an update

since I haven't posted in forever...a post to try to at least get some things down before I forget them.

• Ben says "are you?" instead of "where are you?" I love the existentialist quirkiness of it.
• Kaia has been taking excellent care of her friend Ben's rats for the past week. They are cute, but MY GOD THE STINK!
• Ben has been saying "up! down!" and "1!2!" and "lay down!" and all sorts of other concept type things. He also loves "GO AWAY!"
• Kaia is moving out of the constantly morose phase! She is frequently cheerful, and has even said "yes, mom" and not argued a few times!
• Ben is in a hitting phase. I have not found a punishment that does not make his laugh.
• Kaia lost 3/4 of the stuff in her room. Though I said I would slowly give it back, she has not seemed to miss any of it, except her art stuff, and her room has stayed looking like a room, rather than a tornado site.
• Ben is doing awesome in his mattress-on-the-floor bed. Even when he protests sleeping, he stays in bed.
• Kaia just got her first legos. (damn, they're expensive!) She has spent several hours already building things, and they are a toy I will happily spend money on in the future.
• Both kids slept with us last night to take advantage of our one fan. I love having my whole family in the same room, all snuggily together. Our king size bed helps make it a happy thing, and not a get-your-elbow-out-of-my-ribs thing.
• Mike has next week off, and we are staying home! We will be going to parks and such, but mostly relaxing and spending time together. I am going to try to talk him into severely cutting our computer time that week.
• Kaia's reading skills are through the roof. Except for an occasionally mispronounced word, you'd never know she was only 8 if you heard her read. There are adults who consider themselves educated who can't read as well.
• Ben also loves to read. We'll sit in the car waiting for Mike after work, and we'll all be looking at books. I love it.
• Kaia starts school in a few weeks with her new teacher. She's unhappy about it, and I hope that her new teacher is better than anticipated.
• Ben knows his colors if you have him show you "red", etc, but not if you say "what color is this?" He can show you red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple (sometimes). He still thinks anything other than "one" is "two".
• Kaia learned how to do the "twist" the other day, as well as the arm motions for "YMCA". She's very proud, and will do them for you if you ask. or even if you don't!
  

Lazy Bullet Update

• My tallest pea plants are almost as tall as me and have blossoms!
• We start Phase One of Making My House NOT Look Like I'm Twenty And Just Moved Out on Saturday!!!
• This school quarter is almost over! Then I only have three more...until I enter the two year ultrasound tech program...
• My other plants are doing well, if a bit sporadic in their sprouting.
• I met my brother's baby's mom this past weekend. From the little time I had with her, I like her okay. We didn't click well enough that I'm disappointed they aren't together, but enough to be okay with her being the mother of my niece (like I have a choice, of course!)
• there isn't a whole lot more in my life that is exciting, so I think I'll end this post!
  

A General Update

I guess I need to post an update for those couple of people that read this!

We're settling in well in our house, though there's still a lot to be unpacked. Weekend by weekend it's coming along...

The big news, of course, is that we adopted a dog! I'd post a picture, but my camera is...well, packed. Daisy's a spaniel/lab mix, white with a few big black areas and black spots on the rest of her. She's full of energy and not exactly what you'd call trained, but she's full of love. Kaia and I are going to take her to obedience classes starting on the 28th. Look for many pictures in the future!

I started classes again, so I'm pretty busy. We found a wonderful woman to watch Ben for 2 hours each day so I can take one class during the day and one at night. She brings her 19 month old son with her, and he and Ben get along marvelously. She and I have very similar philosophies on life, which help when sippy-cup sharing (no big deal) and illness (it happens. again, no big deal) come up. Ben adores her, and she bought a double stroller to take both boys on outings to the nearby park!

Kaia is back in school, and doing fabulously. We got her mid-year report, which is very different from a public school report card. It said many wonderful things, and very nicely wrote about her efforts to become less bossy (I'll believe that when I see it!) She has a real best friend (she used to call everyone she met her best friend) and still loves her teacher. Her room is a study in chaos since the move, and this Saturday my goal is to finally tame it (with fire, if need be!)

Ben isn't talking much, but getting into everything. He understands everything you say to him, and babbles happily back. He's getting over a stomach bug (we all had it, but he was the worst) and is happily devouring everything in sight again. Unlike Kaia, he is unsure about the dog, but getting used to her.

Ok, reading back over that, it sounds like a Christmas letter...so Merry Christmas! and I hope you all have a wonderful 2009! My posts will be sporadic, as I am limiting my futzing about on the computer time.

wow. I am exhausted. I drove down to Vancouver Friday night to see Tania, Chloe, and Kathy. Because I had a school function to go to first, I didn't get there until 1:15am. In the morning I had meant to sleep until 8:30, but woke up at 7:30!! Very strange. I visited with my mom for a bit, then headed down to Tania's. It was awesome having all three of us together again. (the last time was right after Ben was born, and I was too tired to really remember much!)

Though I give Kathy a hard time about still living where she does, I do understand her (many!) reasons. But it would be so cool to see her more often, and more so, to have all four kids grow up together.

I left there at 7:30 or so, and stopped by the store to get coffee and snacks, then headed out of town. I got home at 10:30pm, and headed to bed. As usual, Ben woke up before 5, then again before 6. I think I may miss class tonight, since it goes until 10, and she is reviewing things I know. Going to bed early would be so marvelous.

I decided to keep up with the 3 days a week work out, and not worry about increasing yet. There is a class that does weights, step, and yoga on Mondays and Wednesdays (which I've done twice. yes, it is brutal), then a spinning class on Fridays (which I have not tried yet. I am sure it, too, is brutal). Ben is getting used to child care there, and likes all but one of the girls who watch over them. He doesn't dislike the one, but she's not as snuggly as the others, so he doesn't calm down as fast (though it still only takes a few minutes).

I am really cold too. We can't have the heat on in the living room during the day because of the type of heater it is (it's on the wall and gets VERY hot). I turn it on at night, but it's definitely getting colder as winter nears.

All right. That's enough mindless chatter for now. I think coffee is in order, both for the exhaustion and the cold.

long overdue post

Wow. So life has gotten busy in the last couple of weeks! Here's a breakdown of my week -

On Sundays I work at the hospital for 4 hours.
On Mondays and Wednesdays I have Math class.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Spanish.
On Wednesdays I go to the farm to get veggies. (only 4 more weeks of that I think)
Three to five days a week I go work out at the gym.
When I can, I do homework.
Monday through Friday I take Kaia to school, then pick her up in the afternoon.
Monday through Friday mornings I take Mike to work.
Tuesdays and Thursdays I pick Mike up from work after picking up Kaia from school.
Every night I cook dinner, usually from scratch.
I make bread 2-4 times a week (sometime I make the dough in the bread machine).
I try to do at least one mom's group event a week, though it usually works out to about two a month.
Add to this cleaning the house, cooking other meals, grocery shopping, and taking care of Ben every day!

We also just got our new really cool health insurance, so I am busily making and going to chiropractor, doctor, and dentist appointments for all four of us.

Now, I am by no means saying I am busier than most people. On the contrary, I know I am not. However, I am much busier than I used to be! And you know what I found out?! I like it! I am happier and far more content now than I was just a few weeks ago! I am looking forward to changes in the next year, but I am okay (for the first time in years) with exactly where I am now. This pleases me.

What plans, you ask? I'll tell you! (even if you didn't ask!)

This January our lease will be up. We are all looking forward to renting a house closer to Kaia's school and Mike's work. Here are our requirements in a house -

• 4 bedrooms, or 3 bedrooms and a close-off-able den/office
• I'd prefer only one story, but it's not necessary
• A big back yard!! Room for: a garden, a kids' play area, AND!! fully fenced, because...we are going to get a dog! We're going to search the shelters until we find the perfect one - small or medium-ish, good with kids, young enough to grow up with the kids, good with cats, and hopefully not too yappy.
  

Over the next year or so we will also be saving up for a down payment for when we are ready to buy a house, and continuing to pay off debt.

I will continue with school, and will be ready to apply for the Ultrasound Tech program starting in the fall of 2010. Mike is working with a couple different people on games. Kaia is still LOVING school, her teacher, and her friends. Ben is getting bigger and more interactive every day!

Life is good.

excuses, excuses

I really wish I could send you over to John's blog, because he cracks me up with his insane meanderings! Sadly, he uses MySpace, and on MySpace, he has chosen to make his blog private, so only his "friends" can read it! So you miss out on a wonderful entry about Cub Scouts, pubic vs. public, beer, discussions of gourds, confessions about crooked toes and sex, and more! All in the same post.

He also requested I blog more. I know I haven't written much, I have just been really busy, and I'm about to get much more so. School starts again this week (for me) and so any time I have will be dedicated to family or homework. With an occasional frenzy of house cleaning. I do apologize to the 5 readers I have. I will try to at least post a picture or two from time to time.

be back when I can.

a small post at least

I've been sadly neglecting blogging, I know! I've been really busy! let's see if I can recap some....

• Kaia started school, so that means 2 trips a day into Bellevue for me. She ADORES her teacher, LOVES school ("More than anything, mom, even....Star Wars!!") and begged to be able to stay for Aftercare, which is free this year only, so she is there from 8:15 to 3:15, except on Thursdays, when it's 8:15-2:30
• We remembered the tags on my car have been expired, and it had to be taken through emissions, so I did that. It failed. Bad catalytic converter!! nasty, but at least we had Mike's unused vacation pay from his last job, which just covered it!
• I am working on Tania's pregnancy scrapbook nightly....she is due TOMORROW!!!! and will be going in to be induced tonight if she doesn't go into labor today.
• Ben is walking everywhere. He's getting his balance, which means he can walk FAST. Keeping up with him takes up most of my day! I'm putting him into a play group at a kids' gym - they have a big ball pit, and swings, and lots of balls, which he loves!
• I start my second semester of school in a week. I am taking math and Spanish.
• I began volunteering at the hospital on Sunday mornings. I work in the emergency department, and it's going really well. Not only will it help when I apply for the ultrasound tech program, but it really is helping to make a difference, and I need that weekly dose of reality!

I will try to post some pictures soon.....

Big Changes

Mike has a new job! He'll be working for a huge IT company here in the NW, and making over 20 grand more a year than he does now. This means so much for us. We sat down together last night and went over everything we want to do over the next year or so. Some of our goals are:

-pay off debt! We owe to credit cards, relatives, car loan....
-401k! This company matches 50% for up to 6% of his salary...so that means that we'll be putting about $400 a month into it, and they'll put $200. Adds up fast.
-birthdays, holidays, just because days. We are going to be able to buy things for other people now!
-buy land, and build a house, or buy a house on land. We finally decided that an acre or two is the right size for us, and we want a small-ish, one story 4 bedroom house. Since most 4 bedroom houses are big, we will probably be building. I found the plans online for one that I love that is less than 2000 sq feet. After we pay off all our debt we can start seriously looking into this.
-after we buy the land and build the house, I can get a new car! I am really loving the Mazda5. We are waiting until after buying the house so that can be our financial priority.

okay, I guess those plans encompass more than a year...more like 2 or 3. Also, in January, we are going to move to a different apartment closer to Kaia's school to save on gas money. Mike's new job has its own bus system, and they will pick Mike up, and he gets a free bus pass, so we still aren't going to get a second car for awhile. If we can find an apartment close enough to her school, I can walk her to and from school every day!

Another HUGE benefit to this new job is their medical benefits. We pay NOTHING. No paycheck deduction, no co-pay, no percentage. ALL our medical comes at no cost to us!! I'm sure you know how awesome that is without me having to go into details.

Add in a year raise, yearly bonus, discounts on more things than I can imagine, and you get one happy Michael, and one happy me!

Student At Large

So since we moved here I've been planning to go back to school in the fall of this year. I hadn't looked at the classes I was planning to take for over a year, so forgot that I had added in a bunch just to take for fun....so when I looked at it last week, I realized that if I took out all those, I would be ready to apply for the Ultrasound Tech program at the beginning of 2010, meaning I would start - if accepted - Fall Quarter of 2010!!!

That's only taking 2 classes per quarter, which is awesome, since I need to take night classes until I am in the program. Night classes are either Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Thursday, meaning if I work it right I can be taking a class all four days. I'm starting with only one class though, since it's Summer quarter, meaning less time to do the same amount of work, and to get back into the School Groove.

Of course, I decided this last Friday, and today was the beginning of the quarter - though the class I signed up for doesn't start until tomorrow night. I signed up for Algebra 097, a class I've taken before, but ten years ago, so I don't remember much. Since Math is my weak point, I don't want to take any chances about keeping my GPA high, so I'd rather start fresh and keep up. I only have to take 3 math classes for the program - 097, 098, and 099. I'll write another post later about the other classes I'll be taking, as well as the volunteering I need, and want, to do.

I'm really excited to start, despite the fact it's math. I am confident I'll do fine in the class since it's all just reminders, and Mike is super supportive and excited about me going to school too.

after the coffee

Happy post! We have some fun things planned for this weekend. Tomorrow we're going to a picnic with about 100 people in my mother's group. Then Kaia's friend Ben is coming over for dinner and we're watching him for a couple hours. Sunday we have no definite plans, but it'll be nice to just spend some time together.

I want to go over to the east side of the state for several days to visit Andrea and her family, but I think I need to wait until Ben more used to sleeping in his crib, that way transitioning back to it when we return will be easier.

Then next weekend is Kaia's birthday party on Saturday, and the Strawberry Festival on Sunday! Oh! and before that, on Thursday, her actual birthday, my parents and possibly my brother are coming up!

I attempted to make english muffins today, but messed up on converting the flour from grams to cups, so didn't put in enough. They tasted good though, so I will definitely be trying again. Mike said I have a talent for making things that turn out fabulous. gotta love that man.

Talked to Shane today, and we both agreed our families need to get together more. Then of course we went over our calendars ... "can't do that weekend...can that one..oh, you can't? hm...how about...no...hmm..." but we both decided to make something happen at some point!

Also got to talk to Kathy today. Now that she's working again we don't talk on the phone as often, so it was awesome to hear from her. I miss that woman. She said she will most likely now be coming for Thanksgiving, so we're back to having both her family and Tania's!!! My first big Thanksgiving dinner! Well, not counting the one a couple years ago...that was a bit of a fiasco, so I am having a do-over.

When I am not feeling all sorry for myself, I recognize how lucky I am. I have a wonderful husband, marvelous children, and fabulous friends. Just because I haven't yet made some here doesn't mean I won't. I should have learned by now that the most special things come in their own time and are so worth it when they do. Somewhere out there are some fantastic women who I will someday get to know. Maybe I've met them, or some of them, already. All I can do is go out into this world with a smile on my face and an open heart. and I can do that.

Weekend Plans

• work on Tania's scrapbook
• organize scrapbook shelf (before working on scrapbook)
• organize patio
• go swimming
• celebrate Father's Day in some currently unplanned way
• sleep
  

blah blah blah and oh! BLAH!

Sometimes I sit down to write a post and I have so much rushing around in my head. Words of insecurity, words of pride. Stories of my kids. Harsh rants about government or the environment or my dryer. Exultant babblings about blueberries or Kaia's school or Trader Joe's.

And I can't get them out. I can't write it coherently enough for public consumption. Or I start to, and it's whiny, or braggy, or some other such thing I don't really want to publish. So I close it, or delete it, or change the subject.

So here I am, writing a post about not writing several other posts. Exciting, yes? no? hmm....how about an abbreviated version of a few of them in the form of unsatisfyingly short bullets? mmkay.

• insecurity: I am tired of "making friends"here. I want to HAVE friends here. I am tired of being unsure of how others think of me. Unsure of how I am seen by others. I am tired of caring, but I can't stop. Also? I want a darn talent! something, anything, that sets me apart.
  
• pride: I have made a lot of progress in my non-spending of money. My kids are both happy and healthy. I am very secure in my marriage.
• kids: actually, I have nothing in this category right now, but this is one area I feel I cover pretty often.
• rants: for the first time, I am nervous about who will become our new president. We need major change, and fast. our country needs to wake up and start making other changes too. We use THIRTY percent of the world's resources. and my dryer needs to be looked at. the damn lint thing doesn't catch all the lint and I'm worried it'll build up inside.
• babblings: I'm still excited about my blueberries. There will only be a couple handfuls, but I am growing blueberries. Nothing specific really about Kaia's school, I just still really love it. I can do an entire grocery shopping at Trader Joe's in half an hour, thanks to the small size of the store. Since that is also about the length of time Ben will sit in a cart, it's a wonderful thing.

There is so much more. and right now, since I am tired, it's mostly in the insecure category. I don't really want to write an entire post about it all, because it will give the impression I am unhappy, which really isn't the case. I am content with so much of my life. I find new things about my husband every day that make me gloriously happy to be with him. I look at my kids and almost fall over with amazement that I am so lucky to have them.

and I'd write more, but gotta go pick up Kaia! Thanks for reading, please come again!

to sum up....

I am tired, so you get a bulleted post....

• We had a great time down in Vancouver. We really wish we could have seen Mike's sister and step-mom, but there simply wasn't time.
• Thank you Mick, for my Trader Joe's gift card, and thank you Kate for my shoes! Both are awesome birthday presents.
• Thank you mom and dad for the humor book, amber (!) pendant, bracelets, cd, and framed cross stitch. I didn't get one thing this year that I feel is breaking my rule of nothing in my house that I don't love!
• I am so glad we got to hang out at Tania and Simon's. I can't WAIT to see that darling little baby girl of theirs, and I really wish I could go to Canada next month. :-(
• I am fighting desire for a Wii.
• We discovered when we got back that one of our cats let out anger at our disappearance by peeing repeatedly on our bed. The futon mattress is ruined.
  
• However, we are possibly getting some money soon, and I have some birthday money, so we are getting a new, king size Japanese-style futon to replace it.
• This means we can sell our old bed frame, which will also help pay for the new bed.
• Kaia and my dad took my parents' dogs for a walk. They tried to run away while Kaia was holding both leashes. She knew that one of them would be hard to catch if she got away, so HELD the leashes, even though she was DRAGGED several feet! I am proud of her for that, though she would not have gotten in trouble had she let go.
• Ben is getting easier to travel with! The car trip both ways went very smoothly.
  

Sunday Family Outing

Well, I was going to upload pictures of our haircuts, but blogger decided that wasn't going to happen at the moment...I'll try again later!

Mike just got his usual "very short all over, longer on top than on the sides and back" cut. I have been dithering about getting my hair cut because of how long I've been growing it out, but I really never wear it down, and it annoys me more than anything else, so I got it cut in sort of an A line...as it grows and I get it trimmed it'll be more of an A line (longer in front than in back). Kaia originally wanted her hair short all over, but then changed her mind and wanted hers like mine. Her hair is much more suited to an A line and looks ADORABLE.

I wasn't impressed with our stylists. I won't go into details, because it's not important, we'll just go somewhere else next time, and I am mostly happy with the results.

I am happy I decided to just cut mine, and Mike, though skeptical at first, seems to like my hair this way too. Kaia's haircut will hopefully cut down on the morning snarl fight!

I will try later to post pictures again!

I think TWO cups of coffee are needed today.

I really shouldn't even be spending time on here right now, I have so much to do today. But I thought you all should KNOW what I am up to! So here is my itinerary for the day:

take Kaia to school.

on the way back, stop by Whole Foods for the all-natural marshmallows that I have to use for the rice krispie treats I am making for her school faire this Saturday.

then stop by Kinko's for that label paper to print out ingredient labels for the food I make for the faire.

come home, quickly get cake into oven. hopefully it will be done before....

go to infant play date with 8 other moms from my mother's group.

come home, frost cake.

make rice krispie treats, cut into shapes.

cut cake into individual slices.

wrap cake slices and treat pieces in saran wrap (note to self: make sure I have enough saran wrap)

print labels with my name and ingredients and put on treats.

take to Kaia's school by 3:15. (luckily, she is going to after school care today, so I don't have to pick her up until I take the treats)

with both kids, go to Trader Joe's and do a grocery shopping.

make dinner.

I really, really hope Mike doesn't work late today. I have a feeling I am going to want to hand over boyo as soon as possible.

hmmm...I wonder what my Aunt Carol is doing this afternoon....Ah-Yi, would you be interested in coming over and keeping me company while I bake?!

Almost 7....

Today is Kaia's birthday celebration at school! I took her biography in on Monday, and snacks in today. Mike is working from home so he can go too! I'll try to remember my camera.....

Ben is doing much better in the crib. He slept almost all night in it last night. (he still woke up several times, but I put him back almost every time.) He's not as scared when he wakes up in it now, just a bit mad. He still needs to fall asleep before he's put in, though I'm hoping to work on that in the next few weeks.

He LOVES finger foods. He figured out yesterday how to reliably get the food actually IN his mouth, and we have to only give him one piece at a time, or he'll stuff his mouth full then gag.

I found Kaia the perfect birthday card! It's a big one, about 1 square foot, and on the front it says "Long Long Ago...." then inside it says "You were born" and plays the Star Wars theme music! She's really into Star Wars right now, and will adore it. Natasha so nicely offered to help with her birthday party, and the plans for it are going well. It's going to be pretty simple, but I want it to go smoothly. I need to remember to get an updated contact sheet from the school office.....

Gotta get back to cleaning! Hope y'all have a wonderful day!

This, That, and the Other

I feel there is so much I should, or could, write about that I haven't written because it all seems overwhelming. And a couple of the things are really important, like my mom's surgery, and Tania's pregnancy, that doing a post that includes all of them seems to trivialize the important ones. But if I keep this up, I'll never write a post again! So, please forgive me, mom and Tania, for putting your really important things in with other not so important things. So, here, in a probably very long post, are some of the things that I've been meaning to write about lately......

First up, I realized I haven't mentioned Tania's pregnancy much, if at all. The initial reason for that was that she wasn't telling everyone right away, and though none of the people she wasn't telling read my blog, or really even know about me, I thought I'd honor her desire to keep it all on the down low. Then when she DID tell everyone, I'd already known for awhile, and I didn't have the "OH MY GOD THERE'S SOMETHING AWESOME HAPPENING" chance to write about it. However, it IS happening, and it IS AWESOME. She finds out whether she's having a girl or a boy on the 30th. I was starting to think about a baby shower for her, but she is having one in Canada, so if I had one in Vancouver, there'd only be a couple of people. I think instead I will just do something special with her sometime in the coming months, and ask her sister in law, Sarah, to help me get some scrapbook stuff done at the shower. It would be nice to go to Canada, but I don't have a passport, nor the $100 it takes to get one, not to mention the money to get there. Ah well. Another time. Back to fun stuff!! I am SO sis-cited to meet her baby!!!!

My mom went in for hip surgery yesterday. It was successful, and I've talked to her a few times today. She's very tired, but excited that it's done, and looking forward to trying out her new hip! She's going to get the second one done in a few months, then planning on going hiking again for the first time in years! I'm really happy it's going well, and sending many many healing, happy thoughts her way.

At school the other day:

Kaia: Ms. H, I know what s*x is!
Ms. H: Oh, really?
Kaia: Yes, but I have to whisper it in your ear, 'cause some of the other kids might not know yet.
Ms. H: Okay........
Kaia (whispering): It's when a mom and a dad take off all their clothes except their underwear, then they hug and hug and hug!!

At my mom's house this past weekend, Kaia was watching TV. We don't have one, so she hasn't see actual TV shows for a long time. The show went to commercials. She watched for a minute, then looked over at me-- "Mom, what is this?! My movie was on, then all these....something came on that wasn't my movie!" I told her those were ads. She was confused. "What are ads?" I explained. She wasn't impressed. Yesterday, on the way to school she brought it up again. "Mom, why do those companies need more money? They already have money!"

I'm in a bit of a funk today. Something going one with a friend that I am trying not to take personally, because I am 99% sure it ISN'T personal, but my insecurities are rising, and I really would like it to be resolved. I don't know her very well yet. What I do know says that it isn't about me, and I keep yelling at myself that it isn't always about ME, in fact, it rarely is! I'm being selfish and egotistical to think it's about me. So I should just let it go. And I'm trying. It's so not this big of a deal. Okay, enough now.

Ben! He is so wanting to crawl! oh! and while we were at my mom's, I was standing with him in my arms in the kitchen with a few other people. He was wiggling and fussing and pushing away from me, so I put him on the floor so that I was holding on to his hands while he was standing. He looked all around at everyone, then grinned up at me like "NOW I'm just like everyone else!" He's so aware of the world around him. I'm working on a few things with him. Trying to get him to go to sleep without nursing him to sleep, and helping him get used to his crib. Today he woke up from his nap in it and didn't immediately start crying! He just looked around. Progress!! Last night he slept in his crib for a three hour stretch!

Okay, that's enough for now. Must work on house and dinner.

Anyone know any good recipes with marjoram?

Today they decided to test the fire alarms here at our apartment complex. Now, as a veteran of accidentally setting off fire alarms, let me tell you I've heard some loud ones. The ones here? Are the LOUDEST DAMN ALARMS I've ever heard! And they didn't just set them off then be done. No, instead, testing apparently means setting them off randomly for 20 minutes.

So Ben and I decided to head down to the produce market near here and buy some veggies.

Instead! I bought herbs: oregano, thyme, marjoram, and....something else...and also strawberries! I also bought some potting soil and compost, but I already have pots. I am going to take Ben's high chair outside on the porch while Kaia and I have an impromptu gardening session this afternoon. I will take pictures and post them later!

drat...it was sunny all the way up to now...it's starting to cloud over...darn this weather! Doesn't the universe know I wish to have some mother/daughter time later?! I know I made the appointment....I think.....

Hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday!

A Rare and Unwanted Occurance

OH MY GOD. We have snow in April. I am just shocked. We don't always get snow in December here in the Pacific Northwest, much less at the end of April. I am personally offended. I just moved back after three years in snow country.
I was looking forward to NO SNOW. I think it followed me.

Not The Morning I Had Planned

My car has had the check engine light on for some time now. It stalls in hot weather, and sometimes in cold. It has no power going up hills, or whenever accelerating. This morning? It wouldn't start. Twice. So to the dealer I went, not having any idea where else to go for reliable service. Turns out the battery and spark plugs are bad, and it's time for it's 90,000 mile major service. One nice part is that they gave me a free loaner car. I will save my happiness for the stalling issue until I know for sure it's fixed.

It's nice that we had the money to get this done. It used up our reserves, but at least we HAD reserves for just this sort of emergency.