Hard but satisfying labor

We are making some changes for the comfort of our new old motorhome. We have had -- for the past several years -- a canopy deal over our 5th Wheel trailer to keep it dry and undamaged by golfballs and falling redwood branches. But, that's not good enough for the motorhome. The FMC must have better so we are getting two new metal carports (Like these). The back one will house the motorhome and the front one will be double wide and will house two cars side-by-side. The FMC will be able to drive through both to it's little spot. We had to move a gate and dig up some debris (dirt) in the driveway, move a planter bed, and otherwise do some serious manual labor.

So, of course, we called on my inlaws. They love this kind of thing -- really! And, we all worked at it. Greg got a new shovel and pickax. Our old shovels are . . . old. The old pickax had actually fallen apart completely. And, we spent a few hours on it. We took a break for lunch and ate some amazing deli sandwiches that we made ourselves. The kids helped too -- digging and shoveling dirt and leaves into the wheelbarrow.

We got enough done for the carport people to deliver the carports now with no problem. Eventually, though, we'll finish it up by adding in a planterbox along the neighbor's fence and a rock retaining wall along the rest of the driveway down and around the mailboxes. The retaining wall will also have a planter box component to it as well.

My mother-in-law and I also tackled the front beds. The person we bought the house from had put in an English Cottage Garden in our front yard. Myself, I called it the Deer Salad Bar. I have replaced most of the inappropriate plants (like rosebushes -- ever seen what a deer can do to a rose bush in just one night?) with Lavender. Deer don't like lavender but I do. There were still a few Agapanthas left though. Agapanthas are very popular landscape plants because they are so hardy but deer do love them. I, however, do NOT love them. I don't like the flowers and I don't like they way they take over a garden and make it their own. I also don't like the way any tiny bit of root that you leave in the soil becomes a new Agapantha plant come spring.

Anyway, we dug the buggers out which is difficult work. There were two big clumps and then some "volunteers" from where I had dug out past clumps. Agapanthas are so tough that the clumps that I dug out 4 years ago and tossed on a mound of dirt for a friend who wanted them to come pick up (only she never did) are still growing happily sitting ON TOP OF THE DIRT! Evil plants! We found some volunteer Lavender plants coming up in one spot and replanted those. We put down some weed cloth and put fresh redwood bark over the whole thing. Finally, I hacked back my lavender. Lavender benefits from a good hacking (like 1/3 off!) once a year. It's hard to make yourself do it but the plant is much happier.

It looks so nice. See . . .


Oh, and last thing . . . after giving it great thought. Laura, this is a picture (not a good one, mind you) of what feels like home to me.

These cabinets came from IKEA. They were among the first furniture that Greg and I picked out and bought for ourselves that weren't hand-me-downs. They house our special books and art that we have collected as well as Greg's extensive music collection -- the right hand one is almost exclusively CDs. In front of it to the left is our Taos drum that we bought from the artist in Taos. On top of the cabinets are two amazingly beautiful duck decoys carved and painted by my grandfather. To the right, along the hallway wall, is the start of our picture wall. The first framed piece is our wedding invitation and next to it framed on top are the kids' birth announcements. It's the first thing you see when you walk in the front door and when I take a moment to appreciate it, it definitely feels like home.

Quilt Show!

Quilt: There's A Place Called Mars
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Or as my husband sarcastically put it when he dropped me off . . . QuiltConXV. :)

What a great day. I went to the quilt show -- Greg took the kids to Great America for the day. We all had fun!

I saw so many amazing quilts. This one was perhaps my favorite. Here are more that I saw and liked enough to photograph. [Click]

Spent the day with Jody. Had lunch with my friend, Denine, and her mom. I got in the car at the end feeling utterly relaxed and happy! Hurrah!

Ruthie's Eye Appointment

Ruth had her optometrist appointment today. End result . . . she's VERY farsighted. She has a depth perception problem which is related to the farsightedness. She will be getting glasses and the frames pictured are what she has chosen. They are by Disney and are the Jasmine frames in purple. They have a cute little dangle on one side. They looked utterly adorable on her.

The eye exam went well. The doctor was -- as we'd been told -- wonderful with her. I wasn't thrilled with waiting so long -- Greg had to leave to go get Gage from school and missed the whole exam. :(

We will take her back in a month after we get the glasses to see what improvement there is in her depth perception. I think we'll have about 400 questions by then. I really needed some processing time. I didn't even ask what her prescription is.

She seemed okay with everything and is very excited about getting glasses. One of her friends got glasses in Kindergarten and Ruthie loves her glasses and is excited to be just like her. So, yay! for that! She will wear them all the time except for sports (soccer). I think the most amazing thing is that she hasn't shown any signs of needing them until recently. The doctor was flummoxed too as she had her eyes tested in Kindergarten and last year in 2nd Grade. Another one of the questions.

But, at least we know and there doesn't seem to be huge trauma for her about it.

Per Request!

One of the massive Redwoods
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

More redwoods. More looks at my yard.

Unfortunately, redwoods are breathtakingly gorgeous and very large -- well, that's not unfortunate, unless you are trying to take a picture of them.



It is difficult to get an idea of how big and impressive they really are. Coastal Redwoods (the kind in my yard) are the tallest trees in the world. The ones in my yard are 2nd growth. This area was almost completely harvested for lumber 100 years ago during the rebuilding of San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake. So, the trees in my yard are young'uns. In Big Basin State Park (9 miles from my house), there are old growth redwoods. They are amazing and wonderful. Here is an interesting article from our local public library.

Daddy's Home!

Yesterday, after school, we hurried through homework -- that, of course, proved difficult and took all our time, and then headed off to the airport to pick up Greg. We only had to circle twice and there he was. Hurray!

The kids were giddy with excitement. He left for Oregon last Tuesday, came home briefly Thursday night, we took him to the airport Friday morning and finally he was home Tuesday night. He piled in the car and we had hugs and kisses and squeals of delight all around. I drove us to a nearby restaurant (Elephant Bar) and we went in and had a nice dinner together. The kids regalled him with stories of their time while he was gone. He told us about how the trip went. I told him how much I'd missed him.

It's true. I really did miss him. Just his presence. Sure, it was a hard week but it would have been a hard week even if he'd been here. I still would have been sick, overloaded with school work, and stressed out. I still would have had bizarre goings on with coworkers. Buuuuuut . . .

I would have had someone there. Someone who has always been there -- we've been together for 24 years. I think it's a wonderful thing that I can cope and get through a week like that just fine (okay, ONE breakdown!!! :) but when I see Greg again my first thought and feeling is, "Oh, I've missed you."

A week apart is too long but it was probably good to be reminded that we depend on each other.

The Big Bust

Hi there!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Well, our Big Sit was a big bust. The main reason . . . I had let the feeders go empty this week (terrible week, remember?) and the birds were still punishing me. This, despite my making up Julie Zickefoose's Bird Suet Dough . . . couldn't they smell it? Man, it smelled good to me!

So, we saw (or heard and could identify) 3 species. We sat out there all afternoon -- well, I did, the kids finally left to go do other things.

Dark-Eyed Junco
Anna's Hummingbird
Common Raven

Didn't see or hear a single Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Western Scrub Jay, or Stellar's Jay whom we normally are beating off with sticks. Normally we'd have three to four Anna's visiting and at this time of year, we'll start seeing Allen's Hummers too. Sheesh! I bet tomorrow it's bird city here. Sigh.

Still, I did get to sit out on my back deck on a gorgeous day and relax.

I tried to get some pictures of the amazing beauty of my yard but it's hard to capture through a camera lens. I got one nice shot of the setting sun coming through one of the redwoods (I have 21) in my hard.



Here's a shot of the first winged creature of the day . . .



And last, just because it's so pretty . . .



PS. They are mocking me! I came home from work just now (Monday at noon) and there were three Chickadees and an Anna's hummer on my feeders. They saw me, stuck their little tongues out and went, "Nyeh-nyeh-nyeh-nyeh-nyeh" and flew off. Naughty little birds!

Is it BAFAB yet?

This is a cause I can get behind! Buy a friend a book. Even better . . . buy an unsuspecting friend a book. That's fabulous!


I recommend buying a friend a book written by a friend. Here's a great book to buy . . . Letters From Eden by Julie Zickefoose. I also recommend anything by Katya Reimann. Diana Gabaldon is another online friend whose books I can heartily recommend.

I have met these women through the Internet and my life has been better for it. So, buy a friend one of THESE books! Enjoy!

I sent my sister a book from her Amazon Wish List -- a slightly sneaky way to know they'll get a book they really want!

Oh yes, you'll notice that I've changed things over on the right . . . see that book list? I found a great new tool called Library Thing. WOW! What a great way to catalog my books, share my opinions, and just have a cool thing about books. I highly recommend it. I took the Reading Raven blog down because it was so awkward compared to Library Thing. It rocks!

One of those days

[warning -- ranting vent enclosed -- read at your own risk!]

Yesterday was just a gawdawful day. It got better and all is well, I think but it was gawdaful getting there.

Here is the list of the factors in play:

• Greg is out of town
• I am sick and while I thought I was getting better, I took a turn for the worse yesterday and had to go to the doctor.
• I got my period -- of course I did!
  
• I have a huge assignment due for school today.
• I have a huge test on Saturday (the RICA, for those who care! :)
• Work has been difficult and my coworkers have been uncharacteristically difficult as well.
• Did I mention Greg is out of town. He is.
  
• Greg came home last night briefly and then flew out this morning.
• Ruth had been showing some weird eye problems and I asked for the nurse to screen her for vision -- she came up with blank spots in her vision when she uses both eyes -- alone, they are fine, together blank spots. Probably a binocular vision disorder. So, had to make an optometrist appointment.
• There is thing called Google where you can research all sorts of things that cause blank spots in vision. Some of them are very scary -- and very unlikely. Bottom line -- did NOT ease my stress level.
• Oh, Greg is out of town. Did I mention that?
• In the middle of the office, I completely melted down (hit the wall) and started crying just as I was walking into a difficult meeting with a groupof coworkers and my boss. The consummate professional at work. They were great but still dammit all I hate doing that at work (or anywhere but my own bedroom, thank you very much).
• Asthma means you can't breath well and at somepoints, your body starts limiting its activities and that's when I know that I need to get medical help. Which unfortunately means Prednisone which in my house we call Bitch Pills because while I feel better almost instantly, they utterly destroy my ability to cope with ANYTHING.
  
• I also have a sinus infection so I get to add antibiotics into the mix. (ooo, better go eat some yogurt!!!)
• Oh, Greg has been out of town since Tuesday -- he'll be back next Tuesday.
  

Okay, the good news is that things got better as soon as I called my doctor's office. I called at 11 told them my asthma was not responding to my emergency inhaler. They got me in at 12:35. Awesome. My doctor is wonderful and affirming. I got the scrips I needed. The visit only cost $73. I took the kids with me to get the meds. It always takes awhile so we walked down to the pet store. They are a great pet store (not that I'm a big fan of pet stores). We got to see amazing birds, bunnies, guinea pigs, chinchillas, lizards (baby bearded dragons that were like 3 inches long and a full-grown beauty who was like a foot-and-a-half), baby pink corn snakes (ahhhhh!), and tons of beautiful fish. We bought Flufsy a new bed and some chinchilla dusting powder which I understand they love for dry baths. We'll see. Gage got a cute stuffed lizard with magnets and is having a blast finding places for him to climb. We came home and Ruth did her homework and Gage and I cleaned up the house. Not perfect but nice. Coming home briefly to a disaster area wouldn't have been good for Greg and I figured it would be a good thing to help reduce my stress. It did. Then we had got ready for bed and curled up on the couch reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to wait for Daddy to come home. It was after bedtime but they needed to stay up and see him. Greg and I stayed up until almost 2 getting him packed and ready for his next trip. Still, being with him and seeing him, and talking to him helped a LOT.

So, I'm feeling better -- health and emotion-wise. Thank goodness. I'm knocking things off the stress list and feeling more supported. And, I got to bounce the workstuff of Greg and I felt better, way better, afterwards.

So, life goes on. Wheeeeeeee, what a ride. And you were warned, after all!

A rush of adrenlaline wakes you up

Each morning, I get up at 6 am -- or as it has been lately, o-dark-thirty. I stagger into the kitchen and make myself two large mochas. I do the mochas on autopilot and luckily have quite a system down although sometimes when I've been sick or had insomnia or too many late nights cramming to get schoolwork done, I have made some interesting mistakes.

This morning, I walk into the kitchen, brutally turn on the overhead light, and start laying out my coffee making materials. From outside, I hear this blood curdling noise. Animal? Child? Adult? Can't tell but whatever it is, it's not happy! Like an agonized scream. I go to the back slider and look out. My dogs are both sound asleep -- I can see Rosie in her doghouse. The noise comes again. It's coming from the creek behind our house. Looking out that way, it looks like utter wilderness (when you can see anything -- it's pitch black back there now) but actually a highway runs through it and we can see car headlights when they go by especially in the winter. But now, I can see nothing. The sound comes again and suddenly my brain engages as I hear the sound echoed from further away, behind me, probably out on the golf course in front of my house. Coyotes! There is a coyote down by my creek or next to the highway howling its little heart out. Another was calling back to it. They did it four or five more times and then were done.

Amazing sound. They don't howl like wolves. This was an "aroooooooooor" sound. A month ago, my mother was here visiting for a few nights. She was woken up by the same thing -- only this time they were cruising up our street howling. The rest of us slept through it but Mom, fueled by sleeping in a strange house no doubt, was up and looking out the window. Couldn't see anything but heard them and again, took a little while to figure out what the noise was. The sound of coyotes will scare you but when you figure it out, you get a bemused smile on your face.

Our coyotes are small and healthy. I have seen one about 8 times since we moved here. They aren't shy. They'll run across the road in front of the car. I saw one run up the golf course at 10:30 am on a Sunday. They are beautiful creatures and I love it when I hear them. A few times, I've heard them calling each other late at night -- into the wee hours of the morning -- they'll be spread around our little valley and calling back and forth to each other -- yipping, howling, barking. It's amazing. I usually get up and go sit on the porch in the dark and listen.

So, that's what I was doing at oh-dark-thirty before I had my coffee. Listening to coyotes calling in the dark!

Picture stolen blatently from The Santa Cruz Natural History Museum.

Oh and here's what I am going to be doing on Sunday! Check it out. Here's the info. Here's a video. The Big Sit -- now this is my kind of birding!

Where I Live

This photo meme idea came from The Vitamin Sea but I heard about it from Somewhere in NJ. The idea is that anyone who wants to can request photos of "where I live" in the comments section and I'll try to indulge them. Within reason, of course. I'm single-moming it this week so too much energy is going in non-blog-related directions! :)

So, anyone curious about the amazing beauty and splendor of my world? Just ask!

Oh, and the freebie above? That's where the hammock sits in a grove of redwood trees in my backyard. Or well it did sit before the actual hammock part died. We haven't replaced it yet but it's top of the list for springtime replacement!

Mystery Sparrow???

sparrow
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Okay, so I am NOT a knowledgeable birder. I'm new at it and don't have a great camera set up and blah blah blah.

So, I took this pic at Elkhorn Slough. I scoured my bird books, pictures on the web, and the web pages for Elkhorn Slough and decided it was an immature White-crowned Sparrow.

My friend, Susan, thinks its a female house sparrow. So, I've been doing some research on it -- always love a challenge and besides, it's a great way to procrastinate the work I really need to be doing!

So, here is a web page with an immature White-Crowned Sparrow. Now this guy is a birder. And, a photographer. I am in awe of him and his digiscoping skills. Don't just look at this bird -- peruse the site -- it's amazing! Oh, here's the link! [click]

Here is a page with a female house sparrow. [click] Same photographer.

Now, to me, they look a lot alike but I notice that the House Sparrow has a bigger, beefier beak and the White-Crowned House Sparrows is more delicate. I think my bird looks to have a more delicate beak. Also, the HOSP has a shorter tail (as best I can tell) and the WHSP has a longer tail. Mine has a longer tail. I'm sure that this is one of those things that someone with any familiarity with either of the birds in question could tell immediately but (thankfully) I don't have HOSPs at my house so I'm not familiar with them in anything other than a "Oh look, a sparrow" kind of a way. Maybe I should just say its a Sparrow. Hey, at least I knew that much, right? I didn't think it was a Bald Eagle! Or a Brown Pelican! Or a really large hummingbird!

Meet Flufsy!

Ruth and her furry friend
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Isn't she sweet? Oh, well, they both are. Seriously though, I'm feeling very lucky! I've probably had five hamsters in my life and some are wonderful and some are horrible. I had one total sweetheart pure white teddy bear hamster (he wasn't albino so I'm sure he was just very light cream in color) in college who would come when he was called and follwed me around the house in his ball. So sweet.

We got that lucky this time, I think. Flufsy is adorable. Totally lets Ruthie pick her up with no nippiness. She's tolerant and sweet. YAY!

Ruthie utterly adores her and spends lots of time cooing over her and calling her a little love!

Gage is enthralled but way afraid to hold her. :) He does love it when she's in her ball though. I've already told the kids she can't be out when there are other kids over though -- is it any wonder the neighbor's hamster died when I found them flying her around the house like a spaceship over their heads??? Sigh. At least they weren't playing soccer!!!

No, we'll emphasize the gentle, loving care of animals -- they are not robotic stuffed toys! Ruthie gets it and is taking it very seriously. She asked me today if she should do the daily health check -- I assured her that a weekly health check is fine. The first health check came complete with a report -- well, Ruthie does want to be a vet so this is good practice.

The Bird Count at Elkhorn Slough

Wild Roses
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

I only counted the birds I could identify with a high degree of certainty. Birding with kids (and with my own scattered brain) is somewhat difficult. I don't have enough experience with birding to rely on my experience so often my ids rely on photos and hours pouring over books and the internet but how else will I learn.

Still, it was fun to get out and see what I could see. Birding with the kids in a place like Elkhorn Slough was a blast -- they saw so many birds -- you can't help it! They are everywhere!

Here's my list. . .
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)

There were plenty more birds that I saw but couldn't ID or heard but never saw (and therefore couldn't ID).

The hedgerows of Wild Roses along the path to Hummingbird Island are worth the price of admission ($2.50).

What an amazing place!

Hummingbird on Hummingbird Island

Hummingbird on Hummingbird Island
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Another image from Elkhorn Slough. We walked out to Hummingbird Island which is in the middle of the slough. Railroad tracks cross it and we got to enjoy a freight train rumbling by while we were watching. The highlight of Hummingbird Island was seeing an actual hummingbird! And, it posed so prettily for me.

We saw many more in the canopy of the Eucalyptus trees. Along one trail, we saw a bazillion egret feathers -- must have been a roosting site.

We saw so many beautiful sights.

Oh, one more amazing sight was the mullets -- huge fish that can get to be 3 feet long. They were feeding on smaller fish and were leaping out of the water. Amazing stuff.

Elkhorn Slough

Getting a drink

I'm hard pressed to chose a picture for today. There were so many good ones before my camera battery ran out (and since it runs for literally hours and hours, I have no excuse except I didn't charge it!). The kids and I went out to Elkhorn Slough today. It was wonderful. It drizzled on us. We saw birds and bunnies and deer and water and trains and so much. We walked 2.5 miles. We had so much fun!

This is my favorite shot -- so many bunnies. This one was sure we couldn't see it!
Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani)






On the way to Greg's folks, we stopped and got Ruthie's new pet hamster. She's madly in love. We've been assured she's female. She's friendly, outgoing, curious, and sweet. Thank goodness! Ruth named her Flufsy. I tried taking a picture of her but couldn't get one. I'm sure I'll have other opportunities!

Sparrows

Sparrows
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Took a few minutes at the end of a day long seminar on reading instruction to relax out at Elkhorn Slough yesterday afternoon. It was so beautiful out there. Peaceful and quiet. These little sparrows were feeding in the old barnyard. So sweet. I might take the kids out there again today . . . or go buy a hamster instead. Hard to decide!

Really big birds

I am a fan of big birds. I've been newly entranced with the ravens that live at our elementary school. I'll try to get some photos of them soon. But, I would love to see THESE beautiful (and ugly) creatures!

Tom Merigan is a local photographer and birder. He took these amazing shots and I think that more people should see the results of this amaing conservation effort! He recommends seeing the slide show.

More information on the Condors in Big Sur. I particularly enjoy the very last thing on the page -- well worth scrolling to the bottom. :)

Picking up the new motorhome

Picking up the new motorhome
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We picked it up today. It was hard to wait while Greg went in and paid the man and went through the whole thing in excrutiating detail! :) Somehow we managed though!



The kids rode in the double front seat on the way home. We stopped at KFC and got a bucket of chicken and went to a local park to eat in the motorhome. Greg's parents drove us over and had dinner with us. What a celebration!

After the kids were in bed, Greg and I went out and just sat and talked out in the motorhome in the driveway! HURRAY!

Snapshot in my mind

As a parent, I have often longed for a camera in my brain. There are just too many times when grabbing a camera would destroy the moment but you long to record the moment for ever. I suppose if I were a talented artist, I could "download" the image from my brain for posterity but I'm not.

Friday night, we had a big day. Picked the kids up from school, drove over to Scotts Valley to deposit a check and run a couple of errands, came home and fed them junk food (Lunchables -- blech!), and then ran down to town again to sign them up for this session of soccer club. So, the evening was a weird one. We put the kids to bed -- as we often do -- with a sense of relief that we'll get a touch of quiet, peaceful, couple time. We curled up on the couch to watch something adult on TiVO -- oh, don't think it was something racy -- just something not approved for the under 8 crowd! :)

When I got up to put on jammies and make us popcorn at one point, I had to call Greg to see something. He was tired but came willingly.

The kids had made an elaborate block fort between Gage's bed and the Lego table. Ruthie had brought her pillows and blankie and was sleeping in it on the floor. We looked at each other and decided "What the heck". Greg got her a quilt and covered her up and we left them there. Impromptu sleepover. :)

I have this beautiful image in my mind of both of my children sleeping near each other in a wooden block fort they created -- so happy with each other that they wanted to be near each other and keep that good feeling going.

I think that is my answer to all the people who looked at the hugely pregnant me with my arms full of 18 mos old Ruth and shook their heads disbelievingly and said, "Well, you'll have your hands full." Yes, I did have my hands full, no doubt about it, but my kids are friends with each other and play together beautifully. And, that gives me a little extra joy in my heart.

End of an era

End of an era
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

No longer toddlers. It's time to say good-bye to the play structure we bought when they were 4 and 2. Hard to believe it just stopped being fun for them. We'll be replacing it with a trampoline.

Here's the listing on Craig's List: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bab/211715270.html

Time flies when the kids are growing up and having fun!

Ode to My New Shoes, a FIB poem

My new shoes!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Oh
new shoes
deep dark pink
fun, funky style
They fit perfectly
into my life and on my feet

(ps. Thanks, Susan, for letting me know these shoes existed! :) )

Cute Kid Comment of the Day

Gage Shrugs
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

It's a good thing he's so cute. This morning as I'm dragging my tired butt around the kitchen making seconds on toast for my darling son, I asked my darling daughter to take their vitamins to the table. Gage pipes up with, "Wow, Mom. It's like you have servants!"

Uh yea. That's what it's like alright. Parenting -- it's like having servants.

Only really, really different.

If I weren't feeling so lousy this morning I'd probably have hurt myself laughing! Kids!

Ahhhh! Now it makes sense!

Well, I felt tired, lost, and non-productive all day yesterday despite getting lots of work done on my schoolwork and for my job at BCE. I subbed in the afternoon and then came home and slept for more than an hour. Got up and made lasagna and then collapsed in an exhausted heap and realized that I was running a fever! Suddenly it all clicks into place. I'm sick -- no wonder I feel awful!

So, I'm taking the day off and going to get as much rest as I can today. Hopefully I'll shake this thing off and be back to normal!

Not sure what is going on

with me and the blogging thing.

I just know that it's not happening. Is it the start of school and changing my routine? Is it a general dissatisfaction with my life caused by school and work (or lack thereof), is my blogging career (ha!) over? What is going on with me?

Can't say. I do know that this is one of those times in my life when lots of things feel like they are on hold. My job is totally on hold and is stressing me out. We are refinancing our house which is stressful and makes us feel like we're on hold until it's resolved. This whole school year feels on hold to me -- I won't finish my credential until early December and but then the rest of the school year I'll be working part-time and I don't know it just feels wrong somehow. Everyone tells me to enjoy it but . . . to be honest, I'm not enjoying it.

Sigh. I'm just feeling lost and adrift, I guess. Hopefully focus will come soon. Maybe I'll have to force focus and contentment. Yea, that'll work.

Life . . . it sure does get in the way!

So, our changed routine is hard to get used to. Our summer was simpler, somehow and we're all having adjustment issues.

My day yesterday . . .

Starting at 6am, I got up, made my two mochas, and did my early morning computer thing (reading blogs, etc.). At 7, I woke the kids up and got dressed myself. Then breakfast and finding lunch money. We rolled out of here at 8am on the dot which was great except that halfway to school, I realized I'd forgotten my 2nd mocha on the counter. Sigh. We parked in a decent spot (hurrah!) and started our day. Kiss the kids and go to the office. I started as the Math Coordinator yesterday and didn't really have a clear idea of what that would entail from day one. Hmmmm. Ups and downs with that but I did spend some time observing in Math classes for the 4th-5th graders. Had a lunchtime meeting with the staff about Math support but nothing was really resolved. Had a just past lunchtime meeting with my principal about Math support and left feeling more confused than ever. We were not on the same page. Came home and thought about the page she was on and made up a spreadsheet showing what I think she's talking about there -- not sure how it will work but at least I'm trying to figure it out. Went back to school at 2:30 and picked up kids. Came home and got some more work done. Made the kids dinner at 5:30 and went to the Parent Club meeting at school (trip number 3 to the school that day!). Managed to NOT volunteer for anything, thank goodness! Dealt appropriately with a couple who decided to complain publically that they couldn't get something off the school's website (that I do as a volunteer effort). I told them that if they'd let me know I would have fixed it but I hadn't had any complaints about it. Came home and checked with both of my old, tired computers -- no problems. Made a zip file of the file in question and emailed it to them, cc'ing the principal. (CYA is important!) Watched TV with Greg instead of doing the dishes, laying out clothes, etc. Read in bed from 10:30 to 11. Wheeeee!

Today, I get to go to the DMV and renew my license which was due in March but I didn't get a notice and didn't realize it had expired until a month ago when I wrote a check for the first time in about a bazillion years! Oh joy. Don't you wish you had my life?

Changing Rythyms

A summer of more relaxed schedules and then a week of school followed by three days of relaxed schedule again. Is it any wonder that my mind (and body, for that matter) are rebelling slightly at the thought of getting up early (WHY is that alarm going off???), making breakfast and lunches, rousting and riding kids, and all the stuff that a school day entails?

Yesterday was a total play hooky day. Greg and I did very little that could be legitimately called productive. I did load the dishwasher and I did move a single load of laundry through and I kept three to four children fed all day (which is not an easy task these days -- they are growing and hungry!). But, mostly, I sort of mentally hibernated in front of my computer.

When you work in front of a computer, it is a convenient place to hide out on those "I just don't wanna do anything" days (you did insert the mental whine in that didn't you? If not, go back and do it now). I remember when I worked in an office with a door that closed and all that good stuff, I used that hide in plain sight method to great effect. You could research things on the internet for hours and appear to be working productively. Standing up and stretching periodically while saying, "Phew! I can't believe how much I'm getting done!" really adds to the illusion that you are the most productive person on the planet.

I don't think Greg and I really thought we were fooling anyone -- except maybe the kids. The whole "Mom's working" thing can create some space that is important for work-at-home parents.

But, today, the game is over. I have to really get to work today. I am not student teaching this week (at least not much anyway). I am planning and organizing and meeting and . . . yes . . . researching. My schoolwork has to get organized and calendared and moved forward and my new job as Math Coordinator starts next Monday and that needs to be figured out too. So, summer is over. The mornings are getting cooler. It's dark now when I get up at 6am. And, I have to get to work.

Heavy sigh! Summer is a wonderful time of year!

Allergen Report

Well, I'm taking twice my daily dose of Claritin-D and putting the little allergen factory out on the porch to "enjoy the fresh air" everyday. I only needed my rescue inhaler once yesterday -- and it was more preventative than anything. Ruth thinks its all going great but we'll have to have a painful talk about how Mom can't live this way. She'll be sad but perhaps we'll find a different piggie that works for us.

The other side of things is that Checkers is a perfect pet for Ruthie. This piggie is tolerant to the nth degree. Ruthie carries her around, talks to her, cuddles her, sings to her, and curled up in a chair and read her 6 books yesterday afternoon. The piggie is unflappable.

She did escape while playing with Ruthie though. They were on the rug in the family room and Checkers looked at the dark opening under the TV hutch and ran. Hilarious. We finally got her out with no one traumatized. Of course, Ruthie is trying to "train" her not to go under there again. We watch a lot of Dog Whisperer in the house and Ruthie was using his techniques on the guinea pig. :)

So that's the news here from Allergy Central!

The little visiting allergen factory

Kids and Checkers
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Do you see the happy little faces? Do you see the sweet, mellow critter? Do you see the mom with the blood shot eyes, sniffling nose, allergy meds in one hand, asthma inhalers in the other?

Sigh.

Sing!

Today was an unusual day for me. My husband is a musician. He's in two bands -- Mind Furniture and Metaphor. Metaphor is currently recording a CD. For one of their songs, they needed a choir to sing. So, Greg asked me to come join them as they needed more women.

I love to sing. That said, I don't have a fantastic voice and I have very, very little training. So, my confidence isn't real high. I'm sure I can sing well in a choir with some strong singers around me and Greg assured me that would be the case. No solos for me, thank you!

So, we had a rehearsal on Wednesday night and the other women singers are strong and confident so that was nice. I felt okay after the rehearsal but still quite worried about the whole thing. The other two women were quite good singers -- trained and experienced. I felt out of place, for sure!

Today was the actual recording. The process was fascinating. We did not have enough voices for the large choir effect that they wanted so we did multiple takes of the voices we had and then they are played together and . . . voila! . . . instant choir. It's amazing how well it works. I sang the Alto/Tenor line which was interesting and well in my range. There was also a soprano line -- I was intended to sing on it but that wasn't an option. When they were singing it, we joked that dolphins were calling back to them -- it was SO high! I'm a true alto and can't sing high soprano at all! There was also a bass line and Greg sang that one.

We listened to a rough mix tonight. It sounds great. Very full and choir-y. In retrospect, the day was great. But, I found it very nerve-wracking. Greg was more relaxed . . . "they can always do another take, don't worry about it!" I kept worrying that someone would say, "Oh my God, we can't fake it anymore -- that woman can't sing and we can't fix that noise with the technology!" Needless to say, that didn't happen. I felt way more confident once we were done. I'm really glad Greg talked me into doing it.

What I learned today . . .

So, yesterday I was helping out in kindergarten again -- what fun it is, really. Kindergarteners are so great! But, a 2nd grade teacher wasn't feeling well so they called on my to sub for her. No problem.

I found my kids at lunch to let them know what to do and where to meet me after school since I wouldn't be at their classrooms waiting. Ruthie was holding their classroom pet, Checkers the guinea pig. She is madly in love with Checkers and her teacher lets the kids take Checkers out before school and at all the recesses. Ruthie is usually the first one asking about it. :) We had just told her that we would get her a guinea pig. While I was talking to her, I took a chance to hold the lovely Checkers myself. What a sweetie -- she snuggled in and nibbled on my finger (very gently, it's a guinea pig thing) and then I handed her back to Ruthie. This was about 12:15 or so.

I taught for a little while and then went to lunch. I'm sitting in the staff room about 12:45 and my eyes are getting itchy. It takes a while to register and then I realize that I'm having an allergic reaction and my eyes are probably bright red and starting to swell. Damn. I go to the bathroom and sure enough. So, I head up to the office and ask for any meds. Amazingly, they had allergy eye drops but I had to call Greg for more help. I went in to start teaching the 2nd graders. They are all on the rug listening to me.

"Hey guys, do any of you notice anything funny about me?"
A few puzzled stares -- this could be a trick question -- some "no"s and finally one kid looks at me and says, "Yea, your eyes are all red!"
:)
So, I explained and said that Mr Miller would be bringing me some medicine so that I'd feel better. They were great about it. And that's what happened and it was all good.

Except that on the way home, I had to tell Ruthie.

Let me tell you that making your daughter cry is not a great way to end a day. Poor little thing. She was heartbroken.

We aren't giving up though. We'll have Checkers come home and see if just having her in the house will affect me. If it doesn't, then we'll try going to the store and holding guinea pigs until we find one that I don't react to. But, Ruthie knows that might not work. To be honest, I'm very doubtful. Even with all the meds on board, I ended up getting the initial stages of an asthma attack that evening. I think we need to start looking for a different pet now.

Greg figured it out. He thinks that we'll end up getting our next dog all the sooner because we can't have a guinea pig and Ruthie is so sad about it. I don't know about that but I do know that he can't hold out when both of us are crying like we were this afternoon. It really doesn't feel good to disappoint a wonderful girl like that.

First Day of School

First Day of School
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Aren't they wonderful? Ruthie is now 8 and started third grade. Gage is 6-1/2 and started first grade.

They are loving their teachers and reconnecting with good friends.

I have been spending my days in kindergarten this week. I'm helping the wonderful Mrs. Bruce this first week. It's fun and wonderful but a huge amount of work -- little ones have so much work to do in getting used to kindergarten.

Yesterday

was the first day of school. Ruthie went to Mr Whiteman in 3rd grade. Gage went to Mr. Rus in 1st grade. I spent the morning in Kindergarten helping the best kindergarten teacher ever! She is the teacher both of my children had and I'm in awe of her and so thrilled that I get to learn from her. She is, of course, most grateful. The first few days of kindergarten are really, really hard work. I left with a migraine that lasted all night. It isn't that the children are terrible or anything like that. They are very, very sweet for the most part. However, there is nothing like spending the first morning of kindergarten watching all the different kids to give you a clear idea of why kids do better in school if they go to preschool.

One little boy had never been to preschool. He found everything about kindergarten frustrating and annoying. He was unhappy at the rules, didn't see any reason to listen to the teacher, got angry and whiney about everything, and required three times the intervention of any other child. Most of the kids went home very happy (but tired) at the end of kindergarten. This little boy went home puzzled, frustrated, and tired. Which isn't to say that every moment was negative. As I said, this teacher is awesome! I watched in amazement as she took a negative (his complete disregard of the bell she rang to get the kids' attention) into a positive by having him be the bell ringer. The look of joy and wonder on his face. Wow!

But, it was an exhausting day. Kindergarten is one of my favorite places to be and I love it there but never think that it doesn't require an amazing amount of energy to be there. My temple is throbbing just a little bit in writing about it. With any luck, today will go more smoothly. Fingers crossed!

So, what's new with me? Wellllll,

does the word obsession mean anything? Because Greg and I are obsessed! So obsessed that I decided to make a seperate blog about it to spare the people who want to be comfortable with the delusion that my life is normal.

It's All About the Journey

In other news, school starts tomorrow. We are refinancing our house and the appraiser comes on Tuesday. We are finally finishing the trim on the outside addition. I have to get the rose garden (at least) looking lovely. I still have a ton of laundry and household stuff to do to get the house in order for the year.

But, today, we're going to go feed our obsession!

Warm ups at Soccer

Warm ups at Soccer
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Tonight was the last night of Summer Soccer. Traditionally, the parents take the kids on in an end of session game. One might expect the parents to go easy on the little guys (this is the 6-8 year old group). Well, not these parents. We trounced the little blighters 6-3. Yours truly scored two goals! Gage scored one goal. Ruth did some great mid-field ball handling. It was really fun.

Gage had a hard time with the loss. But, that's what happens when you start the trash talk at home.

Gage to me -- "Mom, we're gonna kick your butts!"
Me -- "Gage, you can't talk that way to me."
Gage -- "But Mom, we ARE!"

Totally fun session! And, the kids are moving up to Intermediate in the Fall, I guess. Their coach is really pleased with how well they've progressed this summer. Yay!

Gage is really loving soccer -- it's important to him and the highlight of his week.

Ruth enjoys it and is good at it. But, she doesn't live for it.

Family Outing!

Family Outing!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We planned a final Summer Trip to Great America yesterday but Great America had other plans. They were closed. Sigh.

We decided to head over to Bonfante Gardens. I called them and it was open. Yay!

We had a great day. The kids got to play, ride, run, laugh.

I think one of my favorite moments was when we decided that we all needed a snack. We stopped at a Funnel Cake stand. Gage was tired and grumpy and announced that he was pretty sure he wouldn't like the funnel cakes or the ice cream but maybe he'd like the root beer float. Now, he's not much of an ice cream boy so we figured that part was true but not like a funnel cake, puhlease.

Of course, he took one look at it and said, "That looks good!" And, it was. It was a good day all around!

Hurray!

Google Strikes Again!

Wow.

I'm not easily amazed -- or at least I don't think I am. But, I just tried out the simplest, most satisfying way to create and put up web pages imaginable -- GooglePages. It's beyond awesome.

Check out what I did in 5 minutes. [click]

I have loved Google for as long as it has existed but wow. They rockity-rock-rock. And, that's high praise coming from me!

More Procrastination

On my way to a serious blog addiction, but damn it's an easy way to maintain a website. Anyway, I used to have a website with pictures of my artistic efforts on it. But, I haven't had the time or effort for artistic lately. Still, I have the interest and desire. In experimenting with a new blog site (vox), I went ahead and set up a site just for me to talk about my artistic efforts. It's totally limited now but I'll play with it and add things as I procrastinate. Should be fun! It's certainly easy -- and free which works well with my budget!

Thanks just batty for letting me know about it. You are an awesome supporter of my procrastination efforts.

On the other hand, she's also let me know about Joe's Goals. This has helped me remember to do some of those little things we all want to do each day -- like drink water and exercise. Okay, it helped me to drink water . . . exercise, well, that might take something more direct -- can we add an electric shock component to Joe's Goals. If you aren't meeting your goal, your keyboard zaps you? That might work. Maybe.

Good news!

I had my meeting today and I'll be the Math Coordinator at my school next year. Yay! I'm happy about it. I'm also going to do student teaching in several different classrooms. So, I'm really happy about all that. Now I can relax and enjoy my summer.

Although, right now, I have a houseful of little girls which isn't particularly relaxing, I must say! :) We finally got Ruth's birthday part going on. She's having a slumber party and then a Build-A-Bear Workship visit with her friends. Yoicks! It's kind of crazy but they were all asleep finally by 10:30 or so. Man!

Shark Boy No More!

Freshly Lost Teeth
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

So, we went to the dentist today. Shark Boy got his two stubborn baby teeth pulled -- wow did they have long roots on them. Crazy!
Our dentist is awesome with kids and did a great job. Gage really seemed fine with it all. Hardest part was the numbness and drooling after it was all over. But, not to worry, he's still smiling!

Ruthie also went to the dentist. Had some surface cavities filled and then sealant.

Back to work!

Slogging

I'm working through my coursework. Everything is due by tomorrow night at midnight. I will have it done but at this point its a race to the finish and I'm not sweating the details too much. I'd sell my soul for someone to take my kids away for the next two days but that isn't going to happen. Sigh.

Hope for the best. I'm still in my jammies and didn't even manage coffee this morning. Not a good sign. I just turned in one of the units so I took a break. I'm going to get dressed, do the dishes, make my coffee, and get back to work. Wheeeeeeeee!

Tomorrow, I have 8am dentist appts for the kids and then a meeting at 1pm with my principal to discuss what I can do at the school this coming year. Hopefully that all goes well. The rest of the time, I'm working on the chain gang.

Tote that barge. Lift that bail.

PS. Ruthie lost another tooth yesteday. She left the sweetest note for the ToothFairy. What a doll. Gage will be losing two teeth tomorrow (forcibly). The ToothFairy thing ALMOST makes up for the teeth-coming-out thing.

Camping Trip, Day Four (Packing Up and Saying Goodbye)

Day Four. Our usual camping breakfast is "camping cereal" (ie. sugary cereal that I don't normally let the kids have) and bacon. We enjoyed this breakfast around our little table on this last morning. The other families were all packing up and heading out. We had inadvertently booked an extra day. We didn't want to spend Sunday night there but thought we'd take advantage of the extra day by staying all day and then driving home after dinner.

The last group headed off around noon. We teasingly called them The Clampetts because of their overloaded truck. We looked at each other for a few minutes in the sudden quiet of the camping area and decided to head down to Angel's Camp (about 25 miles). Greg wanted to take some pictures of Gold Country Architecture for his study of indiginous California architecture. We also figured we'd take the opportunity to get fast food for the kids. We ran into "The Clampetts" at the Burger King where we stopped. Too funny. We had lunch and then took off for a driving tour of Angel's Camp and then Murphy's. He got lots of nice detail shots.

In Murphys [click], we stopped and walked the main street looking in shop windows. The kids were pretty antsy after all that car time. We rewarded them with ice cream at the Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Parlour. Delish!

We headed back to camp later than we thought but still had time to head down to the beach Greg found at the river the day before. The water was icy cold but everyone (except me) went in over their heads. We lounged and played and explored. The kids built sand castles.

As we were leaving, I saw three Ravens coming to clean the beach from other families. They were clearly a baby and two parents. I got some pictures but no good ones, I fear.

Back at camp, we finished camping while the kids played in the fort they made in the gully near our site and then curled up on our bed and read their books. Greg gave them a real thrill and let them ride in the 5th wheel (up on the bed where they were totally safe) over to the bathroom. We went potty and loaded up in the truck and headed off just as it got dark. The kids were asleep before we got to Murphys where we got gas and headed out.

We pulled into Boulder Creek around 12:30am. Yawn. But, boy is that they way to do the trip. The kids sleep, Greg drives, I talk. It's a good thing!

More Photos [click]

Camping Trip, Day Three (Hiking and Other Adventures)

Day Three dawned with a communal breakfast. I provided eggs and we also had sausage and bacon and it was very nice. I got myself a french press so that I could have good coffee but I didn't quite get it down. Still, it was caffeine and I wasn't in the mood to be picky.

A group headed off on a hike around noon. Greg and Ruth were among them. Gage and I hung out in camp and chatted with others who stayed behind. Finally, I sat down to get some studying done. But, with impecable timing, the alarm I set went off and it was time to go get the hikers. They had hiked nearly 4 miles uphill to the Visitor's Center. Gage and I headed off in the truck and we found them with almost no difficulty. We visited the Visitors Center. Gage's favorite thing was a box that said, "Caution, Baby Rattler Inside." Of course, when you open it, a baby rattle is shaking like crazy. He was pretty disappointed that it wasn't a baby snake, I'll tell you. I got to spend time with E (the 10 year old girl) looking at butterflies. We identified the beautiful white butterflies that we had seen around camp as being Pine Butterflies [click]. They were very friendly butterflies and often landed on us. We also watched a slide show/movie about the history of the park. The kids seemed to enjoy it. While we were walking on one of the trails, we heard a talk by some volunteers. While they were talking, I saw a Brown Creeper [click] in one of the trees.

Back at camp, I continued relaxing. Greg and some others went down to check out the river. Ruthie curled up in our bed in the 5th wheel reading -- it had been a long hike. When everyone got back from the river, we loaded up into cars again and headed off to Mercer's Caverns [click]. We took M and E in our truck with us. Mercer's Caverns is a beautiful cavern in the gold country that was discovered by a Mr Mercer while he was prospecting for gold. It is unlike other caverns we've been to in the past in that it is almost completely vertical. You go down 16 stories underground. Now, I didn't think about this too much. I figured I could handle it. The kids were pretty excited. Ruthie ran ahead with B and C and never really looked back. Gage, on the other hand, had a REALLY hard time. He didn't like the stairs at all. Now, neither did I -- I have a pretty good fear of heights and we've figured out that Gage does too. This was hard on both of us. Greg left Ruthie being watched by the other parents and came back to help me with Gage. He went behind and I went in front and Gage felt much safer. Some of the stairs were little more than ladders. It was rough but damned if he didn't do it. He was super proud of himself but at the end, when we say the daylight, he said, "I hate this cave. I never want to do this again. It was cool but it was scary!" Well said, little man, well said! I don't think I can adequately describe how scared he was -- he was whimpering and I gather that the look on his face would have sent me straight into tears. I kept waiting for it to level out into a big cavern but it didn't -- it was basically spelunking by ladder. Cool cave and I'm glad I did it but WOW it was rough on all of us.

We rewarded his bravery with a toy at the gift shop -- of course Ruthie got one too. We also got cool drinks because despite the 55 degree constant temperature in the cavern, all that climbing out meant that we were hot and sweaty when we hit the 90 degree air outside. While we were waiting, I saw an Anna's Hummingbird [click] sipping from their feeder.

Dinner that night was another communal effort. My part in it was the appetizers. Every family brought their own meat. We had skirt steak that had been marinating in Soy Vay [click] since Wednesday night. I brought chicken strips for the kids. We do them on the grill and then they eat which is always a nice change. The steak was delicious. Other offerings were a baked potato bar, cesear's salad, chili, and delicious desserts.

We again played games by the fire and drank too much red wine! Good times!

More Photos [click]

Camping Trip, Day Two (A Day on the Lake)

The planned activity for Day Two was a trip to New Melones Lake [click], a reservoir about 45 minutes from where we were camping. I suspected (and later confirmed) that New Melones was created when a larger dam was put up that drowned Melones Lake. These are lakes on the Calaveras River that were created by damming the river. We went with all our families and rented two patio boats for the day. We hauled all our gear (tables, food, towels, cameras, clothing, various and sundry floating devices) out there and got read for a day of fun. A patio boat is like a floating deck with a roof on it but no sides. There is an open deck at the front with a ladder for coming in and out of the water. The marina provides a bbq grill and a full tank of gas and you are off!

The first excitement was hauling all our gear down to the boat. We figured out that putting it all into our truck and then backing the truck down the boat ramp would be a good plan so we did that and then I parked the truck and walked back down. The marina had a couple of hand carts for hauling the gear. It is amazing the amount of stuff that 5 families think they need for the day.

Our cast of characters includes: our family -- the kids are 8 and 6. The F family whose son is 13 and daughter is 9. The H family who has one daughter who is 10. The B-G family with one son who is 8. And, the W-H family with one son who is 12. Each fmaily has both sets of parents with it -- so you can see why we need two patio boats! As we were loading up and going to the bathroom and getting everything ready, Greg was appointed as one of the drivers for the day. He went into the Marina store and found a terry cloth captain's hat and felt that he HAD to buy it. So, he was officially The Skipper for the day and we dubbed our boat, "A Boat Full of Gilligans." It seemed appropriate!

We headed off and found a little inlet where we could pull up kind of on shore and swim for awhile. The water was pretty warm here and most people were in the water in short order. The dads and kids headed off to swim to a nearby island and those of us still on the boats cracked open beers and got the boats organized. Later, we found a great spot to bbq in another part of the lake and had a great hamburger lunch. Everyone brought something different -- we did the hamburger patties and buns, others brought vegies and fruit, chips, and dessert. Great meal!

After lunch, we found another great place to park -- more out in the middle (away from the mud!) and everyone (but me) swam. It was delightful. Seriously -- I'm fine with not swimming. The kids would jump in off the dock and swim around. We had plenty of adult supervision and floaties and life jackets. All the kids are strong swimmers anyway so that was fine. It was a great way to spend the day.

I saw some amazing birds out there -- Great Blue Herons [click], Pileated Woodpeckers [click], and a young Bald Eagle [click] were among the ones that I identified. I also saw several smaller woodpeckers and various other water birds that I couldn't id.

At the end of the day, we headed back to camp and hung out and relaxed. We ate dinner and hung out making s'mores and chatting. While I was getting dinner ready, I stepped out of the 5th wheel around dusk to the most amazing sight. Right in front of our door was a small grove of trees -- a couple of Douglas Firs and a couple of Giant Sequoias. Dancing around in the middle of this grove were about 12 bats. They were swirling all around the space right at eye level. I could see them easily because there was another trailer behind them. It was just magical. I called one of the kids to see them that night and more of us saw them the next night but those moments when I was alone watching them . . . wow!

We were playing a really fun game in camp called 31 [click]. This, of course, was played into the late evening with much consumption of red wine by the adults after the kids went to bed.

More Photos [click]

Camping Trip, Day One (Burning Down the House!)

And, we're off. We left the house at 8:25 am -- we were due out at 8am to meet the deadline imposed by our friends and organizers. This trip is an annual get together of our friends from high school. Usually six families come together and camp, this year we only had five. The organizers this year are the high-energy ones in the group. They planned activities for every spare minute. Greg and I are more of the sit by the campfire in a hammock and snooze type of campers but we brought Greg's new camping hammock and figured we could always rebel if we needed to!

So, we leave and head off. We run into one of the families on the road. They had rented an RV for the trip and we ended up traveling together. There was lots of cell phone discussions about who was where on the road.

The big excitement on the trip was when we were leaving the tiny town of Copperopolis (this trip was in the California Gold Country). Greg heard the engine ticking like it needed oil so we pulled over to put oil in right away. So, at a wide spot in the road, we got the stuff out and proceeded to fill it up with a couple of quarts of oil. For some reason, Greg used the paper funnels he had from a gas station instead of the various choices he had of plastic funnels. Anyway, the paper funnel collapsed, oil spilled on the block, the funnel fell on the block and . . . combustion. Flames!

We stood there staring at it for what felt like about 3 minutes but I'm sure was more like an 1/8 of a second before we both sprinted for the back of the truck where the "truckbox" has a fire extinguisher. It was on Greg's side and he got it out and used it and the flames were out. Once he had it out, I decided I'd better walk away. I walked around the truck on Greg's side -- I could hear the spray of the fire extinguisher and didn't hear Greg yelling explitives so I didn't run around and grab the kids out of the truck. I walked back to our friend's RV where they were waiting behind us. They couldn't see any of this because the 5th wheel blocks their view. They did, however, see us both get out of the truck and walk to the front and then moments later we both ran back to the truck and then back to the front. They didn't know what was going on. The kids, meanwhile, could see everything through the opening at the bottom of the open hood. Gage described it as cool! But later told someone that it was pretty scary! Thankfully, there was no apparent damage to the truck and we headed off for an uneventful rest of the trip.

Setting up camp was delightful. We stayed at Calaveras Big Trees State Park [click] in Sierra Nevada mountains. We had a nice spot sort of away from everyone else but nearby. We got set up and then had the fun of visiting everyone else's camps -- the kids love that the best about group camping trips. They get to go see how Auntie L sets up her tent area and what Uncle B's RV looks like. Once everyone arrived, we picked a communal campsite and moved a table or two, set up all the chairs and Greg's hammock, and settled in for some conversation, good food, and a few well earned beers.

I heard Common Ravens [click] calling when we arrived. I also saw Steller's Jays [click] and a Winter Wren [click]. Before bed, I saw a young Varied Thrush [click] as well who was completely unconcerned about my presence in our campsite. I had to laugh because we drove all that way to hang out near the Redwoods (okay, ours are Coastal Redwoods [click] and these were the Giant Redwoods [click]) and look at birds that I can see in my own backyard!

More Photos [click]

We're home.

All are safe and well. Our house and dogs survived. The birds were awaiting food (except the not greedy hummers who hadn't finished all their food first). We had lots of adventures. I saw lots of birds. Details will follow.

This morning, both kids let me know non-verbally what they missed the most about being home. They were both up first thing playing ToonTown [click]! Hilarious!

Greg and I missed our hot shower and waterbed. We enjoyed both last night! Woke up feeling pretty darn good!

Off on a camping weekend!

Hurrah! We're mostly packed up in our 5th Wheel trailer. The kids and Greg powerwashed it and the truck today. Greg vacuumed the truck inside. I cooked up a storm. It's all going to be grand. We will be gone until Sunday! Can't wait!

-llm.

Little boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dog tails.

Oh, my son is adorable. Loving, kind, sweet, funny, tough, obsessed with good guys and bad guys, cars, Lego, etc.

He recently complained that he hadn't gotten any mail recently. I pointed out that you have to write letters to get them. So, we decided that on Tuesdays, we'd write letters to someone we loved. Ruthie jumped right in and wrote a letter to Mimi and Bumpa. Gage did too but then his letter became a book and he was really going to town. I gave him my stapler and let him have at it.

After lunch, he was supposed to finish up the book. But, he said he wanted to take a break. Okay, I said. And then he said he wanted to play on the computer. I asked to see the book then. Okay, he said, "Come on." "Can you bring it to me?" I asked. "Uh, no." "Why not?" "Uh, I hurt myself."

"WHAT?"

Figured it out in one. Stapler injury.

He probably was playing with it after he got tired of stapling his book shut and he stapled his finger.

The thing is that he didn't want to tell me. (That's how I know it wasn't pure accident.) He pulled the staple out and band-aided it without telling me. He was scared he'd be in trouble, scared of the blood, and just scared.

Oh, my mother heart just melted.

I sent Ruthie to get the ointment and a fresh band-aid. I held him and cuddled him and asked him if he'd done it on purpose. "No," he said with a look of stunned surprise. "Then why would you be in trouble?" "I dunno."

So, we had a talk about why Moms and Dads need to know when someone hurts himself. And, why it's better to tell Mom and/or Dad even if someone hurt himself doing something they shouldn't be doing.

I think he got it because when I took Ruthie to her music lesson, he told Dad what he'd done and showed him the now no longer bleeding injury.

And, I am left with the image of him pulling a staple out of his sweet little thumb.

Sigh.

A fun, rowdy night at my house

We had our BBQ tonight. Really a fun evening. Too much food. Too much wine. Games and silliness. Kids from first grade to 6th grade running rampant throughout the house. Wild.

We spent all day cleaning house -- we need to entertain more often! We actually were done about an hour early and had time to do some fiddly things which was nice. The kids worked hard with me which was nice. Greg got a ton done as well even though he had to do some work and go to a meeting with an architectural client. Wheeee!

This morning I woke up to that odd combination of a huge mess and yet a clean house. The kitchen was full of dishes needing to be done but the rest of the house needed only a quick tidy up. Very cool.

Now our focus as a family shifts to getting ready for our camping trip -- we're going with the same gang of people that were at the BBQ so it's extra good for the kids and everyone to get together.

I talked to my advisor and got good news -- I am able to do the Math Coordinator position as and classroom observations, lessons as needed, etc. So, that was great news! I am so happy. If the Math job doesn't work out, I can sub instead which is just fine. Yay!

So, moving forward one step at a time!

Magical Night on a local farm

Went to a CD Release party at a nearby farm tonight. The band is Absinthe Glow [click] and I can't really recommend their music because we had to go when it started. Gage was tired and he gets really sensitive to loud noises when he's tired. Soooo, we left when the music started. But what a magical place -- I know these people because their daughter was in my class. They live on a beautiful old farm in the hills. They play their music in the old barn. It was lit up with candles and strings of lights. They had a theme of a 1930's carnivale. It was amazing. Two girls were telling fortunes. They had sangria and lemonade. Snacks and caramel apples (which Ruthie loved). It was simply magical. I wish we could have stayed.

We are having a bbq here tomorrow and Ruthie wants to dress as a fortune teller -- like the girls did at this party -- I tried telling her that our party won't be that kind of party. But, she's going to do the decorating. She's disappointed though. I guess we need to do a BIG deal party sometime where her creative spirit can be set loose!

My recipe for happy children!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour [click]
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract [click]
  
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Chocolate Chips
  
• 1 cup (1/2 pkg) Heath Toffee Morsels
  

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate and toffee. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto Silpat lined cookie sheets.
BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for as long as your children can stand it. Then move to wire rack to cool completely. Give your children a warm cookie on a napkin with a glass of milk.

My beautiful daughter and her night time escapades

Pop Star Puppy
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.
This is NOT sleepwalking behavior but how can you
not love the "puppy lips" she's giving!

Last night, Ruth came out around midnight. She was half-asleep and drowsy. Greg and I were playing Toontown [click] and I wanted to show her a new feature that had been added to the game. She had to go potty while it was loading and then she came back in tears. I finally realized that she'd been sleep-walking again, wasn't half-asleep and drowsy but totally asleep and unaware. She'd woken up while going potty and been pretty scared about the whole deal. Poor thing. Took quite awhile to calm her down! Greg and I had no idea she was sleepwalking -- she hasn't done it in ages.

The first time we knew something was up about her sleeping was when she was like 11 months old. She had a night terror episode. Well, I'd imagine that the terror was more for Greg and I than her since we'll never forget it and she doesn't remember it. She woke up (we thought) screaming her head off. Terrified, frantic screaming. We were SO freaked out. Let me tell you folks that holding your sweet angel girl in your arms, whispering, "It's okay, Mommy's here" in her arms and knowing that she's not hearing you, not soothed, not comforted, not responding is not a fun thing. Greg suggested that we put on her Baby Mozart video. I looked at him with all the disbelief I could muster thinking, "As if!" and said, "Fine, go ahead." So, he did. And, within three notes, she was sitting on my lap laughing at the tv screen.

Freaky!

Since then, we've had many episodes of sleepwalking. She'd come out while I was working on the computer and we'd talk but I'd realize that her responses were gibberish and I'd carry her "not all there" form back to bed and tuck her in. Last night was different -- she wasn't speaking gibberish -- she wasn't saying much but she seemed fully interactive. But, clearly, she wasn't fully interactive.

They never stop surprising us, do they?

I'm a benevolent dreamer!

Benevolent Dreamer

Gander needs a new home!

Gander
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

So, it's official. I'm actively looking for a home for this wonderful boy. I feel so badly about it but he deserves better than we can provide right now. Anyone interested in a 3 year old, sweet, loving, big oaf who happens to suffer from epilepsy, please let me know. We are in the greater SF bay area. I am only asking a donation to the local Labrador Rescue [click] of $100. I hope the discount will offset the price of neutering him and possible medication if that becomes necessary in the future. Direct questions to me at lizalee at pobox.com.

While I was studying . . .

steller's jay
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

I also kept my camera with it's telephoto lens in my lap. I'm not a good photographer but I still had fun playing with it. This gorgeous and sassy Steller's Jay came to visit.

While Greg was chatting with me, a group of chickadees flew into the feeders and started squabling over position. One was so flustered that it flew over and landed on Greg. I don't know which of them was more surprised. Brazen things!

It is lovely to do my schoolwork out on my deck in the dappled sunlight with birds lighting around me for company.

There are more pictures up at Flickr -- they aren't great but still they are there!

Career Status

Okay, so after a day of being super sad, I'm feeling better now. Still don't want to talk about it much but there you go.

Here's the deal . . .

-I don't have my full credential yet -- just my Intern Credential
-I have minimal experience.
-The principal's job is to do the best she can for the school.
-She never promised me a job -- in fact, she has said several times to me in a pointed manner to finish my credential.
-Yes, I wanted this job but . . . I've said all along that it wasn't guaranteed and if someone more qualified applied I probably wouldn't get it.

So, someone more qualified applied and I didn't get it. It sucks but I'm not angry or bitter about it. Disappointed and sad but that's it. Really.

So, next steps.

I'm still checking job listings but there are not really any teaching jobs in the country right now and I can only look in this county because of my credential program. And, I don't really want to commute anyway . . . :)

My advisor is out of town until Saturday. I will find out from her what my student teaching options are and then I'll look at my other options. I could do substitute teaching and may well choose to do that in addition to my student teaching. We'll see.

Greg -- no surprise here -- has been AWESOME. He told me before the interview that it just didn't matter because regardless we'd make it work. Yesterday, he told me that he honestly hoped that I didn't get a full-time job at a different school because it would be way better for our family if I were home more and working part-time. I feel the same way but felt guilty about possibly not bringing in as much money and not having benefits. He's a great husband!!!

Thanks for the love and support!