Hobby Day- Taking Pictures

Today I took my camera out. I stopped at a few spots after dropping the kids off at school. Here goes nothing!

 I framed the barn within the tree, fence, and other building. Clever, eh? Just like I knew what I was doing!

An old shed.

 

 Cool! I looked down and there was a dead raccoon!

The cool Old Truck I saw.

Same truck!

Breakfast of Champions

Yup, it's that kind of day.

A Portrait of Ryan

What can I say about this? I love it. I love it because it made me laugh. I love the blue teeth and purple shirt. It's just so awesomely "four years old." Jessie LOVES her dad and wants to be just like him.

I'm going to ask her to draw a picture of me and I'm going to use it for my Facebook profile picture. Like, tomorrow.

Today...

• Today we went to my favorite Walmart. That was boring. So was Home Depot. But on the bright side of things, our trips to the Home Depot (or Lowe's or any other hardware store) are so few and far between even the kids asked if we could go visit. It's sad that they feel totally at home in Home Depot. (PS- They should totally hire me. Any department but the garden department. I would be all, "Oh those things without the stickers/UPC code? Those are 3" mini louvers for horizontal vent pipes for PVC drainage of propane when propane is piped upstairs and then is turned into gas at the tankless hot water heater site, where if it leaks the propane molecules in their gaseous state will fall down the pipe and exit the house because those molecules weigh more than air." And then I would get fired for talking too much. 
• I picked up the kids from school, and as we went in the office to get Jessie a stamp on her hand, Ed was in there. So, I say, "Ed, why are you in here?" And Mrs. A, the fill-in secretary says, "Oh, he had a little problem." To which I say, "WHAT DID YOU DO." And she says he had a bloody nose. And since he wouldn't change into some clean shorts she had given him (he said they didn't fit), and he was a heck of a bloody mess, he just hung out with her and the VP for a bit. VP came out and said she had never seen so much blood come out of a kid's nose before. She's been teaching a LONG time, too. I went to his class to get his back pack, and his teacher said, "You should have seen it! That was the most blood I've seen come out of a kid's nose! I'm still cleaning it off his chair." She looked down and had a little blood on her hands still. I said, "Eww." and she said, "Oh just wait. See the foam noodles over there? [I look at the pool noddles on the table.] See that short pink one? Well, we were outside playing 'Mosquito' with them [whatever that is...PE game] and a boy comes back from the bathroom and the pink one is lots shorter. I find out he cut it. So I send him back to go get it. It comes back wet. Another boy tells me it's wet because they stuck it in a toilet. So I get grossed out. Then another boy tells me, 'Oh yeah, and he peed on it, too.'"  (Bonus: Ed was not involved in said vandalism of the pool noodle. Sweet!)
• I did not eat healthy. I had a Sourdough Jack and curly fries from Jack in the Box. It was yummy.
• I made a list for Walmart, but since I forgot to put something on my list, I forgot to buy it. And here I was all proud of myself for making a list and remembering to bring it with me. 
• Kacy made a chart of the things she is teaching Jessie, and what month and day they will be learning it. She has the fall planned out until Christmas, and she said after Christmas she will plan the spring because she wants to see where Jessie is. All I know is Mondays are alphabet days, Tuesdays are numbers and math... we will see if Jessie puts up with her! I love it.

Honey Badger Don't Care!

Kacy's teacher caught up with me today and apologized for not being to talk with us on Back to School Night. I assured her it was fine because we split early to go to the rest of the kids' rooms. She said she wanted to meet my husband (which is good because if she had already met him it would have been because of a ticket or something). She told Kacy that, and Kacy told her, "It's okay. My dad just wanted to see the stuffed beaver anyway. He said the only thing cooler would be if you had a stuffed honey badger."

It's an inside joke.

After explaining about the honey badger, I also explained that Ryan really just hates coming to the school because he recognizes people that he has arrested both recently and in the past. He always hopes they don't recognize him in return.

Peaches Have Butt Cracks, Too.

A couple of days ago, Kacy and Jessie were playing school. They are at the perfect age for this; Kacy is 9 and Jessie is 4.

Kacy comes out to the kitchen just giggling to herself. She says, "Mom! Guess what Jessie just said?!?"

Cautiously, I ask her what she said. You just never know what your youngest is going to say.

"I was teaching Jessie how to spell the word 'peach,' and she said 'Oh ya, the fruit with the butt crack in it. And plums and cherries also have them, too!'"

Then Kacy just started giggling again, and she walked away shaking her head and mumbling something about Jessie and fruit and butt cracks and how silly she is.

Legos on Ice

The following three factors are all causally related to produce the preceding photograph.

1- I have made the conscious decision to reproduce biological offspring.

2- These offspring have Legos.

3- We have a freezer and fridge (now) and spend a lot of time in the big house as opposed to the trailer and because the big house is rather large compared to the RV I can't watch my kids as closely anymore which is both good and bad and when they get free time they experiment with freezing things like Han Solo was frozen in the Carbonite (Carboneto?) stuff.

Whew! That was one heck of a run-on sentence.

Being a CHP Wife

An officer was shot and killed last week. Up in the San Jose- Walnut Creek area. It was about 8am on a very busy highway (interstate, actually. I-680). He was shot in the neck and head. His name was Officer Youngstrom. He was 37, married, and has four kids.

I'm 35, Ryan is 39. We are married. We have four kids.

Ryan was shot.

But, he lived. Not only did he live, his injury was patched up in a jiffy.

I have been totally and completely fine with Ryan being shot. It was "just his hand" and his vest. He's fine. I know that, I see it, I'm not worried.

But this shooting made me sad. It still does. This woman, his wife, assumed he would be coming home later that day. He probably left for work before his kids got up. They probably got pulled out of school early, only to be told that their dad was in the hospital, and not doing well. She probably got a call from a sargent or leutenent saying her husband had been shot and is on his way to the hospital. She never got a real chance to say good-bye. Not that saying good-bye makes it any easier, but maybe it would make it feel more organized, feel like there was some closure. But who ever wants to close that door anyway?

I do not take it for granted that Ryan is alive. If he were to ever read my blog, he might say I was being dramatic. I can't help it. Yesterday someone asked my sister Kendra how it was being married to a cop. She said, "It's fine until someone gets shot."

And it is fine. Until you are taken to that place where as the wife, your husband is bleeding on the street and you are with your kids all by yourself. This latest shooting has taken me to that place I manage to stay away from. It's that place of "If only's" and "What if's" of being a single parent and telling the kids about how their dad WAS. What he DID. How he LAUGHED. What his hobbies WERE. It's past tense. And I'm not ready for that. I am so not ready to be a widow.

The great news is this: I don't have to be. I don't have to be ready. I can keep my mind in the present and be grateful he wasn't hurt worse. I was fairly oblivious as to the magnitude of what happened to our family. Looking back, I was shielded from the panic. I was calm. Stoic, even. This shooting, when I read about it (or write about, like now) is like a nagging, sharp finger that pokes me in the heart and says, "This could have been you."

I am married to a CHP officer. My sister is, too. Our cousin Jennifer will be next month. Ryan has been shot. Michael and Mike were rear ended while on a stop. Mike was in the car, and Michael dove into the car to avoid being hit. The trunk was in the backseat.

Our family has been blessed in that they have been kept safe. Ryan has minimal permanent injury to his hand. No one is dead.

I hope it stays that way. My heart truly does ache for the wife and four kids left without their husband and father.

To see photos from our shooting, go HERE.

"Hey, Officer! Where's _______?"

 

So, there is this running joke with Ryan, his line of employment, and the summertime.

This picture of me? This lovely, wonderful, model-like photographic genius right here? That was a text I sent him. It said, "Hey Officer. Do you know where Sanders Creek is?" 

Except, it's not Sanders Creek. It goes by a different name, and is one of many campgrounds up here. Apparently, he gets asked that question A LOT.

I was talking to him on his cell for some reason. We don't usually talk while he's at work, but it must have been important because we happened to be on the phone with each other when I hear him say, "Hold on."

This is Labor Day weekend. At a lake in the mountains.

I hear a male voice say, "Hey, is there a place to camp around here?"

My mind was doing this: Sooooo..... you pack up some camping gear, drive up here, and don't know where to stay? Who does that? I always have a plan. And I would NEVER stop to talk to a cop. I just wouldn't. I am totally law abiding and everything, but still the last person I would ask for camping advice would be the fuzz. 

Ryan was very patient, directing the man to several campgrounds. 

Turns out, lots of people come up here to camp, and don't know where they are going. It is not uncommon for one to find the fuzz and say something like, "Hey, I'm supposed to meet my family at the lake. Where is it?" (Hello, big body of water completely encircled by the highways, with about 50 different places to camp along the way.)

Glad summer season is over. This summer saw a lot of motorcycle accidents, and several deaths from them. 

Boots! My White's Cowboy Packers.

 

Here they are! My new White's. Cowboy packers. From eBay. Gotta love eBay. Some guy in Idaho bought them, wore them for a few months, and they aggravated his sciatica nerve. So I got a smokin' deal on a pair of sensible shoes for me.

I will admit that in this picture, the tongue is hanging too far out. That has been remedied. Also, I realize it appears as though I am wearing these things whilst wearing shorts. That would be true. I was so excited to get them, and UPS comes to my house around 5pm, and I was NOT going to put pants on at 5pm when it was 100* outside for just a couple of hours. So, I wore them around with my shorts. And striped socks. 

They are heavy. I laid on the floor Friday night for movie night and exercised my hamstrings. I wore them all day Saturday. Most of the day Sunday. I DID NOT wear them to church. Tempting... but no. I wore them all day today. I have to say that I love how clean my feet are. In the land of no cement or grass, a good shoe is hard to come by. I think I have found my answer. I could kick a snake out of my way if I had to with these babies. There is no running fast anywhere in them, but I could kick something hard and with confidence if needed. 

Besides all that, one reason that appears at the top of my list of "Reasons Why I Love My New Boots" is the fact that I cannot in good conscience wear these with shorts. They force me to get dressed everyday. And since it takes me a year to lace them up, once they are on, they stay on. I look nicer because I'm not wearing my jr. high boy shorts and t-shirts. (Which I am very comfortable in, mind you. It's just that after building the house, all my clothes are ruined. Literally stained.)

Now I am on a quest to find my perfect Sunday "church" shoe. I have a vision in my head of a mary-jane style with a heel (a 2 1/2-3 inch heel, I think). But the heel is not a typical heel. I don't know the technical name for the style of heel, but it looks old fashioned. Then I will work on my Sunday "church" clothes (read: dresses/skirts). 

It's all about the shoes.

Or, boots.

Shopping with Granny

 

On Friday, Jessie and I went to visit my grandma. It was her 89th birthday! Happy Birthday, Grandma!

All she wanted to do was go grocery shopping. 

We can do that. 

The best part of shopping with "granny" and Jessie? 

They both have severe sweet teeth. Sweet "toothes?" I don't know... they both love cookies and donuts and baked goods and ice cream. So, granny's cart got filled up with a lot of extras. I'm not sure she told Jessie "no" for any sweet item she found. 

Loved it.

And, Jessie now has her own stash at Granny's. She asked if we could go there today because when we were visiting yesterday for the September birthdays, she forgot to get some rolly-pollies (how on earth do you spell that?). And, she needed a cookie.

Birds of a feather, those two.

Quote of the Day

Yesterday's quote of the day:

"Hey Will, can you get the shrimp out of Kacy's underwear drawer? Thanks."

You had to be there.

What's Up? A totally random post...

 

 I believe this is a sunrise. Our view to the East. I see the sunrise almost everyday, especially now that it gets lighter later.

We have "The Muppets" from Netflix. Watching it for the third time in four days. Fun. Yesterday on the way down the canyon the kids started doing movie quotes and busting out in parts of songs. Aye.

Did I mention Ed has perfect pitch? The boy is musically inclined. Must start piano soon. I am asking my cousin, who is a vocal coach, what I should do with him at home to help him. The other kids like to sing, but he has the best voice. Will is super interested in playing the piano and the guitar. I'm glad!

So, today has not been the best day. Not horrible, but honestly, I'm feeling really bummed. I am moving all the crud in the house out so we can call for the final inspection. We spent most of the summer out there during daylight hours, and even started eating out there. I cooked in the trailer, but it was so nice to have kitchen counter tops and a sink and stuff. I was so excited to have closets for the kids clothes...and now I'm moving everything out. To top it off, back in June, Ryan "cleaned" the trailer, moved stuff out of the trailer and into the house. So now I'm moving it all out...I really, really, hate doing things twice. Oh well, I got the kids rooms done. Tomorrow will be my stuff. The only glimmer of hope I had was when I was cleaning up the kids' clothes. I picked out 5 shirts, 5 shorts, one thing to wear to church...and I was wondering if I needed to keep sweatshirts out. I asked Ryan, and he said, "It should only be two weeks, then we can move all this stuff back in." I am hanging my sanity on that statement, as we came into the trailer this afternoon with no A/C, it being 87 in here, and the A/C didn't work until 10 minutes ago. (It's 7pm). Hey- at least it's working this early in the evening! And dinner is a mess to clean up. NO COUNTER SPACE. On the plus side, the kids eat lunches in the cafeteria right now, so they can have a hot meal then, and sandwiches for dinner! (Ryan works afternoons this month.) That is totally rational, no?

Remember "Dirty Dancing?" I am thinking of the line "No one puts Baby in the corner." Except, I'm changing it to "No one puts Karrie in a trailer..."  

Tonight for dinner I cooked shrimp seasoned with lemon-pepper, served it over a bed of noodles coated in sour cream for the kids, with a side of edemame.  Is that how you spell it? For me, because I'm on a diet until I regain my self control, I had a whole bunch of the same shrimp over a bed of steamed green beans with some sour cream and Parmesan cheese. The real kind, not the "sprinkle cheese." Just thought I'd share that.

Today is Labor Day, and in honor of it, I worked my butt off. Ha ha ha.The kids were home all day. They took turns "helping," trying on bright green soccer socks, pretending to be leprechauns, an air guitar band complete with clucking chickens, and building with the Lego's, of course. They also each had one Eggo waffle, three eggs, and a string cheese for breakfast. Except Jessie, who had two waffles and two eggs and cheese. I think Jessie is the most excited (besides me) to get a fridge, because she gets to have open faced mayonnaise sandwiches again. Gross. We don't have TV. Because the satellite broke and I don't want to buy another one. And we can't stream stuff online because of satellite internet restrictions. Today would have been a good day for TV. (But then I would have missed the ukulele playing leprechauns...)

I have things I should be doing, but I just want to go to bed! It is now 7:09...51 more minutes, and I'm so there!

(Good night, David!)