Sick, Sick, Sick

That's what I am today. That strep throat I had a few weeks ago? Came back, or never went away, I'm not sure which. If they want to give me the shot today I'm going to take it, I can't afford these $25 a bottle herbs that make me feel better but I go through one a day. I'm on the fourth right now. Expensive health!

Update: Went to the doctor's. It's strep again. Another round of antibiotics - different this time. Didn't do the shot because it was the same as the antib that didn't work. Tears. Just want to be well. Lots of Friends episodes and Hubby's going to get Meet The Fockers and Chicken Sizzling Rice Soup. And my prescription. Please God let this go away.

Out of Commission

Well I guess I've been out of commission for a few days, so I'm going to try and save this day. To sum it up, yesterday feeling yukky and sick and still somehow managed to be out all day and have a great day. And today was Hubby's BDay! Happy Birthday you Sexy Thing!

Big Guy's speech thing was early yesterday, so we went for lunch afterwards that turned into an hour long date for the three of us, hit the nurseries afterwards to find a citrus tree to plant in a pot on our deck as we have no space for a garden. We ended up finding a couple neat ones I had no idea were around. One of them was huge, at least an acre, which is a big deal for space around here. They even had 'tea trees' that's how extensive their selection was. Or maybe nurseries normally carry tea trees, but somehow I doubt that. Any way it was a blast, the kids had fun running around, and I'm just in heaven wishing I had a big piece of land to plant everything imaginable. Afterwards we kicked back at the beach with a few towels, a good magazine, sand buckets and shovels. The kids had a blast and I told them beforehand I was exhausted and wanted to rest, so I wasn't going to be playing, but if they wanted to stay they could. Worked out nice for me : ) .

That's another thing, I've been waking up at 6:30am - 8am the past three or four days, mostly because I've actually been in bed by 9pm or 10pm! Any way today was Hubby's BDay. He woke up realizing today was a co-workers grandmother's funeral, so he attended that, and had the rest of the day off from work. He joined us and his Mom at The Buttery for lunch (we picked up his adorable and yummy ollalieberry palm tree cake there) and we went back to her house afterwards where she watched the kids and we took off to see The Interpreter, we've both been wanting to see that and it was perfect it opened on his birthday. Really good by the way, definently lived up to the suspense of the preview. Afterwards we came back to her house and did birthday cake and presents (from her, how horrible am I that I didn't get him a card or presents?! He's never big on presents any way unless they're the really expensive electrical kind I just can't justify spending the money on unless he's there to pick it out). She got him a remote control airplane, the same one we'd bought and lost the first day, and a remote control helicopter. Very cool stuff. Fun for the kids too. We ordered pizza afterwards, Tony & Alba's, which has the BEST Italian Garden Salad and I gorged myself, on pizza, salad, AND cake. At least I evened it all out (three each is good, right?). We pretty much spent the rest of the day there sitting back and watching movies and TV, including Flight of the Navigator, Alaska, King Snakes, and American Chopper (you can tell who had the remote) on her big screen TV and relaxed in the big comfy recliner loveseat while she played outside all afternoon with the boys.

Now off for the weekend! What's in your plans?

Search Strings

Hey I've found my first batch (possibly because I don't check that often, but whatever) of interesting search terms that ended them up on my site, and none of them YUCK thank God! I actually found most of them kinda cute.

"stop eating chocolate" - If you find the secret let me know.
"bridal shower pictures" - Not yet, I only got two at the last one I went.
"rooms done in pink" - As much as I love pink even that would be a little much for me.
"sun drops candy" - That sounds yummy. Maybe I'll give it a try.
"sushi samira shoes" - Okay that just sounds SQUISHY, all I see there is SUSHI and SHOES.
"sun drops" - That's me!
"poke the penguin" - Isn't he cute?
"pink tuxedos with a little green on it" - Unless you're trying to make a fashion statement...

Little Toes

I just watched out of the corner of my eye as Little Guy (who's supposed to be in bed) tiptoed past me hoping I wouldn't notice. When I confronted him he says, "I was just checking to see if Daddy's here." He makes my heart melt.

Things We Did This Weekend

Saturday:
SIG came over and we watched her 3D ultrasound, SOOO neat, and had tea and 'crumpets'
Scrubbed, cleaned, and elbowed our way up to two hundred and seventy eight dollars doing jobs for my Mom she otherwise would've hired out.
Watched our nephew and included him as one of the "family".
Took the boys for a two hour trek at the local skate park.
Enjoyed, ate, and watched the waiters and waitresses dancing, the pizza maker juggle already spun pizza dough, the stove burst into high flames as alcohol was put on it - all part of a little show they put on - at our favorite local restaurant.
Crawled into bed, exhausted but happy.
Sunday:
Woke up bright and early to the sounds of happily playing 6 and 5 year old boys.
Went and had breakfast at The Buttery. Yum.
Enjoyed dessert at same (yes, it's still breakfast).

to be continued later... got to go pick up my car who just got all spruced up in the shop. Plus, I'm learning from OD : ) .

later..., with a few added ones I'd forgotten up top:

Ran a bunch of errands including looking for a tiny camera that we can tote anywhere. Thinking the Sony PS200 looks good - any recommendations?
Came home and had quiet, restful time.
Went to the beach and played for two hours.
Came home to see Nephew off with Grandma and Grandpa, he was so sad he didn't get to stay with us and go to Oma's.
Went over to Oma's house and kicked back with a movie and a massage chair (full back, lower calves, and body stretch - ahhhhh).
Boys fell asleep in the car with Mommy while Daddy went and got eye drops and ice cream.
Came home utterly exhausted with a full, but very wonderful weekend behind us.
Put the boys in their own beds.
Crawled into ours for a bowl of ice cream and a few episodes of Friends until we fell asleep.

Beaches & Houses

Hubby and I have been perusing open houses on Sunday for the last month or so. Nothing serious, just checking out these beautiful homes that we otherwise might never have a chance to see. Usually he sits in the car with the boys and I run in and leisurely look around. Most often I'll just go into the homes that I know are going to be gorgeous inside and would just love to look at for ideas. Every once in awhile we'll check out ones that maybe aren't so great just because of the location. The one we saw today, known locally as "The Pleasure Point House", I had actually gone there with a friend and sat in the hot tub on.the.cliff. when I was just a few months pregnant with Big Guy. As we drove by and realized which house was the open house I told Hubby he HAS to go in. The view is AMAZING. You can see the entire east cliff and the whole coastal curve of Monterey Bay, besides the private beach, the hot tub overlooking the crashing shores, and the gorgeous deck. He did, and was equally amazed, as was I when I went in to check it out for the second time. The house is super ugly - well I'm not sure about the outside there's enough plants and "private courtyard" looking stuff that you don't really notice the outside, but inside is '70's wood veneer walls, art deco fireplace and single pane windows, the only thing halfway pretty was the kitchen and only because it was recently remodeled and your view as you chop the veggies for tonight's meal? The entire Monterey Bay. The view, ohmygosh the view, makes up for it all. This is what you see walking in:



And this is the view from the bedroom with the deck that has the hot tub overlooking the shores below:



And at 2.5 million it's ACTUALLY a steal. A nearby home with comparitive view is an easy 3.5. This home, because of it's size, 1600 sqft, and age is over a million less. I told Hubby nobody who has 2.5 million is going to buy that without the idea of fixing it up, so next time it's on the market it's going to be absolutely gorgeous.

To see more photos and the private beach you can go here - it is a pdf file so it may take awhile to open and requires Adobe Acrobat which most people have already, if not it's just a simple download if you want it.

We Are Known

From Imprimis, abridged transcript of a speech by David McCullough, an awarded author and Historian,

"We are not just known by our failings, by our weaknesses, by our sins. We are known by being capable of rising to the occasion and exhibiting not just a sense of direction, but strength."

Written by Abigail Adams to her son, John Quincy Adams, when he was faced with crossing the Atlantic for the second time while still a child,

"These are the times in which genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life or the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman."

These words really spoke to me and I wanted to share them with you. This next one struck me as kind of funny:

And later, upon learning he had become enamored with himself, she wrote,

"If you are conscious to yourself that you posess more knowledge upon some subjects than others of your standing, reflect that you have had greater opportunities of seeing the world and obtaining knowledge of mankind than any of your contemporaries. That you have never wanted a book, but it has been supplied to you. That your whole time has been spent in the comany of men of literature and science. How unpardonable would it have been in you to have turned out a blockhead."

I love how she builds him up, mentions all the things he was given, and then tells him through all these things of course you're smart, if not you'd have to be really dull.

Elsewhere in the transcript is written how both John Adams and George Washington wrote about not being able to guarantee success, but being able to deserve it. John Adams writes to his wife at home, "We can't guarantee success, but we can do something better. We can deserve it." They were actually quoting a line from the play Cato, a line from the language of the time. How interesting is it that such great men, with such great words, have something more that they hold themselves to.

In the words of the play,

"`Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we`ll do more, Sempronius; we`ll deserve it."

Sharks & Fishies

We ended up having a wonderful day yesterday. I decided to go to Monterey to try on the dress, and then check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium to have a little entertainment. Then I decided since I haven't spent ANY time with my sister lately I would invite her. She was more than happy to come, then informed me she had no money for gas or parking. Neither did I. So we met at Starbucks in Aptos, parked her car, loaded her and her kids in mine, she treated for Starbucks as she had a gift card, and we were on our way. Venti Coffee and Grande Vanilla Latte half caff in hand.

First we went to Macy's where she sat in the car with the kids while I shopped. Insert amazing angelic heavenly sound here. Shopping alone. It's amazing. You can actually THINK you know. Which I did - lots of. I found the dress that they'd put on hold for me, tried it on, loved it, appreciated the sweet little Mexican lady in the dressing room ooohing and aaaahing over me in it, decided while I was there (and kid-free) I really should see if there's an appropriate bra to wear with it so that I would actually wear it when the time came. After a call put in to a friend to find out the best kind to get, I ended up with a Lily of France clear Strappie. I was going to go without the clear straps as the halter provides plenty of coverage for a normal one, but they didn't have one. And I didn't have THAT much time. So as soon as I'm done there I decide you know what would be really great is if I could get some shoes to go with, the outfit would be complete and I'd be set to go. So I swung by the shoe department and the first ones I laid my eyes on were the ones. Oh yes, I tried a few others, but it was love at first sight and no going back. Coral Leather just sounds beautiful, and the color goes oh so perfect.


Outfit complete and an hour later, I headed out to a car full of roused kids and we headed off for our reward. Two and a half hours later, tired, happy, and with enough fish memories to last until the next time, we headed home.

Today was to be equally as a good day. Sweet Ireland Girl to come over and show us her baby 3-D ultrasound CD, then over to Oma's to color Easter eggs (I know, I know, weeks late), then to Big Guy's Nice Lady Two. Only thing is, SIG and Oma bailed on us. Now I just get to find something else to entertain our keisters with. Have I mentioned how much fun it is to come up with alternative words for the word ass?