My Adventures in Colorado

December

2008-12-02T11:55:00.002-07:00

One reason for the infrequent posting lately is the fact that we don't have internet at home right now. So I make use of my hour at the library to get my emails read and whatnot. But detailing my life and posting pictures has definitely gone by the wayside for now. I do plan on resuming in the NEAR future.

That said, I have some time for a brief update now. :)

Thanksgiving was good. My dad, my aunt Elly and my cousin Zach came. It was really good to see them and show Elly and Zach my house. Thanksgiving itself we had 17 people at the house. It was good to have so many people around. Showed me that even though I am far away from everything and everyone I knew and loved growing up, I am okay. There are good people and things everywhere. Change isn't necessarily bad. This thanksgiving was very different from any in the past, but it was good. Not 'better', but good all the same. Our friends Josh and Jamie and their 3 kids came, Kanga, Dalyssa, Kathy and Kathy's boyfriend Dan came, and of course, my dad cousin and aunt. Full house for sure. Josh and Jordan spent the day in the kitchen cooking. Dan and Kathy cleaned afterward. My aunt and dad bought most of the food. All I really had to do was provide the setting and do some basic clean up before and after. Kids had fun playing with their friends.

Now I have two major essays due in a day and a half and I have yet to even START. And finals are coming. Lots to work on.

Still don't have snow yet which is fine with me. It is definitely colder than it was though.

And my hour online is almost up....

Quick Catch Up

2008-11-12T14:23:00.002-07:00

It's November already. Craziness.

The kids are doing well.

Kiddo is in 6th grade. She's made a close friend and she likes most of the kids in her grade. She's on the 'news team' for the school. 6th and 5th graders are allowed to sign up to work on it. They do all the reporting and camera work under the supervision of one of their teachers and the clip gets aired once a week for the whole school. She's getting all A's in her classes. She's still in martial arts and her sensai hinted that she might be testing for her green stripe soon. (Belt levels go: white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, blue with a green stripe, green, green with a brown stripe, brown, black.)

Boo is in 1st grade. She has several 'best friends' this year. She is doing really well in school and loves her teacher and everything. She has lots of kids around the street to play with.

I'm back in school finally. I'm taking two classes. Next semester I'll have 3 and then I'll get my AS and transfer to CSU. We've made some good friends here and see some of them on a pretty regular basis. I'll work on taking pictures this week. It's been way too long.

And Now November

2008-11-03T12:51:00.002-07:00

Geez, it's really been a while since I posted anything here. I'll try to get caught up sometime.....

September

2008-09-21T01:16:00.001-06:00

And now it's September.

It's August

2008-08-01T16:31:00.001-06:00

That is all.

A Plea

2008-07-29T10:20:00.000-06:00

I have VERY few pictures of my mom. She didn't like having her picture taken and people kinda respected that (unfortunately now) so there are very few of her floating around. But I know some of you have a random shot here and there. Marilee just sent me some from Em's wedding from Dan's camera and low and behold there was one of my parents in there! I don't care if it's not a good shot, I don't care if she's just in the background, if you have a picture of my mom, PLEASE, PLEASE send it to me! If you need an email or physical address, let me know and I will provide!

Not Much

2008-07-28T14:59:00.002-06:00

I know I haven't updated in a long time but there really isn't all that much going on to report, and at the same time I've been busier than I have in a long time so I haven't been online just bored and messing around. I'll just hit a few high points:

~We've been going to the park every Wednesday.
~We found a movie theater in the area that does a free kids movie on Thursday mornings, so we've seen Shrek 3 and Horton Hears a Who.
~We've been biking around on the bike trails in the area.
~It's been pretty hot.
~My dad was out for the Fourth of July. We had a very nice visit.
~We are making a trip back to California for a few short days in a week and a half.
~We are looking forward to seeing NIN in September.
~I am going to Georgia to see Julie and Myke in a couple weeks.
~School is starting soon.

Clouds and Plants

2008-06-28T22:14:00.002-06:00

Sunset:

That sunset was fun to watch. :)

Funny purple stickery plant/weed in the back yard:

Yellow weed:

Rose bush:

White flowers in a vine weed thing that is taking over the lawn:

I THINK these are the very beginnings of our carrots!!

And these are the potatoes:

The beans haven't sprouted yet and I'm still procrastinating on the pumpkins. I need to get them planted soon or there'll be no point.

Monday Stuck in a Tree

2008-06-28T14:59:00.001-06:00

A couple friends came over last night. One brought her dogs. My cat had been outside during the day before they got here. He usually goes out for a little bit and comes back, sticking very close to the house or following me around. I went to bed about 1:30, drunk and not really thinking about anything but my head hitting the pillow. I woke up at 5 this morning to the realization that I hadn't seen Monday in a long time. He always sleeps in our room at night and he wasn't there. I'd gone downstairs around 4 to tell one of the dogs to quit barking and he didn't come running, miffed that he'd been shut out of our room. So I woke up with the realization that he was not inside the house. He's been allowed out since we moved here, but he'd never been out all night before. And before we moved here, we lived in an apartment where he was supposed to be inside all the time, so he was rarely out. I went to look for him. I started looking inside thinking maybe he was just okay with not having had dinner (yeah, right) and was still asleep. Nothing. I knew then that my fear when I'd woken up and realized that he was gone was true; he'd been scared by the dogs when they got here and fled somewhere. I went out (pj's and all) and started looking around the house, softly calling for him. With the dogs still in the back yard, I didn't expect him to be sitting by the front door waiting, but it still unnerved me that he didn't come running when the door opened. It took me a while to find him. He was up the tree in our front yard, about 15 feet up, perched very awkwardly in the crook of a branch. His poor little feet and tail maintaining balance very precariously. He had the saddest look on his little face and mewed pathetically when we made eye contact. I was at the same time relieved that he was okay and broken hearted by how sad and pathetic he looked way up there. I tried coaxing him down, calling to him and patting the tree. He shifted his weight a few times like he might try, but stayed put. By this time it was about 5:45 and I was tired, so I went back to bed with the knowledge that he was at least safe and I knew where he was. I got back up at 9:30 and went out to try to coax him down again. I pulled out a ladder and tried coaxing again a bit closer to him. Still nothing doing. He was scared. And WAY out of my reach. The tree trunk goes straight up to a point above my head where it splits into two branches, then continues still almost vertically upward. He had no easy way down. Finally after much calling and patting and coaxing, he made his way down to the split where I could finally reach him when I was on the ladder. I reached to him and pulled him down getting a few scratches in the process. He was SOOOO glad to be back in the house, and I fed him and gave him a few treats and petted him. He's stayed put in my room since.

'Spring' Weather in Summer?

2008-06-25T14:30:00.000-06:00

We just got back from our weekly park trip. All summer so far, Wednesdays have had the worst weather of the whole week. Wind, cold, rain. The rest of the week is pretty nice, but come Wednesday, no one wants to go to the park. (Except me!) Today's was FANTASTIC! It started out pretty nice, just a little cloudy, but after we'd been there for about an hour, the clouds got darker and darker. Then thunder. One of the other kids that was there freaked out. Her family moved here from Florida and she's not used to thunder and lightening and she's going through a phase where she's scared of almost everything anyway, so she about lost it. After a few booming thunder crashes there were a couple really bright lightening bolts through the sky. Then some more thunder and it started to rain. Just a bit, just enough to get the ground wet. It's still thundering every so often. After the other kids left because of the rain we walked from the play area across a path to a place called 'the Secret Garden'. The Secret Garden is a metal artwork tree that stands maybe 12 feel tall in the middle of a circle. The ground around the tree is low, then there's a raised border maybe 6 or 7 feet out from the tree. Just beyond the raised border, the ground goes back to the level it is inside and there's a cement pathway all the way around the circle. There's a triangular bench on the east side of the circle with a plaque that dedicates the garden to a 12 year old boy who died in 1997. The whole area is very pretty and has a very nice feel. So we walked around the circle and stood inside the circle in the rain and talked for a little while. My favorite time of year is springtime in California. March and April. When we got rain. Warm days, cool nights and rain. Apparently in Colorado, our 'spring' weather happens in June and July. We moved here in August so we completely missed it last year. It was just beautiful. And I feel so refreshed and alive right now.

Picture-Spam

2008-06-20T13:46:00.004-06:00

Kids' Pictures from Yesterday

2008-06-15T22:09:00.003-06:00

....when they still had longer hair. *sigh*

Boo was so proud of being able to cross the whole bar.

To Be Continued. . .

sigh - Kids

2008-06-15T13:35:00.002-06:00

I am very glad I got pictures of the kids yesterday. I woke up this morning to find Boo's hair much shorter than I tucked her in bed with. She decided it was too long this morning and took it upon herself to cut it. Luckily it's not stubble-short, but it is about 8 inches shorter. I evened it up for her after I finished mourning the loss of her long hair and it looks pretty cute. And Kiddo decided to have me trim hers as well. New hair cuts all around. *sigh*

Yesterday:

Today:

Kiddo's doesn't look that drastic. Yesterday:

Today:

Random Giant Fluff-Thing

2008-06-13T20:56:00.003-06:00

It LOOKS like a gi-normous dandelion.

That's kiddo's hand next to it. An almost-adult-sized hand.

Apparently it's a 'sul-si-fie'.

Neighbors

2008-06-12T13:59:00.002-06:00

It's really nice that we live in a REAL neighborhood now with kids and everything. On our street are several kids between about 3 and 11. There's 3 & 5 year old girls, a 7 year old girl, a 4 year old girl & 5 year old boy, a 3 year old girl & 6 year old boy & 9 year old girl, and a couple boys we just met who look about 7 & 9. My kids are in heaven. They go out and roam from house to house until they find someone who can play. And with that many families, there's USUALLY someone who can. They have gotten used to their rules pretty quickly too - they MUST make sure I know where to find them. Each time they go to a new house, they have to come back and tell me. Boo's been in trouble for forgetting twice, and I haven't had a problem with Kiddo. I'm pretty pleased with them being able to GO OUT and play. They can play in other kids' back yards and roam the street a bit. They have enough to do that they're not constantly in the house on top of me and when they ARE here their stuff isn't old news because they've been doing so much else. It's a good thing. THIS is the way kids are meant to be in the summer. I am very glad they can have it now.

Finally Warm

2008-06-10T19:32:00.001-06:00

Well, it's FINALLY warm here. It actually feels like it might be summer now. We've been biking to the library and the park and today we washed the car. So far summer looks like it will be good.

More Pictures

2008-06-07T15:56:00.002-06:00

It rained a lot last week and the sunsets were beautiful.

We went for a walk once it dried up a little. There was this bird pulling a really long worm along the ground. We watched it take it from the grass to the middle of the street. We seemed to be scaring it so we snapped the picture and moved on.

Most Saturdays we get together with some friends and play monopoly. Sometimes we take pictures. This time, some actually came out pretty cute.

Monday!

We had a set of 4 mug-style soup bowls. One got broken a long time ago, before we moved. When we got here, we had 3. One of them was weird. Visually it was the same as the others, but in the microwave, it got SUPER hot. It took a while for us to figure out the hot one was always the same one. Once we started looking to see if there was a visual difference, we found that it had a . . . line on the bottom, almost a crack, but not. Some problem in the finish of the bowl. So we tried to keep that one out of the microwave. But I guess going through the dishwasher was still affecting it. At some point I noticed a hairline crack running up one side. It wasn't a big deal, but we kept an eye on it. Then a few days ago, I saw that the crack continued along the bottom and partially up the other side. I put a little pressure on it to see if the crack was still only on the surface and the sides pulled apart a little. I decided that I didn't want to risk having it break with food in it, so I pulled a little harder. It split cleanly in half. Maybe the coolest dish-related thing I've had happen in a long time, lol.

Just Some Pictures

2008-05-29T13:07:00.003-06:00

For lack of anything interesting going on, I'll post some more pictures.

A few days ago (maybe a week?) the kids went to Chuck E Cheese and did that stupid ride-on picture taker thing. A couple actually came out really cute.

Dandelions!!
The field at the park is FULL of fluffy dandelions. I couldn't resist blowing the fuzz off (several) and then kicking the fuzz off many more.

And, yes, I really was wearing long sleeves at the end of MAY! *grump!*

It's been really rainy lately, so in the lower parts of the field we found MUSHROOMS! (I love mushrooms for some reason. They're just neat.)

And someone lost a glove.

Clouds in the sky always make for pretty pictures.

Another new plant is flowering in my front yard. They're little flowers, this is a pretty close close-up.

And the iris. The original flower already wilted and died, but the same plant has more coming.

Random Realization

2008-05-27T19:53:00.002-06:00

My house has no hall closets. We have a closet under the stairs that's like a coat/tool closet, but there are no linen type closets. I'm trying to figure out where to put towels for the kids' bathroom and there really isn't a place. The downstairs bathroom has storage shelving, but it's a pain in the butt for them to have to go downstairs to get a towel for their bath. And they usually forget. And then I have to run down to get a towel. So we started stacking them on the back of the toilet, but that's not a good solution either. I got a hutch-type thingey, but it's not big enough for towels. Maybe I'll get a wide shelf.

Tornado Update

2008-05-23T10:00:00.007-06:00

So I guess the tornadoes did some damage in other cities and Weld County is in a state of emergency. Fort Collins got some dark skies, some rain, a little wind (very little) and we could hear thunder and see lightening a few times. Nothing much. The kids were fine with their lockdown. The 5th and 6th graders didn't get to eat lunch until it was over, so they passed out chocolate milk and crackers. There was a lady walking around to the different classes entertaining the kids with a baton. She was pretty good - I was entertained, lol.

The animals were acting a little oddly, but not going crazy. (And I don't mean Monday, he was perfectly fine, lazy thing that he is.) There were some doves sitting in the shelter of a tree in the backyard. I have never seen birds sit so still for so long. They were probably there for a good 45 minutes. The squirrel was sitting in the rain eating. Usually the squirrels scamper out of the rain, but I guess he could feel something unusual in the air and felt the need to stuff himself. When it stopped raining in the middle of the day, the sun poked out and this robin was playing in the water running down the gutter. I was watching him from downstairs and went to go outside to take a video of him, but when I went outside I scared him off. I went back in and he came back, so I went up to the Boo's room and opened the window and took this video from upstairs. It came out pretty well for being so far up.

This bird was cracking me up. He'd stand in the water, letting it run over his legs and feet and then dip down bathing himself over and over. Then he'd run around and go right back in. He must have been doing this for about an hour. Seriously. And at one point, I looked into the tree in the neighbor's yard and there was this squirrel perched way out on a limb that was swaying every time the wind would blow, eating something off the tree branch. It didn't look like he was very stable, but he seemed to feel otherwise. He readjusted himself a few times, and went back to eating.

And, these pictures really don't do it justice, but here's the sky pictures from yesterday:

Tornado Watch

2008-05-22T14:10:00.001-06:00

We had some rain and some dark skies, but as of yet, nothing else. The kids' school was under 'lockdown' - no kids allowed to leave and everyone was sitting in the halls away from the windows in the classrooms. The lockdown lasted about 45 minutes during the worst of the weather. The sky is significantly lighter now, but we still have a tornado watch until about 8PM.

New Plant Stuff

2008-05-22T10:06:00.002-06:00

So, way back when I planted the tulip bulbs, I also planted some other bulbs, threw away the package and then promptly forgot what they wanted to be when they grew up. The best way to describe them is that they looked like green mohawks sticking out of the ground. And they looked that way forever. The tulips grew up and bloomed and withered and died and we still had the mohawks. Well about two weeks ago or so, I noticed one mohawk looked like it was starting to do something other than sit around and be mohawk-ey. It started to have a bulge in one of the leaf-like things. A little later I saw proof of activity - a bud forming.

And the stem with the bud got taller and taller. Yesterday (or the day before, I forget) we could start to see some purple.

It's a pretty little thing, but I didn't think I'd pick out an ugly flower. There's a cluster of similar-looking things - though not as pretty being all peachey-pink - in (technically) my neighbor's yard that have already bloomed.

And here are two of the other mohawks in all their glorious mohawkeyness, tall, fan-like, skinny things.

The base of them seems to be thickening like, maybe, they'll start to get their stems soon too. (They want to be like their big brother.) Today the bud opened. It rained last night/this morning, so the blossom is covered in droplets of water.

When I told Lindsey that I thought they were irises, she got a little concerned thinking I'd said they were viruses. Such a doll.
I think my mom would have liked these ones and seeing their growth. *sigh*

Boo found another unexpected pretty-thing in the back yard. Looks like a really pretty weed to me, lol. (Not the greatest picture quality on this one, the one time I didn't take a duplicate just in case - *eyeroll*)

We have another unexpected (odd) visitor popping up in the front yard. It's really quite pretty with reddish-purplish spots on the leaves. But I have no clue what it is.

And, heaven help us, the BUSH IS MAKING A COMEBACK!!!

And no update on my plant/backyard life would be complete without a picture of Mr. Squirreley. Though, this Mr. Squirreley appears to be a Mr. Squirreley Jr.

The Sky

2008-05-19T09:31:00.003-06:00

Colorado gets ten points for its beautiful skies.

Random Stuff

2008-05-09T18:01:00.002-06:00

Last pictures of the tulips. I let the Boo take the rest to her teachers for Teacher Appreciation week.

Giant bee that was hanging out on the side of the garage:

And one of the Kiddo:

Goodbye Jeff

2008-05-06T12:23:00.001-06:00

Last week, a good friend was riding his motorcycle home from a poker game at 1:30AM, hit a truck bed liner in the road and crashed into the center divider of the freeway.
Jeff Ferry's obituary in the Ventura County Star

Squirrel and Flowers

2008-05-02T11:44:00.002-06:00

One of the things I was looking forward to in owning a house rather than living in an apartment was being able to feed the squirrels without some wacko calling management complaining that the squirrels were 'keeping her from going out onto her patio'. As such, one of the first things I bought last August was a little wooden squirrel feeder and a matching styled bird feeder. Well, the squirrels are smart and not too picky about their food and any time I fill the bird feeder, they decide it's for them instead of the birds and hang gracefully off the branch above to get at the seeds

There is a tree in the back yard that I didn't think too much about. I didn't know what type of tree it is or really care, a tree's a tree, right? Well, this tree had a surprise for me! In this case, a tree is not necessarily just a tree. In the mornings, my habit is to open the curtains right away. I like to see what the weather is like out, check on any squirrels/birds/flowers in the back yard and let the light in. My curtains are black, but light and color still do penetrate the fabric, though definitely in reduced amounts. When it was snowy, I could see the blank whiteness through the curtains, but most of the time, nothing really stands out and shows. One morning I woke up to see an odd PINK through the curtain. The tree out the window had, over night, burst into little buds! And the next day most of the buds had opened. This was several days ago now, all the buds have opened and my tree is most definitely pink.

The tulips in the back yard are red and yellow and the other day I saw this one:

Kind of an almost combination of the two colors.

And the last shots of the pretty black tulip before it met it's fate in the belly of a rabbit:

And last on the tulip front, the other well developed black tulip plant. This one has several buds and looks like they'll start opening in the next few days.

Not mentioned in the title, but I'll throw in this cute picture of Monday at the end here:

Tulips Are Gone :(

2008-04-30T09:14:00.003-06:00

My Boo had one of the neighbor kids over yesterday. I found out this morning that they picked all of the tulips from the front yard and fed them to the rabbit. And dug up a couple of the bricks lining the sidewalk. I shouldn't feel so sad over flowers. But I was really enjoying watching their growth and development. I feel like part of the good in my life is gone. A small bit of daily pleasure - checking on them, noting changes, taking pictures - is gone. The pink ones are now completely gone. There are some black buds that hadn't bloomed yet that are left, so in a few days or a week they'll bloom. They picked a few from the back yard too, but it looks like they left the majority. Damn kids. Though I suppose I should be glad for the opportunity to discuss destruction with something so innocent and benign. And I have to say that I am WELL proud of her for admitting to picking them. I thought a wild rabbit had come and eaten them, but she spoke up and said that they'd picked them. I love how honest she is.

Holey Rusted Metal Batman!

2008-04-28T11:58:00.001-06:00

Okay. So. We moved here in August. At the end of August. So we've been here for 8 months. We bought new bathroom stuff for our bathroom within a week after moving in. We chose a set that's kind of a brushed steel look. I really like the look of the set, but the trash can is a little wide for the spot we want it. It's between the toilet and the sink cabinet. You can lift it straight up in and out or tilt it way over and pull it forward, but it doesn't fit pulling it straight forward. Not a big deal. The first month, I noticed that the cup and soap dispenser were leaving little rust marks on the counter. What kind of IDIOT designs something that's supposed to be in a MOIST environment that RUSTS?! *shakes head* I was cleaning the bathroom just now and went to wipe up the rust spot and I picked up the soap dispenser. There was a blob on the side of it. I rinsed it off and inspected it. There is a smallish HOLE in the side. After 8 months, the soap is EATING away at the metal??? WTF?!? I think we need new bathroom stuff again.

Plants

2008-04-28T11:53:00.002-06:00

More plant pictures:

The red and yellow tulips in the back yard:

A tree in the back yard that's beginning to bloom:

Lots of tasty bunny-snacks:

The poor petal-less tulip:

And the black tulip:

Random Stuff

2008-04-25T13:13:00.002-06:00

The tulip I was keeping track of as of 4/24:

But it's been so windy lately and the flower was getting a little old, that the petals have all fallen off. Which begs the next question: What am I supposed to do with it now? Do I prune it somehow or leave it alone?

The other tulips we planted are just starting to bloom:

The packages on the two were pretty much the same, it looked like they were supposed to just be different colors of the same variety of tulip, but the plants look entirely different and, apparently, bloom at slightly different times. We also have some growing in the back yard. I had no idea what they were when they started sprouting and thought about pulling them up since they're kinda in the middle of the yard, but I decided to see what they were first. They're pretty. Red and yellow, two colors I didn't buy.

These, the plants, look the same as the black ones I bought but the flowers are a little different. And they started blooming a little before the black ones. Most of the black ones are still closed up, only the one is open.

We have an aspen growing right next to the house.

I like aspens, but I don't think RIGHT NEXT TO THE HOUSE is such a great place for a tree. I thought about trying to transplant it further out, but someone I was talking to about it said they don't transplant well. We'll have to see what I end up doing with that.

We found a tree in a parking lot that is in bloom and looks really pretty:

Boo's gotten VERY comfortable on her attachment for my bike. So much so that I suggested we try her bike again to see how she felt with it now.

She was a little apprehensive at first, but hopped on and started pedaling away. She said it was much easier now. She just needs to work on balance, which I think she'll pick up from feeling how it's supposed to feel with me.

With the weather warming up, we've spent some time at the park before Boo has to be at school.

We put the dragon swing back out:

And Boo found a pair of 'fancy glasses' in her dress up stuff that she'd forgotten about:

Boo's Bike

2008-04-20T20:28:00.002-06:00

So happy and excited. Boo has been afraid of riding her bike. I really wanted her to be able to go bike riding this summer with me and Kiai. But even when she was sorta okay on her bike, she was slow as hell. Very afraid of falling. So I thought maybe if we got one of those attachments for kids to ride tandem behind a parent, she might feel safer. And maybe learn not to be afraid on her own faster as well. Well, new from Target they were running about $150. Not too bad, but too much for us right now. I thought about checking freecycle or craig's list to see what might turn up, but kept putting it off because we didn't have any money then anyway. Well, our roommate paid us (for March, finally, lol) so we had a bit of extra (ppfft, extra??) money and I decided to start checking online. I didn't expect to find anything so soon. There was one ad on craig's list for a "tandem child's bike". $60. No photo. I thought it sounded like it might be what I was after. But it was listed late Friday in anticipation of a garage sale that was being held yesterday, so there was a good chance it was gone. I e-mailed to see if they still had it. They replied quickly and said that they had 'mislisted' it and gave the specific name and a picture. It was exactly what I was looking for. And they still had it. It sat there all day yesterday and no one bought it. So I went by, bought it and brought it home. Boo was excited about being able to ride and let me be in control. We attached it to my bike (which was super-easy) and she started to get scared. We spent some time letting her just sit on it, getting used to the feel. Then we went forward a little. Then a little more. Then I got on my bike and tiptoed forward a little. Then a little more. She was still a little nervous but she let me try peddling. By the end of the time we were out there, I could go pretty fast, turn corners, even go off the curb (slowly!) and she was fine. She is excited about riding down to 7-11 tomorrow for a celebratory slurpee. I am excited because I was really hoping to do a lot of biking this summer. And now we can. I did not expect to find exactly what I was looking for so easily so I am pretty pleased.

It's Really Spring!

2008-04-16T10:50:00.002-06:00

Proof:

Trees are budding:

Flowers are blooming:

This is the one I've been keeping my photo log of:

And this is the one that opened first:

The lake has thawed:

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's not cold anymore!

Today

2008-04-14T23:52:00.000-06:00

A bird:

A path:

A fence:

A child:

Tulips

2008-04-13T22:11:00.001-06:00

The tulip I've been keeping track of:

And the other one opened today:

Tulip for Real

2008-04-12T13:16:00.001-06:00

This isn't the same plant I've been keeping my photo diary of, but that one is not too far behind this one.

Soon we should have several bulbs blooming.

Pictures

2008-04-11T18:11:00.003-06:00

And I have a lot more pictures of the girls to post.

Before we moved Lindsey and I had started a princess outfit for her to wear. We finally got around to getting the sewing machine out and doing the top:

Jordan and Ashley got out and played catch:

Boo came too:

Back at the house:

Boo working on homework using Monday's scratching post as a table:

We went to watch a softball game. Boo was really interested in it and very expressive:

Ashley had been playing at the playground nearby and she came to join us:

From our trip in March:

Our old roommate got a puppy:

Boo dancing/hopping watching her pigtails in the shadow:

The vase from the flowers Kate sent me made a cute cookie jar:

Julie sent me some pretty flowers for my birthday:

Tulips - Almost

2008-04-11T17:54:00.002-06:00

I've been really slacking on posting tulip bulb updates. The bulbs we allowed to sprout in the house started out doing okay. They were a lighter green than the ones in the dirt from the start and they had no red on them. But as time went on, they darkened up and started to show some red. Then the leaves started looking weak and began to fall over
From the end-ish of March:

And another one from yesterday:

Upon arriving home from our trip to California the ones planted directly in the ground looked like this:

And from yesterday:

All of the ones allowed to sprout in the house have begun to weaken and fall over, no matter how little had grown before we transplanted them to the dirt. But several have started sprouting secondary buds that look just fine. I had heard that starting them in water in the house was a good way to begin tulips if you didn't get them in the ground before winter, but apparently, these decided they didn't like that way. Almost all of the ones planted in the ground originally have the buds of flowers showing. We may see some color before too long.

Weather

2008-04-03T15:47:00.001-06:00

It was supposed to snow last night again, but this morning there was no snow on the ground. Just water! The temperature has risen enough that it had RAINED instead! And then around noon today it started 'snaining' with a little bit of tiny hail thrown in for good measure.

More Snow

2008-03-30T10:14:00.000-06:00

Doesn't this stupid state know it's supposed to be spring??

Not Woodchucks

2008-03-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

I guess my woodchucks are, in fact, prairie dogs instead.

Woodchucks?? And Bulb.

2008-03-07T19:31:00.002-07:00

We allowed some of the tulip bulbs to sprout in water in the house before moving them outside. The way they grow is different from the ones planted directly in the ground. The stalks on the ones inside are tall and a light green-yellow color. The leaves on the ones in the ground open up earlier and are a darker green with red tips and edges. We speculated that the flower color will also be richer for the ones that started out in the ground. We'll see when they flower. We got the ones that started out inside into the ground today, tomorrow I'll take a picture of one of them for reference. Also, I think all of the bulbs we planted outside have finally poked through the ground. I was starting to think one wasn't going to come up and there are a couple poking up in places I'd forgotten we planted them.

Bulb from today:

It's getting to the point that much of it's growth is in height and not so much visible in these close ups. I should stick something in the ground next to it for reference.

Monday's still cute:

Flowers from Kate. I guess she thought I needed some cheer. I think she was probably right:

I've been enamored of these little things since I came across them once when I got lost and since I have a camera again, I wanted to take some pictures of them. They aren't the best pictures, but they actually came out better than I thought they were going to. I think they're woodchucks, but I could be totally wrong. All I know is they're funny little things and I'd never seen them before moving here. (I suppose Colorado can have one bonus point for them.)

Bulb and Boo

2008-03-02T12:10:00.003-07:00

3/1

Boo likes books:

Caught in mid-jump:

Window gazing:

"Buddy Boo":

Love the look:

Jumping rope:

Yesterday is was warm and sunny. Last night is snowed a bit and was WINDY. Today it's windy and dreary.

Marilee fixed my sewing machine for me and I got Ashley's curtains hemmed.

Mom

2008-02-29T09:22:00.004-07:00

One month ago, today, was my last post.
One month ago, today, my mom passed away.

I have been avoiding this blog this month because it is so painful. I was unsure what to do with it. What to say. This blog was for her. I created this blog specifically to keep my mom updated on my life here so far away from her. I considered deleting it. I considered just letting it go un-updated indefinitely. I was unsure where to place my focus for this blog now with her gone. I miss my mom so much. I was not ready to be without her. I am not ready to move on. But nothing stands still. The world moves on, with or without me. With or without her. And, regardless of the pain, so must I.

I finally came to a decision regarding this blog this morning. This blog is still for her. The focus of this blog is not going to change much. Everything I would have wanted to post for her I will still post for her. Everything I wish I could tell her, everything I wish I could ask, pictures I wish she could see - will all go here.

This month has been hard. There have been so many times I've thought "I wish my mom could see this" or "I wish I could tell my mom". She would have liked some things and been sad for others. She would have cared. This has been only the first month without her. I still have my first birthday without her, the first easter, the first 4th of July, Ashley's first birthday, and then, holy hell, the first halloween, thanksgiving, christmas and new year's. And then the anniversary of her death. And littered like leaves in the Colorado fall all the everyday events between now and then. Cute pictures of the girls, my garden, Lindsey's finishing kindergarten, Ashley's karate tournaments, Lindsey's ballet recitals, Lindsey's first loose tooth, my cooking questions, my school accomplishments, the kids' school accomplishments, anything and everything. Everything a mom should know about, be a part of, or see. Lost to her. And the telling is lost to me.

So many days I've cried. So many days I have yet to cry.

I know she is better now. No more pain, no more daily struggle for life. She is at peace and no longer suffering her medical history. She no longer has to work and struggle just to keep her body functioning. No more doctor visits, lab work, blood sugar, skin tabs, strict diet, mass pills. No more kidney problems, heart disease, skin problems, diabetes. No more of all her meds interacting and causing new problems. I know she was sick and tired of it all. I know she was just done.

Knowing this is a small comfort. Very small.

Mom, I love you.

I wish I could tell you my garden is growing. Remember how Lindsey and I planted tulip bulbs before winter? Well it's been so warm lately (50 degrees!) that the bulbs sprouted! I noticed them a few days ago and they've already grown so much. I guess I don't have a black thumb after all! When I noticed them I called Lindsey out to see them. She leaned in real close and inspected the baby plants. Then she danced all around the yard singing.

I missed getting a shot of her dancing.
But I decided to take pictures of one bulb for a photo diary of its growth.
2/24, the day I noticed them:

2/25, already a noticeable growth!:

2/27:

2/28:

Ashley's thinned out so much since we've been here. She looks fantastic.

Lindsey's doing well in kindergarten. She loves her school.

And she still loves and plays with her Bitty Baby. She got all dressed up in the princess dress with Bitty Baby to match and let me take some pictures of her. You would love these.

I'm glad we were finally able to get a new camera. Not having a way to take pictures was driving me nuts. Kids grow so fast and change so quickly. I only wish it could have been before you passed away. I'm sure you would have loved seeing pictures of the girls while you were in the hospital.

IT'S COLD!

2008-01-29T16:29:00.001-07:00

Like the title says.

Garage Work

2008-01-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today we made some good progress in the garage. We got the kids' books and stuffed animals moved in. I decided I didn't want to make Boo wait for me to get the pain thinner and paint to fix her bookshelf, so we moved it inside. I'll probably wait until summer to repaint it and in the meantime she can have her books. We got Ashley's computer inside. And we got a whole lot of stuff moved around so it takes up less space. Tim got his stuff that was still out there put in the crawl space under the house. We put a rug down and moved the TV into the TV cabinet. It looks really good out there now. There's still a bunch left to do, but I'm happy with it for now.

Oh, and we got our driver's licenses in the mail today.

Car Wash

2008-01-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

One thing I really don't like, and wasn't expecting, about driving in a snowy place is how DIRTY everything gets. My car in particular was SO ICKY. Road salt, dirt and grime covered the car from about chest high down. So today, since it was decently above freezing and sunny, I decided to wash my car. I love my car and it was really bugging me to have her so dirty. And I was somewhat worried about the effect of the salt on the paint. So, rag in hand I went to work scrubbing all the ick off. The hoses had water frozen inside them so we couldn't do it the easy way and just spray the heck out of it, but had to take bucket after bucket rinsing off the soap. But, it is done and she is clean and I am happy.

Driver's Licenses

2008-01-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

We finally went to get Colorado driver's licenses. They should be here within 30 days.

Animal Sightings

2008-01-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

On our one brief car trip today, we saw:
13 deer
a whole bunch of woodchucks
3 different flocks each of 80+ geese

Monday

2008-01-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Monday is learning that the dogs are gone. He's starting to explore around the house more and he looks more comfortable poking his head out of my room. Yesterday, I pulled him downstairs and he sat on my lap while we watched a movie. The day before he came down on his own and sat with me while I was reading in the front room. He's still a bit cautious and doesn't want to be out of my room with the door shut behind him, but he's definitely getting better. Oh, at one point yesterday, he sat by the front door like he wanted to go out. So I told Lindsey to go ahead and let him out. She opened the door and he immediately dashed out. I asked her to peek out the window to see what he was doing and she said he was sitting at the door again. As soon as she opened it back, he dashed back inside with a look on his face like, "it's COLD out there!!" and came and snuggled up with me again. But I have a feeling that in spring, he'll be outside a lot.

2 Random Things

2008-01-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

#1. Colorado air is very static-ey.
#2. I've seen more people run red lights since we moved than I remember at ALL before.

Bye Bye Kanga

2008-01-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Kanga, our roommate who's 'bedroom' was our dining room blocked off with sheets hung from the ceiling, has moved out. She found a nice arrangement where she's working at someone's house taking care of their dogs in exchange for a room. She's got the whole basement of the house, complete with kitchen area. The only down side is that there's no bathroom on that level, so she's got to go upstairs and use the main bathroom for the house. She was worried for a while when she first heard of the arrangement, that she wouldn't be allowed to bring Kujo with her, but that was an unfounded worry. The lady who owns the house loved Kujo right away and obviously has no problem with having dogs in her house as she's got her own.

So for the next week or so, my job is to get the dining room and living room back in order. We've got Emily's high table to put in the dining room and we'll rearrange the couch and TV in the living room to make it more usable. We can lessen the clutter of furniture and things that had accumulated in that room.

Snow and Stuff

2008-01-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it only ended up snowing a tiny bit. We have no more on the ground than we did before.

We're still looking for work. Jordan got a job that's totally commission so he has to sell a bunch of stuff before he sees any money. It'll take time to build up clients, so it'll take time to get paid. Meanwhile we keep falling further and further behind. Only the house payment and my cell phone have been paid for January. Our roommate is supposed to pay the internet/phone/cable bill, but he's in about the same boat as us. I really home the internet doesn't get shut off.

The kids are really glad to be back in school. Ashley had a big project due just before the break and she just brought home the grading sheet for it. she got 144 out of a possible 144. The teacher wrote a really nice note on the bottom too. Lindsey is also doing well in school. Her teacher said she's really enthusiastic and pays attention well. I've got some awesome kids.

Snow

2008-01-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

It's snowing again. Just when most of the old snow was gone from the sunny areas, the sky opened up and started dropping little white flakes. It's snowing in spurts though. Snow. Stop. Snow. Stop. Just as it starts sticking, it stops. We've only got a little pile up right now. But the sky is dark and I think we're supposed to get a lot.

First update of 2008!

2008-01-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

I suppose it's time to post and say happy new year and all.

We spent the holidays in california with family. Very weird and stressful couple of weeks. My parents came to visit us over thanksgiving. The day after they got back, my mom went into the hospital. I went to visit for almost a week in early december as soon as I found out. 2 weeks after I got back, we headed out for the holidays. My mom was transferred to a physical therapy/phychiatric care building about 2 weeks ago now. She's still there. Christmas was a nonissue, which was okay with me as we were broke and I hate the whole "having" to spend money to support the commercialism associated with a holiday I don't really believe in to begin with anyway, but that's a whole different topic. We stayed until the second and then left to come home.

We spent New Year's with Emily and her family as usual, but in light of the recent fiasco and several missing people it was a very different feeling than ever before. And it was windy as hell to boot, so no fireworks. Rock Band was one of the focal points of the evening as was an impromptu game of poker.

Between christmas and new year's, we went to Northern California to visit my brother-in-law and his family. Laid-back pretty restful trip. The girls were excited to see their cousins. One night before we went to bed, my brother-in-law looked outside to see 4 cats roaming around on their patio. They have no pets themselves, so they were kind of surprised to see them. All the adults went outside to see them and discovered that they were 3 older kittens and the momma. One of the kittens was orange striped and had only about an inch stub of a tail. He was the sweetest thing ever, he kept coming up and rubbing on us letting us pet him. I dubbed him Bob.

Yule was spent camping on a beach in Carpenteria with some good friends. Again, the girls were excited to see their friends and they all had fun playing in the tide pools. We saw a starfish that must have been a good 10 inches in diameter. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. Very picturesque with the kids sitting around watching movies on the ipod linked to the portable tv screen hooked up to the RV. *eyeroll* But they were happy and it gave the adults time to talk. And afforded us one of the cutest/funniest/most appalling scenes I've had the pleasure of witnessing in a long while. All 4 kids dancing to the music video of Only by Nine Inch Nails. And all 4 singing along, from the oldest at ten to the youngest at TWO. It definitely made my heart smile. My only regret that night was that it was too close quarters for us to do any drumming. The RVs next to us would have definitely noticed.

One day Jordan and I took off for San Diego. We went to Old Town and then headed out to Coronado. Coronado has got to be a heaven on earth. It is definitely one of my happy places and I was determined to go at some point during our trip. The girls found over 9 sand dollars each that were dead already so they could take them home and 2 each that were still alive and tossed gently back to the ocean. We met a friend for dinner and headed back to TO.

By far my favorite night of the trip was the night before we left for NorCal. We got together with some awesome people and I did a flesh pull for the second time. One of my best friends came and did her first. And another of my good friends came and pulled against someone we'd just met for his. . . I don't know, millionth, or something time. The shop was full of cool people. People we knew and people we didn't, people working, people being worked on, and people watching. The atmosphere was so relaxed and welcoming, as usual with this particular group, that the people we didn't know soon became people we did know, if only for the evening. The shop is supposed to close at 10 and they asked us to get there around 9 or 930 so they could start prepping us early if the shop was dead. The last time, the shop was indeed dead and we were able to start early. No beans this time. My friend had some work she was getting done first so we had gotten there at 830. The shop was PACKED. And stayed packed. Piercers were still piercing at midnight. They finally closed the shop at close to 1AM. Several of the shop regulars, the people we didn't know, wanted to stay and watch, and one who'd wanted to do a pull for a while, decided to pull so there would be an even number of people pulling. After getting hooked up, I was connected to my friend and the guys were connected behind us. The other guy had some serious nerves going on (puked before getting connected actually) and ended his pull first. My friend decided she was done as well pretty soon after, and I was reconnected to my other friend. By that point, I was totally euphoric. I was experiencing something drastically different from the first time and I about thought I could fly. After another bit, he decided he was done, and I was getting pretty tired as well, so we were unhooked and cleaned and bandaged up and headed home. We came in at a quarter to 5 and we were planning on leaving at 9am to head north. Needless to say, we about fell into bed exhausted and woke up the next morning and decided we could get a little later start and went back to bed!

Leaving to come home was bittersweet. My mom still not home, we'd be leaving my dad all alone. I wish all my wonderful friends were closer to me the way they used to be. But I missed my shower and my cat, and having my own space. I wanted to get back to a somewhat normal routine. And we needed to get working on finding a way to support ourselves.

Back home on Thursday, Jordan called a contact we'd been given by one of the moms of one of the kids in Lindsey's class. Interview set for Saturday. Apparently all went well, the guy was suitably impressed and gave him the job on the spot. The job is commsion based and it'll take time to build up clients. But he also gave him a couple of other leads for full time tech work. So, hopefully, our worries there are almost over.

How could I have forgotten to mention that on the way back from the camping trip, we stopped and met Heather in Ventura for lunch?! (Thank you for reminding me to add that in here, Heather!) There was SO much that we did over the 2 weeks we were there that I knew I was going to miss something. So, Sunday morning Heather called as she was driving out of town as we were coming back into town. We quickly realized that there was going to be no other opportunity to see each other than right then, so we found a decently middle spot to stop and see each other over a quick lunch before each continuing on with our respective plans. Heather's dad was along and though he seemed bored out of his mind, he was a very good sport.

And Kate and I found one overlapping day in town as well. The day before we left for NorCal, she and her new husband, Josh, were arriving in town. So, we met at a nice little restaurant and had a long lunch getting caught up. Josh is a really nice guy and I'm glad Kate's finally found someone who makes her so obviously happy.

Since we've been back it's been above freezing almost all day every day and the snow is almost all melted off except in the shaded areas. Today the sky is dark though, I wonder if we're due for more snow?

Holidays

2007-12-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Leaving for California tomorrow. We'll be back around the first of the year, though not sure yet if it'll be just before or just after.

Happy Chrismahannukwanzyule!

Today. . .

2007-12-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

. . . is cold.
. . . has snow on the ground, but it's not snowing.
. . . there's a squirrel in the backyard eating food I put out for him.
. . . my house is a disaster and it's driving my crazy.
. . . I have clean laundry.
. . . I was not able to find a shelf.
. . . Ashley took the dog for a walk.
. . . I took a bike ride.
. . . Jordan applied at Sears.
. . . I found my Jack jacket.
. . . is Wednesday.

Done

2007-12-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well it is officially over. The pub is closed.

No More Snow

2007-11-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

It hasn't snowed again and what was on the ground is mostly gone. Only in the areas that get very little sunlight exposure is there any remaining. It is quite cold though.

My Parents' Trip

2007-11-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

My parents came for a week for thanksgiving. Ashley slept in Lindsey's room and my parents had Ashley's room. We had a really nice visit and the kids (and I!) loved showing off our house and the town. While they were here, my parents bought us some comfy chairs and a couch. So now when we are in the living room, we don't have to sit on the floor or drag in a kitchen chair. Yay! My mom also found me a book on birds in the area and a month-by-month gardening guide, which I definitely needed! Having no prior experience with having a yard to take care of, I'm learning a lot from it already. And I love how it's laid out, with monthly tips and how-to's. It has general grounds maintenance as well as plant related info. Definitely the best book for me at this point in my gardening/home ownership career. The kids were out of school for the whole time my parents were here too, which was nice. In california the kids had only thursday and friday the week of thanksgiving off. Here they had wednesday, thursday, friday and monday off. We made the rolls for thanksgiving dinner. My mom read the instructions, I fetched ingredients and the kids stirred. We also did cut-out sugar cookies that way. It was tiring but a lot of fun. The kids were occupied for most of the afternoon with the project too. All in all it was a great week.

Camera

2007-11-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

I need to figure out what to do about my camera. I've owned 2 canon cameras now. Both have lasted me about 2 years and then died. I really like the simple styling of the canons and the ease of use (until their death that is) and size. After buying 2 I now have extra memory cards and batteries for the one I have currently. The memory card and battery are older and there are newer, smaller versions now. My camera has been slowly dying for about 3 months. It is now finally just dead, giving 2 different error messages in its death. I called the support number and told them what it was doing. I was given 2 options by them. I can send in my camera and get it fixed and sent back for around $100. I can send in my camera and they'll send me a new upgrade for $150. The new upgrade uses the new memory and battery so I wouldn't have the luxury of having the back-ups unless I purchased more for for $70 and $60 respectively. The new upgrade has a large screen, which would definitely be nice. I checked on Amazon and it sells them for $600 new or as little as $200 for used. (The new upgrade is the SD600. My dead one is a S410.) I (obviously) have the third option of scrapping the canon and buying something else entirely. I like my dad's nikon. And I looked at a bunch of new cameras and most of them are smaller like the canons, and I found several that looked (without thorough investigation) like they were designed well and were between $150 and $300. I'm kind of getting sick of my canons dying almost just out of warranty. But maybe cameras just don't last that long anyway? We wouldn't be the consumer nation we are if things lasted indefinitely. I need some way to capture my small ones' cuteness to share with my friends and family out of state. Preferably soon and also preferably as inexpensive as possible while getting decent quality.

Anybody care to share an opinion??

Snow pictures

2007-11-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

Our snowey house:

The street:

Happy Boo:

Real Snow!

2007-11-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

It snowed last night. Jordan, Kanga, Kujo, Tim and I played out in it for a while. Then Tim and I decided to take a walk and we went to the park. We saw a fox. We then decided to follow it's footprints back and see where it came from. We followed it until we came to a community that had a sign that said "residents only" so we turned back. we got home about 2AM and had a cup of hot tea and watched an episode of Wonderfalls before going to bed. It was marvelous fun. It didn't snow today, but the snow stayed. My mom saw a thermometer that said it was 19C. Pretty damn cold.

My computer had a seizure trying to upload the pictures that go along with this, so I'll upload them later.

More pictures!

2007-11-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

Boo's room:

Ashley's room:

obviously not quite done with her desk/shelves yet.

Bush progress:

can you see the meter?

and for comparison here's the bush before I started attacking:

Kiddos playing around on the stairs:

And in the front yard:

Pictures

2007-11-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Finally got some pictures uploaded!

The kitchen at the pub:

Our wildlife:

Boo dancing in the back yard:

Some of the MASS amounts of leaves:

And the now naked tree:

Where the bulbs are planted:

Stuff still in the garage:

Kids outside:

Kujo playing with his ball:

Misc.

2007-11-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

3 more hours logged on the bush from hell. Still a long way to go.

Fireplace works nicely. I love having a fire. Used some of the branches from the bush as our fire wood.

Glow-ey solar lights work.

Got "curtains" hung downstairs. (We nailed up top sheets.) I really like having the windows covered at night and with the bush gone from the window, Kanga needed something there to provide a little privacy. So we did all the downstairs windows while we were at it. It makes me happy to have them covered.

Miscellaneous Updates

2007-11-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

Got some solar lights put up outside. We'll see how well they work and if they get enough sunlight during the day where they are there to work well enough.

Started attacking the massive bush outside the front window. We got a notice saying that there was an overgrown bush obstructing view of the meter and we'd need to trim. Well, there was only one overgrown bush on our property, but I had no idea where the meter was. Could not see it. At all. So I started trimming and trimming. I was about an hour in when I discovered a drain pipe behind the bush! And a few minutes later, I could make out the meter next to the drain pipe. Holy hell, they were not kidding they couldn't read the meter. I couldn't even FIND it. My hands are sore and it got dark. The meter is still unreadable, but I know where it is now at least. And I've got a massive pile of branches on my lawn. Hope the neighbors don't get irritated that I left them there.

Spent quite a while yesterday cleaning up and putting things away. Got the kids' toy boxes put together finally so I pulled in their boxes of toys from the garage. Now they've got a new job - putting their toys away! Ashley's desk is finally together too. We're going to organize it soon and get her computer set up. Her room is really starting to look like a real room now and not a junk pile.

Pulled the bunny cage inside last night too. It's getting way too cold at night for him to be in the garage anymore and our heating fan stopped heating.

Jordan and Tim are trying to set up the surround sound system Jordan's brother gave us. Making my tv confusing to work. And Tim got a dvr box for his room and gave us the regular cable box for our room but for some reason it doesn't work in our room. And people wonder why I'm just not a fan of shite like that.

Kujo likes the rat a little much so we had to bring her upstairs. He likes the bunny a little much too, so when we brought him in, he went straight upstairs. He's in the hall. Fun stuff. Jelly Bean's in our room though. Bear doesn't care about little critters, which is good seeing as how he sleeps in Ashley's room, past the bunny cage.

I think that's it for now. And pizza's here, so it's dinner time. Woo.

Halloween

2007-11-03T20:17:00.000-06:00

Halloween has come and gone. Very different, very anticlimactic. It was fun.....but not like it used to be obviously. No building, no blisters, no joint-effort productivity and feeling of accomplishment, no driveway, no hiding out in the house the night of, no pulling props in until we drop at 3AM, no nail pulling or furring strip sorting for weeks after.

We missed you
mom and dad
Eric and Margot and Piper and peanut
Dwane and Christy
Hedwall (though we saw you recently)
Claire, Colin, Richard, Conrad
Dan and Ryan
Leah
Michelle and Anh
Elina, Georgina and Geronimo
Cheryl, BUFF, Ava
Dawn, Scott, Hunter
Larry
Sarah
Sean
Nick
Tracy, Taylor, Brett, Christa, Jordan, Alex
Heather, Mike, Bri
Terri, Clive, Zach, Kelsey
Nancy, Mike, Jess, Emily, Summer
Debbie, Savanah

I know I'm still missing people

everyone who came and helped or enjoyed

and all the random extra Ferry-ers

Halloween just isn't the same.

Bulbs

2007-10-28T18:06:00.000-06:00

Got the bulbs in the ground where I had de-rocked. I have a bunch left though, so I need to find another area for them. Boo helped me get them planted. She loved getting her hands in the dirt. We had bought a compost worm bucket when we first moved so we had some good fresh compost to give to the soil when we were done. Boo absolutely loved helping me pick the worms out to put back in the bucket. She wanted to give our garden a few worms too, so they didn't all make it home. I hope we didn't break up any families, lol.

SNOW!!!!!

2007-10-21T07:57:00.000-06:00

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!

Ashley came in this morning to tell us that it was SNOWING!
We looked outside and sure enough, little white flakes are falling from the sky. This is the first time I've seen it snow. I've seen snow on the ground, but not falling from the sky like this. It's so pretty. When we first looked nothing was covered yet. The snow was falling and melting immediately. But after a while the snow started piling up. First on the roof, then in little spots on the ground and on the chairs and table outside. Now pretty much everything is covered in a fine layer. It's supposed to stay for the weekend and then melt off. We're supposed to get about 6-10 inches. I need to get my bulbs in the ground as soon as the snow melts off.

I love having real weather. This is the coolest thing I think I've ever seen.

Wind

2007-10-17T22:54:00.001-06:00

Um, it's REEEAAAALLLLLY windy right now.

Fall - 5

2007-10-17T15:15:00.000-06:00

Well, this morning I woke up to find the yard absolutely COVERED in leaves again. It's really very pretty. It's windy and leaves are falling like rain.

I spent some time getting the front "flowerbed" flower-ready. It was filled with rocks and I pulled most of the rocks out. Now I just need to figure out what on earth to do with all these rocks! And there's rocks around the tree in the front yard and in the dirt area leading up to the house. And on the side yard by the fence. Geez, that's a lot of rocks. So far I've got 5 decent sized boxes full of rocks. Sheesh. Next I'll loosen up the dirt and plant those bulbs. Hopefully, barring the return of my black thumb, we'll have some pretty flowers come spring.

It's finally cool enough to warrant me wearing long sleeves outside during the day. Even while working I wasn't too warm. Last night we sat out on the patio for a while. We could see our breath. I was wearing thermals under my jeans and jacket and a pair of gloves and I was a happy toasty me.....for about 20 minutes. Then it got a bit too chilly for me and I went back inside. I'm actually looking forward to being chilly and having to bundle up, but I bet I'll be quite ready for spring long before it's ready for me!

Raking Again

2007-10-16T17:28:00.000-06:00

Well, I spent the morning raking the yard again. No weeding this time, but I got the leaves all taken care of. Of course, it's fall and there are leaves all over the yard again already, but less than there would have been. Got the driveway and both sides of the yard and the street in front of my yard. Filled another 3 bags full. Kinda fun and good exercise. I also got the yard fed with a "winterizer" combo that's supposed to kill weeds and feed the grass and protect it from the cold. We'll see come spring if it works.

Raking Update

2007-10-14T20:49:00.000-06:00

Well, it rained and knocked down tons more leaves. It totally looks worse than it did before I raked. And the leaves are all wet and squishy, ewww. My legs are so sore, even still, from the bending I did while weeding. But I don't have to water the yard again for a while! As soon as it dries up, I'm going to get all the leaves up from the driveway at least. I don't like walking on them to and from the car. Especially when they're all wet and squishy, ewww.

Rain!

2007-10-13T13:49:00.000-06:00

It's raining! It smells so good. The sky is all dark and there's thunder. I'm in my room with the window open listening to the patter of the rain all around. It's not too cold, which is good because I want to leave the window open so I can hear better and smell the freshness. Wonderful, wonderful. OOH! Lightening too! So bright I could see it on my computer screen! And loud crackling thunder!

Fall - 4 - Raking

2007-10-13T11:39:00.001-06:00

Well, Thursday I spent several hours raking and weeding the front yard. The weeds were getting ridiculous, in several areas they looked almost like little bushes. Since we hadn't really watered since we moved in, most of the grass in the sun is dead. Under the tree, the grass is still nicely green though. I spent about an hour with Lindsey before taking her to school, and the whole time she was at school on the project. I finished about 20 minutes before time to go get her. I filled 5 big trash bags with weeds and leaves. After I finished, I watered the lawn. The water hitting the leaves in the tree caused more leaves to fall and it immediately looked like I hadn't raked at all. Oh, well, I know it's better than it would have been. I still need to do the small side lawn on the other side of the driveway and sweep the driveway. Yesterday the backs of my thighs ached a bit. This morning, though, OW. I really need to stretch them out.

Animals

2007-10-12T18:14:00.000-06:00

We now have 7 squirrels and 5 blue jays that frequent our back yard. When we moved here, we had 3 squirrels and 2 blue jays. But after a month of leaving food out for them, they've spread the word.

Fall - 3

2007-10-09T13:17:00.000-06:00

Well, LOTS of trees are yellow now and several are turning red as well. It's so beautiful driving down Laporte because all around are tall leafey trees and they're all different colors. The street is almost under a dome of trees. And it's in the older neighborhood, so the houses are all older and different from each other, no tract houses there. It's getting cooler during the day, but not cold yet. Nights are pretty chilly.

There's a butterfly just sitting on one of my trees in the back that's just about eye level with my bedroom window. It's so pretty. Orange and black. And the tree it's sitting in is still green, but it has bright orange and red berries in it. The whole thing is just a beautiful picture.

We need to get figured out what we need to do for winter here that's different from winter in California. Em mentioned getting the sprinkler pipes cleared? So they don't explode. I don't even know where to begin. We have a snow shovel, but someone here suggested that we'll probably want at least two so we can work at the same time and get done faster. Wouldn't have thought of that either. I've moved stuff around in the garage enough that we can fit my car inside. I'll probably want to do so once it starts snowing.

Fall - 2

2007-10-07T09:21:00.000-06:00

More and more trees are changing color now. It was really windy yesterday and my car was COVERED in yellow leaves. It's getting pretty chilly at night now. Time for fuzzy snuggleyness and hot cocoa!

Pub Doings - A Definite Ramble

2007-10-06T11:05:00.000-06:00

So I sat at the bar last night with Steve. I was there for about two and a half hours. Jordan was home, Tim was working. Steve was watching the goings-on around us. It was pretty busy. I ordered a quesidilla. It was yummy. Em was waitressing. She was hoping to make enough in tips to pay her babysitter. I really like all the employees they've hired. Very good group of people. Everything seems to be running smoothly. We just need to advertise more and get busy more often. Em made a great looking menu. The kitchen staff cooks well. The bar staff are friendly and competent. The waitresses/waiters are friendly and mostly on top of things. All in all, I think things are going well.

Laundry

2007-10-05T14:25:00.000-06:00

It is fabulous to be able to wander downstairs, put a load of laundry in to wash and wander back up stairs. No worries about quarters. No lugging heavy baskets to the laundry room. No bringing the detergent (or having to run back because I forgot it) and taking it back. No laundry nazi to yell in post if you fail to remove the finished laundry immediately. *sigh* peace. I have laundry peace.

Bathroom

2007-10-05T11:36:00.000-06:00

I LOVE having my own bathroom. I don't care if the kids leave their clothes on the floor anymore because I don't have to step over them! I don't care if they put the toilet paper roll on with the end going down the back, because I don't use it! Woo! Yay for more than one bathroom!

Fall

2007-10-04T19:22:00.000-06:00

The leaves are beginning to change color. We have lots of yellow trees around and I've seen a few red ones as well. Still not too cool. But I know it's coming!

Colorado USSD

2007-09-14T13:31:00.000-06:00

So yesterday marked the first day back in action at USSD. Ashley and I both had our first private lessons. Tonight will be the first group that Ashley makes. The sensei Ashley and I both worked with was very nice. He's young and enerjetic. And we both came out of there feeling great. It had definitely been too long. Ashley was paired with an 11 year old boy who was a full 3 belts higher than her, but he was really good with her, helping her when she forgot something and allowing for her lesser ability. The sensei said that it didn't look like she'd forgotten anything, but knowing where she was at before, I could tell she had. I don't think it'll take too long before she picks it all back up though. She looked pretty good for having such a long break. I, on the other hand, felt like a complete newbie. I remembered sorta quickly, but a lot of the kempos are different, so I have to remember all new stuff now too. I was just glad to have the dojo to myself so I didn't make a total fool of myself in front of anyone but the sensei. I am really glad to be back though, I felt so good after. I need to get back in shape (such as it was, it was a lot better than now) and I really want to get a good treadmill. Ashley was so excited after her class and can't wait until tonight's group class.

The dojo is a lot smaller than the TO dojo, which is one of the biggest to date. But it is nice and the people are nice. It's also pretty close to home, which is nice.

The Colorado tournament is at the begining of October. We need to get in shape quickly, I know Jordan's going to want to go to it.

Doings

2007-09-12T18:41:00.001-06:00

Okay, we've officially been here for 3 weeks now. I don't have a real computer hooked up yet, so no pictures. A great many things are still in boxes, but most of the things we NEED on a daily basis are unpacked. Not necessarily put away....

Lindsey had all new furniture, put together and tidied (her room looks great though, we haven't unpacked her toys yet!) all that's left for her is to get her toybox put together and I have an old bookshelf I'm going to strip and repaint (now that we have space to do such things!) for her. Ashley, on the other hand, needs everything. We're going to cut the legs of her loft bed so it's not quite so tall and we need to aquire a saw with which to do this. Everything else needs to wait until that's done or we won't have the room to do the bed. So, she's sleeping on the floor with no furniture.

Kids are loving school. They have great teachers and the kids in their classes are nice. The building itself is beautiful. I can't believe how much nicer schools are here than in California. They actually have enough desks and supplies for the students! They have a fabulous library with a newer media center, a great gym for PE and a really nice playground.

I'm still getting lost, but I've got the school, grocery store and the pub down!

Lindsey can't wait for snow, Ashley's looking forward to her school's "living timeline" that the 5th graders do, Jordan just wants a day to relax and I....want to meet people here. All in all, we're doing well and loving life here.

INTERNET CONNECTION!!!!

2007-09-10T19:39:00.000-06:00

Well, after a full 2 weeks of living in Colorado, we now have internet access. (It took me a few extra days to update because I couldn't remember my username/password!!) Anyway, we are here safe and sound. We have our house. I will post a more complete update shortly.

Earthquake!

2007-08-09T04:21:00.000-06:00

Is it totally sick and wrong that I'm really glad we had one more earthquake before we left for Colorado?

Pictures

2007-08-05T10:36:00.000-06:00

I finally uploaded the colorado pictures.

The house we're buying:

The backyard:

.

2007-08-04T18:13:00.001-06:00

I need boxes.

News

2007-08-03T13:00:00.000-06:00

Well shit. I just found out that the school year in CO starts the 21st. Which means that if we stay and have our goodbye party, we'll miss the first few days of school. Theoretically, if we pack the van and leave right after J's last day of work we could make it. Which is more important, the kids starting the school year on the first day or getting to say goodbye to everyone?

In other news, we received a packet of papers from the title company that we needed before the close of the house. Now that we have it, we need to read it over and...something. I don't know. All I know is that it was very important that we get it ASAP and we did. So there. ?

Nothing

2007-08-01T18:28:00.000-06:00

Just waiting and packing.
Getting kinda nervous, it's creeping up.

Random Update

2007-07-24T18:47:00.000-06:00

We recieved the loan paperwork in the mail today. We need to sign it and get it back to them. There was a spelling error in the street name, so that may set us back a day or two getting that corrected.

Our 30 day notice for the apartment went in yesterday, taking effect 30 days from today.

I bought more boxes, from the U-Haul store this time. The boxes were less money and they have a better selection of sizes and they have bubble wrap and the stretchy cling wrap stuff for wrapping furniture AND they gave us free tape. Any future box purchaces will be from U-Haul.

Planning and Packing

2007-07-21T17:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm in the process of planning our "Goodbye California" party and packing. Jordan's last day of work is August 16th. Our party will be the 18th. And we'll pack the truck the 19th and be off! We're trying to get Monday used to the car by taking him out several times a week. Hopefully he'll be okay in the car for three days.

Planning....Making an invite list, a what to do list. I want to have a petting zoo and pony ride group come. I want to have a bouncy house. Cotton candy, burgers and dogs (both regular and vegan) and other picnic-type food. A magician and a clown. Very crazy, but I really want this to be a party to remember. We'll end up spending lots of money for this, but I think it'll be worth it for everyone. The invite list is up to 54 families already, so overboard is okay, it's not as though I'm doing all this for just 10 people.

Packing....Most of the kitchen stuff we don't use on a daily basis is packed, adult books are packed, and about a third of kid books. Games and extra bedding are packed. The apartment is kinda messy right now, but I guess that's to be expected. I've been trying to maintain a sense of order, but it's hard. Jordan's gotten free boxes from work and my mom's brought us some from her work and I've bought about $70 worth. I've gone through a roll and a half of packing tape. The most interesting thing I've packed so far has been the glass from our curio cabenet. I layered the three pieces of glass with lots of newspaper and taped it all up. It's a rather interesting package. I've got 23 days left to pack. We've got two out of town weddings in the midst of this as well as a birthday. I think I'm ahead of the game right now, but I'm sure we'll still be running around last minute with things left undone.

:P

Offer

2007-07-19T16:31:00.000-06:00

We've put an offer on the house on the top of our list. The seller dropped the price just after we did bringing in another offer. So we upped our offer and crossed our fingers. Our realtor told us that the seller's realtor couldn't get ahold of the sellers right away, but that she thought they would accept our offer. Today we got this email from our realtor:

"the seller just called me and she has signed it and will take it by my office. Yea!

So, we are good to go."

So, barring any unforseen problems or whatnot, we've got the house we wanted.

I don't want to get my hopes up too awefully high in case this still falls through, but it's looking good.

Back from our checking-it-out trip

2007-07-15T22:39:00.000-06:00

Well.
We went to Fort Collins to check it out and look around. We met with our real estate agent and saw several houses. It was amazing to go house hunting and have things in our price range! And not only are there things in our price range, but we were looking at 4 bedroom places, and our mortgage payments will end up being less than our current rent! We narrowed it down to our top 3 choices. All three have 4 bedrooms and at least 1 and a half bathrooms. And 2 car garages. And a big back yard.

We loved the area. People ride their bikes there. And walk their dogs. And sit and talk. Everyone is friendly and polite. Teenagers gathered together aren't yelling and swearing. There are lakes and parks everywhere. Trees. Grass.

All I want to do now is get our offer in as soon as possible and get packing.

Colorado here we come

2007-06-26T23:38:00.000-06:00

After spending my whole life loving Southern California and denying any possibility of moving anywhere else, I we have decided to move to Colorado. House prices are just WAY too high here and I really don't want to spend the next ten years (my estimation of the remainder of my time in school) with my two girls sharing a room in a 2-bedroom apartment. Granted, their room is quite large. But we've run out of space. They bicker and argue. They can't escape each other. We need more space and a yard they can play in. But we simply can not afford a $650,000 mortgage. In Colorado, we can get a 4 bedroom house for less than 3. Much more manageable. So, we're picking up and moving out. Scary. And exciting. I love my family and friends here and wanted a way to keep in touch easily. Here, I can post short updates and pictures. I love you guys.

My Adventures in Colorado

December

Quick Catch Up

And Now November

September

It's August

A Plea

Not Much

Clouds and Plants

Monday Stuck in a Tree

'Spring' Weather in Summer?

Picture-Spam

Kids' Pictures from Yesterday

*sigh* - Kids

Random Giant Fluff-Thing

Neighbors

Finally Warm

More Pictures

Just Some Pictures

Random Realization

Tornado Update

Tornado Watch

New Plant Stuff

The Sky

Random Stuff

Goodbye Jeff

Squirrel and Flowers

Tulips Are Gone :(

Holey Rusted Metal Batman!

Plants

Random Stuff

Boo's Bike

It's Really Spring!

Today

Tulips

Tulip for Real

Pictures

Tulips - Almost

Weather

More Snow

Not Woodchucks

Woodchucks?? And Bulb.

Bulb and Boo

Mom

IT'S COLD!

Garage Work

Car Wash

Driver's Licenses

Animal Sightings

Monday

2 Random Things

Bye Bye Kanga

Snow and Stuff

Snow

First update of 2008!

Holidays

Today. . .

Done

No More Snow

My Parents' Trip

Camera

Snow pictures

Real Snow!

More pictures!

Pictures

Misc.

Miscellaneous Updates

Halloween

Bulbs

SNOW!!!!!

Wind

Fall - 5

Raking Again

Raking Update

Rain!

Fall - 4 - Raking

Animals

Fall - 3

Fall - 2

Pub Doings - A Definite Ramble

sigh - Kids