So incase you were worried, I'm off crutches now.
We took the kids to see Cars2 in the movies yesterday. I think they liked it. We didn't do the 3D one and we went to the bargain showing. Not that $6/ticket IS a bargain, but it's relative.
Joey's been to yet another birthday party. And he had a friend over last week for the entire day. Our beach day, infact.
We made our yearly pilgrimage to Ikea and now have curtain rods for the kitchen and matching bedspreads for the kids' beds. They have lovely handmade quilts they still use, but for the sake of protecting them, they now have cheap Ikea bedspreads to keep over them. Luckily they all missed the great silly putty disaster, but several of their other blankets are now permanently stained with neon orange silly putty. And silly putty was added to the "do not fly list" here. Actually it WAS on the "do not buy list" but or our last west -east coast trip I got it for their backpacks to keep them entertained on the plane, thinking (oh, how horrible to admit this..) "what do I care if they get silly putty all over the place on the plane?"
ok. in my defense, I thought it was a better alternative to playdough. In retrospect I realize playdough is water soluble and will wash. Silly putty is not and will not.
Anyway.....
This past week we've been to the beach. And one of the annoying features of So Cal early summer/spring is this thing called "may gray and june gloom" pretty much it means a cold cloud overs over the coast. The coast meaning the beach. We live inland and not on the top of a hill that we can see the cloud cover until we get close to the beach.. so we packed up the truck full of beach related junk breaking into a serious sweat in 80 degrees only to get to the beach and find it grey, cold and 66 degrees.
I wish we had access to a pool. Specifially, access to one in a neighbor's yard. I have a neighbor in mind. He hasn't volunteered his pool and the prospects of that are pretty slim. however... he is 4 weeks into trying to re-model his bathroom and at this point I think if I offer Larry's expertise and help I might be able to get a 3 visit pass to his pool.
Anyway.. I signed the kids up for swim lessons at the Ymca. I really really hope they learn to swim this time. I think it should come with a "money back guarantee" After 2 years at the base pool lessons with the kids learning nothing, I think it *might* be a better investment. They had Ymca lessons last year through their school, which for 6 lessons, or however few it was the kids learned more than they did in 2 years at the other pool. And this time I can sign all 4 of them up. Previously Kayla and JM weren't old enough for the kids without mom lessons and no pool lets you take more than 1 kids in at a time. This year they have lessons for kids as young as 4. figures.
Anyway... the plans for this week involve going back to the county fair tomorrow, the children's discover museum and possibly a pool. The museum is free for active duty military members this summer, so of course we're going to check it out. There are 3 museums here we're going to try to go to this summer in that program. There are some perks to being in the military. Aside from not choosing where you live the chance your loved one gets sent to war, and the crappy medical system, the benefits aren't so bad. At least we're in the Navy. I have an Air Force friend who was just moved to Minot ND. Of all the places I joke I don't want to live, that's consistently in the top 2. And I'm not really joking. I'm pretty serious. I don't want to move to Minot. ever.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Summer!
Ok. Despite what ever the calendar says, it's summer here. Granted, pretty much all seasons are the same here. June isn't the hottest month of the year, infact it's usually one of the cooler ones.
So with summer being here, I have the kids with me all the time. And we've been to the county fair. And we've planned a pool trip but it was just too cold to go, so we've been to 2 parks.
This weekend Larry planned a trip to the mountains to pan for gold. Just like the old stories of Californians. You see... they didn't get ALL the gold out of CA in the 1800's. There is still some here. And if you join one of the prospecting (yes. Prospecting) clubs you can use their claims and go hunting for gold.
One of the closer sites for gold was in the mountains about 1.5 hours from here, so we drove up for a day trip, followed the directions and turned off the paved road and found the claim site. Since it's in a national forest, we shared the road with others there for picnics and hiking and even a prius made it down the 1 horse rutted road. Speaking of cars... the truck smells like fast food now that the concentration of bio diesel is higher. The exhast smells like french fries. Not great french fries- the french fries you'd get in a pinch off a truck.
So that you can live vicariously through us.. here is evidence of our trip
The highlight of the trip was playing in the creek. You have to understand that real clear, running water that doesn't come from a tap or spigot is pretty unusual here in our daily lives. And this water almost looked like you could drink it. In fact.. the town does drink it. At the bottom of the mountain is the water treatment on the side of the river.
The lowlight of the trip was my sliding down a rock, getting my foot wedged between 2 rocks and falling. Into the river. The wet wasn't so much the compaint as much as the foot pain was. Anyway.. we went to the emergency room for crutches and an xray yesterday. The PA who breezed by the room said the xray was normal. So I assume it is until Larry looks at it today or if a real radiologist reads it. Anyway... it's less painful to hobble around with crutches. But it's putting a damper on my plans to take the kids to the beach or fair this week. It is slowly improving, so maybe I'll be back to my injury prone self shortly.
So with summer being here, I have the kids with me all the time. And we've been to the county fair. And we've planned a pool trip but it was just too cold to go, so we've been to 2 parks.
One of the closer sites for gold was in the mountains about 1.5 hours from here, so we drove up for a day trip, followed the directions and turned off the paved road and found the claim site. Since it's in a national forest, we shared the road with others there for picnics and hiking and even a prius made it down the 1 horse rutted road. Speaking of cars... the truck smells like fast food now that the concentration of bio diesel is higher. The exhast smells like french fries. Not great french fries- the french fries you'd get in a pinch off a truck.
So that you can live vicariously through us.. here is evidence of our trip
The highlight of the trip was playing in the creek. You have to understand that real clear, running water that doesn't come from a tap or spigot is pretty unusual here in our daily lives. And this water almost looked like you could drink it. In fact.. the town does drink it. At the bottom of the mountain is the water treatment on the side of the river.
The lowlight of the trip was my sliding down a rock, getting my foot wedged between 2 rocks and falling. Into the river. The wet wasn't so much the compaint as much as the foot pain was. Anyway.. we went to the emergency room for crutches and an xray yesterday. The PA who breezed by the room said the xray was normal. So I assume it is until Larry looks at it today or if a real radiologist reads it. Anyway... it's less painful to hobble around with crutches. But it's putting a damper on my plans to take the kids to the beach or fair this week. It is slowly improving, so maybe I'll be back to my injury prone self shortly.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Pineapple growing update
Remember the pineapple I started rooting here?
Anyway.. this is what it looks like now (Sorry the formatting is all off. I'd fix it but my brain is already working overtime)It's been in water. I had tried moving it to dirt the week after I blogged about it and can safely report the pineapple did.not. appreciate it and tried to die on me. Larry actually had said "time of death 6:35" in his hint that it was dying but I refused to listen.
I moved it back to water and it's pretty much recovered. The leaves that didn't rot in the water are growing and the new leaves are growing up from the center.
The one in the mug was started a week or two later, The bottom is less rotted looking.
 |
| the original plant |
Eventually the stalk will grow up and the pineapple will grow on top of it. Like this
I have not successfully done this, but google image search shows me this should be my final result.
In other non-growing news...
Sonia's Geology rocks! Play was tonight. I guess ferns do speak. (Sonia was a fern) Not only did they speak, they also sang and danced and kidnapped "Professor Rock". Oh.. it was a musical. I have movie of that, too, the quality is kinda iffy but if I can find the patience to try to upload it, it'll appear here. As it is, I'm typing and then once I'm done that part, I'll try to find my camera for the pineapple and play pictures and upload them. Or I'll just leave the computer, let it turn itself off in 5 minutes and get distracted by something else that is more pressing.
I love my "new" car. Love it. Actually I love driving something normal sized- not a big truck, not a minivan. And I love 40-something mpg. I've spent the better part of what felt like eternity getting all the paperwork done on it, but as of today, it's fully registered to us and I have the stickers to get onto base with it.
And that was surprising. When we first got here, to get on base I had to pull over, go to pass and ID office there with registration, insurance and ID and get a temp pass. It was also that way for a few Navy bases I'd been to. Here, I just showed them my ID and they waved me in.
And I was thinking "welll..... WHY bother sitting through this line for 2 hrs to get stickers for the car if that's all I need to do to get on base...???" except one of the gates I tend to go through to get onto base requires that you have said stickers, so I waited to get them. And Larry had been flagged that Kayla didn't have a valid social security number in the system which I guess meant that she didn't officially exist or have medical benefits (?) so after ignoring them twice I needed to go and get that card to them. It's the same waiting room. I had 2 deli tickets- one for the stickers for for Kayla's information update. Deli ticket 1 was called during the second "family Feud" we got to watch waiting. The second deli ticket was during the final round of the second family feud. Oh. and we also got to watch the mid-day news. After spending an hour at the DMV office at the AAA office.
Speaking of.. did you know you can go to a AAA office in lieu of going to the actual DMV? Handy information to have. Yesterday's trip to the DMV at AAA took me 30 minutes total to find out that I filled out a form wrong and needed Larry's license number and him to re-sign 2 places.. so today I went there in high hopes of a short visit and it was.....
not short.
But relatively it was substantially less time than I've spend at DMVs. So it's valuable information to know it's an option.
Anyway...
In homefront news, we were visited by the stomach bug this weekend. I still haven't dug myself out from the laundry back log that doing that much rag and blanket laundry can create. And my rugs are clean. Now. Nothing like a child vomiting all over the bathroom floor, coming out to tell you they missed the toilet and proceeds to erupt over the hallway carpet.
In other news I'm going in for a re-check after my Lasik tomorrow. As much as I do.not. not.not. want to go through that again, I have a sinking feeling that my vision either needs to be "touched up" or I need glasses again. Larry promised I will be better drugged this next time. I deleted the post on my fun Lasik experience when all those odd dots were showing up on my map. Not that it's really personal, but I just wasn't sure how many people and more specifically who might be reading about my trying to drive after it. Although my fender scratching accident was the week before the Lasik.. I just don't need evidence "out there", I guess. I still run into psycho chick, metaphorically speaking, although I still avoid her like botulism. She still has "angry gangster girl" body language so it's not like she's making friends with anyone else at school. She brought gangster boyfriend to the school music performance earlier this week. (oh, yeah, did I mention tonight's production was the 4th this week?)
So.. before I turn into a pumpkin let me go find my camera and camera cord and get some pictures up here.....
Ugh. Learning new tricks over here at the pound. This old dog can't get my video to upload here, so we're learning about uploading to youtube. If it goes correctly you'll have video. If not, you'll just have to take my word that Sonia was in a play. (oh, yeah.. don't mind the little big o propaganda in it. At least there wasn't mention of global warming and carbon footprints. Probably one of the reasons I'm so hostile to the concepts is that they're preached like religion here. Of course we live in densely populated smog, so it feels more of a real life issue than, say.. somewhere like, uh, Kansas. If only the smog that comes up from TJ could understand that CA doesn't want pollution. but...NO.. we send our cars deemed too dirty to drive here in CA to Mexico and then they freely come back over the border with their smog and then the warm breeze brings the rest of it up. Don't worry, I'm sure once we close the borders to people and drugs crossing illegally we'll figure a way to keep the smog and air pollution from crossing also)
So.... now.... we have video. I can still learn new tricks.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
In case you're not on facebook much
And you missed the goodbye picture of the van...
We sold the van.
It was a bittersweet moment. I realized that I'd been driving that van since the twins were 1. Actually we bought it shortly after our trip to UNE for Larry's medical school interview with twins and couldn't fit pack n play and stroller and suitcase in the subaru trunk. Actually Pack and play and suitcase a 2 umbrella strollers maxed it out.
I also miss the Subaru. I'm a nostalgic sort of person.. but if you're ever looking for a vehicle that can travel through snow well.. go get yourself a Subaru. We got the Subaru to replace my Civic which I spun out on my way to work driving a straight line. Aside from that I miss my Civic, too. It's an illness of the mental variety, I think, this sick nostalgia thing.
Anyway... the transmission has been increasingly unhappy in the van. When my parents were here my dad drove it and wasn't impressed. I think he said I was going to kill myself. (uh, no. But it clunked and lurched at inopportune times) We had it flushed and it was working smoothlessly for a few months. But then the clunking and lurching returned with renewed strength and then the newest engine knock developed and suddenly the grass was greener anywhere else car-wise.
But we didn't want to sell it to some poor soul who then would have to replace the transmission in 1-600 days from now. I guess the transmission *could* continue to thunk along for a while. But we didn't really want to find out how long it would because then it would cost us money to get it towed and out of our lives. Since we could motor it to CarMax under it's own power, they were willing to give us money for it. Not what we could have theoretically gotten trading it in on a new car or selling to a private person, but we weren't in the market for a new car and our conscience is clear about selling it to the poor person who would buy it.
So.. we'd been playing with the thought of a TDI. The problem with a TDI is the only one that holds 6 people costs $50K and it's a brand new model, so it's not like you're going to find it used for a good 3 years and even then a 3 year old $50,000 car isn't generally in our budget.
So we're going to get a TDI that seats 5. And commit to using the truck if we all are going somewhere. Sonia's almost the size and weight of an adult. She'll get the front seat until Joey passes her.
We've found a 5 year old one on Craigslist and are going thought the somewhat lengthy and complicated process of buying a used car from a 50-something year old Hungarian woman via her 20-something year old son who alternates persona's between tough-guy and scared little boy. His selling point was "it's been only been driven my moms - my mom drove it, before her a mom drove it"
I laughed til I peed myself internally. (mentally, my pants stayed dry. I think a snort escaped)
Out loud I said "uh.. *I'm* a mom.. that doesn't really mean anything" and finished the thought "HAVE YOU SEEN THE PSYCHO MOMS DRIVING THEIR KIDS AND PICKING THEM UP FROM SCHOOL?!!??!!" Anyway.. we should have it Sunday. Maybe Monday. Once I have it in hand I'll post a picture or dozen of pictures. It appears his mom hasn't driven to parent pick up at school in about 10 years, so this car will be in for the experience of it's life when it goes to parent pick up and drop off times.
You see, Mom and Dad.. in someways I'm repeating your past. Gas prices are going up and what are we doing? buying a diesel. Did you know there are still Dashers out there? used. and rather frightening to think about driving.. but there was 3 last I looked. They have 40 horse power. No wonder that thing couldn't exceed 70 unless falling off a cliff.
Of course we're a little, uh, odder than you in that I didn't want a new wagon. Don't get me wrong.. I did want one. They're really really nice. I test drove one. I *almost* was ready to buy a new car on it. new - me - practical used car girl. Contemplating a new car. almost.
BUT... you can't run biodiesel in the new ones. The last year you can successfully run bio diesel is a 2006.. so that's what we're getting. And it should get over 50 mph, have zero carbon footprint (which I still think the concept is a crock of crap but I like the thought I can be better than the self righteous people in Prius' here on their holy carbon footprint grail What's the difference between a porcupine and a prius? The pricks are on the outside of the porcupine.)
Don't get bent out of shape. I'm kidding. Mostly. I know a few nice prius drivers...
We sold the van.
It was a bittersweet moment. I realized that I'd been driving that van since the twins were 1. Actually we bought it shortly after our trip to UNE for Larry's medical school interview with twins and couldn't fit pack n play and stroller and suitcase in the subaru trunk. Actually Pack and play and suitcase a 2 umbrella strollers maxed it out.
I also miss the Subaru. I'm a nostalgic sort of person.. but if you're ever looking for a vehicle that can travel through snow well.. go get yourself a Subaru. We got the Subaru to replace my Civic which I spun out on my way to work driving a straight line. Aside from that I miss my Civic, too. It's an illness of the mental variety, I think, this sick nostalgia thing.
Anyway... the transmission has been increasingly unhappy in the van. When my parents were here my dad drove it and wasn't impressed. I think he said I was going to kill myself. (uh, no. But it clunked and lurched at inopportune times) We had it flushed and it was working smoothlessly for a few months. But then the clunking and lurching returned with renewed strength and then the newest engine knock developed and suddenly the grass was greener anywhere else car-wise.
But we didn't want to sell it to some poor soul who then would have to replace the transmission in 1-600 days from now. I guess the transmission *could* continue to thunk along for a while. But we didn't really want to find out how long it would because then it would cost us money to get it towed and out of our lives. Since we could motor it to CarMax under it's own power, they were willing to give us money for it. Not what we could have theoretically gotten trading it in on a new car or selling to a private person, but we weren't in the market for a new car and our conscience is clear about selling it to the poor person who would buy it.
So.. we'd been playing with the thought of a TDI. The problem with a TDI is the only one that holds 6 people costs $50K and it's a brand new model, so it's not like you're going to find it used for a good 3 years and even then a 3 year old $50,000 car isn't generally in our budget.
So we're going to get a TDI that seats 5. And commit to using the truck if we all are going somewhere. Sonia's almost the size and weight of an adult. She'll get the front seat until Joey passes her.
We've found a 5 year old one on Craigslist and are going thought the somewhat lengthy and complicated process of buying a used car from a 50-something year old Hungarian woman via her 20-something year old son who alternates persona's between tough-guy and scared little boy. His selling point was "it's been only been driven my moms - my mom drove it, before her a mom drove it"
I laughed til I peed myself internally. (mentally, my pants stayed dry. I think a snort escaped)
Out loud I said "uh.. *I'm* a mom.. that doesn't really mean anything" and finished the thought "HAVE YOU SEEN THE PSYCHO MOMS DRIVING THEIR KIDS AND PICKING THEM UP FROM SCHOOL?!!??!!" Anyway.. we should have it Sunday. Maybe Monday. Once I have it in hand I'll post a picture or dozen of pictures. It appears his mom hasn't driven to parent pick up at school in about 10 years, so this car will be in for the experience of it's life when it goes to parent pick up and drop off times.
You see, Mom and Dad.. in someways I'm repeating your past. Gas prices are going up and what are we doing? buying a diesel. Did you know there are still Dashers out there? used. and rather frightening to think about driving.. but there was 3 last I looked. They have 40 horse power. No wonder that thing couldn't exceed 70 unless falling off a cliff.
Of course we're a little, uh, odder than you in that I didn't want a new wagon. Don't get me wrong.. I did want one. They're really really nice. I test drove one. I *almost* was ready to buy a new car on it. new - me - practical used car girl. Contemplating a new car. almost.
BUT... you can't run biodiesel in the new ones. The last year you can successfully run bio diesel is a 2006.. so that's what we're getting. And it should get over 50 mph, have zero carbon footprint (which I still think the concept is a crock of crap but I like the thought I can be better than the self righteous people in Prius' here on their holy carbon footprint grail What's the difference between a porcupine and a prius? The pricks are on the outside of the porcupine.)
Don't get bent out of shape. I'm kidding. Mostly. I know a few nice prius drivers...
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Calmer Skies are prevailing these days
Which is a good thing? right?
My Borderline friend moved this weekend which has been an immense relief. She's back to speaking to me, but since we only see each other in passing at school now it's a huge improvement.
So.. in other news.. the Solar plan hit a few bumps. As with everything in our lives, once you get through the bumps it will work out to our benefit, but it's the getting through the bumps that is the tricky part.
We have 3 new pets:
Parmigiana, Rosie, and Nugget. They make eggs. I put a few pictures up on facebook. They're UGLY right now.
The coop feed store that has chicks has not been able to keep them instock. Alot of crazy live-off-the-land nuts are coming out of the woodwork and so we've been to the store countless times and each time they were out of everything except Guinea fowl and ducks. Now we've had Guineas before and, uh.. no. that's not a mistake I'm repeating in this lifetime.
So we got what was available that we weren't likely to kill - gown laying hens. They had gotten in 100 3 day old chicks the day we got there last, except 3 day chicks while adorable need things like heat lamps- which we're not putting in my kitchen, thank you. Having a rabbit live in my kitchen is enough weirdness for me.
Anyway.. I really liked the idea of having chickens.
However in practice I heard how much better fresh out of the chicken eggs were from store bought eggs. And I thought "great. I don't really like eggs, must be because they're from the store"
No. No. No.
I should have asked "Whaddya mean.. better? better how?"
It's because the flavor of fresh egg is so much more pronounced.
UGH. so not only do I not like eggs, I like fresh eggs less than stale 3 week old eggs. It's not like feeding goats different food changing the flavor of their milk.. I can't feed the chickens chocolate and get Cadbury minieggs. (IF ONLY that could happen, I'd be one happy girl)
At least the kids like them.
No coyotes have gotten to them and once they get their feathers back in from their molting process they'll be less ugly.
And.. the kids are getting a new experience and skill set- raising chickens.
Speaking of kids..
They're counting down the 12 days left of school. And today Kayla was in tears that kindergarten will end, she'll have to spend all summer out of school and then go into first grade. Seriously. I can't wait this this one is a teen. Everything is such a big dramatic deal.
Of course she's been in school so long that she's picked up the class' habit of not listening the first time to what the teacher says so when I said "KAYLA! you need to listen when I'm telling you something" she replies "what?"
One of us might not make it to see her teen years.
Sonia's class is putting on an end of year play "Geology Rocks!" an "extraordinary musical" where she plays a fern. Apparently it's not a speaking part.
Joey and JonMichael are boys. They had a friend over and spent 3 hours sword fighting and then nerf gun dart shooting. And that was their good behavior. JM actually has handled the chickens the most. I thought for sure he'd kill them the first day, but nope... he'd pick them up, handle them, toss them around and then when bored with it put it down and attack another. I see a new skill set in his future- circus animal wrangler. Or perhaps he can run the "chicken race" show at county fairs.
But otherwise, we have the last night of Awana tonight- the Awards night. And soon we'll be on Summer vacation from all responsibilities. What's better than homeschooling or public schooling? Summer vacation.
My Borderline friend moved this weekend which has been an immense relief. She's back to speaking to me, but since we only see each other in passing at school now it's a huge improvement.
So.. in other news.. the Solar plan hit a few bumps. As with everything in our lives, once you get through the bumps it will work out to our benefit, but it's the getting through the bumps that is the tricky part.
We have 3 new pets:
Parmigiana, Rosie, and Nugget. They make eggs. I put a few pictures up on facebook. They're UGLY right now.
The coop feed store that has chicks has not been able to keep them instock. Alot of crazy live-off-the-land nuts are coming out of the woodwork and so we've been to the store countless times and each time they were out of everything except Guinea fowl and ducks. Now we've had Guineas before and, uh.. no. that's not a mistake I'm repeating in this lifetime.
So we got what was available that we weren't likely to kill - gown laying hens. They had gotten in 100 3 day old chicks the day we got there last, except 3 day chicks while adorable need things like heat lamps- which we're not putting in my kitchen, thank you. Having a rabbit live in my kitchen is enough weirdness for me.
Anyway.. I really liked the idea of having chickens.
However in practice I heard how much better fresh out of the chicken eggs were from store bought eggs. And I thought "great. I don't really like eggs, must be because they're from the store"
No. No. No.
I should have asked "Whaddya mean.. better? better how?"
It's because the flavor of fresh egg is so much more pronounced.
UGH. so not only do I not like eggs, I like fresh eggs less than stale 3 week old eggs. It's not like feeding goats different food changing the flavor of their milk.. I can't feed the chickens chocolate and get Cadbury minieggs. (IF ONLY that could happen, I'd be one happy girl)
At least the kids like them.
No coyotes have gotten to them and once they get their feathers back in from their molting process they'll be less ugly.
And.. the kids are getting a new experience and skill set- raising chickens.
Speaking of kids..
They're counting down the 12 days left of school. And today Kayla was in tears that kindergarten will end, she'll have to spend all summer out of school and then go into first grade. Seriously. I can't wait this this one is a teen. Everything is such a big dramatic deal.
Of course she's been in school so long that she's picked up the class' habit of not listening the first time to what the teacher says so when I said "KAYLA! you need to listen when I'm telling you something" she replies "what?"
One of us might not make it to see her teen years.
Sonia's class is putting on an end of year play "Geology Rocks!" an "extraordinary musical" where she plays a fern. Apparently it's not a speaking part.
Joey and JonMichael are boys. They had a friend over and spent 3 hours sword fighting and then nerf gun dart shooting. And that was their good behavior. JM actually has handled the chickens the most. I thought for sure he'd kill them the first day, but nope... he'd pick them up, handle them, toss them around and then when bored with it put it down and attack another. I see a new skill set in his future- circus animal wrangler. Or perhaps he can run the "chicken race" show at county fairs.
But otherwise, we have the last night of Awana tonight- the Awards night. And soon we'll be on Summer vacation from all responsibilities. What's better than homeschooling or public schooling? Summer vacation.
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