More cows and some bullshit too!

The cows are in the pasture around the house again....I am surprised by how much I love when they are close. They cough and sneeze....make funny noises! I wondered out loud how gross a cow sneeze must be...Susan said their boogers are like oysters!! GROSS! Another reason not to like oysters!

I should have taken the cows around the house as a sign...of the bullshit to come later in the week. I have always been supportive of Lee and the Coast Guard. I never really moaned and groaned with all the time Lee has spent away from us. My faith in the Guard was unwavering....until this week, they took almost 20 years of faith and tossed it out the window. We have repeatedly been told housing was going to be available. We were even ok with the wait, so when we inquired after waiting the six weeks the had told us about....we were a little shocked at the reply that it could be a couple more months...if even then. I cannot wait that long. I will not sacrifice my friendship with Susan and her family (although they have been so wonderful and supportive). I need to set this circus down....Elliott needs a bed to sleep on, and get a routine going. Mason is counting days until he can see Arrielle (20 to go)...so I do not worry about him. So, we are in a desperate search for a place to live. They few we have found so far that will consider pets....are not in the best parts of town. The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. Spending the last couple years with my dad has taught me to be a saver...and thank goodness...because we are about to wipe out the safety net.

On a good note...this week had some good moments too. I got to catch up with Leanne...whose life could not get any busier. I was able to have a phone chat with my little brother, who I miss a lot more than I thought I would..I love you lil bro'!!! My dad makes me laugh...he reads my blog and calls me with the best support. One of the best things about staying in the Moranda-Scilacci household is the dinner table. Seven people around the table talking about their day is awesome. We have made game too....first person to get "poop" into the conversation wins. It is always good for a belly laugh....not always good when your mouth is full!

Wish us luck on the househunt!!!!

A little sweetness, and a little not so sweet!!!

Awww, nothing like a little sweetness to make your Monday. I love this picture of Key and his new bestie...Sassy. It has taken a while for them to get to the sharing the pillow stage of their relationship. They run wildly in the yard chasing each other. Sassy loves to kiss Key when his mouth is open...gross!!!

And, then there is the not so sweet. The pasture around the house is shaped like an upside down "U". Last weekend, a bull was placed in that pasture. He has a permanent scowl on his face...and I admit he kinda scares the crap out of me!! He bellows..a lot. He also likes to nap on the mound that can see directly into the kitchen...then he stares at us! Thankfully the dogs (Kuno and Butch) let us know when the bull is on the move, they like to bark at it. This picture was taken with me behind the Suburban, with my arm sticking out...using the close up feature. I have been told that the bulls are not always nice...so I am totally ok with keeping my distance.

Gosh...I hope Mr. Bull does not get pissed when I grill steak for dinner tonight??!!!!

Gratitude....

Some things I am very grateful for....

My guys, Lee, Mason and Elliott....when I am super stressed

they always get me laughing!!

My Dad, who has listened to a lot of griping and really has been there

for me the last couple years, I am grateful that I really got to

know him!

Christine, who even after being friends for 26 years, still celebrates

my birthday in August. I love it! My pretty toes do too!

Susan, Emily and Justin....I do not know if I could put up with a

family staying with us for so long. You guys have been awesome, and

I really, really appreciate your help!

Grateful when friends leave

love notes on facebook and my email inbox.

Grateful for the small of lavender, which remind me of when

we picked some in the fields in Sequim.

I am grateful for friends and family, the little things

and the big things that make life special!!

If it weren't for bad luck....

Holy Moly!! Sometimes, I wonder if I did not have bad luck...would I have any lick at all??? This morning we had an appointment to take the truck in for the repairs I blogged about last week, the plan is for me to drive the Vette and Mace to drive the truck over there and we come home together in the Vette. I get the Vette started and the windows clear...we are ready to roll....until it stops dead on a bridge at the end of the street. I call roadside assistance, figuring I will leave Mace with the car and go sit all day with the truck. As, I run back to the house for stuff to keep me occupied for the 6 hours they have slotted for the truck, Mace calls, the Vette was running again, he had not tightened the battery cables well the last time he attached them. We are off again...and a couple miles down the road....die again. This time, we get the handy dandy wrench....I have no idea why we did not do this the first time. We finally get the truck dropped off. Lee comes with me to pick up the truck, I take the Vette home and Lee is off the find a motorcycle part. When he gets home, I smell a little oil burning smell....trust me, I am a freak for car smells, my dad, brother and Lee all think I am nuts. It was a good thing though, Lee pops the hood and they forgot to put my oil cap back on. By the time we noticed, it was too late to call them and rip them a new one...I cannot wait for tomorrow morning to do that! The day did get a little better, I now have a library card...and some new books to read.

A couple shout outs....

*My Dad, sometimes I do not know what I would do without you, I love you.

*Christine, thank you, thank you, thank you....I am going on Thursday!!

*My niece Megan, who I hear reads my blog, I want her to know I love her and I miss her!!

*My lil' bro.....awesome conversation, even via text message. I miss you!!

Peace and love Ryan....

It is with the heaviest of heart that I blog this afternoon about a family friend...

Ryan Darby..was Texas, through and through. We met Ryan and his family when we were stationed in Texas, back in 1995. Ryan, at the time, lived for baseball, really...for any sport!! He was almost three years older than Mason....but he took him under his wing like an older brother. He was smart, maybe a little bit of a temper, but he was just Ryan to us, he felt like family.

Ryan passed away this morning due to complications from a car accident. He was only a couple weeks from turning 22.

Our love, thoughts and prayers go to Ralph, Judy, Ashley (who so kindly took the time to call me) and Emily.

( I am sorry if anyone is offended by Ryan's tee shirt, but there is no other picture that captures him as well)

A random act of kindness....

A random act of kindness can do wonders for moral!! Yesterday, I went to Starbuck's for the first time in 4 weeks. Those who know me well, know that I love me some Starbuck's!! Four weeks was a long time, especially since I lived a block away from the nearest Starbuck's for the last 5 years.

Anyway...so I venture to Fortuna, for my treat. I go through the drive-thru, order my "quad venti non fat vanilla latte", and proceed to the window. The barista, tells me the lady behind me is paying for my drink....I smile, and ask why. He says he does not know. Was it the Washington plates? The greyhound sticker? Who knows. So I told him I wanted to pay for her coffee, apparently hers was already taken care of. So, I handed him my $5 bill and said I wanted to buy the coffee for the car behind the lady buying mine....poor barista, thank goodness he was keeping up with all of this.

So.....I post this question....when was that last time you did a total random act of kindness or paid forward a random act of kindness done to you???

Goin' to the fair...

Mason and I, took advantage of the free admission to opening day of the Humboldt County Fair yesterday. It was a fun change of pace. The display halls were filled with arts, crafts and everything "fair". We were tempted by the deep fried candy bars, but ended up with Lobster Claws...which were huge waffle cones, stuffed with ice cream and them dipped in chocolate. They were really too big to finish...but we did our best. We walked the barns, checking out the cows, sheep, goats and the poultry. It was fun to see Leanne's hard work pay off in the displays at Belotti Hall....I was inspired by the quilts and needlework.

We will likely hit the fair one more time, so Lee can go too. Check out Mace in the cowboy hat....how funny is that!

Sunshine.....

Sunshine...outside and in the form of some flowers I bought at the Farmer's Market last Saturday.

Thank goodness it is sunny outside...it helps with my mood! I took the my trusty steed (aka...the Suburban) in for an oil change today. The service advisor comes to me and says "Jeanie (ugh...I know, he said my name wrong) come back here, I want to show you something". My stomach flips and I get an instant headache. He takes me back and shows me what has been my oil plug, for goodness knows how long...it looks like an old tin can lid with half a nickel attached. I do not know when it was placed there or why. He explains, that they can get it off, but these are usually placed on when the threads are stripped, because they have a rubber seal that expands to the size needed. Are ya still with me..??? Anyways, if they remove the plug, they could damage the oil pan and I am stuck...with no choices. We (myself and my previous mechanic) have been monitoring a small amount of oil seeping onto my oil pan for a while...so I bit the bullet and told him to go ahead and replace the whole oil pan...woo hoo, he will toss in the oil change for free. UGH!

There is also an issue with the steering...a place in Port Orchard said they could not do an alignment because these two arms (pitman and idler) were bad. I got a second opinion on those....and I am glad I did. Only the pitman arm is bad. They took the time to show me what is going on with both. I love when a mechanic/service center does that...show me what they are gonna charge me an arm, a leg and half my other leg for. So, now the parts are getting ordered and my truck goes in for a "spa" day next week.

In all my stress of figuring out where I will get all the money from...I forgot to call my dad (HI DAD!!). My stupid cell phone does not do well out here in the country...so I call my dad when I go into "town". My mood goes from stressed to feeling like a bad daughter....but then I see it....a bright blue sky and the sunshine!!! My mood is lifted a little and I know everything will be ok.

Sunshine...natures Valium. Probably my mom sending me a message to "take a chill pill!"

Arcata.....

We headed out for the Arcata Farmers Market last Saturday. We lived in Arcata from 1992-1995, so we wanted to check it out. Let's just say...the 60's are not quite over in Arcata. It is a place where dreadlocks and smoking pot in public are the norm. It does have lots of charm though....and the best farmers market in the area. We walked around the Plaza, peeking at the vendors. I saw vegetables, I had never even heard of...what is a lemon cucumber...when I looked at it, I could not tell which it was??? All that fruit and vegi's almost makes you want to try out being a vegetarian. We window shopped the stores around the plaza....amazing bookstores, a music store where you can still buy vinyl records, real wood furniture (where we bought the boys' bunkbeds a long time ago), and Bubbles (where you can make your own scent and add

it to whatever lotion or body wash you'd like), neat stationary stores too.

Lee and Mason checked out a music shop, where Lee found a $1200 guitar and Mace found one for $2500. Yikes! Maybe, I should play the lottery.

Arcata, is still pretty neat...you just need to get over the hippie factor. It is a treat on a Saturday morning with its sights and sounds...maybe next time I will go alone...and I will get one of those lemon cucumbers.

Naked Ladies!!!

Earlier, I blogged about certain things reminding me of people I have loved and lost. This flower reminds me of my mom. Their proper name is, Amaryllis belladonna...Pink Naked Ladies....we just called them naked ladies!! We had lots of them at our house in San Jose when I was much younger, but they did not get uprooted when the family moved back to Auburn , WA. My mom always said how much she loved them. When we were stationed here (in Humboldt) the last time my mom found a nursery that specialized in bulbs, and we set out to find them. She bought a bag full, and the ones that have survived the winter, still bloom every summer. I found these few stalks, alone on the side of a pasture, yesterday when we headed into town....pulled over and made Mason take a picture! I miss you Mom!

Well...

I was going to blog about Lee starting work. But, the first thing I wanted to do this morning was make sure I had not lost my mind. See, we are sleeping on an antique bed. There is no box spring, it literally is springs...so getting into bed always makes us laugh. When you move, it sort of feels like a waterbed. The springs squeak and bend, making every move sound like so much more. Well, early this morning, Lee was laying still...so I did not think it was him...but, I heard what sounded like someone dropping a box, and then a shake of the bed. I rolled over,figuring it was my big butt moving and trying to remind myself to check on line in the morning...and dozed back to sleep.

Well, I am not crazy!!

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc71261376.html

A 4.9 magnitude out of Petrolia.

Maybe it is the moon....

We have reached the point during a transfer that I am grumpy as Hell. I would like to blame it on the moon....but I think it is just me. I am worried about everything, and I make every little mole hill as big as Mt Rainier!!!

Ugh....I would get my toes painted all pretty and girly...but then I would worry about the money I spent.

I do know where some ice cream is though......

Noises....

In the morning, I like to sit with my coffee and read on the porch. It has become part of my morning routine. The lack of a busy street and city noises make it so I can hear everything.

All of the dairy farms around the house are organic. There is a symphony of sprinklers, that seems constant. They cut the grass, bale what they can and sprinkle it for a couple days. The cows are moved to whichever pasture is ready for them to graze on.

Key loves to sit on a well loved dog bed on the porch. He crashes there everyday, only to rise when some bug decides to bite him. He has made a bad habit of wondering out onto the porch unleashed...he heads for the dog bed every time. Thankfully, he does not wonder.

Back to the noises...there is a birds nest in a corner of the porch. So, there is always a fluttering of birds and the chirping to go with it. I cannot remember what type of birds Susan said they were. This morning, I can hear the rustle of the trees and bushes. The gray of the morning may take longer to burn off today. The hummingbirds are still sticking their beaks into the last of the lilacs. One flew about 2 feet from my head this morning. I just stood there with my mouth open, staring at it. There is a huge barn in the pasture to my right, it is empty now, but the huge doors sometimes make a noise that sounds like a duck.

Key is nestled on the dog bed, and Charles (Susan's cat) is curled up on a folded lawn chair. Both undisturbed by the buzzing of bee's, or the cackle of the crow on the fencepost.

It has taken me a while to get used to these new noises. Cars peeling out and the rushing by of emergency vehicles have been replaced, by the hum of the birds flying, the zooming of bee's and the pages turning in my book.