BFF

Today is Jenny P's birthday. I won't tell you how old she is, just that she is older than me and always will be :0) I have known Jenny P. since Kindergarten and I really can't remember life without her. She is an amazing person. Even though we are extreme opposites (think Felix and Oscar)she is always my friend. We have a little birthday tradition and I just got off the phone with her. It has been a few months since the last time we talked. She lives in AZ and I miss her a lot. Even when I'm a bad friend and don't call as often as I should, whenever we talk we always pick up were we left off and hit the ground running.
She will be coming up for their family's annual "escape the AZ heat" trip in June. The plan is to go out to the lake and let the kids swim so Jenny and I can pretend we are 16 again, talk about boys and soak up the sun. I can't wait.
Happy Birthday Jenny P!!

Oh the drama

Okay, so I know I've mentioned that my preschool adventure has been a bit eventful over the last few weeks, but yesterday took the cake. Try as I might I try and avoid drama (I can hear the snickers, but I really do try) However, I am the kind of person who doesn't like to see people upset and I do try and "fix" things when I can. Last night, I had just about had it. I had spent the entire weekend on the phone (with the exception of the 2 hours I spent sitting in a hail storm during Ben's baseball game) and I was done. I couldn't talk about stuff any more. So I just made one more phone call to the person at the heart of it all. I'm sure glad I did. It was a great conversation, so much got cleared up and now (knock on wood) everything is better or at least in a MUCH better place. It is amazing how much damage a person can do, simply because their feelings are hurt and they are feeling left out. It boggles the mind. Anyway, I'm feeling much better and the key players are feeling better and I can now enjoy the remaining 3 weeks of my preschool career.
In other news, Ben got 2 hits last night. He was very proud. Since the kids pitch, there are a lot of strike outs and walks. It is rare the ball actually gets hit into play. Ben is 3 for 5 this season which is pretty good. We really need to have some decent weather for the games. Although it didn't hail last night, it was cold and the poor kids were freezing out there. Our next game is Saturday morning at 9 which means Ben needs to be there at 8:30. Ugh, that will be tough. Joji flies out of town that morning so I will be solo. Hopefully it will be decent weather (how Washingtonian is that? We don't hope for good weather, just not awful weather)
Oh well, I can hear birds singing today and I see some sun, so maybe it will be a nice day. I might even get my tomatoes in the ground, how fun is that? :0)

Blogging

I find a lot of comfort in the fact that blogland seems to be a little slow these days. Many it seems are feeling less inspired to write as blogs go unupdated for longer than usual. That makes me feel less lame. I am also finding a lot of bloggers share their challenges of wanting to create an interesting blog that folks want to read. I too struggle with this. When Amber did my blog design, she asked me about the blog and what was my purpose for the blog. That was kind of a toughie. I started reading blogs that were mostly about homes and decorating and then found the "mom" blogs. As to what kind of blog I have, well, I'm not sure. I wish I could feature beautiful vignettes from my home, but I don't think laundry piles count. I guess I'm a mom in the trenches kind of blog. The challenge with that is sometimes the trenches really suck. Like right now and it is hard to keep things in perspective. I know things get better, they always do, but the past few days have been unreal. Who know a PRESCHOOL could off up so much drama.
Anyway, I will try and look on the bright side of things. Today Ben has a game. Hopefully we won't play through another white out hail storm. Seriously, we chose baseball over soccer so we wouldn't have to play in crappy weather. Yesterday we had sun, then snow, then sun then hail. It is crazy!! At least we aren't up north where the snow is actually sticking. We have gone all year without a snow day and I really don't want one now. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good snow day (I think even more than the kids) but I don't want summer vacation being pushed back at all. I can see the end and it is near (not near enough)
Okay, that is all for this random post. Hopefully, things will get a little more interesting. Happy Tuesday everyone :0)

What I should be doing....

Yes, I probably should be doing laundry right now along with a million other things. (It seems that someone set off a bomb when I wasn't looking) I'm also kind of in overwhelmed mode. It has been rush, rush, rush lately. So today, I'm kind of slacking around. I should go run copies off at Ben's school for the Teacher Appreciation committee, but that would require a trip into town to buy the kind of paper I want and I just don't want to do that. I'm on a mission to spend as little as possible, so I feel compelled to shop for bargains. This of course, takes time and energy and I'm pretty much out of energy. Tonight is the PTA budget meeting and I feel like I should be there. However, I spent 2 hours at the co-op budget meeting already today, so I'm a little budgeted out. I think I just might zip an email to the treasure with my 2 cents. Also, the meeting is at 6pm and I would rather go hang out with my friends than squabble over budgets. Can you tell Spring Fever has set in??
Tomorrow is another game for Ben. I hope it warms up a little bit. We have a wicked wind whipping around and that makes it VERY chilly. I will remember to bring my gloves this time. Didn't think that I would need them, but I did. It is hard to write when you fingers are frozen. I had this problem last year and Joji got me some wool mittens that open at the top to expose tipless glove fingers. They are perfect and I can't wait to use them.
That is about all that is happening in our neck of the woods. The M's play the Angels tonight and a couple of wins would be really great. Okay, I'm off to catch a quick nap before Ben gets home.
Happy Friday Everyone!! :0)

Play Ball (or at least try)

Today was opening day for Ben's baseball team (he was also team captain). He moved up to "AA" ball this year and it is a whole new ballgame (seriously, no pun intended) Last year, Ben's team was undefeated. They were pretty strong in both hitting and fielding (it was rare for any ball to get past the infield) The boys had been together for a couple of years and were finally starting to actually play as a team. They were also the "old" team with many kids at the top of the age bracket.
This year we are back to being the young ones and have to deal with kid pitching and base stealing. The biggest change is the use of a hard ball. Last year, Ben would smack the crap out of the ball and it wouldn't go anyway. This year, they do.
On Ben's first at bat of the season he sent a doozy over the head of the left fielder. He was getting extra bases for sure. When he got to second he was sent to third and we couldn't believe it when he was waved home.
We were all screaming and cheering. I don't think Ben has ever run that far that fast. As he was heading toward home, in comes the throw from the cut off man and there was going to be a play at the plate. Ben slides, but is tagged by the catcher. To make it worse, Joji was the home plate ump and had to call him out. He was sooooo close. Oh well, he was still totally stoked. I wish I had taken a picture, but I keep score and unfortunately don't have an extra set of hands. Ben's next at bat was just as exciting he hit a little blooper up the first base line and ended up with a double. I was hoping Ben would hit again, but it was 7:00 and it was cold!!!! There is just something wrong being wrapped head to toe at a baseball game. We had a practice game on Saturday and it was amazing. Warm and sunny. We were joking "what's wrong with this picture". Hopefully, the sun will make an occasional appearance at some of the games.

As I type this the M's are up 4-1 over the A's. Hopefully, they will win as well.
However, as any true M's fan can tell you, it ain't over til it's over. No lead is big enough going into the 9th inning. We have a few bugs in the old bullpen and hopefully they will work themselves out soon. Not to mention that JJ Putz, our closer, is on the DL. Why can't everyone just stay healthy. Oh well, go M's. :0)

Acorns and Roasts and Baseball, Oh my

I survived yesterday. Just barely, but overall it was a pretty good day. I remembered to go the appreciation assembly at Ben's school. Joji came home early and that was a TOTAL lifesaver. It ended up being just me and Lily (not that Sam and Enz would not have sat quietly in the bleachers with the little hands folded, but I'm sure the idea of playing in the backyard was more appealing.)
I knew I was getting recognized since I am on the PTA executive board. It is so rewarding to work hard for an organization for 4 years, hear how wonderful you are and then have the principal not only butcher you last name, but give up half way through and tell the crowd "I never get it right anyway". I guess it shouldn't worry me that an educator cannot read a name that is pronounced phonetically. (insert a BIG eye roll)
After that I was getting ready to leave. Lily was climbing out of the backpack and it was a million degrees in the gym. They were handing our the Golden Acorn Awards and I wanted to stay and cheer for my friend Liz who was getting one. After they called her name, they started with the next recipient.
Now for some reason the committee likes to do a little "This is your life" thing before they announce who won. I'm not sure why they do this. Who cares where you grew up. Who cars what your hobbies are. This is a service award, not a personal ad. Anyway, when they started off with she grew up in FW. I knew it was me. After the 5 minute recap of my childhood, they got to the portion where they listed my service. I gotta say, felt a little proud. I do a lot for my kids' schools. I do it because I enjoy it. Even though it does cause a bit of stress for me every now and then (or everyday, right Joj), I feel strongly that if you want change you have to be wiling to help make it happen. Next year, both Ben and Sam will be at Browns Pt. and I'm sure I will be up there all the time. Although my goal for next year is to cut back and only take on projects that I really enjoy. We will see how that goes...
Once Lauriefest was over, I had to get going on the DND dinner. I thought I had picked an easy meal. I thought I had planned accordingly, but that was not the case. I really need a double oven. I guess I didn't realize that everything had to be baked. Not only baked but all at different temps. And to top things off the 80 minute roast took 2 and half hours. It was a good thing that I had apps already to go. I made the Jimmy Dean meatballs in apple butter I saw on Jolen's blog and although they sounded sketchy, they are very good. Better yet, super easy. Once 9:00 rolled around, the food was ready. The boys got Garlic & Rosemary Rubbed Porkloin Roast, Scalloped Potatoes, Homemade Bread with butter and roasted garlic (note to self: roast more garlic~yummy!!) and a big Spinach Salad. I went to get the camera because the spread looked pretty good, but got sidetracked mid route and you know how that goes. Oh well, Even though it is a lot of work to pull off these dinners the guys are so appreciative. Plus they will eat anything and more than willing to be my recipe Guinea pigs.

To cap of my night, the M's beat the Angels. It was a great game. How can you not LOVE RAUUUUUUUL Ibanez?? He is one of my favorite M's. I was so sad when he was traded to KC a few years ago. But he is back now and doing great. He is my favorite kind of player: quiet, humble and oh so talented. If only my "Big Sexxy" Richie Sexxon would get going. I guess not chasing those low and aways with a 3-2 count is a start, but this is his contract year and he needs to start doing some damage if he want to stay in Seattle.
In other baseball news... with 38 minutes until game time, Ben just now informs me he is unable to squat in his baseball pants since they are too tight. Lovely. I guess a trip to Big 5 is in our very near future. Being the mean mom that I am, I'm making him wear them and tough it out. I want to see if he tells Coach Ted that he can't play due to a wardrobe issue. He won't and he will be fine. This is Ben's first "kid pitch" game more affectionate referred to as HELL. Should be interesting, just hope Ben does well and doesn't' take another pitch on the chin.

New Digs

Just a quick post today. (It is 5:25 and I'm already running late)
But I did just want to send a quick shout out to Amber over at Shabbee Chick Designs for doing my bloggie revamp. I love it!!
If you are thinking your blog could use a pick me up, she is your gal: nice, creative and super speedy. Seriously, treat yourself and your blog and check her out and tell her Laurie Anne sent you :0)
Okay, so I just had to share my impending day of crazy. (Disclaimer: I am not complaining, I just find it funny how when it rains it pours)
8:15ish Drop off Sammie at the Browns
8:30 Go do some testing at our local highschools (of course I'm out of materials and I need to pick up more before I can test)
11:00 Pick up Sammie as well as Enzo and Lilly. Make a quick stop at the store to pick up stuff for dinner. Just found out that ALL of the DND boys are showing up what and what I had origanally planned (a big Cobb salad) won't be enough food. That is okay, plan B is pork loin and scallopped potatoes, just as easy.
2:00 Volunteer Appreciation Assmebly at Ben's school. I hope I remember to go. I might have to have Joji call and remind me.
4:00ish Enzo and Lily get picked up and DND guys start showing up.
Hopefully, I will be able to get some housework done as well. For some reason it seems a little easier to get stuff done when Enz and Lily are over. They are so good and they keep Sam occupied and since Lily is little I can't be online. It is amazing how much more time I find during the day when I'm not blogging :0)
Okay, so much for my quick post. I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm predicting a very early night for me since tomorrow is Ben's first baseball schrimage and then I'm off to help build shelves at the preschool :0)

Boom Chicka Wa Wa

Kate over at Our Red House tagged me the other day and I'm finally have a chance to post.
Here are the really simple rules.

Answer each of the five questions.

Tag five bloggers you would like to pass the meme to.

Have them link back to you and to this post as the source meme.

1. What food do you consider the best “date” food? In other words, what meal or food item do you think is sexiest to eat in the company of someone you would like to look sexy around? Anything that can be eaten in small bites. Finger foods are also good like crab and lobster, but not fried chicken or ribs.

2. What well-known person would you like to share a meal with—with or without clothing. (saying whether or not clothes are involved is optional).Just because I think it would be really interesting, Rosie O'Donnell and yes, she would be fully clothed.
Not so clothed... Kevin Costner (circa 1986 as Crash Davis, of course)

3. What does your perfect breakfast-in-bed look like? (Food AND the details, please. Candles? Music? Flowers? Hot tub? Dancing girls? Tomato basil bagel with garlic cream cheese, fruit (either grapes, strawberries, or sliced plums and nectarines)
Of course it would be sunny and I would have a pile of magizines. Best of all while, while I lingered hubby would be cleaning the house (the right way).

4. What do you consider the best application of whipped cream to be?On someone else's dessert. Not a fan of the whipped cream.

5. Oh-God-No, Biff, the yacht is sinking! You are sent to the galley to retrieve the food. What luxury food items do you snatch first? The champagne? The caviar? Smoked Salmon? Truffles? Chocolate? Or something else?Hmmmmm, if there left over fillet Mignon, I would grab that. On second thought do I want to be swimming in shark infested waters with a rare meat?? Probable not. I would probably grab the Diet Mt. Dew/ Code Red. I know it isn't a luxury item, but if I'm on board it probably is too.


The five I tag are:
Miss Lulu
WSU Laura
Lisa
Jessica
Holly who needs get going on her blog :0)

I'm off to another crazy day. Oh the joys of being a mom :0)

Zoom, zoom, zoom

Once again, the days have zoomed past.
Our anniversary was really fun. We went to dinner here and saw our good friend Paul who manages the place. He took very good care of us and of course the food was delish!! I broke down and had the steak. Joji got the halibut and we swapped half way through. I wish halibut wasn't so expensive, it is sooo good. I don't know why I don't cook more fish. It is so easy and good for you. I may need to send Joji fishing so he can stock my freezer. Anyway, dinner was great and we arranged for our friends to shuttle us to and from the restaurant so we could let our hair down. Now I have know Joji since I was 14 and I have never seen him "with his hair down" if you know what I mean. He is the responsible one who makes sure everyone else is okay. It was a little funny to see him so giddy. He just sat in the backseat and giggled the whole way home. Joji is not a giggler so it was extra funny.

On Saturday I was able to exercise my cat wrangling skills as the preschool took part in the Jr. Daffodil parade. It was so much fun and the weather held which is RARE!! We had a lot of folks show up and it was a real hoot. The theme was something like "The Daffodil Storybook" so the kids were encouraged to dress up. Sammie was rocking her best Snow White, but of course decided last minuted that she didn't want to wear it and of course her coat was in the car. Luckily we had gotten a pretty good parking spot so it wasn't too much of a hike.

The parade went pretty smoothly considering we had 15 3 and 4 year olds on bikes and scooters. Of course we had a nazi mom encounter. We were lined up behind some dance troop and she was very upset that some of the kids were too close to them. She turned to me and informed me that I needed to control the kids and keep them back. Well, I had to put down my bonbons and tell the slave boys to quit fanning me. It never occurred to me to try and keep the kids corralled. It was a good thing she was there to point this out.
Once we got going (and the 50 foot spacer was in place) the kids had a blast. My friends had dressed their kids up as the the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf. It was pretty cute especially when the piggies made a break for it and the wolf (the older brother) tried to catch them so they wouldn't interferer with the dance troop. Even though our walk of glory only lasted less than 10 minutes, it was really fun. Once the parade was over it was off to the cabin.
Since Ben had baseball and Holly had to work, we ended going up in shifts. Matt, the little kids and I went up early to get everything ready. Joji, Holly and Ben were coming up later after work and baseball. Now our cabin is not big, but the property is so Enzo and Sam had lots of room to run and explore. They built a fort (and by they I mean Matt) they threw rocks in the river and just played. The cable was down and so there was no tv and I don't think they even noticed. It was nice being outside (more times than not, it is raining and we are stuck inside)
I hadn't been up there in a long time. A year and half ago, there was a huge flood and we lost about 50 feet of our bank. The properly looks so different now. The flood washed a lot of the vegetation away as well so now it is more open, which is kind of nice, but it took a while to get used to. The upside, we were able to build a little fire pit in the front of the house overlooking the river. I can't wait for nicer weather as we plan to do some more "camping" up there. A kid free weekend is already in the works and should be fun.
On Monday the kids went back to school and the day was spent running random errands. I had a PTA executive board meeting and all I could think was how happy I will be when I am no longer on the PTA board. Not that is was a bad experience, I'm just ready to pass the torch and take a break. Tonight is the preschool board meeting and I hope it goes well. The great white tshirt debate of '08 has seemed to simmered down. Hopefully no one cares anymore and it won't even come up. It must be nice to live in a world where your biggest concern in life is if parliamentary procedure was followed. But I digress...
This week promises to be another busy one. I have double booked myself on both Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday I have a Teacher Appreciation Committee meeting and a field trip for Sam. I'm hoping to pawn off Sam so I can go to my meeting, but most likely we will just bail on the field trip or try and go with another class. On Thursday, I'm scheduled to work in Sam's class, but she won't be there. She will be at the dentist. Joy of joys. Her last day is May 16 and I can't wait.
Ben just got up and I probably should feed him and get him ready for school. Although it is only 6:20 and I probably could talk him into going back to bed. Yup, that is the plan. I hope everyone has a good week. I look forward to getting all caught up on everyone's going ons. Kate tagged me before the weekend and I will post that later today. It is a good one, but does require a little bit of thought.
Happy Tuesday!! :0)

10th Anniversary: Mars vs Venus

He said...

She said...

...and the universe continues in complete harmony.

I am a wee bit evil...

Feeling a little rebellious, and in the spirit of the day, I sent the following email to our preschool board:
Good Morning Everyone,
I just got a call from our insurance company and it seems the the settling has caused great amounts of structural damage. In fact the amount of work it would take to repair the damage is far greater than the insurance company is willing to pay. In fact, for safety reasons, the recommendation is for the school to be demolished.
I know, I know, after all our hard work it has come down to this. Also unfortunate is the fact that NE Tacoma has no available spaces for our program to move. The churches in our area already have programs of their own. So it is with a heavy heart to let you all know that after almost 50 years this will most likely be the final year for the Northpoint Co-op. This is such a difficult email for me to write. Just take comfort in the fact it is the first of April and I will see you all after spring break, refreshed and ready to enjoy spring at the co-op,
:0)
Wishing everyone a very happy April Fool's day. If you are looking for a good way to get someone here is a classic (check out #3)that Martha stole from our family. Enjoy