Random Ramblings about 2008

1-I hated English peas until I was 31 1/2 years old, and now I crave them...wierd
2-Doing home daycare in my house was a lot easier than I thought it would be
3-Taking a yoga class was way less scary than I imagined
4-We finally got a flat screen tv & a sleigh bed
5-I discovered that the best cut of steak (to me) is the fillet
6-Vegetarian "butter" is very yummy
7-I'm kinda over pizza for a while
8-Vigoss jeans fit me best
9-Montrail flip flops are great
10-If you find a comfy pair of pants buy several pairs
11-Ring worm IS contagious
12-Children need calm assertive energy:) Calm being the operative word.
14-It's ok to say no to your friends
15-I really want to give up diet coke
16-I will never have a butt, that is just the way it is:(

There you go, that's all I got right now!

Christmas photo ordeal!

We make a Christmas card every year....with the dogs. This year it was quite a bit more difficult than normal because because I broke the good camera:( We had to use the old digital camera which, to our knowledge, only gives you 4 seconds to set the timer & get into place! It was hilarious. We finally got one, but it looks funny too! Hope we have a new camera by next Christmas:)

Friendships Can Be Hard

I do not like posting about things like this b/c I do not want to seem like a moron, although I am sometimes, but I am going to write about this anyway. I have friendship issues. Sometimes I do not like to be around people, not b/c I do not like them, but I am just somewhat shy & groups are not always my thing. That being said, sometimes I really like hanging out. I sound bipolar but I'm not. Sometimes I don't return phone calls for long periods of time b/c I feel uncomfortable talking on the phone. I have a lot of acquaintances, but I only form close bonds here and there. I think it may be because I do not trust people. It generally seems harder for me to form close relationships with women. I'm nervous sometimes that other women are being judgemental of me or fake...& yes I can be that way too:( I don't know why I am this way. A lot of the people I meet in the military are really nice, but so different from me. I get invited out to go "clubbing" a lot...totally not my thing! I get invited to a lot of kids birthday parties and I go, but I don't have children so I am a little left out. We haven't met very many people our age without children. My friend says that people like us are called dinks...dual income no kids...I had never heard that before. Anyway, what brought this whole blog on was an incident this weekend. I was going to take my friend out for her birthday & we arranged to meet & she didn't show, or call, & has yet to call. She has done this b/f so I shouldn't be surprised, but I always am. A phone call would have been nice. I waited for 2 hours...not cool. I am not going to take all the blame for my "issues" with friends. I do try to be a considerate, kind person, but sometimes other people do not share the same values. I know friendship is give & take, & I am thankful for my good close friends. Eric's career makes it hard to stay physically in touch with everybody, but I am trying to write & call as much as I can:) Enough of this boring droll! I just needed to get that off my chest, thanks!

pics

I have started working on a Christmas project

for my daycare babies. J. loved the reindeer ears, but O. obviously hated them. She had just woken up so that could be the reason for her dismay! She is usually very happy:)

Eric is Back

Eric's dad passed away on October 17th, exactly 1 week after he had left our house. I am glad that I got to meet him before he passed away. This is a picture of Eric & his dad. Eric was gone all last week taking care of the funeral. He got to see His half-brother Craig who he hadn't seen in 20 years, & his half-sister Lisa who he hadn't seen in 30 years. His brother Clayton was also there. It was a sad time, but the siblings seemed to enjoy spending time with each other & bonding. His dad died picking up golf balls on the golf course that he would then take to the local high school & donate. I think he was finding things to do to take his mind off of losing his wife last Christmas.
Eric is doing fine. He is sad, but he is happy that he was able to see him one last time. It had been 11 years since they had actually seen each other. I can't imagine not seeing my family for even a year, but I am very blessed to have the family that I have.

So Glad That is Over!

I cannot express in words how happy I am that my tonsil surgery is over and that the pain finally subsided! Thank you to all of my friends & family who prayed for me! I truly felt your prayers and it helped me so much! I will continue healing for weeks to come, but the bad part is over. Unfortunately, the surgery really was as bad as I was told it would be:( But I think in the long run it will be worth it. It was hard in one sense b/c I had to eat & drink to take my meds, but I just did not want to swallow the food! I guess it is kinda good in a way since I did lose weight, but getting back into eating real food after 10 days was actually hard. I still can't eat like I normally would because of the sensitivity, but I am NOT complaining! I am happy to be better! Very, very happy:)

three days to go:(

Well, only 3 more days until my tonsils come out!!! I am so SCARED! I've heard that it hurts really bad at my age:( Hopefully it will not be as bad as I am anticipating. I really hope that the pain pills work. The doctor said that the 3rd day is the worst, so maybe by Sunday I will be feeling better.



A small miracle happened today! We went hiking with the dogs at Howe Farm, and there is an off leash dog park there. In the year or so that we have had Sig, he has had major issues outside of the house...it was so bad that in the past we have had to muzzle him & keep him away from all dogs & strangers. He would have a melt-down & start howling & shaking, he even escaped & attacked another dog once. BUT, today 2 dogs snuck up on us deep in the woods & we had no time to react...AMAZINGLY, Sig ran up to these 2 large dogs & wanted to play! I was floored. We were like ok, that was weird...so we decided to take a chance and go into the off leash area, & again he was surrounded by dogs, and he did great!!!!!!! WOW! I am so amazed...you would have had to see how bad he was b/f to understand my surprise, but I feel like I had a bad "kid" and now he has been reformed, and I may not have to hide him anymore, hehe.

Cold Season

Man, I love my job, but honestly, I am tired of being sick! I shouldn't complain b/c I usually don't catch what my daycare babies have, but I caught a cold last week & it has been so hard to shake!!! On Thursday & Friday I literally felt like a giant balloon was blown up inside my head. Then on Saturday I couldn't get out of bed without my head spinning. I was miserable. Sunday I forced myself to work out & then I laid down. I did purchase a netti pot to poke up my nose & flush out the germs so hopefully it will work. I also had hot tea & honey, and lots of vitamin c, but I guess it just has to run it's course. I wish I wasn't such a baby about having a cold, but I just hate that "out of it" feeling! While I was in bed on Saturday I watched Mystery Diagnosis, which was fun b/c E usually will not let me watch such programming due to my vivid imagination. There were some strange issues discussed on that show & I think that after watching that I should just be thankful that I just have a cold & not leprosy or some such disorder right! On the up side I did get to read some while convalescing in my Virginia Woolf biography & my new book The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor.

The Relatives Came to Town:)

On Friday my cousin Mona and her husband Happ

spent the night with us. We had a lot of fun. It was so nice to visit with family. They were on their way to Alaska for a cruise. I drove them around Poulsbo while we waited for the lasagna to bake. Poulsbo is a very cute Viking town on the water. Mona loved it there. I am so thankful that we have been fortunate to have family visit us often while we have been stationed here. It really makes living so far away from home a lot easier. Happ brought me a t-shirt from home. I thought that was really sweet. They are a lot of fun.

Bean at the beach

Snoqualmie Falls

Today we went to Snoqualmie Falls for a little day trip. It was a really nice drive, & the weather actually cooperated:)

A few pics from Oregon

These are pics from the girls only trip that I went on back in July. I love that I wore flip flops in the snow...what a dork! It was hot though. These are all from Mt. Saint Helens.

Bean & E

This is Bean's favorite place to be:) She loves Eric! She loves me too, but she is gaga over E! I begged for a dog, picked her out of the litter, and still...she is a daddy's girl. But I really can't blame her, he is pretty charming.

3 Things

Ok, I have 3 things to blog about....First, I went to a baby shower on Saturday & it was very fun. We played new, different games than the usaul shower games & had cake, but we also had "birth" conversations! OMG!!!!!!!!! I have never been so terrified, (that is probably not true, I am easy to scare actually), but anyway I am terrified. I still don't know If I want to reproduce:), but these stories I heard make the choice easier. Hours of labor, puking, non working drugs, biting, kicking of husband in face (my favorite story) & morning sickness!! Uh uh, no thanks.

#2 I am having a tonsillectomy, again I am terrified as I have never had a real surgery. If anybody has had one please tell me about it even if it was horrible:)

#3 The weather this summer in Washington has sucked! Pardon my French. It is practically fall now, so I guess we can kiss any dream of a long warm summer goodbye:( But that is ok, it's still pretty here, even if it's cloudy.

Torch Light Parade

Ok, these pics aren't that good:( I dropped the good camera & broke it. I am so clumsy. These were taken at the torch light parade here in Seattle last Saturday. It is the kick off for Seafair, which is a huge local celebration. This was the largest parade I have ever been to. I think the estimate was 300,000 people. Eric is the one playing the tuba. He had to carry that thing for 4 miles...I would have been dead!

Day Trip to Mt. Ranier

Last weekend we went hiking at Mt. Ranier. If you look closely you can see the blue of the glaciers on the mountain top. It was very warm that day, & cool to see people playing in the snow in July. ( I was glad that it didn't blow any lava out:)

Jones cupcakes taste real good:)

While visiting Portland we stopped into Jones cupcakes..actually
we planned to go there because we read about it & given the fact that cake in general is probably my favorite thing in the world, food wise anyway, I have to say that those were very yummy cupcakes & HUGE! In the middle of the strawberry lemonade cupcake was a delicious liquid filling, & the lemonade drizzled on top was phenomenal...I would give Jone's cupcakes 2 thumbs up, and a good recommendation if I was asked:)

Loves It

I loved almost everything about Oregon! In fact, I can barely think of anything that I didn't like! I liked the food. I liked the people. I liked the landscape. I really liked Cannon beach! I loved how dog friendly it was there! I have already told Eric that this may be one of my top choices for retirement...and I am not kidding. I love Washington, but the clouds in the winter are sometimes too much for my melancholy personality:( Oregon is a lot like here, but it seemed a little brighter. Of course, that is probably b/c it is July right! I can't wait to go back! Those 9 days flew by.

This was a day that I will remember forever! We went to Port Townsend for a little day trip & all my stress just melted away... on that day anyway:)

Naps are neccesary!

It may look obscene, but Sienna is all about being comfortable! Notice that her butt is propped up on my pillow. Some days I look at her & I say to myself, " I wish I were a dog!" And I really mean it.

New hair color

Ok, self-taken photos look hilarious, but anyway, this is for Hey...my new hair color is not quite as dark as yours, but getting closer:) The gray patch has already reappeared! Why are we cursed?!?

Not that good at blogging..........

For some odd reason, when I started this blog, I thought that I would be much better at keeping up with it than I actually am........I am horrible at it! I feel like I never have time to keep up with stuff like this. Maybe I am not managing my time properly, but it is actually probably because I require so much sleep... I have to go to bed by 9 or I will be a real witch the next day! I don't actually close my daycare until 4:30, then I eat dinner with Eric & relax for a minute. I go to the gym for an hour or two after that. Then, I have to take care of all the annoying personal hygiene stuff...washing hair etc. In theory, that gives me 2 hours to do whatever I want, however, I usually sit in bed with Eric & unwind.........We always say that night time is "our time" so we are not suppossed to talk on the phone etc. I love "our time" however, that means less time for blogging & such, so I guess here & there will have to do:) I am ok with that, but it doesn't make for a very good blog!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was really fun this year! We had a lovely dinner & went to bed early...that was awesome:) I felt bad because we said NO gifts but Eric gave me a beautiful bracelet anyway...oops, I gave him a heart filled with skittles, not very romantic:( BUT, I did make a homemade card, that counts, right? I'll do better next year.

Mom & I at the Tea Room

Wow! This tea room in Port Gamble was so much fun! We even got my dad to go. Our favorite tea was the Snow Monkey tea! The little sandwiches were delicious too. Cucumber, smoked salmon, & bacon-tomato. They also had lemon scones, um um! With strawberry preserves & cream cheese spread. We had fun trying all of the hats on. They host theme parties there too. I have been there several times & I can't wait to go back again:)

Good Friends are a Gift

My sister has been my best friend for such a long time! I feel so lucky to have the person that I grew up with & spent the most time with as a best friend! She has always been a good listener & support system to me. I call her for advice & ideas very often, and she is always there to help me. Just this week I called her for advice about my job & she was so supportive of me...that just makes me feel so happy that she would take the time to listen to me & help me think everything through. I love spending time with her, & our friend Holly. We have had some really fun times together. In fact, I think it is getting about time for us to have a "girl trip!" I need my Heather & Holly fix! I love you girls! Thanks for being such good friends to me!

Eric & Sally

This is a cute pic of Eric & his mom at one of his concerts at the Keyport museum.

Congratulations Eric

I am just so proud of Eric! He has been working very hard this year in the band, & he found out a while back that he had won sailor of the year in his command for 2007. He actually won 2 NAM's last year. He has worked so hard to advance his career & take care of me, & I just love him:)

A Sunny Saturday

Well, I woke up today & holy cow...the sun was shining sooo brightly! How wonderful! Unfortunately, I had slept until 1:40! I never do that anymore, but my muscles have been hurting so badly from fibromyalgia so I guess I needed the rest, but still!!! Why did I have to sleep on the one sunny day this month! Actually, I am just glad that I got to see the sun for a little while, and actually keep the door open b/c it was reasonably warm, Yay! What a treat to have such a beautiful day here in the middle of January!

A poem

Last night as I was sleeping
I dreamt-marvelous error!-
that I had a beehive here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

~Antonio Machado

A Yummy Recipe I Love to Eat:)

Creamy Veggie Bacon Pasta Skillet (adapted)
*Boil elbow or penne pasta noodles
*Saute yellow onion and 2 cloves garlic in skillet
*Chop broccoli & asparugus into bite sized pieces
*Place veggies in skillet with 1/2 cup broth
*Add bacon bits
*Add noodles
*Stir in 4oz. cream cheese
*Top with grated parmesan cheese
~And of course I always top with a little sharp cheddar cheese, um um!
~If you try this recipe I hope you like as much as I do!