Mountain Girl Silver - Hand-Stamped Customized Silver Jewelry - Portland, Oregon

Man… it hadn’t dawned on me until just a bit ago that it’s been a long long, super long time since I’ve blogged. Ohhh I dunno, maybe it’s because I don’t even have time to take a crap, let alone write down my feelings…..  yah,, that’s most likely the case. To the right here, you’ll see an image of “flight status tracker”… a nifty little service provided by, I’m assuming, most airline websites these days. Trackin’ the flight. On this particular flight, is my precious Maggie Georgia and my dad. Dad came up last week to help me out with the kids while the hubbs is deployed to the lovely BP-summer-ruining-disaster. Wanting to do something fun for Maggie for her Summer, I opted to fly her home with him so she can go hang out with my folks for a couple three weeks. The ticket I bought her was a one-way. So who knows when she’s going to want to come home. A part of me secretly hopes she can’t stand it after a week and has to come be with me. But the bigger part of me is so dang excited for her and hope that she has the time of her life. I don’t know many 5 year olds that can fly without their mom, and stay far far away from their mom for an extended period of time. She’s one in a million I tell you. She’s the diamond in the rough. I’ve mentioned to quite a few people how she has this ability to KNOW when I’m having a bad day. Other than the obvious shouting binges I do when my fun meter is pegged, she just “gets it”… ya know? Last week she says to me as I’m screaming to some dude who cut me off… “Mommy, just calm down, and don’t get so upset, you are just having a hard day.”….   I take her for granted. I take my husband for granted. I take many things for granted. Learning not to, but still. This whole husband gone to the gulf thing is getting easier I’d say. It was hard enough accepting the fact that he was going to be gone for two full months. But once I accepted it for what it was, then it was easier to just let it go and give it to God. God has my back you see. For reals… He does. I see Him in the eyes of my kids every day. I see Him in the leaves when the wind blows. And I’m counting on Him to comfort me and carry me along….. I never used to do that. My self will ran rampant. This whole thing, I’m convinced, is a little lesson…..  to make me realize that I’m not as self-sufficient as I think I am. I’m gettin’ smarter and smarter every day.. ha ha…

Okay,, so anyways, by now they are about 1/2 way through the flight. At the airport there in Fresno, awaiting her arrival, is her Mimi, her Aunt and her cousins. She is going to have the best summer out of all of us really. My folks have a pontoon boat on the lake I grew up on. They have a camping trip planned, a birthday party… I mean, she’s just going to be in Heaven. I forget where we were the other day when we had arrived to our errand destination (probably stupid Home Depot) and she gets out of the car and says, “I can’t wait to have a break from Anders!!!”   Their constant bickering is taxing to say the least. On me, but on HER especially. I’m hoping this distance between them might wake Anders up and figure out that she’s not all that bad. Granted, she does push his buttons from time to time, but I honestly believe it’s just out of spite for all the awful things he does and says to her. We’ll see I guess. I’m just happy for her that she won’t have to be on the defense for a few weeks. Being on the defense gets a little tiring…..

Having my dad here was awesome. I honestly believe he must think me and my life is totally nuts. Zipping from one place to the other, eating on the go, sitting in traffic, working, taking phone calls as I’m flying down the freeway,,,, yelling at the kids, mocking stupid people who cut me off…  I said it more than once to him while he was here, “Gosh,, you must just think I’m crazy.”…..  He didn’t ever really give me a straight answer, which only leads me to believe that he thinks that. But, it is what it is. It’s my life. And I love it. Every last thing… I love it.  We camped up at Timothy Lake last weekend (and Anders and I are headed there again this weekend with a good friend of mine and her kids), and it was just a blast. Me, my dad, Maggie and Anders. Tent camping. Grilling, fishing, smores, dirt, ANTS… I MEAN HUGE ANTS, burgers, sunshine, powernaps, … all of it. Made some serious memories while he was up here. I want my kids to have vivid memories. My memories as a kid are vivid, and I visit them often, and I want that for my kids. Dad had a good time too… I could tell. I was blissed out. Always am when I’m camping. I go to another place in my head. A place that I don’t get to go to very often. It’s like a state of pure relaxation, and let’s face it, camping ain’t no relaxation!! But for whatever reason, I relax when I’m hussling around doing metal dishes, and wiping up dirt everywhere. Camping, for me, has a no-bra policy. I follow the rules when I’m camping.

Okay,, so now my house is totally and completely silent. I’m staring at my fattest cat in the window here, just totally lounging. I’ve got my other computer in the kitchen blaring pandora, it’s 5:14 pm and I have NO idea what I’m going to cook for dinner so I might just decide that Anders and I go out to dinner tonight. I’ve got sooooooooo much work to catch up on tho’. When I have family in town, I tend to just push it away. The work. I walk by the piles and go pffft. The beauty here tho’, is that I will have all day tomorrow to catch up. No interruptions. No “moooommmmyyyyy I’m done pooping!! Can you come wipe me’s”  I bet in a few days tho’ I’d give anything to wipe her butt.  Maggie Georgia… I hope you have the best time ever down there in California. While you’re gone, I’m hoping to clean out your room, and do a little re-decorating. And just know that I’ll be sleeping with Rosie, your build-a-bear kitty cat…..

Boy BP sure has themselves in a pickle don’t they? The sad reality is that us Americans… we don’t even KNOW how bad it really is down there. They aren’t letting the general population even hear or see the real damage. And I’m not even talking about the photos you see on the media of dead, oil covered, birds…. not even that. This spill is Armageddon!!  I’m bitter tho’, as my whole Summer has just been flushed down the toilet, more or less, as my husband left yesterday on select n’ direct orders to Louisiana to help with whatever in the hell is going on down there. Clean up??  Pfffffft. He’s a Lieutenant Commander in the US Coast Guard Reserves, and his number came up on this one. In fact, if you’re a CG reservist, chances are you’re already there, already been there, or will go in the near future…. pack your stuff. As I said tho’, I’m bitter. We had thee most awesome Summer planned this year. Last Summer was pretty much shot because we decided to move, so it was consumed with packing and unpacking and painting and laying floor etc…   So we were jazzed to get back to our Summer routine this year. Packing our weekends with camping, hiking, camps for the kids….  And yah, I can do all of it alone with the kids, but it’s only going to be a fraction as fun w/out their daddy here. And my gosh,, if you only knew how badly my husband hates hot, humid weather. I’d venture to say he’s going to sweat off about 30 pounds while he’s there. Poor guy…..

So last night was our first night without him.  Maggie pretty much cried all afternoon. She’d be fine, and then it would hit her, and she’d cry for a good, solid hour. Me and Anders tried to console her, but it we were only making it worse by trying to explain how fast TWO MONTHS is going to go by. Finally I just bit the bullet and admitted to the both of them that this was going to royally suck, but as long as we all got along, stayed positive, said our prayers, still went camping etc…. then we’d be okay. Once we get into the groove of him being gone, the time will fly. But these first couple weeks are going to be touch and go. Especially with Maggie. She’s pretty emotional for a 5 year old. Yah, 5 year olds are still whiners, but she has that hormonal emotion thing going on already. I think it’s because she drank so much soy milk as a baby.  Who knows…  You know those crying jags we have from time to time as women?? She’s already doing that crap I swear. Maybe she’ll get her emotions in check well before high school…. ha

So… they are actually calling for upper 80 degree weather this weekend. And naturally I won’t believe it until I see it, but will hold out as much hope as I can. My husband is the one that takes the kids to the park, and to the skate park, and to the movies, and whatnot because I tend to work on the weekends. I think the kids are in dread fear that now that he’s gone, I’m not going to step it up and fill his shoes in that regard. I just may surprise them. I’ve got to wrap my head around this. I think my dad may fly up next week and stay a couple weeks. Then, I think Maggie is going to fly down to California with him and kick it with my mom and dad for a couple/three weeks. Anders has summer school this year in July, so he and I will have to be buddy buddy. Which is good, because we never really get one on one time. Depending on what sort of “groove” we get in as a family will determine whether or not I’ll tackle the large chore of taking them camping by myself. You see, me and my hubby wait up till midnight on New Years Eve JUST to reserve our campsites for the summer. Reserve America only lets you reserve after the 1st of Jan, so we get on there and score on all the good sites, and then we put them on Craigslist if we don’t end up wanting to camp that particular weekend. It’s kind of messed up, but at least we are always guaranteed awesome sites every weekend. I was soooo looking forward to camping this year. The work tho’,,,, that goes into tent camping, and then doing it by myself??  Sheesh…  And I don’t drink anymore??  Yah,, we’ll have to see about camping. How the heck am I going to put up our 6 man tent by myself. ??  And who’s going to chop the wood???  sigh

So the new font I ordered will be arriving here shortly this morning. There was a huge boo boo on it when it arrived last week. So I had to spend the $55 bucks to overnight it back to the manufacturer, and then they were going to two-day it back to me. It ….. is…….thee….. coolest font yet. Finding a font to have made on stamps really is stressful. Dropping a grand on something like that, you have to totally make sure you love it love it love it. Not only that, but sizing as well. Like “roots” font is all lowercase letters, this new font is all uppercase. I was seeing so many requests lately for “all caps” on people’s orders that I thought it would be wise to make an all caps only font. I’m sitting here trying to think of what it reminds me of…..   the font style. Like,,, on signs and stuff, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before on ANYTHING….   It’s not a “she she” font…not a “foo foo” font. It’s a font with character…

Okay,, gotta get the kids up and out the door. Typically I’m just now leaving my AA meeting in Lake Oswego, and hubby has the kids up, dressed, breaky-filled, and lunches packed. I’m slackin!!!!!

OH….  and BP can eat my turds……

I’m not even going to get into the lame-ness of the current weather here in Oregon. I’ll spare you how incredibly sick I am of the constant rain. I caught myself perusing the internet the other night for Hawaiian vacations. Even going as far as reserving flights and hotels. Just for the thrill of it. Having no intention on going, but just made me feel good to “book” the trip, minus the credit card. Pretty sad right?

My son Anders and I just flew to California last weekend for my cousin’s wedding. Just the two of us went. Hubby and Maggie stayed here and held down the homefront.. even tho’ I came home to a broken garbage disposal, a broken dishwasher, a burnt out electrical switch, feed-less chickens etc etc…   Can I not go away from here without everything falling apart?? Brother!!  Everything is fixed now. Eric thought that the scratch grains were the chicken feed. In other words, my chickens fed on candy for 4 days. Ate candy and drank mud for 4 days. I dunno.. it’s this weather. It’s really really really getting to me this year. Most of the time I can just see past it. Go on with my days and it doesn’t affect me. I’m pale man!! You look at the pictures of me and Anders at the wedding and you can totally tell we’re the Oregonians. All pastey white and sickly looking. ick.

We are also in the midst of trying to sell our other house. So don’t even get me started on the housing market and this crap economy. So the house doesn’t have a garage. Don’t people realize that when you don’t have a garage, you don’t collect needless crap? I have yet to drive down a residential street on a Saturday (when it’s sunny mind you) with people’s garage doors wide open, and see a garage that isn’t full of just pure crap. Garages are trash collectors. They turn you into a pack rat. Our new house has a two car garage,,, and I’m so thankful that it doesn’t face the street. It is a disgusting mess. These last couple weeks we’ve been entertaining prospective tenants. Handing out applications, going over there with 5 mins notice to show it to people. Funny story..   Yesterday I was over there showing it to this young couple. They had a small little girl,, maybe 3 years old, and the wife was obviously ready to have their 2nd child. So they walk around the house for awhile while I sat at the breakfast table facebooking on my iphone. And they get done going in and out of every bedroom several times. And the woman comes up to me and says,, “So what year was this house built?” I said, “We don’t really know the official year, but we know it was between 1900 and 1904.”  And then she looks back out at the view and then back at me and says, “So… are you guys…. like the original owners?”   I kind of looked away a little bit, as I couldn’t believe the question. Are we the original owners??  I felt like saying,, “Yep… and we built it with our bare hands!!” “Pretty cool huh? We did a good job right?”…..    So then…   it gets better. They are corralling their daughter as they were getting ready to leave and I asked them if they wanted to take home with them a rental application. And the guy says,, “Nah…. we’ve still got three months left on our current lease, and we’re just looking around West Linn, and wanted to see what the rental market was like on this side of town”……….   PAUSE WHEN AGITATED.   Didn’t he know that I had like one billion other things I could be doing?  I guess we should edit our craigslist ad at the end and say “SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY… NO LOOKEY-LOUS”

Bottom line.. is that we’ve either got to sell it or get it rented because pulling two mortgages is getting tricky. Our last tenants tore the ass-end out of the house. We could have it rented already, but we are being wayyyyy cautious and very picky this time around. Not just going to take the first foot through the door like we did last time. It was really fun scrubbing dog poop stains off my deck….  Who lets their dog crap on their deck anyways?? Ewwwwwww  Keith and Caroline… if you are reading this, I hope you bought your house that you moved into when you moved out of ours, as I wouldn’t wish you people as tenants to any other landlord in this entire universe. Thanks for leaving your dead Christmas tree in our yard full of ornaments and all the ash from the woodstove in the pea-gravel. And I think your dogs need a little less wet-food in their diet.

I’m just gonna quit writing now. This isn’t turning out to be a positive outlook sort of blog in any way,  shape or form. I just believe that when you’re full of yucky, you gotta get the yucky out. I’ll save the big news that my husband is getting shipped off to the BP oil spill for two months for next time.

It’s 6:05 on Saturday… the week is finally over. So many things happened this week that it’s hard to know where to start. I guess the most important thing to report is that all orders that came in up to the 3rd of May actually made it out by Wednesday. This Mother’s Day was nuts, and I’m finally (after 6 years) beginning to understand why Mother’s day rush is so much harder than Christmas. You see… people plan for Christmas. From Nov 15th or so, up until about Dec 15 is when the shopping season is. It’s a month long. So while we are consistently busy for a month, it’s bearable because it’s on an average. Whereas Mother’s Day….  people don’t plan for mother’s day.. they wait up until the few days, a week at most, to shop for it. Not ALL people, but most. But it’s cool, we roll with it…. I try not to get angry that everyone just thinks that the “please allow two weeks for your order” doesn’t apply to them. But whatever,,, it’s all good. Tell you what, my patience, altho’ tested daily, is so much more than it used to be. I celebrated 6 months sobriety last week….  6 months isn’t a very long time except in sobriety, pregnancy and jail I’d imagine..  It has gone fast, and I’m blessed by God, for this business, my family, and my friends and just an all around great life where I struggle everyday to find balance and composure.

Also this last week we moved the chickens from my living room to the chicken coop that we built in the backyard. Was just telling a friend yesterday how impulsive I am. I’ve always been impulsive. Buy the chickens and worry about the coop later… sheesh. DUMB!!  But, we did it. Over the course of the last 2 weekends we managed to put together thee coolest coop. And finally, I think it was on Wednesday, we put the birds to bed!!  You would walk into my living room and just be overcome by this green foggy cloud of chicken crap smell. And to make matters worse, at night, I’d leave their heat lamp on them so it would bake and bubble all the crap and the smell was just heinous by morning. I reached my limit the other day and frantically ran to the farm store, got my feeders and whatnots and stuck em in the coop. We still need to repair the north side wall and do some caulking here and there, but they are loving it out there. Totally loving it!!  I bought some lavender plants yesterday to plant in the ground around the coop. I got a book a couple weeks ago on raising chickens… the Storey’s guide to raising chickens and man…  you would be shocked at how much you really have to know about the little smelly suckers!! So now I’m an urban farmer. Oh… and I’ve been listening to country music…   I doubt I’ll start wearing Wranglers and spurs, but you never know…  I kinda wonder what my neighbors must be thinking. Trying to put myself in their shoes. Unless the coop starts really reeking, then I don’t think it’s going to bother them. I bet when they take a bite out of a fresh egg they will be thankful…. as they’re batting away horse flies from their dinners on the balcony….  egads.  In the picture here we’ve got Rusty (right) and Bruno (left) just watching the chickens in the dog crate as if it’s good cat porn. And now that we have them out in their coop, both of them just sit out there and run circles round and round the coop. I think they’re ticked that the hardware cloth has such small squares, as they can’t get their paws through it like they could with the dog crate. What I’m wondering really tho’, is what if they really did get ahold of one of the chickens. Would they kill it? Or would they just want to play? I think the older the chickens get, and the bigger they get, the cats may be a little more intimidated and may not view them as lunch. Guess we’ll see now won’t we?  I know for a FACT that if our dog, Loosha, who is 1/2 lab 1/2 weimaraner would behead and devour one if she were given the chance. I remember when we first got them as chicks, I took one out of the tub and was holding it close and called Loosha over to sniff it,,, yah… welll…. the sniff turned into a nip in a millisecond. She went right for the head with a quick snap. Bitch…

Today Anders, who is almost 9 (good night,, where have the years gone?) is in his first skateboarding competition. Some local skate store is sponsoring a competition just up the hill at the skate park. He’s sooooooo excited. A little nervous, and apprehensive, but pumped. I can’t believe how good he is really. I think back to when I was 9, and granted I lived way back in the woods, but I wasn’t good at anything like that ;c(  He’s a funny kid. He’s one of those kids that struggles with math and reading, but can skate like a punk and can sing you a song verbatim after only hearing it one time. His teacher keeps reassuring us that the lightbulb will just go on one day (hopefully soon)… I’m not worried about him tho’…  He’s a smart cookie. I hope he shreds it today. Can’t wait to see the look on his face when I tell him he has to wear his knee pads, his elbow pads and his wrist guards today for the competition… ha hahahahah  Such the fashion diva he has become….my gosh!!!  What is it with tight skinny jeans? I don’t get it. They’ve GOT to be hurting his little balls.  Funny story…  and he’d KILL me if he knew I was writing this to the general public….  But we were at Old Navy the other day and he was insistent on buying a pair of girl’s pants jeans.. claiming that they just “fit better” and are “tighter on my legs mom”..  So there we are, digging through the massive amount of jeans on the wall, and this 10 or 11 year old girl comes up to us and says,, “Ummm,,, just so you know,, those are GIRLS jeans, the boy’s jeans are over there.” Anders pupils became the size of olives and his face turned beet red. He stared at me in that moment as if saying to me “please get me out of this situation mom”.. To which I quickly said, “Oh.. we know.. we’re picking out jeans for his sister.” (lie lie lie)  And I could visibly see his shoulders come to rest. Poor kid.. he’s the skinniest kid you’ve ever seen!! I feel like feeding him sticks of butter with breaky. Again, I think back and remember my track coach yelling to me as I was speeding down the track , “GO STICK GO”…  beanpoles..

I say this every year tho’, on Mother’s day. I hope everyone who receives one of my necklaces for Mother’s day tomorrow cries tears of joy and happiness. I hope they have a beautiful day of doing nothing if they wish. I hope they have a beautiful day of gardening if they wish. I don’t really know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow other than decompress. I still have one more cuff to make today that is going to be picked up tonight sometime. And so help me God if I get a phone call today from some dude trying to get me to bail him out of the dog house that he will inevitably be in if he shows up to the party empty-handed. ha ha…  As much as I complain about those guys, I always, in the end, take pity on them and usually will bail them out. Afterall, it’s my job. And I love my job. I love Mountain Girl Silver……

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY PEOPLE!!

Meet Sofia-soon-to-be-Sanchez…   Remember awhile back MGS donated 10% of all online orders for a week long stretch to Hector and Jennifer Sanchez of Sacramento, Ca? They were trying to raise money in an effort to cover the costs to adopt baby Sofia here in Ukraine. Well…… they are there, in Ukraine, meeting with their new daughter, filling out all the required paperwork with the govt, the adoption agency, etc etc….  I’ve been hanging onto each of Jen’s Facebook statuses these last few days as if I need them to breathe or something!! ;c)  You can read their full story and details here http://www.savingsofia.blogspot.com They are over there for about another week I think. Poor Jen was chomping at the bit because their trip had been scheduled for about two weeks, then that volcano overseas had shut down just about every airport over there, and Jen and Hector weren’t sure if they were going to be able to stay on schedule with the plans. With God’s grace they made it over there, and finally got to meet and hold and kiss on their new baby daughter, Sofia……   All of us who have been following Jen’s blog know just how special this past week has been for them. Just imagine falling in love with a child you’ve never seen (with the exception of pics), never held, never kissed. Surreal… totally surreal. But not only are they in love with little Sofia, but just about everyone who knows them is in love with Sofia. Sofia has touched the lives of so many people and she’s not even over here yet!!  There are hundreds and hundreds of people so excited to finally meet her when she’s able to come over. There are a lot of hoops one has to go through in order to adopt a child overseas. They are over there for another week I think, then they have to come back to the states WITHOUT Sofia, for like a 12 day “grace” period. I’m thinking this is the country’s way of determining whether or not the adoptive parents are really serious about adopting. Will they return to get the child?  Well…it’s no question that Jen and Hector are..  and we are all crossing our fingers that Ukraine waives this period of time, because Sofia needs to come home NOW….  Gosh she is cute!!!  I can only imagine that this has got to be the best thing that has ever happened to her in her short little life. Here she is, at the orphanage, just waking up every morning, sitting in her crib all day long, eating the same stuff all day long, not getting to go outside..EVER.. and then one day she wakes up and gets to get in the arms of her new mom and dad. Bammmm… her whole life changing in an instant. You wonder, to a baby like that, what could possibly be going through her little mind. If Jen and Hector do have to come back to the states for a grace period, will Sofia miss them? Will she wonder where they went? Are they coming back to get me??  I just wonder.   Please, try to find time to read the last few posts that Jen and Hector have made at the blog…..   It’s really overwhelming… it’s really touching….  really   http://www.savingsofia.blogspot.com

Cameron was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma in Febuary of 2008. After his tumor resection surgery, he underwent six weeks of radiation therapy and four months of chemotherapy. After these treatments, they went back into our “normal” lives and Cameron progressed well getting back into school and the day-to-day of being an 8 year old boy.

However, Cameron’s latest MRI on March 19, 2010, has shown his cancer has returned, so they are starting on the second phase of his battle. Even in these dark days, they know God has richly blessed them by putting so many wonderful people in their path during this journey and they are so very thankful for them all.

On April, 24th there will be a fundraising walk in honor of Cameron by “Angels Among Us”.

Angels Among Us is a celebration of life, strength, courage and commitment. It has become a national event, with thousands coming from all across the country to volunteer, participate, and make a difference.

The event begins with a 5K run through the Duke campus, and then features a wonderful family fun walk through the beautiful Sarah P. Duke Gardens. It has a family-friendly focus with entertainment, food, raffle, souvenirs, activities and prizes for children, and a closing ceremony where the top ten fundraising teams receive an award, and the grand total for the event is announced.

The success of Angels Among Us has continued to grow each year with the help of many committed volunteers, Duke staff, and the teams made up of families and friends of those who have had brain or spinal tumors. At the first event in 1994, a total of $27,000 was raised. This year’s event raised over $1,410,540. Unbelievable!

Mountain Girl Silver has hand stamped 200 necklaces to be sold at the event in order to help with the financial crunch the Jackson family is incurring during this hard time….  I can’t necessarily fly out there and deliver dinner every night for a week,,, or even give LeAnn (Cameron’s mom) a hug…  so this is my way of helping out…   donating. To the Angels Among Us foundation and to the Duke Medical Center on behalf of Cameron and getting this icky cancer out of his young body so he can live a happy, healthy, long, cancer-free life like the rest of us!!  You can read about his story at http://www.camjacksonupdate.blogspot.com

Sometimes I feel so totally blessed by my life…..  I’ve got a great husband, I’ve got healthy kids, I’ve got a nice car, I’ve got a nice house, I’ve got my own health, I created a business and honed a craft that has enabled me to stay home with my kids and make money…..  I’m spiritually blessed. I’m growing in my humility, and I’ve quit taking my great life for granted. Many times a person can seem all pretty and perfect on the outside, but on the  inside they are just a hot mess… Essentially what I used to be like up until my sobriety date almost 5 months ago…..  I don’t want to go into great detail about what sobriety can bring someone,,, otherwise this blog post would be a mile long, and then some. Anyone can quit drinking or using drugs, but until they SURRENDER, and accept and admit that they are powerless, life can’t be lived the way God intended. It saddens me to think of all the people in this world that think there is no higher power… a power greater than..    Look at a forest, look at a newborn baby, look at  an iris, or an orchid, watch the snow fall from the sky, listen to laughter……   So many things…

I feel like I’ve been sprinkled with pixie dust. As cheezy as that may sound. I surrendered. I stopped trying to be the director of the movie, I’m learning to live life on life’s terms. I’ve always been a control-freak. It’s exhausting. Totally and whole-heartedly EXHAUSTING. It’s depressing too, because half the time, no one listened to me anyways, and so that would, in turn, create anger and sadness and feelings of failure would overcome me. “Why isn’t life turning out the way I WANT it to?” “Howcome all these awful things are happening to me?” “Why won’t anyone listen to me?” “Am I speaking Chinese er’ something?”  ”My kids MUST never get in trouble, they MUST be respectful, my husband doesn’t treat me the way I feel I need to be treated.” I’d get off on head games. I’d play them,,, and I was good at it. But no more do I even have the capability or the desire to play head games. Honesty, Open-ness and Willingness are the three principles I live my life by today. Yah, sure, it gets me in trouble from time to time because I lose the ability to filter what comes out of my mouth. I never really understood that saying, “TO THY SELF BE TRUE”…  or however it goes.. to thy ownself be true… or whatever. But man, it’s genius. Be true to yourself, do what you believe, say whats on your mind, stand up for yourself, protect and care and nurture yourself, essentially doing the next right thing… all the time…. no matter the cost. Don’t pussy-foot, be REAL, be raw, be hardcore. Be YOU….   not what others think you need to be.

I’ll step off my pedestal now… ha ha…  Shouting from a mountaintop……   that’s how proud I am of my sobriety. When you find something that works, you want to pass it along to everyone you know. You want to pass it along to every stranger, friend, family-member….  but along with the things I’ve learned lately, I’ve also learned that everyone has to do these things on their own. Everyone has to WANT to live their best life. I can preach till I’m purple and it would do no good.  The bottom line is that I’m on this “live your best life” – kick…   The world would be such a happier place if everyone would stop trying to control it. Let everyone be who they want to be. Support people in their dreams……  help when you can help.

So last month I decided to donate 10% of all online orders for a week period  to a friend of mine down in California. Jen and Hector Sanchez are currently trying to raise money in order to adopt a baby overseas, Sofia, (we shall call her Sofia Sanchez). Little Sofia was born with Downs Syndrome. An unwanted child by her parents, she lives in an orphanage that doesn’t give her the love and the attention that she deserves. She stays in a crib all day, eats broth, and the picture in my mind is so very sad. I sat here and stared at my laughing kids, running through the house, making a mess. I thought about the big fat dinner I was going to eat that night……

Now… I’ve always always been a huge advocate for donations. In fact, I should have a special page on my website that you can click to request a donation for a school auction. I have the funds, I have the craft, so I donate. It’s what I do. I don’t have one teeny tiny hesitation about donating. Sometimes Eric just shakes his head at the amount of money I donate on a yearly basis. I don’t know why either….   I guess it goes back to that incessant fear I’ve always had of losing everything.. being homeless, eating mustard packets to survive. Heebie jeebies…  It makes me feel good to donate. But it’s also just the right thing to do. There’s always someone out there that has it worse off than you do. If you can, you should help them. This life thing is a team effort. We’re all trying to survive…. every single one of us is trying to make our way through life as happily and as flawlessly as we can. Taking hits, people dying, people getting cancer, car accidents, robbery, kidnapping… all those bad things happen everyday in this life. I have a vision in my head of all of us interlocked at the elbows, marching forth across the planet. ha ha…

So I’ve decided that since I sit in my life, finally, at a comfortable spot, financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically that I want to donate to a cause when I feel moved by a story. Because there are a million organizations out there. I donate to several of them already. LLS, Susan G Komen, The Dougy Center, Make-a-wish, etc…..   But what I want to do is to have you guys, my customers, who have a need, who have a cause, who have a mission, who have the need for financial help, to write me with their story. I want to hear from you. I want to feel moved. And a percentage of all online orders for a 7-day period is donated to that tax-deductible cause. For instance.. even tho’ the money for Jen and Hector Sanchez cause went directly to them, it went through an organization called “Reece’s Rainbow” which is an organization that aids families in the adoption process. There are so many out there..It’s all about people helping people. Donating. Donating is second nature to me… I love it. I love donating. I love sharing my stuff. I love generosity. So write to me. Tell me your story. Tell me why you need help and I’ll help. It’s what I do….  You can email me, you can call me. All my info is on the contact page here. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need help. Again, I’m learning that surrendering is the only way to be successful when you have a goal that is hard to accomplish. Ya can’t do it on your own. We’ve got to help each other.

Be well…

So, once again, our Disneyland trip came and went. I gotta admit, that traveling gets so much easier as your kids get older. My kids are still in that magic-age… you know… where Disneyland is still that place where dreams really do come true. I even found that to be true this time around. Sleeping in a hotel with hotel sheets, hotel water, hotel smell, nasty breakfast, nasty coffee can make anyone a grouchpot…  but the moment you walk inside that gate… all the grouchiness goes away and smiles prevail. That is until around 3pm hits and the whining begins. We didn’t stay very far from the park, so going back to the hotel for a break wasn’t a huge time-waster. Go back, take a swim, get a nasty coffee and rest for a bit, and then head back for the evening. I tell you what tho’,,, that California Screamin roller coaster in California Adventure Park is suuuuuuch a good ride. The California side of the park was sort of torn up as they are adding a whole new CARS part of the park and a crazy light show and an Ariel thingy…  oh… and the Matterhorn was under maintenance…  so that was a bummer. But overall… what a good time. The kids were pretty well behaved.  On the 4th day, we decided to head up to Hollywood to see if we could see anyone famous. All we saw was a bunch of paparazzi preparing for the Academy Awards ceremony on Hollywood Blvd. And it rained cats n’ dogs that day too. It was all worth it tho’, because to witness my husband stuck in traffic is entertainment in itself. He started singing a song entitled “Punch me in my Balls” everytime we got stuck in gridlock. To the point where I was crying laughing and the kids were even laughing. Good times… In fact, I can’t get “punch me in my balls” out of my head…..  it’s stuck there…. it’s catchy…

Then that Saturday evening, my little sis, Muggs and her family caught up with us at our hotel for a bit as they were headed to San Diego for Sea World. We went out for a fun dinner at a Pirate Show place….   food sucked, but the kids had a good time. And then yesterday we made it home safe and sound. I really love Oregon. From the marrow in my bones I just love love love it here. Flying down on the descent into PDX, you see the trees and the lush landscape and you can see the clean air just waiting to burst into your lungs. ahhhhhhhh  Good to be home.

Gotta head back below and start stamping again. Daneen kept control of things while I was gone, so I could relax. When you have a business, going on vacation is tough. You still have to answer the phone and answer the emails, otherwise you lose customers. Daneen picked up the slack and made it so that I could just let it all go for a few days. Heather no longer works for MGS. So a lot of loose ends need to be tied up this week. And this too shall pass…..  Everything happens for a reason in my world. I firmly believe that. God has my back, and has my best interests at heart, so all I really need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. Sure makes life a lot easier when you know you’re not in control…  ;c)

I’ve gotta get back to work for now tho’…  I just had to blog about the trip. It was good. You know when you spend every waking moment with your family for 6 days straight? Yah sure, there is bound to be some tension… I think I only called Eric an ass a couple times. Had to put the kids in their places a hundred times, but we really bonded as a family. I miss my kids today…  they are at school. I miss em. I really do….   When you go somewhere where there is the potential for getting lost, you really stay close together and need each other. We worked as a good team. And now all of us are in our own directions today…. and I miss em….

I watched this video yesterday…  my friend, Betsy forwarded it onto me. I know when she forwards me videos, I know that they are worth watching….    And the message that this 7 minute video sent to me was huge……   If you’re a parent, it is a MUST WATCH…  please… I’m begging you to take the time to watch it….   it will move you….

When you stand at the crossroads and you’re faced with a decision that (you think) holds the outcome of the rest of your life…….  do you make it hastily?? Do you just weigh the pros and cons in a 5 minute pondering session and call it good??  Man … I’m just whack when it comes to making these decisions. Especially when it has to do with the well being of my kids. Do I take away his skateboard and all his skate shirts as punishment?? Or do I just give him a good talking to, knowing damn well he’s gonna forget again and continue the behavior?  I’m so bad about consistency…  like… really bad. “If you talk to me like that one more time I’m gonna take away your right to use the toilet and you’ll have to pee outside at night and then the dragons and night monsters are gonna come and bite your wiener off!!!!”  I admit, my idle threats tend to be something out of a fairy tale…  I go for the gusto…. I go for the things that will hit them right in the guts. Anders is catching on unfortunately. He’s 8. And mouthy, and disrespectful, and completely clueless. Don’t get me wrong, he’s witty and savvy and could survive on his own in Manhattan, but completely clueless with other things. Had a fine parenting moment the other day (which stabbed my heart all night afterward) and said,, “GEEZ Anders,,, did God give you at least ONE brain cell in your head??”   OUCH… I know… pretty harsh. I do believe, shortly thereafter, I called someone from my AA home group and left her a long voicemail about how my tongue was full of venom….   and asked what I should do about it.  ”Pause when agitated” is a key phrase in AA….   I’m so new to all of this tho’….  learning to live sober is like learning how to potty train…  you gotta piss in your pants a few times to understand how it all works.

So, Maggie here is home sick today. blah…   Last night was one of those nights when I put her to bed coughing. Had the vaporizor on her, Vicks…  the whole nine yards. Sittin’ on the couch watching the olympics with my hubby but not even paying attention to it because my motherly ear was focused on the sound of her coughs coming from upstairs. There’s the two-cougher, when a little phlegm comes up followed by about 45 seconds of silence. Then there’s the four-cougher that is followed by an evident gag…. and then there’s the cough all of us mothers know so well… the one that you know puke is right around the corner. The kid was born with a severe gag reflex. And since I’m a vomit-phobe, my radar for the gag vomit cough is hyper sensitive…   I put down my tea, jetted upstairs, hubby looked at me like I was nuts, because he didn’t even HEAR the preceding 10 coughs leading up to my jumping up off the couch. There she was, sitting up, puking in her indian style lap… lovely it was.  ”ERIC!!! I need you up here… NOW!!!”   We got her cleaned up and took her croupy cough feverish booty outside wrapped in a blanket and he sat out there with her for about 30 mins until her cough loosened up. She had pneumonia when she was 3 weeks old… so every time she gets some sort of chest cold, I’m like nurse Wratchet….  sneaking into her bedroom at night and laying on the floor next to her to listen to her breathe… listening for the crackle….   hate it when my Magrilla is sick ;c(   It’s the worst….  I’ve been volunteering in her class every Wednesday… and for the last three weeks, there’s at least 3 or 4 kids in her class that are soooooooo sick, but yet their parents still cart their little asses to school.  God forbid they take a day off from their important life to let their kid get better and stay home and not infect the entire class….  Don’t get me started on those parents…. they INFURIATE ME!!!  Again……. pause when agitated….

My little sister has been on my case about doing a blog post….   SO HERE YOU GO MARGARET!!  I want the mustard spread evenly around the bread, not just in the middle!!!!

Margaret used to wipe her boogers on the carpet in front of the t.v. …   and whenever it was time to change the sheets on our beds, my mom would find about 30 candy wrappers wayyyy down at the foot of the bed in the crook of the sheets.  I shouldn’t poke fun, because I was just nosing around in Anders’ room the other day… this was on Thursday.. the day of his Valentine’s party at school. So I open his little shoe box full of all his valentines and I kid you not, there were about 20 empty candy wrappers in the box. And we’re talking big stuff…. like… full candy bars… suckers… you name it…  And I was like, “ummm Anders,, what happened to all your Valentines candy from your valentines cards?”   And he said,, “Mom…. we had a party today and Miss Miller let us eat our candy!!”  and I was like,, “Ummm yah,,, you have eaten like 100 pieces since you had your party dude!!”  and you know what he says to me???   He says… “MOM!! Get the heck outta my room, you’re being nosey and you’re invading my privacy!!”….   Really??  I’m invading YOUR privacy??  For serious??  and then I went off on the “I carried you around in my body for 9 months” schpeel…   That one doesn’t phase him anymore.

The whole purpose of this blog post was to say that I think we have decided ultimately to put Maggie into Spanish immersion kindergarten….  And this is AFTER I waited in line at the elementary school at 5 am to get into all day English kindergarten.. dumb…   And now… now that we’re leaning towards putting her into the Spanish, now I get to get up at 4am AGAIN, and drive my happy ass down to the district office in Wilsonville to wait it out there for entrance into the class. Real fun… fun times.. fun times waiting in line at 5 am in the rain, sans coffee, sans breakfast sandwich, skipping my morning meeting. But everything we’re reading on the outcome of kids placed in Spanish immersion, it’s like a no-brainer. She’s gonna do well… we think…    They say that in the beginning, the students are a shade behind their peers because they are having to use something like 32% more of their brain just to understand what the teacher is saying. Spanish immersion is just that… Spanish IMMERSION… there’s no English…  So their little brains are working on overdrive to figure out what’s going on,,, but it’s THAT part of the brain that is developed, ultimately giving them a huge advantage over the English students when it comes to learning more efficiently. They have more brainpower. Not only that,, but they are fluent and bi-lingual by 5th grade. High school Spanish???  Shoot….  then she could take yet a third language in high school because she’s already mastered what is turning out to be the prevalent, secondary language in the U.S.A. today. She’s a smart little cookie that Maggie Georgia…. I think she’s going to do jussssssst fine.  Dora ain’t got nothin on her!!!!

I’ve GOT to get to work now MARGARET!!!  But if it wasn’t for you harping on me about not blogging lately,, then I wouldn’t have been able to type out my own convincing testimonial as to why we should put Maggers in Spanish….  Si….  Si mi hermana pequena!!   Te amo mucho!!!

Adios amigos!! Necisito a trabajar mucho hoy….  Necisito mas (what is coffee?)…..