The Room of Many Tears

Kloe's room was a sight to behold this morning.  It is a sight to behold most mornings. 

I'm sorry Future Kloe, but you know it's true.  Your room makes me weep in frustration.  I'll tell you why we have this issue, my girl.  It's the old 'Mother's Curse'.  My room made my mom want to cry too when I was your age.  Actually, I'm pretty sure it made her want to cry until I moved out. 

I have company coming next week.  Company usually gets tucked away in... you guessed it, Kloe's room.  It needed to get cleaned for real today.  I have crumbled before and completely taken over the hours of cleaning, which has including throwing out a lot of stuff. 

Kloe, today when you came into my room and asked me if I would just come in there and throw everything away for you, I realized I've done you a horrible disservice.  I've made you think that if you just drag your feet and give up, eventually someone will come in and do it for you.  Real life doesn't work that way....  I know, I used to try that trick when I was a kid too (and sometimes even as a grown up) and it very rarely works out.  Even those times it seemed to work out, I was left feeling like I wasn't smart enough or strong enough or 'whatever kind of enough' it takes to get the job done.  The thing is, that isn't true of me and it is definitely not true of you either.  You, my girl, can do anything you decide you want to do.  Even clean that messed up, overwhelmingly tangled room of yours.

We had some "talks" about it today, mostly aimed at motivating you to action.  You cried.  Actually, you cried quite a lot.  The thing is, when you went back into your room to keep slugging away at it, I was out in the garage with Daddy, and I was crying too.  I hate  when I have to discipline you, but I love you too much not to. 

I eventually helped you write a plan of action to deal with the mess, and then I went to work.  Daddy helped you stay motivated to clean the rest of it.  And you know what?  When I came home, your room looked great- better than if I had done it myself. 

Derrick also stopped by Bella Savauge and grabbed me a gift certificate to have some pampering time.  So love that man.  I was so stressed when I left this house this morning, but he'd managed to help make this so much better by the time I got home. 

When we make ourselves do the hard thing, the right kind of help is always so very appreciated.

P.S. Future Kloe... I love you, dirty room or not!!!!

Stilts

Aunt Nancy MADE these stilts for the kiddos to play with.  It looked like they had fun trying, and I KNOW I had fun watching them:)

Tunnel of Love...

Love the lyrics to this, just so true for all of us... some days more than others.

Fat man sitting on a little stool

Takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you
Hands me the ticket smiles and whispers good luck
Cuddle up angel cuddle up my little dove
Well ride down baby into this tunnel of love

I can feel the soft silk of your blouse
And them soft thrills in our little fun house
Then the lights go out and it's just the three of us
You me and all that stuff were so scared of
Gotta ride down baby into this tunnel of love

There's a crazy mirror showing us both in 5-d
Im laughing at you you're laughing at me
There's a room of shadows that gets so dark brother
Its easy for two people to lose each other in this tunnel of love

It ought to be easy ought to be simple enough
Man meets woman and they fall in love
But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough
And youve got to learn to live with what you can't rise above if you want to ride on down in through this tunnel of love

Sometimes it's hard not to giggle at my kids' little nerdisms.  We all have them... right?  I know I do...  it's just so funny hearing Derrin freak out "Oooh, oooh,oooh,oooh,oooh,ooh!!!  Save that movie.  The Clash of the Dinosaur!!!  And then Walking with Dinosaurs...  And the Walking With the Monters!!  Just save ALL the dinosaur movies, okay?!?"

Camping at Painted Rock

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.”—-Agatha Christie

Gah.  It is July 26th, a day that by it's sheer placement on the seasonal calender should be a feel good day. I, however, am stuck on my own personal calender of ups and downs which has declared that I will not enjoy it.  Feeling edgy and generally irritated both emotionally and physically.  It even hurt too much to brush my hair this morning.  It's one thing to be a moper during winter; heck, you are just joining the crowd on those days.  It feels recklessly wasteful on a summer day like this, however.  And yet, here I am.

Catching Rays and Reading

So, to get off of that downward train of thought, I will now think of only happy-ness. 



I'll start with last weekends camping foray.  We had such a nice time.  We went to the Painted Rock area (about two hours from here, on the other side of Darby).  There was an icy creek there that the men and kids spend hours reshaping with dams built from fallen logs.

The kids (and grown ups more adventurous than me)spent their time  floating up and down the creek on the myriads of tubes we'd all brought, and playing on the tiny sandy beach.  I spent my time down there catching some sun, chatting, and reading. 

Also spent some time in a lovely hammock.  There are few things are relaxing as rocking gently in a hammock, listening to a chilly stream and the voices of friends and kiddos talking and laughing.

We planned on doing a project with the kids while we were up there- Tie dye T-shirts. It was so fun! I know for a fact that the grown ups had just as much fun with that as the kids did.

They were catching brown trout

Twisting the material for a perdifying effect

Looks like a bucket of organs. huh?

Darby-Do, showing her awesome new shirt!



Oh Yeaaah, He is

EXCITED to be part of this



He did good!

Field of  Drying Tie Dye Shirts

 

Showing off our artistic and peaceful flair.

Spinning Onward

In hindsight, this week has been fairly productive.  I've delivered important things to our accountant, balanced QB and observed bills that need to be paid, cleaned the house (mostly), done the laundry (which is never *really* done, but I was counting myself a success in that department yesterday), finally framed the pictures I took of the kids months ago, and also worked on some other projects I've been putting off.  Actually went in service this morning to make up for last Saturday's bout of being ill. 

Despite all of this, I very much feel like I am spinning my wheels. *sigh* The list of things I should be doing is long, and there will never be enough time to do it all.

We are going camping this weekend.  Need to run into town to buy the 'Chef Bayha Approved' list of groceries (he also makes most of the food while there). I'm glad to have a list, or I'd just buy hotdogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And some marshmallows.  And anything else that can be roasted over a campfire.  While I might be okay with that kind of camping culture, I am almost positive my fellow campers there would not be.  I want to be with happy campers, so the list is appreciated.

 Hopefully, I will be awesome enough (as in remembering) to buy and pack everything we need today so we can leave first thing in the morning.

Different subject:  Jessie jumped up and bit Kloe's face last night.  Those little puppy teeth are sharp!  There was a small cut on Kloe's face; small, but gaping a little too much for my comfort.  I took her to the ER, thinking stitches, but then decided I was being a bit drama-queenish for such a tiny cut.  We went to the store instead, and I bought butterfly stitch bandaids and liquid bandaid stuff.  Seems to have worked- just looks like a little scratch this afternoon.

Alright... better quit dawdling around here and go gather camping stuff.  Hope y'all have a super dupe weekend!

Kloe (every morning)knocked out
after taking care of Jessie all night.

Ring Derrick gave me two years ago.
Finally figured out how to protect
inserted photos.

"Magic Gloss" bought in Seattle-

used for coating pictures on pendants.

Want to use the "Magic Gloss" more- I think
there are different brands of the same product

in larger sizes for a lower price.




Derrick bought three new Platties.  Store clerk
assured us they are tough as nails.

 

Finally just did my own frames for these pictures.  Never could find anything in the store that felt right.

My girl (with fancy face bandaid), and Ma'Self, striking a pose.

Summertime, Summasummasummatime

It's Sunday afternoon.  Super sunny outside, bEE-U-Tiful at the moment.  But it's hot, so I'm in here typing away on a computer instead.  Sometime mid-winter, I will read the beginning of this post and slap myself pretty hard.

We just got home from our Sunday meeting and lunch at Fiesta En Jalisco.  The kids are playing Mario.  I'm gonna kick 'em outside here in a minute.  As soon as I get off of this computer.  Don't want to be a hypocrite, after all.

Tomorrow is supposed to be pushing 100 degrees.  A bunch of my fellow Moms and I are taking the kiddos to the waterslide park.  It's going to be my first all day excursion in a swimming suit of the summer- must remember to baste the kids and myself with sunscreen.

Derrick took the kids in service yesterday and then to the waterpark.  He's such a good dad.  I was ill with stomach and headache issues.  It required gluing myself to the couch for most of the day.  A day which was also blissfully quiet, thanks to my husband.  I slept most of the day, and now feel better than I did most of last week.  At first I felt like it was a wasted summer day, but now it is a pleasant memory of silence.

I got rid of the trusty Blackberry last Wednesday, and got a plain ol' cell phone with no data package.  I am going through some SERIOUS Internet withdrawals.  It's much more disconcerting to not be hooked up to all of my email and social network accounts than I expected. 
My sis and her family are all gone to Canada for the next couple of weeks.  They go there every summer to work unassigned territories in super remote areas in their ministry.  They took their boat up and are going through difficult to reach islands.  My brain will not let me access the name of the islands at this time, but the pictures I saw were beautiful.  I haven't talked to her since Wednesday- feels weird; we usually talk every day...

Well, better go be productive-er.  Do laundry or some such nonsense. 

Before I go, here is a link to my favorite comedian Maria Bamford.  (Just for fun) 

:)

A Morning of EeWww

There is nothing quite like being woke up at 6:45 in the morning by a frantic, eight year old crying about a very bad smell in her room. 

A smell that she wants nothing to do with and so would you please do something about that please. 

A smell whose origins have everything to do with a furry little critter that she scrimped and saved for months to have. 

We had a true lesson on puppyhood (babyhood, really) this morning.  Took me back to the days of my own chillins' and the delights of waking up to a ripe diaper that didn't quite make it through the night, to the delight of a curious and artistic toddler.

Anyways, Jessy's crate was a stink fest this morning- obviously something didn't agree with her yesterday.  Getting the whole morning mess cleaned up was a three man job- Derrin gave her a bath, and Kloe and I cleaned the crate, gagging and tearing up the whole time.

Actually, Kloe was trying to back away from the door (as most people with a functioning olfactory system would be), and I was barking like a drill Sargent for her to get back in there and help me out because, by all that is holy, I am NOT going to be cleaning puppy-poo up all by myself at 6:45 in the morning!!!  Ah, it really was like a walk back in time into early parenthood.

Writing about this is way more fun that actually doing it in this case...

Talking about family pets, Derrin's black moor passed on yesterday.  Not 'Wolf', who died awhile ago, but 'Koakanee'.  RIP Koakanee.  And now his other fancy goldfish 'Granite' appears to be ailing, despite special salt baths and water cycling.  These 'special' goldfish are too hard to keep alive!  Give me a plain ol' goldfish anyday!  I'm pretty sure I could strip my floor with the amount  of ammonia in Mercury's (my giant regular goldfish) aquarium.  You'd have to run him though the washing machine before he kicked the bucket.

So, now that our exciting morning has calmed down, my day should be a fairly calm one.  It is GREY out there.  Looks nothing like what a July morning should look like; clouds are hanging low along the mountain, the grass is wet and it smells like rain.  It's been a stormy summer. 

Derrick already left for work, so I'm thinking I will unfold the treadmill and give that a whirl.  I've been trying a different running strategy- shorter runs (around 3 miles @ 30 minutes, plus warm up and down walking) every day instead of the 6 mile run every other day.  I can run harder with no walk breaks for the shorter distance.  I'm less achy with the shorter runs, and my brain functions better if I get out there every day.  I'm also thinking that a half hour on the treadmill won't be 'death by boredom' like a full hour would be.

When Derrick gets home, we'll be taking a trip into town to two of my very favorite places, the IRS building and Verizon.  As both places are patently reasonable and non-money grubbing, we shouldn't be there too long.

Summer Days

It is so hard to consistently write in here when it is so beautiful out side and there is so much to do.  If I lived some place always hot and beautiful, I might never write again.  Maybe winter and cold rainy days serve the purpose of causing the angst and discontentment needed to write.  I'd like to believe they do, in fact, serve some purpose. 

Since words are failing me, I'm just gonna post some pictures of summer.

After 2nd Convention Day
At the Pool (We had our District
Convention last weekend in Kennewick.)

Soaking up a little Sunshine.

 

Kiddos burning some energy up after
sitting and listening so well all day.

Big Beautiful Strawberries(from the little patch in my backyard)

My Little Vege Garden

Flowers and Herbs

Strawberry Patch

Kloe and Her Baby

Jessy

 



Jessy's Dog Momma, Gertie, right before we brought Jessy home.

 Kloe has been doing such a good job taking care of Jessy.  It hasn't been easy for her either!  Usually summer has a lot of sleep-in days for her, but since Jessy moved in, Kloe gets up a couple times a night to let her go outside and she has to get up early for potty/breakfast/puppy playtime.  Not that all of this has happened with zero whining, but it has been fairly minimal.  Like I said, she's doing a good job.

Home We Are

We left T. Falls last night and came home.  This morning I actually got up and ran.  It has been awhile, actually since the kids got out of school.  I can't take it though; I feel so much better if I make the effort to be consistent.  I will get up early to run from now on.  Yes.  I will.

After running, I did my stint as Derrick's Office Assistant (D.O.A), and that took a good portion of the rest of my day.  I am still having a hard time really digging into my work there.  My two week yonder to T. Falls did not exactly render me accessible to my office work.  I will work in the office more consistently and productively from now on.  Yes.  I will.

I did eventually manage to escape outside to work in my garden.  My strawberries are giNORmous this year.  Big, red, juicy bites of goodness they are.  Relocated my dahlias and lupin... and watered lots. The first part of July has to be one of the most beautiful weeks of the year.  The flowers and plants are at their most lush at this exact moment.

Derrick did such a good job of taking care of my garden and my fish, Kloe's lizards and he even fed Derrin's snake.  Everything was well watered, fed and happy when I got home:)

I made Kung Pow Chicken tonight.  I cut up the chicken with one of the knives Derrick bought about a month ago.  His knives are sharp.  Really sharp.  I know me;  I WILL be visiting the ER with one of my fingers in an ice-filled baggy within the next couple of months. Derrick has researched proper cutting techniques.  He was giving the "hold your hand like a claw" advice tonight.  Meh.  Awkward.  Better just count on the trip to the ER.

He made homemade ice-cream.  He is the favorite among the kids at the moment.  He is my favorite at the moment too.