I'm leaving...

In three hours I have to be on the road and starting my whirlwind, Grand Tour of parts unknown.. Ok, in reality I will be flying to my Stepmother's for my Sister's wedding, then on to my In-laws, and then Disneyland. Nothing on that list is unknown but with the price of air travel and gasoline it more than qualifies for a grand tour at least in cost.



Fortunately, I will not be incommunicado for the entire two weeks. Thanks to the Amazing Bob, and his traveling computer roadshow, I will have internet access so that I don't lose either one of my regular readers in my extended absense.

Stay tuned for gorgeous wedding photos, embarrassing jetski stories, and tales of woe from airports all over the country.

Update on George

We were able to visit George for a few minutes yesterday and he is doing very well. He was so excited to see us that he practically wagged himself sideways. He looks good and the vet says that he is healing well. He will stay at the clinic during our vacation and should be in good shape to come home and resume chasing Gracie when we return. Thank you all for your concern. It wasn't an easy decision but I think it was the right one.

Born Under a Bad Sign

I strongly believe that when you bring an animal into your home you have an obligation to give it the best life possible. Usually this is an easy thing to do with dogs. You give them good food, lots of love, a bit of discipline and they are very happy. But, every one in awhile, there is a dog who needs much more. George must have been born under a bad sign because this poor guy has almost no luck at all. His first owner had trouble keeping him from running away and when he was only about six months old he was hit by a car. The accident dislocated his hip and did some minor damage to his spine. Two weeks ago, when he under anesthesia to be neutered, I asked the vet to check his hip because he seemed to limp on it sometimes. She said it looked fine.

Well, it wasn't fine. Friday night he dislocated it while scratching himself. The femur just popped right out of the hip socket. It was terrible. He panicked and started screaming. I ran out to help him and he attacked me. He bit me five times before we finally restrained him. I wrapped him in a towel and Zane muzzled him with a sock, then we rushed him to the vet. The poor little dog didn't stop crying even after three shots for pain. They had to knock him out in order to get an xray. They were able to manipulate his hip and pop the bone back in but he needs surgery in order to prevent a repeat of this. The question is: What kind of surgery?

We have four options. The first and fourth were immediately discarded because I'm not willing to put the dog to sleep and we just can't afford a $5000 artificial hip. Another option is a surgery that will remove the top of the femur bone so that it doesn't fit into the hip joint anymore. This procedure should relieve his pain but will take several months of physical therapy, which will require me to manipulate the hip three times a day. This is painful. George bites when he's in pain so it could be painful for both of us. The final option is to amputate the leg. At first thought this seems like a bad option but there are some good reasons for going with this. The first is that he will heal much quicker from an amputation... about 2 weeks rather than 8.. and it will completely relieve his pain.

The pain is what worries me the most because we have little kids in and out of the house and we can't have a dog that might bite if touched the wrong way. As much as I love the dog I will not take the risk of him chomping on one of the neighbor kids.

And we are leaving Thursday for a two week vacation. We have a big decision to make and have to make it quickly...

Summer morning rambling

This morning I was awake at 5am because the sun was shining through the blinds in my bedroom. Bright, golden, sunshine. In the Pacific Northwest we love to complain about our weather and just the other day one of my neighbors was telling me how difficult life has become for her since the rain stopped. Her children are a lot younger than mine and she has great difficulty getting them to sleep when it's light outside. With the sun rising at 4:15am and setting at 10:10 she isn't getting much sleep. I thought of her when I woke up. Then I stretched out in my puddle of sun and slept for another two hours. It was a perfect way to start the first official day of Summer Vacation.

My children are old enough to force themselves to sleep past sunrise but the dogs got up with me, and are laying on the patio, watching crows on the fence. There is a great deal of work to be done today so I can't enjoy this for very long. Bob is on his way home from Germany and I'd like him to come home to a relatively clean house (I'm a mediocre housekeeper but it's even worse when I'm the only adult here) but I also promised the girls that today would be a "spa day" to get ready for the wedding next week. We will do manicures and pedicures, facials and hair, plus have a delicious spa lunch with tiny crustless sandwiches and fruit smoothies. Silly? Maybe, but this is one of the things I love about having girls. They encourage me to be girly every once in awhile. I've never been much of a girly girl. I can dress up but I never feel comfortable. I know how to apply make-up but it annoys me and most days I don't bother. I prefer my hair to be simple, easy to style, and I'm no good at all when it comes to fixing it up for something special. I don't like shopping and hate beauty parlors. I was forty before I stopped feeling out of place in a large group of women. I think that some time between ten and seventeen, while I was sitting in a corner with my nose in a book, there was an essential class on modern womanhood that I missed.

Crying is another girly thing I never learned to do properly. I don't cry prettily when I'm feeling touched. My eyes never well with tears of pride, or joy. I don't like to cry and have stifled the urge for so many years that I have trouble crying even when I want to. I can't even be counted on to cry at a funeral. My kids have probably seen me cry three or four times in their lives and those were not pretty episodes. But having daughters is softening me.

Yesterday was the last day of school. It wasn't a BIG last day. No graduations or moving on ceremonies. Last year was a really big year, with one kid finishing high school, another finishing Jr. High, and the third finishing Elementary. It should have been a very emotional time but last year was also one of the worst years of my life. The high schooler didn't graduate, in fact he was in jail on graduation day, and the events of his senior year of high school had left me numb. The younger kids deserved a celebration and even a mother who embarrassed them with her tears of pride as they moved closer to adulthood but I was fighting to keep calm and any emotion threatened to unbalance me. This year was very different. With only the younger three living at home our lives were suddenly much calmer. We had a very pleasant, relatively drama free, school year. So I was surprised by my depth of emotion as they finished their last day. The moment of my undoing was watching the teachers at the Elementary school gather to wave goodbye to the children. As the buses pulled out of the parking lot the drivers honked and the kids yelled out the windows while their teachers yelled and waved back. I can't even explain why it touched me but I stood there with tears streaming and the stupidest smile on my face. Good grief! I'm tearing up just remembering it.

Life isn't perfect, and my oldest will probably always be a worry, but there is beauty all around. In the morning sunshine and golden dogs, the soft breeze, the sleeping children who will wake up soon and start their summer, the teachers who touch so many families and help to turn lives around, sometimes without even knowing they are doing anything other than their jobs. Today I'm happy. Happy to be a girl... and a Mom.

Summer Time Goals

I have been tagged for this meme by MS Teacher and I'm glad that she tagged me because I really need some motivation right now. Tomorrow is the last day of school so summer is finally here, even though it's still a bit too cool. So here are six goals for my summer.

1. Join the gym that is opening down the street from me and use it. It will open in early July, just about the same time I am returning from vacation and I won't have any excuse to put off getting in there. Short term goal is to exercise three times a week.
2. Make room in the garage for my car.
3. Repaint the porch columns.
4. Take my kids and dogs to the park and the beach often, and actually play with them.
5. Limit my internet usage and increase my writing time. Is that vague enough?? I'm having trouble committing to this one. I spend far too much time goofing off on the computer without producing anything. This needs to change.
6. Learn to knit so I can be worth of reading Franklin at The Panopticon.

Ok.. those are my goals and I'm going to tag
Nicole
Leeann
Taylor
and Anne

The results are in...

The winner of the 3'x5' La Fonda del Sol area rug by FLOR was determined by the fantastic Mr. Bob, who used a numbered print-out of the comments, and the Random.com Integer Generator, while I covered my eyes and plugged my ears so that I would have absolutely no effect on the results. He then circled the name of the winner in red and validated it with his uniquely illegible signature. Ok, I'm crazy but I'm really fair.

And the winner is... Moxy Jane in Austin, TX

I want to thank everyone for participating. I enjoyed "meeting" you all and I certainly have expanded my list of blogs to read. Hopefully I will get the chance to do more give-aways like this in the future.

Gina

Bits and Pieces...

Emily at Marx Foods has asked me to help her spread the word about their Salmon Recipe Contest.


If you have a great recipe they are hoping to hear from you. The deadline to enter is June 20th and the prize is 15lbs of wild salmon. I have two recipes for salmon. One I created for the (now defunct) Philadelphia paper "PhillyFeast". It features two quintessential Seattle products, Salmon and Beer. Yum! The other one is a very simple recipe for a whole salmon on the grill. This one is actually my favorite because it's so easy but I did not create the recipe.

I have an update for anyone who is interested in the outcome of the Naked Sun Dance. Yesterday was the deadline for the sun to shine and, lo and behold, it did! By the time the kids were home from school it was sunny and a fantastically warm 65 degrees. Heavenly!

My husband now believes I have magical powers and is urging me to use them for the good of humanity. My daughter is just relieved that I kept my clothes on. It's pretty cloudy this morning but the weather report says it will be sunny again this afternoon.

Earlier this week two of my children declared that they are now vegetarian. Neither of them are citing any specific reason for this recent dietary change other than pointing out that dogs are like small cows and it would be wrong to eat our dogs. Huh?

I'm ok with this though. Anything that reduces my cooking duties is fine by me. Bob (who is definitely not a vegetarian) is flying to Germany tomorrow morning and I'm planning meatless meals for next week. It should be interesting. If you have a good recipe I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Check back this afternoon for the winner of the rug contest!

Ten things that are annoying me right now!

1. Vacations. Months of stress planning it, a week of anxiety getting ready, a really crappy day travelling, five days of manic activity in order to do everything possible to create a week worth remembering, another really crappy day travelling, a week of whining and adjustment to normal life, months of stress paying it off. Wouldn't it just be easier to stay home?







2. Dogs. They make too much noise when they chasing each other around and having fun.








3. Medicine. Yeah, yeah, you can control my blood pressure, cholesterol and toenail fungus. You have procedures to make me thinner, tighter, prettier, and menstruation free. You can give me pills to make me happier or at least less likely to scream uncontrollably. But there is a price for everything. And there is no cure for 43.


4. Butts. Larger in real life than in my head. (butt head?) How many bruises do I have to get before I realize that I am now the size of a small planet?





5. Laundry. Can't get it done, can't forget about it, can't burn it, can't throw it away, can't give it away, can't talk someone else into doing it.




6. Weed Whackers. Hello, stupid neighbor. That device you are wielding is designed to chop down small patches of vegetation that are difficult to reach with a lawn mower. I know, I know. You've never heard of this strange device called a lawn mower. Which is why you are cutting your entire front yard with the freaking weed whacker!

7. The Media. I know I'm just an ignorant college dropout without your fancy journalism degree and all... but I seem to remember someone telling me that journalists report the news, not create it and there was some other stupid stuff like journalistic integrity and impartiality. Silly stuff really... elementary journalism I suppose. You probably learned how to make up stories and write inflammatory headlines in those advanced classes that I didn't bother to take.







8. The Sun. Oh unfaithful lover. You tempt me out of my sweater. You tease me with a gentle touch. Then you leave me for that puffy gray slut you've been hanging around with.

9. Ipods. You sucker in foolish teenagers with promises of unlimited portable music. With your electronic siren song you lure them onto the rocks hearing loss and poor school performance. Then, three months after your evil warranty expires, you break.






10. Coffee. Oh you evil bean. You seduce me with promises of smooth satisfaction but after a morning in your company all I'm left with is a bad taste in my mouth, a hypersensitivity to noise, and a nasty case of the twitches.





Bonus # 11. Blogger. Layout, Preview, Adjust, Preview. Perfect. Publish. Shit. Try again. Publish. Shit. Try again. Worry that google reader will show everyone how many times you messed up. Preview. Publish. Shit. Give up.

The Naked Sun Dance

It's springtime in the Pacific Northwest and while spring is a lovely season, everywhere else in the world, here spring is just a different way of spelling winter. It's cold, people, COLD! I know that those of you who are desperately trying to stay cool as the thermometer soars past the 100 mark will have no sympathy for me but I'm going to complain anyway. For criminey's sake! It's 50 degrees outside and it's raining. The dogs won't even go out. It was warmer in February! It's cold enough to freeze my bippens off and I don't even know what bippens are...



Now this weather isn't completely unusual for Washington, in fact, we always lag behind the rest of the country in temperatures, but every couple of years we miss spring entirely and don't get much of a summer. During one of those years I found myself desperate enough to bargain with the weather gods or demons or imps.. whatever. On the 4th of July, when the temperature did not rise above 50 and the rain didn't stop long enough to see even the smallest of fireworks I vowed that I would make the rain stop. I publicly declared that I would do a naked sun dance to entice the giant yellow orb back to our skies.

People scoffed but, when the sun did not appear on July 5th, I did indeed dance naked (in my shower.) On July 6th the sun still stayed away and I danced naked again (in my bedroom with the blinds closed) and on July 7th the sun peeked through the clouds and it finally started to warm up.

I didn't dance anymore that year but I did nurse my baby immodestly all summer long and the sunshine continued to trickle down. It wasn't perfect but it was good enough. Apparently the sun is a minor letch and is happy with an occasional bare nipple.

Fast forward to 2008... It's the second week of June and I'm feeling mighty desperate. I've thought long and hard about this and have decided it's time for another Naked Sun Dance.

Are you listening Mr Sun? If you don't get your big glowing rear out from behind those clouds I am going to dance again. I will dance naked in all my frightening 44yr old glory and my marshmallow white skin will outshine your silly UV rays. I fully intend to drop my housecoat and let it all hang out, cesarean scars, stretch marks, hairy moles, cellulite and all! I am not kidding Mister. You have three days to comply with my demands for light, warmth, and vitamin D or the dance will commence.

AND IT WON'T BE PRETTY!!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm finally back to planning after several months of just winging it and I'm happy to know I'm going into this week with a plan and a refrigerator full of food for the week. Now I just have to stick to my menu.

Tonight we had guests and we cooked a fantastic Copper River Salmon on the grill. It was delicious! Unfortunatly I'm allergic to seafood so I'm trying to type this quickly before the benedryl kicks in and I start snoring. I know I'm insane.. but it was sooooo good.

Monday - Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots

Tuesday - Beef and Salmon Fajitas made with Sun and Mon leftovers

Wednesday - Baked Chicken, Rice, Green Beans

Thursday - Cobb Salad

Friday - Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Corn on the

Saturday - Make your own Panini Sandwiches

Sunday - Breakfast for Dinner

Thanks to Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday. Check out her site for hundreds of menus.

Don't forget to register for my FLOR area rug giveaway! The drawing should be later this week.

I'm so excited!

UPDATE 6/11/08 : I will be closing comments sometime around midnight Friday, June 13 and the drawing will be done Friday morning... after I've had my coffee. Check back around 12pm Pacific time to see who the winner is!

*********************************************************

FLOR and Maximo designs have teamed up to offer one of Alexander Girard’s classic designs “La Fonda del Sol” in FLOR’s unique modular carpet tiles. The product is really pretty cool. It’s an eco-friendly (see... I’m still green), anti-microbial, high quality carpet that comes in squares that you can arrange any way you like. You can read a lot more about it here.

FLOR has given me one 3’x5’ La Fonda del Sol Mandarina area rug to give away.


I thought long and hard about what I should require in order for one of you to win this (Because I wouldn’t mind keeping it myself… but that’s against the rules. Darn!) and finally decided that you don’t have to do anything! I’m just that nice… and I hate making decisions. So, in order to enter the contest all you have to do is write a comment on this post telling how you would use this rug (or just say you want it.) I will assign a number to each person who leaves a comment and, when we have over 100 entrants, I will have a random number generator pick the winner. FLOR's media relations person will ship the rug directly to the winner (so I can't snag it) within 2 weeks. I’m going to rely on you guys to pass the word along so that we can get to the 100 minimum quickly. Ok?

Unfortunately, there is one catch... FLOR is unable to ship internationally so only readers who have addresses in the U. S. and Canada are eligible. Also, members of my family are not eligible. Sorry guys... I’ll do another chocolate give away soon and everyone can enter.

So start commenting. I am truly excited about this and I hope you are too!

****************************

P.S. You don't have to have a blogger id to enter. Just leave an anonymous comment but be sure to put your name and email address in it so I can contact you if you win.

The results are in! Thank you for entering!

Gulp!

It's time for end of the year science projects!

A Gulper eel isn't the most glamorous of animals to make a model of.

But the model does have a few good uses...

Dog training tool.

Sister Abuse!

Or a new best friend.

La Fonda del Sol Giveaway

When life gets hard and I need an escape I run away to a place where life is good. It’s a delightfully quiet place full of sunshine and cacti. Where lizards zip around in the noon sun and warmer blooded animals seek out a shady spot for a nap. Sophisticated ladies in linen dresses and wide brimmed hats pour limeonade into heavy hand-blown glasses and sit on the veranda chatting while their good natured and silent children dip their toes in the tiled pool. Occasionally, muted laughter drifts into the house where the men are sprawled on the spotless chrome and white leather sofas discussing the morning’s game and how tricky the dogleg on hole 17 is.

In my fantasy life everything is perfect. There is no dust, no laundry, white walls are fingerprint free, and the colors are always coordinated. It’s a mid-century modern paradise straight from the pages of the 1960’s Sunset magazine collection that my aunt kept in her family room. And occasionally I have to spend a few days pretending I’m there… so I don’t scream my head off. However, like a good 1960’s Mommy, when I return, (with my valium smile, wobbling slightly in my pumps, but looking altogether much less insane) I always bring gifts.



So, my dearies (oops... that’s kind of Wizard of Oz, not the tone I’m looking for here.) So… Dahlings… I have a surprise for you! The delightfully modern, yet oh. so. chic. company FLOR has offered me the opportunity to give one of you a really cool gift.
But first... a little design history. Alexander Girard was one of the greats of mid 20th Century textile and furniture design. His use of bold patterns and bright colors in textiles started a revolution that changed the design world.

“The simple geometric patterns and brilliant primary color ranges came to be because of my own urgent need for them on current projects. As you will remember, primary colors were frowned upon in those days; so were geometric patterns. I had the notion then, and still do, that any form of representational pattern, when used on folded or draped fabric, became disturbingly distorted, and that, therefore, a geometric pattern was more appropriate for a draped fabric. Also, I was against the concept that certain fabrics were ‘suited’ to certain uses – like pink for girls or blue for boys!”
Alexander Girard: Quoted in an essay by Jack Lenor Larson. 1975 Design Quarterly # 98/99

FLOR and Maximo designs have teamed up to offer one of Girard’s classic designs “La Fonda del Sol” in FLOR’s unique modular carpet tiles. The product is really pretty cool. It’s an eco-friendly (see... I’m still green), anti-microbial, high quality carpet that comes in squares that you can arrange any way you like. You can read a lot more about it here.

FLOR has given me one 3’x5’ La Fonda del Sol Mandarina area rug to give away.


I thought long and hard about what I should require in order for one of you to win this (Because I wouldn’t mind keeping it myself… but that’s against the rules. Darn!) and finally decided that you don’t have to do anything! I’m just that nice… and I hate making decisions. So, in order to enter the contest all you have to do is write a comment here telling how you would use this rug (or just say you want it.) I will assign a number to each person who leaves a comment and, when we have over 100 entrants, I will have a random number generator pick the winner. FLOR's media relations person will ship the rug directly to the winner (so I can't snag it) within 2 weeks. I’m going to rely on you guys to pass the word along so that we can get to the 100 minimum quickly. Ok?

Unfortunately, there is one catch... FLOR is unable to ship internationally so only readers who have addresses in the U. S. and Canada are eligible. Also, members of my family are not eligible. Sorry guys... I’ll do another chocolate give away soon and everyone can enter.