Me, Myself, and I

If Larry was doing service to others yesterday, I was only doing service to myself. It was a bad day yesterday, and apparently is going to go in to today as well. On a pain level of 1-10, I'd say I'm at a 13. It's ridiculous. All I did yesterday was hang out with a girlfriend so that Joey and her son Sandr could have some fun together. Literally we sat and talked for a little over 2 hours, I came home and fed Joe lunch, and then thank goodness Larry arrived on the scene and I could go lay down. Which is exactly what I did for the next several hours.

Larry made dinner - Cheesy Enchilada Hamburger Helper only he made his with tri tip streak strips and of course extra gooey cheese thrown in for good measure. It was delicious - we all loved it, only I couldn't manage to keep mine down. My pain was at such an all time high that it was revolting at doing anything that required any effort, including eating. Let me tell you it's not much fun.

I've been off and on all night with my attempts at sleep. Poor Larry is not having a very restful night's sleep either since when I am in there I'm trying to cuddle with him, or tossing and turning, messing up the blankets... I think you get the picture. Then I just feel excessively in pain, and as quietly as possible get up, move around, try to take my own focus away from the pain, and I must admit I'm having a hard time doing this tonight. Even my breath work isn't working for me tonight.

Oh well, I guess this is my life, and that it's going to continue to be my life, and so it makes sense to treasure each and every moment that makes itself a part of this thing I call life and to draw close to my husband and son, and the remainder of my family and friends, to absorb as much of the good stuff as possible with each and every one of them.

My hubby, my friend

Yesterday Larry went to help my sister and Jeff move into a different apartment within the same complex. He went to help simply because I asked. No "ah Mannn", or "this is my bum around day", nothing like that. Just whatever I needed him to do, no questions asked. He is such a good man, not only to Joe and I, but to my entire family.

Even my sister called to bragg on him about what a great help he was and that he hustled and got a lot accompolished over there. Plus she wanted me to know that he was the only one that zoomed in on just how stressed she was feeling and did his best to do as she asked, and during that process try to make her smile or laugh as much as possible. Usually they pick on each other, like sisters and brothers are known to do, but today he read her heart and tried to be the kind of brother and friend she most needed.

I feel so honored to call this man my hubby, my friend, the father of our child.

Up to no Good!

So I go into my bedroom to use the ladies room and when I come out, Joey's sitting on the floor in the hallway laying up against Bubba. As soon as he see's me he jumps up, says "Uh oh" and grabs his behind and runs. I think... he's been up to no good, but I decide to let it go and discover it when I discover it. I get my cup of tea, sit on the couch and try to find something on that we'll both like. He keeps his distance and just watches me. After a couple of minutes he disappears into the kitchen and comes back in to me with the bear honey container, minus a lid and says again "Uh oh" and "I made a mess". I look at him more closely and sure enough, there is honey on his shirt and in his hair. I try not to laugh as he's being so serious. I say to him, "show mommy" and we venture into the kitchen. On the table I'd been utilizing while I reorganize my pantry is the 'mess'. 3/4 of the jar of honey are spilled all over it, and around the bottom of the items that I hadn't yet put back in to the pantry, and next to this is a wad of paper towels. My little guy actually tried to clean up his mess all by himself. I'm so proud. I quickly sponge up the mess, strip him of his clothes and throw him in the tub for a quick washing.

When were done, and he's smelling all clean and fresh I walk back into the kitchen to reheat my tea. As I do though, I go through our family room instead of the living room and notice my feet keep sticking to the floor - the carpeted floor. He apparently had brought the honey in here, spilling it a little here and a little there, in his effort to share the good stuff with our new bunny Peter. Peter too has evidence on him as he has 2-3 spots that are all sticky.

Lesson learned... always take him in the potty with me!

A new sibling - Karen

Well I just got contacted by my half sister, Karen, that I only learned existed in the past year or so. She's a few years older than Crystal and I, but not much. I'm not sure how to respond as she learned of us through my dad, and as most of you know I don't have a relationship with him. It was hard enough to get my sister Crystal to accept that to me he is just a sperm donor and I don't know if I'm up to going through that again with another "sister". Though a part of me is excited at the concept of expanding my family to include another sister. I always wished I'd had lots of siblings when I was growing up and that feeling still hasn't changed.

Crystal has communicated with her via e-mail and a short telephone call and has passed along to me that she seems super nice, has two pooches that are her babies and just got out of a long-term relationship. Sounds normal enough.

I just don't even know how to start a communication back to her. Maybe I should just send her a link to this blog and then she'll know what all is on my mind though that would be sort of copping out. I guess I shouldn't hold the sins of the father against the daughter, especially when he didn't even raise her either.

I guess this is actually a good dilemma to have, because you can never have too many people in your life to care for and hopefully have care for you back.

Keep ya all posted on the outcome.

Aye Aye Matey

Friday I hosted a Pirates Booty Treasure Hunt play date with my Cradles to Crayons Group at Hagen Park. I had buried gold coins for the kids to dig up and had a small treasure chest with all sorts of prizes from the dollar store for the kids to pick from.


They absolutely loved it and had a blast finding the coins in the sand pit and running to get a prize. I'd also picked up spy scopes for each of them and they had fun searching for "bad" pirates. Joe and I were the only ones who wore "pirate" attire - head scarfs, eye patches, etc. but we didn't care... we loved being real pirates.


We also had original art in the manner of chalk drawings and bubbles galore with the big wands... also available at the dollar store. Gotta love those Dollar Trees.


It was a super hot day, but we still managed to have a blast. As usual I overdid it and so Saturday was a down day for me. Even though I could barely move in the morning, it was so worth it to see Joey have so much fun with his friends.

I feel so blessed to have these ladies and their kiddo's in my life.

Peter Cotton Tail Monson

Yep we have a new addition to our family, a 10-month old Rex Rabbit who's name is Peter Cotton Tail. He is the softest thing I've ever felt, loves to be petted and to play with old baby rattles. Joe and Larry are almost as in love with him as I am.


I'm hoping once they realize just what a joy a bunny can be that we'll be able to bring home a little girlfriend for Peter (spayed of course!) to complete our little family. Everyone needs to have somebody to love, even Peter.

Bubba's a little jealous right now, but I know after a couple of days he'll think that we got Peter just for him. He always wants to take all the pets I bring home for himself.


I'm so happy to have Peter that I just can't stop smiling every time I look at him. Mom even thought he was sweet and came out to give him a little grandma loving.

Yippee... Joey made a pee pee

Well as many of you know we had started potty training only to decide to put it on hold until we take our road trip the first week of October. Well apparently Joey has other ideas because he climbed up on the potty all be himself and went tinkle and actually managed to get it all inside the big potty! I'm just gonna go with the flow, let him do what he's comfortable with and if we have a bit of a backslide because of the road trip no big deal.

The only bummer part was Larry wasn't home to participate in this triumphant moment since he's away at the home brewer's festival this weekend. Oh well, I guess we both can't always be present for all of these little milestones.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off the Home Brew Festival Larry goes

Yep you read right. Larry is going to the No. CA Home Brew Festival this weekend, from Friday through Sunday and then he'll be taking Monday off to finish recovering from all his fun activities. This year he gets to go for free since his graphic was chosen for this year's logo - a pretty big honor. Me, you ask, am I going? NO! Beer is just not my cup of tea... you see I'd rather have a cup of tea. And I've found it's not a lot of fun to be around a huge group of folks when they're all drinking and you're the only sane one in the group. So I send him with my blessing and hope he has a fun, and safe, weekend.

His brother Chuck and wife Kelli are going as well as a couple of friends. I'll be babysitting their two dogs while they're gone - Soc and Leia. Two really sweet girls that Joey really loves, so I imagine will have a high energy weekend around here with three dogs and two cats running around being chased by Joe.

Larry really loves the camaraderie of this weekend and it's his special "boys" weekend, though each year he tries to convince me to go with him. Perhaps I'll give it a go one of these years, when Joe's a little older. It's held in Dobbins on Lake Francis and is supposed to be just a beautiful location. We only made it camping once this year and I'm bummed about that as I'd hoped to go several times this summer and now it's starting to get to cold in the evenings to be sleeping outside. I think next year I'll mark it on the calendar in January, so then we'll be sure to go.

Anyway, I hope the weekend goes well for him, that he comes away from it safe and with some new brewing ideas for his own homemade beer and mead. I'll miss ya while your gone honey, but just think... I won't have to wear earplugs to sleep while your away (lol). Love you baby.

New Med's got me all wound up

My doctor added yet another drug to my repertoire and it's supposed to help with my depression, and hopefully allow me to sleep better. Does it... no. Since I've been on it I haven't had what passes for normal for me (4 hours of sleep) in days. It seems I'm one of the rare ones that instead of making me drowsy it's giving me insomnia. I'm going to give it a couple more nights as sometimes it takes about 10 days for my body to adjust to a new medication, but if it doesn't resolve itself by then, I'll have to try taking it in the morning instead of in the evening.

Since it's considered a narcotic I really would prefer to take it at night since I'm already on two hard core med's during the day, but if I don't have a choice then I don't have a choice. You just can't function if you don't get any decent rest.

I wish I could just snap my fingers, wave a magic wand... just something to make this pain, depression and insomnia disappear forever. No fun I tell ya, it's just no fun at all.

Happy Grandparents Day!

Today's a special day for Joey because he gets to acknowledge just what a lucky little boy he is because he has three awesome grandparents to be grateful for. And as his parents, Larry and I are very grateful for their presence in his, and our, lives.

Grandma or MaaMah as he's taken to calling her of late is one of Joey's best buddies. Each morning he goes in to greet her with a "morning" and a kiss. Although he's usually had his breakfast by this time, she comes out and gets a cup of coffee and something to eat, and no matter what it is he wants to have a bite with her. Then if it's one of his stay-at-home days they usually spend a portion of it hanging out in the backyard playing - drawing with sidewalk chalks or playing cars; or just having one of the unique little conversations. His grandma loves him very much, and Joey in return loves her to pieces. We love her too.

Grammi or Bonnie as he thinks it's so funny to call her these days is his adventure buddy. From the moment Joey arrives on the scene they are go, go, go. Considering she's a "grandma" you'd never know it if you didn't see it for yourself, because when she's with him she's just a big ol' kid, although more cautious than Joey tends to be. They play chase, and share hugs and kisses. She helps him climb the little playground they keep in their backyard, holding her breath all the while for fear that he'll fall off. They play cars and planes and Grammi makes all the appropriate noises, and they laugh. He loves to laugh with her and do exactly what she does. Their partners in crime I guess you could say and he knows he's got her heart all tied up in knots... I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. I feel blessed to have this lady love my son in this way, and to shine that love on me as well.

Pop Pop or Grandpa is his go to guy. If he wants something to work right he takes it to Pop Pop and he knows he'll fix it right up. Batteries, re-assembly, you name it and he's the fella you want around. Or if you need a book read in just the right tone Pop Pop is the one to ask to read you a story. He dresses up at Christmas as Santa and ho-ho-ho's his way through the day making the kids day extra special. He and Joey have formed quite a "manly" bond and he loves him with all his heart. I love him too.

For each of these grandparents I feel blessed to have them in our little world. Each helps us in their own unique way to manage this journey of parenthood, and at the same time lets Joey know that he is loved more than anything.

For grandparents day Joey made them each a flower pot, hand painted with a packet of seeds that they can plant together and a small bookmark that says "Grown with love". They all loved their gift, and even more I think they enjoyed the fact that they were thought of with love.

Potty Training has been put on HOLD

Well we decided that it was silly to go full blast into potty training for Joe as we are taking a road trip the first week of October and it will be necessary to utilize diapers while driving. So we're still following thru when he requests to try, but not going all out and wearing big boy undies until we get home from Washington.

All in good time... that's all I have to say. It would be nice to be done with diapers, but at the same time I'm not to thrilled with him growing up so fast either.

Joe's Stats

Well we measured and weighed Joey today and I can't believe how big he's gotten. He's exactly 37 inches tall and weighs 31 pounds even. No wonder I'm having so much difficulty when I'm lifting the little guy up... because he's not so little anymore.

Puppies, Puppies Everywhere

Larry, Joe and I went to check out a breeder today for Miniature Australian Shepherds. Crystal had turned me on to him as he is one of her grooming clients. There were about 10 puppies there - he had bred both of his female dogs aiming for a total of eight pups and instead ended up with a total of 15 since one of them gave birth to 10 and the other 5. Anyway he had an equal bunch of Blue Merle and Tri Merle's and one red... all of them were beautiful.

I fell in love with two, a little girl named Martha and a boy named Adam. Larry was drawn to one of the other males and Joey loved them all. They kept jumping all over him, knocking him down and climbing all over him. This would have been just fine but they had sharp little nails, and teeth, and so when they'd get to be to much for him he'd start yelling for Momma. One puppy in particular, that had already been selected by another family and in fact will be going home to them tomorrow, took a real liking to Joey. They ran after one another and Joey kept throwing toys for him. That pup would just grab on to the bottom of his shorts or his t-shirt and off they'd go - Joe running ad full speed and Kona just dragging along, bouncing up and down off the dirt, but never letting go. It was priceless. I wish I'd had my camera with me so that I could have gotten a video, but wouldn't you know I forgot it at home.

Anyway I seriously want to get one, but not now as it's just not in the budget. He breeds about once every 12-18 months, so perhaps I'll get to bring one of the little guys home with me from the next litter. Plus that will give me time to save up as they're bread from champion lines and run on average $900-1200. I know you all are thinking - whoa that's a lot of money, and your right but it's the perfect breed for my physical needs as well as our family, and it's the perfect size and temperament for me to turn him or her into a therapy dog which has long been a dream of mine.

Anyway, Sis thanks for referring me to Ben and Steve as they were great and their dogs are just what I've been looking for.

The time has come... Potty Training

That's right. Joe has begun to show more than a passing interest in using the "BIG" potty and although we haven't been successful yet, it's not for lack of effort. So this weekend I'm going to begin working with him on it in ernest and hopefully he'll get it down pat in no time at all. I'm fortunate because my friend and daycare provider, JoAnna is willing to work with me on it so when he's at her place he can still wear his big boy undies and I'll just have to pack in several sets of clothes for "just in case".

Wish me luck.

Joey enjoying his first thrilling rides at the State Fair!

Boys and their toys

One of Joey's favorite new words is "batteries", is it any wonder why?

The California State Fair

Larry, Joe and I headed up to check out the California State Fair yesterday and boy did we ever have a great time. It was my and Joey's first visit ever so we wanted to check out everything, though I must admit that even after 5-hours we didn't manage to see everything. Gives us a goal for next year (lol).

Joey went on his first carnival rides - Jeep Explorers, Big Trucks, and Flying Boats. Of course we forgot our camera, but one lady who was taking shots agreed to send me a couple via e-mail so as soon as I get them I'll post for all to see. Larry did manage to get a couple of Joe and I on his phone, which turned out pretty well.


We had yummy carnival foods - cotton candy, caramel apples, tons of bottled water because boy was it hot. Plus the fried foods - fish and chips, battered zucchini, even some Thai... and it was all good.

Joey was thrilled with the livestock exhibit. He even got to get up close and personal with a Llama. So soft.

We spent over an hour searching for the blue ribbon tent for food and homeade goods, but never did find it. Larry was a bit disappointed over that as he'd wanted to check out the craft beers and see if they had entries for mead. He's really getting in to his mead making and wanted to check out the competition as he's hoping to have an entry for next year.

All in all it made for a wonderful, if tiring, day.

Anniversary Celebrations

Larry and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary this weekend. We had an awesome "date night", thanks to the babysitting services of my sister-in-love Mary. We started our evening off trying a new sushi hot spot in El Dorado Hills called Sky Sushi. It was lovely - the food was excellent, the atmosphere beautiful, and the company divine. If we had one complaint it was that their menu was a little overpriced, but the presentation of the food made up for that as they dishes up their goodies just beautifully.

After dinner we took a motorcycle ride into Old Sac and took in the tale end of Gold Days - a reenactment of how it used to be during the Gold Rush period including costumed entertainers, fiddle music, canvas tents that represented mercantiles, saloons, and churches. It was all very impressive. I think next year we'll make a point of taking Joey to check it all out and to learn a little of California's history. We even tried some sarsaparilla and honey root beer. Both were delicious.

After our short walk about town we got back on the bike and headed to 10 & R Streets to catch the play - Six Women with Brain Death. It is the longest running play in Sacramento and was just hilarious. If you haven't seen it yet you need to make a point of it, and quick since it will only be in production for the next four weeks. I was afraid it would be to "girly" for Larry but he was cracking up right next to me. Plus how can you beat two hours of entertainment for just $17. Just fabulous.

When the play concluded we headed off for Rick's Dessert Cafe - thanks to Bonnie and Larry who were treating us to dessert in celebration of our anniversary. Ricks is famous here in Sacramento for his desserts, which is the only thing on the menu besides coffee, tea and other various beverages. He offers 258 different treats, and based on what we tried, all very delectable. Larry chose Key Lime pie and I had German Chocolate Cake. YUMMY.

After dessert we headed towards home, and our beautiful son - who was sleeping so peacefully in bed with Aunt Mary that I hated to wake him.

It was a wonderful evening, and so far it's been a pretty wonderful marriage. I love my husband, and am so blessed that he loves me right back.

Birthday Bash for Crystal and Jeff

We hosted a small party last Sunday to celebrate Jeff and Crystal's birthdays. They turned 44 and 45 respectively. We ended up with just about 30 people which was about the perfect amount for our home and backyard. Everyone brought a little something to add to the potluck and we ended up having a huge spread. Larry did all of the B-B-Q - tri tips and chicken, plus we had roasted chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, green salad, fresh fruit (w/ a scrumptious dip), veggie trays, deviled eggs, 7-layer bean dip, and the list goes on, and on. It was so yummy that I'm still full from it all, of course that could be because we're still eating off of all the leftovers

We swam some, ate alot, and had a lot of talk and laughter, and a little drinking. Larry broke out the last couple of bottles of his homemade Mead and at the end of the night was taking pre-orders for the next batch. Even I like his Mead and I don't really drink so that's saying something.


The children had a ball. We had set up a ball pit and put his motorized car and motorcycle outside for the kids to play on, as well as letting them have at his toy box inside his room. Gracie and her cousin Lexie literally did not get out of the pool except to eat a little and go potty. I bet they still have wrinkles on their toes from being in the water so long.
By early evening I was digging suits of all sizes out of my closet, as well as over sized T-shirts for people to swim in. The party started at Noon and ended at just a little after 8:00 - after all both Larry and Jeff get up before the roosters to get ready for work. Still it couldn't have gone any better.


Crystal, Jeff, Sharon and Mom pitched in on the cleanup before they left so I didn't even have any dishes to do the next day, or any trash to pick up out of the yard. You just gotta love guests who make themselves at home, and then pick up after themselves - they're the best!

Happy Birthday Crystal and Jeff. I hope you all enjoyed your party as much as we enjoyed throwing it for you.