Christmas Eve, Christmas Day....and then life goes on!

Christmas Eve we were blessed by being able to take some friends with us to services.  We have been taking mom and the two kids with us on the weekends the last month or so.  It was really wonderful that the older daughter and dad were able to go with us this time.  Dad recently had to take a job as a long haul trucker in order to make ends meet since the construction industry is dead in Vegas.  He went from a stay at home dad (on unemployment) to almost always on the road.  It's been quite a transition for the family so we have tried our best to be there for them.  I have been very thankful to be able to have them this week to help make cookies and cut out snowflakes for our decorations! 

Mom & Dad bought Sarah a cute little sweater dress so of course we had her wear it to church :)  Getting this kid in a dress is difficult so I'll take every opportunity!  Note her hair is still dark but at least it has gone down to a pretty brown.  I've decided to just go with it and see what happens....definitely not dying it blonde! 

Christmas was sparse this year and I didn't mind at all!  I actually had an iPhone app where I kept track of our Christmas present expenditures and stayed on budget.  That was a new concept for me.  Sarah knew we were going to be paring down this year so she wasn't expecting much.  We told her, even though she is very aware of "santa", that santa wouldn't probably bring as much this year.  Still, we managed to keep one surprise in the shed until Christmas morning!  Tracy had done some extra work this year for a friend that made it possible to get the one thing she really wanted....

So life is good and now we go back to the routine....well almost, since Sarah still has a week left of vacation until we go back to the school schedule.  She is going with Grammy and Grampy camping.  I'm sure she will be terribly bored this time of the year but it's better than staring at me at work all day!  God bless to all.

Last Day of School Before Christmas Break!

The Christmas orchestra concert was adorable.  The kids all played their holiday renditions with nervous excitement.  I might try and post the video here if I can get it to work.  Needless to say, we were very happy to have all the Christmas music practice finished with!  Sarah has been practicing 45 minutes almost daily for awhile in order to be perfect.  This was quite cute since she had to put her phone on speaker so that one of her best buddies and she could practice "together". 

Today is the last day of school before Christmas break (I refuse to say "holiday" break).  They had spirit week so every day you have to wear a specific item or color.  Today it was a Santa hat.  Luckily we have one at the house so of course we had to Santa out with our mid calf black tossle boots and festive sweater with the hat!  She looked adorable and was so ready to go to school in order to be done with it :)

Can you see the happiness?

It's finally feeling like Christmas

Life has been interesting around here lately with each of us getting sick as one got well!  We are finally starting to all feel better, so this weekend was time to decorate for Christmas. 

 
I wish I could say I'm excited for the holidays.  This year, with the budget tightened up, I have to remind myself it is not about what you can buy but how we spend our time together!  I am hoping to create a day of thankfulness and good food....now all I have to do is figure out the menu :)

I love to share blessings!

We have friends that are having a "surprise" child.  They have one Sarah's age and now are expecting their miracle.  I say miracle because they were let to suspect that they could not have a child on their own again.  My first response...and they one I still hold, is that God has a plan for this child and his family!

I helped throw the baby shower this weekend.  I can't even imagine trying to gear up after 12 years!  They need everything and WOW, their friends and neighbors really pitched in.  I am so thrilled that even in today's economy we can all get together and do what it takes to really welcome this little guy.  I can't wait to meet him and see what the future will bring :)

My Plentiful Bags Experience

I ventured out into the unknown to see what Plentiful Bags had to offer and I was pretty happy with the results!  Who knows what you will get and I was pretty surprised at how organized and pleasant the whole experience was.  In our bags we received a large bag of seedless grapes, 5 pears, 6 green apples, 6 oranges, 4 grapefruits, 1 whole pineapple, celery, 1lb bag of carrots, 5 lg cucumbers, 4 yellow onions, 8 sm Mexican squash, and 8 yams!  I can see some great dinners in our future this week. 

I will definitely do this again!

Is Bartering Back?

 If you work in a financial area of business like I do in bookkeeping, my central activities are not connected in any real way to the basic “stuff” of living.  We would have to say I lack in basic skills that could really help out in case of emergency.  I can creatively cook, take care of my family, and do basic things...but if asked to barter for something of value when needed...that might be tough.  I've been thinking, that with the economic downturn in Vegas, many people have shifted to an "if you can do this for me then maybe I can do this for you" mentality.  It's actually kind of cool that I have a VERY handy man around that can fix almost anything and knows a lot about a lot of things.  We actually have acquantances who ask him to fix things for them rather than calling businesses because 1. they know he is basically unemployed and 2.  he's really a guy that will do it right or it will drive him crazy! 

We have a really great orthodontist.  I was talking to him (we gave him a good chunk of the insurance money) and he told me that he's been able to barter services for other services so that everyone gets what they need.  He definitely has a skill set that is valuable so he is able to get things done!  We did talk then about getting a sound system better set up in his office and home and such (I am not above bartering for our service and neither was he) and we might actually be able to work something out there to get Sarah's teeth done....we'll see about that.  But I guess it got me thinking that we all have to be open to some changes if things continue out here like they are now.

Getting back to normal

We received a check from the insurance company and are starting to buy our "stuff" back. It's a strange process. You have to buy everything and get reimbursed back for a portion of it.  It's a fine line because for instance, we have to buy another TV for $1780 in order to get $355 but of course they only give you  $1400...which we could do but since we have decided not to replace the TV we give up the $355. We have decided that it is better to pay down some "debt" rather than us it where it is not needed but I sure would have liked to have the extra money to pay down more! Oh well, somethings just aren't that important in the end.
 
We have so far replaced the laptops with some upgrades (justifying this by not replacing the ipods and using the money here instead :) Tracy was able to get our universal remote so he's happy....also an upgrade in his opinion (I'm simple so whatever makes him happy is good!) I also went out and bought a purse/wallet and ordered all my Mary Kay makeup back. It's rather funny that although I don't really wear makeup that often, I missed a few things when they weren't there! I have been blessed with a lovely friend who replaced the makeup at almost cost plus shipping so in effect, I was able to get double and keep 1/2 in my purse and 1/2 at home. I think this will make life much easier! We also made sure Sarah got all her allowance money back so she is a happy girl!


There is more to do...more to deal with, but it has been fairly simple considering. I'm thinking a camera/security system is in our future if we can cost it into the deal.  Somehow, feeling safe is now a consideration!

Our Staycation

I was kind of funny this year.  I only work a 6 1/2 hour day M-F so that I can pickup Sarah after school everyday.  With the folks around the corner, summer vacations are spent traveling in the RV and finding new places to roam.  I think it's worked out beautifully for Sarah in that she can have the relationship with her grandparents that we wanted for her as well as two parents at home when she needs.  Tray has worked it so that he is always able to take her to school in the a.m. so the days are pretty set.  This schedule has worked out pretty well except for school holidays and teacher days.  My folks aren't always home during the school season since this is generally the time they spend traveling around on their own.  I don't like to ask them to break into their retirement to be around for those unless they don't have something planned!  They didn't retire to be our daycare :)  So....last week came up and there were teacher "in service" days and I took a couple of vacation days.  It turns out that surprisingly, Sarah hasn't gotten sick this year so I have some extra days to use up by the end of the year(still 7 more to use!).  Due to the economy and such we don't have the extra to go somewhere else so we decided to hang out around Vegas for a bit of a "staycation"!

If it were up to Sarah we would stay home and do nothing!  Who knew that we would have a kid that really wants nothing more than to hang out with her friends instead of doing something...anything else.  She could read, draw, write, talk on the phone, play games, watch TV rather than go somewhere.  I suppose I "get it".  She likes her down time more than most people I know and she has no guilt in taking it!  I decided to go with it this time and let her hang out with friends and such and just do one family activity....we went to the Titanic Exhibit at the Luxor.

The Titanic Exhibit was really nice.  I don't know if I would have paid full price for the experience based on our current finances, but I definitely enjoyed the free tickets Tracy's customer gave us.  We were handed a "ticket" of someone who was on the ship.  You are able to walk through all the cases of artifacts with all the information they have on them.  There was a really wonderful man who worked there that kindly kept track of us during our walk through and told us some additional information and stories he had learned while working for the exhibit.  It was really quite extraordinary.  At the end you can look on the wall and try to find out if your passenger survived the disaster.  Mine survived and I think I might look up what happened to her and her family. 

In the end, the long weekend was really nice.  Tracy, Sarah and I were able to spend some time just hanging out with the lessened pressure of schedules and life.  I'd have to say this was a successful "staycation".

Halloween!

Yes, I really did let her dye her hair black.  It was the most asked question this Halloween as people began to realize that Sarah's hair was not a wig.  I have decided to not worry about the "little wars" when undoubtedly there will be more important issues in our future.  It's a semi permanent dye and should wash down in about a month...we'll push that a bit with good old prell shampoo but it definitely grabbed her dark blonde hair so I'm guessing variations of it will be around for awhile!  In the end, I'll call this a "win" since she calmly announced she will be happy when it is out and she is back to normal.  She even assured me she won't be wanting to dye it again for at least 2 years now that she knows what it's about.  She has about the same reaction to having to put the makeup for her "goth" character on every day for the last 3 days!  She says makeup is too much work :)  Still, I have to admit she looked rather cute with her darkened hair.  It gives us a glimpse into the future since I'm guessing it will go naturally much darker than it is now.  For now, she will be happy to run toward that simpler life of no makeup and lighter hair!

Recovered

It's been a long couple of weeks.  Getting broken into has had a few effects in our family.  It seems I feel the need to lock doors now.  I don't feel "crazy" about it, but still...when Tracy isn't there I don't feel quite "safe".  We've been ok for the most part now that Sarah is back to sleeping better.  She had some problems getting her work in at school and paying attention, but it seems to be mostly back to normal now.  Life is starting to go back to how it used to be.

We did have an interesting experience yesterday.  We went to two pawn shops with the local police to look for some of our things.  Evidently we are unusual in that we kept some pictures and information on things taken.  We have been pretty good about keeping boxes for laptops, phones, etc for at least a few years as well as receipts for major purchases.  Funny enough, the camera we just got the day before the theft was one of the things stolen.  We had the receipts and serial # handy and were able to get it back yesterday!  Luckily we had only taken a few test shots with the camera so I wasn't worried if we received the chip back.  The biggest thing is not having a good camera to take pictures with.

The visit to a pawn shop can be an interesting experience!  There were some pretty unsavory folks in the pawn shops we visited.  I know this may not be the case everywhere, but personally I wouldn't have gone in these by myself.  They had some great merchandise by the way...I looked around while we were waiting for the managers.  The one police officer indicated that although the shop is required to take and ID from each seller...because people don't always have a great description of their property...much of what was there will have been stolen but can't be proved.  Did you know that a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds, and that more than 12,000 laptops disappear each week from U.S. airports alone and only 3% of laptops are ever returned.  I saw that evidenced in these shops.  As tempting as these deals were I don't think I could buy them from there, knowing that there was a possibility that I was benefiting from someone else's loss.

Oh...revelation:  criminals are really that stupid!  The people that stole our camera took pictures of themselves and people they knew with our camera...sometimes in front of our stuff...and left the chip in the camera!  We were also told that this is not an unusual thing!  Some of the pictures were pornographic in nature so I didn't actually look at all of them, but Tracy was able to pull them off and supply them to the police and the insurance company.  Crazy, right?

So basically...I'm feeling better about things.  We will be getting our lost list into the insurance company and hopefully getting some reimbursement for that...and I've learned some interesting new stuff.  I'm sure more will follow :)

Tish & Tracy 10-14-1995

My husband and I have been blessed to have found each other.  Today we have been married 15 years.  We have known each other 21 years.  By now, there have been a lot of lost marriages along the way.  I'd like to say I know what makes a good marriage over one that won't last but sometimes you just don't know.  I know that we faced marriage as being a forever deal.  I haven't been sad for even a moment that we chose each other.  There have been a few challenges but I have to say I still feel like the luckiest woman alive.  I heard Tracy tell our friend Sean this last weekend at his wedding, to do at least one nice thing a day for each other...even if she doesn't acknowledge it, it changes the way you look at marriage.  You are each other's best friend, the one that should be there always, even when you don't feel like it.  I've always felt like Tracy has been there for me.  He does more than just one nice thing a day for me.  Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by how much love he gives me and Sarah.  I hope that he feels that way too.  I can't wait for the next 15 years....who knows what life will bring, but I do know whatever it is, I can face anything with my dearest husband with me

Our friend Sean married his best friend this weekend. It was such a beautiful wedding. It reminded me of Tracy's and my wedding 15 years ago. This was the first time we met Kendra and I am sure we would be friends if we could spend time together. I can tell already that she is just the person Sean should have in his life. We were able to spend the weekend sans child. It is unusual for us to go anywhere without Sarah but we decided to honor the kidless reception and enjoy our "almost" anniversary. We came back exhausted but happy to have been able to spend some grown up time together. Happy Wedding Kendra and Sean!

Invasion....

We got broken into.  Thankfully Tracy had left the house for a few hours and he didn't encounter them, however they did invite themselves to a few of our things.  I guess the money amount is probably not that much for most people...and we do have homeowners insurance but I still feel invaded upon.  The police didn't show up for 5 hours so we got to "stew" in the loss before they came.  They took a 60" flat panel, 2 laptops (the one we just got for Sarah's birthday), my purse - which I left on my dresser because my shoulder was hurting and I didn't want to lug a big old purse around, an old ipod, Tracy's jewelry box with some family history, Sarah's allowance that she had been saving and our change jar.  Oh, and they took the wine out of the wine cooler.  It was not a major invasion but now I'm crazy about locking the doors.  How did they get in...either Tracy accidentally left a door open when he left or they came through our dog door...it doesn't really matter.  I'm thankful there are no broken doors or windows.  I found out a couple of days later that they probably hit the puppy...our neighbor to the back of the property heard him yelp and cry out like he was hurt and came running out.  I'm saddest that they hurt him.  He has been very needy this week.  Hopefully he will start to trust other people again.  I think he will...he is such a sweet soul.  So, I'm dealing with a sleepless child, a roll around in bed husband, and the tax man this week at work....can you say overwhelmed?

What you want is not always what you get.....

It turns out that sometimes I might or might not misinterpret Gods plans for us.  Tracy believes now that we need to stay in Vegas.  Obviously the market is horrible and we can't sell our house for anything near what it's worth.  His work is consistent despite the economy...14.3% reported unemployment.  I have reason to believe the unemployment is much higher but that's who is still receiving payment...we aren't talking about those underemployed, not taking unemployment any longer, or just given up folks..but that's a story for another day.  Regardless....I have to resolve to accept that I am stuck in Nevada.  I guess you know I don't enjoy living here.  From the outside it might seem like this is a great place to live...lots of entertainment....places to go...things to do....and all the time I'm trying to find a good place for family stuff.  I wish I knew Gods' plan.  I wish I knew why were led here.  God know why we are here.  Maybe he will let us in on it soon....in the mean time, I guess we stay here and I try to be happy and make more family through friends.  It's life...we are meant to live it even if we don't know why things are the way they are

Nut, Crazy, Psyco, Racist, Nazi, etc....

So if I disagree with your political position you can call me names? I guess I'm starting to get a little bothered that some of my "friends" think that they can call anyone who doesn't agree with them politically or socially little "names".  Truthfully I do not currently affiliate myself with a particular party.  They are all starting to get under my skin.  I'm a social and political conservative so most people assume I'm a Republican or a Tea Party member.  I usually have voted on the Republican side but am willing to look at any candidate whom I believe would stand up for my values and principals.  That also means that I am more than willing to get rid of ALL of the politicians on the hill right now that have made a long career of being a politician.  They've screwed things up and frankly I'm done! 

What bothers me most is that I am not finding liberals who believe as I do.  I would like to. We might be able to actually get somewhere if there was true "tolerance".   Do they really believe that "someone else" caused all this chaos? 

Here are a few names being called out this week both from left and right that I can remember:  psyco,nut, racist, nazi, intolerant, unintelligent, irresponsible, stupid....
I'll let you decided what side these names were coming from but it was largely one side and I don't know how you can call out those names and expect to be able to have a conversation with the other side.  Come on people....

History can be fun......

This week a picture of my 8th grade graduation popped up on facebook.  One of my friends commented that I should check it out and see if I could find myself in the picture.  And the adventure began.....

I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about grade school.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I've put most of my early life behind me.  I always felt out of pace with my upbringing.  I'm starting to think now, it had more to do with my folks moving every year until we moved to South Bend in 1972.  Until then, I had attended 3 other schools.  Nuner was a scary place.  Everyone seemed to know everyone and their extended family seemed to live around the same area.  I was "the new kid", and if I fit, I didn't know it because I was so insecure about being the "new kid".

Fast forward to this week.  When the picture surfaced and people from my class started talking I realized that we are all really normal people.  We have lives, kids, experiences and I'm no different.  All the "popular" kids are just people too...and the geeks like me turned out just fine from what I can figure out.  I'm sad that to find that some of those little faces are no longer with us.  I only have vague memories of them but they exist as part of the time when my family finally set down roots and gave me a history to be able to look back on. 

Life is good and old friends and new are a great blessing

Hiking!

We had such a lovely hike today.  Generally speaking, though I love to go out in the open, I'm not a very athletic sort.  Today we were invited to go hiking with one of our friends-a youth group-and some friends of his from work.  We had about 30 of us.  Sarah did not want to take another hiking adventure but since we are the grownups....we used our executive decision to go anyway :)  Despite the fact that she claims she hates hiking, she lead the group up the top of the hike and seemed to be enjoying herself...not that she will admit it now!  I even made it most of the way without wheezing away.  (allergy induced asthma symptoms are annoying!) It was a beautiful day and I'm so glad we made the jog up there. 

The Bodies Exhibition

We weren't allowed to take a camera inside the exhibition so I could only copy one from the internet but you get the idea...the exhibition is "real" meticulously dissected and preserved bodies showing muscular, reproductive, respiratory, circulatory and other systems of the human body. Many of the bodies were posed in athletic poses to expose certain aspects of the body.

What was most interesting is how the kids reacted to these things.  I think if it had only been ours there may have been a different reaction...however, with the addition of 2 additional kids, we had the issue of some social reaction as well.  The bodies shown in full were primarily male showing all body parts.  Although we had generally talked about these things, seeing them in full detail was at first disconcerting.  This didn't really detract from the learning experience though.

I did not realize that there was a room devoted to fetus's.  There were quite of few fetus's at different stages of development.  I don't think Sarah or her friends will ever think that a fetus is not a baby after seeing those tiny little fingers and toes fully visible at such early stages.  I think those alone, will bring up some fascinating discussions in the future!

We were thrown a bit of a curve when we went to pick up Sarah's friend and the little brother came out the door as well. We had no reason to elect to take him, but after checking quickly to make sure it was age appropriate, we proceeded forward...after all what is one more kidlet in the whole scheme of things! 

Fast forward through the exhibit, which was well worth going to....and dinner at the Asian Buffet...we dropped the kids off at their house for a surprise sleepover.  I think overall this was a really nice family day.  I hope everyone else is celebrating their long weekend doing something fun and wonderful!

Finally....our camera has arrived

Sometimes I'm so happy with customer service.  It has been rare these last few years.  The experience with our camera has proven that every once in a while, it still exists! 

We had Sarah's birthday party at LaserQuest.  It is run by some fairly young folks that have yet to be anything but helpful and polite.  We were towing out all of Sarah's birthday presents and party supplies at the end of the party.  Somehow, our camera managed to get tucked under a chair and we left without it.  Thankfully, I was looking for it right after we unloaded the car and realized we had left the camera behind.  We called quickly and the staff put the camera in their office and told us to come and pick it up at our convenience.  We decided to go after church the following day only to find out it was stolen out of their office!  They could easily have not done anything since it is clearly posted that they are not responsible for items left behind.  Instead they quickly offered to replace the camera but just needed to figure out how to get it purchased through their corporate.  Fast forward through the search for receipts/box/or info on our camera, the corporate guys bought us a similar in price camera (an actually much better than the one we had) and had it shipped to the LaserQuest where we picked it up.

Thanks to LaserQuest I have a new camera to enjoy and be able to continue taking pictures of our lives!  I will definitely go there again and recommend them to our friends!

School Begins Again

Here we are again at the beginning of the school season.  Sarah has made it through her first week of 7th grade.  It barely seems possible!  Yesterday she was starting kindergarten! 

Wow, what a week!

Tracy is out of town yet again doing some side work.  I'm happy these jobs come about but I have to admit I'm a woman that likes her man closer to home every night.  It's good though that he has things to occupy his mind and energy.  Sarah has also become far more interested in socializing with her few friends so I have only had her home 2 of the 4 nights so far.  I'm trying to stay positive that this is in her best interest to become more outgoing and involved in others.  She has been such a quiet little thing that this transition has taken me a bit by surprise.  It's all good though....

Our camera was stolen at Sarah's birthday party this weekend so unfortunately I won't be posting pictures for awhile.  The laser tag store assured us that they would pay for a new camera, but I'm afraid once they realize how much it is going to cost them that they might not do it.  I have decided it will be best to have Tracy take care of this since he is a bit more "smoozy" about these kinds of things. 

So Tracy tells me he is sure he was visited by ghosts at this current job.  Do you believe in ghosts?  I'm having issue with that whole subject but it is fun to think about :)

12th Birthday!

Sarah turned 12 today.  I can't believe how time flies!  It's funny that people used to say that to us and we just couldn't see it until we started looking back.  She was born around 5 a.m.....why can't I remember the exact time.  It's not like it was a lifetime ago, just 12 short years and yet right at this moment I can't come up with the time.  She was such a tiny little soul.  I looked at her and couldn't believe that this tiny little alien looking person was ours.  Now, she's 12. 
(picture will be inserted here when I can find the camera)
My beautiful girl :)

Time for a change

It saddens me that with some changes comes confusion for others.  I wish I could fix the feelings that I'm sure will crop up as a result of our decision to be finished with our small group bible study.  We have been with them for about 5 years and I'm feeling the need to "detangle".  This is not a sudden decision.  I've actually been feeling this way for the last year.  We took the summer off, as we usually do because of all the summer activities.  As the summer progressed it seemed that this was a good time to not return.  We have a really lovely group of people but we just aren't feeling connected anymore.  Yesterday I received an email from our small group leader asking if we should take in more people and when/if everyone was coming back.  I responded back just saying that we had decided that this would be a good time for us to not return.  Everyone knows that we were selling our house and that we wanted to relocate....this shouldn't have been a great surprise.  Today I received a call from our small group leader asking if it was something she said or did.  I told her that of course it was nothing anyone had done.  We were just ready to grow with a new group...and this seemed like a good time to make this adjustment.  I'm hoping they will understand that sometimes you need to break free to find new growth. 

Home!

Had a great time in Arrowhead but it was more driving than I really enjoy...4 hours there...another 2 1/2 down to Tracy's sisters then next morning...but up to the mountain that night...and back down the mountain today.  I'm tired.

Jerry is hysterical...I know where Tracy gets it!

Doing grown up things

I've been making "grown-up" meals this last week and a half!  With Sarah gone I can make a meal without thinking of what to include in order to make sure she will eat something.  I can't wait for her to come home but that's one aspect of her travel that is cool!  We have also gone out for "drinks"!  Who gets to do that anymore :) 
We are planning a trip this weekend up to Lake Arrowhead to see Tracy's mom and sister.  Their birthdays are actually the following week but because of various scheduling things these days worked out best.  I hate to go without Sarah since it's one of her favorite places to go but I think she gets it.  She does seem to be having a wonderful time...but is very home sick..for the puppy, not us! 

I missed another high school reunion.....

I didn't even think about going.  I do love seeing the pictures to see what people look like now. Most I wouldn't know if I walked past them in the street. I can't even remember why I know some of their names or what they looked like then.  I'm fairly positive they wouldn't recognize me either.  It's nothing personal...we've all changed and grown up.  Some are probably doing what they planned on doing.  Others have taken a path they didn't see coming.  I figure that was 4 years out of my life.  It didn't really define me.  I know people who think those were the best years of their lives.  They weren't my best years.  I was still trying to figure out how to get out...it wasn't anyone's fault.  I just didn't feel like that was my place.  It was just a place holder for what was to come.  I'm actually pretty sure I would like some of these people now...even the ones who didn't talk to me then.  I was just another geek....not popular, not athletic, not particularly talented in anything particular.  I was just another kid.  It was only after college and after my determination to move to California, that life took on meaning. 

I don't look on those times as particularly bad or good or anything really.  Some of those people in high school did make a difference in me.  I remember the things they taught me in those reliable ways of social interaction.  I don't particularly like who I was then, but to wish that I had been something different or more is rather silly when I look at where my life is now.  I've met quite a few of my old high school "friends" on facebook this year.  It has been a nice experience for the most part.  It's fun and I'm really appreciating these distant friendships!

I am happy.  Could I have been happy there...maybe.  What matters is who I am now and my wonderful family. 

It would have been fun to have gone to the "party" but in the end, a trip 1800 miles away doesn't make sense to me...give me another 20 years and we'll talk!

It has been a lazy weekend!

Tracy and Sarah are out of town which left me plenty of time to clean the house and do all those things I put off. I admit it! I didn't do any of them.  I ended up going around in circles checking out all the yard/garage sales, stopped at Target to see if I could find a bookshelf for Sarah's room (the one she took out with her sleep walking experience), and finally picked up the dog from home and spent the two glorious hours reading one of Sarah's books and floating in the pool.  I was even able to get Flash in to "swim" with my assistance. 

I was able to come home to a crockpot of riblets I picked up from Fresh and Easy, threw together a green bean casserole, and steamed butternut squash and enjoyed a night of watching things my family does not enjoy, on TV. 

I could have done all those things I should have done, but I would have missed a wonderful calming day.  I guess sometimes you just have to give in and not "direct" the world!

New haircut :)

Sarah decided a change was in order.  She hates brushing her hair.  It is rather a pain since it's baby fine and wispy...which leads to tangles and knots.  She went for a shoulder length cut with bangs!  I was a bit surprised she wanted to cut off her hair again now that is was just starting to grow back out but it's only hair so I told her she can do what she wants with it :)   I think she is going to be a happy girl when she brushes it in the morning! (I have to admit I'm not sure about the bangs yet but they do hide that horrible bump in the middle of her forehead)

Sleepwalkers unite!

Sarah leaped off her loft bed the other day...it was not intentional!  She has this little sleepwalking issue from time to time. Usually it occurs when she is under stress or really tired.  She generally just gets herself out of bed and walks down the steps of her loft and finds us.  There were several time this year that I didn't even think she was asleep when she wondered into the living room and calmly sat on my lap until I told her to go back to bed.  This time I really can't figure out what was going on but Tracy heard a loud crash as she collided with her bookcase, the closet doors, and her stuffed animal net.   We ended up with a little girl with a rather large bump on the side of her head and a bump and carpet rash on the middle of her forehead.  Overall I think she was rather lucky!

We are grown ups!

I hadn't actually met my cousin Nels since he was still a little kid.  I remember seeing him soon after he was born and I think the last time was when I was traveling through where their family lived in Ohio.  I could be wrong about that, but I know it's been at least 20 years.  He grew up!  He has a wonderful family and they were kind enough to break into their holiday to come see us.  I hope this breaking of ground will open the way to meeting more of my family in the future.  I've always felt like an isolated little island with just a few people to call family.  This week just reminded me that there is so much opportunity to have more if we take the chance!

My kid may indeed be a pyromaniac!

I have no pictures of yesterday.  I had the camera in my purse and managed to ignore it's existence.  This may be a first for me since I am a bit of a shutterbug when it comes to the family but we were having so much fun that I let it go!

This is the first summer in years that we haven't headed up to Lake Arrowhead with Tracy's side of the family.  Sarah absolutely loves it up there.  This year for various reasons we decided to stay home.  I'm so glad we did.  Sarah did not actually remember even playing with sparklers really, because you just don't have fireworks up at the lake due to the fire hazard.  So this turned into a real "experience".  I have to say she took to it very well! 

We are so lucky to have friends from her old school that were wonderful enough to invite about 35 + people over for a party.  I think at one point there must have been at least 15 kids in their pool.  Turns out it a bit interesting to watch that amount of kids try to find water to swim in!  Everyone brought at least $50 worth of fireworks so there was a pretty good stack.  Tracy was out in the middle of their cul-de-sac setting up a "show".  The 11-12 yr olds managed to help by lighting anything they could get their hands on.  Yes, at one point I saw Sarah actually just light a box on fire because there was nothing else to blow up.  I suppose that's a part of growing up she had missed until now.  There were so many poppers in the middle of the street that it looked as if it had snowed. 

I hope everyone had a great 4th!  I know it will be one we will remember for awhile :)

I need to replace my flag...here are the top 10 things we need to know:

1. Fly the American flag higher than your other flags. We all like to show our pride for home states, sports teams, colleges and more, but the flag of the United States should always be at the center of any display and should be the highest point of a group.


2. If it's flying horizontally or at an angle, the "union" (the stars) should be at the peak of the flagstaff. Flying the flag with the union at the bottom symbolizes "dire distress."

3. If you're suspending it on a rope between buildings or houses, hoist the flag out, union first, from the building.

4. Don't lay the flag across a car in a parade or on a parade float (unless it's hoisted on a flagstaff). According to the U. S. Code, "When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender."

5. Bring your flag inside in inclement weather -- unless you have an all-weather flag.

6. Raise the flag at sunup (or later), and take it down at sunset, unless you have proper lighting to keep it illuminated during the night hours.

7. Don't let the flag touch the ground. It's a sign of disrespect. Similarly, don't use the flag to wrap, hold, or carry anything.

8. Don't substitute a flag for a table cloth; the flag is not to touch anything underneath it, nor should it be displayed horizontally. In addition, using the flag in any manner that might result in it getting dirty is a no. A flag on a small pole in the center of the table is acceptable, however, if you're looking for a patriotic decoration.

9. Flag pins should be worn on the left lapel, nearest the heart, as the flag is considered a living thing.

10. Flags that are tattered or torn should be replaced -- contact your local veterans organization or Boy or Girl Scouts to find a flag disposal service near you, or send it to the Flag Keepers.

Home from camping!

My Rah is home and the house is back to itself!  It sounds like Sarah and her best bud had a great time camping.  As she describes it they investigated many a duck and tadpole in the little lake they camped by.  They found much to do and seek out even with grampy and grammy about.  I think they had as much fun just playing in the pool there with the kids as anything else.  Considering it was 5 days, the girls seem to have done pretty well.  Sarah says they didn't even fight "very much"...which is pretty good for girls. She came back all suntan and happy.  I'm so glad she gets this time to bond with her grandparents and friend.  Summer is magical when you are a kid! (Oh, and the puppy is soooo happy to have his kid back)

Day 2 - no kid

Sarah is off camping with grammy & grampy.  They do this quite a bit in the summer and you would think I would be used to it but I'm not.  I still come home to a much more silent house than I like.  I suppose it is the story of what is to come as she grows up and spends more time out of the house. 

On the good side of all this...the puppy is almost back to his energetic puppy self.  The swelling is down and his attitude is joyous!  See, he's even smiling :)

A Happy Father's Day

We went over to my folks today for a simple day of relaxation and celebration of the dads.  I have to say that Father's day and Mother's day are more important to me than birthdays.  I love to celebrate someone actually "doing" something as opposed to just "being".  It's just a silly thing I suppose, but when I think of it, it seems right to me.  Tracy is a wonderful dad.  Sometimes I don't think he knows how good he is...which might be ok.  The thing is, I think Sarah will look back and know with certainty that her father always loved her....I know I always knew/know that my folks love me.  It's wonderful that they have the pool.  I have to say it is the easiest way to escape the desert heat.  The summer has been lighter than usual so far but we are still enjoying the pool!  Dad threw some hamburgers on the grill and made up some us his stir fried zucchini and tomatoes from his garden (Dad is fixated with the joy of the garden :)Hope everyone had a great Father's Day!

My baby is sick

The puppy turned a year old this week. He had such a happy day.  We took him to PetSmart to pick his toy followed by a trip to the dog park for a romp with other "big" dogs.  When we got home, Sarah made sure to get him canned food for a special treat.

He loves his new "wubba" toy.  They are durable enough for a puppy to chew on and easy enough for a short nosed dog to grab! 

Here's Flashy showing off his big dog face :)  He just knew that there were more treats to come!

Unfortunately, poor Flash made it a couple of days before getting sick.  Tracy took him to the vet yesterday and he has an enlarged prostate and has to take big antibiotics for 10 days.  They told us we will probably have to get him "fixed" in order to help him not have this problem again.  Poor guy...he can barely stand and we are having to hand feed him until he feels better :(  I know he'll be ok, but I feel so sorry for him that there is nothing else we can do.  Note, he still has his "wubba" and blankie close

Trying to plan when it's hard to plan....

I was thinking today, that it’s probably likely that our house may not sell before Sarah’s birthday in August. In fact, I suppose it’s highly possible we will be here for some time due to the economic conditions here. So…..I need to start thinking about a birthday party.

Sarah is a funny kid. She isn’t a big “party” girl but she does like to be acknowledged. She’s more of a low maintenance type of girl but since this is the last time I hope to have a party in Nevada, I’m hoping to get as many of her friends together as possible. I don’t know if 12 is a big year or not, but I think she’s looking forward to it. Almost all of her friends are already 12 so she gets to “join the crowd”. (Sarah, also not much of a joiner) So, I’m trying to think of ideas…..

I was thinking something like laser tag. I’m sure there are some packages for parties and with her friends being an interesting mix of boys and girls, it would probably be something that both groups could enjoy.

Or….I could do a pool party at grammy and grampys. We could just grill some hamburgers and hotdogs or order pizza and let them just swim and play….

Or we could have the Mad Science people come in and do some fun sciency type thing…she loves science

Hmmm, maybe I should look some ideas up on the internet. It was so much easier when all she wanted to talk about was pokemon and puppies!

Let this be a lesson

Sadly I am not a person of habit, but I find that Sarah really likes some things to be the same.  She was the kid, that when we moved 8 yrs ago, had to have her room set up exactly as it was in our old house.  Once it was, she was able to settle in and sleep.  Food has always been an issue.  She has a few basic rules...food can't touch...sauces are illegal...most vegetables are yucky  I've tried not to be a caterer but after awhile you just want to see your kid eat.  So we've found the compromise...some days are Sarah food days :) Monday - Spaghetti and Meatballs (barely a gloss of sauce and lots of meatballs), Friday - Pizza (light sauce and cheese only).  Today I made tuna helper...God help me..

.I broke down and made a box meal since daddy was working late.  Tuna helper is now deemed one of the best foods ever. 

If I had made it from scratch, she would never have liked it!  Crazy right  I guess you can never tell what will spark some interest in some new foods.  Hopefully this means we are opening up new horizons of food choices. 

Better late....

Dad is so funny about birthday's but we did manage to get a few pictures of the day!  Thought I might share them :)







The strawberry cheesecake was really delicious!








Sarah finished her cake and was edging near grampy's :)

Mom and Sarah picked this awesome shirt. 








Overall, it was a really nice time...I have to say that since I still didn't have my full voice back, that they guys did most of the talking!