Tempermental and very cold garage doors

Well the winter temperatures have finally arrived in Cali and the Mr. has new reasons for draping odd pieces of material over our banana tree, avocado tree, and large fern. He currently is battling the twin trunked oak in our front yard and draping Christmas lights. Now all of this is fine and good, but we had an issue this morning. This has been an ongoing problem and the Mr.'s excuses, er reasons for the mishaps are really wearing thin. We have a roll up automatic garage door with opener. It is fairly new, 4 1/2 years old, but now it has suddenly developed some sort of arthritic condition. It will not close when it is cold. Now that's not a problem, unless it's 36 degrees and you need to leave the house at 7:15 a.m. The flippin' door refuses to close! Now the Mr. said he fixed it. He took all the rollers and ground off any rough spots, cleaned the tracks, and inspected it thoroughly and pronounced, "It's Just Fine." Hmmmmm....don't you think something needs to be greased or WD 40'd, sweetie? No, it's fine. It is just a little tempermental in the cold weather. Huh? My knees and hands are tempermental in the cold weather, but the garage door?

Needless to say, this morning in a brain burp of "Mom will take care of it.", the Mr. left for a day of pheasant hunting and the garage door remained up. He left at 6:45. I was due at church at 7:30 because I needed to work the espresso cart. I began trying to shut the door when he left. No luck. Now you all are shouting at the blog, "Pull the emergency garage door cord and the door will come down!" Well, you'd think that would happen, but no..... I was a little cranky. Trying to call the Mr. on his cell, and I do believe he was ignoring me, I was getting a little more cranky. Needless to say, when I finally reached him, the answer was "Pull the cord, release the door, and pull the door down manually. Well that's fine for normal sized persons, but being vertically challenged, the pulling part was a bit dicey. I did manage to get the door down with the help of a step ladder, drop my keys and dislodge my clicker which locks my car and sets it alarm, and end up late for the espresso cart. Sheesh! Well the Mr. fixed the arthritic garage door by greasing some very important pulleys or wheels or some sort of something. Is that like taking 2 aspirin and calling the doctor in the morning? I guess the arthritic door is cured until the next cold snap.

Turkeys

Thanksgiving has come and gone in a blur of cooking, laughing, and announcements. Thursday our little family found us at the table of my wonderful cousins. They live on a little 5 acre piece of California paradise. It was a beautiful day with mild temperatures. As the 13 of us sat out on her deck to bless the food and our good health, a flock of 13 wild turkeys and 5 hens wandered onto her acreage to eat the corn she had so painstakingly laid out for them. They did have to compete with the mallards and geese in her pond. Believe me the irony was not lost on the turkeys. They strutted their turkey stuff with bold steps and lots of turkey sounds very near the deck. They were decidedly gleeful because they were a flock of pardoned and privileged turkeys and they were free! Who needs Disneyland and a Presidential pardon when you can lunch and dine for free at Serenity Hill? "Bless all the creatures large and small, the Lord God, loves them all."

Silly Hair

It's an amazing thing what a teenage boy will do with his hair just to receive the ever so encouraging,"You look so s-e-x-y!", from a teenaged girl. Excuse me while I gag loudly and say eyew! Believe me, my teenager as absolutely gorgeous hair. It's dark, thick, wavy, and grows quickly. Early in the waterpolo season, he picked a tournament and his ever present clippers to have his head shaved into a large mohawk with checkerboard sides. It was definitely an artistic statement. But, it's hard to maintain that large hawk with gel etc, when you get up at the last minute and leave for school. Needless to say 3 weeks after the checkerboards he shaved his head. He even looks good in a shaved head, aside from the scars, and cow lick. Now his hair is growing out and I just clean up his neck as it grows out. Okay it is now a little long on top. He has just decided to make a "faux hawk". Just the name, "faux hawk" sends me into gales of giggles. Much gel is used and he now has this itty bitty chicken comb-like "faux hawk" duck butt on top of his head. He even has to comb over the hair from the back to Hawk it on top of his head. Oh please, oh please! He has complemented this "look" with his ever present black t-shirt, faded of course, and his "new" borrowed from a friend, tight yet very long jeans, and of course a scowly growly look. Excuse me while I commence giggling again. I do believe that a "faux" Indie kid was spawned in the confines of the bathroom and bedroom. Commence giggling. Deep breath, refrain from teasing him, and yep, this one will pass when the first teenaged girl says, "I thought you looked way sexier before you did your hair." Sheeeesh!

Shine on harvest moon!

I am sitting in my great room listening to the dronings of 20/20 about shopping sales, ebay etc. and what catches my eye? The absolutely fabulously beautiful harvest moon. You know I can see it clearly through my shiny windows. The Mr., for whatever absolutely wonderful reason, washed all my windows inside and out. He scrubbed the screens and did it all with a smile while I was busy in my classroom today. What an incredible guy. You know women complain all the time about dorky husbands. I have to admit the Mr. definitely exhibits some very Homer Simpson like characteristics and yes, I complain. But, he is absolutely one of the most giving guys I've ever met. I can't believe how lucky I am. He went up to the pheasant club for the morning and came back and washed the windows. Now granted, I have asked him to wash the windows before, "when he had time...." and let's see, I made that request in September of 2004, but you know what, I can see the harvest moon clearly from my sofa with a lap top and a glass of zinfadel reserve. It doesn't get any better! Thank you lovey! You're the man!

The Bonsai man

I'm sure all of you have special idiosincracies that identify your town or major city. Well my little part of the valley can be boring to say the least, especially to our local teenagers. I have learned to love its charm and even its rough spots over the years. I love being able to walk into my vets and buy duck and potato dog food, pup corn, and hold the new vet kitten, Pollyanna. Where else can you walk in and they know your pets, your family, and that you love kittens? This kitty, of course, was a rescue. She was teeny tiny itty bitty and just a love. She is a polydactile, 6 toed and wide paws. She purred and snuggled. How cool is that? Where else does a small little man in an older white van set up his beautifully tended bonsai plants to sell. Well in my little place in the valley at the corner of the country club and the vineyards. It never ceases to amaze me. I was stopped at the stop sign this afternoon and watched a local businessman in his Infinity and tie negotiate a deal with the bonsai man. The businessman was animated to say the least, but the bonsai man just kept gesturing to his finally pruned and clipped plants. I really believe the bonsai man got the best of the negotiations. I love my little corner of the valley. By the way, Porfi is still greeting customers at his restaurant on Cherokee in his same humble and smiling way. Dinner was absolutely delicioso.

That's my Big Boy!

There comes a time in a flippin 53 year old mom's life that she, meaning me, has one of those "epiphany" moments. My moment came again this morning as I am trying gallantly to get out of the door on time to school for our morning devotional time. I flipped this machine on and checked my oldest's blog. I always am amazed at the power and grace and icredible wit of the pen he wields. He has always been the master of disguise, literally and figuratively, and takes great delight in his changes of character, voices, and personas. He does the same with his pen. I envy those immeasurable gifts. How did I ever get so lucky? Being a mom is a lifelong journey of continuous trial and error. My two unfortunately, have had to endure those trials and yes many of my errors. But you know, their gifts, talents, joys, and perserverance has helped them succeed so much more than I have ever given them credit for. When I thought my oldest wasn't musical, he has totally proven me wrong. He plays the guitar, established himself in an awesome band out of the DFW area, and has followed his heart and passions in spite of the nay saying of the Mr. and I. He accepted the challenge of being his own person and following his dreams while still being an incredibly practical guy. The Mr. & I woke up this morning ready to pursue our days, his is much more relaxed than mine, and we looked at each other and said, "Wow, who would have thought, you and I together for almost 30 years, and the blessings of 2 count 'em 2 incredible young men that we call, our boys. They are AWESOME! Thank you, God. The Mr. and I are blessed forever.

Cherrios!

Ok, I love General Mills! We have the distinction of having an authentic Cheerrio factory in Lodi. Today was a cake mix day and it smelled heavenly! Friday was a Cheerrio day! You just have to smile when you know cheerios are being packed up for far away places. Here you go, America, Cheerios are on their way!

That's my boy!

Oh my gosh! Water polo season has finally wound down amid mean spiritedness, a devastating loss in the Section semis, and more drama than JR Ewing and Cliff Barnes on an early Dallas episode. Last Friday our teenagers went head to head with a gazillion players from a private all boys school in Sac town. Our team knew going in the odds were stacked phenomenally against them. They played their hearts out and left blood, sweat, and tears in the pool, litterally and figuratively. It was a brutal game and my teenager played amazingly well. He was beaten and scratched, bruised and kicked, but he knew he did his best despite the score.
Tonight was the banquet complimenting the team on a season well done. There was too much drama in the planning between which moms who wanted their sons to shine in the end of the season DVD. It was so petty. Needless to say my boy didn't show up much. In the midst of each senior receiving their awards, my boy, my very own boy, was named to the first team all section, to the all norther Californian team, and he was named an All American. The Mr. & I were so shocked and so proud of this guy. This is the guy who wanted as a little boyto swim as fast as his big bro, to be just like his big bro, to play polo like his big bro, this little guy was named an All American. Who knew, 17 years ago when he changed our lives forever that we would see him accomplish so much in that not so kind world of aquatics. He has worked so hard to overcome so much. He has continued to smile in the face of the craziness and pressure and yet he remained his own indvidual self. He continues to love us when we are strict, yelling, crazy parents, and even when he does stupid stuff. We are so amazed that God has entrusted us with this creature who just came to our house to be loved and love us back in his own unique way. It was awesome! Tonight was awesome! You know, that boy, my boy, is a champion.

I am such a loser at blogging!

Okay, I'm happily blogging and publishing away, and what the heck! I published the same blog twice on my site. I'm so sorry to the blog world. I am a dinosaur at best and a loser at worst. I not only did this once, but twice. Okay, what have I learned? I need to hit the publish button only once and wait a while before I check to see if it's okay to be viewed. Man oh man, I need some serious help! To Liz, Wink, and Robo pirate who actually read my blog, please bear with me. I am learning still. You know the Cal Poly way, "Learn by Doing?" I am the poster child.

Note to self: "Self, when you publish this, hit the flippin button, one time only!" okay

Waterpolo

The teenager and his waterpolo team have reached the semi final round of the Section water polo playoffs. We play the big guns on Friday. You know, my mama's heart wants my guy to be the star, the best he has ever been, the supreme razzler dazzler, on the team. My mama's heart wants with every ounce of my chubby flippin 53 body for his little team to win. What do you think God, can they pull this off? Just asking, and praying, and wishing, and hoping, and almost believing. Do your best Ands-a-rama, i love you forever.

Waterpolo

The teenager and his waterpolo team have reached the semi final round of the Section water polo playoffs. We play the big guns on Friday. You know, my mama's heart wants my guy to be the star, the best he has ever been, the supreme razzler dazzler, on the team. My mama's heart wants with every ounce of my chubby flippin 53 body for his little team to win. What do you think God, can they pull this off? Just asking, and praying, and wishing, and hoping, and almost believing. Do your best Ands-a-rama, i love you forever.

Sickness and men....um get a clue!

Okay I love the Mr. and he is sometimes the fodder of this blog with his endless supply of weird happenings, but.....He's been sick or hurt since his return from his Central American adventure. Now believe me, I have encouraged him and cajoled him to see a doctor regarding his knee. He claims he's torn his miniscus or ACL. I have been on the edge waiting to see if we have to go through surgery. He spent 2 weeks after his return complaining and then 1 doctor visit and another week getting the referral to the orthopedist. He has fluid on the knee and finally has been told it is getting better and to stop doing work while kneeling. I think I will start kneeling more in prayer. The 3 1/2 weeks were not fun because he had projected out until after Christmas about what he's not going to be able to do because "he might be having surgery." Everyone we met heard this first. Forgive me while I go into my closet and say bad words. I love my mr. but you know he can be a big baby about being sick. To make the matters even worse he picked up some sort of sinus infection. It happens in our valley often, lots of pollen from the growing things, and the seasons are changing warm to cold. Anyway, when he gets a "cold" it's always a major hacking, spitting, blowing incident. No one sleeps, relaxes or can tell him what to do.
He went to the doctor today after 11 days of hacking, etc. He has the super-biotic, cough syrup, and of course, the complimentary, "Come back in 5 days if you're not better. His chest is clear and he should be well in 3 to 4 days. Yippie! I can't wait to have the Mr. back......and...um, WELL HAVING A CLUE! I'll go to my closet now and say bad words. Bad, mrs., very naughty thoughts, and bad words, mrs.

Bad, very bad pirates!

Okay pirates are popular at our house. My sons have read about them, pretended to be them, chosen their Halloween outfits based on them, and of course we have all seen the movies about them. My interest in pirates is purely historical and purely "Disneylandical". Yes, I am completely nuts about The Pirates of the Carribbean at Disneyland, especially the original version. My boys can say "Arrrrgh!" with the best of them. I even like Johnny Depp's very fun version of pirates. Well, the news brought the new millenium pirates to the forefront. Our family's version of pirates did not include AK47 and rocket launchers on river cruise ships filled with regular people on an adventure. These are very bad pirates and it makes it really hard to explain my little fourth graders about the piracy of the 1500's between the English, Pourtugese and Spanish. I like romanticizing my world to a wonderful place. I only wish the pirates of today could be a little more romanticized and a lot less terrorized. Bad pirates! Very naughty pirates.

Bad, very bad pirates!

Okay pirates are popular at our house. My sons have read about them, pretended to be them, chosen their Halloween outfits based on them, and of course we have all seen the movies about them. My interest in pirates is purely historical and purely "Disneylandical". Yes, I am completely nuts about The Pirates of the Carribbean at Disneyland, especially the original version. My boys can say "Arrrrgh!" with the best of them. I even like Johnny Depp's very fun version of pirates. Well, the news brought the new millenium pirates to the forefront. Our family's version of pirates did not include AK47 and rocket launchers on river cruise ships filled with regular people on an adventure. These are very bad pirates and it makes it really hard to explain my little fourth graders about the piracy of the 1500's between the English, Pourtugese and Spanish. I like romanticizing my world to a wonderful place. I only wish the pirates of today could be a little more romanticized and a lot less terrorized. Bad pirates! Very naughty pirates.

Yippie!

Okay, the mama is a happy mama today. It's Wednesday, I've made at least 432 mistakes today, and I had Chinese take out for dinner. I'm happy. The flippin 53's sons had a good week. The oldest is having 2 of his band's songs played at the Dallas Stars game. I might be the mom of a most famous boy. I am already a lucky mom, but this is the whipped cream on my angel food cake. The teenager has written his college application and was named MVP of the league in waterpolo. Yippie! Being a little chubby, flippin 53, and sometimes a little cranky, has its rewards when good things happen to your children. I am so very proud of those 2!! Thank you, God, for blessing them and me so very well. They are awesome.

What?

Okay I am a little overweight and I do live in a pretty conservative valley town. Yesterday I was bemusing the fact that the teenager had driven my car without asking and I left for work with my usual 10 minutes to get there for an 8 minute drive. I had to get gas because the little orange gas tank was on. Eyew, I hate it when that happens. The Mr. gets all fussy if I let my tank get low in my car. Stopping at the gas 'n rob, I slip $20 in the tank and start laughing at the impulse buy bins next to the cash register. It looked like my trick or treat bowl from last night. I then saw my reflection, grimaced at the middle aged woman who smiled back and uttered for the bazillionth time, "I really do have to exercise and stop eating!" Okay it's all normal until what do I see in the middle of Woodbridge across from Cactus, (a perfectly delightful restaurant for a margarita and flautas), an elderly man in a hooded sweatshirt and his personal trainer doing tai chi on the sidewalk. OK God, if he can do something with his body so can I. Would you help me? Well, you know God has a sense of humor and there in front of me was a very large purple MOTHER'S COOKIES TRUCK! Sheesh, cut me some slack, please, God.