Why the Honda?

So we apparently have an eco-terrorist on our hands. Someone for two days in a row, has gone around and lit Honda CRV's on fire. The local news is reporting it as an eco terrorist. Which I think is weird, since everyone knows the Suburban is the poster child for gas guzzlers. But lo and behold, it is not. It isn't even in the top ten. The top 10 worst gas guzzling auto's are....

THE GUZZLERS

Mercedes-Benz G500

Land Rover Range Rover

Jeep Wrangler

Mitsubishi Montero

Lexus LX 470

Toyota Land Cruiser

Kia Sorento

Jeep Commander

Dodge Durango

Lincoln Navigator


So why target the Honda?

Watching them stumble and fall is so hard

what ever will I do when she doesn't get asked to the prom?

Last week dagny received one of her 99 bajillion emails from a friend and the title looked something like this

"Re:Fwrd:Fwrd:Fwrd:re:Fwrd:fwrd:RE: HILLARIOUS"



She opened it and thought it was SO funny that she just HAD to forward it to 8 friends so her her wish could come true.

I tried to explain. I really did. SHe begged me to teach her how to forward. I refused.

Now Dagny is one of I think 3 girls in her class who does not have an older sibling in either high school or middle school. And let me tell you, there is a very big line drawn. Part of that line is, there is no bored teenager sitting around my house teaching my daughter how to forward..not to mention cut, copy, paste, text, and add all the smiley faces.

So I guess she thought she'd "forward" on her own.

To a boy.

She thought the joke was funny and she sent it to her friend who is a boy.

Which, you know, included all of the email addresses for the entire 4th grade girls.

Which, of course, resulted in him sending all of them emails.

Which, of course, resulted in all of them sending her emails.

Titled "OMG, how COULD YOU ??"

And she is "all what the frick are they talking about?"

And I am all "OMG you are THE most naive 4th grade girl I have EVER MET....E.V.E.R. "

It pains me I tell you.

Stolen from Dagny

What I want to know is, which one did I miss....

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Happyness

Have you seen "The Pursuit Of ...?"

Because you should. It is a really, really, really good movie. Especially for your children to watch. Because there are about a million times where you can pause it and say "See? Do you SEE? Do you SEE how easy you have it ? Do you get it now? DO YOU????"

You know, if you can manage to squeak that out, which is pretty difficult when you are crying really hard. Damn movies.

Gratitude

1. The Pool. We picked up our key today.

2. "Our" new pony, Lucy. I have never, ever seen my daughter happier. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.

3. My wonderful family. Not just the three that live with me. All of them. It is so easy to take for granted my very large and very close family, I have always had a huge posse behind me cheering me on every step of the way, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

4. The wonderful night I had tonight at ACMA's "Art is my Voice" event. Those are some seriously talented young people.

5. 17 days of school left

6. The fact that everything is falling into place. Perfectly :)

gratitude

I used to try to write 5 things a day I was grateful for.... when did I quit?

* all of the wonderful, supportive women in my life. I wish I could list them, but I can't. There are too many. And I savor all of my relationships with them. Without them, I am nothing. I wish I could go to my funeral because it is going to be so much damn fun.


* my children and the fact that they are healthy. They can go through as much weird shit as they want, as long as they are healthy, growing and home for dinner.

* my home, my sanctuary, my soft place to fall.

* my husband. The man who is man enough to earn enough to allow his wife to stay home.

* tv dinners and them being on sale, 10 for $10 at Albertsons. I have never bought them ( despite my children's plea's) until tonight, but tonight I caved, and goodness....feeding each munchkin for $1.00 is heavenly ( and btw, they prepared themelves...bonus points !)

* my son has found a fab-U-lous boy scout troop. I know his experience will be as fabulous as dag's..if not better !!

Parenting Conundrum

Dagny has been a horse lover since she was two. But what little girl isn't, right?

She has asked Santa every year for a pony, and she has been disappointed every year.

She has been riding for a little over two years. I never thought it would last. I thought it would be like Tae Kwon Doe, ice skating, and ballet. I thought once she got out there, she'd tire of it quickly, realizing how much work it is, and move on.

But she hasn't. It has only deepened her love of horses and riding. She studies horse encylopedias in her room at night, learning all the different breeds. SHe lives and breathes horses.

Two days ago her instructor called and said words I couldn't believe. She has a horse, who is going up for lease, and she thinks she'd be perfect for Dagny.

She told Dagny last year that she could join her 4H group next year and Dagny could begin competing. Dagny would need a project horse and she said she'd keep her eyes peeled. Horses don't come up that often, as they are usually owned by someone who rides them. I mean, why else would you buy a horse? But this horse's rider outgrew her, so she has a new horse, and they don't really want to sell her as she is part of their family. But they do need someone to ride her and take care of her, etc.

And you know horses aren't exactly cheap if you know what I mean.

But it certainly beats buying one.

So we went and met Miss Lucy yesterday. I was hoping for some 45 year old nag, missing an eye who limped. But no. I Love Lucy is a gorgeous 8 year old horse and the minute she walked out I thought "shit". Dagny rode her and she handled like a dream. Both her instructor and I were amazed at how well they rode together.

IF, and that is a big IF, we were to lease her, it would be a huge time commitment. Dagny would have to give up every other activity in order to care for her horse. Which she is completely and totally 100% willing to do. Most kids do not find a drive or a passion so young. They do this and dabble in that. Which is good. Exposure is good. Variety is good.

So I am teetering on letting her submerge herself completely and totally into what she loves. Or holding off, let her continue to ride once or twice a week and keeping her in other activities. In her mind, there is absolutely no question.



And there is simply nothing else that makes her this happy....

My Mother's Day card

from 2nd grade Jack...


"Mother's Day is when you dress up in costumes and you ( pant pant) you scare (pant) people and you, wait, that's halloween ! o.k. Mothers Day is when uhhhhh get presents for your mom and don't go to school

lov, Jack

Why do they have to grow up?

Why I ask you?

It is 7:05 AM and my little red headed imp walked in in an outfit only an 8 year old boy would pick out. In his hand he clutched a purple spiral notebook and a pink pen.He looked at it, looked at me and said " I have made a check list of my day. I am going to go get started...."

Here is what he wrote

(1st page)

"Jack's Jurnel"

(2nd page each line item has a little pink box to check off)

"Today I

Get Up
get bress
brush teth
eat breckfist
get back Pack on
free time
car brive
school
read
home
school work
free time
binner
free time
t.v.time
bed time"

Damn I love that little man

karma

What are the chances of, out all the songs in the world, my darling Blake would be assigned a song by my beloved Sting?

I *heart* him so much.

He will not win, however, he will be far more succesful than either of the other two who will most likely win.

Tonight is the 1st night we have voted. Ever.

Silly

So close to summer, you can taste it

82 degrees predicited today. Last night we dined at the B's Skyline Estate. Everything was wonderful.....the weather, the wine, and the salmon.

Brian is pissed....

So I made da' blog private due to a falling out with a friend and he is fed up with the whole security issues ( along with the lack of hits)

Therefore, we are back on line and live. I know exactly who reads here. This blog is loaded with spyware telling me when you come, when yo go, how long you read, and how you found me in the first place. I know exactly who reads.

So because my husband is all up my muffin about the security I've clamped on da blog...I am removing it and letting you, and everyone else in your family, read it :).

So there.

Silly

Some pics of the weekend...

So I have made my blog private for now

as I feel the need for privacy. I had a falling out with a friend last week and she has been very hurtful. It will be interesting to see what the future holds.

Anyhoozen....

I had an absolutely fabulous Mother's Day Weekend

We headed up to B and L's cabin which sits on the Salmon River up on Mount Hood. My gracious hosts set up a three room tent for me and the kids and they spent the weekend running through the woods. Their fabulous 20 year old cousin taught them to fish and they did so both Saturday and Sunday. We had a delicous barbeque and some of the more adventuresome family members cracked open their first bottle of wine around 2:00 in the afternoon. I am no slouch, and although I held off until 5:00, I quickly caught up. We played Yahtzee and screamed alot. We broke out Pictionary, but when my aunt Vik started to speak in tongues, which was one of the funniest damn things I have seen....especially since she doesn't drink, we decided to call the game playing to an end and make s'mores instead.

Lucy was an angel.....well, when she wasn't trying to box with the other dogs who are all way over the hill and had no patience for the one year old pup. She hung around camp all on her own and loved fetching sticks in the river. She even caught a mole and shared it with the camp. Those are some really, really freaky little animals. We headed to The Resort for Mother's Day Brunch which was so, so, so good. My family watched in awe as Jack sucked down raw oysters, cracked his own crab, and ate plate after plate of chilled prawns....for breakfast. But ask him to eat a pea and he will throw up. What a freak.

We got back to town around 1:30 and B was off work and home by 2:00. He and the kids headed off to the store to purchase their supplies for the most yummiest Mother's Day dinner a girl could ask for. Dagny then went up to my room, closed all the blinds, brought in her CD player and put on some mellow tunes, lit candles and incense, and gave me a n 45 minute back, hand, and foot massage. Along with an Almond Joy that she purchased " with her own money". She "knew I'd love it since I ate them all out of her Halloween candy". I then tried to stay awake for Survivor, but after my weekend of staying up too late and getting up too early, I was way, way too tired. I don't think I even made it to 9:00.

Off to spend the day relaxing with my husband :)

Silly

My baby girl

Was so good tonight in her musical. She is very used to being on stage but not with her script, as it distracts from her performance. Which it did. But regardless, I thought the show was great despite 6 days of script rehearsal and only 2 run rehearsals. I have had actually seen the rehearsals and begged Brian to not make me suffer see it One More Time. But he insisted, so I went. And I am glad we did.....all the kids were wonderful :)

We will take off tomorrow night for the mountains and More Camping! along with swimming in the river. I have been home a total of one weekend in the past month. I love that we have taken the spring off form any sports and our schedule is open and free and we are able to just take off whenever we want. That combined with the fact that my kids don't have practices means they are spending the spring evenings with the neighborhood gang, which grows larger every day.... in their clubhouses, on their bikes, climbing trees, taking art classes, riding horses, runnin thru all the connecting backyards, and raising tadpoles.

Speaking of tadpoles, Dagny brought in a tub full of tadpoles to her science/english teacher who was delighted. We are now raising them and watching them sprout legs and loose their tails. Mrs. O was quite delighted. I brought them up in the evening and I was just happy they didnt all crawl out the kids were to walk in and find 75 flapping tadpoles hopping around the room.

Jack has found a new Boy Scout troop that meets at a better time than his previous one and he is pumped beyong belief. Yesterday they planted a garden and in August, we have a barbeque where they will reap their goods and then we will cook them up and eat them. Next week is a bug hunt/hike and the leaders have some very cute ideas planned. I will be stepping down as co-leader of D's troop at the end of this month so hopefully I can spend some time with his troop! Woe, the poor second child....

A Year of Magical Thinking

Have you read it?

I have and I loved it. My mother did not and I understand why. Too much name dropping.

There were parts of that book that made me burst into tears.

It is the true story of a woman who's husband dies and the year following. The thought of Brian dying never really crosses my mind. It never really crosses any of our minds. People who have had near death experiences, or lose a loved one tell you to savor each day, hold your child extra tight, etc. We have a moment and say yes, life is precious, we are blessed, and then the phone rings and you get an email and it's time to pick up the kids and the thought is gone.

But I read that book and if forced me to think long and hard about B passing on. And it hurt really, really bad. It hurt so bad I couldn't breathe. As she moves through the year, she finds small things and the memories and the what if's come.....the last thing he looked at on the computer, the page where he left off on his book. She's able to donate his clothes, but keeps his shoes, because when he comes back, he'll need shoes. For 40 years she has told him every morning about her dreams....she knows he doesn't care and is bored, but she tells him she needs to say them outloud to someone. After he dies, she quits dreaming.

All of the every day things we do that we completely take for granted....the talking out loud, how you watch TV together and have those little banters back and forth, the article in the paper you are reading that you would normally read out loud to the
other person, but they aren't there. She researches mourning and shares her finds throughout the book...how a person physically is affected by loss. Everything changes, their heart rate, blood pressure, all vitals are awry, many time for more than a year after. She shares the Emily Dickinson rules of etiquette when dealing with one devistated by loss. Don't ask if they are hungry, simply put a warm cup of milk, tea, or broth ( nothing more as physically their stomachs will reject it ) and they will instinctivly drink.

The book is a fast read, but her words resonated so deeply within me. If Brian were to no longer exist, I know I would survive. I have children and I have to. But I would never forgive myself for not letting him know each and every day that he is by far, the greatest thing that ever happened to me. How on earth a 24 year old boy got in his Trooper and decided to drive from New York to Portland and knocked on my restaurant door, will forever be nothing but fate. I will never ever forget the day I met him. Ever. Ever. I thought he was such an ass but he spoke with a thick Long Island accent that made my heart melt and my girly bits get woozy . We weren't dating, we were nothing more than friends, in fact my BFF at the time was in hot pursuit of him. But he would stand next to me and the hairs on my arms would stand on end and I would get goosebumps. Did somewhere deep down I know? Did my body know? Could I smell that he was the one? I was 23 years old. I barely knew what day it was much less who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But when he stood next to me, I would shudder as if I were freezing cold.

If he were to die and I were able to have one minute with him, if I could say one thing.....I would say thank you. Thank you for being the most amazing husband a girl could ask for. Thank you for choosing me and believing in me. Thank you for telling me each and every day that I am the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. Thank you for never doubting me. Thank you for turning our son into a complete gentleman at the tender age of 8. Thank you for showing him how to treat a woman with respect. Thank you for teaching Dagny the most beautiful thing about a woman is confidence, especially when she is filthy dirty from always climbing trees and catching snakes. Thank you for petting me to sleep every night. Thank you for never, ever taking a second glance at another woman in 14 years. Thank you for working your butt off to suport the kids and me . Thank you for working nights, weekends and missing most holiday so I could stay home and take care of the children. Thank you for all of the wonderful, wonderful memories we have created for our children. Thank you for being in all honesty, and I am not saying this because you are mine, hands down the best husband I know.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Girl Scout Camp

We took the girls into the woods for 3 days...

We have flag every morning...



We stopped at Multnomah Falls for dinner


Dagny and her mama


Purdy

What. A. Beautiful. Day.

It's 80 degrees and absolutely gorgeous. My wonderful husband has taken the kids to the trail by our house to go "snaking". The snakes love the sun and the kids love catching them. Needless to say, it is not an activity mommy partakes in. They then bring them home and release them in our yard to help keep the bugs in check.

I have developed a sinus infection and my wonderful, God-send of a doctor called me in a prescription for antibotics without making me drive my sick butt in there. Hopefully we can nuke this crap. He also called in a prescription for cough medicine with codeine. Do you see why I heart him ?

Dagny has a leading role in the school musical. The play is on Thursday and she was given her script on Friday. 6 days is not a lot of time to memorize al her lines. So we have been cramming Mark Twain all weekend. She has mastered her southern accent which s really, really good as it actually started out as some sort of obscure British/Irish accent.

This weekend is Mother's Day ( hint hint, honey) and the kids and I are heading up to Mount Hood to go camping at my uncle's cabin. The adults will sleep inside and the kids will sleep outside in a tent. Their cabin sits right on the river so hopefully this gorgeous weather will hold up and they can swim a bit. Sunday we are brunching here before we head back to Portland.

Have you all been watching the news regarding the little girl who is missing in Portugal? Doesn't anyone question why on earth the parents left a 3 year old alone in the first place? I mean wtf ?? I keep googling the story hoping to hear some good news.


Off to make dinner,

Sillypants





edited to add: They didn't bring home snakes....the brought home a bucket full of tadpoles. Our backyard is already crawling with frogs. We just added an entire new village

It only hurts when I breathe

So if I could just avoid breathing, I'll be OK.

God am I ever sick.

It started last week with a sore throat, which I was hoping was due to the root canal I had on Monday.

Which root canals= worst things ever.

But by Wednesday it had not gone and it hurt so, so, so bad. By Friday I was so clamy and hot and sick and not well and we had school Bingo night and hip hop and carpools and the day Would Not End.

I was up all night Friday being Sick. I cold not breathe and I was just so Sick. So I did what any normal person who is obviously very ill would do....I drove up the Gorge and went on a 3 mile hike because, right? That's what you do.

Shit.

Came home from the hike and thought "I'll just lay down for a bit"

Then 2 hours later I woke up.

We had a sitter coming and we had a wonderful evening planned. We were going to hit a new hot spot in The Pearl ( Bay 13....try it) I tried to rally.....I really really did. I took a hot bath and had a little talk with myself that went something along the lines of " Body, I know you are about to drop over dead, but listen up....You have a sitter and you are going out and you are going to have Fun. Got it?"

I curled my hair and it looked so cute and my outfit was so cute. And you should have seen my shoes! And I knew when all that didn't make me feel better, that I was fucked.

So I had a glass of wine. Because, of course.

Then another.

Then we went downtown and I had a martini and that did in fact make me feel better, because they always do.

Then sushi.

Then soup.

Then salad.

Then more wine.

And dinner.

And then we went home and I think I collapsed.

Because I thought my chest was going to open up...at least I was praying it would and the awful Green Imp that was living in there seizing up my lungs would just get the frick out.

I tried to get back up. I really did. Because we were going to buy The Fight and the DIngus's were coming over, and it was going to be FUN! And we were going to drink more WINE ! So I collapsed on the couch downstairs instead, in a fetal position. And they called and I said something like " No, really I'm Fine....see you in a bit...( hack, hack, wheeze wheeze spew spew ) Hello? Hello?"

Jerks


And then I went upstairs and slept for soemthing like 12 hours

And today there is a cough and a rattle so deep. I sound like a Camel non filtered 3 pack a day smoker.

But if I don't breathe, I don't cough.

But it's a Productive Cough !

Which means Yeah !! i am getting better !!








Side note.

The reason we chose Bay 13 last night was because 2 of B's best cooks have opened the spot and have encouraged him to come in and check it out. Half way thru dinner our waiter approached our table with some complimentary treats from the kitchen. He turned to my husband and said in his British accent "Sir, your reputation proceeds you...." He gets this a lot in restaurants. He went on to say that the first spot he ate in the states was my husbands and he was so impressed with the service, the detail, the staff, the blah, blah blah blah blah....and hence, was part of his decision to move here. My husband is like a rockstar in the restuarant management world and he thinks it is so funny.

The guy leaves and he does his " Yuuuuup" and looks at me and I roll my eyes and tell him dude you are so not that cool.

It's amazing his head fit thru the door on our way out.