Slept Right through It

I got a call from Sister S in NY this morning very early and she was worried. Apparently we had an earthquake at 5:30 this morning. We missed it. Slept right through. The whole nieghborhood slept right through. Oh well, only a 4.5. We are all fine.
Back to class,
love and hugs,B

This is Why We Keep G Around

I am in class..... I should be studying right now and writing substantial comments in order to be counted present, but I had to blog this.
All I can think about right now is class and technology junk I don't understand. In the car yesterday headed home from the library we are listening to music on the radio and my mind is elsewhere when G says "Wouldn't it be funny if a llama sang this song?" It is just what I needed to to realize that this class will be over soon (hopefully sooner than it feels). I wish my brain worked like his does. He is living breathing comic relief. What was really funny too was that he got the joke he had made and he was so pleased that he had made me laugh.
love and hugs,
B

And I Wish I Had Remembered the Camera

Two (or so) weeks ago we had big rain storms come through. Extensive flooding around us, trees down, etc. This was when our ceiling was leaking (if you're a regular reader you will remember that of course). One evening during the downpours we noticed a sudden stream of cars pass the house leaving from the beach area down the hill and another stream of dump trucks and a bulldozer go down the hill toward the beach. Well what we found out the next day was the road around by the water (our favorite place to see Old Man Rainier) was closed due to a mudslide. We had kind of expected that it would be reopened by now since it is a school bus route. It's not. Saturday the weather was nice enough for a walk and curiousity got the best of me. I had to go see what in the world has kept the road closed this long. Mudslide.... pile of mud in the road right. At the bottom of the hill (3/4 mile in) I realized I forgot the camera: I will take it the next time I go. There were a total of 5 mudslides along the section of road. first one was small and is already cleaned up but you can see the gash in the hillside where it came from. Second one was tiny onto someone's driveway. The third one was amazing; not a pile of mud in the road. As you walk this road there is a steel guard rail against a sea wall on the water side and the other side is a cliff area. As I approached I could see the guard rail was bent over the edge into the water with all the wooden posts holding it broken off for about a 40 yard section. The steel is bent all the way over the edge of the sea wall and down the 6-7 foot drop into the water. There are a few stumps of trees just sitting in the road... roots and all.... they are taller than me. The fourth slide area covered the road but did not reach the water and the fifth was a small one that has already been cleared and haystacked. It was really powerful to see what water and mud can do as a destructive force. I can also now fully understand why a caravan of cars left the area that night: there had to be a horrible rumble as all that fell away and it was still raining so hard I bet they wondered what else would come down during the night.
Next time I walk I promise to take the camera for pics (maybe even video)
love and hugs,
B
PS I know you have endured several posts without pics of kids--- I will try harder to get some pics of them.

Fog, Fog, Go Away

For 3 (almost 4) days we have had fog. Which makes it feel colder than it is. And makes it difficult to play outside. and if the fog horns don't stop soon I really am going to lose it. Fog, Fog, go away and don't come back another day. If you leave our town from either direction it apparently gets better. But coming across the bridge or up on the other end of town as soon as you pass within city limits (ha!ha! like there is a city here) you are greeted with the great white wall. Our flag has not moved in days. We just need a little breeze maybe even some nice rain to get rid of our air stagnation.
love and hugs,
B

Preparing for Class

Before now I have always loved preparing for school--- of course in the last 15 years I have been the one in charge of the students or getting my kids ready and not actually taking a class. Well, all that is about to change. To keep my teaching license in TN and VA I have to take continued education. (Don't get me started on why I won't license in WA; I'll give you a hint--- for such mediocre schools they put out-of-state experienced teachers through the ringer to get their license.) Graduate classes give me the most bang for my buck (least number of credit hours required).
So as of January 27 you may not hear from me for three weeks or so--- in fact during preparation this week I may also be missing. No, not at Target buying school supplies. Think more like preparing extra dinners, trying to invent a way to get laundry to do itself, and worrying. My first class is DISCOVERING THE WORLD OF MULTIMEDIA: I hope it isn't harder than this blogging thing. I know I have to put a powerpoint presentation together (stop laughing at me!!!) and do some kind of group project. The classes are online and I hate things that are like instant messaging--- I feel so much pressure about typing a timely response. I also hope cute little codes are forbidden (BFF, LOL,OMG) because it is like learning a new language. You can tell how much I am looking forward to it.
Hope to get back to you soon. Three day weekend so maybe the kids will do something cute. E and G start swimming lessons Saturday so that should be interesting. E is already vowing he won't get in the water. G doesn't understand why he is re-taking the Super Pike class; he looked genuinely ticked off and said that after his first day in Super Pike they would make him a Eel. I hope so--- he is a good little swimmer. My hope for E is that he doesn't cry. My hope for me is that we can get in and out without M going anywhere near the water--- he is fearless.
love and hugs and have a great long weekend,
B

I Could Just Kick Myself......

And I should just kick myself. I knew today (Friday) would be a busy day. Ready for school, take little ones to MMO, deposit for PTA at bank,back to E's school to meet with the principal and then work in his class for a couple of hours, and then back to pick up the little ones. So yesterday night while making dinner I decided to help myself get ahead today by prepping and beginning dinner in the crock pot. Everything went together great and smelled delicious. After dinner I turned off the crock pot to let it cool and planned to put it in the fridge overnight and complete cooking today. Guess what..... it never made it to the fridge. I came down to make breakfast this morning and found it still sitting on the countertop. And then I had those few moments of indecision----keep it or toss it. I knew it had to go, but when I look at $12 worth of ingredients sitting there at room temperature (as they had been for 10 hours) it makes me so mad at myself. I could really kick myself. Instead I rose to the occasion, trashed the soup, washed the crock and inventoried ingredients, made a list of what I needed, and on the way back to pick up the little ones from MMO this morning I stopped by and picked up what I needed to start all over again. I hope this soup is worth it. Note to self: Next time put a note on the steps if there is something that must to in the fridge before bed.
love and hugs, B

The Christmas Trip

The Christmas trip was wonderful. It was good to be "back East" again. We managed to get out smoothly and the trip on Christmas Eve day went amazingly well. That is one long plane trip; D and M are great travel partners--- especially considering that I don't like to be trapped in small spaces with toddlers.

I was going to do a day by day recap in words, but I think I will just group some pics and give general ideas--- the dining room ceiling is currently leaking so I am a bit distracted going to check on it. Family fun: all the sisters were in with families in tow, representing NY, TN and VA. We opened a few gifts, ate delicious meals, the kids played in the woods and went to parks and we all just had a nice time relaxing together when we weren't working on puzzles. Pics follow of various participants in the fun:

We went back to Bradington and visited; for D and me and for the kids I just have to say that true friendship is picking up where you left off without missing a beat. I experienced it this summer with friends A from KY and P from TN and Bradington was just the same. We had one long afternoon and a shorter visit to the "Far West End" and both were like going home. It was so good to see everyone and how much all the kids had grown( and the shrubs at our old house---get those people some hedge clippers). Pics of the kids playing:

On Tuesday when we had Grandma and Grandpa to ourselves we all went to Williamsburg for the day. It was a lovely day for a walk thru old town and we even ventured over to Yorktown and found a terrific beach for a walk. Highlight of the trip for E was fulfilling a lifelong dream by getting a tricorn hat. He loves them and has begged us on every trip to W-burg. Pics of W-burg and Yorktown:




New Year's Eve we hung out with Grandpa and Grandma and participated in their tradition of cooking lobsters; the kids and D went to the store to pick out the lobsters, I think they played with them after they got home. When it was time to cook them I thought for sure it would seal G's fate as a vegetarian and PETA activist, but he seemed to handle it OK. Though come to think of it he hasn't eaten much meat since we got home. Pics of New Year's Eve:

The travels back went smoothly though due to strong headwinds we added an extra 45 minutes in the air. The kids took several days to adjust back to West Coast Time. G suffered the most with M waking him up early with talking and playing in the bottom bunk. Pic of G adjusting.

It is now raining and has beensince we got home. Yesterday it rained sideways against the house the whole day so water got in somewhere and has decided to complete its journey by leaking through the dining room ceiling. The front porch ceiling is also leaking, but I think that is due to a clogged gutter. I hate water. I hope it stops raining soon.

love and hugs and send me some sun,

B