The Duck

As Crafty webfoot pointed out I never mentioned the DUCK. The duck has been officially passed. While we were on the cruise I made repeated attempts to contact the ship's Captain or a senior officer, but no go, so I had to come up with another plan. During the cruise we went to a very nice wine tasting and the Wine Pro was a very nice man who spent some time chatting with us at our table, so after the tasting I asked him if he would present it to Mom over the Fancy Dress dinner that night. That night we all got dressed to the nines, had our pictures taken by the ship's photographer and went in to dinner. After we ordered cocktails the wine guy comes over to the table with a glass of Champagne for Mom and says "On behalf of Holland America I want to thank you for cruising with us, so I have a small gift for you", and he hands Mom a Holland America bag. She opens the bag thinking she is going to be getting a little Holland America gift and inside is the DUCK. She was so suprised! So, now she has it and I have to watch my back.

Merry Christmas!

I almost forgot that it is indeed Thursday AND Christmas day. What a great time to say good morning and Merry Christmas to my extended family. That is what you all are. What a morning to be thankful. We got to sleep in until 7am when H decided enough was enough and he wasn't going to wait a second longer, and frankly I am suprised he waited until 7. G on the other hand had to be woken up to open presents. Santa made it through the blizzard like conditions to our house and made the babies very happy. Mom and Dad are pretty happy too. We seemed to have picked the right gifts for everyone and each other. Before we opened our gifts I took a picture of our tree with all the presents under it and thought, WOW! We sure do have a lot of people that love us. We took our time, enjoyed the coffee and the chatter. I was very suprised to find that my sister Beth and her family sent us a Santa's breakfast kit with Pancake/Waffle Mix, coffee, jam and syrup in it, and Paul and the kids gave me a new waffle maker because mine broke last Christmas morning. KISMET! So we enjoyed waffles for breakfast. The kids are in the midst of building a huge LEGO kit and than they are moving on the build Barbie's Cruise ship. So is it tacky to say what we all got for Christmas? If we were talking on the phone we would tell each other, so maybe not that tacky. I was pretty pleased I got some of the things on my list. I forgot I posted a list, until one of my presents said read the blog and you will understand the gift. I asked Santa for a new winter coat, as mine got slammed in the trunk of the car and the zipped was smushed. So, I got a new winter coat and a gift Certificate for my books at Amazon. YAHOO!!!!! Paul and the kids got me a new computer chair so when I am studying I will be comfortable. Both kids made out like bandits. They are so happy and have declared this the best Christmas EVER!!! H still believes and we are trying to keep it that way for at least one more year. I think the only reason he believes is that he knows we would never in his wildest dreams spend that much money on toys for them, and while we were on the cruise the elves came and filled the elf box everyday. If that's not magic I don't know what is. I have pictures to post, but I don't want to spend all of Christmas morning on the computer, so I will post later in the week or maybe tomorrow. I hope all of you have a wonderful day, Merry Christmas to all of you and your families.

Watch this Ya'll

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's Thursday Again....well almost!

Hello Everyone! I am getting this done on weds. night again. After I drop the kiddies at school tomorrow I am off to do some Christmas shopping. I have Paul done and all the gifties shipped to the rest of the family members (I won't say what I got everyone, who knows if they are reading this), I also sent out goodies to each of you sweet ladies. Nothing terribly exciting, but I did think of you all on my trip. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

The first is from a 700 year old walled village. These ladies are "Professional Models". They will allow you to take their picture if you pay them. The other picture is from a 400 year old garden that some guy built as a 65th birthday present to his parents. I hope H and G remember this story for later in life. So, back to the Christmas thing...... I need to get stocking stuffers and some other little things for the kids from us and Santa. Everyone keeps asking me what I want and I am not exactly sure. What is it that all of you are hoping for this Christmas? I remember loving Christmas presents, but since I had kids it has all changed. It is more important for the babies to love their presents than about what I am getting. Is that when you become an adult? I do have to say that the older the kids get the more expensive the gifts become (Amy I feel your pain). H has an IPOD Video, an inflatable kayack, a motorcycle, Nintendo DS, cooking stuff, golf clubs, and a tent on his list. G is better, but still has American Girl doll stuff and a Nintendo DS on her list. What are the big ticket items in your houses this year? What are you all doing for stocking stuffers for your kids and hubbies this year? I always blow it and spend a gazillion dollars on the stocking stuffers, but this year I vow to be better. So here is my list of wants, stocking stuffers, and traditions.

WANTS
A gift certificate to get all the books on my Amazon list
A massage
A new winter coat
A DOONEY or COACH bag

STOCKING STUFFERS
Paul-lottery ticket, cigar, orange slices candy, a motorcycle magazine (give me any other ideas you all may have)
H and G-socks, pez, candy (any other ideas you may have)

TRADITIONS
In my family we would open a present on Christmas Eve, but Paul poo pooed that when we got married, so now we have snack tray on Christmas Eve. It is a tray with lots of cheeses, meats, veggies and cookies (all gourmet) so that you don't have to cook on Christmas Eve. I am also going to start somthing new this year. During the summer the kids and I were bored and I got some paper out and asked them each 50 questions about themselves. We had so much fun I decided to do it at Christmas time every year. So this year I am getting some Christmas paper, and a binder and I am going ot run off some questionaires to ask the kids. Fav. color, food, song, book, movie, friend, toy, event and so on. I am going to place it in a Christmas binder and do it every Christmas Eve. I know the answers will change every year and it will be fun to go over last years answers at the same time. We also have the Christmas pickle. Let me know what your traditions, maybe I will adopt some of them.

So that is my time for this evening. I will probably jump on all of your blog tomorrow and chat.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving. I just got home and spent a few minutes reading last weeks blogs. I tried to get mine done while I was in China, but everytime I would log onto a computer there it was always in Chinese. Tara I am so happy that you are going back to school to get your LPN. Who would have thought that at this stage in their lives Ray and Paul would be married to co-eds! WooHoo! Amy I am totally jealous that you got to have a special lunch with Tara for your birthday. An Melissa you may have put someone else's pictures of turkey cookies on your blog, but we all know you made some that looked just like the picture you posted.....miss fancy pants. I also know that Laurie is being quiet right now because somewhere in her kitchen is a plate of something yummy that looks fairly designerish as well, that would put all of us Oreos cookie buyers to shame. So to those of you that are making all homemade yummy desserts I say "SEND ME SOME". We are also getting ready for Thanksgiving here which is why I am blogging on Weds, not Thurs. It is only going to be us for the holiday this year so very low key, but H is helping make all the dishes. Today we are making pie and cranberry sauce. Tomorrow he will help with everything else, so here is the menu:
Turkey (plain, not fried this year)
Stuffing (the real stuff, not out of a box)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans with bacon and Spatzles
Corn Suffle
Rolls
Cranberry Sauce
Pecan Pie
I feel slightly ill thinking about the amount of food we are going to be making and comsuming, but Thanksgiving only comes once a year and everyone wants their favorite dishes, so here we go.

China was fab! I had a wonderful time. Travelling with my Mom was wonderful. We took a great tour of Hong Kong on the second day we were there, did a lot of shopping, spent a bounch of time with my friend Leah from Paris, ate great food, and loved the city! Shanghi was a completely different kind of city. It was much more gritty. The people there didn't speak English for the most part. I did take a city tour and spent some time wandering about on my own. Mom was working in Shanghi, so I spent most of my touring time there on my own. One day I went into an older part of the city, that was a real neighborhood and ended up in a real, Chinese grocery store. It was two stories tall and had the craziest stuff in it. Melissa you would have loved all the crazy things in it. I ended up getting a few things to bring back for the kids to take to school and sample with the other kids. I have some really fun pictures that I will load later in the week. I am still struggling with sleep issues. I got back very late in the evening and had trouble falling asleep because it was morning in China, and H is sick with a cough, so that last 36 hours have been a bit rough. I think the folks at the local Starbucks must think I am a professional coffee runner for an office building with the amount of trips I have been making there. Everyone will be pleased to know that you can get Starbucks on almost every coner in China! They are very name concious over there and they love American brands. Starbuck's, McDonald's, KFC, Coldstone, Coach, you name it they have it! While I was walking around I ended up in the museum of Science and Technology in Shanghi. It was full of Chinese school kids and Chinese military guys. I was the olny western person in the museum, and all the kids kept asking if they could take their picture with me. I felt like Paris Hilton! WEIRD! So, next week I will post some pictures. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

What I am Giving Thanks For:
My Husband
My Kids
My Family
you all knew those would top any list!
Having friends that stand the test of time. I know I could go on about how much I care for all of you and what you all mean to me, but I know you get it, and I don't have to say it out loud. I trust you all, I love you all, and I miss you all!
My pretty new house.
A good school, for me and the kids.
A fireplace
SNOW

What I will give thanks for that everyone would think is silly
Long fingernails that are all the same length.
A perfect white V-Neck shirt I found on sale and got two of in my size!
Cheetos while watching Survivor
TiVo
Knowing I will totally get my Mom with the Duck.
Pecan Pie
Starbucks
Shopping close by

Enjoy Turkey Day!

Sorry No Pictures.

I was all about going out and photographing all of my favorite places here in MI, but I never got around to it this week. I was very intent on getting all the laundry done and making sure there was food in the house before I go off on my fantasy vacation without the family. A few people pointed out that Paul is more than capable of doing all these chores himself and I shouldn't bother, but this way I have way less guilt about splitting. Besides, if it was just Paul I would give a quick wave over my shoulder as I was on the way out the door, but the babies are so used to the Mom way, that I want to make sure they are well taken care of. They have never been without me. The max was two nights and three days when I would go for a girl's weekend in Washington, so why make them suffer. We had a bit of snow here last weekend, and when I say snow I mean a sleet/rain/flake mix that never stuck and the kids didn't get to play in. I guess it usually doesn't really snow here until December. My big hip-hip-hooray moment came this weekend when I finally found snow pants for H. He has those darn short little legs, but is a husky boy, so I tried two different pair at Target, one at Meijer, one at Wal-Mart and was getting ready to go to Land's End online when I found them at Sears. If I was in OR I would have been hosed and would have just gotten them online to start.

Laurie- Very nice story about W's Veteran's day. I think scouting is a really great thing to do with a boy. I wish H would have been a bit more interested in it, but alas he is not. He did get two medals in his swim meet two weeks ago....are those kind of like patches? Let's pretend they are!

Tara-Where are you in Gilmore Girls? Has anyone else watched Gilmore Girls? What part are you watching now? I took a break for a bit to catch up on Grey's and Desperate Housewives, which by the way is really good this season. Last season wasn't so exciting, but this is nice.

Did you all watch the season finale of Army wives yet?

I have all of your addresses and will send postcards any such from China. I hope I will be able to blog from there next week. The hotel should have a business center, so I will include pictures if I can and let you know how it is going.

I am not sure why I find it so hard to get pictures up on the screen. I am pretty good with other things, but the picture/blog thing I need help with. I guess that is why I usually stay away from computers. Here are the Halloween pictures I promised to show off. If any of you tell Paul I posted his picture I will surely find a way to make you suffer! It is Fall here in a big way. We only have two really big Oak trees on our property, but we have a bunch next door on the vacant land and they are all dropping leaves in our yard, so we have a tidal wave of leaves. The one really weird thing about living in this town is that they do not have a dump here, so there is no place to take yard waste, and there is no burning allowed, so the only option is to bag them and put them out with your garbage. Do any of you know how long that process takes? Well I can tell you Paul and the kids have been hard at work on it for weeks now. I pull the "I birthed your babies, you take care of the yard" card when it comes up that I should help. Halloween was lots of fun here. The school parties went very well. Paul came and helped out in G's classroom with her party. He ran the beanbag toss and seemed to be having a great time. He will be going in and filling my reading time slot with her class while I am in China which is nice. I am so glad we are off the boat so he can do things like that. The best part of Halloween night was when I got duped! I had three boys show up at the door. I tell all the older kids that come to the door that if they don't say "Trick-or-Treat" I will not give them candy, and if they are not in a costume I tell them that next year "no costume/no candy" well, we give out full sized candy bars and these three boys were very impressed with that, so unknown to me they took the candy, went out to the yard, stripped their costumes off and came back up to get another bar. Paul happened to be walking up the driveway and watched them do it.

I am very excited that elections are over and the political commercials are off my TV. Don't get me wrong, I followed the elections like a crazy person, but I gave up way to much of my TV viewing time to the elections, and I hate the commercials. I won't share who I voted for, that is the joy of being an American and having the right to privacy at the polls, but either way what an exciting time in America to have a woman and an African American running. The kids at H and G's school held elections. They all got a ballot and went to a voting box and got a sticker that said they voted. It was very exciting for them.

Paul and I didn't do much for our anniversary because of our obligations at the school, so we are going out this weekend to celebrate. I finally have a nice babysitter. She works at the counter at the pharmacy here in town. It is a small pharmacy that has a really old fashioned soda fountain in it. This summer the kids and I would go and have a pop or an ice cream and we started to get to know McKenzie. She is 17, in high school and has been babysitting for years. Over the summer she watched 4 kids every morning from 6:30 to 12:30. If a girl is willing to get up early all summer long in oreder to make money she is the girl for me. She also provided references from me. I know I am a stick in the mud when it comes to leaving my kids. The other big news is that I have an emergency contact for the kids now. I have been spending time with the woman that is the playground monitor at the kids school. She lives a few houses down from us and I adore her. She only wotks in the mornings and she said she would be the contact. With me going to China I was terrified that something would happen and there would be no one to call if Paul got held up at work or something.

Tara- Where are you in Gilmore Girls? I just hit the end of the first season! Are you there yet?

Amy- So glad elections were on Tuesday and not Thursday. I don't think I could give up Survivor. I have seen the commercials and a merge is coming this week! But, I think there is a twist!

Melissa-I have Twighlight in my pile of books to take to read on the plane, so don't give anything up! Are you enjoying being in town? Have you become best friends with the Starbuck's counter person?

Michelle-I need your address, could you please email it to me?

ACTUALLY- I NEED ALL OF YOUR ADDRESSES, PLEASE EMAIL THEM TO ME!

Happy Thursday ladies. I miss all of you and will be thinking of you as I am a tourist in a far away land with lots of Chinese made products for the American market sold very cheaply. If I have an address I can send gifties! I will try and post before I leave next week. If not maybe on late on Thursday when I am in san Francisco, so just keep looking.

Happy Halloween!

I know this is a very late posting from me, but I have been busy. This morning was my usual day to help in G's classroom, so it being the anniversary, Paul came with me and helped out as well. He took today and tomorrow off from his grueling schedule so he could have some fun. (I am poking fun at Paul right now because he hardly ever works) After help time we went home for some anniversary fun and than out to lunch at a very nice place on the water. We did stop at Wal-Mart on the way home to get Paul a costume for the Halloween Party at school. G could not understand why a 40 year old man would not want to dress up for Halloween, so Paul bought a costume so he could suprise G at school. He is wearing a Sombraro and a Poncho with a painted on mustache. Very funny, and of course I will post pictures. We really didn't plan much for our anniversary. We don't have a babysitter yet so we are out of luck in going out tonight. I guess we could just throw what we are saving on not going out into the 20th anniversary fund, because we are going to England and Ireland for two weeks when we hit 20 years.....of course, KID FREE! I have had an exciting week. I met with my academic advisor and registered for my classes. I start January 5th. I will take three classes during the winter term, two in summer, three in fall, and two next winter and I will be finished with a BA in Language Arts. I start the Master's portion in the spring after I get my BA. I am thrilled this is all working out according to plan. Paul is now finished with his classes and is a certified home inspector. He is going to hang his shingle out soon and see what kind of business he can get started here. I do think we will end up in the Pacific Northwest. I don't have much time for anything else because we have to get to the school, but look back later and I will try and get some Halloween pictures up.....I know you all want to see Paul's costume!

Melissa and Amy-I am totally jealous that you two get to visit!
Tara- I don't know why you could not leave a message, I haven't blocked you!
Laurie-I hope H is doing fine.
Michelle-I love the comment about not telling the kids until right before you have to leave. I agree candy is a powerful motivator.

We are having ? for dinner tonight, Papa Murphy's tomorrow (love the pumpkin shaped pizzas) and lean cousine for me over the weekend while the kids eat whatever I can make for them and not feel tempted by.

I have not added any new songs onto the IPOD for a while, as I left it in the car turned on and now the battery is dead and I never remember to take it out of the car to recharge, but when I do I am adding the new Sugarland song, the new Taylor Swift song and I think some vintage Bon Jovi!

Hello Thursday!

Good Morning Everyone. I am back from the school and ready to read and write. I needed the crash course at school this morning dontcha know. OK, so now I need to put on my thinking cap and figure out what happened this week to tell all of you. Paul is playing referee at a Coast Guard football game today, so you all know he is hard at work. H is getting ready for his first swim meet here on November 1st. G just finished her first gymnastics class and is starting her next one next week. She is suprisingly good at gymnastics. Paul really likes going and watching the kids do all this stuff because he missed so much, which is nice because it means I am not sitting there all by myself, but it also means that I am not really meeting all the other Moms during class because Paul is with me. Do you think he would mind if I asked him to sit on the other side of the bench? Just until I make some friends? I am really enjoying helping in the school Library. I like the librarians and they love having the extra help. I think if another part-time job came up as a media specialist at the school, I would probably be in line for it now. I have an appointment with my academic advisor on Monday to decide what is the best course of action for me to get through school in a timely mannor. I keep teasing Paul that he is now married to a co-ed. We are getting ready to celebrate our 10 year anniversary next Thursday, but we are not going out that night because we don't have a babysitter here yet. So we are going out for a nice lunch and a drive and maybe something else that I will not share with all of you. I finally found my travelling outfit. Melissa I know you will appreciate me wanting to have a nice new outfit to wear on the plane. It is a 15 hour flight and I don't want to wear jeans, so I have been hunting for the right outfit. Comfortable and stylish. I found it at Wal-Mart of all places and took it for a test drive today. Two different teachers said how cute it was, so I guess this is it. Maybe I will post a picture of it so you all can see. Not much else going on around here. It has been a pretty quiet week here. Oh, I almost fogot to tell you about the golf ball. Paul has been taking H golfing a few times a week and they have been having a great time, well yesterday Paul took along a few trick golf balls he got for his last birthday and put one on H's tee. When H hit the ball it blew up in a cloud of smoke. H almost wet his pants. It was so funny. Take care and I will see you all next week.

Not my post

This is not the Thursday blog......I am helping in the school today and will be home around 10:30 to write my blog. Be back soon!

Moments

We all recently made a list of our five favorite things, and I really enjoyed reading about what you all love. I was driving to Costco (shout out to Melissa) and the local radio station here does something everyday at Noon that always makes me proud to be an American. They stop the music everyday at Noon and ask everyone to take a moment to be proud of our service members, to remember the folks that make this country what it is and than they play the National Anthem. Everyday at Noon! So, this is the challenge, write moments that you loved, that help define you, that motivated you, five moments that are unexpected, just five moments.

1. Noon-everyday!
2. talking to Kathy for the very first time.
3. H calling me ya-ya instead of mama
4. camping with my girlfriends and kids every year
5. Thursdays!

Good Morning Everyone! I keep trying to get the hang of the picture adding thing, but alas I am too computer stupid to get it right. At least I got a blog going! What a week it has been at my house. As you all know my Mom was here for a visit, and most of you know what a stress inducing event that is. It was even more stressful this time because she has never been here before and I had to convince her that Michigan was better than Astoria even though it was further away. I also know that she holds the benchmark for all nice houses with my brother's house in California, so I was hopeful she would like mine. His house is very contemporary and mine, although newer, is a bit more country. Well she loved it! and she loved where we are living. She was so impressed with how clean and well taken care of the whole town is. She loved all the great places to go and the fun things to do here. I am not sure how many more times she will visit, but at least she made it here once and liked it. We took her to the pumpkin patch (thought of you Melissa and than saw your pics and knew we were on the same wave length) and got lots and lots of pumpkins. We tooke her out for a nice birthday dinner and to the local museum. She had so much fun and the kids loved having her here. We baked her a homemade birthday cake that I know was better than anything she would have had in CA, and had a nice little present party. I think my favorite gift for her was the Electronic Fish Tank that H picked out. It goes around and around in circles, but has no real fish in it. Mom thought it was great.

I did not give her the "Duck", and yes I do have it! I know some of you don't know what the duck is. In 1993 when I moved back to the States and I was living with my Mom she kept putting a little wooden duck in my bathroom and bedroom, and I kept giving it back to her by placing it in her bedroom or bathroom. When I moved out she put the duck in the Christmas decorations I took with me, so I didn't find it for a few months. I gave it to her for her birthday filled with ice cream. So for 15 years we have traded the duck back and forth. We can never give it the way we got it and we can never do the same thing twice. I have it, she gave it to me for Valentines day by sending it to Astoria Florist and they added it to a vase of flowers. I knew she would expect me to give it to her on her birthday so I decided to wait. I am going to give it to her on the cruise in December, actually, the Captain of the ship is going to give it to her at dinner one night.

In other news....H is on the swim team here. Tryouts were last weeks, and he really liked it and so we signed him up. G is still in lessons. I finally thought enough is enough, I could fund a college education on what I spent on swimming lessons, so I enrolled her in private lessons, and now she is swimming like a fish! School is going great. H is in the middle of MEAPS, which is the state testing for third through fifth grade. He is having no problem with it. I think he isn't stressing because he doesn't really know what it is. I just got back from the school which is why this is posted so late in the day for me. I was helping in G's class and in the Library. I am going to start helping in the Library once a week. I had the best time in there today and finally feel like I found my place. I loved every minute of helping there and can't wait to go back. The Librarians where wonderful and we had a rockin' good time together. G's teacher also asked me to be in charge of the Halloween party which sent me over the moon (I may have to buy a lotery ticket if this day gets much better). They have a big Halloween parade and a party afterwards. It is on our 10 year wedding anniversary, but hey it's a Halloween party with a bunch of little kids!

Paul and I got a very nice check from my Mom for our big anniversary, so we decided to splurge and bought a golf club membership. We have been golfing almost everyday this week. It is a two person membership, so I can go with Paul or one of the kids can go with him. H has turned out to be a better golfer than me, so he usually goes with Paul. Well the DH is home from his strenious day at work....NOT...and now I think I will trick him into taking me out for lunch. I hope you all have a nice week.

ooooohhhhhh before I forget

Tara-where are you in Gilmore Girls? The rest of you should all start watching this series, it is fab!

Amy- I can't believe they didn't vote out Sugar! and, I am bummed the geeks were philiminated.

Laurie-I am so happy for Dave that he got a job, and I am even happier for you that you get your computer back!

Michelle-I miss you!

Melissa-I am so happy that you are getting a super Target. I wish I had one, but at least I have a regular Target and a Starbuck's and a Wal-mart.

Good Night/Good Morning!

I am just about to go to bed, but thought I would say good morning first. Tomorrow morning I am heading into Grand Rapids to pck my Mom up from the airport. It is her first visit to Grand Haven and i am pretty excited to be showing off my new house and our new town. The kids are off school for the next few days and p took some time off work. We have some fun things picked out to do with her. Tomorrow we are going to show her around GH and take her to the downtown shopping area and the heritage museum and the water front. On Friday we are going to the pumpkin patc and for a hayride. Friday night we are taking her for her B-Day dinner at a nice place on the water. I spent most of today cleaning the house and threatening the children pure torture if they mess it up after I cleaned it. One nice thing that happened today was going to the florist for free flowers. When we frst got here we got a package from the welcome wagon...not kidding, really the welcome wagon, and there was a gift certificate for a dozen free roses from the florist. I thought maybe some nice cheap roses, but I got a beautiful vase of amazing yellow roses with orange/red tips. I have them in the guest bathroom for my mom. I put lillies in the kitchen and living room. In other news, I threw my back out earler this week. What a drag. It was kind of nice that P and the kids catered to me for a few days, it was pretty painful and i don't relish doing that again. I have been trying to double up my workouots and I think I pushed it too far. The bummer about all of it is that I haven't lost a single pound in ages.

Dinner-well tomorrow it is crock pot pot roast, than dinner out, dinner out, tacos, spaghetti, roast chicken and thats as far as I have planned.

Music-I haven't downloaded anything new, ut I did watch the new Alicia Keys/Jack White video. It was very weird. I never did understand what Rene Zellwager saw in him.

TV- Dancing was great this week, but I really wish they would get rid of Cloris Leechman and let someone that is really trying hard to continue on.
Amazing Race was great! I wish that the frat boys had come in first, not Tina (she did NOT get the airline to change planes for her).
Survivor-Bad move to get rid of Paloma and not Sugar, but cleary lack of food is effecting them. I hear from the blogs that a pretty big romance happens on Survivor this season.
Grey's-the new doctor is kind of hot in a weird way. I am loving t this season.
Army Wives-I finally caught up! Last week was pretty week, but this week looks so good!
I still haven't watched Desperate housewives this week.

Kids-G is loving her gymnastics and H tried out for swim team and wll be doing that this winter. Both kids want to try out for ski team as well, however they would first need to learn to ski!

I hope all of you have a wonderful week. I miss all of you so much and wish we could all go for coffee at coffee girl or the "pig".

My Favorite Five

OK M, here are my favorite five things RIGHT NOW, subject to change. The number one spot belongs to my new fireplace. I have yet to use it, but just knowing it is there to give me heat and something pretty to look at in the cold winter months brings me great joy. Above the fireplace is my "Near Bend" painting. It was painted by a local artist in Astoria and purchased at the Star of the Sea auction. The artist emailed me all the details to print out and place on the back of the painting, so now I feel very grown up!

Next on my list of favs.....my closet office. When we moved into the house I didn't want the computer in the family room because it is too small to have lots of furniture in it. I also did not want it in "my" pacific northwest room because it is too pretty to have paperwork in it, and it had to be somewhere we could see the kids on it, so I had Paul take out the hall closet in the entry area and make an office in the closet for me.

Third.....My dining room table! I went looking for a nice breakfast room table because I had a nice enough dining room table, and found this table at Art Van. It was in the clearence center. It is solid oak with two leaves that are on gears, so it is easy to add them. It was original price $1399 in clearence for $299, I asked if they would take less....I got it for $269 with two extra chairs thrown in. My mother would be so proud!

Fourth....My last bottle of Two Buck Chuck! Need I say more?

Last but not Least.....My new Pottery Barn Halloween calendar. It has little pockets so I can put candy in it for the kiddies during the month counting down to Halloween!

Not Thursday, and no coffee!

Hello Ladies:
I realize it is not Thursday as I am writing this, but I am helping in G's classroom tomorrow morning and thought you may all wonder if I didn't have my blog up first thing, so I am writing it tonight. Not a very busy week in my house. Tara called me this morning and asked what I was up too and I had to sheepishly admit I was catching up on my Army Wives. I had already watched two episodes when she called and watched a third after we hung up. I have fallen very behind and now must catch up. I am at the point where Roxy just got her GED and Pamela has a stalker. I am also still watching Gilmore Girls on DVD, along with Tara, we didn't plan on watching the same thing at the same time, just kind of happened that way. We are also on the same disc and episode! WEIRD! I have a goal. If I lose ten pounds I can buy the next season on DVD. I have lost the first 5lbs and I am on my way. I think I have enough extra fat to get through all seven seasons. What a great show. If you haven't watched it you really should. My Mom is coming for a visit next week. The kids have three days off from school for conferences. I am not sure what is up with that, however they also don't get out for Christmas break until the 23rd. We will be sending the teachers postcards from the Carribean for Christmas as we are leaving on the 13th! So, back to Mom visiting, she arrives on Thursday morning on the redeye and is staying until Sunday. I am looking forward to her visit, however I know she thinks we are living in the sticks with a bunch of hicks and I must make her think otherwise. I am taking her to the Muskegon Museum of Art and the Grand Haven and Muskegon County Museums. They are all really nice museums and I know she will realize there is culture here after all, besides she can get her New York Times here so that makes everything better. For those of you that don't know, Mom always thought Astoria was the end of the Earth because she couldn't get a New York Times there.

Paul took me to the movies during the day this week. We went and saw Nights of Rodanthe. I know, I couldn't believe it either when he agreed to go. I don't think he will ever agree again! It was very good and all the old ladies that where there kept stopping to chat with Paul about how he was the token guy in the theater. He was so beat down I don't think I will ever get him to go with me again. So the one good thing to come off the boat is that Paul is pretty much letting me have my way with the remote control. We are both watching Dancing with the kids on Monday, Tuesday we watch The biggest Loser as a motivator, Weds-nothing, Thursday we watch Survivor and Tivo Grey's, Friday-nothing yet, but I have plans for the new one with the Grey's girl, the Ex-List, Sunday we are watching Amazing race and Desperate Housewives.

Amy We need to start having a weekly phone call about Survivor and Amazing Race!

Everyone- I need some yummy low cal chicken dishes that don't take time to make.

I am very excited that we found a really good doctor and dentist. I got a recommendation from a girl at the YMCA for a doctor and ended up needing one for G (sinus infection) and we both really liked the guy and his staff. It took me three years before I found a great doctor in Astoria, so I was rather pleased it didn't take too long here. G had to have a tooth pulled last week. Her two bottom teeth would not fall out and her big teeth were already in place behind the baby ones, so out they came. Wouldn't you know it that one fell out the night before the appointment! The dentist uttered the words that every parent dreads hearing......BRACES! He thinks G may need them in a few years due to the crowding in her mouth.

So, what is everyone going to be for Halloween? G is a fifties girl, poodle skirt and everything, H is going to be a Clone something or other from Star Wars, I am going to be a cat, and Paul is going to be Mr. Cranky and not dress up! What a goober!

The leaves are falling here and it looks very pretty. I love having a real fall and cannot wait for the snow start falling. In one day it went from summer to fall and I think it will be the same with winter. It doesn't look very nice here when all the trees are naked, but with the snow it should still be nice. All reports say that this winter is going to be worse than last years and last year it was pretty bad. Global warming may be a bad thing for us this year.

I will check all the blogs when I get back from school. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thursday!

Pictures

scroll down to see pictures!

Cyber Dork, not Cyber Geek!

Ok Ladies, I have tried to shrink the pictures down to the cute little corner pictures you all have running on the side bar of your sites and I haven't a clue how to do it, so if any of you would like to enlighten me on how, please do so! The very exciting news in our house is that G finally lost her first tooth! It happened last night during tuck in. Dad had her wriggle it sideways to show him and it popped right out. Of course this is because we have and appointment today to get it pulled. G has both of her bottom teeth fully grown in behind her baby teeth. I know they will pull the other one today when we go. I also know that it will result in a trip to the toy store.

In other news, Melissa (we have to be able to use adult first names don't you think?) Grace is going to have to be a Daisy Girl all over again here, and they don't have anyone to be the troop leader so the poor little girls at G's school won't get to be Daisies.......oh, wait, that's right they now have me, the sucker, the person that cannot say no, the woman that will do it all, so get ready to share all of your cute ideas with me, because I am going to need them!

H is playing golf twice a week and will start swim team here in October. He is very cool and I am now a total dork. Why didn't you warn me Amy that it starts so early? Both kids are signed up for Spanish here at school. It is not part of the school day, but they have a spanish teacher that offers classes at the school in the morning before school starts, and I figure that if H and G have been taking the classes for a few years already they should keep it up. Maybe they will actually learn another language unlike me.

I am still running on the treadmill, but with Halloween AND Thanksgiving AND Christmas coming it really seems like a moot point. I can't stay away from all the yummy candy and it is only September!

I am now all spun up about Christmas. I have all my shopping done except for Paul and H and G. any ideas?

Is anyone else watching Dancing? I cannot believe they did not get rid of Cloris Leachman. She is so very icky and Paul and I think she must be on muscle relaxers because she seems stoned. I am so excited about Grey's and Survivor tonight. We are watching Survivor and TiVo'ing Grey's. I know what I will be doing while the kiddies are in school tomorrow. They aren't in school today, teacher inservice day, so I am taking them to this indoor athletic club that has a climbing wall. All ages are allowed to do it. They hook you up to a harness and everything, so it is safe. I am psyched!

New song on the IPOD....I loaded "Johnny and June" by the girl from Trick Pony

Dinner......beef stir fry with the leftover steak from last night.

OK, so no Christmas cookie exchange, BOO HOO on the Oreo Balls, however, maybe we should do a secret (ok, you and I know it isn't really going to be a secret) Santa. We could go in a big circle. You gift to whoever is clockwise or counterclockwise to you. We could set limits to what we spend, or white elephant, or themed (like an ornament exchange), it could be fun.

I will probably update the blog throughout the day as your letters all start coming in, or I may comment on yours. So, if you are like me and check your emails all day, you should check your blog all day.

Ok you got me!

Well, I got the email from Melissa as you can all see. I thought I could give it a try. I don't know if I will ever be able to figure out how to do this again, or even if I am going to be able to get this sent out to all of you, but it is worth a shot. Paul is upstairs napping, the kids are in school and I just nuked a cup of coffee, so I am all about wasting time on the computer instead of doing the laundry....I know you are being with pride right now Melissa. I am also going to try and post a few pictures here, so wish me luck! One of the pictures is of the 17 turkeys that have taken up residence in our backyard, that the kids now think our our pets. G even took a picture of them to school for show and tell. I know you all think i should break down and get them a real pet, so i will tell you now that I did, and they love their pet rocks....so there! The other few pictures are of the kids on their way to school. In all of my great mother ways I completely forgot to take their picture on the first day of school, so I thought it would be more memorable if we took it on the second Tuesday after school started. OK Melissa, let's see if this works. oh, by the way, can we use our names and our hubbies names?