Ready for the weekend!

Oh wait. You mean it is over?


I would like to order another day please.


This is one of those days where if I had loads of vacation time - I would be staying home tomorrow to recover.


It has just been one of those weekends. It started with two minor household chores that each turned major in their own right.

Part of the February-March goal was to get and install a pull out spice rack. After much deliberation and measuring the cabinet - at least four hundred fifteen times - I placed the order. If you ever want to put pull-outs into existing cabinets I have to recommend you look at Rev-A-Shelf. Really nice quality. And you don't have to replace the entire cabinet like Home Depot started out telling me we had to do.

All you need to do is yank the door off, remove the shelves and hardware, attach your door to the front of the unit, then screw it into place in the cabinet!

Sounds easy right?

We had thought about everything - like even that the knob on the adjacent corner cabinet would have to be moved. And that it would be the only cabinet in the kitchen with a funky placed knob - but we could deal with that when we were talking about the bigger picture - a fancy pull out spice cabinet!




A little wood putty will fix that...


Remember when I said we thought about everything?



Yeah, I was wrong.



We did NOT think about the hood.





Ah well. Lessons learned I guess.

That little shelf in there just houses those little used spices (black sesame seeds anyone? fennel seeds?).

We still love the pull out, though a little disappointed at neglecting that one detail. But if we had it to do over I am not sure we would have changed and done anything different.

------------

The next task this weekend was to replace the coveted instant hot water tap. I never had one of these before moving into this house, but I have become freakishly dependent on the silly thing.

Perfect French Press Coffee in 4 minutes flat. Top Ramen for the kids in 3 minutes. Starbucks Via in as fast as you can dump the packet in the cup and fill the mug with water. Tea? Your steeping time is all. Instant oatmeal for the kids? Only as long as it takes the oatmeal to cool to edible temp.

Yes. I fell hard.

So when it cracked and emptied itself all over the bottom cabinet a few weeks ago it was a no brainer that as long as it was under $300, it was getting replaced.

I found one for $130 and pounced.

If you don't already have one, it would be a pain to install as you need the hole in your countertop. But replacing one? Also a no brainer.

Ha.

Famous last words.

I took Leif to a birthday party and came back to find the heater sitting still in the middle of the kitchen floor. Turned out that the one I bought was ever so slightly bigger than the one we pulled out. Making installation in the same position impossible thanks to the placement of the garbage disposal.

We went to work debating the next move.

AB's plan was to cut a hole in the cabinet and mount it halfway in the pie shaped empty area between the cabinet and the neighboring drawers.

I cringed at that and pushed for mounting it in a different under the sink spot that would only require a copper tube extension.

Easy peasy, I told AB.

This is my thing, I reminded him. See you just need connector compression fittings and a length of copper tubing.

And I added on that it would take me seconds to do in my lab and I had all the equipment there. Though that was just anecdote to boost my method because no way was I driving all they way out to work to do use the tools in my lab OR to "borrow" the necessary fittings. Dang lab rules.

Instead Skadi and I ran to Ace to grab copper tubing and fittings. And then we bought a tube cutter too... since the Ace dude had NO idea how to cut tubing and I knew the edges would need to be cleaned up before installing ferrules.

$33 later...

Hooked it up and it worked!

Then I walked upstairs all full of myself to change laundry around, pulled open the dryer and saw my wet clothes sitting there.

Wet clothes.

As in not dry.

I pushed the button.

Nope.

Once AB confirmed that I was not being a dork with the dryer and that it was not the breaker, I pulled the clothes out and hung them on the banisters.

Then I pulled the clothes out of the waher and hung those on the banister.

Then I pulled AB's work cell phone out of the bottom of the washer.

Yeah, one of those weekends.

A chilly weekend

It was the perfect weekend to stay in and get stuff done. And that was exactly what we did!

After being gone last week there was a ton of laundry to do, lots of Ikea goodies to assemble and set up somewhere and lots of food to catch up on preparing.

There isn't much need, in this day and age, to "put up food for the winter". But it seems to be a fall ritual that AB and I have fallen into. Every fall we make buckets of spaghetti sauce. The goal is to get about 50 cups prepared and frozen, which gives us about enough for a dinner use every other week. There are a ton of varieties of spaghetti sauce out there, some very inexpensive. So some people probably wonder why we would spend a weekend making spaghetti sauce?

Because it tastes so much better. And I know exactly what I put in it.

Green chili isn't so easy to find. But AB started making green chili every fall long before we even lived together. In fact, I remember his first batch when he lived in Spanish Towers in Boulder with his roommate. It was so freakin' hot.

And I think it gets hotter every year. And every year he swears to control it. And every year I sweat through it. And many unsuspecting green chili tasters have come to despise AB at his annual chili cook off at work.

This weekend was no exception. He swore he was going to make a "medium" and a "hot" version. There was nothing "medium" about the chili that resulted this evening.

I made a big pot of red chili on Saturday night. Mine isn't nearly so involved since this is one staple I make that is based off of cans.

Still on our list for this fall is our second batch of spaghetti sauce, pumpkin breads and chicken pot pies. Nectarine pies have been done, 20 cups of spaghetti sauce complete, a few GALLONS of green chili and a couple dinner servings of red chili.

This weekend has been one of my most productive weekends in a long time. I told AB that I look forward to being moved in and settled so that I don't feel as though I have to work on that every weekend. But he asked me if that would ever happen. Would I ever feel as though my house was decorated and each room complete?

Maybe, but I don't envision it happening terribly soon.

I jumped off course on my monthly tasks to address each room. September was to be the garage. And it has been, and still is. And because the garage isn't terribly fun, I haven't been a rallying force behind AB on this one.

I also had planned to paint Skadi's room. And I really would like to pick out colors in the next week and then maybe tackle that either next weekend or the weekend after that. Skadi is excited for it, she asks for her walls to be painted "pink, pink, pink, pink and blue" (the ceiling is the blue one). The time has just been short though. Still I would like to get to this sooner rather than later as things start amassing in her room.

This morning Leif (since he had lost Wii privileges) spent a good portion of the morning helping me put together our new dining room table. He is getting to that age where he can be a real help. And he even seemes to enjoy it. It took us about an hour and AB's assistance at one point to lift the table tops and flip the table over, but we did it.

The table came from Ikea and addresses me "need" for a table where I can seat more than 4 people. You never know what you are going to get from Ikea. Some stuff is super and some is utter crap. Must to my amazement, the table (despite not being my first choice in stain) is super. AB even likes it and I admitted that ignoring the price, it is probably nearly exactly what I would have aimed to buy had I had 5x this much to spend.

"No tablecloths," AB said. "I like the wood. I want one of those runner things too before you put anything in the middle, I don't want it getting scratched up."

Fully extended it would have to sit diagonal in our dining room. With the leaves it seats "10 people", though I suspect it is more like 12-14. I also bought a bench to go on one side instead of chairs. In fact, I haven't purchased chairs yet because for now I can seat 4 on the bench if need be (ok, four kids or four of my friends with skinny butts), three of anyone else. Then I can walk the four dining room chairs from the other table over. The matching Ikea chairs weren't terribly comfortable and emitted an air of cheapness that the table did not. I hope to buy some chairs that might dress it up a little and blend the style of the table with the rest of the furniture in the front two rooms.

Piles of laundrey done, table put together, a few boxes unpacked, Skadi's room organized and summer clothes put away, food made... it was an eventful weekend!

Wrapping my head around it all

This is going to be one of those random posts. I really intend to get back to posting somthing more than stream of consciousness posts soon here. (I have one in the works about my least favorite Christmas song that will thrill AB because he will no longer be the sole recipient of my heated vent....) But right now stream of consciousness is about where my head is. So bear with me through this post. Or click away because I don't have anything earth shattering or profound to report.

I think I could be emerging from my holiday funk. Something about singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" every night with Leif in the car has helped. And hearing Skadi squeal "SANTA" repeatedly on the way home helps too! I love that she points to the Christmas tree and proclaims, "pretty".

It has been a weird week and out of the ordinary things continue to pop up. Some good, some not so good.

High:
I have been nearly buried at work since returning on Thursday. Relief came on Monday at noon when my proposal was finally out of my hands. I have had a good start to FY09 with proposal writing. Four major proposals out to two agencies. All made the first cut. Two are pending thumbs up or down for funding and two are pending a second cut for full proposal - the despised format - 20 pages. If they both make it I will be seriously banging my head against the wall. All this aside from my big project that just doubled in size again. Loved hearing my client say, "I went ahead and doubled your project management budget, you are going to need it."

Low:
Skadi has seemed happy to return to school, if not a little "exuberant" about her return. As her teacher put it... "she is in a great mood, but for some reason thinks that everyone needs to be tackled, hit, pinched or bitten". Which sounds freakishly like her cousin who she spent a fair amount of time with in Colorado. I love my nephew... but wow is he rough. It would be terribly boring if everyone was raised the same, my way isn't the only way, but something is so not working there and I fear that the pending divorce isn't going to help the situation out at all. And I will leave that there.

High:
We got our family pictures! My SIL did a really fantastic job on them and I can't wait to get the prints we ordered.

Plain Weird:
I have really enjoyed recently reconnecting with old friends through Facebook and occasionally Classmates. Ever have one of those contacts though that just throws you for a loop? Yeah, I have had a few of those lately. Another statement I will just leave there - at least for right now.

High:
One funny episode today - I had my first "celebrity sighting". Ok, I am boosting myself up by calling it that. But I actually met a guy whose first statement to me while shaking my hand is, "I love your blog, we have a three year old son and..." I think I must have had the most bewildered look on my face when he told me this.

Low:
And some bad news came this evening when we have learned that one of our closest friends in the area has recently been diagnosed with a form of cancer. We are hoping and praying for a complete recovery.

High:
Leif has turned into a really pleasant little boy this December. I am quite sure it is Mina the Elf's oversight in our house and the slight mention of Santa's pending visit. But something has clicked with him and the kids is just tops.

Plain Weird:
That would be my husband's Christmas party Saturday night. The food was abysmally bad and apparently we missed the annual drunken brawl. Darn.

High:
One of my closest girlfriend's is pregnant with her second baby which just thrills me to pieces! New baby smell on its way next summer!

Low:
I had to go to management about one of my friends. Hate that. She was assigned a task by a client. She was reminded of the task by sector management. She was reminded about the task by line management. I pinged her a few weeks ago. Dropped the ball completely. Maybe even dropped off the face of the earth as I have not heard word one from her. I hated to do it, but I presented the issue to management and they are pursuing it. Ugh. I guess it is something I need to get used to as PM. I am not always the nice one.

High:
After Charter Communications completely messed up our phone service (low, btw) we should be up and running with our same home phone in a few days. Thank you Vonage.

I am starting to feel less overwhelmed by the holiday season. Controlling it and organizing it. It is within my grasp.

This week: Secret Santa gifts will go out and I will continue wrapping.
Saturday: Trip to hear the Polar Express read by a friend, pictures with Santa.
Sunday: Christmas cookie decorating. Nanaimo bars. Christmas cards finished.
Next week: Remainder of gifts mailed and cards will go out.

I think I have decided to take the week of Christmas off (unless those two proposals make the cut). My plan is to work on getting stuff done around the house, buy groceries for a Christmas feast, and take one day to devote it to spending with Leif. We are going to go see a movie and hang out together. When Skadi is older I will plan to do this with her too - one day for each kid completely devoted to them on their day. I can't wait!

Just when we *think* we are going to have a relaxing weekend...

Because apparently we can't just have a weekend with little planned.

Yesterday the kids had swimming lessons and for the first time in months I didn't put my swimsuit on. AB got in with Skadi instead and I got to sit on the side and chat with the mom of one of Leif's and Skadi's friends while her husband got in the pool with their son and our older kids enjoyed their lesson. It was a luxury really. I do love getting in the pool with Skadi, but it is really nice to have an occasion to just sit and chat.

Afterwards Leif and I headed out to a special outing. Contrary to his belief, the "special outting" was NOT to Chuckee Cheese's. Instead we headed out to take care of some Christmas presents. Leif never ceases to amaze me really. We headed in and I had a plan in my head. He waylayed it pretty quickly since Leif isn't one to not be "in control". He picked out ALL of the three gifts on Saturday. AB's made sense and IS really awesome though not what I would have picked. Next he picked my mom. I kept chuckling to myself when he insisted on this particular item for her. I tried making other suggestions and then finally just reminded myself that my mom will love it because Leif was SO passionate over the item. Last was a gift for Bompa. Leif beelined to it, picked it up and said, "this is perfect for Bompa's money!" And it is.

On Saturday afternoon we had intentions of climbing a local "mountain" with the kids. Then we got waylayed by "open house" signs. By the time we made our way to the "mountain" it was late and so we did a short hike (vowing to get back Sunday morning) and then played on the playground equipment.

After dinner the kids crashed quickly while AB and I moved back to the realm of "what if" regarding a new house. AB became quite passionate over the thought of getting a new house - again. Don't think that I wasn't right there with him. The houses that have now moved into the "tied for first" list were in a subdivision we had once ruled out as "not interested".

AB and I are walkers/hikers and always have been. We walk with the kids most nights after work and make a point to get out for a longer walk with the dog every weekend. After checking out the park and the short part of the trail up the "mountain" - not to mention the views of the city, we returned to considering that neighborhood and vowed to hike the hill and check out any open houses on Sunday. Having the great park and the trailhead near our future house would be wonderful.

Saturday night the kids both crashed early and we downloaded "Sex and the City" (so cannot believe it has taken me THIS long to see it!). And I am SO not a Miranda like the Facebook test told me...

This morning the kids woke bright and early (both were up before 6am - sometime I would like for them to understand and implement a return to standard time from daylight savings time). I made a big apple pufff pancake and we finally got out to climb our hill.

AB and I thought it was a great idea, wear the kids out and check out the most beautiful views of the entire area. Kids weren't quite so sure of our idea. They are normally good sports when it comes to hiking - but I fear we got a late start and just ended up with crankies instead. A little over halfway up the hill we happened upon Leif's good friend C as well as a set of twins from his preschool and their older brother and father. This completely rejuvenated our kids. Skadi (who had been about to sleep) was revitalized when she saw C and Leif was just thrilled to see all the kids.

I didn't hear another word about "let's turn around now".

It took us (four adults, two dogs and six children) about 2 hours to reach the summit, then turn around and head down. For one of the first times I got a sense of really looking forward to Leif as a "kid". When he was born I cried and cried about him growing up so quickly. And though nearly every stage has been better than the previous one (I keep reminding myself of this now with Skadi in her Tasmanian Devil stage) I always fear a little what is around the next corner.

Leif is now to the age where he can tell us a lot, though carrying on an intelligent conversation isn't on our plate right now. We will have two lines of conversation typically followed by randomness. On the way down I lead the pack and found myself running at times to keep up with Leif and the 8 year old - who I didn't know before, but have discovered is a really awesome kid. We talked quite a bit about Leif at school - what he does at recess, who he plays with and how he plays. We talked about dogs, how to train them and funny things our dogs do. I had a great conversation and hike with him (and Leif) and it really made me look forward to this age with my kids without the sense of dread that time is flying way too fast.

Ok, so that feeling did return quickly, because time IS flying way too fast. But it reminded me I have something neat to look forward to... intelligent conversation with my kids.

It is now Sunday evening and since we couldn't get Skadi down for a nap (the hike took longer than we had anticipated), she has crashed out and is snoring on the couch. Leif is watching the Polar Express and AB has cooked dinner - a new concoction of chili that so far is showing signs of fantastic-ness.

I didn't get to my "goal" of cleaning out the Utility Room. Next weekend will be focused on packing up for our trip to Colorado and hopefully pulling out Christmas decorations so I can get a little done before we leave. Oh and one birthday party in there too. We plan to switch over to some new outdoor lights from our "way too 90's" icicle lights. 10 days and counting till we get on the airplane.

Samblich Pie

"Time for bed honey pie!" I called to Leif.

"Why did you call me that?" he asked.

"I always call you that, I like it," I said.

"Well I think you should call me 'samblich pie' instead, okay!" he tells me.

....

Leif lived in his cape the entire weekend. Seriously I am not sure it was off of him for more than an hour for a bike ride. On Saturday Leif went to answer the door as one of his friends was visiting. We opened the door to see the other little boy standing there... also wearing a cape. The caped crusaders played hard.

It was a busy weekend. Skadi and I went to swimming, then we all hit some Parade Homes. We went home for nap and I cooked dinner in preparation for guests.

Sunday our doorbell rang at 9am while we were finishing up breakfast (pumpkin waffles) and it was our babysitter. Only three hours early for her babysitting stint.

"NOON, not NINE!"

AB pointed her towards home and asked her to be back in a few hours.

AB and I had nine homes to finish up on the Parade of Homes route and we decided to tackle that last day sans children. They would rather stay home and play anyways.

Our sitter came back at noon and we chit chatted while AB finished showering. I asked how her trip to the cabin was and she told me she confused the weekends and she is going next weekend.

"Next weekend?" I asked her.

"Mmm hmmm!" she nodded with a mouthful of macaroni and cheese.

"So you aren't going to be able to housesit for me then?" I asked her.

She had that characterizeable blank look on her face for about 20 seconds. Then the bell dinged and she stammered trying to figure it out.

I made her promise that she get back to me asap. In the meantime AB has put plans in motion to just bring Winny along to the condo, which is probably a better option anyways.

I think she has the ding dong, ditzy teenager thing going on. It has been something with every single of the last three scheduled sitting jobs. Her mom is super and I am trying to be uber understanding. But this flightiness has me concerned and unimpressed.

Not to mention the fact that when we got home four hours later she was on the couch with Leif (while Skadi played on the floor) and he exclaimed, "we watched Tarzan, Mulan 2 [which I had put aside unopened in reserve as a reward] AND the Spiderman movie?"

"Spiderman movie?" I inquired with my eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," he wanted to watch it she said.

"It's rated PG I think," I told her.

She looked at me.

"He's four," I reminded her.

Ok, so I remember a babysitter letting my sister and I watch Friday the 13th all the while we declared, "it won't scare me". (HA HA HA HA HA.)

Yeah... our neighbor girl has been put on hold for babysitting pending a little growing up, or something.

So anyways... Parade of Homes. Mediocre. It's a Parade. I want to be wow'd. I wasn't wow'd very often. Only a few houses wow'd me. One we want to buy. Though there are enough little things I would change that I have trouble pulling the trigger. AB a little less so. I am thinking building the same house with a few modifications is more likely.

There were too many homes that were seriously just "open houses" with no decor. That's just a waste of my time.

So anyways. Weekend was good. Busy, but good. I cleaned out my dresser and threw away clothes, made another stack for keep (but not here) and a bigger stack for Goodwill. It was my effort to at least *try* and get started on my September goal before the end of the month. AB rolled his eyes at me when I mentioned the word "paint" this afternoon.

SO maybe my kitchen will be in November...

Catching up

Summers in this region really are fabulous. I can say this with enthusiasm right now since the number of 100+ degree days have been few (most so far were while we were in Alaska), making the weather very tolerable and our desire to get outside insatiable.

The entire family wants outside. Skadi is a grump? Take her outside, it cures her.

I was comparing this past weekend to prior colder months regarding progress on my monthly cleaning and organization goals. It has taken me nearly 6 weeks to get my Master bathroom and closet picked up and organized. And it wasn't *that* bad beforehand. Two weeks to do my linen closet? Really... it isn't that bad... it is that we are just never home anymore.

On Friday I picked Leif up from preschool (Skadi already being home sick with AB... I will avoid going into details of that day since in staying home for my four hours in the morning I came far too close to telling off a co-PI who decided to ask me that I "make sure my kids aren't sick on Tuesday". Because she either thought I was lying, would rather be home with a sick kid instead of working with her in the lab, or should find something else to do with my sick kid rather than stay home with her. Anyways...)

We made a quick run by the fire station to check out the details a second time before the birthday party the next morning. Then we grabbed dinner from the Korean place and ran home.

Saturday morning Leif had his birthday party at the fire station. I was quite pleased with how it went and how well we were able to keep things flowing. The kids and parents seemed to enjoy the tour and I, for one, learned a lot. (Did you know that 80% of the calls are medical?) After the tour we had pizza on the back lawn, a pinata and then cake (ice cream was forgotten in the cooler). The kids ran and played. Leif only had a few turkey moments. I will post pictures later.

We went home and put Skadi down for a nap and hoped Leif would nap. It was silly to think that he maybe would I suppose. Not like AB and I weren't near complete exhaustion ourselves.

Once Skadi woke up we headed out to the Art in the Park festival. This is one of my favorites every year. And every year I think about in 2004 how very pregnant I was and how very hot it was. We wandered through the artisans booths. Had dinner with a guy I work with and his "5 3/4 year old" daughter (who took Leif under her wing) and just had a plain good time. AB took Leif to play on the playground equipment while I wandered the last 1/3 of the show with Skadi. We did, however, get stuck at one booth. "Me and Mom's Hats".

After painstacking decisions, Skadi has two hats for this fall and winter. I loved the brown beanie with the big pink flower, but also fell for the bluebell hat as well. Skadi could care less of the bluebell hat, but loves her brown beanie with the floppy pink flower. If I put the bluebell hat on her she rips it off and puts her beanie on. She was a kick at the booth and the artist told me she hadn't had such good advertisement all day, as Skadi tore through her hats, pulling them randomly (and sometimes two at a time) onto her head and oogling, "ooooh!"

We left the park as the show was closing and managed to keep the sleepy kids awake in the car so they would fall asleep in their beds at home.

On Sunday we let Leif open his presents from grandma, Bompa and my sister over the webcam. He was thrilled with the fishing pole. Skadi was thrilled with the tackle box once she got all the tackle out and could replace it with her Little People and AB and I were thrilled with the huge box of Lincoln Logs. I also hope Leif will come to love the Richard Scarry's Greatest Storybook Ever as much as I did - many thanks to my sister.

After the present unwrapping we loaded into the car and headed to the orchard to pick donut peaches. Unfortunately they were still a week or so away from prime picking, but AB (being his normal inquisitive self) did manage to purvey a bunch of cherry and apple wood for his smoker. Since we had packed a lunch we didn't see any reason to head home.

Instead we drove around looking for open houses (not many on this boat race weekend) and houses and lots for sale while stuffing food into the kids in the car.

We found two houses that if we actually got the guts to call an agent we are very interested in seeing. Very interested.

But I am just scared of heading down that path again when we aren't completely ready. I am afraid of falling in love with a house. Our intention is to go out and get ideas for eventually building our own since we had pretty much decided on buying a lot at the end of the year and then building. The one that really has me stopping though is seeing a newly for sale house in the small development containing the lots we like. It is the style we like, 4 bedrooms and TWO pantries. And affordable. Reasonably. At least it is within the range we are eyeing.

AB is waiting for me (I think) to say I want to look at it. I do, I really do. And then I don't out of fear. So I am trying to ignore it exists for now.

Trying.

So we realized that no good could come from house hunting and headed home to put Beaner down for a nap. While she napped it dawned on me how many times I have declared needing an external hard drive to back up my photos. Suddenly while I was printing up pictures for Leif's birthday day at school, I was overwhelmed with a fear that my hard drive was going to crash any second and lose every single photo I had ever taken. As soon as I mentioned wanting a hard drive, AB jumped on the opportunity to go to Costco.

We ended our Sunday outtings with the trip to Costco (also examining the treadmills there) then AB and Leif went to fly a kite at the park since it was awfully cold for swimming, while Skadi and I got groceries.

And after writing this, I think I am dead tired all over again.

The snowball effect in July

We reluctantly bailed on a camping trip this past weekend. It was a combination of a lot of things - lack of time being the main one. We had just gotten back from Alaska and we were still kind of "rustic'd" out for the time being. The next aspect being that AB had to work this past Friday (and this coming Friday) and suddenly thoughts of when we were going to get stuff together for camping began to engender slightly panicked thoughts. (Not to mention figuring out when we would work on getting ready for Leif's 4th birthday.) Then there was the stuff... if we could find time to get stuff together, our STUFF is just a mess and getting old. The camping stuff needs some serious organizational attention. Actually much of it needs to be ditched, though our fancy warm double sleeping bag courtesy of my dad just needs a serious laundering.

And last? I don't have the zeal for tent camping that I used to. A dirt eating toddler, a fire loving preschooler, a dog, bugs, no shower and a vehicle only barely able to haul all our stuff... I am just not feeling it like I did when I was growing up.

But as I think about how I loved camping growing up... that is when I start feeling guilty for not sucking it up and doing it.

My son.

Like any boy, he LOVES camping.

AB reminded me that I shouldn't feel guilty - afterall we had just spent nine days in Alaska living life to the fullest there.

Our good friends just purchased a pop up tent trailer that I am seriously coveting. We drove by their house last night and I kept telling AB, "I am not going to look at it because I will want one!" They have led the charge on a minivan too. I never wanted a minivan before. Ever. Never going to own one, not ever.

Oh but look how roomy it is, and a DVD player? When can we get one?

We have lined out the rest of the summer for the most part... next weekend is Leif's birthday party, the following weekend is C's party, the weekend after that we are thinking a day trip to a water park might be in order.

Then I head to Steamboat for my girl's weekend which will likely also be the same weekend as one of Leif's friend's birthday party. Thankfully his mom talked to me the other day to give me a heads up on what they were planning. Their son is quiet and never wants a party. So instead they are looking for fun alternatives he can do with his two favorite friends. Last I heard they are leaning towards taking the kids to the movie - and I am happily rejoicing in the fact that this should be easy for AB to deal with on his own. Though freaking a little at the thought of how Leif will behave in the theater with two other little boys and only two parents...

Anyways, by the time I get back much of August has passed us by. Nothing very heavy is occupying our summer schedule now that Alaska is in our past, but fitting in all the little things is hard. Llike the Farmer's Market, house shopping -early phase now- fixing our house up to sell, and still trying to organize for a garage sale that AB keeps reminding me should happen sooner rather than later given the growing stacks of STUFF in the garage and his hopes of having an actual place to park this winter.

I am starting to look at planning for the fall and... I am embarrassed to admit... I am even looking towards planning Christmas. Not to mention the fact that I actually uttered the words "Olympics 2010" to friends the other night. (Which are, by coincidence, about 6 or so hours north of us.)

We will do our annual October trek to the family cabin on the Sound (I am working on correcting myself as I read how annoyed people get when one uses the term "coast" to refer to places on The Puget Sound) - everyone (but probably mostly Winny) is looking forward to that trip.

I would like a trip to Seattle for a weekend to take the kids to the aquarium and other attractions and maybe fit in some Christmas shopping. Then we head to Colorado for Thanksgiving. Then Christmas here... and phew.

2009 anybody?

Wrapping it up

AB got home from work a little early and so I sent him outside with the kiddos while I "check my work e-mail". Thankfully Leif doesn't know the difference between working and blogging - he won't rat me out. (He is insistent I help him find a working water gun... and I am not moving.)

This past week was one of the roughest weeks I have had in a long time. Without the sickness that invaded our house (again), I knew it was going to be rough. Then little things aside from being in class 40 hours and thus sorely neglecting my projects for the week just in time for mid-year reviews just made it worse than it really needed to be - being in between offices, finally getting my stuff in my office only to find out I had no network access, finding out it wasn't the drop in the new office. I guess good news on that is that my manager has agreed with me that replacing the network card on my 4 year old computer just isn't worth it.

I get a new computer!! Finally!

So that is a bright point on my horizon. And this computer I am going to organize logically from day one!

I have to admit that even though I knew it was going to so suck to miss my last day of class, I mentally needed it. Spending the day at home with the kids (albeit sick and fussy) was seeming a whole lot more like what I needed. Of course I got a flippant attitude from my co-PI in this venture when I told her I wouldn't be there. She knew all week my kids were sick and my husband was also in a course - and had already put in 12 hours earlier in the week caring for Skadi at home instead of in his course. I was quite put off by her response to me last night that "well but we are doing the low flow discussions tomorrow and we need to hear this". I keep reminding myself - she has dogs, not kids, her frame of reference is different. Other options? I don't have any. I couldn't take my daughter to daycare with a fever of 102.5F.

This weekend is the usual stuff. A little holiday hidden in there... AB came in from work and hid something... hmmm... I wonder what it is?

Leif made me soap and a card at school for Mother's Day. Funny, he had been talking about soap for days, asking me if I liked soap, if I needed any soap, etc., but I didn't pick up on it. I just thought he was obsessing with being clean again. (He was going to "clean the house" at one point today - he had a spray bottle and paper towels and thought an area of the floor needed scrubbed.)

My "goals" have been a little on the slacker side. I decided on the Master Suite over about the next two months. I think I should just say "over the summer". I am having a hard time coming inside working when there is still a lot of stuff to be done outside (my garden isn't even in and I don't think this weekend will afford us the time for that either).

AB has signed us up for a four day weekend at the cabin over Memorial Day. It is a beacon shining bright. We need to get out of this house and rejuvenate. Since we are going over Memorial Day weekend it will be very busy with loads of family to visit in the neighboring cabins.

Next week I will recover - mentally and physically. Until then I am letting my brain turn to mush... and going to pour a glass of wine now.

Looking ahead to fall

We are just plodding along here. I still am not completely unpacked from our trip to Portland last weekend. And everyone in the house is at the bottom of their stacks of clothes. Skadi wore a pair of Leif's old overalls today, Leif wore the ugliest pair of green shorts I bought for the daycare backup pair, that somehow were brought home and not taken back there. (His good shorts are probably there.) AB is probably fine on clothes as he has jeans and t-shirts till the cows come home. And I am wearing capri pants that I have been hitching up all day. (Not because I am losing weight, because they have a funky fit.)

AB is negotiating his full time position with the new company. He got a verbal offer over 5 weeks ago and is still hashing out the details. Actually they did nothing for a long time and just started hashing out the details this week. Suffice it to say it isn't coming in where we expected. While there is a need in environmental and that is where he is doing his internship, they don't have an available position. The positions are with safety, where he has less experience. They want to hire him into safey, but have him continue doing the environmental job until they can move him over there, likely next spring.

I don't know if it is something in the water here, something with big corporations, or what. Nearly the exact same thing happened with me 4 years ago. I was a post-doc in Radiation and Nuclear Physics as a chemist. They didn't want to lose me and so offered me a position in that group, of course at a lower bracket because I had little experience. Now the same thing is happening with AB.

In one instance it makes you feel good that you are valued and they dont' want to lose you. In another you know you are getting paid less than your peers for doing the same job. And that bites.

I keep reminding him that the important thing is that he likes his job. And he does. What does it really matter then? The benefits package is looking really good so far, three weeks vacation to start with the option to "buy" more. He is buying an additional week since we have lots on our calendar in the next year.

We are headed to the cabin on the 27th or 28th of this month for anywhere between 3-5 days depending on AB's status with the company. It wasn't planned until the cousins decided a new deck needed to be added on. Well AB with his trusty hammer was all over that. Leif will love it. I could use the break by the coast. We can pick blackberries and eat oysters to our hearts delight. (I know, I have PLENTY of raspberries in my own yard that need picked. But somehow it is different when it isn't your own chore that needs to be done.) I would like to see sleeping accomodations squared away before actually arriving, but I have my doubts. The cabin has one bedroom with a queen bed - last time we were there by ourselves we tossed a twin mattress on the floor for Leif (who was horribly disappointed not to get to sleep in the loft) and put Skadi in the pack and play (yes, THE starfish pack and play). But as mentioned previously there is also the loft with two doubles and two twins or the living room with the roll out (not the choice digs).

AB is anxious to work the back room at the October Platinum wine judging and will need a few days off for that. Then there is Thanksgiving and Christmas, that even though we are staying here, we plan to take a fair amount of time off. We keep talking about a ski trip next February or March to teach Leif how to ski. Maybe to Steamboat or Crested Butte. Or if we are feeling rich maybe to Banff or Whistler. Or if we are dirt poor it might be White Pass with a babysitter at home with Skadi.

We don't have a lot planned this weekend. Processing tomatoes. Going to AB's company picnic (which enabled me to honestly decline another invitation for Leif to a princess party for a child we don't know). And I need to get some food bought and prepared for weeknight dinners. AB wasn't overly thrilled with waffles for dinner last night (Leif and I however chowed). I am thinking chili (it is STARTING to cool down).

Everyone have a super weekend!