Friday, August 28, 2015

He's A Senior


I miss summer.
I miss sleeping in.
I miss morning coffee in the garden.
I miss that guy that I like so much being around.

Routine is good ( I guess) and we're neck deep into our season of lasts.  This boy, the babe, is a senior.  Please....no.

Don't grow up so fast.

We're back up to a gallon of milk a day, thanks to football.  We're also back to 2 loads of laundry a day just for smelly uniforms, also thanks to football.  We're also back to a much lower balance in our checking account, again thanks to football...seriously, it's the most expensive sport EVER.

Sigh.

Oh...and we started watching Friday Night Lights and helloooo?  I should NOT be watching that show when I have a son who is currently playing!!  (but it's a really good show, so I'll keep watching.)

=0)

 National Dog Day came and went...I just love this picture.  

Love, love, love.

Last night we were all a go for Disneyland.  Got in the car, started driving and then ended up at a happy hour close to home instead.  It was a great decision...and here's to that poor guy that I like so much.  I whined and cried and complained and moaned and groaned about a whole bunch of work stuff that even I got sick of listening to myself talk about.

He's a saint, that guy.

Here's to a new day and a fresh start...and maybe a run to Disneyland for lunch.

=0)

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Associations


This summer we spent more hours than I can count talking about moving from our little house on our little street.  It just seemed to feel like maybe a calling...a calling towards something even more simple than how we are currently living, which to some might seem silly but to us does not.

In the end we've decided to stay put.  But in the mail last week came a letter from our association saying that we have violated the 'six inch rule'...which basically means that ONE BRANCH of our palm tree is touching our fence.

ONE BRANCH.

I took a giant clipper thingy and attacked the stupid tree so that it is in no way (and won't be for the next decade) touching the fence.  And before you think that we hate our association, well...you're kinda sorta right.  We love it.  We hate it.  We get a TON for our money and it's beautiful and safe but come on, it's a tree branch.  ONE tree branch.

So, I've decided to make a BIG sign for the front door of a large ruler that says, in HUGE letters:

"We honor the six inch rule in this house."

The more I say it, the harder I laugh...but all the males in my house don't think it's funny.  At all.

=0)

In other news...the world is coming to an end, otherwise known as 'I cooked lamb.'

I don't 'do' lamb...but like I said, the world must be ending.

In my defense, I had a bad lamb experience 22 years ago.  I was pregnant with my middle born son, 5 months into HG and horribly ill and that guy that I like so much made lamb.  I ate it and then, like everything else, I barfed it.

Bye, bye lamb...but guess what?  I might be coming around.  Slowly.

=0)

Our whole lives are now in five boxes.  That's it.  Five boxes.  Feels good to be organized and simplified and able to find things rather quickly.

Now to get rid of all the crud that is in the attic but for now it is way too hot to deal with that.  I'm tired of stuff...and everyone around me is tired of hearing about how tired I am of stuff.

=0)

The early mornings are slowly beginning and the only one who is adjusting well is BuddytheDog.  He loves that someone is up with him and talking to him and feeding him and taking him out to pee on his favorite tree before any other dog in the neighborhood has had time to christen it.

As for me, I'm yawning.  A lot.  

I need to settle into a routine...one that involves work and hiking and laundry and cooking and everything else that needs to be done but I'm struggling to figure it all out.  I'm just kinda wandering from thing to thing and drinking a LOT of coffee all day long.

Our garden is still in full bloom though the pumpkins are pretty close to being ready to pick.  Oops.  I thought I had timed them better but the weather has been so hot and humid that they are all turning orange right now.

Maybe I'll decorate for autumn now and just pretend it's October?

We just finished watching The Astronaut Wives Club and are looking to watch something new....we're not big TV watchers at all, in fact, we can go a whole week without turning it on.  But sometimes it's nice to have some stuff taped for when we do want to watch.

Oh, and I just finished reading The Last Plane Out of Saigon which was about the Vietnam War and it was really interesting.  And sad...but good.  I guess I'm needing a new book, too...and am kinda leaning towards rereading Harry Potter.   I just love those books...and the movies, too.

Tomorrow is the first day of school for Brian...his first day of his senior year.

Sniff.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Alrighty Then


Alright...now where were we?

Summer came to a crashing halt and we're all in a bit of recovery mode.  

How many days until summer comes again?

=0)

My boy has ended one journey and is beginning another.  All is good and while he got news he didn't want, it all feels right.  Through this whole process we've learned who our 'true' people are...the people who chose to support and love our little family in our little house and for that I will forever be grateful.

This God of ours...well, He has a plan and while my human self doesn't always see the reasoning behind those plans, I trust those decisions that are made.  I am choosing to see the love and care that he has shown and I know that the dreams I've been having, the feelings, the unsettledness...I now see that all along He's been letting me know what that decision was going to be.  And while I am just 'the mom', I am not just 'the mom'.  I'm the one (along with that guy that I like so much) that has to be the one to hold things together through the transition...the one to not just believe but to show that love with my words and actions.

This mom business ain't for the faint of heart, that's for sure.  But let me tell you...seeing my boys rally together, the love they have for each other which they'll pretend they don't have?  By golly,  that is all I've ever wanted.

=0)

Onward to the next phase of life.  Ready, set...GO!

BuddytheDog is still perfect, still sweet, still barks at anyone who dares to get within 10 feet of his favorite peeing tree and still runs to hide anytime he hears a car door close.

He's quirky and we love him so very, very much.

Tonight at supper that guy that I like so much stopped and looked at me and said ' we are SO dog people now!' and I just had to smile.

Yes...yes, we are.

=0)

We live in a little house on a little street with two resident cats who seem to be worthless when it comes to keeping the birds away from the figs.  That guy that I like so much was one step away from getting a bb gun but settled for trying to eat the figs faster than the birds...but sadly, he wasn't quite quick enough.

No bueno.

Mid week grilling was still a possibility as of last week but beginning Monday, when the real back to school schedules begin, won't be any longer.  I'll miss it and even though I'm ready for slow cooked oven meals it is still so gosh darn hot that I'm not quite sure what we will be eating.

And hello?

I will totally miss that guy that I like so much grilling, smoking his pipe, reading his book and drinking his cocktail all at the same time.

Sigh.

And on a sad note...we said a farewell to one of our favorites for a long, long time.  Maggiano's has changed and become commercialized and I am so very, very sad.  It feels like a chain now where for a long, long time it didn't (even though it was) and all the food, sadly, tastes the same no matter what it is that you order.  

And how many times can I say the word sad?

But I am...and so we're breaking up.  

This kid caught a beautiful interception at his first football game.

Man, I like him.

Work.

So far, so good.

Oh wait...schools are just now starting which means everyone is still happy.  

=0)

Friday night found us exactly where we were supposed to be...hanging with our favorite people.  It had been a rough week for us and we had rallied the troops around us like covered wagons used to do in the old days.  

I can't say it enough...we are blessed in the friend department.  I grew up in a family where the lines were blurred between family and friends...friends who were not just friends but were family and we live that same life.

I love that.

=0)

We ate, we sang, we danced, we discussed heavy issues and not so heavy issues...all while grown ups and teens and twenty somethings all just gathered together over incredible food.  

This, my friends, is what real life is about.


I, quite simply, love my people.


A lot.

That guy that I like so much has been gone all weekend and I've been neck deep in 'operation get us organized'.  I've been filing and refiling and purging and while it will feel really good once it's done, right now it just feels a bit, well, unorganized.

We just have so. much. unnecessary. stuff.  I'm tired of unnecessary stuff and so I'll bless it on to someone else who could use it...otherwise known as 'my clutter is about to become your clutter'.

Unless I give up and shove it all back upstairs, which is a very real possibility.

=0)

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Happy Wednesday


Our summers, for the last 10 of them at least, have centered around following Matteo and his drum and bugle corps adventures.  For the last three years he's been an instructor and yet we still follow every move his group makes and I'll admit, this years show took a long, long time to grow on me.

And then, a few weeks ago, it clicked and I think it was one of their best shows ever.  Too late for the judges, which is way sad, but that guy that I like so much watched the last few performances live...hoping for a glimpse of our boy on the sidelines.

Lucky us, we did.

=0)

It's a grueling life.  Travel by bus for hours on end.  Sleep in a different gym every night.  Rehearse 12 hours a day and perform almost every night and then repeat the whole thing all over again in a different state.

This year Matthew chose to not take a break in the middle and stayed the whole summer and by the end he was just tired.

Really, really tired.

He flew in, slept a few hours, ate and then packed up his car and drove 5 hours home because he had to start back to work at 7:00am the next morning.

Poor guy.

In the meantime, Emily came for the weekend and life is a whole lot crazier when she is here.

=0)

That guy that I like so much is experimenting with making homemade bitters for his cocktails.  Every day he shakes and smells and gets all dreamy eyed at them which makes me laugh.

Only two more weeks until they're done.

My garden...MY GARDEN!

And, for the record, I have discovered that one of lifes greatest pleasures is picking green beans.  For reals.  I'm loving those green beans this year and there are so many of them!

Oh...and beets and radishes and cukes and zukes and poblanos and pumpkins.  Like, 50 pumpkins.

I planted 12 pumpkin plants thinking a few wouldn't take.  I was wrong.

=0)

Growing beets is easy.  Peeling baby beets?  Not so much.

Totally worth it though.


The weather is changing a bit...suppers in the garden are still suppers in the garden but as the sun goes down, a slight, very much welcomed chill sets in and I've actually had to grab a sweater the last few nights.

We're milking it for every moment and last night I finished reading The Girl on the Train while sitting under the twinkly lights and if you haven't read it, you should.  It was so good!

This boy...he's so sweet.  Does he have to grow up?  His girlfriends name is Briana and Matthew's girlfriend is Brianne and then there's my Brian...I've taken to just calling my people 'hey you'.

A mothers brain is an interesting thing.  I can remember what I ate 18 years ago but for the life of me I cannot remember to buy milk at the store, even when it is the ONLY thing on the list.

Sigh.

I've spent all of last week and most of this doing my online certification course for one of my programs.  It's a drag, plain and simple.

But guess what?  I passed with 100%...now to fly across the country to do the classroom portion.

That guy that I like so much is away on a retreat, Alex is at the beach and Brian is at football.  The house is SO very quiet...and SO very clean.

I'm thinking there is a pedicure in the cards for today and a long walk with our silly dog.  Other than that?  Not much.  Not much at all.

So when Dad is away, suppers are interesting.  Tuna casserole is a crowd pleaser and something that guy that I like so much won't eat no matter what...mainly because it was the only thing I cooked for the first 6 months of our marriage.  I was creative though...I baked it, made it on the stove, and one time I even sliced it and put it in the toaster.  

Yum.

I still like it...him, not so much.  I get it, but don't tell him that.

=0)

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Falling Back Into A Routine

I'm sitting at my kitchen table and the house is blissfully quiet.  Alex is at a military work out, Brian is at the beach, that guy that I like so much is back at his office and I am finishing (ok...I haven't even started yet) an online certification class that I need for one of my out of state programs.

Oh, and I just ate half a pb&j and am sipping an ice cold diet dr pepper.

Paradise...except for the fact that we are in week three of hammering and banging outside my window and every gardener (which I truly am thankful for...really) in the free world is working out front (with blowers).

Can you hear it from where you are?  Probably.

=/

I'm overstimulated and think I might just throw in the towel and go lay by the pool.

Our zucchini plants are prolific (my, that's a big word) this season and I've taken to picking the flowers and have stuffed them, fried them, tossed them in salads and my new favorite way?  Quiched them...as in, put them in a quiche.

Yum.

I'm trying to wrap my brain around the fact that summer is over already.  I mean, it's still kinda here but then again, it's not.  It's still too hot for my hiking trail and on most days we've resorted to turning on our AC but I'm finding myself beginning to crave things like pot roast.  And a turkey dinner.  And beef stew.

And I've already purchased a few Christmas gifts.  For reals.

I'm also dwelling a bit too much on the things I haven't done that I thought I would've done.  Things like paint the house.  And tile the backsplash.  And watch Parenthood on Netflix.

But I need to keep my eye on the ball.  I've lunched with boys.  Broke bread with friends.  Dug in the dirt and played in the sand and taken long car rides with that guy that I like so much.

The house stuff is still going to be here.  My boys won't be and that's a place I cannot even begin to enter.  Yet.  So I won't.

=0)

The woman below spends her days mixing flour and water and patting and rolling and frying tortillas.    Her countenance seemed so peaceful and I couldn't help but wonder what she thinks about while she's working...laundry?  Children?  How annoying it is that people watch her all day long?  

I imagine her as having it all together at home just from the way she so calmly works.  It's funny how we think we can figure others out when we really have absolutely no clue about what the real story is.  

Those tortillas, by the way?  Phenomenal.  

I'm cooking an oven meal tonight after biting the bullet and self cleaning the oven most of the day.  I hate the smell when I do that so it's a necessity to cook something that will make the house smell good...roasted chicken with onions and garlic and potatoes with homemade biscuits and honey on the side.

Probably one of my menfolks favorite meals.

It feels good to have some sort of routine again...I can't believe I'm even saying that.  Remind me of that next month when I'm dreaming of long, lazy, stay in my pj's all day sort of days, ok?

=0)

Monday, August 3, 2015

Oh, What A Summer!


I was gone and then I was back and then I was gone and then I was back again.  What a crazy summer it's been!  We spent a lot of it putzing around all different areas of SoCal and it's felt good to stay mostly close to home.

In big news though?

Humidity.  We're not used to it and have no desire to be used to it but we've been forced to deal with it thanks to a lot of tropical storms in the Pacific that have turned our usual summers of paradise into a hot, sticky, pretty close to unbearable and 'oh my word, turn on the AC now puhlease' summer.

We've sweat.  A lot.

I had a list of things I had wanted to accomplish this summer and scratched off absolutely none of it.  Truth be told, part of the reason I've been absent is that our world was feeling quite dark and we needed to spend a lot of time figuring out what our next move was going to be.  There were many, many, MANY sleepless nights and a whole lot of 'ok, God...the ball is in your court' and then, out of the blue we received a very clear cut answer.

It's hard to trust...but I do.  I really do.  And I believe God was waiting to see just how far we'd surrender.  Cryptic?  Yeah, a bit.  Sorry about that.  

Other than that, one of our summer highlights has been following Matteo ping pong balling around the country.

I love that he trusts enough to follow his heart.

=0)


 The big garden is INCREDIBLE this year.  All that humidity that I've hated?  My garden has loved every minute of it and every lunch has involved some sort of salad with lots of fresh picked veggies in it.

Yum.

Took a little road trip for a pupusa... a loroca pupusa that my oh my oh my.  I'd love to make them but they involve a lot of love and I'm pretty sure I'd fail that part miserably and would probably end up throwing things and (gulp) swearing out loud (just keepin' it real) because they seem (and I'm sure they are) so labor intensive.

So thank you to all who make them.

=0)

California is dry this year and aside from crazy thunderstorms here and there, all is brown.  Everywhere.  It's going to be a horrible, scary fire season this year.

 In other boys news?  Alex is working out like a crazy person and Brian is getting ready for football season to start, as well as his Senior year of high school  Wow.  It's here...it's really here.  His first college app...the one he's hoping for an early acceptance to is due in a few weeks.

Yowza.

We'll be empty nesters in a year.  

Party at our house?

=0)

 Last weekend we took one final getaway back to our happy place...San Diego.  I absolutely love it there and was so excited to go back.  Our hotel was in the center of the Gaslamp District and had the best roof top terrace...the perfect end of summer place to hang out.

We drove down with friends...they dropped us at our hotel and then went on their way to a neighboring city where they were staying for a wedding while that guy that I like so much and I had a really great time just hanging out.

The next day we all hooked up again in Old Town and my oh my...I love it there.

 It was the perfect, end of summer hurrah.

As of this morning, we're back to work.  And while trying to smile and be excited...it's a bit sad and hard to wake up to the alarm clock again.

Sigh.

Oh...and I love this picture of our friends.  I dragged them into the church to light a (electric?  really?) candle but caught them laughing with one another on the steps outside.

We know super groovy, fun, loving people who just seem to make this world we live in a better place.  We are SO blessed in the friend department...so very, very blessed. 

=0)

So today I got up and worked from home for a bit, took the dog on a really long walk, watered the garden, cleaned the oven, pulled leftover frozen carnitas out of the freezer for supper and then watched a movie with my eyelids covering my eyes.

Summer, you've been good.  See you on the flip side.

=0)



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