Highlights of 2008

I was reading something online and saw that a t.v. star had made a list of things that were a highlight(or lowlight) for her in 2008. I decided to do the same...
Amy's '08 list of things-
*got a replacement diamond for my lost diamond in my wedding ring- quite an upgrade!
*Bob lost his job (making our decision to move easier)
*Spent Easter in Arizona with my family
*Watched my oldest daughter receive academic awards and get promoted to 9th grade at her promotion ceremony
*Parted ways with my salon and quit working after many years
*Sid got her braces off
*Moved out of California
*Moved to Washington
*celebrated the birth of a new baby in the family
*went sailing for the first time
*mourned the loss of a dear friend's spouse
*mourned the loss of a client in a senseless death
*grandparents moved from the house they lived in for over 45 years and celebrated the move to a new apartment for them
*Bob's new career
*rented our CA house
*the presidential election
*the snow from hell
*won the WA state lottery(just kidding-seeing if you are paying attention)

So that is it- off of the top of my head. A year of changes for sure and I am pretty certain that 2009 will be eventful as well. Hopefully filled with good things, safe things and no sad things. Happy New Year to everyone and thanks for hanging in there with me and my crazy rants!

Prepare for '09- Shop now!

As the promise of a new year approaches, you can't help but think about how many changes occurred in the past year, what changes you can make in the upcoming year and what will or wont happen beyond your control. I am looking at these immediate happenings. Getting a job. I will take my practical boards very soon and will of course post my passing of those boards with great relish. If I did not pass for some weird reason I wont even mention it. I don't take failure well. I really don't take failure well when it has to do with my profession of 25+ years. I will pass the boards, seek employment, try to make some new connections, make some changes in my daily life. Nothing big, life changing but change non the less. More on that later and enough reflection for now.
The girls and I made our escape yesterday. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Bob called and requested some dry socks. He had been outside working at Costco all morning and he was soaked. His manager asked him to stay all day and he agreed to it but would have to work with wet feet. Since we were well into the east side, we continued on to Redmond. Target and it's neighboring stores never looked so good. On the previous day, the daughters were all a twitter about spending gift cards and getting out of the house. They both wore new shoes and quickly complained about blisters, being tired, low blood sugar(Riley), etc... I was disappointed to say the least, I was geared up for an all day errand, shopping whirlwind. Got some good bargains and stocked up on grocery items as well. Got a great deal on Craig's List for Riley. She needed a monitor for her desktop PC, 15 bucks. My uncle had one available at his company but I was beginning to doubt that I was ever going to get there and Riley's Ipod/computer drama was beginning to make me nuts. The icing on the shopping cake would have been if the liquor store was open on Sundays. Oh well there is today. We are going to try for Bellevue Square and Crossroads today. The girls will get a stern talking to and will wear comfortable shoes. I will not tolerate the glazed over tired routine today. What the hell do they have to be tired for? Oh, yes, staying up till all hours watching DVDs and playing Guitar Hero. Their inner clocks are a jumbled up mess.

Better than Christmas

I have a habit of being wide awake at around 4:00 a.m. I wait until Bob leaves at 5:00 and turn the news on in the bedroom. It helps me fall back to sleep sometimes, perhaps not always. Today it did and Riley crawled in with me. We slept late. I figured, why get up? To do what? I can't go anywhere, I have most of my big chores done, so lay in bed. I finally got out of bed after Bob called and said he would be home soon. Ri is hollering at me to look outside. Our street had been cleared!!!
The street clearing angels heard my fervent prayers last night. I did pray my guts out that it would warm up(it did) rain(not yet) not snow(it didn't) and that our street would get cleared(it did). Freedom at last! Bob called again and wanted to know what we needed from Costco. Oh happy day. We are having STEAKS for dinner, baked potatoes and salad. Grand... When he got home, he and Sid finished our driveway and cleared what fell off of my car from melting. My car is clean of snow as is my driveway. I have never been so happy to see pavement. I am way more excited about this than I was Christmas morning. Bob said that the rest of the 'hood isn't as clear so he will scout it out tomorrow for me, call me and give me a report. We are headed to Target as soon as possible. It's great too, I am holding over the girl's heads. If you don't clean your room and fold your laundry and unload the dishwasher we wont be able to go to Target... Hey, it's not mean, it's smart. How else are you going to get two kids to leave the Guitar Hero for a while and do chores??? Use what you got, that's what I say.
I just finished cutting Bob's hair. He is a human again. Handsome for sure, even if I do say so myself. He is happy now.
The mail even came after two days of no delivery. A package that I had ordered for the girls arrived in the mail, keeping Christmas going for a while longer.
So, the mood in the house is light and happy, like I like it. Really I do...

What day is it?

I am losing track of the days. I know this is the day after Christmas. The girls and I were actually foolish enough to believe the weather reports. They were telling us it would warm up and start to rain. Blessed rain to wash away the evil snow. I walked into the living room, looked outside and guess what I saw? Snow... It was snowing. Big fat fluffy flakes. Adding to the mix of snow, ice and slush that we already have. Our street now looks like we live in Fargo, N.D. They wont clear our street either. The main cities are overwhelmed with main streets and we live in an unincorporated county area so forget it. I am starting to see how natural disasters can add up to real trouble. If we lost power for more than a few days, someone had a medical emergency, etc. It took Bob a half hour to get his 4x4 truck in the driveway tonight. He spent another hour shoveling the driveway(it is a small driveway) so he can get out tomorrow. What if we had no water or gas? I am going to make myself panic. I have to pick up my kit for my state boards by Monday. If I can't pick it up, I am in big trouble. We are supposed to get rain tomorrow along with warmer temps. I will believe it when I see it.

Be On Your Way Santa

I have never been so glad to shut the door on that fat jolly old man as this Christmas. This was the Christmas that I never dreamed of. While I am glad it's over, done, finished and gone I still have some lingering issues. This was supposed to be the best Christmas. We are in WA for goodness sake. There are light displays, events, etc and chilly weather to make you feel the real Christmas feeling. Oh it was chilly all right, so cold that I was numb and could never feel the spirit. Oh there were a few nights when I had one of my 300 Christmas CD's playing and it was snowing outside and I felt very Christmas like. Otherwise, it was below expectations for sure. I guess to sum it up, I feel gipped.
The minute my street is clear and neighborhood passable, I am heading to the mall and shopping, talking to strangers, eating in a restaurant, you name it. I will buy myself a nice Christmas gift, check out the after holiday sales, etc. Tonight I will erase my Christmas ringtone from my phone too. I am keeping the house decor up because my family will come for dinner eventually and it just makes the house look so much better than normal. It'll be just plain dull with out it.
Christmas morning was nice. The girls got lots of nice things and lots of gift cards to spend on that mall trip we are taking soon. They have been playing with the Guitar Hero and Beatles Monopoly all day too. Their father has been helping them out with that. I can here them downstairs negotiating for the purchase of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Blvd. I will attempt to clean up the kitchen soon. Bob had gotten a turkey from Costco as a gift. I cooked it, made stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, etc. It was a damn decent meal if I do say so myself. Instead of a traditional grace before we ate, Bob and I told the girls how grateful we were for all that we have and have been given this year. The fact that he didn't have to work today, a warm and toasty home, good food, plenty of presents, etc. God has blessed us in so many ways. We all agreed that we were thankful for it all.
So that man in the red suit and white beard can just stay up in the North Pole for a year and good riddance I say. The snow can go too and not return for about another 20 years or so. I want to get on with life, talk to humans other than the ones I live with and face to face too. Hope that everyone had a Christmas to be thankful for and is ready for the new year. My wish for the New Year? A clear road outta here!

A Brighter Outlook

It's amazing what can happen in a day. Nothing earth shattering like snow being gone but none the less good things. It finally stopped snowing for a while and began raining. This is good news. Warmer temps and rain is the key here. My sister had been asking if I had gotten any packages from her and I had to keep telling her no. UPS cannot come into my neighborhood! It's not safe!
Riley had her buddy over all day today and I did some chores and talked on the phone all day. I was downstairs in the laundry room and heard the doorbell. Sid came down a few minutes later with a box. She said she saw the UPS guy on foot and it was one of my sister's boxes. I opened it right away. It was a web cam!!!
Sid and I had just been talking about how cool it would be to have one since my sister has one. Well... there you go!!! We hooked it up and have already spent some time in Arizona tonight!!! There was a knock on the door about an hour later and another package from my sister! I wont tell you what was in it until after Christmas but let's just say it made my whole Christmas.
Bob called at about 4:30 and said he was on his way and may not have to work on Christmas day. The rain in Seattle did a lot to help the rail situation so he might get to be home for Christmas day. Sid and I are in the living room sitting on the couch by the tree and just heard the loudest "swoosh". Melting snow slipping down the roof and onto the ground! This is excellent. A bit more of this and I will begin to feel the shackles loosening. Hurrah...
I will finish up the stockings and gifts from Santa in a while and go to bed. The girls have already made plans to be up by 7:00 or so. I had better have a steaming cup o' joe waiting with Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha creamer in it, or there will be no Christmas!

Merry Christmas

It is Christmas Eve morning. It is actually snowing again! I have posted about being snowed in and the "joys" of it. It is small potatoes compared to what others have to go through of course.

I figured it was all okay for Christmas. Now here is the update, I had to postpone having everyone over on Christmas day, kinda sucks but it will be all right. Had to cancel Riley's birthday plans but that turned out really well. She had her friend from across the street over for dinner. Bob brought home pizzas, cake and ice cream. Sid made her a cool banner to hang up and she had lots of presents and cards to open. Made it thru that. Bob got called by the railroad yesterday while he was at his Costco job and they needed him to work today. Okay, Christmas Eve, we can't go anywhere anyway and he'll be home by 5:00 tonight, right?? WRONG. He called this morning to tell me he may not be home until late tonight, will have to work on Christmas day and the rest of the weekend. The railroad is in the same predicament as everything else around here, planes, buses, trash trucks, UPS trucks, on and on. He is working with emergency crews to get the trains moving again, tracks cleared and repaired. He could not say no since he is new and he hasn't worked for them for almost two weeks.
Like I told my Seattle family, I love living here but not right now... at all.
I miss my AZ family so much and am not excited about having Christmas with out them let alone my husband. If the girls were little it would be fun because I could do the whole Santa excitement thing. But they are older and not as exciting as they used to be. Add to it that they are disappointed about their dad not being around too much. Talk about a pity party... I know all the things about being grateful and trust me I am. But I still don't have to like my situation. It will pass and I will look forward to February when we fly to AZ.


The true reason for Christmas is not lost on me. I am not that selfish. I am truly appreciative that I have my faith, my health, my family's health and a warm roof over my head. I know this is all about the birth of our savior. I have never lost sight of that. I think being cooped up for six hundred days straight has me feeling a bit weepy and insane at this point.

My family here in Seattle has been AWESOME. Putting up with me, keeping me in the loop, sharing their crazy cabin fever stories, invites, etc. LOVE them and am grateful that I have them.
I have some friends that are not going to have the greatest Christmas because of loss and family situations that all came about this year. I would never put myself in the category that they are in. How dare I complain when I know they are suffering through the holidays and trying to be brave for the family around them. I don't know if I would have it in me to even have Christmas, they are the strong ones.
I will try to wrap this up now with insight and gratitude. My uncle sent me a nice e mail and I will take his advice. "Cozy on up by the fireplace and just abide in God’s grace!" It really is just about that. Thanks Uncle L.D. Merry Christmas to you all.

p.s. these are pictures I took on a walk around our neighborhood the other day. It is beautiful isn't it?

Happy Birthday to you Dear Riley

I just assumed that it would be so close to Christmas that I couldn't possibly have time to post any thing. I guess you know what assume means... I got nothin' but time. I am so glad to hear from others in the beautiful evergreen state that are going stir crazy too. Being house bound for a few days is cool but a week? It's getting old. But I also assumed or should say that Bob and I assumed that we would never punish a child by giving them a December birthday. We even talked in length about how we know lots of people with December birthdays and what a drag it must be, etc. Well again, we were wrong. We have a December birthday. It isn't so bad for her either. She kind of likes it. Her dad and I, along with all of her family have always made a huge effort to give her a separate and unique birthday. She knows no better and therefore is completely content with her holiday infused day.
Let me try to shine some light on the world and machinations of my youngest child. She is fair in looks but only in looks. She can be a tough kid or a true youngest baby. We have a bad habit of not being able to leave her alone. We have picked on her since she was quite small. She was (and is) so cute and so fun to chew on, tickle, squeeze, bite, blow raspberries on, nibble, poke and pinch. We have never tired of it and her father is the biggest culprit. She doesn't like it much but knows this is her call in life and place in this family. As she gets older it isn't quite the same tho. She has been blessed with the best sense of humor. Her impersonations and accents are dead on, her comedic timing and take on life is pure SNL material. She has spent a large amount of her life trying to be like her sister but has carved out her own personality as well. She is the magnet for children everywhere. Kids of all ages are just drawn to her. She often flies by the seat of her pants, lands in a pile of manure and comes up smelling like a rose. I have always been jealous of people like that. It is hard for me to go on without thinking of the millions of things she has done that make me laugh out loud. She has paid her father back a million times over for all of his evil tickling and biting by being able to impersonate him perfectly. Not one of us could get away with it like she does.
Riley was the pure Christmas joy 11 years ago. She was the sweetest little cuddly thing. She has always and still is my cuddle bug. I know she is trying really hard to be that cool "tween" but she can't help herself and wants to snuggle with her mom.
If I have been guilty of anything it is this, I treat her like the baby that she is. She is my baby and no matter how old she is she will always be my baby. I knew before she was born that she would be our last. I made sure I held her a little longer, baby talked with her a little longer, protected her a little longer. I knew by the first child just how fast it was all going to go. I wanted to savor and hold on just a bit more with my baby. Now I see this beautiful blue eyed, blonde girl who is breaking my heart and will break lots of hearts before she is through.
I had to explain to her yesterday that we would not be going out to celebrate her birthday today or tomorrow due to the weather. She told me it was okay. I can just see the future and me crying or whining about something and my baby will still be telling me "it's okay mom". She is the true grown up kid and I am the one being the baby. Happy Happy Birthday my little Christmas angel, Mom and Dad couldn't have asked for a better gift.

Be Careful What You Wish For

I love Bing Crosby. He is the essential Christmas crooner. I want to slap him hard now. "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas". It sounded good at the time but who knew that it would turn bitter and bite me in the behind??? It pretty much snowed all day again yesterday. The weather is calling for more snow all week. Yep, all week. That means Christmas too. There is a guy that keeps riding his ATV up and down our street. I hate him. I am jealous of his freedom. I have no idea where he is going on his ATV but he is out and about.
We live at the top of a very steeeeeep hill. Our area of Kirkland has the word Hill in it's description of the area. It's high enough that the neighbors refer to stores,etc, at being at "the bottom of the hill" . The hill is not passable as of now. Lucky for Bob there is a back way and it gets salted and cindered. He has seen so much snow related chaos in the last few days, he could blog for hours. He said that this snow and ice has brought out the best and the worst in everyone. Shoppers have stopped him in the parking lot and noticed how much, long and vigorously he has been shoveling snow. They thank him. People have complained that the floor at the entrance of Costco is "messy" or "dirty". Uhhh... ya think??? How could you not track in melting ice, snow, de icer, salt and sand? I am always amazed at how weird people are.
Just talked to my sister and our package from her will not be here in time for Christmas. It's just one of the many packages that wont be able to fly in to Seatac or get on a UPS truck and get to us. Oh the joy.
"Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow"
my hit list is getting bigger.

Define Snow

"Snow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. The process of precipitation is called snowfall."

That is the official description of snow, in a scholarly way. Here is my description of snow... Pain in the ass. I am house bound. My street looks like those flash frozen chicken breasts that you get in a big bag at Costco. I was brave and did grocery shopping the other day and only slid once or twice. The streets in my 'hood is ten times worse than that now. Bob has been getting up early and going to work at Costco but he has 4 wheel drive and has only slid around a bit. He actually did grocery shopping after he left Costco yesterday. The news had been full of warnings of snow, full force winds, freezing rain, power outages, etc. Bob said it was a scene straight out of Armageddon. Everyone in Costco wanted a generator and there were none to be had. Costco had to have employees go out into the parking lot to direct traffic due to the amount of people and the amount of ice patches that were forcing cars to slide around at the hands of drivers with little or no intelligence. Then when he got to Safeway he could not park in the parking lot. It was FULL. He had to park in the strip mall next to the grocery store and walk. He said the shelves had vast expanse of emptiness. The lines to check out were wrapping around aisles. I must admit I was very glad that he was the one out there and grateful. I would have lost it. Really, nervous breakdown stuff. So we have tons of canned goods, bottled water and candles. Nothing has happened tho, we never did lose power. I didn't care if we did except that Bob and I both were very concerned about the coffee maker. It needs power to make the brew of life for us. That could have been a disaster...
I am looking outside as I type and I feel like I live inside a giant Snow Globe. The snow flakes are giant and swirly. The wind kicks up every so often, blowing snow off of the roofs and it looks like a blizzard in North Dakota for a few seconds.
I had to tell Riley today to be prepared for anything tomorrow. Her 11th birthday is tomorrow. We had big plans to go into downtown Bellevue for their big outdoor Christmas thing and to Red Robin for dinner. As of right now, between you and me, I don't see it happening. I told her that if for some reason her Birthday does not happen that we will make it up to her in a big way. Lucky for me, I have her gifts and card already. I just need some cake and ice cream. She was as okay with that as she could be and who could blame her.
We are at about 7 or 8 inches and counting. I don't remember it snowing for this long even when we lived in Kansas City. On the bright side, my house is becoming very tidy and my laundry is getting done.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

As Christmas draws near and the house it quiet, I am in a reflective mood. I have lots of old friends on Facebook that remind me of the old days. I am thinking about my top 10 Christmas memories. I will try to narrow it down a bit or this post will go on forever and my readers will be snoring on their keyboards.
My first real memory and happy one at that is when I was very young, probably three or four. We always went to church and came back to my grandparent's house. While at church Santa would drop off my gifts. I was the first and only grandchild til I was three so you can imagine the gifts. I had an ironing board, iron, vacuum, etc. all my small size and they "worked". I blame those gifts on the domestic guilt I carry around to this day. My next standout Christmas was when I was 11. I wont go into any details but let's suffice to say that money and Christmas decor was tight that year. My mom, sister and I made ornaments. We strung cranberries and popcorn and bought ribbon to tie bows. It was actually a pretty cute tree. It is the tree in the picture above. That Christmas I got my hamster. He promptly bit me and died about a week later, lucky for me I got a replacement. I forget what else I got because I got such an awesome big gift that year, better than the hamster even. I got a Dad. Just what I wanted? I don't know if I knew I wanted one or needed one but now I realize I did both. Dad says he got a beautiful wife and two daughters that year. Well, we were pretty broke so that's about all he got. The Christmas' after that were all pretty dang good and filled with lots of great memories. We split the eve and day at my grandparent's house and our house, luckily we lived close to one another. There was always a house full. My next memories were of being a teenager. I have pictures of me with my friends in high school and having our gift exchange. After the family Christmas we would all get together and park somewhere in the remote desert and have our own celebration. You could do that back then without getting into much trouble. From there my next great memories of the holidays were when I became a parent. Christmas had lost it's luster due to getting older and realizing that Christmas was more a giant pain filled with adult emotions, mental anguish, anger, seeing the worst in people and all the family issues that come to a head. The adults kept that under wraps for us kids I am sure.Plus having to work in retail at a large hardware store that sold real and fake trees and all things Christmas. Don't forget the Christmas MUZAK that played over and over and over. When I had Sid, that stuff didn't go away and in some ways got worse due to me wanting to be protective. But seeing Christmas through her was magic. The videos are hilarious in that all you can hear are my parents, Bob, myself and my sister saying "Sidney, Sid, Sidney, Bird, Birdie, Sid" a million times over. We were all fighting for her attention and wanting her to love what we were pointing out to her. "look at the lights Sid" and on and on. My next best Christmas was when I got a baby. No,not fun to be giving birth around Christmas but it was only the 23rd so we still had time to regroup. Riley was the little tiny baby that slept through Christmas and all of it's madness. She was so precious. Then we got to do the attention grabbing all over again as she got old enough. Then Kenzie, the wonder niece came along and that made Christmas exciting again as well as us adults saying, "Kenzie look, Kenz, kenzie, miss k, look over here." Here are some Christmas disasters that stand out, I will be brief. The year I got pancreatitis and almost died on Christmas night. That whole holiday season was spent on Demoral and Vicodan until I turned yellow and had to have emergency gall bladder surgery. I was in the hospital from Dec. 25th to Jan.1st. Not fun. Then there was the year when we lived in Chino. 150 mile per hour winds and blew the living room window in and onto the 9 ft. Christmas tree. Glass and broken ornaments everywhere. It could have been worse but I broke the tree's fall with my body. Nothing says happy holidays like a giant piece of plywood nailed to your house. Then there was the time that we lived in Chino and my parents took the girls up to Victorville on Christmas eve. On the way home, what should have been a 45 min. trip turned into a 3 hour trip. Some poor soul decided that since his estranged wife was giving him grief about his kids, that he would get a Uhaul truck and blow himself up on the freeway overpass near the outlet mall. So there they sat, a 5 yr old and a 2 yr old in a car with Papa and Grammy. Good times...

Cold and Snowy Day

Burrrrrrrrrrrrr. The high today was about 30. It started snowing at about 7:00 p.m. last night. A mix of freezing rain, hail and snow. Continued with snow and thunder and snowed all day. Girls had fun in the cold white stuff with friends.
Sid took the top picture of the trees, I think it turned out beautiful.
Bob's work party is tomorrow so I had to brave the elements and go to the grocery store. It went fairly well till I got home and couldn't get into the driveway until Bob came out and shoveled the driveway. So now I have two casserole dishes full of chicken enchiladas. One for Bob's party and one for us. I got a new Cuisinart and it was a great help. The girls will have another snow day tomorrow I am sure. No official announcement but its still pretty snowy and the roads will get icy tonight as it is supposed to be in the mid to low 20's. Supposed to get my hair cut tomorrow morning but am thinking that probably wont happen. I can survive another few days with my thick unmanageable Pantene like hair. If it isn't vital then I don't need to be out, nor do I want to. The news was full of footage showing the freeways looking like parking lots, transit buses stranded, people stranded in their cars, etc. I'd rather not be a part of the evening news.
My cold seems to be packing it's bags and hitting the road. I have been sleeping downstairs on the couch because it has a recliner and I can sleep sitting up. I tried to cough up a lung the other night and it's just not pretty.
One really bright spot of my day occured quite early. I had the pleasure of talking to my dear sweet Beth for about an hour. She is in theater and gets home late so she is wide awake in the wee hours. I was too, having just put my lung back where it belongs. That made my day today.
My oldest daughter is sitting next to me on her laptop and she has her pet Gopher snake wrapped around her neck. I am hoping the snake doesn't become a Boa Constrictor and decide to squeeze the life out of the 14 year old. Even tho she is a teenager, I still like her and want her around.
Off to finish the dishes from my culinary excursion. Stay warm everyone.

Riley's Winter Holiday Concert

Riley

Snow Days, Flutes and Colds

We were lucky enough to attend Riley's first concert. She has played the flute for two years now. She has to be at Sid's school an hour early three days a week for practice. When she attended her school in Calif. it was mandatory that each child play an instrument. Here in WA it is a choice and we strongly encouraged her and bought her a flute. I told her last night that these concerts mean even more to us because she does this voluntarily. Well let me tell you, the Jr. high jazz and concert bands rocked the house. I felt like I was at some sophisticated concert(if I shut my eyes and didn't see the school gym). The fifth and sixth grade bands did great. When you can tell what the song is that is a good thing. We are experts at this, having had two children play piano, violin and flute and watching countless recitals and concerts. It was cold tho... Everyone left their coats on during the concert. Lots of great Christmas lights on the way home from school.
We are having a snow day today. I woke up about 4:30 a.m. with a KILLER sinus headache and could not sleep. I turned on the news and after about 15 minutes they announced that our school district was closing today. We haven't had any measurable snow but it is due at anytime and that was the basis for the district's decision as it may become difficult for parents to pick up their kids in snowy weather. I think we may tackle sugar cookies today if Sid agrees to it. She doesn't want to be a part of the family any more. She is officially the teenager that your parents warn you about. We embarrass her and she would rather be with friends than us. She now resides solely in her bedroom and only appears to take in a meal. She informed us last night that the only reason she was going to the concert was to support her sister.
I now have the upper hand on the sinus headache. I have had a cold since Sunday. I think once the sinus crap leaves I will actually feel better.
Bob is home as well today. He got officially bumped yesterday. Because of the weather today he will not do Costco. Oh happy days... crabby teenager, chatty husband and you can figure out the rest.
I will upload some pictures of last night and some video as well.

Sore Throat vs. Self Inflicted Strangling

I am not sure if the picture is of a woman with a sore throat or if she is trying to strangle herself. Either way it fits perfectly for me. It is freezing here. No, really it is. It's about 24 degrees right now. The high today will be 30. When we lived in Kansas City this was not considered that cold in the winter but by Calif. standards this is cold and pretty chilly for Seattle as well. It's supposed to stay like this all week. I also have a lovely cold, I think in a previous post I threatened my children with bodily harm if they got me sick... Ugh...
Lots of vitamin C, Airborne and Tylenol.
Bob is getting bumped today. That means he may not work til January, depending on what goes on. That also means he'll be home all week except for his time at Costco. I think I am voting for strangling herself, screw the sore throat.

Snowy Sunday

This is what we woke up to this morning. At Costco, Bob's job was to de ice the parking lot. He said it was pretty cold. Riley was up and out the door with her friends and sleds. The streets in our neighborhood were a bit icy and perfect for sleds. She came in the house feeling like a Popsicle. It's beautiful but cold. We may get more this week, the girls would love a snow day but I remind them that this is the last week of school til Winter break.

This just in from the weather service

THE LONGEST STREAK OF COLD WEATHER SINCE DECEMBER 1990 IS ON THE WAY...

WHILE THE POSSIBILITY OF LOWLAND SNOW SHOWERS IS IN THE FORECAST AT TIMES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS... IT IS THE FRIGIDLY COLD TEMPERATURES EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT WEEK THAT COULD HAVE THE GREATEST IMPACT ON WESTERN WASHINGTON.

AN ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL STREAM INTO WESTERN WASHINGTON TONIGHT AND SUNDAY... IN THE WAKE OF AN ARCTIC FRONT MOVING SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL BELOW FREEZING ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON TONIGHT WITH MANY SPOTS DIPPING INTO THE LOWER TO MID 20S. MOST OF THE REGION WILL REMAIN BELOW FREEZING ON SUNDAY WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS ONLY IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S. IN ADDITION WINDY CONDITIONS WILL ACCOMPANY THE ARRIVAL OF THE ARCTIC AIR MASS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY... ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTH INTERIOR OF WESTERN WASHINGTON.

SNOW SHOWERS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY COULD PRODUCE LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES... CREATING SLIPPERY ROADS AND SIDEWALKS. ROADWAYS AND OTHER SURFACES THAT ARE ALREADY WET WILL QUICKLY BECOME ICY AND DANGEROUS. THE FRIGID WEATHER COULD BURST OUTDOOR PIPES AND ENDANGER PETS AS WELL. WIND CHILL IS ANOTHER THING THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED. IN THE NORTHWEST INTERIOR THE COMBINATION OF SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES AND WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CREATE APPARENT TEMPERATURES NEAR ZERO DEGREES FAHRENHEIT... LOW ENOUGH TO CAUSE FROSTBITE TO EXPOSED SKIN.

Lots and lots of rain but no snow yet... There is about 2 feet in the mountains but nothing here. It may not happen but damn it's cold. Part of Bob's daily commute is to take a highway that is over Lake Washington or on Lake Washington, it is a floating bridge. There are two of them that you can take. Tonight on his way home a wave came up onto the bridge and completely drenched his truck. I was very glad to not be in his truck. I have a hard time with high elevation bridges or bridges on water or over water. There is the very high bridge over the bay in San Diego that takes you to Coronado Island. I could never ever drive on that bridge and I have to close my eyes when I am a passenger. I am okay driving on the floating bridges here when the lake is calm but a wave crashing up over my car would have sent me into a nervous breakdown. We are not sure if Bob will work next week or not, he doesn't know if he's been bumped yet. He informed me that his railroad Christmas party is next Friday in Seattle. It is a potluck and he asked if I would make chicken enchiladas. Here is the reasoning behind his request... A lot of the guys are single or are up here working and have families in another state. They exist on fast food and Bob thought that they would appreciate a home cooked dish. His other point was that those same guys would probably bring things like a bag of potato chips and a liter of Mountain Dew, so if there was to be edible food, Bob would save the day. He also said that it will be a "white elephant" gift exchange and they will do a game with it. Bob can't relate to any of this, when he was in construction and worked for a small company, the party was small and just for the office staff. I told him I would go to Rite Aid and get him a Chia Pet for his white elephant. Chia Pets are the go to white elephant, except for the Chia Herb Garden, that has some substance and seriousness to it. I can't imagine clipping some fresh basil for a pesto from a terra cotta Scooby Doo head.
Riley's band concert is Tuesday night, I am excited to watch her play her flute. It's been a while since she has had a concert. I think the last one was in May in California. They don't have as many performances up here. I shopped for some new concert clothes for her, she will be lookin' and soundin' fabulous and of course I will post a picture or two...
It is after midnight and as I look out the big window in front of me, a street light illuminates the falling rain. It is still rain, it hasn't started to fall from the sky in a frozen state yet, so that means it is still above freezing. Funny, I am freezing and my warm Tempurpedic bed of wonderfulness is beckoning me and begging me to sleep in on a cold and cloudy Saturday morning.

Things are Speeding Up

Busy, busy, busy... I spent waaaaay too much time shopping today, got a few more gift items and stuff for Christmas day. I had gotten that cool new Blackberry last week. I had some issues with my account so spent 40 min. on the phone with my provider and then over 2 HOURS at the provider's store. I will say that everyone that helped me was so nice and professional and I never had to lose my temper. That usually doesn't happen when dealing with cell phones, utilities, credit card companies, insurance companies, the list goes on. So the final outcome was that I ended up getting to keep my new wonderful Blackberry BUT had to change my phone number AGAIN and change my whole family's as well. Now we all have WA cell phone numbers. That was a huge accomplishment. I guess that the house will get all the attention it needs tomorrow and this weekend. Still talking cold and snow, we shall see...

Being a Parent Means Being Fair

Since I did such a bang up job on Riley's tree for her room, I had to give the same attention to Sid's tree. As you can tell by the photos it turned out great. She and I had fun painting ornaments together. I am glad that my teenager still likes me, she is a fun and funny person to be around. So both girls have pretty freakin' cute trees in their rooms. I am pretty much done with the decor on the house now and it just needs a good cleaning from top to bottom. I will work on that this weekend. I am listening to the 10:00 news and they are saying we are in a "storm watch" now. From what I can gather it is going to be cold and perhaps some snow. They are calling for 60 mile an hour wind gusts and three feet of snow in the mountains. Um, 60 mile an hour winds are like a breeze when you come from the High Desert of So. Cal.!!! This will be a good weekend to stay in and clean this place up. I will buy groceries tomorrow and hole up like a mole. Chatted with my sister tonight. She had a spectacular time in Las Vegas. She wasn't there very long and didn't sleep at all. She was there for a meeting, etc, for work and got to hang out with the Dodgers and other sports notoriety. I am so impressed with her and her job and love to brag about her. I know she works like a maniac but her job is really tailored to her and her personality. Sports, negotiations and all that. Plus she has the cutest daughter who happens to be my favorite niece.
Making plans for Riley's birthday. Will be forthcoming with those plans once we formulate them and confirm the date, etc...
Off to bed, will study a few pages of my cosmo book and then call it a night.

Nothing Earth Shattering

Happened today. The best part of my day was that my dear sweet friend called me to tell me she is buying a house. This is a HUGE thing for her. I am excited for her and the improvements she will make on it will be great. I know the love of her family and support of her (our) friends will turn it from just a house into a home in no time. The only thing I can say for sure to her is that the thought of moving makes me throw up in my mouth a little...
We were supposed to go to Bellevue tonight to "Snowflake Lane" but it's really cold and really rainy and our little cousin Nat is not feeling well. We will postpone for another night. I finished more of the house holiday decor today, it's coming along. I am just having a little bit of a hard time getting motivated. I am looking forward to Christmas in WA but so much of everything that I normally do for the holidays is a non issue now. The clients at the shop, their holiday headache stories, the gifts, the baked goods that I don't need but love and more important than anything is my family. I will miss them beyond belief. So, a little holiday, sun deprivation, beauty school blues. I always love decorating for Christmas but since this rental is not my dream home by any stretch of the imagination, that has me slowly walking in circles. The time I spend on the computer is my escape as well as my connection to all that is familiar. I miss lots of things I guess. I try not to dwell on what I miss and stay focused on all the blessings. I need to get out and make some friends but that will not be easy. They will just be filler or faux friends because NO ONE can replace the ones I am already so lucky to have. I have a pile of laundry that some may mistake for Mt. Rainier that I am avoiding, sheets that need to be washed, dishes in the sink, floors littered with debris and I can't find anything. Blah, bah humbug. I did study my cosmetology book tonight tho. The things you forgot that you used to know 25 years ago. It's slowly coming back to me and the book I am using is a couple of years old and talks about all the new diseases, etc that we have to deal with now that weren't an issue in 1983-84. Sad...
The news is predicting SNOW for the weekend. That will be fun, maybe even spark some Christmas spirit! The Christmas cards are trickling in and Bob & I look forward to opening them each evening. Everyone's kids are getting so grown up and the pictures are fun. I have mine done and ready to go except for the labels, otherwise they are ready. What little shopping I am doing is done except for about 4-5 small things and stocking stuff which is fun and easy. I had to order some stockings for Santa to put the stuff into. They should be here any day. For those of you that know me and have been to our home for Christmas, we do two trees with two different themes. One is more formal and one is country down home, home made ornaments, etc. I am only doing the formal one in this house and don't have stockings or some other things. The good thing is that the tree is fake and easy. I still have boxes and bins everywhere with Christmas crap strewn everywhere...

A Crafty Christmas

Here is a picture of the tree I decorated for Riley's room. I feel I must put up this disclaimer. I am not Martha Stewart nor do I portray myself to be Martha.
I threw in a picture of our tree, I made the tree topper, got it off of Martha Stewart.com. It's a good thing...

New Technology

Many of you got an email from me in regards to my new cell phone number. It was a very anxious hour for me that I spent in the cell phone store. Thankfully the two people helping me were very understanding. For those of you that got that email you may skip this part of the post. For those that don't know, I have had the same cell phone number for 14-15 years. Bob and I got OUR first mobile phone by way of buying a used SUV from his boss that came with the mobile phone bolted to the floor of the car. You had to sit in the car to use it and you could set it up to honk the horn when it rang so you could hear it if you weren't in the car. My parents had a friend that had a mobile phone like that in the late 70's. I remember thinking how cool that was. Our next phone(I say OUR because who could afford two mobile phones back then?)weighed in at around 8 or 9 pounds and came in it's own zippered bag. It was as big as a laptop bag but at least you could carry it around if you wanted and weren't held prisoner in the car to talk on it.From there it has gotten easier. The usual progression of smaller, smarter, more colorful, trendy cell phones. I am now the proud owner of a Blackberry. I should have done it long ago. It is the best invention ever and so good in fact that my NON techno savvy husband wants one. He has never been jealous of any new tech gadget I have but this lil BB has him all stirred up. He used one for work a couple of years ago and really fell for it. Anyway, back to the new cell phone number, it's so bad that our children haven't memorized our new house/land line number yet but now they have to purge mommy's cell phone number from their brains and learn a new one. I will keep my old number for a few more weeks to help with the transition and am forwarding all old cell number calls to the new phone. It will take me a month or two to figure out how to do everything on it. Sid and Ri both have it all figured out already so they are tutoring me and will have to help the dad when he transitions.
Got our Christmas cards yesterday so need to get those in the mail. Have some errands to run, it is dark and rainy. Rain...hmm... haven't seen any in a while so it is nice. Bob is actually at the railroad job today, not sure what is going on but he might have a "truck" job since he is cleared for that because he has a class A license. If he gets bumped from that he will be home sooner than later. Costco has kept him busy and according to Bob there is no recession when you see the volume of people and merchandise going in and out of there. Tree is decorated and now will finish decorating the rest of the house, it kinda made me a bit tense last night. Everything I tried to do either fell on to the floor, broke, wouldn't work, it was annoying. It did nothing to get me into that holiday spirit. I even turned of the Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and blasted some Rage Against the Machine to clarify my mood to everyone. Johnny was beginning to look a lot less like Christmas and sounding like he had sucked helium, where as RATM had that angry, angst ridden charm that I needed at that moment. The cats are no help either, they attack every freakin' thing you put on the tree, eat fake greenery and chew on every plastic bag they can find. They may find themselves wrapped up for Christmas gift giving at the local animal shelter if they don't leave my decor alone. I am sure some nice family would love to get a live cat for Christmas. I ended up staying up late and finishing a Christmas tree for Riley's room. It turned out adorable. We painted decorations and put them on a little white tree and I strung a short strand of battery operated white lights on it. It's all in pinks, blacks and silver and matches her room. I will try to post a picture that I took with my new phone!
Okay, enough... I will rise from the chair and go get ready to tackle my day, or I may see my bed and just crawl into it and pull the covers up around my head...

Putting up the Lights

Here are some pictures taken by Riley yesterday. They are of Bob, who is up on the roof with the Christmas lights.

Pearl Harbor

Today is December 7th. It is the day we recognize Pearl Harbor. We have Patriot's Day now to remember 9-11. Pearl Harbor is just as significant and should be acknowledged. To many Americans, Pearl Harbor is the ultimate symbol of treachery and our nation’s official entry into World War II. My great Aunt Adeline was an officer in the Army. She was a nurse and was working in a military hospital there. She could look out the windows of the hospital and see Japanese pilots in their planes as they flew over the island. She retired and was one of the first woman in the U.S. Army to retire as a Major. She declined an offer to stay in the Army and become a Lt. Colonel. Needless to say, her history is significant to our family. She saw many, many American soldiers injured and many deaths. Her strength and courage was admirable to say the least. So just take a moment to remember what must have been a grim day for much of the U.S. 67 years ago today. Many of those who fought in WW II as well as Pearl Harbor survivors are long gone. Bob was fortunate enough to become friends with a few of the Pearl Harbor survivors and even had one of them come and speak at a Veteran's Day ceremony at Sid's elementary school back in 1999. The photo above is of my great Uncle Gordon, his sister Great Aunt Adeline and my grandpa Elmer. I think it dates at about the late 30's early 40's.

Learning or Relearning

This is a picture of my new best friend. She is a mannequin head for cosmetology students. They are okay for learning but they generally tend to pretty much suck. Their hair is human but it isn't very human like. You just can't replicate a real head of hair that well. I spent 4 hours with her (not really this one, but a reasonable facsimile)the class went well. I had two major things working against me. I did things like a stylist not a student and I don't remember things from school or the boards since it was 1985 when I did this last. So, my instructors said that I did well but I know and they suggested that I practice. So my two darling daughters will replicate that lovely mannequin head shown above. You use color, perm solution and straightening solution that are simulated. That means COLD heavy conditioner mixed with thick styling gel applied to the hair, they are not gonna love me. Plus fake perm wrapping. Anyone would think "You have done 40 million perms and color applications and been a hairstylist for 10 thousand years, you will be fine". WRONG. You gotta do THEIR way. They don't care how your haircut looks or anything aesthetically speaking. It's about safety and sanitation. You have to cut a certain way that is safe, you have to wrap a perm safely, blah blah blah...SO that is what I will work on, not to mention the FACIAL and the MANICURE. I haven't done those since the last boards. So I will busy practicing. I have to say overall, I did do okay. When I was finished, I went and did some Christmas shopping and met my cousin for happy hour at Bellevue Square. That was fun! It's soooo pretty in downtown Bellevue with all of the lights and decor and skyscrapers. I love it. We had such a nice time.
While I was gone yesterday, Bob and the girls got the outside lights up and the girls set up the tree. Today we will work on that some. Riley has a family heritage project due. She is doing England. She finished her family crest and family tree and now we will work on the flag. We are supposed to show the family name "motto" which Sid translated from Latin for us. It was much more dignified than the family motto I thought we should have. I wont go into detail...

A Day Just Like Any Other

Bright and sunny, beautiful day! Yesterday, Riley and I went and sold a bunch of books and then to Ben Franklin's. We got some Christmas stuff. Getting a few chores done today. It's hard because Bob is home today, no Costco. It's hard to get things done, he is a chatty sort. Haven't talked to my parents in a while, talked to my sister this morning. I am such a bad phone talker. I am so hot or cold with the phone. Depending on my mood I can chat my guts out or barely speak at all as if it is painful. I thought it was because of my job. The amount of talking I did everyday made me not want to talk on the phone. Now that I am not talking everyday, I still am not a phone fan. I will bring this up with my therapist someday. Maybe my blog is my way of talking on the phone? It's so one sided though....
Oh well, enough self analysis for one day. I have tons to do...

Blog in a Fog

I don't mean the weather either. I have ALWAYS suffered from headaches. I think I was in grade school when I recall the first one that really hit me. I am lucky in that they only hit on occasion and not some people who suffer chronic migraines. Yesterday was a doozy. It lasted well until midnight. We now have our health coverage so am going to make an appointment soon to get some meds. Bob is not working at the railroad for a couple of weeks but he is working at Costco. He went in yesterday to let them know he was available and they asked him to stay right then and there. That is a big help. Sid is going home with a friend today, she is in a "Lord of the Flies" re inactment at school and has to rehearse with two other girls from her class. I will pick up the youngest girl and we are going to a book store to do some trading. Bob has to be at work at 3:00. Clouds today, not too cold. Nothing much to report. Wanted to send a greeting to my friend in Claremont, CA. She might be hard at work at the sign co. right now and I know she is gearing up for the holidays as well. Not that this is a busy time or anything but she also gets to look forward to her 29th birthday on Christmas eve. You knew 29 would get here eventually. Hope her girls are adjusting to their new school and new digs...
Off to pick up my kid, I swear I am going to paint the Yukon bright yellow with black checks. No meter installed tho, they couldn't afford me....

Yes, I woke this morning with a headache. What else did I wake up with? A sick oldest child again today, a husband that did NOT go to work. He got "furlowed". I don't know if I used that in the right tense or what it means exactly but it means he may not work( or get paid) for a month. Yipee... One good thing, Christmas decor needs to be done and he is a big help. He still has Costco (this is why he stayed there) and maybe can do some handyman stuff for people. He always finds something. I refuse to fret or worry at this point, it wont do any good. He has his truck driving, equipment operating endorsement with the railroad too and he may have something next week. So you see, why freak out now.
I sent my testing materials in yesterday. It's not so simple. Notarized, money order only, etc. I also went to the place that I buy all of my hair color, shampoos, etc. They have locations all over Calif. and Wash. Sid went with me and we got red hair color for her. I had to get some supplies. It actually felt good to go in and act like a stylist and talk to people like me. When we got home I colored Sid's hair. I haven't actually seen it yet. That sounds strange but the lighting in the dining room isn't that great and she went to bed early but she told me she loved what she saw in the bathroom lighting while she dried it. As long as she is happy. It's only a semi permanent 4 week color so we are not obligated to it.
Chores today, Tylenol will be my friend and hopefully that will be all I need. Hopefully Sid feels better by tomorrow...

Happy First Day of December

Does my title sound cheerful? If it does, I apologize. I don't mean for it to. No, it really is okay that it is the first of December. You know, December. The twelfth month of the year that puts dread into the hearts of all. It's just like having a phantom lead foot on your accelerator. I have a birthday to plan and Christmas. No big, first time EVER that I am not working, so I have no bitching to do. Just a note, I probably will bitch throughout the month anyway. No one wants to read a Pollyanna blog anyway! Who could relate to the fluffy load of crap? We want misery, it loves the company! To add to my list of December things to do, I am going to take a 4-6 hour class on cosmetology state board testing next Saturday. This will help me pass the practical portion of the state boards, the hands on stuff.

Oldest daughter home feeling sick, warmish. She really has to not feel well to not go to school, she is fast asleep. Riley is at band then school then volleyball, Mondays are busy for the kid. Today is "Camp Fog Alot" around here. Starting to burn off but who knows into what.
Got some cyber shopping done this weekend, it's always a good feeling to get some done, have some stuff for the girls done too. There wont be much in the gift giving, exchanging department this year. Tough times for a lot of people.
So that is my rant in a nutshell for today. Happy Cyber Monday and Dec. 1st and all that jazz...