The Gift

This story can now be told, because The Gift was delivered this morning. Via a courier - a friend I had dinner with last night delivered the gift to another friend whom I haven't seen in a couple weeks and whom I'm not sure when I'll see again. Soon, hopefully. But the gift needed to be delivered.

My friend N., aka Bug, was recently promoted. A big promotion. Huge! She's now making what I was making after 20+ years in the corporate world - and she's all of 22 (I think - she might be 23?). Anyway, I'm very happy for her and proud of her and glad for her and the college. I hired her into the job she was in when I left, we had a wonderful time working together and she's been doing my old job for the 18 months it's been vacant, so it is appropriate that she is now the 'official' person in the job.

I had been keeping my eyes open for a gift for her - something to mark the occasion. Preferably something for her new office (I didn't have an office in that job when I was there - a sore point my former boss and I still laugh about - and it's been rectified now so the 'new' person in the job will have the space needed. It's all good). I found the perfect framed print at Acacia - the catalog. I liked it so much, I ordered two - one for me, one for her. I had seen it in the catalog some time back and loved it - and now it was on sale so all the better - and two made it perfect.

I placed the order and paid for upgraded shipping to ensure the package arrived in plenty of time. N. and I had lunch together on July 16th - I took 1/2 day off for the occasion. The morning of the 16th, I went to retrieve the package so I could wrap her gift. When I picked up the box, I thought 'wow, this is really light'. And then thought 'well, this is the age of plastic - maybe they are in plastic frames with Plexiglas, instead of real glass. I opened the outer box and found a shoe box. 'Hmmm. This is odd - but maybe they're smaller than I thought and they put them in a shoe box [an athletic shoe box - pretty 'big' - wide] to add an extra layer of protection for shipping'. Um, upon opening the box....it was a pair of tennis shoes. Those 'special' tennis shoes with the weird heel that are supposed to work your calf and thigh muscles as you walk. They were nice. Sadly, they are a size 7. I wear a 7 1/2.

This is about 10 minutes before I need to leave for a meeting in the town of Linden - east of Stockton. So I quickly call the company - they apologize profusely, say they will reship immediately, expedite shipping again (no charge) and ship me a return label for the shoes. Fine. I'm disappointed to be going empty handed but N. will understand. This episode made for a good laugh when shared with a couple people - and I assured N. that the gift was en route.

The package arrives - it's heavier this time. Good sign. I take out one of the prints, briefly inspect it, unwrap it from it's bubble wrap and place it carefully on my couch. In my living room. Why? I don't know. It's where it ended up. And it looked nice.

So, yesterday morning, two weeks from the date exactly, I'm having dinner that evening with a friend who sees N. daily. And I arrange for this friend to kindly deliver the gift to N. I go to the living room to retrieve the print to wrap it - and as I'm wrapping it, I notice a slight 'imperfection' in the upper left corner. It sort of looks like a chip in the glass, though it doesn't really seem to be chipped. Maybe a 'featherish' thing underneath the glass. It's small. I walked by that couch, with that print on it for a week and never noticed. But as I was wrapping, I noticed. And decided 'well, I'll keep that one and give N. the other one. So I go to the box. And I retrieve the other print, still wrapped in bubble wrap. And I hear 'clanking'. And upon unwrapping it, I notice the glass is shattered. Broken across the entire print, diagonally. Now I'm really screwed.

I call the company again - they apologize again. They also, sadly, regret to inform me that the print is no longer in stock. They credit the order - and give me a coupon for $20 off my next purchase. I am gift-less once again.

But I decided 'ah, to heck with perfection'. N. and I are good friends. We talk all the time and we're each other's sounding board when/as needed. She accepts me, warts and all (and there are plenty). She's a true friend in every sense of the word. And she won't mind the slight imperfection of the weird 'thing' in the upper left corner. I write on the outside of the envelope 'PLEASE CALL ME BEFORE YOU OPEN THIS'. And then, I call her and tell her the story. About how many tries it took to get this for her. And I loved it because of what it says - and because I want her to have something to keep that she'll always know was from me. And she laughed.

She opened it this morning and my (other) friend said 'she loved it - and she loves the story behind it even more'. So I guess it's OK.

And now the rest of the story: I still have the blooming tennis shoes. I have called three times to follow up on the return shipping label they were going to email me. I don't have it. Every time I call, they ask 'have you checked your 'junk mail'? Yes, I have. It's not there. It hasn't arrived. The last time I called, the shoes never came up. So I'm waiting another couple weeks and then...the shoes,too...will become part of the story. Because N. wears a size 7! If they charge me for the shoes, so be it! As long as they aren't sitting here unworn, I won't mind a bit. They'll be worn by a great friend! And in that new job, she's going to need good, comfortable shoes.

Congrats, N. I'm so glad it's you filling my shoes!

Headache II

Second day of the headache that will not end. I suspect sinuses....not sure. I went to bed at 8PM last night, awoke at 5 AM. Rolled over in bed and realized 'yikes, it's really, really bad'. Got up and went downstairs long enough to follow the absence procedure: phone immediate supervisor (left voicemail, obviously), phone absence line and because I have direct reports, let them know as well. Then took Chloe out, watched her re-burrow herself into her lair and returned to bed where I slept until 10. Wow....that's a lot of sleep, even for me!

Had a couple lattes, a couple Excedrin. J. called to say they were packed up and heading down the hill - the boys anxious to return to civilization, apparently. They should be home in a couple hours.

I feel the urge to sleep again but am resisting since I want to get to bed really early again. Tomorrow, headache or not, I must return to work - meetings on schedule that cannot be missed.

Tried to catch up on soaps but the earthquake in Los Angeles pre-empted all regular programming. Admittedly, it's a big event; however, it was irritating how they try to make it so much 'bigger'. Calls in from people where they basically put the words in their mouths - the story wasn't big enough - so they try to make the callers say more to embellish it. I turned off the TV and went back to trying to tidy up my desk. Now I'm watching Law and Order. There's always a L&O episode on somewhere.

Headache

A raging headache kept me home today - bad....bad. Thankfully, it's not (yet) making me sick to my stomach, because that would really, truly suck. I don't do well with nausea and there's no one here to help me - so I'm grateful it's just a headache that makes me feel 'out of it' and like I want to curl up on the couch and watch TV. Which is what I've been doing most of the day.

There are things I have to do myself without J. Which only makes me miss him more. Like, for example - I just had to kill a fly. I hate flies. Hate them. And J. is the designated fly killer, only he's not here and there are two of them flying around in here. I got one - and it sadly landed in a little 'bin' I have with pencils, pens, etc. So, he's in there, dead somewhere, but I can't quite locate him at the moment. So that will be something to look forward to - finding a dead fly someday - soon. I'll empty it all out later today. I promise. If J. were here, he'd be able to reach it over his way where there's not so much 'stuff' for the thing to land in or on. But no, I'm alone.

I'm watching the show Family on DVD. I loved that show and am enjoying remembering it again today. And when I feel like sitting up for a bit, I'm reading food blogs - getting ideas for what to do with all these veggies. I took a huge bag of veggies to the neighbor last night - squash, tomatoes, fresh jalapeno peppers, cucumbers and beets. We have too much to use. Not to mention that I don't really know how to cook a raw beet? I guess I just slice it up and steam it? So that's why I'm looking at food blogs. We got a lot of onions this week - and found a great recipe for those 'onion threads' you get at restaurants. So that's an idea - and I know everyone will love them. Even J. who doesn't really like onions.

It's already late afternoon....the blah day moved along so quickly, considering I barely moved. I always try to not be a total 'lump on the log' if I'm home - I mean, I can usually muster the oomph to at least put in a load of laundry or something. But today, I've been a total slug. Complete, total slug. Oh well.

GOT HIM - the fly is in the trash. Now, on to the other one that is making me crazy. I leave the screen door closed so I can't figure out how they're getting in here....but they are doomed. With or without J., this is a fly-free zone!

Ships

Oh, one more thing. Last Wednesday, I mentioned that J. stayed in San Francisco 'late' to join friends for cocktails to see the ships that were in the Bay. Here's a picture of one of them that sailed near their offices - pretty fantastic, huh? What a great way to liven up a work day. I love the city!

Blogger 101

I asked J. to help me 'link' to the websites in the sites below, via the word 'here'. We got a lot of things done and crossed off our list yesterday, but that was not one of them.

So I used my latest, greatest resource for learning all the cool things you can do on a blog - and you can find help here if/when you need it. Just type in what you want to do in the 'search' and it will lead you to it! Awesome. The Internet is an amazing, wonderful adventure. I can't wait to see what our future generations do with it!

Blog-gate

There's a bit of a scandal going on in the blog world these days. You can read about it here. Or here.

It's a nice lead-in to a post that's been formulating in my head for some time....about this thing called blogging.

The strange thing about this form of communication is that you really do get 'attached' to the people you meet through reading about their lives. It's odd how close I feel to people I've never met. People I probably never will physically meet. My therapist thinks I like reading blogs because I spent most of my childhood 'observing'. Watching from the sidelines, quietly - silently. She may be right. That, and I've always loved to read - and always like to read about things that are 'true' just as much as I like to read a good fiction story. But it's easy to get more invested when you know you are reading about real people and real life. I do 'get to know' these people, via their words. And pictures. And videos.

I read a lot of blogs. And I trust that all the things I'm reading are 'true'. And these recent events - which at first, look like plagiarism (which is bad enough) and then turn into (skeptically, but by all appearances so far, true) something quite different - are just so incredibly bizarre. Someone needing to create an alter identity - because the life s/he's been living isn't adequate, somehow. Wow. I can sort of understand that blogdom lets you be anyone you want to be. That's possibly part of the attraction for some people - for this person, it was. But for me, it's really about just writing because I love to write. And if people read, and keep reading because they enjoy it, all the better.

There are some amazing blogs out there - Kate of sweetsalty.com is one of them. That someone stole her words - and her life - is unbelievable. I feel sad for the person that did this - they are in need of help, obviously. Kate's words have moved me in a way that is hard to describe. Like a wonderful book that you can't wait to read - that always leaves you gob-smacked at how eloquently she says things. I love reading her blog. But I don't know her. And I probably never will.

I read another blog - and have corresponded via emails occasionally with another lady who uses a fictitious name. And her kids have different names in her blog, as do her husband and her step kids. I've been adjusting to this because it recently hit me hard, when I realized through one of her posts that her kids names in her blog aren't their real names. And it sort of left me 'lost' for a minute - like 'how can I not know their true names'? I feel like they are Nick and Nora, but they are not. And I don't know their true names. Nor hers. She wrote me a thank you card for a gift I sent to her babies awhile back - and though I trusted her with my real name and my home address, she put no return address on hers, nor did she sign her real name. And oddly, that hurt my feelings - I don't even know her but it felt like we were 'friends'. But we aren't, really. We're just acquaintances in the blogdom.

I do understand it. I don't use my family's first names, either - primarily because they're fairly unique (B. is the only B. in his entire school - and while we've encountered his name here and there, it's not all that common). And like any mom, or any blogger, I'm protective of their privacy. And my own - though I also recently learned that if you type in my name and the word 'blog' on Google, you will find this site. My first instinct to that realization (which I learned from a daily reader/dear friend) was to make the blog accessible via password only. But then I thought 'what's the point'? In this Internet age, there's not much private anymore. Anyone can know fairly quickly how much we paid for our home; how much property tax we pay; etc. There's not all that much privacy out there these days, really, with the Internet teaching people how to find whatever they're looking for. And I decided if I'm writing, anyone should be able to read it - not just people I've invited - but anyone.

I do avoid writing in any specific detail about work - I don't want to be dooced (another favorite blog I read - dooce.com). Other than that, I don't really have a theme or a plan - it's just me writing things about my days that I want to remember. And want my kids....and hopefully their kids...to read someday. To get to know me. To remember me.

My only regret is that I didn't blog when the kids were babies. Granted, it wasn't as prevalent then - the Internet was 'new' (and I recall saying 'it will never amount to anything' - wow, have I had to eat those words!). But oh, how I wish I had all those memories - of first words, first steps, all the magical things that make up babies - somewhere to read. And re-read. My kids will have that from me, though for only their 'child/teen' years - not too much of their early lives. I wish that were different. So I read about other people's babies and remember. And I keep writing the now - so it will be their in the future. When I can't remember. When I want my grand kids to know about their dads. Wow, that's going to be fun!

Camping

J. and the boys just departed for Yosemite - an annual trip (usually, though they did skip last year - H. had football back then and it conflicted with the trip) with J's younger brother and his kids. Based on the amount of stuff being loaded into the van, you'd think they were going to be gone for a week or more. No - just today, tomorrow and Tuesday - returning home late evening on Tuesday. That's the thing about camping: it takes a lot of 'stuff' to survive in the wilderness. Tents, cook gear, stove, tables, chairs, sleeping bags, food, etc. My idea of camping is pulling up to the curb and having the bell hop take my bags. Now you know why I don't go. Just not my thing. When J. asked me for a roll of quarters from my 'fun money' stash, that hit me with ANOTHER reason it's not my thing - showering by the minute. And hiking to pee. Not my idea of a fun time.

There is a fire near Yosemite at the moment and I worry a bit about that, though J. says they are camping far from the fire zone. They've done research and talked to people who live in the valley and they say you can still see Half Dome - just a bit of haze. So hopefully, that will remain true. If they're not having a great time and are miserable from smoke, they'll turn around and come home.

Yesterday was an errand marathon. I went to the bank while J. took recycling to the center to cash it in. We both went to Costco, then to the health food store to pick up this week's veggies (more about that later) and then we went to the 99cent store - which may be my new 'favorite' store. I've never ventured in there before - no particular reason other than that it's not in a shopping center we get to much. But it's in the same center as the store we pick up the produce from, so it was convenient. J. wanted a small-ish container of dish soap for the camping trip - so we wandered in. Thought we'd buy the one thing for $1. Left with a cart full. Shasta soda! DIET! black cherry, my favorite and impossible to find. Also spaghetti sauce, Chiclets gum (remember Chiclets??), cocoa, etc. And Arnold Palmer iced tea - 1/2 tea, 1/2 lemonade - the kids LOVE it! It was a lot of stuff and we left for only $32. I was really surprised how much variety they had - especially in the food section. Sure, some of the labels were a bit mangled. Or the print run on them didn't go well - but the food was name brands and not expired - so what's not to like about paying $1 or less for things you use everyday/weekly and would pay two to three times as much for at the 'regular' grocery store. I'm sold.

Then we needed to head to Mervyn's - I had stopped there on Friday and found some shirts and pants - great sale price AND an additional 20% off for using my Mervyn's card. I'd read a few days ago that they are on the edge of filing for Chapter 11 and I think I saw evidence of that - literally every single clothing rack had a 'sale' topper on it - 40%-50% off, then the extra 20% for using their in-house credit card. Wow. Looks like they're trying to raise some cash. I rarely find things there these days - they are most definitely not targeting my demographics in their clothing selection - but I found a few nice tops and a couple pairs of pants. And we went back last night 'cuz the boys needed socks - and t-shirts. So we drove to Manteca, had dinner at El Jardin (great food - it's nice to have a 'backup' Mexican place on our list). Shopped after dinner, then headed home. The kids begged for Baskin Robbins (right next to the restaurant) but I said 'no, too expensive'. We surprised them by going to Fosters Freeze on the way back into Tracy. I had my usual - B. had a sundae and H. had an Oreo Blizzard. J. nibbled some of mine. Fun evening - and we all ended up outside by the pool trying to cool off. Nice evening.

The veggies look as great as last week - and so much variety. There's something there that we don't even recognize - we think it's some kind of squash. And there's kohlrabi, kind of like a cabbage. She included a recipe for it and I'm going to cook it tonight for myself to see what it's like. It's like Christmas seeing what's included this week - and it's all really great! We're enjoying it a lot -

So it's just me and Chloe here today - have to run to Petco to get food pellets for Fofy - (I don't know why Petsmart doesn't carry these pellets for parakeets - but they don't, thus necessitating an 'extra' trip across town periodically to Petco, where we rarely shop). And possibly stopping in for a final perusal of the Linens and Things store to see what's left now that they are in their final days.

I have some 'work' work to tackle as well. Laptop here. Need to get started on some things. It's the perfect day for it - up early, ready to go.

That's my Sunday news report. It's going to be very hot here today - the air is completely still and it's already approaching 80. Oh, and I have our most recent electric bill and we are doing GREAT - used (on average) 7 fewer KWh PER DAY than this month last year. We are all acclimating to the thermostats being set for 80 when we're home, 84 when we're not. It can get warmish - like last night when I was scrubbing the bird cage, vacuuming, etc. - hence the late night time out by the pool - but we're managing. And it's really helping, which I feel good about - and not just from the perspective of lowering our out of pocket expenses. Just feels good knowing we're trying to reduce our need for energy that's produced via non-eco-friendly generation stations.

Ice Cream

I had a hankering for soft serve again tonight....chocolate dip vanilla cone. Now, the best soft serve in town is Fosters Freeze. Assume we live at ....say....Negative 15th street. Fosters Freeze is around Positive 30th Street. It's a long, long way from our house - and with gas so high, I'm really trying hard to limit the driving I do for 'non-essential' activities. So I went to Baskin Robbins which is about a mile away in the same shopping center as our closest grocery store.

I splurged and had a double scoop chocolate chip ice cream hot fudge sundae. It was supposed to be a double scoop chocolate chip with hot fudge AND marshmallow - but their marshmallow sauce was frozen - so I get extra hot fudge instead. I didn't feel too guilty because I skipped the whip cream and the nuts. And, I shared the sundae with B. and J. who enjoyed it also. So I technically only had 1/3 of a splurge...so I can have another splurge sometime this weekend. The next splurge will most likely be a true FF soft serve chocolate dip - the sundae was good but I would have enjoyed the cone just as much and the cost of the sundae was pretty much what I would have spent on gasoline and the cone. So I'll call it even next time and drive across town to get what I'm craving.

The drive-thru dinner was terrific - it was a fund raiser for the pregnancy resource center here in town and a lot of local churches sold tickets. From the look of the line at just after the kick-off time, I'd say it was pretty successful. We got a dinner of ribs, chicken, slaw, beans and dinner roll for $11 each. It was great! And easy. I hope they do it again - it was a nice 'dinner out' without having to get out of our car - just drive through, pick it up and bring it home. Delicious!

B. got his first paycheck today and we're taking him to the bank tomorrow to show him how to deposit the check into his savings account (which he's had since he was a baby though he didn't really know it) and get 'cash back'. Trying to encourage him to save as much as he can - the agreement is 30/30/40 split: 30% to us to help with car expenses; 30% to savings for college; and 40% for him for whatever. This first check, we're skipping our percentage so he'll have a little more cash - we'll do that for the next check or two. And then we'll start taking our percentage - but I will just save it....so he'll end up saving 60% for college, hopefully. That's what we're going to try to do - and I hope we can manage it. He realized that we've had this account for a long time - we make monthly automatic transfers into the account and take out sometimes, for things like Christmas, vacations, etc. So he said 'no offense, but how will I know that you're not taking out money from my account to buy a refrigerator or something?'. I showed him how I entered his deposit (net of the cash) into the account register, showing it as 'Save Mart' so we'll know where the $$ came from. And I reassured him that any Save Mart money is HIS and only his, though the intent is that money he deposits into this account is earmarked primarily for college savings. Though of course, if he has a need for a 'thing' that he wants to buy, we'll talk about it and he can withdraw money from the account. But we're really trying hard to get him used to NOT thinking about this account as a 'cash' account. When he needs access to some of his cash, we'll open a checking account for him.

I reminded B. that he has finished paying his phone off, so he'll get allowance this weekend. He said 'do I even really need to get an allowance anymore'? I replied 'yes, because you'll need cash - but maybe we'll let you start buying your own lunches at school' (thus adding another $20 per week to his college savings, if I can be disciplined enough to do that) and confirmed that yes, he will still need to do chores. It will be hugely helpful to our budget to have him be able to pay his own entertainment expenses, some of his clothing expenses, etc. Teens are expensive and the regular incoming cold, hard cash his job is bringing in will be a nice change to our ever increasing monthly outflow.

Mamma Mia

was TERRIFIC! It's toe tapping, knee thumping, laugh out loud, sing-it-like-you-mean-it FUN! I just loved it and I think J. did, too. It really is a chick flick...but he endured it! [Thanks for going with me, my sweet.]. The only part I had a problem with was Pierce Brosnan singing. And not because he didn't do a good job. He did! Really! But it's just not something you 'expect' from him, and it was strange to see him singing. So I closed my eyes a few times to just try to LISTEN and hear instead of reacting to seeing him singing.

It's set in the Greek islands and I'm going to have to research where it was actually shot. Wherever it was shot, we are going to go there! Beach-y beauty, gorgeous water. You felt like you were at the beach - all wind blown hair, salty sea air, everything. It was beautiful and we have to get there.

I'm going to order the movie soundtrack from Amazon.com and can't WAIT to have it playing in my office as I plow through year-end. Super Trouper comes to mind!

Go see it! It's a great 'I need a break from my life and something that makes me smile from ear to ear' movie! You'll love it...I know you will!

Randy

Randy Pausch died today. The author of 'The Last Lecture' succumbed to pancreatic cancer this morning at his home. His story was featured on 20/20 and his 'last lecture' can be seen on You Tube. It's a series of videos. When he found out he was dying, he wanted to leave something for his kids - who are very young and may not remember him. I bought the book and it is great. He was such a positive life force - just an amazing man. Someone that you feel you knew through his books and watching him on TV. I am sad for his family - but yet, I am glad for them, too. He and his wife had time to plan...time to say goodbye...time to realize what was happening and prepare for it as best they could. While still hugely sad and incredibly hard, I find a bit of comfort in that....hoping that if I were to be diagnosed with something really 'bad', it would give me time to wrap things up here on earth. Randy did that in such a meaningful way for his kids...and for his family. It's a beautiful book and will be on my 'keep forever' book shelf. If you ever get a chance to watch his interviews with Diane Sawyer, do. I suspect they'll be rerunning them again in honor and memory of him. He was an amazing man. You can read more about Randy at the Carnegie Mellon website (where he was a professor of computer technology) - www.cmu.edu .

Nespresso

This is not a paid advertisement. But when a company does a good job, I think it should be recognized.

I came home for lunch today and called Nespresso to ask about the problem we're having with the espresso button putting through the same amount as the lungo button - about double the amount of water that should be processed through the coffee capsules. They helped me recalibrate those buttons over the phone - they now work perfectly. And, when I asked about the leaking water reservoir - we are filling it with a pitcher and it works fine but taking it out and filling it at the sink [which is what the manual shows] results in the reservoir leaking. They are sending a replacement - and I already have the confirmation email that it shipped today. No charge. Now THAT'S customer service!

The boys are loving the machine and they are adding espresso to any drink feasible. Chocolate milk? Yes, with a double shot, please. Fruit smoothies? Possibly. I don't mind - it's new and a novelty and they'll lose interest. At least I hope they do 'cuz the cost is about .52 cents per shot. It could add up quickly. Of course, it's far cheaper than them going to Starbucks for a latte - so why worry, right? It IS really good espresso. I'm reading the book (included) and learning that the frothy layers on the top are part of the 'pleasure' of good espresso. It's really interesting how different varieties make different layers of 'crema' (that's the fancy name for the froth). I've been enjoying two lattes every morning and trying all different kinds. The variety is great! It will be hard to decide what to order when it's time to restock.

I've got a routine down where I'm making my own iced tea every day - so that's saving $4.20/day. Get a pot of tea brewing first thing in the AM, so it's cooled off when I'm ready to leave - fill cups with ice, tea concentrate and there it is! And I refill the tea pot with water again before I leave (same bags - frugal of me, huh?) and then I can refill when I come home for lunch!

Today was the THIRD good day at work. Yikes. That's a record. Hope it's a trend! I'm only there 1/2 day tomorrow (meeting all afternoon) and then working 1/2 day at home on Friday and taking a 1/2 day off so J. and I can hopefully go see Mama Mia. Saturday is booked and he's leaving with the kids for camping early Sunday morning...so it's a Friday afternoon date or we'll have to wait another weekend.

That's it for now. J. is in the city late to join some coworkers for cocktails. The 'big ships' are in the bay today and everyone wanted to go see them up close. They watched them from their office windows this afternoon and someone suggested drinks and more boat watching - so he stayed in the city this evening. We ordered pizza. Time to get the dishwasher going so it can be unloaded before bed.

Oh, one more thing. Remember the post awhile back about Gwyneth and her mom? The two living miracles? Tricia's going through a really hard time - a setback of sorts - and while she and Nathan are weathering it with their usual faith and patience and trust in God, I know they would appreciate all the prayers we can muster. So many miracles for these two - and one more is needed. Maybe not a full blown miracle, as all the others most definitely have been. But certainly God's help in ensuring the medication does what it needs to and Tricia's side effects are as limited as possible. I hope you will read and pray. www.cfhusband.blogspot.com

Shortened

I went short today. Really short. My hair is now like it was years ago - short, short, SHORT. I love it! Absolutely love it! I've been thinking about doing it - cut off 8 inches in the last 12 months. And something about this week - this feeling that it's time for some change in my life - made NOW the right time. It's easy as pie to style, will dry on it's own in less than 10 minutes and will be easy to 'manage' in wind, rain, extreme heat, during hot flashes, etc. Some styling mousse, a couple swipes with the flat iron, some hairspray and I'll be ready to go! J. said 'it's not as blond as it was'. It's still blond but it's more strawberry-blondish - largely due to the hair being closer to the scalp and you can't turn brown hair blond without pulling some red tones. Just happens. It's just harder to 'disguise' the reddish tones (don't picture Lucille Ball red - it's not) when there's not as much hair. Time to break out some earrings, I think.

That's it for now. Blogger's been down so hope this posts.

Three Teens and a Blender

So many blog topics, so little time. At least I have lots of posts ruminating in my head...just very little time to write.

I came home for lunch today - as I frequently do. I called home just before and talked to B. who asked 'is it OK for my friend S. to come over'? I said 'sure, I guess so - just remember you are working today at 3'. (I feel compelled to remind him - I shouldn't 'cuz he should stand on his own two feet, but I remind him. I'm a mom. I can't help it). So I get home minutes later and S. is already here, leading me to believe he was either pulling into the driveway during that call or already here and 'asking' was just an afterthought upon the realization that I would be home any minute. I think it was the latter. What do you think? [B. just positively confirmed that no, S. was not here but was in the housing development where my office is dropping off his brother, so he was also extremely close to our house but B. also said 'he was here about 10 minutes before you got here and since I left just after hanging up the phone, I'm not sure about his sense of time. Which is why I keep reminding him about when he has to go to work. See what I mean?].

Anyway, I get home to a huge whirring sound and find all three boys (my two and S.) blending Frappucino's using the new espresso maker as the 'base' for their concoction. Added milk and massive amounts of chocolate chips - and ice. They made me one and it wasn't bad. I suggested using powdered milk next time (which I always have on hand because in a pinch, I can mix up a quart of it, spoon off the 'foam' on the top and pour it into the milk carton - they never know the difference and it gets us through those times when we're short on time and short on milk. Which happens pretty frequently since we go through 3-4 gallons of milk a week around here) because it would add the 'milk' without the liquid - make them thicker. They were pretty good and we added whip cream. I tried to add maraschino cherries to mine (rationalizing that would count as a 'fruit') but none of us could get the jar opened. Darn. B. was trying to pour a glass of the frozen drink into a glass, over the dishwasher, which was opened with the top rack out - bad plan. Chocolate, chunky slushy stuff all over the clean dishes. Lovely. He then puts the blender pitcher on the 3 inch wide edge of the sink. Also a bad plan, which I was here to intercept. His friend said 'oh, that's a B. move'. It's known among friends that he does things that are not well thought out...and makes messes. A lot.

I left with B. outside, shooting his air soft gun at one of my flower planters (target practice, I guess)? and S. inside playing the piano. I commented to B. 'why are you outside alone and your friend is inside playing the piano alone? If he's here to visit and 'hang out' with you, why aren't the two of you at least in the same room?'. No response. I still don't know exactly why they weren't together - I mean, what's the point of having a friend over if you're going to be in completely separate locations during the visit. Is it a 'guy' thing? I don't get it. But I left 'cuz I had to get back to work.

The dishwasher did get unloaded and the re-dirtied dishes were rewashed and also put away. Dinner was a turkey breast roast, mashed potatoes (from REAL potatoes leftover from all my attempts at the SRB starter), fresh steamed squash (delicious)! H. helped me peel potatoes and clogged the sink - and then had a great time using our 'science experiment' method of unclogging the sink - baking soda and vinegar. It worked like a charm!

J. is helping H. with his summer project - which I'm grateful for 'cuz I don't have the patience for the lack of effort demonstrated up to this point. How much can we threaten and cajole and beg and plead? How much? I don't get it. I could probably never teach teens 'cuz I'd want to knock their blocks off for insolence, failing to live up to their potential, etc.

Oh, oh, OH....and I found out from H. while he was unclogging the sink - it's amazing the things that come up while your'e watching a volcano of white foam come up from your disposal - that he and B. had invited a NAVY RECRUITER into our home this afternoon to answer any questions they had on the Navy. OMG!!! And this is so crazy because I spent 40+ minutes talking to a coworker whose husband is returning from his THIRD tour in Iraq in two weeks and how he would be the first to advise any 'kids' thinking about entering the military to go to college FIRST and then join. If after 4+ years of school, you still feel inclined to join, then wait and if you still feel that's what you want to do, you'll enter officers training and be on a career path, which is the way to go. I can't BELIEVE they let a total stranger into this house. Even if the guy is in uniform. I'm so frickin' pissed off at the Navy - I can't believe they did that. Is it OK for them to come to the home of MINORS uninvited and give their spiel with no parent at home? Really. Is it? 'cuz it's really hacked me off.

That was my day. On the work front, it was a GOOD day - and that's not something I've said recently about work so I'm writing it down so I won't forget.

YouTube

B. made his debut on You Tube today! The Saturday jazz group he plays with most weekends posted a video - it's fun watching the kids 'jam'. If you know me and you want to see it, please email me and I'll tell you what to search for so you can find it.

The day was a morning full of church. Working at the coffee cart was exhausting and frustrating. It's hard work when there's a lot of supplies to be unloaded and restocked. And it's hard when one of the workers spends a lot of time chatting with folks. And the third helper was a teen who had absolutely no idea what to do - so consequently, did very little. I was sweating like a stuffed tuna - and they're standing around chatting. Made me nuts...and glad I'm not working there every weekend 'cuz I know I would blow my stack at some point. J. had a break between services and he helped me wash and dry all the equipment. I was so glad for the help 'cuz I wanted to get on my way to my errands.

First stop was waiting in the long lines at Costco to fill up the cars. Gas was down to $4.14/gallon - and it shocks me to say that's 'down' and that it's still as high as it is. We get 3% cash rebate back on all gas purchases so that saves us about 12 cents/gallon more. We're trying to get B. to take the time to gas up there - after receiving the Chevron bill this month, and having my mouth drop open at the shock, he needs to coordinate with us to drive across town, use one of our Costco Amex cards to fill up and then come home and give us back the card. In January, when he's 18, we can add him to our account - which we will probably do, though that's a bit scary. We got him a Chevron card and he only uses it for gas. But the temptation of an Am Ex card that can be used anywhere is a bit worrisome. He's a good kid - and we'll probably add him so he won't need us to be with him, or have been able to get a card from us - in order to gas up there. The lower price (compared to Chevron) combined with the 3% rebate does make a big difference - and we're squeezing every penny lately, as is most of America.

The new Mercury Mariner hybrid is expected to arrive at the dealership in the first couple weeks of August - so hopefully, we will end up buying it and that will save more. With only a 1.7 mile commute each way, it would seem I'd drive very little - and I don't, really. But add in the trip to Starbucks every morning, and driving home for lunch, and then the after work errands, etc. and it adds up. And in town, the van gets really bad mileage. So a hybrid is a good idea, even for someone who isn't driving hundreds of miles each week. I figure if we all buy hybrids, we'll use that many fewer barrels of oil - and that's what we need to do to cut our dependency on foreign oil, which we can no longer afford to import. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. If we were to buy a car for the boys, it would be a Prius or a hybrid Honda Civic - neither of those cars 'excites' them but if they want a car and if we're helping to pay for it, that's what we're buying. We're going hybrid all the way!

I worked a bit outside, continuing the pruning and removal of various shrubs. We still need to measure and order the raised beds and plant some fall veggies soon.

Another Monday looms and I'm hopeful tomorrow will be less of a blue-sy Monday than last week. That day sort of set the tone for the week and it made the week just drag by. We need a more upbeat start of the week.

I 'won' (on eBay) a 'LeCube' espresso machine which is very, VERY cool. So now, we're waking up to really great espresso, made a shot at a time. Mixed with steamed milk and froth and a little sugar free caramel or vanilla syrup. It's delicious and the whole family is enjoying it - well, mostly me, J. and B. H. has never been that into coffee. It's a slick machine and I got it for less than 1/3 of retail...only thing is: it isn't working perfectly (it's purchased from the manufacturer as a 'refurbished' model) so I'll contact them tomorrow and enact their 'temporary replacement' policy. They'll send us a machine to use while they repair this one - no shipping charges. It should be fine. It works fine, really, but the espresso size shot is supposed to be using less water than the lungo size shot - only they're both using the same amount of water. Which I discovered when my smaller espresso shot cup overflowed. It's sort of 'important' because the coffee capsules you use are many different strengths and flavors - and some are best when brewed with the smaller, espresso size shot of hot water. Sounds picky, but let me tell you - this coffee is really great! We have so many different kinds to try - and when we decide on our favorites, we can order what we like. It's great. It's made by Nespresso, which is a division of Nestle. And Nespresso is the company that makes our milk fr other, the Aerocinno, which I absolutely ADORE.

I'm rhapsodizing about coffee....whatever gets me out of bed with a smile on my face, right?

Fresh

The boys had an impromptu sleepover last night - two friends of theirs who joined us for dinner stayed the night. We surprised them with a big breakfast which included blueberry pancakes - with fresh blueberries. I sent J. to the grocery this morning for milk (which we were out of) and asked him to pick up a basket of fresh blueberries so I could add them to the pancakes. The only 'basket' available was a gigantic tub full of the biggest blueberries I've EVER seen. These are HUGE. So we added them to pancakes, and now I'm adding them to a coffee cake for morning. Just to use them up. Not that we have coffee cake every morning but it will be a nice Sunday treat before J. and B. AND H. head off to church - I will meet them there but they all have to be there early. UPDATE: looks like I'll be there early, too, since the coffee cart needs help tomorrow.

We got our first crate of fresh produce today....such a terrific variety. Tomatoes, lettuces, sweet corn, a couple varieties of squash, purple sage, carrots, red onions, green onions, yellow onions, and a fresh watermelon! All fresh picked this morning and they are delicious! We had carrots and watermelon and tomatoes for lunch - just GREAT! Nothing like the taste of a just picked watermelon - and it was perfectly sweet. I ate it over the sink with juice dripping everywhere! Great lunch! and can't wait for next week! More melons! Yummy! We'll have the corn and squash tomorrow with a turkey breast roast we got at Costco. Nice Sunday dinner - and a very fresh salad. The greens are delicious! Of course, things have to be washed and rinsed - you sort of forget that these foods grow in dirt - and since they really were picked this morning, they are dirty. The crate left a lot of debris and dirt on the kitchen table - but it also made me wish we had a compost bin 'cuz there were some trimmings, etc. that would have been great for compost. We cleaned everything off and prepped the fixins' for salads over the next couple days. It is a LOT of produce and it's likely that should I decide to continue the weekly fresh veggies, we might switch to a '1/2' order - since the kids don't think a lunch of fresh produce is a good thing. Go figure.

Running errands and picking up the veggies took up the morning. And I took a nap...haven't had a good nap in a LONG time and really took very few over vacation - so this one was GOOD and long. Woke up in time for dinner - fish tacos and broccoli salad. J. and I had planned to go see Mama Mia but I wasn't ready to go in time for the next show. So we'll try to do that tomorrow, we hope. I've been looking forward to that movie since I heard it was being made. We kept thinking we would go to the stage show - but it's so expensive and so far away - either San Francisco, San Jose or Sacramento - and the effort for that, combined with the expense made us keep putting it off. So the movie looks fun and we're looking forward to seeing it if we can wedge it in tomorrow.

B. is adjusting to being a member of the 'working class'. He is scheduled to work 3-7 the next few days - and he comes home exhausted. And seems 'sad' or 'resigned' - guess adjusting to having responsibilities besides golf or scheduling a band rehearsal is a huge adjustment for a teen boy? Hopefully, his first paycheck will help - so next Friday, he'll probably be happier, relatively speaking. Though he'll have another shock when he realizes that his estimate of his take home pay compared with his actual take home pay is off. It's not [number of hours x hourly pay rate] as he thinks. Still, he'll have more 3-4 times his weekly allowance to call his own and to a teen, that's a lot of money. We're going to get him a checking account so he can get used to that concept as well...since this time next year, he'll be heading off to college away from home, most likely. So many adjustments coming up. So little time.

H. has been a bit 'off' today - he spent night before last at a friends house and then spent the entire next day helping his friend and his friend's mom move into their new house. They worked HARD all day - and H. was absolutely exhausted when he got home. And then he had friends stay over and we're not sure when they went to sleep - we issued a lights out 'order' of midnight, but that does not mean they went to sleep. H. slept a bit today and has a bad headache and a 'queasy' stomach. So he's been lounging most of the day and I'm letting him be 'cuz when he stops moving, it's usually for a reason. He just needs to rest a bit.

Both boys have summer projects for school due the first day - and the days are inching closer to the 'due date'. In between the first day of school and NOW, they also have plans for camping in Yosemite for a few days and another Wakeboard Wednesday with church - and they can't do those things if they aren't making progress on the projects. It's crazy making time trying to get them to DO what needs to MUST be done.

It's always crazy around here...nothing new about that!

Monday

J. and I both had a case of the Monday blues today. Sort of like the Monday blahs only with more shades of 'holy crap, another week'. Bluer. Hence the 'blue'. Heh. Mondays suck. Always have, always will...until we have days stretching out before us that just blend into one another. Then we'll be like H. who asked on Friday 'it's Sunday, right'? Uh, no. Oh to be on summer vacation and forget what day of the week it is.

I spent the day organizing things, which I suck at. But I'm improving. My work binders are materializing and there's stuff in them where they should be - which will make my life a whole lot easier down the road. It's just being ON the road and needing to do all of it that sucks. I have 'help' but I learn a lot by 'doing it myself' - helps me recall things, take notes for next year, etc. So it's worth doing. And it is a relatively 'slow' week with few meetings. Quiet. The only bad thing about the quiet is it's hard to get 'moving' - and that's a bad thing because when I stop and think about the year-end stuff looming, I really should be moving at a million miles per hour. That will come. A few slower motion days would not be a bad thing.

The day improved when I arrived at Costco - our 2nd shop this week 'cuz we didn't synchronize our lists very well yesterday and there was no salad stuff in the house and since we're both attempting to be 'good', that's a bad thing - and I had planned to just grab a pizza for the kids and YIPPEE! it's the annual pizza week and they're $3 off - so a huge pizza regularly $10 was only $SEVEN ( there's no way to capitalize a number for emphasis so I'll spell it out!). So that was a great thing. A nice end to a blue day. Picked up a variety of salad fixins', some roasted edamame for snacking, bananas, hot dog buns and headed home.

I am working 1/2 day on Wednesday - attending a meeting at another district in the morning and then heading to Livermore for lunch with the just promoted Bug. It will be great to see her.

Falling asleep. Time for bed. Tuesday tomorrow. Hopefully not a 'blue' Tuesday...two blue days in a row would be too hard to handle, even during a slow week.

Tori

It's a bit embarrassing to admit this, but I'm sort of into the latest in the Tori Spelling/Dean McDermott reality show series. I tried really hard to NOT watch it - I've watched off and on of the first two seasons. But I'm interested and once I start watching, I'm compelled to see what happens next.

I've always had a fascination with 'knowing how it all turns out'. Ask my husband. I rank movies based on the 'happy ending' factor - do we know for sure they got married and had a family? Do we know they ended up 'happily ever after'?

I'm not sure Dean and Tori will be happily ever after - not that I think they won't but who really knows? I do think they are surprisingly normal - trying to raise a family and make a living. Considering the wealth of her late father, it's surprising to me that she struggles with the things we all struggle with - buying a first home, how to afford the first home, how to keep affording the first home, how to stay happily married when you realize you are two entirely different, independent people trying to stay together forever. How to have hobbies that the other doesn't particularly enjoy and vice versa. It's interesting to 'watch' how their life is progressing. And I hope it turns out well. She does work incredibly hard - really, seriously. She is the 'commodity' in a lot of their business endeavors - which doesn't mean he doesn't work hard also - he does. They both do. He's trying to do voice over work so he can be home with the baby while she does her book tour. I've never been particularly impressed with either of their acting abilities - but they are hard working, good people - and it's interesting to see their latest mis-adventures. And successes.

It's not scintillating, 'can't miss' TV - but it's 'tape it on the DVR and watch it when there's nothing else to watch' TV and I enjoy it. It's fun watching her plan her son's first birthday party (which, granted, was an over-the-top affair with a monkey theme, including many live monkeys) and struggling with being 7 months pregnant and flying to New York (from LA), as well as house-hunting.

They are surprisingly normal, all things considered. And I admire them both for that.

Scary

Someone at work commented that their family's investment portfolio had lost 'x thousand dollars' in the last six months. And my first thought was 'we've lost 10 times that in the last six months'....but I didn't say it 'cuz it's a really big number and I don't want to be seen as boastful. And it's none of their business.

I'm blessed that we've lost 10 times what they've lost 'cuz it means we have way more to lose. But at the same time, it's getting pretty frickin' scary.

Today, we received a letter from our equity line carrier advising that they have frozen our credit line and we will no longer be able to make draws against it. The letter was well worded, making it clear that we have handled our account in an exemplary manner, they appreciate our business, nothing about our existing terms or payment terms are changing. It's simply that their house valuation system has confirmed that our property is no longer worth enough to support the full line and so they have frozen it. Thankfully, they aren't asking us to fully repay what's outstanding - part of which we had to borrow when we refinanced to a much lower rate many years back to stay at the 80% LTV (to avoid PMI) and then partly to pay for the beautiful remodeling of the 'study' we did several years back as well. Both things were completely 'worth it' and we dutifully pay as much as we can (above the 'minimum') every month. And we will continue to do that. However, that's one less 'cushion' we have available (and again, I acknowledge thankfully that we are blessed with significant cushions so no worries) - we might have used it for college expenses at some point, but now we won't. Good thing B. is getting a job.

We have other financial milestones coming up - some assets that we have held for some time and now we are fast approaching the date where we MUST cash them in - and it couldn't be at a worse time. They are significantly devalued...which is sad. But oh well. Whatever they end up being valued at, it is more than we had before we cashed them in. It just bums me out how it seems like we are always on the wrong side in these things. I had these same 'assets' in my prior corporate life and they were also worth a bit at one point. But I was so confident in my former company that I held them - until they weren't worth the paper they were printed on. And I ended up with zip. Oh well. That's the gamble. It's not always 'easy' to decide when to hold or when to fold.

The good thing is: we've been here before. We lived in a home that was worth significantly less than we paid for it within a few months of buying it. And we stayed there for 10 years because we had to. We couldn't sell for what we owed. Here, we could sell for what we owed - walk away with not much cash - but we don't want to nor need to. This is our home and we love it here and we're never leaving (until they carry us out) and so it matters not that the property is devaluing along with everyone else's property. We don't care. We love it here...and are very happy here. These have been the happiest years of my life - these almost 8 years in this house. So it could be worse. I don't want to leave here - so not being able to doesn't bother me. And that IS a huge difference/improvement from where we've been the last time the housing market tanked.

So whatever happens to the economy, we're fine. And we're staying. And if I have to work until I'm 80 to support my soon to be retired husband, so be it. As long as I come home to him and this house after every long day, it's all good.

Working

for a living....the song is running through my head, except the only part I can remember is '.....working for a livin' ' . Maybe the rest will come to me and if it does, it will likely arrive in my head at 3 in the morning...as so many other half thoughts do...so they can keep me awake the remainder of the night.

I have not been feeling all that well the past few days - and on Monday, I called my doctor to make an appointment...the earliest opening he had was this morning. So I slept in and avoided coffee - there's been blood work ordered since FEBRUARY that I hadn't done yet - and that's for a doctor that is IN TOWN. Thank goodness I'm no longer seeing my medical group in Danville. Anyway, I am having a variety of symptoms. This morning, it was pretty obvious I might have a bladder infection. Yep, that's it. So I ended up staying home for the day, picking up my prescription and sleeping part of the day. Just feeling 'under the weather'. Thankfully, it was a clear calendar day and it's summer and it's slow. I'm still catching up from being off...my "In Box" alone (the physical one with all the papers in it) took two full days to clear up. Yikes.

I will go in tomorrow 'cuz I have a meeting at 10. And I have tons to do to get started on year-end which is the next horrendously huge hurdle to cross in my work life. The week has gone well so far...and I'm not glad I'm back but it hasn't been too bad. Summer's are nice - fewer calls, fewer people.

B. went online and applied at SaveMart for a job - and the website said he'd hear in two weeks. Well, we just got a call and he has an interview there on Tuesday morning! Yeah! He's hoping to be able to work maybe 10-12 hours/week if he can manage that - and will use the funds to help pay the car expenses. With gas at $4.50/gallon, we need some help. We don't really need it - but it's important that he start pitching in and realize that holding down a job is a part of life. He had a one year 'free ride' and now it's time to start pitching in. I'm not expecting him to turn over his entire paycheck - anything he can pitch in will help - and it will help for him to have his own money to spend on things he wants to do or buy. That alone will help our budget.

Summer time is when it becomes painfully obvious that kids are expensive. They have been working in the yard, in the house, etc. to earn money to pay for their activities - but there's a lot of things they want to do or buy and they never have enough money. They each get an allowance every two weeks - and at the moment, they are both 'in debt' to us...so I decided that even though B.s' grades are far from 'stellar', he needs to go ahead and get a job. Show up, work hard, and hopefully manage his time well enough to hold it all together. We will see. It will be good for him to have a schedule to keep track of; a place he needs to show up at; etc. He's been playing golf almost everyday. And heading to the driving range in the evenings. AND playing with the band for 6-8 hours a day, 2-3 days each week. All fun summer activities...and all things he is motivated to do and enjoying. But it's time for the 'real world' of work. Work is going to be a part of his life from now on. He needs to help with college expenses and working will be a part of everyday.

It's hard to see his childhood 'over'. I realize that this is his last carefree, fun summer....but he doesn't. He's still jamming in as many fun things as possible. And I'm fine with that. But I'm really glad SaveMart appears to have openings and hope it works out. He'll realize soon enough that summer is over.

Farming

I paid for a one month membership in a co-op farm. The farm is in French Camp - about 17 minutes north on I-5. They call themselves 'Fresh Edibles' - www. freshedibles.org . There was an article in the Tracy Press about the farm and I signed up right away.

They make weekly deliveries to a health food store here in town - so for $22.50/week, we get a nice size box of just picked produce. If I sign up for a quarterly plan - weekly deliveries for three months - it's a bit less expensive. But I just did a trial month to see how we like it and to see if we'll use it all. The types of produce vary weekly - there's a newsletter that's included in your box telling you what you'll receive the next week, to help with meal planning. We'll get tomatoes, fresh lettuce, sweet corn, etc. in the box we'll pick up next Saturday. For the first week, I'm actually driving to the farm for a tour and to 'see' a real working farm. I can arrange to come out and work if I'd like, and I think I might do that once or twice a month. See if I can get the kids interested in going once in awhile.

I did it because it's one way to eat more veggies. And it's great that's it's a co-op farm - they are selling 'memberships' to keep the farm family owned. I'm really jazzed about the concept! and can't wait for the fresh veggies. I know they will be so much better than store bought because garden fresh veggies always are.

The backyard is looking so much different - the removal of 5 shrubs and the trimming of 2 huge trees made a big difference. Now, we'll do the measurements for the beds and order a couple to start - see how we do with those before we invest in putting beds in all the newly vacant places.

I've made some progress on a bunch of things EXCEPT the bag of work I brought home - so I'll be getting to that between dinner and bed, apparently. Hopefully. While I'd love to just hole up in my office tomorrow and go through that bag THEN, that's not going to work. It's a 'hit the ground running' kind of day 'cuz I have a fairly significant 'to do' list just from going through my emails.

I think I'll go take a dip in the pool. It's approaching 100 today - the warmest it's been in quite awhile. We'll be feeling it in our electric bill, for sure. Both units are cranking away - and while I know we've helped some by shading the units, there's still really no way to 'avoid' it - it's hot, and 84 upstairs is our limit.

Final Day

We have spent the morning supervising our own little work crew. All they needed was the orange reflective vests. They diligently worked on the front yard - we are pulling out a lot of ground cover that seemed like a good idea when we planted it many years ago, but now it's just a mess. And I want 'open space' to put raised beds for flowers, veggies, etc. wherever I can find them.

The boys did work really hard, though I wished I had a camera and video cam handy. H. is a bit 'fastidious', to put it mildly. The kid had to rinse his sandals, hands, arms, face, etc. so many times, I lost count. He doesn't like to be dirty, or hot, or sweaty. It was sort of comical to watch him grimace and fret over how dirty he was getting. What a guy! I don't think a career with any 'manual labor' involved is his calling. He kept saying 'IF I was working for a boss and IF that boss could fire me for rinsing off, etc., then I wouldn't. But you're my mom'. He's sort of got a point.

They did make a lot of progress. And thankfully, the gardener is here doing the job he agreed to a few days ago and so we are able to put all the trimmings into his pickup truck, which he will haul to the dump. Good thing 'cuz the yard clipping recycle bin is more than full.

There is more work to be done and I will spend time each morning this week - of my first week back - making 'to do' lists for each of them. They want to go to paintball with some friends, and B. wants to buy another pass for the local golf course. Since they are both in debt to us for things we 'fronted' the money for earlier this summer, they have a lot of work to do to earn what they need for their 'entertainment' fund. Good. 'Cuz I have a lot of stuff they can do.

They are also making a list of things we can offer in a garage sale - they have skate ramps and skate rails they don't use anymore. We also have an 'igloo' dog shelter that we don't use and can sell. And then all the Playstation stuff, too. Combined with miscellaneous household stuff, it would be a good sale. We're planning to wait until early fall, when it's cooler. We're going to all block the date and plan, plan, plan. Advertise, etc. That's the key to a successful sale. I might even pay one of them an hourly rate to spin a sign on the corner near the main street the day of the sale to get more traffic in here. We'll see.

I have a headache, sore throat and a bit of an earache. Lovely. Trying hard to convince myself that I am NOT, NOT, NOT getting a cold. No. I hate summer colds.

Time to start on round two - and work on work stuff.

Week 2, Day 6

Broke the streak. Sorry. We were just busy yesterday morning and then headed to the party around 4ish. After trip to grocery store for ice, beverages, stuff we needed for the week. It was mobbed, as I completely expected - and I was alone and it took FOREVER to get what we needed and get out of there. Ice was being purchased by the cart full and I barely managed to get two small bags to chill our drinks.

The party was great fun, as they always are with these friends. We had carne asada, enchiladas, beans, rice, fruit salad, watermelon. DELICIOUS. And then churros, crisp tortillas with cinnamon sugar and cake for dessert! And I had two Blue Hawaiian Bartles and James coolers. Awoke this morning with a headache - largely due to not drinking enough water. We sat outside in the heat most of the afternoon and I didn't drink enough. Shame on me. Anyway, coffee and two aspirin and I'm feeling pretty great.

Heading to Lodi for lunch with a friend. Then back home to work on all the 'work' stuff that I haven't touched. The time has come. Day after tomorrow, it's back to the trenches and I have some 'prep' work to do to get my desk in order. I've been checking emails off and on so my 'in' box is fairly current. But I have to make a list of the 'action' items from those emails so I can take care of them first thing upon returning.

No bread starter last night. Guess it's tonight or never. Well, I can still try on Friday evenings and that gives me the weekend for being successful. I'm not giving up! But it sure has been a discouraging two weeks of failed attempts. Patience. Learning patience.

There are a variety of issues relating to our progeny that I will skip the details of. Suffice it to say: teenage boys are a pain in the ass and I have TWO OF THEM. I frequently think I wish I could move to an apartment - just a small haven of peace. The next house we have will have some kind of 'mom's retreat' built in - a studio out back? Or over the garage. I want to escape all the angst but there's no where to go! And I know I'm somewhat responsible for the angst, because I'm the mom - and I have expectations. How dare I? Respect, contributing to our family in a meaningful way, politeness, follow-through....reasonable, don't you think? Sadly, no, though - I am their antagonist, their meddler, their 'she who must be gotten away from as soon as possible lest she think of something else we should be doing'. I don't like that role.

The friends we partied with yesterday think of our kids as their kids, as we think of theirs as ours. But the truth is, our kids love to hang there more than their kids love to hang here. That's partly a factor of the 'what is there'. They have a pool table, dartboard, ping pong, huge, HUGE pool, and XBox. We have the Wii, and PS3 and a pool - but not much else. So our kids live there in the summer - the mom is a teacher so she's home all summer. And I feel kind of 'jealous' at times. Jealous that my kids want to be THERE more than they want to be HERE. I shouldn't feel that way. But I do. And last night, we heard that the reason B. spent the entire day and night there on Tuesday (July 1) was because it was the dad's birthday and they had a special surprise for him - C., the son, wrapped B. from head to toe in gift wrap and put a bow on his head - and B. waited in a closet until the dad got home - and that was his gift - B. wrapped up!. It makes perfect since because B. loves the dad, loves him like he loves his own dad. And yet, I thought to myself 'he didn't go to anywhere near that much trouble for MY birthday, nor for his own Dad's birthday....but for his friends Dad, it's an all out, day long event.' And I felt jealous about that. Which of course made me sad and angry at myself for being so petty and prideful.

I have more to write about this subject but I have to get on the road to Lodi.

Week 2, Day 4

No news to report. Just didn't want to break my 'marathon' of vacation postings. I didn't do starters last night - lost track of time and didn't get to it.

H. and I are having grilled cheese sandwiches on SRB - he agrees the bread is delicious! and makes a great grilled cheese. The cheese takes FOREVER to melt; however, because the slices are so dense - unlike our 'regular' bread where the cheese melts almost instantaneously, these grilled sandwiches took awhile for the cheese to melt - even with a small pot lid over top to keep the heat in.

We worked a bit outside today - hosed off and power washed the patio cover. Also started 'loosening up' the sections of grass that need patching - we're heading to Orchard Supply to get top soil to add into the patch seed mixture. Also getting some planting mix - we don't get to OSH very often so might as well buy it now and we can store it in the shed until we put in the raised beds for planting veggies.

My sister sent me a link for some easy to install raised beds and we're going to measure out where we plan to put them and place the order for at least three. Possibly four. They are made of good wood, guaranteed for 30 years and require only a mallet to put together. THAT'S our kind of 'make it yourself' project. They're not inexpensive - but that's fine. I looked at OSH for something similar and they only have the typical, reddish 'planter boxes' - and that's not what we're looking for, really. You can see what the beds look like here: www.naturalyards.com/raisedbeds Thanks, K., for sending me the info. They are exactly what we're looking for!

I had to do a few things for work today, which was bad 'cuz it made me think of work. Bummer. Only a few days left. I dread going back. Dread it with every ounce of my being.

We have been invited to a party tomorrow afternoon with some friends - nice to get out of the house and celebrate with good friends, good food and a few 'refreshing beverages'. Then we'll head home to comfort Chloe through the long night of fireworks. Yes, they are illegal - but you'd never know it around this neighborhood. She'll be a trembling, frantic mess most of the evening.

That's all for now. I'll try to update more tomorrow - and might (MIGHT) do a starter tonight. Not promising, but maybe.

Week 2, Day 3 Continued

Trip to Berkeley was a great success. Turns out the bakery is right off Highway 13, across from the Claremont. I could have found it myself - I'm not completely inept at Berkeley directions - after all, my OB/Gyn was in Berkeley for years; the kids were both born in Berkeley; I've driven myself to one of my deliveries (well, I met J. there to be induced); I've had multiple doctor appointments, etc. So if I'd realized it was so 'close' to the part of town I am familiar with, I probably wouldn't have needed to have J. come with me. But I'm so glad he did.

We went to the bakery first thing - 8 loaves of SRB and various assorted other delightful pastries - cinnamon crisps, shortbread cookies (star shaped with red and blue sprinkles for the holiday weekend), ginger cookies, macaroons, and Mexican Wedding cookies. YUMMY! It's the tiniest 'hole in the wall' place, near a Pete's Coffee. The bakery was wonderful - so many artisan breads to try. Made me wish we lived closer so a trip there weekly would be possible. I've got five loaves in the freezer (took out something for dinner tonight to help make room) and three sliced loaves ready to consume. I thought of shipping some to my sister, but it's the holiday weekend and I don't know if it would get there still in good shape. Next trip there, I will head home and pack some up and ship it.

I think it's the 'real thing' though I'm not absolutely 'positive'. The loaves are smallish, like I remember. The tops don't look particularly 'domed' - but they don't look particularly 'flat', either. It tastes like I remember and the 'crumb' is like I remember - it's not an 'airy' bread - it's dense. I can't wait to toast some tomorrow morning (or maybe that's what I'll have for dinner tonight). And I can't wait for grilled cheese sandwiches made with it tomorrow.

After J. expertly extricated the car from the teeny tiny parking lot (where cars were 'stacked in' three to a space - and a car had just parked into the slot next to us - the THIRD car in that space and it was sticking out so far into the lot, I wasn't sure how we would back out - but J. managed brilliantly), we headed up to the UC Berkeley campus, up the frat house row. Admiring the homes and the campus buildings - and then headed up to Kensington. I've always heard of Kensington and never been there, so we drove there. Beautiful 'older' homes - but if I'd blinked, I would have missed the 'town'. J. was reminiscing about 'when I used to deliver drugs to Kensington when I was in college' - referring to his days of driving a VW bug with a mortar and pestle on top for a pharmacy that delivered. He has a lot of good stories - including the one where he forgot he was driving a car with a mortar and pestle on top and drove into an underground garage that was too low - thus tearing up the car 'decoration' on top. Those were the days. Then, we drove through El Cerrito where I found my next 'dream home' - on a hill with a bay view - huge, and spread out with great space for gardens, etc. It's a beautiful city - as is Kensington.

We headed home via Hwy. 80, since that's where we ended our 'tour' of towns - and stopped in Pleasanton at Chef India for a delicious lunch. J. had never been to this place before and I've only been a couple times - it was great Indian food. We both did a good job of trying lots of things but not over eating.

Arrived home just in time to help ('help' being probably not the best word to use but the only one I can think of) get the boys out the door for the church Wakeboard Wednesday activity. I'm sure they're having a ball. I'm not sure how much sleep the got last night - they were both 'grumpy' and hard to communicate with. But then again, that's pretty much the norm these days, so lack of sleep probably had little to do with it.

I'm going to get a couple starters going tonight and see what happens. We don't have any plans tomorrow other than working around the house - so I can let them ferment longer and see if that changes anything.

Going to grab another cookie. So yummy! Man, I wish we had a bakery like that place here in Tracy. Kandi's is pretty darn close, but she's not open everyday and she doesn't bake bread. Maybe next time I see her, I'll ask her if she'd give SRB a try!

Week 2, Day 3

We are up and getting ready to head out the door. I've called the bakery to reserve 8 loaves of SRB. 3 sliced, 5 unsliced. Might change my mind on that when we get there. Also have found a chest freezer on the Sears website for $229 - auto defrost is more expensive but I'm fine with it 'cuz I don't like defrosting freezers. Had to do that a lot as a kid and no more. Not sure we'll bye the

The gardener is here incredibly early - which is another God moment - 'cuz now J. can talk to him and get an estimate on how much he would charge to remove the various shrubs, etc. J's doing a great job - but it takes a lot of weekend time that we don't have. AND we have to deal with the trimmings, which currently are stacked up in various places all over the backyard. The recycle for yard waste only happens every other week - so we'll be awhile getting rid of all this. If the gardener does it, he'll haul it all away in one trip. Done. So we'll see about that.

The boys spent the night at a friends house and are heading to the Delta this afternoon with the youth church group! They will have a ball. I just wrote them a note reminding them to NOT take cell phones or iPods on the boat - lock them in the trunk - and to take towels, sun screen and snacks - beverages will be provided by the church. They will have a ball! and should be home around 9ish.

The gardener is already lined up to do the work this weekend - $320 which includes removing 5 big shrubs and trimming two huge trees. It's worth it. J. works so hard - I don't want his weekends to be filled with 'chores'. So it's worth the money to have it 'done' - and the gardener will haul it all away for us, which is great. We would be taking weeks to get done what he'll have done in a weekend - AND he'll trim our two shade trees, which need it desperately!

OK - that's it for now. We're heading to Berkeley for a bread run. Soon to be repeated, I hope, when I have a freezer in the garage so I can store more.

Week 2, Day 2

No starter story today - just couldn't bring myself to try again. And I won't start one tonight 'cuz we're going to Berkeley first thing in the morning and if they work (which they probably won't but they might) I wouldn't be able to make the bread tomorrow. And this is my last Wednesday off, so we HAVE TO GO TO Berkeley tomorrow. Without fail. But tomorrow night, I'll try a potato starter in the electric skillet. AND I still haven't tried using the warming tray so I can do a cornmeal starter in that. And pray. A lot. I'm running out of time. God, hear my prayer: please let the starter work so I can move onto the sponge (a SECOND fermentation process that may fail) OR allow us to win the lottery so I can make baking my new full time job. That would be fine. Seriously. I'll bake everyday. And give what we don't need away! And build a bakery to employ people who need jobs! Lord, hear my prayer, please!

I'm heading to Pleasanton for lunch with my friend J. whom I haven't seen in a very long time. I might stay at the Hacienda Theatres (we're having lunch at the sushi place there, and I can never remember the name so it's just the 'Hacienda sushi place') and depending on timing, I might see Iron Man, which has sadly moved on from our little theatre here. If not, no biggy - I'll just go in today and add it to my Netflix queue and it will get here eventually.

Update: headed home after lunch. Lunch was fab and the company was even better. Her hubby had a suggestion for a 'hot box' kind of set up - cardboard box covered with foil and a 40 watt light bulb to be raised or lowered closer to the starter bowl depending on how hot it gets. And she advised to let the starter go longer. Maybe I'm rushing it? Maybe overnight isn't long enough? She also convinced me to seriously consider getting a chest freezer - doesn't take up too much space, is relatively inexpensive and then I can stock up on the bread in Berkeley, if it ends up being the 'real deal'.

I ordered more salt-rising yeast from King Arthur Flour company - and realized in reading the recipe that it isn't 'real' SRB - it has yeast in it which disqualifies it from being 'true' SRB. So that's a bit disappointing. But I can use some of the KAF 'salt rising' mix in my starter - it doesn't contain yeast - just cornbread, dried milk, etc. So I might try that - maybe it will be the 'boost' it needs to take off?

The kids are both spending the night elsewhere. I went to Costco for a spinach salad and roasted chicken - it was virtually empty and was the perfect time to shop. Got myself some new tank tops and picked up a flat of strawberries and some grilled chicken breasts (to also add to salads).
I have bananas in need of banana bread - so I'll be doing that tonight. And my hairdresser called and said she'd brought a packet of Amish Friendship Bread starter with her, so I picked that up. Takes 10 days, is easy and guaranteed to result in something yummy! Her family loves it and she makes it for them every 10 days without fail. Sounds good - I've failed at this before - forgot to 'mush' the bag and forgot to add things on the appropriate days. But I'll try to stay with it this time.

I'm going to get some laundry going. Also unload the dishwasher and get the trash out, since the person who normally does those things is spending the night elsewhere. We have a lot of cardboard to cut up for recycling. Hoping there's enough room. We have an entire week before the next lawn trimming pickup and it's just totally and completely stuffed to the gills.

I picked some peaches from our neighbor's tree this evening - and before you think 'oh my gosh, she's resorting to petty thievery to feed her family' - no, I'm not. I'm only taking the peaches from the branch of his tree that is 4 feet into our yard. Yes, really. We've had a lot of really good peaches from that branch the past few weeks - and it's absolutely FULL of peaches pretty close to being ripe, so there's plenty more to come. I may have to learn to make peach preserves or something.