Choices

Hmmm, should I wash the dishes, or have a bowl of ice cream? It's not a ton of dishes, and I will do them in the morning...Down guilt, down! Ok, that's much better, now where was I? Wow, crushed Oreo's are really good on vanilla ice cream! Sorry, I'm getting distracted.

I enjoyed dinner last Friday with three friends from high school, it's so nice to NOT be the oldest person at the table! We've done this once or twice a year for the past five years or so and I've noticed how our conversations have evolved. We spend about 5 minutes reminiscing about high school, and now words like 'menopause', 'liposuction', 'botox' & 'spanx' are thrown in between sips of wine and bites of salad & fish. Interspersed with debates on the merits of Facebook, and whose friend requests we're ignoring. We're all at different stages in our life...two of us have grown children, one has just become a grandma, one has a five year old adopted child, and there's me, toddler twin mom. Maybe this is a sign of the times, but I can't help but think that fifty years ago, we would not have had the freedom in our lives to be at such different places. It's great to be in a place where we have so many choices.

Sucked In

I purchased this book as a gift, after hearing NPR's positive review of "another vampire story", and an 800 page one to boot ($15 at Costco). I was curious and thought "I'll just read a chapter and if I like it, I'll get a copy".

Five hundred pages later, that book isn't going anywhere. I'm not a total cad, I did buy another copy for my gift. I had to. I wasn't about to give a book that I've had cracked open every spare minute since that first chapter (a thick one pounder, hello carpal tunnel). A book Boo & Bear have mauled & yanked my bookmark out of countless times (eerily, I go right to my place within a couple pages.)

Meanwhile, milestones are happening all around me: a baby crow is learning to fly in our yard, my Dad just turned 70, Bear goes 'pee pee' in the toilet nearly every time, Boo is entering her princess phase (I guess it was bound to happen), and Mommy has developed has a serious fear of the dark.

Wish Me Luck!

Everytime I see my home page (my blog) I'm reminded that I need to post. And post again. And again. It's neverending, like homework. And now it's been a few weeks since my last one, so here goes...

Tomorrow morning I'm going to a Design seminar in downtown Seattle. I'm looking forward to attending a professional event, but a little nervous about the morning: getting two potty training toddlers ready, getting mom Seattle seminar ready, dropping them off at the sitters (on time for once!) and actually making my ferry. Oh, did I mention that I'll be doing this all by myself since M. isn't here? Sure, I'll get up earlier to do it all, but Bear has been waking up these days around 5:00 a.m.

Doesn't innovation happen when life gets interesting? One can hope.

What Would You Play?

"Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded a train. Touched down in the middle of the delta blues, in the middle of the pouring rain. "

I discovered over drinks during Karaoke, that my sister would like this song, "Walking in Memphis" played at her funeral. Don't worry, I didn't receive any horrible news like she has cancer or something, but she had a flash that if you never tell anyone what you want played at your funeral, then no one will know. She's got a point.

My late grandmother picked out all the songs for her funeral, most of them church hymns, but at the end of her service, she brought down the house with Ave Maria, a classic probably quite overplayed at funerals, but I was silently cheering "you go girl" as mascara streamed down my cheeks.

My sister wanted to know what I would have played....just so someone would know. My first thought was Big Iz's version of Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World. A beautiful song, but now I've heard it too much on my kids lullaby cd. Then they went and used it in a Cheerios commercial, that kind of wrecked it for me. I'm not really sure what other songs I would choose, maybe some Gipsy Kings, or even Duran Duran from my highschool days (I loved them- note: past tense on the loved). A grand finale of Rideau. "Mood for Day" a classical guitar song by Steve Howe on the band Yes's Fragile album should be played. It's always been my goal to be able to play this one day, and maybe, by the time it plays at my funeral (hopefully assuming that's a long time from now) I'll know how to play it. Or rather, I knew how to play it?

And of course, Ave Maria.

Twin Baby Shower Gift Idea #1

The other day I happened to glance at the stack of books in my nightstand. These two titles were together and it struck me...maybe they should market these as a package!

Chambourde

Hi kitchen: it's a been a good run, but things are about to change.

Hi big, boring dining room window that I'm totally sick of. Yep, more change.

I'm going bold, I'm going red. Yikes! I kind of get scared whenever I say that, but I feel like it will work. I'm actually going "Deep Rose" but there's nothing rose about it. It's Tuscany, it's a brick oven, it's cinnamon...it's change.

For our living room hearth: think eggplant, genie bottle, Arabian nights, think...Chambourde. (It must be said in a drawn out whisper..."Chambooouuurrrde")

Don't know what Chambourde means? Neither do I, neither does Webster's, but apparently Benjamin Moore does. It's means a $50 a gallon room makeover. I've tried finding a similar color in Behr paint, Martha Stewart, and even Ralph Lauren, but nothing matches the tone and hue of Chambourde.

Here's a preview. Chambourde on the left, the competitor on the right--a no go.

(Pay no attention to the diapered stuffed monkey in the lower right hand corner, any self respecting home decor magazine would have edited that out, but at this blog, things are blessedly real.)

My House on Milo

A last look, taken just a couple days ago.

Today the new owners moved into my old house. After spending the past week cleaning up after the last tenants and haggling over how much deposit money they'll get back, I feel a sense of relief. I spent ten years of my life at that house--purchasing it in '94 with my ex husband P. By the time I moved out I was divorced, had gotten a dog, changed careers and was engaged...again. The past five years it's been a rental and sadly, I've watched it get more run down every year.

I lived alot of life in that little house, all the time wishing for a bigger kitchen, or a bathtub or more closet space, but as I spent the last day over there cleaning, I missed it. I missed the way the wood floors creak, the way the light streams in through the back windows, I missed it's smell. I remembered nights by the woodstove writing in my journal, sitting in the sun smoking cigarettes on the back deck, planting scads of flower pots on the front deck. Even though it's been five years since I've lived there, it could have been yesterday,the house is so familiar to me.

I'm so excited to pass it on to the new owners...an industrious couple in their 30s: he is a carpenter and she is a Montessori school teacher who watches our children. The sweet irony of it is that I'm still not really leaving that house, our children will be there three days a week, but now I get to just stand back watch it's transformation.

Red Wine for the Soul

Last night I had a last minute hook up with my friend 40licious and her significant other (first time meeting him.) M. stayed home with the kids, taking advantage of a chance to watch an action flick without me.

It felt so good (dare I say, nourishing!) to catch up, connect and have a couple glasses of wine with an old friend. She laughed at my jokes, she even said she misses it when I'm too busy to blog. (Aw, shucks!) Her partner is a great guy, I was immediately comfortable with him. So much that I found myself unabashedly discussing my birth experience...and all the gory details. (Hey, we were exchanging hospital stories and it's all I've got.) Let's just say he now knows way more about my uterus than most people.

So my friend, when you & your sweetie are weary of the sunny beaches, the endless mani-pedi pressure, Whole Foods, spiked Frappucinos and you've got a hankerin' for polar fleece, Carhartt's, Volvo's (sorry honey, the old kind) and off leash dog encounters, I know of a great Yurt. You can keep your high paying jobs! Why not telecommute from our wi-fi equipped Safeway Starbuck's? Where else can you enjoy your nonfat, soy, double latte with General Tso's chicken and a $5.00* take home pizza (*Friday only with a Safeway Club Card). You CAN have it all.

Your Intuition Always Knows

I noticed just a couple little oddities at first, not alarming, but nagging.

An upstairs bathroom window left open. ("I don't remember doing that").
A tupperware container full of change outside of it's normal drawer. The mattress pushed over slightly. (I don't remember doing that either").
A pile of hair bands spilled on our bathroom floor. (I know I didn't do that!)

After dinner, M & I tried to figure out which one of us left the bathroom window open. Was my memory getting that bad? There was no way someone could have come into our house. Our TV was still here, the computers were here, the house looked pretty much the same as we had left it. Besides, our German Shepherd and Lab were inside, surely they would keep someone out. But I just couldn't shake that nagging feeling of someone having been here. M suggested I check for the Ipod upstairs in the kids' room. Sure enough, it was gone.

When I saw the empty spot on the dresser, the hairs on my arms stood up. Strangers walked through our house today! In our kids room, in our room. Rifling through our nightstand drawers, pushing our mattress aside. After filing a police report, we spent the evening calling credit card companies and putting fraud alerts on our socials. The police suspect it was kids, taking just what they could carry. We live right next to the woods and they exited through a back gate right to the trails. In a way, it's a relief to think that it's kids and not some creepy man walking through here with other thoughts on his mind. But to lose the cameras, the Ipod and the baby monitor of all things...it's a bummer! I've always felt such security with our dogs here, but apparently they can be sweet talked.

I guess that's all for now. We have Playschool tomorrow and I'm the snack lady. Life goes on.

TGIF!

My stepdaughter had to put her 13 year old dog down.
A friend's Mother passed away.
A friend of another friend died unexpectedly after surgery.

And today I discovered that our renter left us with a $500 water bill. Needless to say, he hasn't returned any calls.

Sometimes you have to just get through the week.

My Parents Are Visiting

I'm trying to get my Dad to start a blog. So I'm showing him how to do a post. He has a ranch in Spokane and is selling grassfed, organic beef if anyone is interested. Who says you can't do a little promotion while we experiment with blogging?

City. Good.

Pix, the ultimate dessert destination.

I know what you're thinking. "Oh thank God she finally put up a new post so we don't have to look at those damn toys anymore!" Sorry, I got busy.

I just returned from a trade show in Portland, hence the busyness. One of the highlights of this trip is an annual dinner with some great friends. We've realized that now we've been doing this dinner for ten years, and every year they give us a hip, urban experience, something I need desperately. So I return home with memories of cute waiters, rosemary chocolates, and a new song on my Ipod--Portland based "Starfu**er" (yes, their name is an obscenity), check out the song German Love.

A Slice of Summer

OK, I'm back for a few minutes at least. I've been feeling like a total slacker not doing any postings, but it's a little freeing as well. Kind of like not having homework. So much has been happening, I'll just show rather than tell.

OK well, maybe I'll tell a little bit...

Enjoying the outdoors.

M's daughters visited with our youngest grandaughter, G. She's the one on the right, looking at her 20 month old aunt. I know it's a little wierd, but family is family.

Sadly, we lost our beloved Sparky, who made it to 17. A good, long life for a cat. Every morning I miss her insistent meow demanding breakfast.

My friend & I added some pizzaz to the living room. What's so cool is that these decals are repositionable, but I'll never tell the kids that!

My BFF visited, tons of fun. Kids loved her. We all miss her.

While on a diaper run at Costco, we tried on glasses, and laughed our heads off. I think these need a little push up, they're a little low. (I seem to say that alot these days.)

Oh yes, my stepdaugher cut my hair too.

Our dog, Palo ripped his toenail off chasing a coyote in the woods. I think he hates the sock more than anything. A striped toe sock with pom poms really messes with the whole watchdog German Shepherd thing.

Loving our heatwave!

Working. At night.

8:32 pm to be exact.

It's not exactly the midnight oil, but it's beginning to feel late. Working at night in an empty office has it's perks: evening jazz, no phones, and no talking is quite relaxing and I can get quite a bit accomplished. As long as I don't get distracted by blogs (including my own.)

.

Ssshhh, don't tell anyone I was here.

R.I.P.

Saturday Night

Mix one free babysitter (gotta love family), two glasses of red wine, one outta-this-world pasta dish, throw in some adult conversation, a surprise sighting of friends at a restaurant, finish with a little ice cream and decaf and oila...Saturday night!

Happy Birthday V

I started this post Monday night, but never finished. Hopefully, that can happen later this week.

All in all it's been a good weekend. Laughter, tears, and cake. We had it all.

Today: my stepdaughter's birthday.... she's 28. Hard to believe I first met her when she was 17 and I was a mere 33. V. has always been wonderful, but it has been such a pleasure watching her become an independent young woman. Creative, funny, a beautiful smile with a smidgeon of moodiness....just don't wake her up too early! Anyway, she's visiting with her boyfriend, so I made her a buttermilk cake with berry filling and cream cheese frosting. It was probably one of the best cakes I ever made! Sorry, no pics, we ate it too fast.

OK, now it's Tuesday and I just discovered that we celebrated her birthday on the wrong day. It was today! Today is the 26th...my husband & I both thought the 26th was yesterday. Who knows what V. thought we were doing...she never said a word as we sang Happy Birthday and sat down to eat a special birthday meal. I suppose getting the day wrong is better than forgetting it. And today V. & her boyfriend graciously offered to watch the kids for a couple hours while we went to the show (Star Trek...a must see). What a saint.

More KISS

I sat on the couch last night, doodling in my sketchbook watching the American Idol finale, when Adam Lambert's version of the KISS song Beth caught my interest.

"What is he going to do now?" (Adam is always so creative with his songs.)

And there they were...my guys: Paul, Ace & Gene...KISS! Even though my KISS fling only lasted during my 12 & 13th year, that 13 year old's starstruck thrill remains. The giggles started, the notebook cast aside in exchange for the camera, and I began shooting the TV madly (you know, for the blog!) as I told my husband, "I'm really not that into them anymore." Secretly grateful for TiVo once again!

Lucky for them and us, the makeup hides wrinkles and the plastic "secrets" we all look for in our aging celebrities. They can keep this up well into their 70s, and their fans, by then in our 60s, can climb onto our guys' aching shoulders and excitedly fling our bras on stage. A scary sight indeed!

The KISS shirt is on today.

44

Good food, great friends...I'm living a Michelob commerical. Who could ask for more on your birthday weekend? A parade, a good scream on the Zipper, a babysitter, a party, a pretty cake, tons of mexican food, margaritas, and best of all, sunshine. Glorious sunshine. Maybe 44 isn't so bad after all.

Enjoying her first parade at our local Spring festival.

Not too sure about it.

Not quite summer yet.

Calories, schmalories!

A Day Off...Sort Of

I'm taking today off, an early birthday present. The kids are at the sitters and I have seven & a half luscious hours to myself! So many things I want to do, but I've got to choose carefully. After all, days like this don't come around often and I'm not wasting it by hanging out in bed all day, no matter how tempting.

I'm not cleaning, but I'm hanging pictures, moving furniture, hanging out in my pj's, writing on my blog, making another pot of coffee (why not get wired!), finishing a mother's day card (in my family, every holiday card arrives a week or two late & it's perfectly OK--finally, a dysfunction that fits my lifestyle!) The day is turning out to be pretty busy, but a pre-baby sort of busy. Better go and enjoy my time.