Jean’s blog

Vacation!

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:44:02 -0700

All right, so I've been at the nursing home for a year now, (NOT as a resident!) and have decided to take my vacation. Ahhhhh.. I've never actually taken paid time off from work. I could get used to this.

So far My Honey and I have taken the twins to the Children's Museum, followed by a relaxing lunch at El Senor Sol and a quick trip to the REI for mittens. I know doesn't sound too exciting, but I had fun. The next day we took a bike ride to a nearby pond and hung out for a little bit, and then went on to a playground and just let the boys have at it while we lay in the shade on some nice cool grass. Again, not exciting, but I enjoyed it immensely. I have some pictures to share, but they aren't very good. I had to use my camera phone as our camera still isn't repaired or replaced yet. (Long story, to be remedied soon.)

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Ouside the Children's Museum

Landgon and Trevor as firemen

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Langdon dressed as a worm

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Trevor dresses as an ant

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Langdon tries his hand as a vet

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Trevor climbs aboard a tennis shoe wearing tree

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Kev and the boys playing in the pond.

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They Say I Tried to Burgle My Own Home...

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:46:27 -0700

Before I go any further, 'They' are my teenage children. :-)

My daughter had a party last night; a late birthday party. My house was filled with teenagers. I wouldn't wish that on anyone! Well, as the night wore down, and we were waiting for the last couple parent to retrieve their young un's, they started telling stories about goofy things they remembered. One boy talked about an upright freezer getting unplugged in their basement, and the carnage that ensued, my daughter told the tale of the water volcano, and then my oldest chimed in with a story of the time he thought I was a burgler.

It was last spring sometime, heck it may have been winter still. It was snowy, very snowy, let's just put it that way. It was getting late, the kids should have been asleep for a while, and I was enjoying some nice quiet quality time with my television, when the picture starts getting pixilated. Snow on the dish... Ugh

I head down the hall, grab the broom out of the linen closet and head for the patio door. My Honey's boots are sitting there so I just put them on and grab my coat by the door as well and head outside.

I guess at this point, the boys downstairs, not in bed as they should have been, started hearing strange noises on the patio. (I was dragging a chair around to the satellite dish so I could reach it to clean it.)

Frank to Logan, "Did you hear that?"

Logan, "Yeah, what is it?"

Frank, "I forgot the dogs!" starts to get up, only to see the dogs... "Wait, where's Mom?"

Logan, "She's sleeping."

Frank, "It's probably the neighbor cat." At this point I had moved in front of his bedroom window, casting a very uncat-like shadow.

I was told at this time Frank shoos Logan into his own room, knowing that there shouldn't be anyone else out there.

Outside I have finished my task, drug the chair back and start knocking the snow off of the broom by giving it a couple good whacks against the exterior wall and kicking snow off the boots in the same manner. Frank hears the sounds and starts to make his way up the stairs, to make sure the doors are locked, and call the police or wake me up, whichever comes first. He said he was about halfway up when he heard the door open.

Frank bolts back down the stairs, shuts off the lights and proceeds to arm himself with a small frying pan that had absolutely no business being downstairs.

Now, let it be said, that while I was outside I had taken note of the lights on downstairs and was NOT amused. I didn't even take the time to remove My Honey's boots before I made my way to the basement.

All Frank hears is the heavy clomp, clomp, clomp of the boots coming closer, closer, and then coming down the stairs...

He was convinced I was a burgler.

When I flicked on the light at the foot of the stairs and rounded the corner I was greeted with the site of my teenager clutching a frypan, eyes as big as saucers, and Logan peeking around his door.

He said last night that all he saw after I turned on the light and came around the corner was what looked like a shovel, (the broom,) and a giant coat.

Let's just say they were happy to go to bed...

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Where Were You?

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:52:21 -0700

Obviously, today is Sept 11. Our nation is reflecting upon the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. I have discussed this a lot over the last week, with friends, family, and even some people I don't really know.

The attacks are our generations' Kennedy asasination. Ask anyone, they remember where they were when the towers fell, just as my Mom remembers where she was when she heard the news about JFK.

I remember I was in the middle of a messy divorce from my first husband and had taken the first job I could that had the possibility of paying the bills. Yup, I was selling used cars. (Please don't judge...) I had gotten in my car to head for work and ripped my hose. I didn't have a pair so I stopped at the grocery store a couple blocks from home. Of course on the two minute drive I was hearing a story of the Pentagon being hit by a plane. ????

When I went in the store everyone was in a state of panic, convinced the world was coming to an end. I called home as soon as I made it back to the car and told my Mom, (she was babysitting,) not to let the kids watch TV, just put in a movie and go to my room and turn on the news.

I arrived at work just in time to see the first tower up in smoke. We just sat there, staring, and before long we watched as the second plane hit.

I still remember the silence as we stared at each other when the towers collapsed, the look in my coworkers' eyes. I don't think I've ever experienced such stillness, and I hope I never will again.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I drove a group to Bonfils to donate, called everyone I could think of, for no reason than to try regain some sense of normalcy, and basically tried to keep from thinking it was time to grab the kids, Mom and the dog to head for the hills.

We've come a long way in eight years, but that's a memory that will remain fresh for many more to come.

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Once Again, Long Time No Blog... :-)

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:40:31 -0700

Once again, soooo much has happened since I last blogged. I suppose we'll start with the drama.

Drama Part One:

Just days after my last post in June, my ex Grandmother-in-law,(I,) fell ill. (My first husband's parents and I are still very close. We get together weekly and we will always remain family.) This was my ex MIL's,(N,) mom, and she was just beside herself. Her mom had fallen and broken her hip in a couple places and the sister with medical power of attorney caused a great deal of grief for her. It became quite a process with N becoming secondary POA and agreeing to hip replacement surgery.

During all of this I had gotten a couple messages to my ex to tell him I was in the hospital and not doing well, he needed to call his mom. He didn't.

To top all of this off, N had to try locate brothers she hadn't spoken to in years, only to find one had checked in to a psych ward and couldn't be located, and the other had just passed away.

Needless to say we would have done anything for her to make it easier.

Along comes the fourth of July, and who do I run into at the park? My ex. Ugh. Again, he was told to call his mother, (in between getting people to take pics of him and the children he hasn't seen but once in years. "Will someone please take pictures of me and the kids before my bitch ex-wife takes them away again?" I wanted to puke.)

Again, no call to his mom.

Shortly after that I had to get another message to the ex, "Your Grandmother has passed away, call your Mom."

It took him a couple days, but he did finally call her, and they were supposed to get together, but he blew that off, and then blew off the funeral as well.

It was a really hard time for N, who I love dearly, and the kids as well. It was their first funeral that they could remember. At least they had gotten to spend time with her fairly recently, and the two older boys got to see her one last time in the hospital.

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Drama Part Two

In January, My Honey was in the hospital for A-Fib. Everything turned out alright, but MH wanted a complete cardio workup just to have some peace of mind. Most of the test came out fine, but his last, a stress test came up irregular and he had to have an angiogram last week. Thankfully he's fine and won't need anymore tests. Yeah for the all clear!

School, just a quick note on that.. A's on my midterms, thanks to Kev, and a final coming up next week. I've already signed up for A&P next semester. I'm scared and excited at the same time.

We also took a mini vacation, just because we needed a breather. We went up to Golden Gate State Park to do some camping. We went up on Sunday, and set up camp. Kev went on to work and I hung out with the kids, (my 5 +1,) and had a blast. We had it all, hot dogs and hamburgers, smores and an incredible thunderstorm came through. To top it off, a large number of the trees were deformed, and it was like we were camping in a haunted forest.

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A few of the crazy trees. :-)

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Kev popped back in after work and when we woke in the morning we all broke camp and went on a great hike. I wish we could have gone on further, but everyone got tired out after a few miles.

We then went on to a freind's place in Golden Gate Canyon for a barbecue and some driving around in a Gator.

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Finally, we wnt to a B&B in Idaho Springs to wind down. It's called Baxter's on the Creek, and it's just wonderful. The twins caught their first fish and we have some fun video of them kissing and petting said fish. I need to get My Honey to upload the video so I can post it.

There's of course been a lot more happenings, but these were the highlights. :-) Gotta run, hope to post again soon.

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Return To The Froggy Pond

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:49:29 -0700

Last year I had blogged about The Froggy Pond My Honey had found while biking around the neighborhood. Well, last week we had a break from the rain, (it's been raining off and on the last three weeks.) so he took them for the first bike ride of the year. I don't think they actually saw any froggys this time, but they had a great time none the less. Here are a few pictures. Trevor is in the orange basketball jersey, Langdon is in the overalls.

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The Past Three Weeks... :-)

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:23:54 -0700

Alright, so here's my excuse this time... :-) We finished our projects, had a flurry of school performances, (the final ones of this school year,) threw our house in order for a visit from My Honey's Mom, and celebrated the twins' fourth birthday. And so, pictures!

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Logan with his trombone!

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My Honey at Logan's concert filming.

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Alright, I know it's kinda mean, but we couldn't help but take note of this guy to My Honey's left. Do they still service those cameras?

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Our finished hole in the wall, dining room side.

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And kitchen side. Kev did a great job!

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The Grandma and Birthday countdown calendar!

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Mema with the boys, enjoying a quiet moment. :-)

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The cake in progress for a pirate party!

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The finished product with my not-so-little girl!

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Trevor

My Honey

Trevor and Langdon while still clean...

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Romy & Langdon in their pirate garb.

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Lighting the cake...

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And finally cutting it!

Alright, I've once again run out of time. I'll try to post more soon, or at least not go so long between posts!

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Workin' On the House

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:45:06 -0700

Okay, so My Honey and I have been trying to improve a few things around our house. Some working out much better than the others.

First we tackled the downstairs bathroom. We had a leaky faucet which we couldn't replace due to the way it was installed, and used that as a springboard to spruce the room up. We replace the pedestal sink with a cabinet and sink, (the bathroom had previously had no storage at all,) replaced the medicine cabinet, ripped up the old tiles and laid new linoleum. We had to replace some pieces of drywall and then we finished it all with a new paint color. I'm the first to admit, it doesn't look perfect, but it's a site better than it was.

Then, off to the dining room. All we really had done here was had a fixture installed. A friend of ours is an electrician so we gave him a call. Here's a pic of our new light.

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As you can see, there's also a hole in the wall in the background. That's project number three. Kev and I punched a hole in the kitchen/dining room wall to allow more light through. It was My Honey's first somewhat big job in the house. It was a load bearing wall, so he took great care and did a fantastic job. We'll be finishing it off hopefully next week. We still have the drywall, mud, and trim yet to do, but here's a couple pics of where we stand.

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Dining Room Side, and Kev.

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Kitchen Side.

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A Water Volcano & Riding on the Low-way

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:20:09 -0700

Okay Stevie, here's the explanation of the laundry room debacle. Last Tues, (the 21st,) I was trying to get some laundry done as I had to work the next day and it was beautiful outside; perfect for hanging clothes on the line.

I had put in my fourth load in the washer and busied myself with some other things when I started to hear this shrill whisting sound. I looked around upstairs for a moment or two before I realized it was coming from downstairs. It suddenly hit me... The carbon monoxide detector. I raced downstairs into the laundry room without stopping to turn on any lights along the way, only to be completely soaked when I ran into said laundry room.

I flipped on the lights to see what I can only describe as a water volcano. One of the fill hoses to the washing machine had burst and sent water spraying in all directions. I suppose we must have excellent water pressure because every wall was coated with water. (That's what sent the detector off, it was soaked as well.)

I know I should be happy it burst at the top of the hose, and not the back, because that's what basically alerted us to the problem so quickly by sounding the alarm, however, after hours of cleanup I'm not. Had it failed at the lower end the water would have remained on the floor for the most part, and a good deal of it would have gone down the floor drain. Instead, all the laundry I had just sorted was soaked, the ceiling was dripping, and I made a mad dash to the local hardware store looking like an entrant in a wet t-shirt contest. Fun times.

On another note, riding on the low-way. While heading to a friend's house Weds. for their daughter's birthday party, the twins saw some road signs they were trying to make sense of. Basically we ended up telling them that these particular signs meant that bike and pedestrians were not allowed on the highway. Of course, my husband had to explain what exactly a highway was. Well, while driving under some overpasses on a stretch of road lovingly referred to as The Mousetrap, Langdon asked if we were now on the low-way.Kev tried to tell him that no, we were still on the highway, but he got so upset that we finally agreed that, indeed, we were on the low-way, but would be back on the highway as soon as we got past the overpasses. :-)

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Our Week

nobody@vox.com(Jean) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:27:08 -0700

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. I really have no excuse other than I've been trying to keep up with Facebook and all the other sites as well.

It's official, Frank is sixteen. Time for the white hair to come in earnest. He hasn't asked for a permit yet, but it's only a matter of time.

For his birthday we checked out a different restaurant by the ice rink called Benders. I didn't really care for it, and we probably won't be back, but it had it's charms. One entire wall of the place was plexiglass so you could look down on the action. The kids had fun watching the guys on the ice below.

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Here's Frank watching the action on the ice.

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And Logan.

Here's a picture of the woman that 'threw' herself at my husband. The twins had knocked this over and I looked over just in time to see My Honey maneuvering her back onto the stand. When I teased him about it he replied, "What can I say? She threw herself at me!"

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I have to tell you about Frank's presents. We have a friend who sings in a band. Frank has been bugging him to teach him guitar or bass for a while. So, with my friend Chris' help, Kevin and I got Frank an acoustic guitar for his birthday. You should have seen his face! It was not expected for certain. Here are the pictures of Frank with his guitar . First him with the box and the with the guitar itself.

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