camille home from school, working, maybe some camping, Chloe going to Girls' Camp, the boys are going to Scout Camp (maybe) and working. Unless of course we win the mega-millions- then there might be less working and more traveling. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Who can afford to travel this summer with gas at $4/gallon?

Still, it's nice to see the sun occasionally, use the barbecue and smell the freshly-cut grass. We also love cola and banana Slurpees. What part of summer do you love?

Twilight Excitement

2008-05-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I've been following the filming, etc. of the Twilight movie coming out in December, and I'm starting to get really excited. Every day there seem to be a bunch of new photos, videos and interviews of the cast and director. Click this link to see my recent favorite pictures.

What I've seen so far has been fairly mind-blowing. I can't even imagine how exciting it must be for Stephenie Meyer to have her imagined characters brought to life in a movie. I'm a little jealous of her incredible imagination. I love to write, but I'm just not very imaginative and feel like I'd bore myself, much less anyone who read what I wrote. What an amazing gift- another one I wish I had—along with being able to compose music. But I think it's good to be in awe of others' talents and gifts. I think it makes us appreciate them even more.

I wonder sometimes if I have a gift that others wish they had, but I honestly can't imagine what it would be. Certainly not my homemaking skills! That's something my mom is incredibly gifted with. If you happen to read this, I'd love to hear what your special gifts are, and what talents you wish you had that you don't- yet. I guess one gift I have is faith. I've always had a lot of faith, although some of my friends might be surprised to hear it.

'I can't brain today... I have the dumb'

2008-05-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

This is my new motto. Work has been so slow lately I feel myself getting dumber. Do you have any brain-stimulating activities that can be done at a desk? I'd appreciate any ideas. Even new and exciting web pages or blogs. I decided yesterday that I'd come to the end of the internet. I mean, how many times can you look at perez in a day without putting your fist through the screen? Especially with all his typos. Seriously.

And have any of you actually figured out how to use Facebook? I'm not a total retard (although I'm inching my way there) and I honestly can't figure out how to do anything but revise my own profile and get a new fortune cookie fortune.

One more question: Why are some celebrities accessible and some completely inaccessible? I mean, some of them have myspace accounts and interact with their fans and some of them hide behind their fame. I think if fans have been nice enough to give you their attention and make you famous and wealthy you should repay the favor by giving a little more of yourself.

On to Mother's Day. My kids made a good effort to clean the house, and Camille did a bunch of laundry which was exactly what I asked of them. I take advantage of Mother's day and my birthday. I don't lift a finger and I beg favors off the kids in the name of it being 'my day.' No guilt.

Every night I lie in bed and think of all the stuff I need to do, and honestly if I didn't have to get up for work I'd get up at midnight and start cleaning and organizing because that's when I have the energy and the motivation. Well, maybe not because I'd probably wake up the whole house, but I think it's really sick that I have energy in the middle of the night. Why can't I have that energy at 6:00 p.m. instead of 12:00 a.m.? It doesn't make any sense. So I lie in bed and make all these plans for what I'll accomplish when I get home from work the next day, and of course none of it happens. Yeah, I know- boo hoo.

Las Vegas, Baby!

2008-04-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

I spent two short days in Vegas last week as my brother got married on Tuesday (March 25). It was a fun trip- my mom and I went to the wedding in the median underneath the 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign. It was pretty casual and fun. Then we had late lunch at Paris, Las Vegas. The buffet was really good. My long-time friend Heidi drove down from St. George, Utah after work Tuesday night and we talked and laughed til pretty late, then Wednesday we shopped and had lunch at Café Rio. I'd heard about their signature salad, so I had to try it. It was definitely as good as all that. My only regret was not getting to In-n-Out Burger while I was there. That was my excitement for the month!

Shane leaves tomorrow night for Washington D.C. with the Jr. High school band. He's a percussionist and I think he's really good. Takes after his Grammy. He'll be gone almost a week- I'll miss him terribly! He's usually the most cheerful one around the house. I'm really excited he gets to go, though.

Well, back to pretending I'm working hard. It's the calm before the storm.

Time for a new post

2008-03-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

The headaches have dulled and become manageable- I'm pretty sure I've been suffering from TMJ problems but it's died down a lot.

There are several weddings coming up for us- my brother is getting married in Vegas tomorrow, then Dave's nephew is getting married May 13 and his niece on May 24. 'Tis the season! I'm excited to go to Vegas- my mom and I are flying out tonight and I'm coming back Wednesday night. 2 days in the sun- woohoo! At least I hope it stays sunny for us. While I'm there my friend Heidi who's a St. George police sargeant is coming down to play. I'm really excited about that because I haven't seen her for ages.

Camille's home for spring break and is currently staying at my brother's house taking care of his fiancé's kids while they're in Vegas. That's probably nice for her to get some peace and quiet (well, at least while the kids are at school).

Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Just Chop it Off

2008-02-27T08:56:00.000-08:00

I think I posted that I was really excited to have found what I thought was a cure for my incessant headaches. I started taking magnesium and for about a week I was headache-free. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards for me to get permanent relief. The past two weeks I've had a headache every day. I'm sure everyone has had constant pain during some part of their life (if not, I'm happy for you) so you know how tiring it is. How it saps your energy, happiness, will to live... okay, so I'm being a little over-dramatic but I'm just SO TIRED of having a headache every day of my life. Things that used to work to prevent them no longer do, and many things that used to relieve them no longer do. I've experimented to figure out what triggers them and I haven't found a pattern or food that correlates to them at all. Except stress, which isn't something I can easily control.

There's my big whine for the month. I'll quit it now.

Ode to Dave

2008-02-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

On this, my 20th wedding anniversary I'm going to tell you all the things I love about Dave.
He's kind, intelligent, handsome, handy, a very nice dad, a great friend, sensitive, considerate, he let's me put my cold feet on him at night, he usually lets me watch what I want on tv, drives the kids around so I don't have to, writes me love poems, lets me snuggle up and fall asleep on his chest or shoulder every night, he does laundry and occasionally dishes, he has almost finished my new kitchen, he supports me in anything I want to do, he isn't possessive or territorial, he cooks occasionally, he brings me diet coke without being asked and so much more. He sent me that 'I love you' picture earlier this week. Sweet, right?

I should probably stop because I don't want to sound as spoiled as I actually am. I also don't want all my friends lining up to kill me so they can have him.

So cheers to Dave on our anniversary. I love you!

Friends

2008-02-08T13:46:00.001-08:00

The topic of friendship has been coming up a lot in my life lately so I wanted to give a shout out to the people who keep me sane. There may not be many of you, but you're 24k pure gold. I'm not being dramatic when I say I couldn't live without you. Making new friends is always exciting, but for me the tried-and-true, fit-like-a-glove friends are the staple of living. I hope everyone has at least one friend like that.

As an aside, I read an article about migraines today that said 500 mg of magnesium per day could help keep them at bay. I'll be starting that as soon as I get my hands on a bottle. Keeping my fingers crossed…

At the risk of sounding obsessed...

2008-02-05T09:31:00.000-08:00

Twilight is filming up here in the northwest somewhere. I'd give my middle toe to find out where- I would love to meet Rob Pattinson. Check out this yummy picture I found on his myspace page. Yeah, he's 20 years younger than me, but I'm not too old for some eye candy, right? You're right- I need a hobby. If I had a good imagination I'd write a book, but I don't. If anyone has a great book idea but doesn't like to write let me know- we could collaborate.

Sweeney Todd

2008-01-30T10:58:00.000-08:00

I went to this movie with Marie a few weeks ago and I loved it. Of course, it was very Tim Burton-esque which was good, given the macabre story. I love love love Johnny Depp and to hear him sing well and on pitch was a treat. I really like the voice of the actor who played Anthony by the name of Jamie Campbell Bower. He's a pretty kid who's the same age as Camille. I was thinking this morning how surreal it must be for his friends and family now that he's been thrust into stardom. I wonder how young actors handle that? I guess the tabloids tell that story, right? It would be tough to suddenly lose all your anonymity. Add to that plenty of money for whatever they feel like doing (unfortunately for many, it's drugs) and it explains a lot of the crazy things happening in Hollywood.

Which reminds me how sad I am about the death of Heath Ledger. It's such a tragedy.

I jumped the hurdle into '40-something' last week- it wasn't as traumatic as I'd imagined it would be. Two weeks from today'll be Dave's and my 20th anniversary. So weird to think about. I was barely 21 when we got married. I felt so mature at the time, but I was really young. I feel lucky that I married the right guy the very first time. It doesn't happen very often anymore.

The Naughty Doggie

2008-01-22T08:19:00.000-08:00

Here's Otis at 4 months. He's a sneak thief who chews on everything and barks incessantly when left in his kennel (except at night). He was doing really well with the house breaking, but then he reverted back to peeing on the carpet at the end of the hall or on the wood floor in front of the door. We're still working with him- I hope the chewing and biting calms down after we get him neutered in two months! The white fluffy stuff you see all over the floor in the background of the picture is the stuffing from his tiger he rips to shreds every chance he gets. It's funny, but messy. As you can see, he's huge already. We caught him in a yawn in the second picture- he looks possessed!

Forks

2008-01-18T14:39:00.000-08:00

I found one more thing that's very amusing if you're a Twilight saga fan. Check out the Forks, WA web page- they have a link called 'Twilight Points of Interest.' You can see it here: http://www.forkswa.com/65.html.

Dave's brother Chris was in town on business yesterday and came to the house to visit. He'd never been to our house before (which kind of surprised me) and of course the kitchen is still in a state of construction so it wasn't exactly tidy. Dave also didn't call to warn me they were coming so I didn't get to do a whirlwind de-junk. Oh well.

I did hear some family news that Dave's niece may be getting married this year, but I guess it isn't official until she gets a ring. I'll be waiting for confirmation.

Recent movies I've seen- Juno, which I loved even though the witty dialogue was completely contrived. It was still cute and funny, and very entertaining. Also Sweeney Todd, which weirdly I also liked. The bloody scenes were very fake, but that made it even a little more entertaining instead of merely disgusting. The music was really good- I'd never heard the soundtrack before. I'm sure the movie soundtrack differs from the stage one, however. The most impressive voice was Jamie Campbell Bower who played Anthony. I hadn't heard of him before the movie and wow- what a satin voice.

The Obsession Continues

2008-01-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

I was able to get my hands on books two and three—New Moon and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. I love all three of the books so far, and I'm really looking forward to book four which is supposedly coming out sometime this fall. I'm also plotting a trip to the coast with Marie if they film the Twilight movie on location in Forks/La Push. It's only about a 4-hour drive (and $25-$30 ferry ride) to get there. My family used to stay in the camper's cabins at first beach in La Push. We also stayed at Mora (between Forks and La Push) once or twice that I can remember. Mainly I remember being in a little cabin right on the beach and torrential rain completely filling a yellow sand pail we left on the porch. I believe it really is the rainiest place on earth.

If you're a big Twilight fan and you haven't read the 'Extras' and 'Outtakes' on Stephenie Meyer's web page you should take a look. It offers insight into the other characters (Edward, Alice, Jacob). My favorite is a chapter from a book she's been writing which is the Twilight story from Edward's perspective. Here's the link: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/otherprojects_midnightsun.html

I need to find a new obsession.

Other than that, some big things have or will happen for my family over the next month or so. Mom turned 70 (gulp) yesterday, Brayden turned 17 on the fifth, I turn 41 on the 25th, and Dave and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary on the 13th of February.

My New Obsession

2007-12-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

Curse Marie and all the other girls in my ward that insisted I read Twilight. I'm now completely obsessed with these books. I finished the first book in 2 days and am now on the hunt for book two, New Moon. Then I found out they're making the first book into a movie, so I had to find out who's been cast, and here it is- Bella will be played by Kristen Stewart and Edward will be played by Robert Pattinson. I think he's a great choice.

If you happen to have New Moon just lying around your house, please let me know because I'm going to have to buy it if I don't find someone that owns it. There are 306 holds on 54 copies in the King County library system. Bummer!

Fa la la la la, la la la la

2007-12-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

These are our favorite Christmas gifts this year. We were blessed by Gram-Santa with all three! Needless to say the kids are having fun playing the Wii and will be entertained for the rest of their winter vacation.

Not only did we have that excitement on Christmas, but it actually SNOWED Christmas day, so we had a white Christmas after all. It was very cool. We spent most of the day at my mom's house eating, opening gifts and eating some more. My brother Scott was the chef du jour and made some amazing scalloped potatoes, standing rib roast and green beans. It was definitely a savory feast!

It's fun to have Camille home for a few weeks too. I don't realize how much I miss her until I get to see her every day for a little while. Poor kid though- she's had a sore throat/cold the whole time she's been home. I thought we were done with that when she had her tonsils out...

Shane gets to go snowboarding at Whistler with his friend for five days. He's a lucky kid! We may have to get him more hand warmers for that week.

Brayden turns 17 on January 5th- I can't believe my kids are so grown-up.

Wisdom of the Ages

2007-12-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
Albert Einstein

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.
Socrates

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
Albert Einstein

If you are going through hell, keep going.
Winston Churchill

I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
Mohandas Gandhi

Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.
Mohandas Gandhi Young India

To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous.
Confucius

If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right. From his speech at Stanford University during graduation in the spring of 2005.
Steve Jobs

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself; do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.
Bruce Lee

The Factoids.

2007-12-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, I had to do it. Here we go in no particular order:

1. My brothers made me claustrophobic by holding blankets over my head when i was little.
2. I have no waist at all. It's as big or bigger than my hips.
3. I hate hot weather. Anything over 85 degrees is torturous.
4. My feet and hands are always swollen by the end of the day. Worse in hot weather.
5. I love Diet Coke and am totally addicted to it. With lime.
6. I think Carnations smell like they would taste good in a salad.
7. I broke my coccyx (tailbone) when I was 5 months pregnant with Shane.
8. When I'm not busy at work I spend hours 'Stumbling' the net. www.stumbleupon.com
9. I hate (HATE) avocados. Their flavor, texture, everything.
10. There is no 's' on toward or afterward. It drives me nuts that everyone writes or says it wrong. And 'across' does not have an 'ed' or a 't'.
11. A few of the words I think are gross are moist, lubricant and eyeball.
12. I can hardly wait to be a grandma, but I WILL wait till it's appropriate!
13. I love pho.
14. I can't stand scrap booking. All my photos are thrown in photo boxes.
15. I berate myself daily for being overweight.
16. My main stress in life is my kids getting bad grades/not doing their homework.
17. The kitchen remodel not being finished is a close 2nd, along with being broke.
18. I pray all the time I will win the lottery but hardly ever buy a ticket.
19. I wish I had taken voice lessons when I was younger.
20. I have basically forgotten how to play the cello. Also, I need a new cello that is smaller but can't bear to sell mine because my dad bought it for me.
21. I don't cook. I heat things up.
22. I get migraines about three days a week. I have tried everything to get rid of them, even botox.
23. Crab and French dip are my favorite foods.
24. Pale blue is my favorite color.
25. If I could have any car in the world I would drive a Lexus.
26. I don't like peppermint.
27. I like Brussels sprouts and spinach.
28. My current guilty t.v. viewing pleasure is 'A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila' on MTV.
29. It's freaking me out way more to turn 41 next month than it did to turn 40.
30. I'm type 2 diabetic.
31. I'm completely uncoordinated.
32. I'm terrible at decorating and hate doing it.
33. I love my old rust-colored carpet. It doesn't show any stains whatsoever.
34. The first concert I ever went to was Supertramp.
35. My first rated 'R' movie was 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High'
36. I hate politics. I hate voting but do it because it's my civic duty.
37. I proofread everything I see - accidentally.
38. Every time I find an error on a professional web page I am tempted to email them.
39. That makes me a snob, I think. But only a word snob.
40. I hate it when people name-drop brands of things. It's fine to carry the Coach purse, just don't say to me, "Hey look at my new COACH purse!"
41. I work for a fashion company and am the least fashionable person I know.
42. I love shopping at WalMart and Target.
43. I hate paying a lot for fashion. See #41.
44. I have 2 older brothers and neither of them are married.
45. I don't ever want to live in Utah again.
46. My husband is the nicest person I know.
47. I love soup.
48. I don't like Mexican food.
49. I have the hardest time getting laundry done, folded and put away. It's impossible.
50. I used to have twice as much hair as I do currently.
51. I like my job because I work with fun people.
52. I don't like having to be at church for three hours.
53. My car is a dirty mess.
54. I'm starting to need reading glasses.
55. I only finish about 15% of the books I start reading.
56. My brother is the smartest person I know. He remembers EVERYTHING.
57. I wish I could dance without looking like a dork.
58. I hate exercising. I wish I liked it but I can't even talk myself into doing it.
59. For the first time in my life I feel like I really need to know my medical history.
60. I struggle with depression.
61. I wish I were a better mom. And that I didn't have to work full time.
62. I laugh at things in movies that nobody else does.
63. I've never taken my kids to Disneyland.
64. I haven't been to Mexico or Hawaii.
65. Sometimes I am tempted to take a sleeping bag and sleep on my dad's grave.
66. I talk to him all the time. So far, no reply though.
67. Obviously, my dad dying is the worst thing that's ever happened to me.
68. I know a lot about medical things but I don't know why. I just seem to remember stuff like that.
69. I want to be a nurse but I can't stand the thought of going back to school.
70. I remember the way I felt after I completed my last final for my Bachelor's degree.
71. I hate being the one responsible for all the bills, but I am.
72. I'm terrible at saving money. And at paying the bills.
73. Most days I feel like I'm not good at anything.
74. The thing I like to do most in the world is sleep.
75. It makes me sad that I'll probably never be able to afford to go to Paris again.
76. I often feel like everyone else in the world is more creative than I am.
77. We have a new puppy and he's really cute but I'm afraid we won't be able to train him right and he'll be an evil dog.
78. The best concert I've been to was The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen and Jean loves Jezebel.
79. One of my best friends is someone I've never met in person.
80. When I go to a party I start talking and I can't shut up. I always feel stupid afterward.
81. I love reading 'real' blogs. I hate reading ones that are fake, too happy or too braggy.
82. I pick on my male pod mate incessantly. It's mutual though.
83. I love to snuggle up to Dave with my head on his chest right before I go to sleep. It's my favorite time of the day.
84. I wish I were more like my mom.
85. I buy calendars but never use them.
86. I rarely make lists. Shopping, to do, anything.
87. I used to be able to remember everything- now I remember nothing.
88. In my opinion, my biggest accomplishment has been graduating from college.
89. A close second is being married for almost 20 years.
90. I didn't get a job using my specific degree until 17 years after I graduated.
91. To, too, two; do, due. Can't handle seeing them used incorrectly.
92. I like the smell of clove cigarettes.
93. I love the smell of coffee but I think it tastes horribly bitter.
94. I can taste litmus paper, roll my tongue, turn it over both directions and my blood type is A+.
95. We almost named Chloe Rebecca or Leah.
96. I'm a terrible procrastinator.
97. I don't collect anything. Well, maybe purses but not to display them.
98. I love watching medical shows where they show surgeries.
99. It makes me crazy when people talk loudly on their cell phones on the bus. I want to throw things at them.
100. I met some really cool people at Marie's cookie party last night.

Hot Bear

2007-12-10T14:22:00.000-08:00

I have a huge crush on Man vs. Wild star Bear Grylls. I mean, look at him! I watched a new episode (Discovery Channel) yesterday and he's just so manly. I posted a link to his personal blog over there to the right- you should go look at it. If you haven't watched the show, you should. Sometimes he has to do really gross things, but his accent is still cute.

Christmas Card time

2007-11-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

Don't worry- this isn't the picture on our somewhat-annual photo Christmas card. It's one of several we had taken. Aren't we gorgeous? At least the kids and the dog are.

Kitchen pictures- finally! And a few of Otis

2007-11-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

The kitchen progress to date and our puppy Otis.

This Day in History

2007-11-14T14:54:00.000-08:00

It was two years ago today- November 14- my dad passed away. I knew when I said the date on my outgoing voice mail message this morning that it was a significant date, but it wasn't until later in the morning that I remembered why. Evidence that time heals our wounds, little by little. Last year this date loomed as a horrible milestone- there was no way I could've forgotten until mid-morning what the date meant. Today it's a little melancholy, but mainly because my memory of the actual event of his death has faded and I don't want that to happen.

'And they call it Puppy Loooove'

2007-11-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

This is our new baby- isn't he cute?! He's a mutt mixture of German Shepherd, maybe some Husky, maybe some Lab, maybe some Spaniel? Without a dna test we just can't be sure since we got him from an animal rescue. He was born September 21, so he will be 6 weeks tomorrow. He's already pretty big- I think he'll be a really big dog!

Still no pictures of the kitchen. I got out the camera the other day but it was a mess so I decided I wouldn't document our slobbery.

Kids! What's the matter with kids today...

2007-10-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

I have the hardest time getting my kids to do their chores. I was whining about it to my mom last Friday, so she took it upon herself to come to my house at 10:00 a.m. Saturday and force the march, so to speak. We dragged the kids out of bed and made them clean house for about five hours. The kids are way more afraid of my mom than they are of me, so it works better when she's there. Plus, she's always good with the rewards (lunch at Arby's). Since I'm too broke presently to pay for rewards she's the woman. After five hours of five people cleaning was the house sparkling? Not quite, but much better than it was. Yes, my house is messy enough that many hours of cleaning didn't render it spotless. The kids did a lot of wandering around and I had to run errands, so I'm thinking it was about eight hours of cleaning, but still my point is the house was out of control.

In that time Saturday the laundry wasn't finished or folded. The folding happened last night for family night. Again, Mom came over bearing prizes for the one that folded the most clothes. The loser had to match the socks. Shane won with 20 pieces of clothing folded and chose (of course) the $5 bill. The other prizes (blockbuster and jack-in-the-box gift cards and Thomas Kemper sodas) were put away for the next pile of clothes. Gotta love Mom. I think the kids were surprised how quickly it all got done when everyone was helping. It was less than 4 minutes. We'll definitely do that activity again.

Saturday while the rest of us were cleaning Dave was working on the kitchen. He worked on it for probably 10 hours and got SO MUCH DONE. He finished putting the marble tile on the counters and most of the backsplash. Yesterday he put the 'bar' on top of the half-wall. I have to take pictures. I'm so bad about that. My hope is that today or tomorrow he'll tile the bar top and finish the backsplash. We're getting so close to being finished- it's really great! Since the house is actually clean at the moment (at least it was when I left this morning) if you want to come see the kitchen progress this would be a good time to do it.

Oh, and give Dave a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY- he's turning 43 tomorrow (yes, he's my Halloween boy). I'm sure many of you are thinking, "That explains a lot."

A little bit mo, a little bit mo...

2007-10-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Still no pictures of the kitchen- I'm a slacker. But little by little more of the kitchen is getting finished. Dave got one section of the marble tile countertop put in. We're still waiting for those last few cabinets. I now have more cabinets and counter space than I need. I know- unheard of, but true. It's so great.

It's been two weeks since Camille left for school and we're getting along okay. I miss her but I'm so glad she was able to go to college. She'll be home this weekend to cheer at the homecoming game- I'm ready to see her!

There's a book I want all my friends to read. It's called The Four Agreements. It's a short- maybe two-hour read and well worth your time. I love the message and ideas.

Long Time No Say

2007-09-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wow- I haven't written for a while. I keep meaning to post pictures of the almost-completed kitchen, but I haven't taken any. The cabinets are all in (except two that we haven't received yet due to a measurement error). I have a sink, a disposal (hooray!), a stove and oven. Last night I cooked dinner on a stove for the first time in several months. It was great to be able to do that!

Last Sunday we dropped Camille off at school up in Bellingham. She started classes at Western Washington University on Wednesday. So far, so good. The campus is really beautiful and as far as I can tell she hasn't been homesick. The school is only 90 miles north near the Canadian border, so she'll be able to come home for holidays, weekends, etc. if she wants. I'm really excited for her- college is such a fun time!

Soccer season is in full swing, so we have 2-3 games per weekend right now. It's good and bad for me- I love watching the kids play, but I hate sitting in the rain to do it. When it rains we take the big patio umbrella and plant it in the very wet ground and park our chairs underneath. Both Chloe and Shane are playing again this year-

Brayden got a job at a local music store which he really enjoys. He doesn't get as many hours as he'd like, but hey- it's a job. Shane is missing working for my cousin Tim- it was his main source of income and Tim moved his family to New York, so Shane's broke for the first time in years. We refer to him as the 'bank of Shane.' I'm sure he'll find a way to make some money soon.

'Bye, Tassoula!

2007-08-21T15:30:00.001-07:00

Karaoke night in honor of Tassoula's new job. Everyone rocked, especially Scott and me singing 'Summer Nights.' One guy even asked if we did musicals in high school together. Ha! Tassoula has the dark hair and Amanda is the red-head (girl). Scott is obviously the boy. We had a great time!

Some day

2007-08-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've resigned myself to the fact that my kitchen will get done 'some day.' It's such slow going. The major electrical stuff is done- the switches, outlets and lights just need to get put on (tonight!). The big delay now is that the floor that was in there (vinyl) was laid over linoleum tile that was glued down and Dave is having a heck of a time getting it up! He has one of those long floor scraper tools and it takes all his strength to shove it under those glued tiles. I can't even get the tool under the tile!

He did bring up a few of the cabinets because he needs to see how they fit. I think I blogged about the mis-measurement of the space- so we have to figure out how they need to remedy it. It looks like they'll be building us a new lower and upper cabinet for the outside wall. That'll take about 3 weeks they said. Dave said he can still make the template for the granite, but we can't install it on that end until the cabinet gets here, obviously.

Tassoula, my lead at work has taken a job as PR/writer for a private gifted school in Shoreline. I think it's called the Evergreen School. I'm happy for her and proud of her for finding something that will use all her writing skills. The bad news is we'll be down a writer until they replace her, which never happens quickly around here. It's a little scary because we're just coming into fashion show/beauty trend show season and they're very time consuming. I think we'll get through it okay. The most frustrating thing happening at work right now is that they're making us help the sign shop editor whom I believe is just to slow at her job. Since we're losing a writer I doubt any of us will have time to do it. We think the reason they shoved it on us is because when one of the managers walks by he sees us talking and thinks we don't have anything to do. I can understand that- so we need to quit talking so much and at least look like we're working. I don't mind helping out the sign shop (although it's maddening to see their editor walking around chatting, then have her boo-hoo about not being able to get her work done.) I hope they will take into account the fact that we've lost a writer after Friday when Tassoula is gone.

Getting closer...

2007-08-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

The cabinets were delivered and the electrical is almost finished. I was hoping for so much more than that by now, but it's been very very slow going. As soon as Dave finishes patching the walls where they had to cut in to install the wiring he can install the cabinets. However, the cabinet measurements weren't taken correctly so they don't all fit. The cabinet guy had to come over and figure out how to fix it and they're having to build a different size upper cabinet. Again, I'd love to see the cabinets get installed before the end of the weekend, but that probably won't happen.

Other things happening: Tassoula gave 2 weeks notice Monday, so next Friday is her last day. That will change the dynamic of the cube I'm sure- it'll be interesting to see what happens now. We're all proud of her for finding a better job.

My cousin and his wife may be moving to Syracuse, NY- something that has only been in the works for a few weeks. If they go we hope they love it there.

Boo- I'm totally bored and therefore boring today.

Even Slower

2007-08-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a picture to post of the totally empty (except for the refrigerator) kitchen. It's sad, really. I have anxiety attacks daily about the electrical work getting finished before the cabinets come- tomorrow. Xanax is my best friend this week. Seriously. There isn't much I can do to help it along but beg the electrician daily to come finish. Which I do, and he still doesn't. I'm hoping by this weekend we'll have cabinets, possibly a working sink, at least plywood counter tops and if Dave can run the gas line without blowing up the house, a stove. That's probably way too much to ask but it's my wish! The kids seem to have staged an anti-chore mutiny. I can't get ANY of them to pick the raspberries/blackberries or do their daily cleaning chores. They think they should get paid for everything they do. Wow- that's a great idea. I'll pay them, then they can pay me when I have to clean up after them and every time I do their laundry, wash their dishes or put their stuff away. I'd be a bazillionaire if I'd been getting paid to do all that stuff for the past 19 years :D

Enough of that diatribe. Work is painfully slow at the moment which gives me plenty of time to worry about stuff not happening in the kitchen. I could think of a million things to use the time more effectively, but none of them would get me a paycheck- so I blog, shamelessly read perezhilton.com, peruse craigslist (crack, as Marie calls it). I'm even tired of craigslist. I didn't think that was possible. We also gossip via email- my pod mates and I. That's basically what I do for 8 hours a day. I saw a bit on the news this morning about how most employees waste two hours a day. I laughed. I haven't done real work for 2 whole hours in a day for a few weeks. Feast or famine around here.

I haven't been working on my 100-day goal like I should be. I've had several stress migraines in the past few weeks, so I'm definitely not cleaning and organizing when I have those. When I don't have a migraine I have absolutely no motivation to do anything. While I'm stressing about the kitchen I'm also telling myself that I don't care if it ever gets done (mainly, I'm sure, because I don't feel like it will)! Sounds like I need to increase the Paxil consumption for the next few weeks, eh? Either that or find a meth dealer. Just kidding, of course. I'm done blah blah blah-ing for the day.

Slow Going!

2007-07-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

Not much has happened with the kitchen since the last blog. I had the dates for the cabinets wrong. They're actually coming this Friday and my guess is we won't be ready for them. I can't seem to get my electrician to come and get stuff wired, which is a big deal. It needs to be done before the cabinets go in. That's stressing me out a lot. I need to get the walls painted but they aren't ready either, and the ceiling needs fixed in a lot of places. Of course, a remodel is always more trouble than you think it'll be.

Happy Birthday to several people this week- Shane turned 14 on Saturday, July 21. My friend Jennifer is 40 today, and Nikki turns 36 tomorrow! Lots of July birthdays in my world. Not as many as January, though.

Other than that, life goes on!

Kitchen Progress

2007-07-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Here is the what's been going on in the kitchen. Notice the new beam (woohoo!) and lack of wall. The cabinets come Friday- I'm so excited!

Hurray for Dave!

2007-07-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

The wall is down, the beam is in! If I could do a back-flip I would. Things are progressing well- we will probably have the electrical done Saturday, which means everything has to come out of the kitchen Friday- The cabinets, dishwasher- everything.

After all the agonizing we did over which material to use for the floor we had decided on the Brazilian cherry and I think I mentioned I had even ordered it online. I called yesterday to find out if it was in at the local store and was informed it was back-ordered and wouldn't be here before the cabinets. Grrr! So I went and bought a different kind of cherry out of the store's stock. Wood flooring needs to be in the room where it's being installed for several days so it doesn't expand or contract after it's installed, so we needed to get it right away.

Brayden passed all his classes last semester (this is a big accomplishment for him) so he's now allowed to enroll in driver's ed. I'm secretly glad about this because Shane starts seminary next year and I really need Brayden to drive him. I just can't get up that early.

The kids seem to be having a good summer. We're in the midst of a heat wave, looking at record highs near 100 today and tomorrow. We love the sun, but Seattleites don't do well in the extreme heat. Most of us don't have central a/c- or any a/c for that matter. Dave and I have a little window a/c unit in our bedroom which keeps us from dying of heat stroke when this weather happens a few times a year.

Life in the Real World

2007-06-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

Isn't life after vacation a drag? I didn't have a single migraine while I was in Paris which I attributed to the botox injections I had in my neck, but since I've been back I've had a few. My conclusion is stress gives me headaches, therefore I need to vacation 365 days a year. Now if someone would just hand me the winning lottery ticket I'd be cured.

School is finally out for the three younger kids. They're working hard at trying to get out of their daily chores. Weeding seems to be the least favorite. Dishes are a close second.

Speaking of dishes- the kitchen remodel is going full force now. Half the cabinets have been removed as well as the two pantries and most of the wall between the kitchen and living room. I'm trying to keep some cabinets and the stove/oven/dishwasher working until the very last possible minute. I'm really excited to see the finished product, but not excited to live in chaos for the next 6-8 weeks. The cabinets are scheduled to be done in 4-5 weeks.

We finally picked out our granite color (pictured) called 'sunset gold' but haven't ordered it yet. I think I have to go see it one more time before I commit. I did order the Brazilian cherry flooring today, and we had our electrician friend come over and tell us what he'll be doing once we take everything out of the kitchen and get the wall taken down. I'm hoping to only have a completely useless kitchen for 1-2 weeks. I know- I'm not living in reality. I said 'hoping' not 'expecting.'

My 100-day goal is to get rid of everything we don't need in the house and organize the rest of it. I'm doing pretty well since I had to empty half the cabinets already, as well as the closets in the basement so we could put the food down there. For more details on the 100-day challenge go to www.heymaughans.blogspot.com.

Bonjour!

2007-06-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

We're back from Paris and we had a great time. Instead of trying to upload all my pictures here I've posted them at www.flickr.com/photos/jewels07. We spent a lot of time shopping, but we also made time for the tourist things. We went to the Orsay, Louvre and Picasso museums as well as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Versailles and the Père LaChaise cemetery where a bunch of famous people are entombed. We didn't miss the Catholic monuments- we saw The Madeleine, Sacrè Coeur and Notre Dame. We also took a fun and relaxing boat tour down the Seine river where we saw the golden flame which was built in memory of Princess Diana and is near the tunnel where she died.

There is so much amazing art, history and architecture (and some pretty darn good shopping) in Paris. If you haven't been you should definitely go. Yes, Parisian's are a little rude, but not much worse than Americans. They don't like to be bothered.

We spent a LOT of time in the subway- I can't believe I didn't think to take a picture of us down there. Their subway system rivals NYC (perhaps it's better) and we went everywhere on it. The only cab ride we took was to the airport Sunday morning. Our feet were sore every night from walking all day. Even in the subway system you can walk a mile from one train to the other.

Our Hotel was near the Gare St. Lazare right in the big shopping district (for those of you who've been to Paris, it's near the Madeleine and Galleries Lafayette/Printemps). Camille made her mother proud by shopping like a champ. It seems we spent most of our money at H&M, which we have in the USA, but not in Seattle. We also used McDonald's bathrooms often because they were decent and usually had toilet paper. No toilet seats, but paper...

I have to mention that they don't believe in air conditioning over there, so I wouldn't recommend a mid-summer vacation in Paris. They all leave for a few months and go to the ocean down south. Now we know why. The humidity is something to be reckoned with also. We did quite a bit of sweating!

Our favorite shopping was on the Rue d'Alesia- lots of 'Stock' stores which are designer outlets of last year's merchandise. Since Paris is at least a year ahead of us in fashion it's not like the stuff is out-of-date, right? Camille bought a humongous leather purse - it's almost bigger than she is. She loves it.

I did my share of shopping, but mainly for souvenirs for the kids. I did buy a purse and two pairs of shoes, of course. Who can resist a Furla purse for 30 euro? Well, I can't.

The trip home was an absolute nightmare. If you go to Paris, fly direct. That's all I can say. The lines in London and L.A. were astounding- comparable to Disneyland. We weren't able to get onto the British Airways website to get our seat assignments 24 hours prior to our flight (why don't they just assign seats when you buy your ticket?) so it ended up my worst nightmare- the back row next to the toilet. If you haven't had the joy of being in the back row, your seat only reclines about 3" while the person in front of you is in your lap. Absolutely heinous. I had a total nervous breakdown when I saw our seats on that flight (which was, of course, the London to L.A. 10-hour flight).

Now go see my pictures- I'll be adding more once I get my mom's and Camille's pictures downloaded.

Au Revoir!

Yay for June!

2007-06-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

We're having some stellar weather- we even set some record highs! Seeing the sunshine several days in a row is unusual for us here in Seattle. We had a great weekend- we got a lot accomplished, enjoyed the great weather and Camille and I started packing for our trip (for which we leave on THURSDAY!)

I've been very busy finding things on Craigslist- the most recent of which is a dining room set. My brother picked it up for me sight-unseen and I was a little nervous, but it's really CUTE- painted black with red fabric seats and nice curved lines on the chairs. I've done a lot of sanding so we can re-paint the tabletop and chairs. I'm hoping to get them all sanded before I leave Thursday, but we'll see!

I wish I had some pictures to post but I haven't downloaded anything recently. I'll have a bunch - Camille's graduation and Paris - when we get back!

13 Days

2007-05-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

We leave for Paris in 13 days. I am so excited. What a busy few weeks we have coming up- Camille has graduation, parties, etc. and we have to get everything ready to go. It's going to be a lot of fun!

We're planning on camping this weekend (Memorial Day). It's so much work to get everything ready for just a few days, you know? Not to mention all the camping stuff is spread out between the storage under the stairs and the garage since the Christmas of '05 flood in the basement. We're still recovering from that.

Don't Go Blake-in' My Heart

2007-05-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Can you believe Bothell threw a PARADE for hometown American Idol, Blake Lewis? I thought parades were for heroes. ANYWAY- of course I went because Brayden and Camille were marching in the parade. Blake went to their high school and Brayden's in the marching band- Camille's a cheerleader. I left work early to get to the parade by 3:30- staked out my place on the parade route near the end. At about 5:00 here come two police cars, one fire engine and one convertible carrying Blake and his security detail. Plus all the T.V. cameras and screaming girls. I barely got a picture of him. And where were the marching band and cheerleaders? The powers that be made them turn off after only 2 blocks. That means I didn't get to see them! Hello- that was basically the only reason I went. I was so mad.

Since I was able to get one good picture of Blake I had to post it, right? I also added a few pictures I stole from the Inglemoor High School website- In the Blaker Girls picture Camille is front and center! Brayden is somewhere in the band! The next post will contain pre-prom pictures of Camille, her best friend and their dates.

Where'd the Pictures Go?

2007-05-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

I obviously don't know how to use this blog because none of the pictures I attached last time seem to be showing up. Oh well. They were mainly pictures of bamboo we were trying to choose from and we decided against bamboo. A friend of mine emailed me saying he had heard there were problems with it scratching and denting, so I looked into it further and found that to be a common problem. We went to Lumber Liquidators Saturday and in talking to one of the guys there we found out that if we have particle board sub-floor we're going to have to remove it before we put in any kind of hardwood. Depending on when the current vinyl was installed there could also be asbestos (our house was built in 1968). I'm hoping we have plywood under there or we'll probably end up going with a floating floor- basically laminate. I don't love laminate because it's noisy to walk on and the pattern repeats over and over, but I may end up with it anyway. I'm worried about the amount of extra work pulling up the sub-floor would create for Dave, and if there is asbestos it's not even an option. If we do have plywood underneath then I think we'll probably go with American cherry hardwood to match the cabinets.

We're definitely looking forward to getting it finished, which I realize is a long way off. When we went to look at the granite Saturday we found some we really liked. Of course, when we asked about ordering it we found out it's discontinued and they don't have enough in the shop to do our kitchen, nor do they have any backsplash pieces left. Our original choice of granite was available and we may still do that, but now that we've seen the other color we may hold out to see what the new stuff they're getting in looks like. It's supposed to be similar. I'm a little bummed we couldn't get the other color, but again, oh well. I'm waiting for the cabinet shop to call and tell me they can't get the wood I want, you know?

Patrick Swayze was a babe

2007-05-03T15:22:00.001-07:00

Dave and I went to the 20th anniversary showing of "Dirty Dancing" at the theater last night. Did you know they've made a musical out of it? I don't believe it's reached the U.S. yet, but it has broken all box office records in London. Can I tell you, no matter how many times I watch that movie I LOVE it. I so wanted to be "Baby" when I first saw it.

In other news, we actually ordered our cabinets Tuesday. Or at least we gave them money. We still have to approve the plans but we officially picked our wood (natural cherry) and are still trying to decide on the bamboo flooring. We aren't sure if we want vertical or horizontal, natural or carbonized (color). Look at the pictures and if you have an opinion about which one would look best with the cabinet color, please let me know! The picture of the cabinet is just to show the color. We're having shaker-style doors- and no entertainment center. Then go down a post or two and look at the granite and tell me if you think it will look good. We also picked out the drawer pulls and cabinet door knobs. Those are already purchased so don't tell me if you don't like them!

We're trying to plan our big family trip to Disneyland this summer. If you have any special discount ideas I really need to hear about them. I'm figuring out why we've never been before- it's SUPER expensive!

New Day, Fresh Look

2007-04-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

I decided it was time to spruce up the blog site so you'll notice a slight change - but I did stick with pink. Tell me what you think of it.

Also, I changed/added some links, so check them out. The 'Movie Reviews' link takes you to my co-workers site. She and her friend have an entertaining podcast also, so go to the itunes store and search 'cinebanter' and subscribe to it because they're pretty funny. Also, the guy (Michael) has a very nice voice.

Guess what I did today? I called the cabinet guy! Woohoo! I'll be making an appointment to have him come measure for the cabinets and get them ordered. I'm really excited. Dave gave me the go-ahead, which in my mind gives me the right to nag him if he isn't getting the kitchen project done in a timely manner. I'm pretty sure he knows that's what it means. He has been married to me for 19 years, after all.

Does anyone out there know how to make my upstairs computer connect to my wifi network whose router is in the basement? I get connected, but my signal is so low I can't download a whole web page before timing out. It's really frustrating because I can't use my computer in my office. Is there some sort of contraption that will make my signal go through 3 rooms and a floor? Actually, the floor isn't the problem because Shane's laptop gets signal directly above the router but the office is a few rooms away from there.

My mom came home from China Monday with all sorts of goodies. Pashmina scarves, silk ties for the boys, Tag Heuer watches (faux), Coach and Chloe purses (really good faux!) and LOTS of silver/pearl jewelry. My favorite is a pink pearl on a chunky silver ring she brought me. I'll have to take a picture of it. I'm wearing it as my wedding ring today (mainly because my fingers are chubby and it only fits that finger). She has really good taste, I have to say. Am I spoiled? Absolutely. And I love it.

I'll post pictures when we pick out the wood for the cabinets. Here's a question: do you think we would get tired of a glass block 'window' between the upper and lower cabinets? We're trying to preserve some of the light coming into the kitchen, but I know the blocks will eventually go out of style (again), so I'm not 100% on that idea. Give me some feedback, please?

Some sort of obsession

2007-04-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me know I have a shoe/purse addiction. It's not so much that I think I NEED a new purse or new shoes as much as I really, really like them. They make me happy, which I'm sure is unhealthy. I call it retail therapy, which is definitely cheaper than real therapy since I don't usually spend more than $50 at any given time and I don't normally buy new shoes or a purse more than once every couple of months. Of course, if there are shoes and a purse and a blouse I need then it's more than $50. I know I'm not alone in this obsession - at least 2 of my friends have the same addiction, although Marie doesn't spend the money on the shoes and purses as often as I do. The reason I'm blogging this today is because I'm feeling the need for a new purse and I'm trying to talk myself out of it. See, my current purse is getting a little tired-looking and all my old purses that I usually rotate through when that happens are having the same problem. I need to get my nice Coach purses cleaned and fixed up, but I'm afraid it's going to cost me an arm and 2 legs. They both have plenty of suede on them.

I'm also currently obsessed with getting my kitchen started. I'm waiting for the go-ahead from Dave since he's the one that has to do all the hard work (enclosing a window and an outside door, placing a beam or header, drywall, etc.) If he isn't ready then it's not worth doing because my new cabinets would just sit in the garage until he's done with his part.

There's some weird news on the old employer front. The company I used to work for, MILA, shut its doors Friday. Of course, in true MILA form they didn't give anyone any warning and all their employees are now jobless. I feel extremely blessed to have left there before most of the worst of it. The management basically turned into a family dynasty and they obviously drove the place into the ground. I'm not sad for the management- we'll call that karma, but I definitely feel bad for my old friends who've been hung out to dry.

My mom comes home from China today. I'm excited to see what she picked up at the market and at the silk factory. The best stuff usually comes home from China. I'm hoping she did NOT bring home Sea-Horse-on-a-stick.

Friday the 13th

2007-04-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

13 is a lucky number for me- Dave and I got married on the 13th (February) so this day carries no dread with it. In fact, I'm taking a little trip down to Portland for the evening to visit with a friend that has been living in NYC but is going to be in Portland for the day (on a lay-over). I'm excited to have 1/2 day off from work.

Other good news- I had a test on Wednesday to check for PFO, which is a tunnel between the 2 sides of your heart. The test was pretty simple- they hooked two ultra-sound dopplers to a headband to monitor the arteries in my temples then they injected little tiny (safe) bubbles into a vein in my arm. The idea is that if the bubbles make it to my head they're going through my heart. No bubbles made it to my brain, so I'm clear, which is good news. They did the testing because 50% of people who suffer migraines with aura have that condition, and the condition itself is another risk factor for stroke (I already have several others). The other good news I got yesterday is that my insurance company has pre-authorized payment for Botox injections in my neck muscles, temples and forehead to treat the migraines. The neurologist said it would take about a month to take effect after the injections, so I'm antsy to have it done! If it works that means my headaches should be gone before my trip to Paris.

Speaking of traveling- my mom is in China presently. She's been there before with my dad when he was alive, but the group was going again and her friend wanted to go. Also, my Aunt and a few of my cousins were going so she couldn't pass it up. I'm not complaining- she brings back good loot from China :D

Here are a few of Camille's senior pictures that are new since the last time I posted pictures.

Our plans for the kitchen are coming along pretty well. It's almost time to order cabinets and I think we've picked out the granite we like (see picture). The other picture is of the kitchen layout we're going to try to copy (leaving in a post so we don't have to put in a beam). Right now there is a wall between the kitchen and living room. If we cut it out like this one we would put up a bar like they have. Our kitchen is a little bigger so the layout would be a little different, but this is the general idea. If you have ideas and/or comments please share them!

Reconsidering

2007-04-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

I suppose I may blog once in a while, but I feel like I have nothing to say. I don't want to be phony- I want to be real, but the last time I posted what was real to me it didn't work out very well. Here's what's going on in my life right now: I'm still having migraines but I went to the Headache Clinic at Swedish Hospital (where I was born, coincidentally) and feel like there may be some end in sight. The most immediate test they're doing is for PFO (go to http://heart.health.ivillage.com/congenitalheartdisease/patentforamenovale.cfm to read about it). I'm having that test next Wednesday. If you don't want to read the whole thing I'll tell you the test is harmless and painless and entails an injection of tiny bubbles (not of the alcoholic kind) into a vein in my arm, then an ultrasound to see if the bubbles get into my arteries (mixing of venous blood and arterial blood would indicate PFO). If I end up having a major case of PFO then I might end up having the closure procedure done. They've found a link between PFO and migraines as well as strokes. They're also trying to get insurance approval to do botox injections in the muscles of my neck, temples and forehead to get rid of the migraines too. (And inject a little here next to my eyes, doc!)

Let's see- there's a lot to update. Dave got a new job and then another new job. Right now he's in his last two weeks (2 wk notice) with Mr. Handyman before he starts a job that guarantees 40 hours per week and he negotiated a week of vacation pay for the trip to Disneyland we promised the kids this summer. Now we just have to find a place to stay since our free lodging fell through. Does anyone know where to get a really good discount on multi-day park-hopper passes? I can't believe how much it costs to get into the happiest place on earth.

Brayden is passing his classes currently (for those of you who know the story, this is a little miracle), Camille graduates June 6 and we (she, my mom and I) leave for Paris June 7. I'm so excited about this trip! I'm a little apprehensive about being on the plane for 8-10 hours straight, however. I've never been further than NYC. Shane is trying out for the Jr. High soccer team. It's tough for an 8th grader to make it, though. There's only a varsity team. We're crossing our fingers and toes. Chloe is being an 11-year old girl and she's adorable. She's getting even cuter as she gets older, which I wasn't sure was possible. She's funny, moody, etc. like you'd expect her to be.

Spoiled Camille recently inherited my mom's '87 Acura Integra because Mom bought a new Lexus. The Acura looks cute with her pom-pom's in the rear window. She loves the improved gas mileage it offers and it will get her to her summer job at the Boys and Girls club with uncle Rob (hopefully) in style. She's excited about the idea of getting paid for taking kids to the beach every nice day. Oh! And she finally got her acceptance to Western WA Univ., which is the only place she applied.

Dave finally finished the basement stuff and we bought a new washer and dryer (new to us, off craigslist). I love them. My old dryer took about 2 hours to dry a load. Not to mention they're super extra large capacity. He also installed a new shower/tub wall in the main bathroom for me, which I appreciate. I'm trying to get the motivation to finish painting the vanity in the same bathroom. I'm afraid I'll mess it up because I'm a bad painter. I get paint everywhere- seriously. My hair, the floor and everywhere else it doesn't belong. Meanwhile we're gearing up for the kitchen remodel. As soon as we're finished with the bathroom make-over I think we'll be ordering the cabinets. Once they're ordered we can start the demolition of the wall, etc. My friend Cameo assures me her husband Matt knows how to install a beam, which is the thing that has been stalling us the most. I just hope the roof doesn't fall down into the living room.

After reading my friends' blogs I've found I like knowing what their favorite things are so I'll list some of mine here:
Favorite TV show: House
Favorite Food: French Dip Sandwiches
Favorite Movie of all time: Dirty Dancing or The Man in the Moon
Favorite sound: Rain (yes, I'm a Seattle girl through and through)

Other stuff I like a lot:
Sleeping in
A day without a headache
Massages (by Cameo)
Snuggling with Dave
Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat under-eye concealer
My new Clarisonic face brush
L'Oreal's new Telescopic mascara
Watching 'House' with the whole family
Sunday dinner at Mom's
Memories of my Dad laughing
Looking forward to vacations

I'll post more favorites/likes/dislikes later. This post is already too long.

What's left to say?

2007-02-06T10:44:00.000-08:00

Like I said- nothing left to say. I won't be blogging here anymore- I know you're all very sad.

Ancient History

2006-12-13T16:22:00.000-08:00

The wind is going to blow my house to Oz today.

I was telling the Pod today funny things Brayden did when he was little. When he was about four-and-a-half we lived in Woods Cross, UT. He was in trouble so he was grounded to his bedroom for the afternoon. The little sneak climbed out his window with a $50 bill he'd swiped from my purse earlier, onto the roof of the garage which sloped down to the front porch and up the road to the neighborhood Apple store. LUCKILY Woods Cross is a pretty small town so they knew us and called to let me know he had my escapee who had attempted to purchase $50 worth of candy.

A Big Sigh

2006-11-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

Some days are just a big waste of makeup. Of course, you can't walk outside today without it all getting rained off. It's just pouring in true Seattle fashion. You can't live here and not get a few days like this. I wore my long 'commuter coat' today and got to work completely dry EXCEPT my feet and the bottom 6 inches of my pants, which were totally soggy. It was the wrong day to leave my vinyl rain boots in the closet. Last I looked out the window it was raining sideways. It's days like this we invite all the tourists in so nobody wants to move here.

In case anyone is wondering, we did lose the homecoming game to Bothell. Nobody really cared- the kids had fun anyway. Kitchen- still not started. No further progress made on the basement. My exact words to Dave yesterday: "Sometimes you make me so angry I want to hit you." That had to do with a basement clean-up that didn't happen and frustration about the basement and kitchen piling up, then the fact that he left the room while we were having a 'discussion' and didn't return for 2 hours. I found out today the reason he didn't return was more due to A.D.D. than avoidance, but still... He showed up at my work with flowers today. Some nice stargazer lilies. I can count on one hand the times that has happened in our 18 1/2 years of marriage.

I started blogging because it's a way to keep a journal of sorts. With the exception of Carol I don't think anyone reads it so it's basically secret, too. haha. The irony is, the more personal stuff I write, the more people would read it. I'll bet if I made up stories about a torrid affair I'd get thousands of hits to my blog.

Camille and I went to see Marie Antoinette Saturday night and I'm embarrassed to say that neither of us knew the story of her life. It didn't end with her be-heading (I found out later was how her story ended)- it just stopped when she and Louis August and the 2 kids left Versailles after the mobs chased them out. It was a strange movie. It didn't tell any one story line in depth except that their marriage wasn't consummated for more than a year after the wedding. I thought that was a strange thing to fixate on. Anyway, it was an okay movie but strangely written.

Soccer season for Chloe and Shane is almost over. I like to watch them play, but I'm always relieved when the season comes to an end. It's always cold and rainy at the last. Chloe's team party was Sunday afternoon but Shane still has 2 more weekends.

Next Tuesday marks the anniversary of my Dad's death. I'm obviously sad but I'm not sure what to do with the day. I don't know whether to celebrate his life, mourn his death or just go on. I don't really know what my Mom would have us do either. It hasn't really come up. I honestly can't believe it's been a whole year. A year ago I couldn't have believed I'd be able to live without him. Or that I'd be required to. We just had no idea he was going to die at that time. Not until the day he actually died. We were so stupid. All the signs were there but we refused to see them. Ignorance really is bliss. I don't know that it would've done us any good to know he was dying until it happened. It wouldn't've hurt any less. I'm sure of it. It was only a week ago my Mom cleared his clothes out of their closetÂalmost an entire year later. Healing is slow. I still find myself contemplating purchasing an item I think he'd like then quickly remembering he's not here. His chair is gone and his office rearranged to suit my mom. I don't think of him every day like I did right after he died. It's good because I'm not sad all the time, but I feel bad because he's not part of my daily life anymore. When I say my prayers I still find myself saying, "Please bless my Mom and Da.. please bless my Mom." That's a 39 year habit that'll be hard to break.

Enough of that. I'm sitting at my desk here at work crying. That's never a good thing. If you do that more than once you get a reputation as acrierr then nobody respects you. Hopefully nobody needs to talk to me until I can get some powder on my face...

Nuttin' Honey

2006-10-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

There really isn't much to tell. Work is work, the house is a mess and it's getting colder outside. Soccer takes up our entire weekend it seems. Chloe's games are on Saturdays and Shane's are Sunday, usually the same time as church so that's a problem. Neither team is winning much this year so it hasn't been as fun as usual. Shane's team was nearly undefeated last year so they moved them into a more difficult league, which has made it much harder to win! They're both good sports and hardly complain at all when they lose. They don't take after their father that way...

Still no progress on the remodel. In fact, it's been a few weeks since we saw any progress on the tile. It still needs sealed and the transitions installed. Purchased AND installed, that is. Maybe one day we'll get started on the kitchen- it's hard to envision it ever being finished.

It's homecoming week for Camille so I'm taking 1/2 the day Friday off to watch her cheer/dance at the assembly. They're playing their biggest rivals for the game that night, which isn't necessarily great because I don't think our team is as good as theirs. The possibility of losing the Homecoming game to our arch rival is pretty high. Camille has a date to the dance Saturday night- now I just have to get the dress hemmed. We're lucky we don't have to buy a new dress for every dance- Camille inherited her cousin Hailey's collection when she graduated high school.

Dr. McDreamy

2006-10-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

For all you Grey's Anatomy fans, Eat Your Hearts Out! I saw Patrick Dempsey up-close! They were filming at the Westin Hotel here in Seattle yesterday which is about a block away from where I work so we walked up and watched for a while. I took a few pictures with the lame phone on my camera, but I'm not sure how to get them off my camera onto my computer. If I figure it out I'll post them. Let me tell you- he's EVEN HOTTER in person than on T.V. He was really nice to the fans, and definitely dug the attention from the ladies. That was my first 'real' celebrity siting so I was pretty excited. I felt like a 12-year old school girl, but it was fun all the same!

It's a Doozy

2006-09-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Wow- I've been a real snooze-a-roozie! Watch out- I'm going to rhyme here- This past week's been a doozy. I've got that out of my system now.

Tassoula took a vacation week and it became apparent who carries the workload around here. The only good to come of it was that I got the opportunity to write a few things as well as proofread, so it was great experience. None of it made me look bad, but Scott didn't fare very well. There's still a little fall-out this week. Yikes!

Ooo- I need to post pictures of Camille cheerleading- I haven't done it yet. It's been about 4 weeks since football games started and she seems to be having a lot of fun. I think she's adorable, but I may be biased. No… I'm pretty sure she's adorable. I'll have to post pictures from home. For the first time in 2 weeks it's slowed down long enough at work to take 5 minutes to blog!

Get this-this is cool. My friend Marti I used to work for was buying cookies from us (another cheerleader fundraiser) and we were talking about remodeling (she's further along than I am). I was telling her about my beam mayhem and she mentioned that her son-in-law (she, her 2 daughters, their husbands and her 2 granddaughters all live in this house they're remodeling) is in his last year of school for structural engineering! Yep, that's exactly what I need is a structural engineer to help me with my kitchen problem. Matt was just getting ready to lay tile in their kitchen, which he'd never done before so Dave went over with his tile saw and helped him get that started and lent him the saw, then Matt's going to help us with the beam. Woohoo! We're still finishing the basement projects before we start the kitchen, though.

And the not as fun news of the week- I went to the doctor because I've been sooo tired I can barely drag myself up the stairs when I get home. I thought I was anemic, so the doctor took a blood test and said I'm not anemic, I'm diabetic and I should exercise. HELLO? Didn't I just tell you I can barely move at the end of the day? Exercise just isn't going to happen. Really. Not. So that was fun. So then I went to the endocrinologist (diabetes doctor) and HE tells me to exercise and I tell him the same thing. I told him to pretend I was a paraplegic diabetic because I'm not going to exercise. He asked if my antidepressants were working. He didn't seem surprised when I told him I didn't think they were. :P

Dollars, but no sense

2006-09-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

We got our funding for our kitchen remodel... now...does anyone know how to put a beam in a "stick-built" roof? Because we sure don't. I guess there was no such thing as roof trusses when my house was built because it seems every wall in the house is a load-bearing wall. They just threw up 2X4's everywhere to hold up the roof. CRAZY! So now we're in God's little acre between that rock and the hard place nearby. There's probably not enough money to pay an engineer and architect to figure out what type of beam we need and where to put it AND the guys to come install it, so do we just leave the wall there, or do we try to borrow more money to build the "dream" kitchen? And will having my dream kitchen make me a better cook? Unlikely. Will it make me want to cook? I was thinking it might, but I realized the other day I had a pretty decent kitchen in my Woods Cross house and I still hated cooking. Now I'm thinking, "Let's throw in some new cabinets, countertops, floors and maybe some lighting and call it good. We'll stay on budget and I still won't like cooking.

OH! By the way- I found out today custom built cabinets made of solid wood with dovetail drawers are actually CHEAPER than Home Depot's press-board, nailed-together cabinets. Yes, it's true. And the custom cabinets are built to within 1/16th of an inch of my measurements so I won't have a bunch of fillers and wasted space. True, I'll wait 3-4 weeks longer for them but I'm fine with that. Plus I can choose any wood I want. AWESOME.

Good news... the tile in the basement is all laid (except in the closets but that will happen soon). It just has to cure a few days before the grout goes on then gets sealed and the door transitions can get placed. Now don't go thinking that means the basement is CLEAN or anything... ha. I think we need to save some of the kitchen money to enclose the laundry room so the entire basement doesn't always look messy. Does anyone else have mountains of laundry all the time?

Picking and Choosing

2006-09-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

We are in that exciting and frustrating stage of trying to choose cabinets, countertops, features, floors and a few appliances. So far we're doing pretty well except we don't know where to get the cabinets. I reeheeheeally don't want to go thru Home Depot or Lowe's so we're going to try one of the smaller shops around town. We found a screamin' deal on granite countertops on craigslist. We weren't even going to try for granite but it's such a great deal it's less than laminate. Woohoo! We're going with carbonized, vertical grain bamboo flooring (which we're also getting at an amazing price off craigslist). We have a basic idea for cabinets- natural- or toffee- colored birch in a shaker style. Obviously it could change when we decide where to buy them. We're hoping to be able to afford pull-out shelves in all the bottom cabinets, a built-in spice rack, lazy susan's in the corners, at least one appliance garage- you know- some of the cool stuff.

The hard part isn't choosing the stuff- it's going to be putting in the beam where we're tearing down 1/2 the load-bearing wall to open the kitchen up to the dining/living rooms and put in a countertop eating area. We're also walling in the window and door in the back corner of the kitchen so we have more countertop space. Since we'll lose the light from that window I'm trying to convince Dave to put a skylight in. He says he hates doing them, but with one tiny window in the kitchen we'll either need a skylight or some really creative and possibly expensive lighting. Maybe without the walls blocking the light from the dining and living rooms it won't be necessary. He'd be happy to win that one!

If anyone has a great idea for an inexpensive dual fuel range that lies flush with the counter and preferably has a down-draft vent, let me know. The key words here are INEXPENSIVE and DUAL FUEL. Anyone who knows me knows spending over about $1000 on a range is a joke since cooking is not my favorite hobby.

I'd love feedback from anyone who has recently built or remodeled a kitchen!

Tile and kitchens and bathrooms, oh my!

2006-08-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

The tile in the basement isn't finished yet, the loan for the kitchen remodel is almost finished- it should fund tomorrow, and I'm really stressed out that we might spin our wheels and never finish any of it. I really want the kitchen finished- now. Unfortunately, when your husband is doing most of it that isn't a reality. I have to figure out where the fine line between sanity and money lies. How much of it can I afford to pay someone else to do? I'm pretty sure I'll have to hire out the beam and outside wall construction. I'm sure Dave can remove our old cabinets and demolish 1/2 the existing wall. Drywall? Better hire out. He can install the cabinets- but what about the gas line for the stove? The electrical? Oy vey! I can't even think about the bathrooms yet. We can't even seem to get the cabinets ordered, but should we even be doing that when the structural changes haven't been engineered or made? I know nothing about this stuff! Meanwhile, I'd really like the tile finished.

Camille's cheerleading uniform came in (most of it, anyway) so my brother Scott took her senior pictures last Saturday. I'm excited to see how they turn out. He's a really good photographer so I'm sure they'll be great. I think it'll be tough to choose which ones to print. The great part of having my brother take the pictures is that we get the proofs for all of them. I'll post a few once we get them.

My current campaign is to get to Paris for my 40th birthday. I am accepting donations.

Jon's Gone

2006-08-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it isn't a HUGE surprise that Jon didn't take the permanent position, but it was a pretty big surprise that when he turned it down they made Friday his last day. It's going to be pretty weird without him around here- maybe even boring. They are bringing him back while Scott's on vacation the week of Labor day, so we have that to look forward to, but since Scott will be gone the whole group won't be back together. It's a real bummer, but it was his choice, so we have to respect that. It does leave us in a lurch without a third writer, however. I'm not sure what H.R. is thinking we're going to do without that 3rd person. I know Tassoula is worried about it. It doesn't affect me that much because the number of jobs I have to proof doesn't change but it does affect Tassoula's mood, so I'm hoping we get some help in here!

Okay, anyone in the greater Seattle area thinking of getting pregnant, THINK TWICE. I swear, everyone I know that's pregnant (except Carol) is having problem pregnancies here. Micaela had horrendous pre-eclampsia, Brandi did the pre-term labor, now Marie has a rare and dangerous liver condition! This is not the place to be having babies, I'd have to say. Maybe it's the naturally soft water. I'm just glad I'm not having babies anymore!

More vacation pictures

2006-08-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

Family in the tent (minus Camille)
Julie and Chloe riding Waverunner on Moses Lake
Shane and Camille in campground hot tub
Chloe roasting her dinner
Shane "Spike" Merrill

Camping Pictures

2006-08-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Our Lake Easton campsite
Camille Sunbathing
Brayden at Lake Easton Store
Dave and Julie at Lake Easton Campground
Antiques (and Shane) at the Lk Easton Store

Camping in Moses Lake, WA

2006-08-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

I'm such a slacker! We're back from our family vacation to Lake Easton and Moses Lake. We borrowed my friend Jennifer's Waverunners and took them along while we camped. We had a great time- seriously! I didn't really want to go camping, but it was really fun and I'd even do it again. We were also able to connect with my childhood friend Jana and her husband and 5 boys. It was great to catch up with her and to see her kids. Just like mine, they keep growing up!

I'll post pictures of the trip. There aren't many because I forget I have a camera. Maybe Camille will send me some she took. She always has her camera in her purse. Isn't she a smarty?

We stayed the first night in a 'real' campground where we actually had to rough it a little. The next 3 nights we were in a resort campground that had electricity at our site, a pool with a water slide and a huge hot tub shaped like a flower. I'll post pictures of that. It was nice except for the lack of shade. We just had a great time hanging out together and teaching the boys to share the Waverunners.

I didn't stick very well to my diet. I'm afraid it has been more exceptions than rules for me so far. I opened my closet full of clothes that are too small right now and that motivated me to have a salad for dinner. I guess I need to do that daily!

Dave said he checks my blog all the time to see if he's mentioned, so he's getting honorable mention here. I'm sure he'll finish the tile this week (hint, hint) and that when we start the kitchen remodel he'll work on that daily so it is finished quickly! Positive thoughts, envision the end result and it will happen... all that psycho-babble.

Tomorrow it's back to work to see what's happening with the crew. Jon comes back from Michigan tomorrow and we're hoping he has decided to take a permanent position in our happy little group. He's a contractor right now and if he doesn't accept their offer we have to replace him with a permanent writer. Everyone pray that he'll take it- we really like him!

A One Day Diet Hiatus

2006-08-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

I've been doing really well on my diet but am planning to blast it big-time while in in NEW YORK CITY Wednesday! Yeah- you read it right- I'm going to the Big Apple to hang out with Nikki (my awesome friend in Utah) who has to go there on Jet Blue business. She's giving me a buddy pass and a bed in her business-expensed room. Woohoo! Free trip for Julie! Well 'free' is relative because I'm sure I'll spend some money on food, ETC. while I'm there. I'm leaving after my jewelry party tonight (takin' the red-eye) and coming back Thursday at noon, just in time to get things ready for Marie's baby shower! I haven't been to NYC since April of my senior year of high school. For anyone counting, that's more than 21 years. I realize just now I didn't even take a camera with me the first time. Don't you love the digital age?

I have to hide my excitement from Dave because he just sees it as 'rubbing it in.' I feel bad he's not going, but not bad enough to stay home. I'm not stupid, right?

It's possible this could make up for having to camp on our family vacation. Not for everyone else though... I still feel kind of bad for them. Maybe we'll win the lottery and take a vacation to Florida instead. Of course, we'd have to buy a ticket to win. The odds are way worse if you don't. I wonder if a lot of people in South Beach are on the diet?

Thanks to Carol for reminding me to refill my Relpax. She's right on her game, as usual.

All the Excitement

2006-07-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

In all the excitement of having company I haven't blogged for a while. We had a great visit with Dave's family. I'll post some pictures once I get them downloaded.

We went to the church camp-out last night. It was fun for the kids (until Shane got blasted in the nose by a Frisbee and Chloe landed on her tail bone when a swing broke), but Dave's and my air mattress lost most of its air in the night so we ended up sleeping on the hard ground. That was probably the catalyst for the 2-relpax-800mg-ibuprofen-and-one-percocet migraine I had today. Hey, Carol- if you read this remind me to refill my relpax Monday, k? Carol is my cousin's wife and my brain most of the time since mine is absent. She even has a brain when she's pregnant (which she is at the moment).

The idea of spending our vacation CAMPING is NOT exciting me presently. We're working on getting a trailer, so that would help a little.

I've gone back on the strict part of the South Beach diet (for 2 weeks you eat no sugar- even fruit or starchy veggies!) So far I'm doing okay, but it's only been 2 days. Dave is doing it with me which makes it a little easier except he's prone to cheating...

Micaela (I have a link to her blog to the right) and her husband Ammon had a going away party tonight. They're moving to Colorado while Ammon does a Master's program. It was an 80's party so I put on Dave's shirt, put a belt around my hips, tucked my stretch pants into my socks and teased my bangs up as high as they would go. It's a good look for me (and oh-so natural as I was in my prime during the 80's).

My mom is at Cape Cod today. She called to tell me how fabulous it is. I'm a little jealous- I would've liked some of her lobster dinner... mmmm. Time to go eat b-b-q'ed cod. It just isn't the same as lobster!

Company

2006-07-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

All our company came Saturday- My husbands Dad and his wife Alene, his brothers Steven and Chuck, his wife Michelle and their son Kyle, his sister, her husband and their two kids, Marshall and Austin. That's ten people, folks! Lucky for them my Mom is out of town and all of them but Steven are staying at her house so nobody is sleeping on the floor. Dad and Alene brought their big travel trailer and are sleeping in that in the driveway. It's really nice! We've been having a blast- Saturday afternoon we took Dad and Alene to Dick's for a late lunch, then once everyone else got here we all went to the Bite of Seattle where we had dinner and/or dessert and the kids played in the fountain.

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to church in the morning then up to Deception Pass (my favorite place on earth so far) where we cooked hamburgers and hot dogs over a fire for lunch. We stayed at the north beach for a while then went up and let the kids swim in Cranberry Lake for the rest of the afternoon. We got home around 7:00 p.m.

The bad news is that Chuck woke with a toothache yesterday and didn't come with us because he was in a lot of pain and nobody could see him on Sunday. He went to the dentist at 7:00 a.m. today. I hope they fix his tooth so he can do some fun things with us.

I think today they/we're going to the locks where there is a fish ladder then to Ivar's on Lake Union for fish and chips. I'm at work but I think I may leave in time to go to Ivar's with everyone! We'll see how the day plays out.

I miss having a lot of family around but I really don't miss Utah. The past few days have been over 90 degrees and it reminded me how much I hated the heat! It's a lot of fun having Dave's family here, though. I forgot how much Michelle and I have in common and how much I missed her. Plus, we have a chance to get to know Richard (Dave's sister Julie's husband), Marshall and Austin. We moved right after Julie married and haven't been around the little boys at all. They're so cute and really funny. I'll post pictures of the vacation after we get them downloaded.

Yada yada yada, blog blog blog

2006-07-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

I proofread ONE job at work yesterday. It's slow in my department because the store managers are the ones that keep us busy and they're too busy with the Anniversary Sale to worry about advertising something new.

One might think it's nice to have a few really slow days at work, but the days seem to last 18 hours. I would take up sudoku or crosswords but I get easily bored with stuff like that, too. The problem with having nothing to occupy my time is that I sit here and worry about all the things that aren't being finished at home. I could be painting the laundry room or cleaning the bathrooms or at least making the kids do their chores. I'm not saying I WOULD be doing that were I not at work, but I could.

Shane turns 13 tomorrow, then I OFFICIALLY have 3 teens, although I've been claiming him as a teenager since I started the blog. He was close enough- I doubt his behavior will have changed much by tomorrow!

My mom flew off to Vermont yesterday for a few weeks. I used to get terrible travel anxiety whenever she and my dad traveled. I get it when I am traveling by car but not by plane which seems completely bass-ackward, but that's how it is. I am always afraid I'll fall asleep at the wheel. I am prone to that, plus I have several friends who were seriously injured as a result of falling asleep while driving. I've never known anyone to be injured or killed in a commercial aircraft so I don't have any qualms about that. You'll probably never see me in a small plane, though. I know five people who have crashed in those, 4 of whom were killed.

When I went to the doctor yesterday to follow up with my withdrawal from Effexor and mentioned my feet are swollen like water balloons he didn't really offer any options to alleviate it. He also said exactly what I was dreading about anti-depressants- that there aren't any decent ones I haven't tried so maybe I should take up yoga (yes, he actually said that) or go to a psychologist. Or a psychiatrist to see if they have any new drug ideas. I have to say, I often wonder why I was blessed with depression AND migraines. One or the other is challenging enough for most people. I tell myself it's because God thinks I can handle it, so it must mean I'm a strong person. I don't really believe my own rhetoric, however. I was probably a horrible person in a past life and karma is paying me back.

Attitude Adjustment

2006-07-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I haven't taken advantage of the on-site massages offered bi-weekly here at Nordstrom Corporate before today. When I got the email yesterday I decided to give it a try and it turned out to be EXACTLY what I needed. I can't even tell you how much better I feel- MENTALLY. You'd think it would be the physical benefits I'd enjoy most, right? Maybe it was the 15 solid minutes of concentrating on relaxing or just the deep breathing, but I highly recommend it to anyone feeling like scratching out someone else's eyeballs.

Major Packard is a yoga enthusiast and had suggested yoga might be helpful in combating my headaches. I trust it probably would, but here again we have that whole lack of motivation on my part. In my defense, I did make a SMALL effort to find an affordable yoga studio but found it an exercise in futility. They either charge 12.00 per class (smoking crack would be cheaper!) or only offer "Hot" Yoga, which is a particularly heinous form of torture where you're enclosed in a room with the heat cranked to 110 degrees then try to exercise without passing out.

Cheerleaders in Ellensburg

2006-07-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

Last night Dave, my Mom, Chloe and I went to Ellensburg to watch Camille cheer at cheerleading camp. It was fun although really hot, and a long time to sit on bleachers. She was obviously the cutest one there and the squad did a good job on their cheer and dance. 17 cheerleaders is a lot. Maybe too many.

Other than that I'm really emotional and insanely crabby now that I'm not on any anti-depressants. I've tried them all and I get the weirdest, most obscure side effects (hair loss and itching, anyone?) from each of them, so I'm not sure what to do next. They say exercise is good for depressed people, however one would have to actually be MOTIVATED to get out and exercise. Motivation is the antithesis of depression, so I don't see me taking a jog (or doing much of anything, frankly) any time soon. As my mom has pointed out, I'd rather wallow in self-pity than do anything about this. Also a symptom of depression... It's a downward spiral on all counts.

Just guessing, but I doubt anyone wants to read my increasingly negative thoughts so I'll try to be in a manic phase when I write tomorrow. Hysterical is my new middle name.

A Major Reply

2006-07-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

Lucky for you all Major Packard included the past correspondence in his latest email reply to me so I was able to recover the paragraph I had previously deleted. Here is what he says:

'...What a load of hyperbole! I am a humble public servant. The secrets rolling around in my head were heard on CNN before they were told to me. The most danger I face is from a paper cut on my delicate unsullied hands...'

I still say he's just being modest.

Tassoula and a friend of hers have started a movie review podcast I'm really looking forward to hearing. As soon as she gets the podcast posted add a link to it - if that's possible!

A Few Days Off

2006-07-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

I had to work the Nordstrom Anniversary sale Friday so I didn't sit at my desk all day. Obviously, I never made it to the home P.C. either!

Major Packard emailed me a reply to my blog about him. I was going to copy and paste part of it but I absentmindedly deleted it and then instead of clicking on "trash" to retrieve it I clicked "empty trash." I'm not the brightest bulb in the string. Scott was being modest anyway.

I spent Friday night and most of Saturday melting down due to the fact I'm totally off the anti-depressants. Well, that's not entirely true- I started the new ones I ordered from France but they either aren't at a therapeutic level yet or they don't work. It was a fun weekend for Dave and me both. I've never felt crazier! We did have some fun riding in a Hummer Limo to Benihana downtown for my cousin Tim's birthday party.

Tomorrow Camille goes to Cheer Camp and Dave, Chloe, my Mom and I are traveling to Ellensburg (yes, the same place the barn cats live!) to watch "Monday Night Live," which is the cheerleaders from every school at camp doing a cheer and a short dance. I'm pretty excited about it as I haven't seen Camille or her squad cheer yet.

Every Sunday we have dinner at my Mom's house. She's basically a gourmet chef so it's the best meal we get all week. Today we're having marinated steak. Mmmm!

P.S. I'm so proud of myself!

2006-07-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

Check it out- I got the links to work!

Pictures of 'The Cast'

2006-07-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

Pictures:
Major Packard sitting on one of Saddam Hussein's thrones in Iraq

My pod mates from left to right: Scott, Tassoula and Jon at Café Senso Unico. We walk over there every morning so they can get their coffee

The fam after Sunday dinner at my Mom's house. Chloe and Camille are on the couch, Dave's in the chair, Brayden's in the red shirt on the floor and Shane's the one on the floor in black and white

My Favorite Major

2006-07-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

I got some positive feedback from my favorite Marine (okay, he's the only one I know), Major Packard. He's an old friend from High School (read: old high school boyfriend) with whom I reconnected after our 20th reunion. Since he is published in a couple different magazines the nice comments about my writing were mucho appreciado!

Scott is one of those people with whom you never quite have enough time to hear all the stories you want to hear. Maybe it's just me, but the idea that there are U.S. military secrets bouncing around his head makes me want to keep him talking. I don't want to hear the secrets, per se (okay, I do, but I know he'd never tell) but I love to hear about all the cool places he's been and the scary things he's done. It's the stuff can't-put-it-down novels are made of, you know? I'm not even sure of his job description these days, but at one time it had something to do with anti-terrorism, which made me feel a little more secure since he's good at everything he sets out to do. He spent time at Guantanamo Bay (since the prisoners arrived even), was in Somalia when the 'Black Hawk Down' incident occurred and recently spent six months in Baghdad. He's the one I email when some new thing starts happening in the world. Maybe if he reads this he'll post his take on the recent Israeli actions in Lebanon.

I actually have more than one friend in a dangerous job. My friend Heidi whom I've known since I was 13 (26 years- 2/3 of my life!) is a detective in St. George, UT. During her first week as a detective she found herself at the end of an escaped felon's gun (I think I have this story right) and had to shoot and kill him. This girl is 5'2", 100 lbs dripping wet. Before becoming a detective she spent several years on the S.W.A.T. team and as a bike cop. On top of that she had custody of her sister's three children along with her own four plus one adopted son. That's 8 kids. She's a better woman than I!

Tomorrow is the biggest day of the year for my employer (Nordstrom)- day one of the Anniversary sale. We'll make more money in the next week than we do the entire holiday season. The downside is they make the desk jockeys (a.k.a. ME) work in the store for at least half a day. This will be my first Anniversary Sale 'on the floor.' I'm confident I'll screw up at least once. If you're an A.S. devotee don't forget you get double reward points if you use your Nordstrom card the first two days of the sale. That means you get to your Nordstrom Note for $20 a little sooner (what can you get at Nord's for $20 besides socks?) HAPPY SHOPPING!

Since it posted twice accidentally

2006-07-12T10:24:00.001-07:00

I guess I have to write a new post since I unwittingly posted the story about the barncats twice. There isn't an option to delete so here's my edit.

I spent the entire evening last night doing one of my LEAST favorite activities- painting. Not only walls, but ceilings. I can't think of many things I enjoy less than painting ceilings. On top of that I didn't get to sleep at a decent hour, I'm down to a measly 10mg of antidepressant on my way to quitting them completely and a few of the people around me are pretty crabby today. Come to think of it I may have PMS as well, so the next person to look at me wrong may get their eyeballs scratched out.

Dave spent most of the evening while Chloe and I were painting making a trip to Lowe's for tile spacers, being grouchy and generally wasting time on the computer. I don't think I need to say anything more about that. As long as the floor is done before his family gets here...

I'm trying to figure out a new and possibly creative way to get the kids to do chores while nobody is there to supervise them. If anyone out there has ideas PLEASE POST THEM!

Chloe asked me while we were painting if I remembered when I fell down the stairs with her in our Woods Cross, UT house and sprained my ankle really badly. I couldn't believe she remembered that since she was only about a year old at the time. She assured me she remembered it vividly. That's amazing- I don't remember anything before I was about 2 1/2.

Barncats in Ellensburg

2006-07-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

I have three really funny 'pod' mates at work. Tassoula, the lead writer, is an expert story teller and a rabid U2 fan. She's the true definition of 'fanatic' when it comes to her love of the band. I was shocked to see she has only ONE fairly small U2 sticker on her Saturn. If I can figure out how to do it I'll add a few web links where you can read some of her writing. The websites will be U2-related as you may have guessed.

Scott Clampett is a rock star. Seriously! He played guitar and sang for his former band called Amateur Lovers. This wasn't a garage band, folks- they opened for Ben Folds Five on a west coast tour. I'm in awe of anyone who can write music- a talent I wish I'd been blessed with but definitely WASN'T. He isn't your quitessential rock star, however. He's quite humble and a real gentleman. He wasn't forthcoming with the 'rock star' information at all- I had to pry that information out of him.

Jon Decker is the pretty, quiet one- sort of. He doesn't run off at the mouth like Tassoula and I, but he's sharply witty. He's a Cancer like Shane who is really sweet and sensitive. I see some similarities in Jon. He's sweet and pretty private about things that matter. As he put it he 'doesn't tell everyone everything about himself.' We know when he's done with the conversation because he turns around in his chair and puts on his big headphones. We love him anyway.

As an advertising team we think we're pretty creative and we definitely amuse ourselves. Anytime one of us spouts a particularly amusing phrase someone will say, "Hey, that would be a good band name" and Tassoula writes it down. We've compiled a fairly lengthy list of potential band names, one of which is 'Barncats in Ellensburg' based on the story of how two of my kittens had left one morning to become barncats in Ellensburg on a ranchette owned by one of Dave's co-workers.

That's the short story made long about how my blog got its name.

The Queen Who Lost Her Crown

2006-07-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

With three teenagers and one high-maintenance 11-year old in the house I'd be crazy to think I'M in charge.

Can anyone tell me how I became so uncool? I mean, I'm a really hip chick for 39- I know who all the current designers are and I even own a few pairs of 'cool' jeans, so why do I feel like June Cleaver? I think it's Camille's fault - my 17-year old gorgeous bouncy blond cheerleader who weighs under 100 lbs. and is adored by everyone. I'm pretty sure the only thing she inherited from me is PMS. It's the reality she is a SENIOR in high school hitting me SMACK! in the crow's feet that finally made me FEEL old. Not my 20th high school reunion or my husband's neices getting married and having babies. Realizing she'll be 18 in under six months makes me want to dig in the sides of my SKIS, skid to a stop (spraying snow on my intimidating next birthday) and Daffy Duck it, back up the mountain.

Above diatribe aside, I'm really not DREADING my 40th birthday. Reaching it beats the alternative, right? Plus, by my 40th birthday (barring any tragedies) I'll still have 4 healthy, intelligent children and a healthy, intelligent (contrary to what you may hear in later rants) husband. Turning 40 isn't going to change any of that or who I am. I'm hoping by then our basement will be fully restored to its pre-Christmas Eve-flood state or better, to weigh a little bit less and to be a lot smarter. I don't think that's asking too much!

Dave is my husband of 18.5 (yes, that .5 IS important) years. He's pretty nice most of the time, and a handy guy. He's the one in charge of fixing up the basement- his current project is to lay 493 sqare feet of tile in the hall and laundry room. This is when he gets nagged the most, although I still claim I'm NOT a nag. Nagging doesn't do any good with Dave since he's passive-aggressive. A Carpenter with A.D.D. (building yachts) by day, fixing our basement by night doesn't provide much variety but I'm certain he'll live through it as long as he gets it done.

I have a 15 1/2-year old attention-deficit technophile, Brayden, who is currently spending his every penny on components for his suped-up computer. I'm hoping the machine will cause him to pass English next semester. We gave up on traditional school with him and enrolled him in Washington's new ONLINE high school. We're hoping it's the perfect solution for our little Nerd. He has great brains and wit- he just lacks the attention span to make our expensive school district work to his benefit. I submit that teenage boys are blessed with a wicked sense of humor as a means to keep them alive. I can't count the number of times I've been ready to beat him severely about the head and neck and been reduced to laughing by his sharp wit.

Shane still has the early-teen potty humor going on. He'll be 13 in NINE days. I think that explains that. He's definitely the sweetest of my kids when he isn't torturing Chloe his 11-year old sister and baby of the family. He's the go-to guy- the one that does all his chores and most of mine without much complaint. One-tenth his energy is all I would need to run a marathon. He literally BOUNCES around the house. Logically, he is the skinniest one in the family- I believe he weighed in at 73 lbs. yesterday. That's probably exactly HALF what I weigh. He's really athletic- at 4'6" he's the goalie extraordinaire for the Thunderbolts. He doesn't have much vertical leap but his reflexes are amazing. He's also the most entrepeneurial of all of us. It's a real blessing because I'm counting on him supporting us during retirement. He promised to buy Brayden his very own house the other day so he wouldn't have to live with his parents or wealthy brother forever.

Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. She's the spoiled baby sister just like me. Drama is her middle name, which is appropriate because she aspires to television and movie stardom. Speaking of- I need to remember to find her an agent. All that talent for drama really ought to be directed by a professional. She's ADORABLE- she looks just like I did at her age (yeah, I was cute). At least once a week we hear, "You are SO CUTE! You look just like your Mom." If they look closely they'll notice she has a cute little booty and darling freckles on her nose while my booty is saggy at best and I have wrinkles instead of cute freckles. She's WAY more athletic than I ever was, though. She is one of the better players on her soccer team and is even trying water polo this summer.

I just got a call from Camille and realized one other thing she inherited from me. A complete LACK of sense of direction. We can't find our way out of a paper bag, to steal a phrase from my Mom. I'm thinking her high school graduation present will need to be a navigation system. Am I WAY out of style, or was her question of where to buy LEG WARMERS a little strange? There was my 3rd phone call from her asking which of the freeway interchanges to take to get to Wal-Mart.