Lately

It's been a busy week around here.  The big event I've been planning since July is coming up in a few short weeks.  Which means every second that I have sans kids is spent working.

Lots of work means I need lots of laughs.  Here are some highlights from the week:

My friend Stacy organizes a Tuesday Night Club once a month.  On this night nothing but old school country was playing on the jukebox.  My kind of party.

In order to get the littlest one to go #2 on the potty he demands that he be read to.  Oh, and that he get a $1.  (Potty training was hard with this one.)  I'm really thankful for a 1st grader that can read.  His older brother was kind enough to read to him on the pot.  Gross?  Cool?  Sweet?  I'm not sure.

And then there was the Bunco group.  I love my neighbors.

On Friday I got my hair done.  Then I decided to text my husband.  He finally got texting capabilities a few weeks ago.  It has been WONDERFUL for us.

Um.  This kid thought it would be super funny to jump in muddy puddles at school.  What you don't see is his lower half that was completely soaked.  He thought it was hilarious.

This is what I like to call "Puppy Lost and Found".  All this stuff was found under our bed.  Chewed up by the beast.  

Oh!  And it's raining in California.  Which for us means we have to take off our flip-flops and put on a jacket.  We whine and cry and then console ourselves that more rain = more boating and time on the River in a few short weeks.  I live in a good state.

Quick Reflections

90% of people will ask for permission before they pet your dog. 

80% of people will stick their dirty little hands all over your infant's mouth and face without asking.  Then they will proceed to sneeze in your baby's face and say something like, "This flu has just been awful."

~

100% of people will look at your dog's pink leash and collar and say, "What's his name?"

100% of people will look at your infant dressed in all blue or all pink and say, "Boy or girl?"

~

Lots of adults and children are afraid of dogs.

Almost no one except a new father is afraid of a newborn baby.

Somehow I think this should be reversed.

~  My final verdict:  I do not understand human beings.~

A Day Trip

Do you ever just know it's time to get away?  I really think sometimes my husband and I share the same brain (very scary).  We both knew it was time to break out of town.  One of our favorite getaways is San Francisco.  So we decided to take the boys to the City and visit the Exploratorium and ride the cable cars.

First stop, Wren's Cafe.  We stop here EVERY TIME we go to San Francisco for their awesome breakfast.

We took the long way to take the kids over the Golden Gate.

Someone was excited to be at the Exploratorium!

I haven't visited the Exploratorium in over 25 years.  It has grown so much and includes an upstairs area with tons of earth science adventures.

Smoke signals.

Blowing bubbles.  Finally something he could do where he didn't have to know how to read the instructions to enjoy!

This was too cool.

Riding the cable car.  We got on at Powell and Market Streets and rode to the wharf.

You could say we ate A LOT at the San Franciscan.

This kid was super happy with his dessert.

Finally we rode the cable car back to our car -- at night.  That was a first in my book and definitely something to experience.  I love the fact that I can go into San Francisco and experience something entirely new each time I go.  Where is your favorite place to escape?

I Live With a Wood Chipper

I know my dog is still a puppy.  But for all that is good and holy, she is wrecking everything and anything she can sink her little teeth into.

This is the boys' step stool.  I'm afraid by the end of the year there will be nothing left but a toothpick.

This is what happens outside our bedroom door if she cannot get in.

This was a bike helmet.

I searched for days for my stitch holder.  I found it under the bed completely distorted and with most of the paint missing.

She also thinks she is a ninja and can get served at the dinner table.

But this face is all it takes to make me forgive her.

Happy Monday everyone!  Enjoy your furry friends.

Sobriety and Such

For those of you who know me, you know that my husband is a recovering alcoholic.  It's been 12 years now that he has been sober.  To say that this is a feat of enormous proportions would be an understatement.

Back in the days when he was drinking I would pray that he would get sober.  I thought it would be the answer to all of our problems.  Then when he stopped I kept looking over my shoulder for him to relapse.  It's been 12 years and I'm still looking over my shoulder.  Afraid that the stress will be too much, the kids will be too much, the problems will be too much.  Just enough "too much" to push him over the edge again.

When someone gets sober they have to transition into a new world.  And as a couple we had to make that transition together.  We lost some friends along the way.  We lost our ability to go into a bar.  We had to find a "new normal" together.  And let me tell you it hasn't been easy.

There are times that I wish I could just sit down with him and enjoy a beer.  I hate having to explain to people that he doesn't drink.  I hate it when waiters try and push the drinks at us and sell us a fun evening.  I hate feeling guilty if I come home after I've drank too much. I get really jealous when I see other couples enjoy their nights out together with many cocktails.

But most of all I hate that even after all this time there are just places we cannot go.  Because you never know when that little sonofabitch called addiction will rear it's ugly head.  It comes out snarling and mad and vindictive.  I can see it for what it is -- it just makes me so sad that it's still there, laying in wait.

I know some of my readers are in recovery or have lived with an alcoholic or are *maybe* still living with someone with addiction issues.  It's a tough road.  And I'm thankful for every second of every day that I don't have to drive around to multiple bars to find my partner or to pick him up off the sidewalk or to apologize for behavior that is not mine.

I'm not saying sobriety is easy.  But it's worth it.

Waffle Stitch Fingerless Gloves

I actually love it when people ask me to knit something in particular for them.  If it is not Christmas then most of the time I'm trying to find I project I think might suit someone.

So when my friend asked that I knit her a pair of fingerless gloves I immediately said YES.  And we set a projected deadline of her birthday.  And since a birthday is a great excuse to get together and share some margaritas on the river...well, you get the picture.

The finished product.  Pattern found here.

Gifted!

Meaningful

People often ask me why I want to be a nurse.

It's a good question.  And usually my answer is something like, "I want to work with people," and, "The pay is worth it," and, "It's a good extension of my social work background."

To bide my time until I apply to nursing school I'm doing a bit of consulting doing event planning.  It helps pay the bills.  It keeps me in the working world.  And frankly it's good for the resume.  But it leaves me feeling unfulfilled.

And it got me thinking the other night that the reason I want to go into nursing is I want to do something that has meaning.  I want to know that all my time and effort and frustration is going to be worth something.

This is the same reason I went to school and got a degree in social work.  I wanted my career to have meaning.  And for awhile it did.  But then you move up in organizations and somehow move further and further away from doing the grassroots work.  And then you are sitting behind a desk staring at a computer screen all day spending lots of money on events with overpriced hotel food and valet parking.

So, for me, nursing is a way of reconnecting with my passion.  I was a wide-eyed and idealistic twenty-year old when I got my degree.  I made those decisions when I had nothing to lose -- when I couldn't see the bills and kids and mortgages.  But those same gut-instincts are still there.  The need to connect with people. The need to do something with my life that feels good.

What do you do that provides meaning in your life?