What a difference a day makes....

AAAaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My youngest little darling is making me so frustrated!!!

I've had it!
That's it!
Put a fork in me! I'm done!
I'm about over the edge!
I'm gonna do something extreme!!!
I'm gonna,... I'm gonna run with scissors!!!

No, I'm gonna FIND a way to resign as "Mom". Today I'm mailing my resignation letter to, um,... hmmm,... who would I mail that to???
OK, resigning isn't gonna work.

I know! I'll move away! To a foreign country! AFRICA !!!! I'll live with the Maasi!

Nasty, NASTY attitude today! Grrrr... :o(

WARNING- Approach with caution - Subject make act as if experiencing PMS and a lack of coffee and chocolate simultaneously!

Grace under fire - aka - MOM

I knew a long time ago that my Mother was an amazing person. And the longer I am a Mom, the more I admire my own Mom.

Being a Mom is a difficult job. And it doesn’t get easier as kids get older, it gets more difficult. The problems are bigger, more expensive, more earth shattering, more life changing and you have less control. The tears, the heartache and the helplessness can be overwhelming at times.
I don’t think there is a more difficult job on the planet. Well, maybe being a Brain Surgeon. Because like a Mom, they too have a lot of responsibility to do their job right, there is a lot of stress, and one mistake - one “oops” - and someone could be toast. That’s a lot of weight on someone’s shoulders. But, unlike the Mother, the Brain Surgeon can retire after a certain amount of time, with a nice cushy pension. There is no retirement from being a mom, it’s a ‘rest of your life’ kind of job, kind of like the Supreme Court, I think.

And there certainly is no cushy pension, hell, there’s not even a cash income for Moms. That’s why there are no “professional” Moms. How could there be? There simply is no way you could pay ANYONE what a Mom is worth. All the counseling, doctoring, chauffeuring, teaching, spending, preaching, mentoring, seamstressing, chef-ing, cleaning, policing and protecting, nurturing and loving…. and Moms work 24-7 without end. Hell, Bill Gates couldn’t afford her! So why would anyone in their right mind even WANT this job????

Simple,… because it pays so good. No, there’s no cash income, Mom’s are paid in a different kind of currency. Something better than money, something absolutely priceless. Mom’s get bouquets of dandelions, silly knock-knock jokes, wild stories – (some actually true as they get older! Aaaaahhh!). Moms get a never ending supply of hugs and kisses, smiles and laughter, songs and dances, and endless opportunities to burst with pride. Mom’s get a best friend, and a lifetime of love. (And sometimes even grandkids!) When you think about it, who WOULDN’T want this job! :o)

Yeah, it’s a tough job. But the pride and fun is worth every tear and heartache.

Mom, the longer I am a Mother, the more I admire you. You are truly an example of “grace under fire”. You are a pillar, a rock, an angel, a friend, and a stellar example of how to be a good Mother. Thank you. I love you. Lala


P.S. I may be the last one to figure this out, but I found out that by double clicking on a picture in our blogs, that you can see the picture full sized. (I HAD to see Kate’s snowflakes better!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

"As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world." ~Adabella Radici

I thought today I'd mention a few things that I am thankful for, because I have been so blessed with such wonderful gifts in my life.

These are in no particular order but may be grouped more by thought process.

I am so incredibly lucky to have my 2 beautiful, healthy daughters. Nothing brings more sunshine into my life than hearing their voices and seeing their sweet faces. They are both tough girls, far stronger than they realize. I admire them and am VERY proud of them for that.

I am so glad that I have sisters and a Mom who are funny, entertaining and enjoy getting together, even if it's only in our blogs! I guess I'm also quite lucky to be able to find such pleasure in something as simple as our blogs.

I'm thankful that most of my greatest memories involve FAMILY.

I'm glad our whole family is close and that we are a 'functional' family without the 'dis'!

I'm glad I have a car that gets 40 miles to the gallon now that gas is over $3.

I'm lucky to have a job that I enjoy, and to work with a whole bunch of fun, dedicated people.

I so glad that Dad and Mom taught me to enjoy nature. I can find peace and pleasure in little things like the frogs in my houseplants at work, the huge V's of geese flying over head and that foolish little hummingbird that I STILL see flitting around my front yard. I would miss so much of life without that appreciation. (I think I'm gonna set a trap and catch that hummer so I can fed-ex him south.)

I am very grateful for my health. I took it for granted for so many years. But as one gets older, you certainly appreciate it more and realize how easily it can slip away if not cared for properly.

I'm awfully glad I've lost 11 pounds, because I know I'll be putting ON a few today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another example of... "Be careful what you ask for..."

Guess what? This face is gonna be famous! I'm gonna make Lisa buy me a Mercedes Benz!!!! Yeehaw!!!

Lisa got that job with Sports Unlimited (I think that's the name.) It's a Portland modeling agency that has the contract for Nike, Addidas, Colombia Sports Wear, Fred Meyer, the Oregon Lottery, etc. It's a big agency.

She came back over here this morning for a 2nd interview with them, and they signed her. It's actually going to be sporadic work, especially right at first until they get to know her and she gets to know them. So she'll either get another job or go to school, depending on how much work she gets from them.

But hey, she's got a contract, and an agent! How cool is that! And I'm sure it will help her resume when it comes to getting into broadcasting which is what she wants to do.

But now she has to move BACK over here, and figure out what to do next. .... sigh....

But my LISA is coming back to Portland!!!!

Another Bright Idea!

I wish I were a genius so that I could implement some of my wonderful ideas. I realize I must be pretty close to even come up with them, but I’m just not sure of the actual “nutz and boltz” of my ideas. Ya know what I mean? I know my helium filled key chain would be a hit, and Gob knows my snot car would solve a lot of problems.

But what I want to do now is power the country with body fat. That’s right, put “tubby” on a tread mill, and take the dams out of the rivers.

You see, I have recently discovered that the human body – MY body – is the most fuel efficient machine ever made. It’s really amazing – annoying as hell, - but amazing how it manufactures and stores fuel for later use.

Since I’ve been trying to loose weight, I’ve done a lot of research and I found out that in order to get rid of the roll around my mid section, I have to burn more fat that I take in.

Sounds easy enough, except that even when I cut out fat from my diet, my damn body turns everything ELSE I eat into fat! The problem is, all these calories and carbohydrates - if I don’t burn them off, (in ADDITION to the fat I’m supposed to burn off!) all of them get turned into fat and saved for LATER! Now, how fair is that??? I don’t NEED them later! I don’t WANT them later! But tough shit, they get SAVED for LATER! So basically, I have to work hard enough to burn off fat, calories AND carbohydrates, or I get to keep the love handles! Who came up with that brilliant idea??? Oh, I suppose I could cut out fat, calories and carbs and exist on, um… tap water?

So,… for the first time in my life, I understand why there are so many extremely over weight, obese, people in the world. If I could start some of those REALLY BIG ONES on treadmills hooked up to power plants, I could power Portland for weeks between “feedings”, and I’d be helping all those nice people loose weight, AND I’d be making the world a better (looking) place!

Pretty brilliant, huh? Aren’t I amazing?

Yee Haw!!!

Road Triiiiiip!!!!!

We may not make it to Vermont, but I'm sure we can at least get as far as Mt. Home.

I told Bob that Jodi, Kate and I were going to get our noses pierced next time we're together. He laughed, and thought I was just teasing.

"He don't know us too well, do he???" ~ Bugs Bunny

I'll bet being a nudist takes all the fun out of Halloween." ~Author Unknown

Happy Halloween!
I've never been that big on Halloween, it's ok as a kid, but after my 20's I pretty much lost interest. But apparently I'm a minority there, because Halloween is the 2nd biggest retail holiday after Christmas. Simply amazing to me.

At work, everyone had to dress up. I have some great costumes that I've made over the years, but they were all in boxes in Boise, so I had to make due with what I could find here. After shuffling through my closet, and dragging Lisa out to the local "GoodWill" store, I found the makings of a pirate. I honestly think it was the first time Lisa had ever been in a second hand store - and I don't think she was impressed. She claims she got "gungfungeria" on her had from touching something there.

I didn't get to take Gracie to work with me, but I had to at least pose with my parrot. I don't think she liked the feather thing hanging off my scarf. She was eyeing it suspiciously.


This 2nd picture looks like I have gas, but really, it's just an attempt at that evil pirate "Aaarrgh!"

We had such a good time answering the door for all the little "Trick or Treaters". We had a million of them! And here's what all the fuss was about. We found these gummy eyeballs to give out, and word spead like wild fire! We heard kids down the street saying to other kids, " Those guys over there are giving out EYEBALLS!!" It was fun giving out something gross, and the kids loved getting them. Go figure.


Katie and her friend Adam got into the spirit and carved there GREAT pumpkins for our porch. Katie carved the owl, and Adam did the rats. They turned out so cool!



Well, hope you had a great Halloween!