Day 1 of tennis camp/school

Classes has started, day 1 of tennis camp has also begun. S* is disgruntled, Z* is amazed that an older kid is throwing his tennis racquet when he missing the ball. Z* comments, "We're just out there to have fun, it's not like we're good or anything." Was I that wise at 10.9 years? Apparently, some girl hit S* with a racquet or ball and whispered that she was sorry which wasn't acceptable at all.

Then the stuff came piling in and I went to collect towels, half-eaten sandwiches, and then I just said, NO. So I typed the following list (below)and told them to do it. Lists work so much better for me because I don't have to be the verbal prompter:
1)Bags emptied
2)Wet clothes/bags hung up
3)Lunch cooler emptied
4)Water bottle in cooler put in freezer
5)Tupperware in dishwasher
6)Racquets put away
7)Water bottles on kitchen counter

I have good news and bad news. My math class seems like a cake walk compared to the last 2 years, not a lot of homework, easy class activities (in fact, I feel a little guilty/chagrined). However, my advisor hinted that I may have to do more interviews next year if my interviews weren't "meaty" enough. So I am thinking about changing advisors. Yikes! I don't know what to do!
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Off to school

Well, I'm gathering up some stuff for school tomorrow. I'm curious how much homework my math class will have. I got to make a card today. Z* and I watched Get Smart. Very fun! I laughed through the whole thing.

Thanks for stopping by! Thanks for all of the great comments about the kitchen, we're loving it!

Back to smoky Chico

Well, my good friend's daughter was sick, so I ended up taking Z* to the concert with me. He was lukewarm about it, but then he is into the "cool" thing, so I think he enjoyed it. We spent the night in Napa and drove home today. We had a nice lunch in Davis at Pluto's to pick up S* who went to my friend's house in Oakdale.

The concert was too amazing for words. Brandi Carlile opened for them and had such an unique and full voice. She played guitar and her backup was 2 guys each with a guitar and a cellist. I got the CD, but it doesn't do justice to her wavering, strong voice. Then the Indigo Girls were so impressive. I was sitting in the tenth row and enjoyed every nuance. The entire concert was 3 hours!! The theater was recently refurbished and was north of Napa on the grounds of a VA retirement home. Most of the audience was singing along with all of the IG older songs. I'm definitely going to try to see them once a year.

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video of kitchen

My dad suggested that we should upload a video of the kitchen. We are at 95% completion. We plan to do the backsplash & counter in the next 6-12 months. (Did I say we??! I meant Dale)

Thanks for viewing my first video!

pics

Here is my father's day card, I used some of my new hardware!

S* & I at SF pier 39

My mom and I at SF zoo (S* took the picture)

All of my buttons organized!

hi, there!

Well, so much to share, I can't wait to show you some SF pictures. S*, mom and I had a blast. We went to Aquarium of the bay, Gharidelli square and the SF zoo. Dale finished hooking up the gas line to install the microwave. Our kitchen looks very official.

I organized all of my hardware, buttons and flowers (paper) in a tool organizer. I felt very anal when I was separating them all by color. My thoughts ranged from:
a) You could never tell anyone that you actually spent time on this pursuit;
b) If I used one of these embellishments everyday for an entire year, I would still have leftovers...

It sure looks great, though!

Tuesday night, Indigo Girls in Yountville, CA with my good friend Ellen!

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Week 2 of bliss

Park City, Utah adventure boy! That's my son living it up! He got to drive the golf cart today. Tomorrow they are going white water rafting. In case I didn't mention this, Z* was invited by our former neighbors to join them for a week in Park City. They own a time share out there. It has rendered our household pretty mellow and quiet. S* told me tonight that he enjoys being the "only" child.

I had plans of cleaning, but I landed on my foot wrong last night playing tennis, so I am taking it easy. I did find two interesting websites reading the Real Simple magazine. (And, since it's summer, I actually got to look them up)

literature map - enter any author you like, and it forms a map of similar authors.

novel action - you can sign up for a year for $25.00 and for every used book that you send them, they send you back a book.

We just got back from a lovely jaunt to L.A. We were invited to a grad party on Saturday and Sunday. To finish off our lovely weekend, Dale & I went to Ikea Sunday night to buy some more organizers for our kitchen. We also bought some cool bar stools. They have white covers (washable). Dale assembled them last night and S* has eaten on them for breakfast and lunch. Unfortunately, S*'s friend used his bar stool and the bar stool next to him as a NAPKIN after eating cherries. (Did I mention they have white covers?) It definitely shows....I was thinking they would be clean for longer than 4 hours. Yikes!

Day 4 of bliss

I just finished 4 cards for the coaches of Zachary's team. I went to the scrapbook store and they had some amazing paper and chipboard accents. The cost for all my goodies: $12.55 which works out to roughly $3.183 a card. I still have extra goodies which I may or may not use. Ironically, I was perusing the new bobunny baseball paper with a woman who wanted to scrapbook for her grandson, who was on the Giants. I didn't bother to mention to her that the Giants beat us on Tuesday night. Anyway, I was trying to figure out how to put "Rockies" on the card. At first, I tried to mount my Rough Edges Alphabet. It took me 15 minutes to mount the first 3 letters. Then I tried to write "Rockies" with purple stickles, it just looked too corny. I ended up typing it in the computer and printing directly on the paper.

Scrabble: I'm currently playing a scrabble game with Lauri, my coworker and my mom through the website: bugcafe. It's a really fun way to keep in touch and hone your word (what three letter words really do exist?) skills. If you want to start your own game, you just need to create a username and password, click start a new game and invite someone with an email to play with you. I can handle scrabble and my blog during the summer. It is a little addicting...

Summer: I can't believe how many things I still need to do like laundry, manage my kid's cleaning their room, dishes, preparing meals, calling doctors, etc. I decided this summer I would get up between 6 and 7 rather than sleeping in so I had a chance to talk to Dale before he goes to work. I also get some quiet time before the boys get up and start planning our day. My boys and I did tennis lessons M/W. It was very fun!

I bought 2 books today. Careless in Red. I usually never buy hardcover books, but I adore this author. Her last book did not include her usual team of inspectors, but this one continues the saga of Inspector Lynley.

The other book I purchased was recommended to me, Kabul Beauty School. It's a memoir about an American woman who moves to Kabul, Afganistan to work in a beauty school. It looks like a great 2nd read if I finish Careless in Red.

Family Life: Scissors. I. Need. Them. Now. I remember vividly a mom (who has since moved to Florida) stating that she locked up her scissors and various other tools so that she could access them before they mysteriously disappeared. The missing scissors has been a topic in our household lately. Dale & I are stashing pairs in obscure places to locate them when we Need. Them.

Well, long post! There is a fire raging south of us in Chico and Paradise area, but the friends I know are all safe!

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Ribbon Storage

Ribbon Ring (from their website)
refrigerator
stuffed already!
blurry oven, the cookies we baked were yummy!

So, I just purchased a "ribbon ring" to organize my ribbon. I got it at this website. I found it on craft critique which is such a great website. They review a lot of craft products. It could be dangerous to read because you end up wanting everything that they critique! I was looking up different storage options because I am try to rearrange items as I am unpacking. I have my ribbon in a ziploc bag which means I just buy more ribbon at the scrapbook store because the ziploc bag is too stuffed with ribbon remnants.

Watched Nadal & Federer. My summary: Federer doesn't like to slide. I totally could see Z* sliding.

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Appliances are installed...

I'll load the pictures later of all of our new appliances. Dale and I actually had a conversation in the kitchen while the dishwasher was running. Usually the whole first floor is consumed with the sound of the dishwasher. (And we yell across the room to each other to no avail.) The refrigerator is sweet, but a tiny bit smaller than I had imagined (counter-depth did us in). And, no crushed ice... I convinced my kids to make us cookies tonight (and they did). The oven did not dry them out! yummmm! They are delightful. The only, er, problem is that the cookies oozed in the oven since we didn't really have enough flour, so we have already burned something in our oven. The microwave is sitting on the counter waiting to be mounted. We decided we need a taller cabinet so that the microwave isn't too high.

I am in total vacation mode right now, I even took Z* and company to frisbee golf today. It's been a bit windy, but the weather hasn't been too hot, so I am not complaining. Also, I got to watch the women's final for the French Open. I can't wait to see Federer and Nadal duke it out. (Sorry, you non-tennis folk) And, speaking of duking it out, Z* plays little league on Sunday. If we win, we play more, if we lose, the season is ended.

I'm excited because the next 3 weeks, I am "off" I hope to relax, clean out and organize and work out!

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The dishwasher is coming!

Well, the most exciting news is that our appliances will be delivered tomorrow. I can't wait for that dishwasher. Of course, we are still eating on a card table, so it will be nice to get a table soon.

First card created: Here is the card I made on Tuesday. This is the first creation since my craft area was unpacked. I stayed up too late Tuesday night because I did a splitcoast stampers challenge.

Well, only 1.5 days of work!!!

Unpacking

S*'s original creation!

Ready for a NEW dishwasher!
New 8" deep sink!
Lazy Susan corner cabinet!
Craft Area starting to take shape

Well, I want you to know that our living room looks empty... because all of the boxes are still packed! I started to unpack my craft area today which always proves to bring out those unfinished projects. I am chanting to myself, "If you haven't touched this project in 5 years, you will never touch it." While I was starting to sort and organize, S* made a card for his teacher, he got to use those brand new prima flowers that I bought last week.

I wanted to post some pictures of our new SINK, new cabinets, etc. The appliances are supposed to arrive in the store on Wednesday. We had the kids wash their dishes the last few days which was a little difficult. We will all be VERY happy when we get a dishwasher back! It's so nice to have all that counter space. In fact, I made 70% of the dinner Monday night! We had shrimp because every time S* is in S & S with me, he begs me to purchase shrimp. We sauteed butter, added garlic, red wine and simmered the shrimp in it. S* at first turned up his nose at the dish because of the wine (and what were we thinking anyway???!). Then he had one of those buttery morsels, and he was a believer. He was curious if he could get drunk on the wine.

Well, we are at the home stretch, I have 3 more days of work and then some time off!

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Happy Monday

Well, I survived the weekend without Dale. I watched a lot of little league. Z*'s team is 1/2 of the way through the tournament. It's very exciting/tense.

Today was one of those wistful days. At the beginning of the year, I secretly decided that I was done working in the court school. It's a tough place to be with students constantly challenging your very existence. However, the fact that it's going to close in 3 days is just so sad. It's interesting how my feelings have shifted towards the school. It seems as if we are all floating towards Niagra Falls together which makes us appreciate each other and our work together so much more... I made plans with my class (3 students) to play tennis and go to Schubert's. My coworker came up with a plan that the students get a double scoop if they beat me, (this was to encourage participation). I'll let you know how it goes!

Well thanks for stopping by!