I Love This Man

Because Todd loves me...

he spent all day ditch witching so that he can install a sprinkler system at the front of the house. He knows that I love grass, so he spent 6 hours prepping about an acre of our property for pvc pipe and sprinklers which he will probably finish within the next couple of weeks. Poor guy had to take Motrin because he is so
sore :(

Because I love him...

I spent most of the day cleaning out closets. The picture above is just clothes that I am getting rid of so that he can have some space in our closet.

Thing I'm thankful for today:
Being married to the absolute most amazing man in the world.

I'm Snot That Bad

As I've indicated in previous posts, my job has been keeping me busy. I work in an office environment about 50% of the time, with the remaining 50% interacting with children and staff at several different school sites. This week I have been out at sites more than usual, as is par for the course at the beginning of school. On two different occasions I was stuck / saddled with the kindergarten group. I have to be honest, they scare me. Yes, I have an elementary teaching credential, but of all the grades, kinders scare me the most. Why? I can't really say, but I think it has to do with them being so needy and having no sense of personal space. Anywho, on Monday I was sent to a site and my job there was to keep the kinders occupied while the instructor checked all of the older children in to the program. No problem. I asked all 20 of them if they wanted to sing a song, to which I got an enthusiastic "YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" They were so excited. I have been told that one of the best things about kinders is that they don't care about your voice, they just love to sing. So I told them the song we were going to sing, broke in to song, did my little act and was really impressed with myself, I was entertaining the little ones! So I finished, asked them if they wanted to sing another song and I got an "Ummmmm, uuuhhhhhhh, uuuuuuuuccccckkkk No thank you. We don't like it." Hey, I thought kinders didn't care if you couldn't sing... I was misinformed!

On Wednesday I was sent to a different site, where again I had kinder duty. There was one little guy who was having a difficult time. He was hot, he was tired, he was four....he had a meltdown. This little fellow decided to go hide behind a chair rack and cry incessantly. I spent about 15 minutes trying to coax him out, and finally succeeded when I said, "I need a friend. Can you be my friend?" The little boy finally came out, red eyed and snot faced, grabbed my arm, said, "You are my BEST FRIEND!" and then proceeded to wipe his snotty nose all across my hand and arm -AWESOME!

Boy, I can't wait to see what next week holds - jeez.


This isn't the child from work, his face isn't snotty enough.

Things I'm thankful for today:
Kids that can blow their own nose.
That I'm not trying to make a living off of my singing skills.

Soul Bucket

A beautiful Hell Hole landscape photo.


Loki enjoying the ride.


Eating lunch on a boulder.


Todd enjoying the peace and quiet.


I love it when light dances on the water.

I had a fabulous weekend. I cleaned most of the day Saturday which left Sunday wide open for play. Todd and I finally took the kayak out to He** Hole. It was wonderful...we kayaked, found a boulder to eat our picnic lunch on, explored a little and then kayaked back. Like Todd said, "It's nice to refill your soul bucket every once in awhile."

When we returned home from kayaking around 6 PM, we then jumped in the shower and headed right to Auburn with Austin for some In-N-Out Burgers and a movie. We watched The Expendables...those old guys still got it. While it's not usually my type of movie, I did enjoy it...Jason Statham melts my butta...yum. We got home around 11 PM, I know, we are hard core, and on a work night even. Can't ask for much more than that from a weekend.

Things I'm thankful for:
Time to refill my "soul bucket".
Feeling the warm sun on my skin, and the cool breeze on my face.

It's been a busy week at work and I have been lagging (some might call it procrastinating) on my chores. On Wednesday I didn't get home until after 9 PM, and Thursday I got home around 8:30 PM. Here we are on Friday, and I was finally able to get some much needed housework done.

I made Todd dinner (GASP - I know) and then proceeded to do the dishes. I started to load the dishwasher and all of a sudden there was a SMELL. At first it smelled like flarties, but then it morphed into a raw sewage smell, or maybe even a death smell. I gagged and wretched and decided that I was going to be smart and turn on the whole house fan. *Word of advice when dealing with smells...DO NOT TURN YOUR WHOLE HOUSE FAN! I managed to pull that horrible smell throughout the house and permeate several rooms. Eventually the smell dissipated, but man did I learn my lesson...next time I'm gonna let Todd do the dishes:P

Things I'm thankful for today:
A busy week because it makes the weekend get here sooner.
Whole house fans.
Smell goody candles and wall plug thingies.

Fly

Alexxa's first day of kindergarten.


Alexxa striking a pose on her first day.


Mrs. Swenson and Alexxa after kindergarten graduation.

It seems like just yesterday that Todd and I were holding Alexxa's hand as we led her to her Mrs. Swenson's kindergarten class. The sweet little thing, with round little cheeks and big bow, wrapped her arms around our necks and as we walked away, blew us kisses. She was excited, and the room buzzed with excited little 5 year olds. As Todd and I got in the car, I remember saying, "It seems like just yesterday that she was born. Where does time go?"

It's 13 years later, and we just finished moving Alexxa into her dorm room. The mood was different than her first day of elementary school. There was definitely excitement and maturity, but also nervousness. Alexxa has accomplished so much in these 13 years, and has always made us proud. With college there are so many what-ifs and unknowns. What if I fail? What if I succeed? There are also many opportunities and experiences to be had. I remember it being a difficult time, somewhere between feeling like a kid but really being an adult. I'm sure she is bursting with several emotions and feelings.

But, that's what this time in life is about...figuring it out, exploring, learning, growing.

We miss her tremendously already, but know that this is tremendous opportunity that we can't deny her just because we want her here.

So to Alexxa, "Every morning spread your wings and fly a little farther than yesterday. It's not about pushing yourself to go over the limits...It's about about what will make you happy and help you realize your dreams."


Officially a CSUMB Otter.


Outside of Alexxa's dorms.


Proud Daddy!


Mamma's girl.

Things I'm thankful for today:
Little girls with chubby cheeks and big bows.
A wonderful daughter that always makes us proud.

Ticket

Some of you may already know, but for those of you who don't, Todd got a ticket a couple months ago while going to Alexxa's soccer game in Marysville. He is infuriated as he feels he did nothing wrong. So to be spiteful, he requested an extension of payment on his ticket (amounting to $380. for the ticket itself, $35 for the court fee and $30 for the security fee, for a grand total of $445 - OUCH). This request was granted, now he is requesting a trial to fight it, not because he thinks he can win, but because he wants to cost the county money. It is Yuba's policy that you still have to pay the ticket before the trial, so Todd sent the check in begrudgingly. Because he is a mature adult, he made the check payable to Yuba County THIEVES.

What did he do wrong you ask, California coasted at a stop light and they got him perpetrating the crime on video. That's right, you can go to the county website and watch Todd committing a crime, allegedly. Sorry Todd, unless you have super attorney law bending/fighting skills, I don't think you stand a chance. So I guess technically I'm married to a bad boy, ooooh, that's kind of sexy!


See the cute little jeep sticking out in the middle of the intersection, that's Todd.


Who is that handsome criminal?

Things I'm thankful for today:
Being married to a comedian.
Not having ANY tickets on my record - that's right - I'm that good!

I Luv, Luv, Luv Saving Money

And assume you do too. I found a site I thought some of you would be interested in. Go to www.groupon.com/sacramento . The way the site works is that they have one item for sale at a discounted rate for usually about a day. In order for the deal to take place, people have to purchase a certain number of whatever is being sold within the given time frame. Sounds confusing, but once you go to the site you'll understand what I mean. Some of the stuff is totally off the wall, ie the week of striptease class for $60, ummm...thank you, not. However, some of the deals look pretty awesome. Hope you enjoy the site and happy shopping.

Things I'm thankful for today:

Appreciating a good deal
Me being frugal...not the same as a tightwad!

Bzzzzzzz

I'm a busy little bee right now. Schools are starting which means I am buried at work. The girl is getting ready to go to CSUMB, which means I come home from work and get to help her prepare. Don't be surprised if I don't post for a few days. Talk to you in a few.

What I'm thankful for today:
24 hours in the day (although I need about 36)
Great time management skills.

Cool

Todd and I were at dinner at the pizza parlor with Alexxa and her boyfriend Cory on Friday. We were having a discussion about one of the boys that Lexx graduated with. He recently turned 18 and went out and got a large tattoo that covered about 1/2 of his arm. While we all agreed that the tattoo was interesting, we didn't all agree on whether we would get one or not. Austin just so happened to be working while we were at the pizza parlor and was walking by our table. We flagged him over and asked him, "Would you ever get a tattoo?" He slowly raised up the sleeve on his shirt and showed us this.


So what do you think?

Apparently Austin is part of the "Cool Gang". Six guys from 18-21 walk around cool dressed in jeans, wife beaters, wigs, tattoos and fake mustaches and are a menace to the community. What goobers!

What I'm thankful for today:
Kids that can entertain themselves because lord knows I am not clever enough.

Why?

This morning, and by morning I mean early morning like 5:00 AM, I got up because let's just say I had to. Half asleep I started to walk out to the hallway and twisted my ankle. Not only did I do it once, but I did it again when I returned to bed because I was half asleep. Everything is OK, I wasn't hurt, but I couldn't figure out what I had stepped on...avocado pit...in the middle of my bedroom pathway...half eaten. Why? Cause Loki or Thor had dropped it off there after they were finished messing with it.

Then I'm straightening up the house and notice there are cherry pits stashed in separate corners of our hallway. What the heck! Why? Cause Loki stole some cherries and tried to hide the evidence, but she's not a very good little thief.

Do you think maybe I should ground the puppies before they do something really bad and the police end up at our house?

Also, is it me, or does weird stuff happen to other people?

Things I'm thankful for today:
That we are more than half way through the work week.
Austin and Alexxa actually enjoying each others company.

Lazy Days of Summer

Staying home with the kids and husband, enjoying popsicles and movies, naps, eating, beautiful nights, and conversation, these are great times. The heat makes the days slide by at a lazy pace and then we ask ourselves, "Where did the day go?" as we slip into bed.

The summer gently creeps along and before you know it, it will be time for school to start and with that, hectic schedules. Build memories and cherish the moment.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."
~John Lubbock~

What I'm thankful for today:
Every second I have with my family and friends.