Long Time No See....

Sorry we have been so conspicuously absent for the last two weeks. It seems that between my folks' visit and Princess M's Birthday extravaganza, I have had no extra time to collect my thoughts. Much less write them down, edit them, add pictures, edit them again, and then just say "what the heck" and press Publish Post.... Now everything seems so past tense, it feels odd to still be sharing it with you. However, since some of our favorite people in Kentucky, England, Georgia, Virginia, and Maryland couldn't be here to party with us, I will share with you a couple of the 286 (no lie) pictures I took at an all afternoon Birthday soiree. This rapid shutter photography is going to run us out of computer memory and external hard drive space quickly at this rate.... Of course, it has nothing to do with my lack of discrimination as a photographer. Doesn't everyone take 10-15 shots of the same scene hoping to get one worthy shot to post or share?

We started the shindig with the delivery of the Pink and Purple Bounce Castle at 10am. The last child unwillingly climbed out at 6pm when Mr. Bouncy insisted he must return the Castle to Salinas. The kids were sorry to see it go, C, not so much. His love for all things safe and orderly was definitely tested with an afternoon full of roughly thirty kids ranging from age 1 to age 13 and a couple of us in our late 30ish years testing the rules on bounce house capacity. We had brought along our own small version, allegedly for the "small" kids. You can imagine how that worked out. The small tykes were most often right in the middle of the big bouncy with a mere dozen other kids doing pikes and pile drivers all around them. The small bouncy was full of ambitious boys trying to dive over the sides.
This is only 6 kids, right?

Let me out, please?


As I said, FUN was had by all. C had his fun when we made an adult run to the Mini Mart after the crowd dwindled down to the most hearty of friends and cleanup crew.

We did learn one other invaluable lesson. When you invite an entire class of 23 Kindergartners and their families, including siblings, to an all afternoon birthday luncheon, DO NOT, for any reason have a real (aluminum bat required) pinata. The bat was actually not the problem, no small thanks to my friend Beth, who repeatedly risked life and limb to jump in the fray and wrestle an aluminum bat from a blindfolded, swinging, sugar-hyped kid.
The problem was eventually (after we finally let the 13 year old take a swing) the pinata will break. At this point, I cannot describe the chaos that ensued... Suffice to say, if I had not had an extra jumbo bag of goodies on the side, they're might have been a mutiny. For all future parties, pinatas are for ten or less small, hogtied children.
That's my girl!


Ultimately, the birthday girl decreed the party a TOTAL smash success. That was more than enough repayment for the ten+ hours my Dad and I spent chopping and mixing to feed the masses. Incidentally, 66 cupcakes was exactly 1 cupcake too many... Party ON!

Just Doing Our Part....

We are so "green" since we moved to California....

We water our weeds...



and our mulch....



and occasionally something we actually want to grow.....


Other than that one random day of sun, we have recently had almost continual rain and fog. Thus our normal attire has been this.....


I have always been the "glass half full" girl but I will fully admit I may have some Seasonal Affective Disorder going on. I need sunlight.... So, if in its infinite wisdom the USAF is ever considering sending us to England, or Seattle for that matter, I may have to be medicated....

Seriously though, our lack of blogging has really just been because weather has kept us in. There's only so much you can photograph and talk about that happens in 1250 square feet, without completely rendering your audience catatonic. That being said, the weather is improving. Princess M has a birthday this week, and my parents arrive on Tuesday. Surely, with all this going on we will soon have stories to tell.

Have a great week!

I've Been Tagged...

OK, being a relative greenie in this whole blogging universe. I am not really even sure what being tagged means exactly, but I am a stickler for playing by the rules so here goes my effort.



Blunoz tagged me with a meme.



THE RULES:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post THE RULES on your blog.

3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.

4. Tag 7 people and link to them.

5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.



As you all know, talking is never difficult for me, but oddly enough coming up with seven things I am willing to reveal about myself is actually tough.



Here is my best effort.



1. I have an irrational and obsessive fear of snakes. I have fought very hard to tackle this since I had children, as I would never want them to feel frozen with the kind of fear I do whenever I encounter said demons. I have actually taken Princess M to touch a real live snake just to show how "pretty" and "interesting" they are. Yes, those were quotes from me to M. I guess it goes to show, I will lie to my children when under duress.



2. I am a die hard Green Bay Packers fan from as far back as I can remember actually watching football. I have never been to and have no ties with Wisconsin. I met Paul Hornung at a friend's house when I was a kid and the rest is history. Sadly, most of my years as a fan have not been so productive. This year was looking to be an exception and then those darn Giants had to beat us, at home, in the snow....



3. I love to read, almost to the point of obsession. I will read anything I can get my hands on. I like everything from People Magazine to Poe, Sean Hannity to the Bible. I have been known to read the back of a shampoo bottle in the restroom. It's one of the things I miss most as the parent of young children. I hope by the time they are both in high school, I will have caught up on the last few years in the world of fiction as for now I seem to only have time to read my favorite few blogs a day and to quickly peruse The Monterey Herald.



4. I currently am listening to KLOVE Christian radio almost exclusively. As a lifelong music lover, I have just recently discovered how many REALLY talented musicians are in the Christian genre. In my opinion, there are almost NO good new rock musicians out there anymore, but KLOVE has some great artists with amazing, rocking, and actually inspiring songs. It's seems an odd twist of fate as most of the other music I listen to is old 80's hair bands, metal mania fare, and a few favorite country artists. It's definitely quite a contrast in content but at least I am able to answer M's questions about the lyrics....



5. I am a rabid editor, not for grammar (quite obviously), just spelling. It makes me CRAZY to find misspellings in print. Chalk it up to being the child of two teachers with some obsessive, compulsive traits of my own thrown into the mix.



6. As I am coming dangerously close to the end of my third decade, I have a new found love for cinnamon. I have had an aversion to the stuff most of my life. Suddenly, this year I can't get enough. Go figure. (Remember, the rules state, these items are supposed to be random...)



7. I apparently am much better at talking about things of which I have no idea, than things I actually know something about. Why else could I have spent the last 35+ years with rarely a lull in the conversation, and today when asked to talk about myself, this is all I could come up with?

I guess we just stumbled upon the previously unknown way to shut me up....





I hope you all found this little exercise enlightening in some way. I found it a little painful and fun just the same. I hope that some of the folks I am tagging will share much more exciting and entertaining tidbits... Unfortunately, I don't know seven other people to tag at this point, but here are those I do.



Elizabeth at Oxford, Abridged

B at Slightly Irregular

Glynda at The Richters "Party of 5"

Shelley at Williams Family



Thanks Blunoz!


P.S. I did NOT order a new computer because I am cheap and stubborn and not yet quite ready to throw in the towel. Today I used this lovely machine three separate times without getting the boot, so here's hoping she has some more life in her until someone who knows something about these monsters can come save me from myself.

Computer Blues...

I can't honestly say that a lot of exciting stuff has been going on around here. We have been rather boring the last couple of weeks. However, we could have discovered the answers to all of the questions of the universe and we wouldn't have shared them with you due to frustration with our computer. I should say my computer, his works just fine and to keep it that way, I NEVER touch it. So I am tempting the fates again by trying to complete one short entry. I believe we, and I mean he, have almost selected our, and I mean my, next computer and hopefully the UPS man will be winging my way soon. Of course then there will be setups and installations and all sorts of things I will not in any way get involved with in the interest of family harmony. We work VERY well together. We both know our strengths and otherwise stay out of the other's way. It's a beautiful partnership!

We did finally have a Valentine's date on Friday afternoon as our babysitter had recovered from an earlier illness. You know you are anxious for some adult time when you call your babysitter the next day after she has had to cancel to tell her to heck with giving our two year old some rare bug, just come on over. In all honesty, we THINK, it was just allergies. Anyway, C and I are so out of practice for this date thing that after a lovely childless lunch overlooking Monterey Bay, we couldn't decide what next to do with our remaining hour. Wouldn't everyone have gone to the Med group at the Post to pick up the Medical records they keep calling to harass us about? For those of you in the military, it should be no surprise.... When we were leaving Altus, I made a VALIANT, and I mean politely demanding, attempt to hand carry our medical records knowing we were going be using civilian providers here. OH NOOOOO, that is never possible. "These records belong to the US Government and you are not allowed to hand deliver them. We will send them when they are officially requested by another Government agency, blah, blah, blah." In December, four months after we arrived here, we started getting the calls from the Army Med Group to please pick these up as "we don't want to lose or be responsible for them."
Imagine that. Needless to say, I have the utmost faith in the integrity of the system. I almost typed that with a straight face.

Anyway, it wasn't a wasted trip. I now know thanks to a big sign at the clinic the three days a week on which I can go to a clinic specifically to have my warts and/or toenails removed. Apparently, there must be quite a demand for those services....

We did enjoy seeing some of the local wildlife on the trip up there. When I say up, for those of you who haven't been here, the Presidio sits on the top of one of the highest hills here. It has a gorgeous view of the bay and a plethora of quite tame deer.

Small disclaimer... I didn't have my new camera with me....

C snapped this yesterday, again old camera, but check out the wee princess' expression...

DOGgone Great Days....

First, let me say I am sorry for the scarcity of posts recently. We have been quite busy as Princess M has had two weeks of shortened school days due to conferences. It's amazing how little you can get done when you have two kids and all of their assorted buddies to entertain all day long. Top that off with a Daddy feeling quite under the weather and in midterms and we haven't been home much.

I don't have a lot of great anecdotes to tell, most of our activities have just centered around getting outside and enjoying the fact that we again have sunshine.

So here are some shots of our most recent day at the beach.

This was one happy kid. She had 7 canine companions to play with on the beach.

These two did some serious shelling... This is no easy task here as very few shells make it to our shores through the incredibly rough and rolling surf.....

Here's the newly shorter haired princess with some of their finds....

L and I also met friends at the aquarium this week. The only part she was really interested in this time? The slide outside the otter exhibit. She really knows how to milk an educational experience for all it's worth. A true chip off the old block.

Finally, we visited our 2nd favorite mouse this week as DisneyLand is a bit of a drive for a midweek visit....

Technical Difficulties...

Sorry to All.

I have been trying all morning to post a much overdue entry but am currently contemplating throwing my computer in the Pacific. I will attempt again later when my anger issues have subsided....

Thanks for your patience in my time of fury.

I love technology, and it loves me...

P.S. I think AT&T Yahoo, my beloved ISP, is out to get me because I had the nerve to mention I was a voting Republican....

Mondays are Reinstated...

Okay, I have relented and am again allowing Mondays to proceed.

If you know us REALLY well, you know that last week actually got crazier (worse) by Wednesday. We are however closing the chapter on last week and moving forward, Mondays and all.

When I stepped out on my front porch this morning, I was greeted by the following images. If these don't make you optimistic, even in the midst of a presidential election, nothing will.

I never did make it to Big Sur to see the Gray Whales last week, as every time we were set to head out it started pouring. The Bay was also visited by a resident pod of forty Orcas from Puget Sound this weekend. So, my goal for the week is to complete a trip to Big Sur and attempt to take some pictures as well. Cross your fingers for us and of course we'll share any and all successes.

Hope everyone has a great week. For those of you in Super Tuesday states, don't forget to vote tomorrow!