Please...more thoughts and prayers for Piper

Please....Piper has had a real tough week. Her parents got the call that she was not doing very well last week. The family rushed to the hospital and baby Piper was blessed. Little Piper is a fighter though...and she is still holding on. So, I ask again for any thoughts and prayers you can spare.

Looking toward the future......

Here is a picture of Lil' Kitty....also known as the Devil!! This will be the cat that kills one of us by making us fall down the stairs. He loves to run up the stairs as you are trying to walk up them...and trip you up!! He does not even look like a nice kitty...but sometimes he is a sweetie!

Sorry again, for the lack of posts last week. I attended a class with Lee at the base. It was a transitional class (TAPS)...to prepare you for getting out of the service/military. We are (hopefully) years away from getting out... but it is advised to attend this class a few years early...so you know what to expect and to attend again the year you leave the service.

The amount of information is almost overwhelming!! We had speakers about Tricare (our health insurance), from the Veterans Administration (wow....what a wealth of benefits you never really hear about), the Employment Development Department, about the changes in ID cards and planning that last move. There was three days spent on getting that second career after Lee leaves the Coast Guard. We found out all we need to do to get our ducks in a row and be prepared. I feel more informed and terrified at the same time.

The best part of class was actually the last day, when the speaker came to talk about the last move...turns out it was Karen Pedras...the mom of Mason's best friend in Petaluma, Dominic!! It was so nice to see her! We got to chat a little and then we -Lee, I, Brian... a YN from Lee's base, Karen and ID Charlie (the infamous guy that deals with your ID cards in Petaluma)- all loaded into the Suburban and went to Trinidad for lunch and to show them the beautiful view!

It was kind of a crazy week...but good! Friday evening I got to spend time with Susan...and to thank her for picking up Elliott and getting him to school for me everyday last week. Saturday, I spent the afternoon with Emily....which was nice, we shopped for girlie things and a new book. Saturday evening Lee and I went to Leanne and Mac's for dinner....and laughed all night with them, Rashell and Wayne!! Mac makes this homemade bbq sauce....that is out of this world, I love it!!

So, now we are into another week! I am sooo excited about this weekend! MASON IS COMING!!! He says he wants pizza from Ferndale Pizza Company at least once and mom's fettuccine. We have a plan...we are going to make them hunt for Easter eggs. I cannot remember the last time they did that! I cannot wait!!

Holy Crapola!

I am so sorry for the lack of postings this week. The cold I mentioned last week did a u-turn and came back for more. Then...I shared it with Lee and Elliott. There have been a few nights this week, when Lee and I did not even make it until 8pm...we did our shots of Nyquil and went to bed. We are in the coughing stages now...miserable! I admitted to Lee why I get that panicked look on my face when he coughs...my own cough does not bother me...I equate coughing with dying. It is an after effect of my mom dying from lung cancer, I know. I know Lee is fine, but it still makes my heart jump a little.

Ok....now that I have depressed everyone a little...here is some thing good! Mason will be here in two weeks! I can hardly wait. I wish Arrielle were coming too, I want her to see where we are. I made them a picture book, with all sorts of pictures from their adventures....I made it for them to celebrate their 4 year anniversary!!

I have been scrap booking a little. I worked on some pictures I took in the summer of 2008...it was kind of fun to look back on all those little day trips I took with the kids, while Lee was in Bahrain. When I scrapbook...the craft/computer room becomes even more messy! I have paper and pictures strewn all over the place!

One last note....I have tulips blooming!! Only one so far...but it is beautiful! I also planted my box of dirt...hoping to see those iris's later this summer! I planted them in a pot and put it where I get the most sunshine! Speaking of sunshine, it was 72 degrees and sunny yesterday! We don't even get days like that in the summer here! It was wonderful...totally worth all the rain you have to suffer through to get a day like that!

Key is 6!!!

It is Key's birthday today!! He is six!! We adopted him two years ago, from Royal Hounds Greyhound Adoption. He has been a delight! He is also spoiled rotten...to the point that I make his treats! The only things he does not like are stairs and shiny floors. One of his rear legs was shattered during his last race...even though he received great care at Almost Home for Hounds in Colorado, his back leg is a little miss-shapen from surgeries. He can still run like the wind and tears up the yard a couple times a day...Lee and I joke that Key has way too much torque in those rear legs. Instead of racing, he enjoys a life of leisure....lazy days spent in his fort (also known as his kennel) or on the couch...he could care less about the kitties that live with him...sometimes they even sleep together. He loves to make a mess and get all his toys out of the basket...and if left to his own devices, he steals things from all over downstairs and puts what he finds in the kennel. He has been a great companion and is a sweetie!

We love you Key!! Happy Birthday!!!

A box of dirt....

My Dad...my biggest fan, and most faithful reader..sent me a box of dirt!!! Actually it was full of iris bulbs...he read a couple posts ago about how I wished I had dug some of the ones he given me up...and decided to send me some. I cannot wait to plant them. These pictures are from the bulbs he gave me and I planted in the back yard in Port Orchard. I am doing all of my flowers in containers this year....so I can rotate whatever is looking great to the front of the house. I need to get a larger container for these to go in. I also want to try some of those hangers that hang upside down, I saw a tomato kit like that.

What else is new.....I have a nasty cold that has settled in my chest and with every cough is trying to evacuate!!! I have a comforter Lee bought in Russia when Mace was just a baby....it being pulled out of the linen closet is usually every ones first sign that I do not feel good. This comforter must weigh 20 plus pounds...it is stuffed full of God knows what, and the weight of it feels so good when you are sick.

Oh...the best part of my week....Mason called and purchased his ticket to come see us!! I am beyond excited. He will be home Easter weekend...so I think we are going to have an Easter egg hunt, at the very least something that will make the boys roll their eyes...but in the end they will have had fun! Yippee!

Happy Birthday to the best little brother ever!!!!

This weekend is my brother Mike's birthday.

Besides reminding me that I should color my hair before important occasions...err! I love these pictures. My mom took the one of Mike on his motorcycle...trying to be all bad ass....but really, my lil' bro' is pretty bad ass. Sometimes his bad assness scares me.....but I trust him with everything I love. I know he would never let me down and he has always been there when I needed him. A couple years ago, Mike drove down with me to California to pick up Lee's dad's things....that was the trip of a lifetime for me...really! It was another road trip with my brother...I do not think we stopped laughing and remembering all the crap we did as kids until we hit the Bay Area. I think my mom was thrilled to have her kids going on some adventure again.

I always wish Mike and I talked more....but I realize now, that maybe the reason we do not talk as often is because the connection is always there....it comes from the comfort of knowing if he needed me, the only delay would be filling the truck up with gas...and I know he would do the same for me. I have memories of my brother and I stashed away that still make me laugh out loud....hunting for snakes with Brett and Stevie, I held the snakes in my shirt- I would pee my pants before doing this now....farting around in the camper while mom and dad were in the casino in Tahoe-I got Mike to eat dog biscuits....two city kids walking around the ranch our Uncle Johnny ran and coming across a half slaughtered cow-I would have loved to see our faces....we had a pretty great childhood...lots of adventures planned and unplanned.

So, my little brother...always know you are loved, by this older sister.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!!!!

Great weekend....

We had a great weekend...the last weekend of February! Saturday morning, Lee and I headed into Old Town Eureka...really it is downtown Eureka, but the building are older and along the water and calling it "Old Town" makes it sound a little more fun....not the Mecca for homeless people it really is.

Lee had a part on his guitar that he wanted fixed, they said it would be $15 and would take about an hour. I was pretty stoked...as I am used to much higher service charges. So, we walked around Old Town, and heard a Coast Guard helo...turns out they were doing a demonstration for all the people who took the polar plunge into Humboldt Bay. We strolled the streets...found a yummy chocolate shop. It was such a nice day, the sun was out and shining. We headed back to get Lee's guitar and stopped for lunch (thanks Dad!) at a Mexican restaurant that was actually good. We still cannot figure out why salsa is served in syrup pitchers here...it is weird....and also means you never get good chunky salsa. After lunch, we came across these geese. There were geese here when the boys were just babies...in the early 90's. They are as fiesty as the ones the kids saw back then...let's just say they like to eat fingers!!

It was a nice day...made even cooler with the moon rise. I wish my camera was better at catching it...the moon was big and it felt like you could just reach out and touch it. I find that even though I am not working right now...I really look forward to the weekends, and hanging out with Lee and Elliott....plus it usually means Mason has time to call too. These simple pleasures have become treasures.