Butt Crack Sand

What a cool down! The highs for the last few days have been in the mid-upper 70s. Right now it's 74 degrees and man am I loving that! Nate got off early on Friday so we headed to the coast. He told me some good news on our way ... He's already getting a raise! He's been picking up and becoming lead on a lot of their projects, and after they just released this last program they'd been working on since Nate started, Scott said he was getting a raise -- AND as if that wasn't good enough news, they talked further about Nate's permanent employment with Weyerhaeuser once his contract is over in June. Basically, Scott told him it looked pretty promising that he'd be getting on permanently at that time.

The coast was great! We stayed in Florence. The sun was out, sky a blanket of blue. Maysen was so excited (it's getting more fun and more fun to take him because he's finally "getting" what the coast is and what it's about). Of course it was evening by then and it's always about 10 degrees cooler right out on the beach, so we all had our jackets on. Maysen had his new sunglasses on and his hood up and he could do nothing but jibber-jabber 100mph about this and that and we'd occasionally hear a squeal as he balled his fists up from excitement. On our way home yesterday, however, was an adventure and a half. It's about 1.5hrs from our house to the beach, so I told Nate before we got to the beach that I wanted to stay as dry and clean as we could so we wouldn't have to drive home cold/wet/sandy. It was about 68F and sunny ... No wind. Perfect beach weather! Maysen immediately ran to a low-tide puddle and jumped in, feet first. Of course it was nothing but a 3" deep puddle, but his shoes/socks were goners. So, we took his shoes off. About 10min later, we were standing looking at the water right along the water's edge when a huge wave came in and we couldn't run away fast enough. So there goes my bottom half of my pants/shoes and Maysen saw the wave and just sat down. So it washed around him and all of his clothes were soaked. Long story short, within 20min we were all soaked ... sandy ... and dirty. Of course we had already checked out of our hotel and I was about breaking out in hives thinking of us driving all the way home in this condition. We thought about hitting up a campground close by and using their bath house to wash up, but weren't sure where there was one, and if it had shower facilities. At last avail, my husband remembered from the night before that the indoor pool area had showers ... and he still had a card-key in his wallet. So, we went there and THANK GOD it still worked. We went in and showered up good as new. Maysen and I had tons of sand down our butt cracks. Every time I'd try and wash his out, he'd start just giggggggling, then I couldn't help but giggle. We were a sight!

It was a good get-away. Of course this morning I washed/vacuumed/carpet-cleaned my van to get it back into shape. Can't stand a dirty vehicle. So, I peeked in Nate's truck. Oh. My. Nate's car seat for Maysen has a cup holder (yea .. a CUP HOLDER) attached to it. Well, Nate pours Maysen's Honey grahams in it, and lets Maysen fetch crackers out one by one. Well, I look in and there's whole crackers, half crackers, and cracker dust EVERYWHERE! I said "What the heck happened?!" and he said "Oh no, honey. I have been scared to death you'd look in my truck and see that mess, I'm sorry" (because he knows my OCD personality with clean vehicles). So that was my morning ... washing vehicles. Oh and patching up Bailey's acid-strong pee spots in the grass. I'm not sure what the hell is up with that. We started getting these dead spots where Bailey would pee ... so I had to hand-till those areas up and use "Patch Fixer" and hopefully new grass will grow. So we're trying to "train" Bailey to pee/poop in a certain area that's mulched - not grass. She just looks at me like "Rrrrrright" and I can relate - it'd be like someone telling me to pee while I was laying down, I don't think I could. Hopefully we'll prevail!

I'm not sure if I'll be working tomorrow or not. Should be except that Dr D started passing a kidney stone last Monday, so he had lithotripsy on Thursday in which they placed a stent at that time. He wasn't sure how passing the fragments was going to go over the weekend. If bad, he wouldn't be at work tomorrow. So far I haven't heard so he must be doing OK. He actually had the attack at work last Monday, and I can honestly say I was impressed at how white his butt really was. Ok, so why did I see his butt? I had to give him a massive Demerol injection. Yea, that was kind of weird ... giving your boss a shot in the ass. But hey - getting to see him vulnerable was sort of a change. Happy Monday tomorrow ...

Gate to the past

This is my new little garden. My mother-in-law, Bobbi, and I went to shop for antiques yesterday where I found this cute little blue bench and a piece of old farmhouse fence. I made a small raised flower bed right underneath the small piece of old fence, which I nailed to our real fence 6" off the ground. Notice it's 102 outside on my outside thermometer. But it was a lot of fun creating this cute little retreat from just a blah little flower bed. I also planted some new flowers up front and removed a shaggy yellow-flower producing shrub from the back. Little did my neighbors know I was outside in only a sports bra and shorts, occasionally soaking down with the hose the whole time I was doing this. This of course was to prevent the heat stroke that was just around the corner!

Last year at this time of (hot) year, our dog Bailey had her first Addisonian crisis. She's starting to exhibit a few of the same signs of another one to come. Goody ... because the last one cost me $600. I am fearful if she has another one, we might have to put her down. She's on daily Prednisone and $60/month injections, but in times of increased stress she can go into a crisis mode because her body doesn't make the normal steriod level to maintain balance in times of stress ... hence the daily/monthly supplementation.

Hope you all had a good weekend.

Blah.

As I sit here, with the cursor blinking at me, I think of something to type - something to talk about. But I realize that I have nothing to say. I'm 26, and have nothing to say ... there's not a whole lot riveting about me or my life.

Today, I turned up the XM radio to The City and Maysen and I danced in the living room all afternoon. Him imitating the dance I'd do, no matter how silly. I'd wave my hands around and turn in circles while he cackled with silliness. Today I bought milk for $1.98. I got red peppers on sale for $0.99 each. I bought rip off granola bars for $3.39. I rocked out to Counting Crows on the freeway with Maysen's head bobbing. I paid $2.98/gallon for gas and could have got it for $2.92 across the street, but that's a bigger pain in my ass. And I found a bomb recipe for homemade salsa that I can make from tomatoes from my garden. See, I told you. Utterly riveting. Or is it ... maybe my simple life - my seemingly care-free life is what some people wish they had. I should feel lucky that I wake up with a majority of my days open with no commitments. In a way, maybe that is riveting in it's own sense...

Happy Birthday to Me!

Tomorrow is my birthday. I'll be the big 2.6. We celebrated it this weekend with Jenn and Matt. Saturday we hit up Bohemia Mining Days which consisted of a parade and carnival. I haven't had cotton candy in a decade! I forgot how gross it really is, pure sugar and air, basically. However, I was impressed to find there was only 114 calories in a whole giant bag of cotton candy! We ate lunch at a hole-in-the-wall BBQ. It was GREAT! You know ... the small tiny places like that are the best. They had their own run down smoker in the back which you could smell a mile away.

In the afternoon, Jenn and I went antique'ing again .. I found a jelly cabinet to DIE for. However, it was $900. I just bought an antique clock this month, so I have to pass for now. But seeing it everyday thinking of the families that used it from 1889 to current is an amazing thought. That afternoon we played hard in the water, which was needed because it was very warm Saturday. Maysen's new thing is he loves to "water the flowers". That quickly turns into turning the hose on anyone close by. We left him with our babysitter, Amanda, for the evening and had a GREAT night out. First we ate at The Excelsior which is my new favorite restaurant in Eugene. We had great food, great wine, and great laughs. After we headed to Joe Federico's jazz club for a drink. We were seated in a cozy hidden booth with characteristic graffiti on the wall, which incidentally I leaned up against in my white shirt! If it wouldn't have been for that Long Island Iced Tea (uhh, yea...) I probably would have been more pissed than I was.

We ended the night Cosmic Bowling with Jenn and I whipping Nate and Matt's behinds. Well, not really, but I can act like we did. The only thing that pissed me off was the couple next to us had a 2yr old and 4yr old out after 11pm. They were exhausted, crying, and losing it. Good ole parents weren't done bowling, so the mom kept trying to force ice down the 2yr old and the dad kept swining the 4yr old around like it was fun. Why are some people so selfish? I mean, where does "I can't find a sitter, so screw it, they're coming too I guess" come into reason? I was thankful when Matt approached them when we left and "suggested" it was a tad too late to have those kids out.

Jenn baked me a yummy chocolate cake. I have the best sister ever! And now I'm officially in the "upper 20's". I can remember when I was looking forward to turning another year older. Now I'm like where are the brakes? I'll be 30 before I know it...then 40...

Mary gets Smack Down

One thing that goes quietly unnoticed sometimes is how extremely stressful it is to any woman (and some guys) to get a haircut. For me, it always unleashes that question of "Will she do it right this time, I really love how my hair flips this way, will she know what I'm talking about and get it right?" For those who have their established hairstylist who does it "right" everytime: I hate you. For 2 years back in Kansas I went to the same hairstylist, but admittedly, she did little things different everytime. She meant to do them the same, but some layers wouldn't be the same, or the bangs weren't cut right. Two haircuts ago I found Mary. I walked in, told her what I wanted and before I could say anything like "can you do those shorter?" it was like she was reading my mind and just did it. And the price was reasonable! I walked away stress free knowing that I could reliably go to her next time. So, acouple weeks ago, I decided it was time for a trim. So I make an appointment, go in and sit down. Thank God she remembers me and I proceed to tell her how happy I was with her and what she did the previous time and I want things just how she did before. Now, for some reason ... she has transformed and now believes she owns my hair. I notice she's not layering with the same tool. I think she noticed my quizzing look and so she says "I've decided I'm going to feather your layers instead of cut them blunt". Uhhhh, this is not what we did before, but now it's too late. The "owning" statements don't end there. Then it was "I've decided I'm leaving the front longer this time because I am not sure I like how it turned out last time" I walked away confused. And although my hair is "okay", it's not really how I 'like' it. Not that I'm mondo picky, because I can adjust but you know how you just like things to do a certain thing and look a certain way. So, my options are a) to find someone else, which stresses me out beyond belief ... b)or go back to Mary and lay the smack down on her. I think I'll go with B. And start it out with "Do it right, bitch".

I can't imagine the uses this bridge endured from 1923 until the day it closed. It saw days from when people struck it rich during the Gold Rush, Korean War, WWII, Vietnam, bomb scares, etc, etc, etc. I love history. Under this bridge is the original gold filtering system that was built with this bridge in 1923. Through a series of water falls and pullies, gold was filtered out of the Trinity River. They say 90% of the gold is still in the mountains of California. And with the price of gold going back up ... it might be worth to start mining again. (I'd better go get myself a donkey).

Terrible Two's have set in with Maysen. Not only does he scream at the top of his lungs when you remove him from a situation he wants to stay in plus ball his fists up while screaming ... but his new thing is grabbing the biggest handful of my hair he can muster, and yanking with all his might. He's turning into "one of those" kids you see and go "Oh My! My child will *never* act like that!". We were at a birthday party yesterday when he pulled that stunt. You can imagine the look of "no he just didn't!" that was across my face. Discipline needs to take a turn...

Kitty Update:

This is Sushi, the kitten we saved from the racoon. And although Maysen was in love with her, she now has a new home with Charity. From what I hear she's ripping around the apartment like she owns the joint. Running so fast that she slams into things in front of her because she's so busy looking behind her with her back arched. Sweet baby.

Happy 4th of July!

This morning we went to the annual Creswell 4th of July Celebration. It is a tradition that reminds me a great deal of my childhood. In Dighton we would have a parade similar to this on a late July evening. After the parade, the whole town would follow the parade to the end of Main Street and out of town to the carnival. From town you could see the lights of the Ferris Wheel and other various carnival rides that littered the field.I was lucky enough to have a best friend, Cherina, who's dad owned an old firetruck, and we would get to ride it in the parade and throw candy to everyone off of it. We felt so cool! We had the candy hook up...

After the Creswell parade there's a huge community get together at the park. The park is filled with cotton candy, music, water balloons, tables/chairs, and food stands. This is one of the nice things of a small town. It's sort of the "christmas time" of a regular family - it's the time of year the whole community meets up to say "hello" to one another. Tonight Creswell will shoot of it's wonderful fireworks. Never judge a book by it's cover because the small town of Creswell has magical fireworks. HUGE fireworks. I'm just hoping that they will die down at a reasonable time. Last year we actually had to drive around at midnight with Maysen because he wouldn't sleep and was scared of the big booms that were going on. Bailey isn't a fan either. They light off the fireworks at the high school, which is right behind our backyard. So, we're having friends over to watch the

fireworks from our front yard. Ok, so back to memory lane: In Kansas we were allowed to light off "firecrackers" as they were called (not fireworks) 3 days before and one day after the 4th. Jenn and I would save our money up, go to the local fireworks people (who were veterinarian techs the rest of the year) to buy "Black Cats" which were essentially just like M80s but on a much smaller scale. We had "punks" that we would light on the gas stove to set them off. Jenn and I would stick these little bags 'o explosions in the tree bark of our huge oak tree in the back. So, when it would explode, chips of tree bark would come flying off. We thought that was pretty awesome. We did this religiously for the entire 4 days we were allowed to. I'm so sure our old neighbor who was a night shift nurse loved the hell out of us! We even had special school boxes in which we'd keep our loot. Loren and Logan Campbell, the neighbor boys who were our age, would get creative on what they blew up, which included pop cans, Barbies, popsicle stick forts with GI Joes inside, and whatever else might look cool blowing up. We're lucky we still have our of our fingers ...

Happy FireCracker Day!

Out with the new; in with the old.

I'm now a proud owner of a Regulator school clock from 1915-1920. It is all original and works like the day it was made. You wind it up every week and it chimes on every hour. Growing up, my father collected/fixed up antique clocks. When my parents got divorced, my mom got all dad's clocks (which pissed me off) and has since sold them all. Since my dad sold our house and now travels and lives in a 5th wheel, he can't have clocks. My sister and I have carried that love for antique clocks and she owns her own antique mantel clock. She found a love during this latest antique shopping spree as well. She is now the proud owner of a 1860 pine dining room table. They're delivering it to her tomorrow.

Friday night we had quite the experience. Nate took me to Weyerhaeuser to show me his new office. On the way in, he had told me about a litter of wild kittens that lived in the busy that they feed. As we were leaving, we saw the mom, dad, and only 1 baby kitten sitting outside the bush. We approached the cats and they all fled in different directions, but the kitten went under a nearby bush. All of a sudden we noticed a huge raccoon preying on the cats. It saw the kitten go under the bush and it was like a wolf on a baby deer. I put Maysen in the van and started throwing rocks at it so it would leave the kitten alone. Finally we chased it off long enough to rescue the scared, wild kitten out from under the bush. It was SO CUTE! All white except for grey paws, ears, and front face. Blue eyes are bigger than moons. Looked like a baby Yoda. We brought her home and put her in Bailey's old pet taxi. Believe it or not, she was eating wet cat food and using the litter box before the next day!

Jenn and best friend since 8th grade, Charity (who moved to Portland from Kansas last year), came down Saturday (Matt was in a conference in Seattle) and Charity within an hour decided she'd take the kitten home with her. So, it got a good home. We figured it was better this way, because it appeared that the rest of the litter was "no more" and where they were living was near a really busy road and parking lot. So, now it has a good home and Nate will watch out for the other cats when he's at work.

We did fireworks on Saturday night which was fun. Maysen enjoyed watching them. He'd say "DAAAAAY" and hold his arms up after each one. (his version of YEAH). The night ended with a nice long fire in the backyard, s'mores, and laughing about the good 'ole days...

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