21 Weeks and 3 days

Holy Smokes,
I am sorry that I have neglected to write! I thought about it often but honestly, even the thought of the computer made me nauseous! Weird.

It has been an interesting year so far. Mike and I have kind of been hermits. I have been rearranging anything that seems like it needs it and he is working hard in the back room. Right now he is putting the first touches of paint on the walls. It is getting to be very exciting.

I am feeling great. I have a lot of energy in short spurts so I have to use it wisely. I need a lot of naps and I definitely take them when ever the mood strikes and it's all completely guilt free! I love it. I am not sleeping well at night though and that is starting to bug me.

Today I baked a chocolate cake and brownies...not all for me! I was testing recipes. The brownies won. While the stuff was baking I was laying on the bed and decided to look at my bare belly. It was the first time I have SEEN it move. The baby is doing summersaults in there and it totally shows! I still find it amazing that this is happening. In the shower yesterday, I noticed that I am starting to lose site of certain parts of my body...unfortunately that does not include my breasts. They aren't going anywhere!

I am now wearing stupid maternity clothes. Pants mainly. They aren't very attractive BUT incredibly comfortable. I tried to make it as long as I could with my normal clothes but they were so tight around the belly area that it was just way to uncomfortable to even try to worry about vanity. I do wonder what is going to happen to my tattoo though. Hopefully it will just stay down there at the bottom of my belly and not get too distorted.

I obviously have my appetite back. I can eat almost anything but I still have a problem with chicken. I don't miss it at all. It's kind of a gross animal anyways, unless you go buy the free range Rosie birds that you know were raised humanely and not like rats crammed in cages...I should show you some pictures. Anywhoo...enough about that.

Last night we went to Sean and Ar's for Aidan's birthday party. He is now a giant 6 year old. It is hard to believe that the time is moving so fast. I was always told it would and now I believe it. It was fun because we got to see some friends that we have not seen since May! Strange because they just live in Eureka. Oh well, it was good seeing them and really, just like Humboldt, they haven't changed a bit. Carlton gave us one of the cutest gifts yet. I couldn't believe them when I saw them. Check it out...little baby Smartwool booties!

I promise I will try and keep up better especially with everything that is going on with us now. I will put before and after pictures up of the bedroom so everyone can see it. It is going to be very bright and cheerful which is a great thing.

I am going to go finish dinner and cleaning up. Tonight we are having braised lamb shanks with root vegetables and cous cous. Also a salad. Most likely there will be a chocolate dessert as well. You should have dessert with every meal by the way, it makes life way more enjoyable!

More later!

He's here.

Lootah Hall.

He is absolutely beautiful. M&C are parents, it is so crazy.
Check out the most precious little guy in the video.

Check out what I did today. I am pretty proud of myself. I know, the 'living room' is kind of close quarters but I like it better out of the way. Now, we can get that huge dining room table that I want and it will fit in the new spot! Cool!

This show cracks me up...

Well, I guess I just needed a break. It has been so long since I have written anything. I just haven't felt the creative urge. Now that all of these people read it, I feel pressure to be extra witty and well, I just can't do it on command.

I figured that I should put a picture of Jerky up here because it is named after him after all and I haven't been putting pics up of him lately. He is mad at me in this picture because I was trying to dress him up like a witch right before and well, needless to say, he wasn't happy about it. He sure is a handsome devil though, dontcha think?

I have been listening to a ton of music lately. There is so much good stuff out there. I find myself kind of in a rut though. I am drawn to the same types of melancholy men singers...I don't know what it is, but Damien Rice, Amos Lee, Ray Montagne and now this new guy John West are all so talented. What would life would be like without music?

I am almost certain that it would be pretty horrible.

We went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. This is one of my favorite pictures from the day. I like Marcus, he's funny and turnin out to be quite the ham. Cute picture of mom and Bob too.

This Saturday is ladie's night so there should be more pictures from our partying. We are in serious need of female companionship and want to have a day where it is just girly stuff. Even though I am not exactly girly...shopping and having coffee with the girls (okay, a cocktail, I'm not fooling anyone) is a necessity. So, there you have it.

We had dinner with Mica and Courtney on Saturday. 2 more weeks for her to 'drop her pup' as Euan puts it. Amazing...Mica a mom...crazy. Mike and I haven't had anyone up for dinner in a really long time so we thought that we would make a really tasty dinner. And we did! Well, Mike made most of it. First course was...well, I'll count the appetizers. I made roasted tomatoes and caramelized onions and we had them with bread and cheese, then Mike made Spinach Ravioli with Kabocha Squash and Chevre filling and Brown Butter Sage Sauce, then, Caesar Salad with my homemade croutons, and then for dinner (funny, we've already eaten a ton right? well, you know if you have ever eaten here, it is by now 11pm) we had braised shortribs over polenta and veggies. I made a little fig almond tart for dessert too but none of us could eat it all because we were so full and plus it was midnight. It was a great dinner though and we also had some lovely wines of course.

I like this picture because it looks like Mike is leaning forward because he thought he was going to get kissed or something...cute.

Okay, there you have it, my first blog in like a month. I will try and be better.

Now, go braise yourself some shortribs and listen to Death Cab for Cutie's song "I will follow you into the dark". Such a great song.

Later taters.

sc

Hi there. Here is a video from the fair today. I wanted to go because I have missed it for the last few years in a row. I was excited to be there and ready to buy something funky. I had $40 to spend on something that I didn't need. We walked around the entire plaza and I didn't see one thing. Then the All Species parade started up and around they went. Funny stuff. BUT, it was kind of depressing too because it just isn't what it once was. People used to get really into the parades and the dancing but it was kindof a piss poor showing if you ask me. I mean, why are those people in the parade if they aren't even dressed up? They are just walking around with their arms crossed holding up cardboard signs. Is that what the All Species was like before? I don't remember it being that lame.

Here are the last two pictures. Now you know what my room kindof looks like. Well, I need to go to bed and get some actual sleep tonight. Tomorrow is Friday...woohoo!

Okay, I am having a heck of a time posting pictures. So, it looks like I have to a new entry for each stupid picture, so that's what I am going to try to do until I figure something else out.

Sorry.

Mint Ice Cream is my favorite...

We were able to get into my classroom today. The color that they painted it is nausiating. When they asked me, I picked out blues...blue counter tops, floors, etc. They said, 'oh yeah, that's what I thought you would like!' and then I show up three days ago and it looks like...I don't know...really bright and just gross. BUT, I am refusing to be negative from this point on and I am choosing to be excited instead. So check out the before and afters...there have been a lot of changes and it looks a lot different. I am going to sincerely miss the various flourescent countertop colors but I bet I will get used to the new ones.


The new room is nice with all of the shiny silver appliances. It's amazing that they did this for my program. That makes me feel good...not good enough to stay for years on end, but good! (staying positive as best I can).

Can you fly this plane and land it?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.

Well, off we go. I thought I would get a good night's sleep tonight but no, of course not. But it should be fun. I will be in my newly remodeled class room with my new, shiny equipment and my kids will all be happy so I BETTER be too!
I am actually going to bed in about five minutes. I just need to go over in my head before I pass out, everything that I have to do for the next three days. This includes the two wedding cakes that I have to do...yikes.

Mike is in all his glory. He loves this. He spent time putting his room together...meanwhile I am sitting in front of the computer putting together a syllabus for the next year. Ugh. I procrastinate soooo much. But we will both have fun in our own ways. I just can't wait until the caterings start. That is when we have the most fun and get the most out of the class.

My neck looks a little tweaked in this picture but it was the only one that we had from the concert.

Okay, wish us luck! We will be sleeping in on Sunday for sure! So don't call before 9:30!

Here are two songs by Ben Harper. He's great and if you don't know what he sounds like, then listen to one or both of these.

Check this one out too. It was soooooo fun.

No, say it ain't so!

Tomorrow is the day, we will be there bright and early and it all begins again. A whole new set of kids with a whole new set of issues...good and bad.

We just got back from the Bay Area. I had so much fun. Ben Harper was AMAZING! He was so good and I just can't even put it into words!
Here we are having a little cocktail before we go in...man I'm short!

Here they are after the cocktails. We were really excited because it was first come first serve as far as seating went so we were going to get some really great seats or concrete slab areas...they don't really have seats there.

We took a video...see if this link works. I am new to this so we shall see. It was a great time and I can't wait to go again! It will be quick and you really need to look close. Hank and I are dancing and you can't really see Anna...but then you can totally see Ben Harper...did you know that he is married to Laura Dern. weird.

Gotta go to bed. So, go listen to By My Side by Ben Harper. It is a great song.

Goodnight and wish us luck for another school year!

Here is a cake that I did on July 15th. This was the Saturday that we all went up to the ranch...and swam in the river and laughed soooo hard. The last weekend that I saw Tim. It was a lot of fun that night and there was much tequila involved along with headlamps. What a bunch of nerds we are sitting around a dark cabin all staring eachother in the eyes with those damn headlamps! Funny.
Nice cake though...except it you look closely, you can see the ribbon getting grease stained from the buttercream...but oh well. They loved the cake!

Nice...


Here we are jammin'. Uhhhh...I don't exactly know what song we were playing but I am almost certain that it sounded good. This was Tim's birthday party.



Here he is later that night...he had a lot of fun that night. I think that we all did but he's the only one that ended up on the floor.

There is now a link to a blog for Tim and Brian off to the side there.
It's tiki torches at twilight...a song by David Lindley who he listened to all of the time.

I still have no words to say. I can't form thoughts. All I have in me is drained out...I feel so sad and lifeless. Ugh. I can't look at pictures, I can't sit and think, I can't focus.

This is the most shitty deal ever.

I can't imagine a time when I won't cry for Tim and when I won't be sad anymore. It seems impossible.

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever."

I miss you...uncontrollably.
I never knew that I could hurt this much.

No, no, don't speak--for some moments in life there are no words.

We made it back. I apologize for not writing while I was away...but you have heard all about it! I could sit here and give you a day by day recap but I don't really think that it would do my trip justice. It was so much deeper than that for me.
When I tell people that I went away and worked, they don't understand. I was completely aware of what I was in store for. LIndsay told me and I knew...that was that. Everyone around was amazed that I was there doing that and quite frankly, it's sad that everyone is so amazed. Could they never imagine helping a friend that asks? That is just what I will do when she says she needs help...fly across the U.S. to do it. And it was hard and a little tiring but who cares I had one of the best times that I have had in a VERY long time. The reason for that is because of the time that I got to spend with LIndsay and Frazier... They are two of my favorite people and I just adore them...I can't really put it into words. Ever since I have met Lindsay, I have felt connected with her and now, I feel lucky to say that about Frazier too. It was a really good thing for me to go and I feel better about my life knowing that I have them as friends. It was really hard for me to say good bye and thinking about being there and thinking about them makes me weepy, I can't explain. I just hope that you all get to meet them soon.

When we got back to town I had three days to throw together a 5 tiered wedding cake. I have learned my lesson again about letting them handle the flowers. I say, "make sure that they are small please, otherwise they look really strange on the cake...". and they say, "oh yeah, no problem..." Um, yeah...problem. I show up and the roses are large and have bloomed. They had rose buds too but they were giant rose buds, it was weird, they were like abnormally large. So, I just took the roses and jammed them into the base layer of the cake and then just did the best I could with what I had and then peeled out in the driveway. At least I heard that the bride was happy and that everyone was raving about the cake...so, I feel okay about it but not as good as I could have felt if everything would have gone perfectly...
Oh well, live and learn. I feel no guilt in cashing this check!
So, that's all I have for now. I am now just back home and back at it. I feel ready to do more...I feel awakened and ready for harder challenges whatever they may be. But I am now, once again, on my path to have my own business and I am kind of tired of waiting for...well, what exactly am I waiting for??
Tonight for dinner, we are having 'Red Pepper and Corn Soup with Basil'. Sounds good to me.
Later ya'll.