My birthday week....

Wow...what a week.   Where to begin....ok, how about the job situation.  So...I had my interview on Tuesday, at a bead shop in Arcata.  The interview went very well, I was pleased.  I would have been bummed if I did not get a call for a second interview.  I did get the call for the second interview, and I had it on Friday (23rd)...this one was mainly with the girls that already work there...I like this idea, because they are more apt to tell you what you really want to know...and current employees are usually good at figuring out who will vibe well with the shop.  Talking with both employees went well, I liked them.  The owner sat with me again and explained that they were concerned about the fact that the Coast Guard can be unpredictable and even though it is very unlikely, they can transfer us anytime.  In 22 years of being married...being a military wife has never factored into my ability to get a job.  It seems to be a huge factor in this area...and honestly it hurts my feelings.  Anyway..they are calling today either way...I don't have my positive panties on today.  We shall see...

My birthday....the festivities began at 7:30am , with a duet from Wyatt and Grace, the kids that live next door...complete with red velvet cookies and a handmade card!  I loved it.  I got hugs and love from Lee and Elliott...yeah!  My dad and Mike serenaded me with their version of the birthday song...my dad sings to me every year..it really is my favorite part of the day!  I got to talk to Mason and Arrielle.  My cell phone was full of great text messages, and my facebook wall was inundated with birthday wishes.  I got flowers from Susan and Lee, and a lot of candles in delicious fall scents!  Lee made a yummy steak and baked potato dinner, and we had some of the birthday cake I made.  It was a really nice day.  

 One of my favorite places to eat is this teeny tiny places in Loleta...Loleta Bakery.  It is first and foremost a bakery, with delicious breads and pastries...but they also do a lunch menu.  I try hard to get something different every time.  I got lucky this week and I got to go twice.  Once with Leanne...she celebrates her birthday the day before me, and again with Susan and Emily.  I tried strata....holy moly!  Wonderful does not describe how it tasted.  I always finish my lunch there with a latte...they are the best there, and usually a chocolate chip cookie (although I did try the carrot cake too this week).

I finished my lunch with Emily and Susan and we headed to Susan's parents place.  I love their place almost as much as I love Susan's house in Ferndale!  They live on the outskirts of Eureka, on Humboldt Hill.  They are surrounded by urban sprawl...but when you are there you hardly notice it.  Susan's dad raises chickens...his eggs are sought after.  They are delicious and the yolks are practically orange.  Not like an egg from the grocery store.  You cannot leave Larry and Judy's without a bag of something...

 This is the small patch of their garden.   I left with carrots, beets (don't tell the guys), cabbage, basil, parsley, onions, and of course some fresh eggs.

 There are 5 (I think) Texas Longhorns in the pasture beside the house.  This picture does not justice to how enormous the head and horns are on this cow!  They have no names...although Rufus or Silas seems the perfect name for this one!

 These are the ladies in the bunch...you can see the "urban sprawl" in the back...and apartment complex.  I love this little mini farm...Larry and Judy have truly made it an oasis!

 Here are just a few of the chickens....I swear they produce the best eggs.  I am sure Susan's dad thinks I am nuts...because I tell him his eggs are so pretty.  I love colors of the "brown" eggs...so many shades.  Like I said earlier, the yolks are dark, I call them nuclear eggs, because they are so different than store bought eggs.

Awww, Thursday....my gift from Christine came....I could barely sleep,  I was so excited!  She is very generous and spoils me rotten.  I think she was as excited as I was.  She replaced the old washer with this one.  She shops with her consumer reports in hand and made sure she found the right washer.  I would have been happy with anything.  I have been washing all sorts of things, just so I can try out all the variations!!  Thanks again Christine....you are amazing!

A little update on the job...they just called.  I did not get it.  She said it was a really tough decision, but they were afraid of me getting whisked away....REALLY???...UGH!!!!  In they end it will be their loss.

I had a "moment"....

The gift bag containing my birthday present from Mace and Arrielle.

So, I am driving home from Costco this afternoon....listening to a little Adele, as I cruise up 7th street....when all of the sudden...I smile, and then I start to cry.   Not because I am sad, but because I feel so blessed at this moment.  Here are a few reasons why...

• My dad....I tell him I am going to spend my birthday money at Safeway....so I can save money and because I need meat and stuff...he tells me to go to Costco, they have better meat.  Kinda not a big deal to most...but it is my dad's way of letting me know I am worth a good steak.  Guess what Dad, I even got myself some artichokes too...the first I have had all summer.
• Christine...I almost feel like she jumped for joy when my washer broke...because I needed something, and she was in the position to provide a replacement.  Her generosity amazes me.  I can hardly await its arrival!  I am so glad Chris got a Blackberry....I swear it has changed my life.
• Susan and Amanda...who offered their washers and sympathies in a time of need...but Amanda..North Carolina is a long way to drive to wash Lee's stinky work out clothes.  Cirrus, for the funny texts.
• Elliott...who texted me because he felt like he bombed his first geology exam.  It seems silly...but when he texts me from school, it means so much...because it makes me feel like he still needs me.
• Mason....because when we talked yesterday afternoon, we both said we missed each others voice...that is good to know, especially since he moved out two years ago...times goes by so fast.
• Speaking of time....yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of Lee and I's first date....this man who can make me a little crazy, but still makes me laugh at the dumbest things can still captivate me, and I love him madly.
• Oh...and I have an interview tomorrow...wish me luck.  I am nervous and trying to be positive and optimistic.

Sometimes, we have to remember it is the little things that make life special...it is about moments, and the people in those moments.

Chicken truck, chicken truck...

My buddy, Whirlpool....

Chicken truck, chicken truck...just my luck.   This week has been a little stressful and yesterday afternoon the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae showed it's ugly face.  I am stressed and a little disheartened about job hunting...it has not been going well.  I feel lucky to have supportive friends and family.  I know we are not in dire straits like many families in this country...the bills are paid and food is on the table and we have a comfortable roof over our heads.   We are blessed and I need to remember that, and to not beat myself up over an economy that is so upside down...something is bound to happen soon, I just need to let go of the negative and grasp the positive.

So, back to that ice cream sundae....when Lee gets home from work, I open the garage door for him since it locks from the inside, and it is just easier...as I make my way to the garage I pass the laundry room and see a little glistening on the floor.  My first thought...Texas tinkled on the floor, he is 14 years old and sometimes it happens, I am happy he at least has an accident in the vicinity of the cat box.  So, I open the door for Lee and hustle back to the laundry room to clean up the mess.  I flick the light on..stupid fluorescent lights take a second to come on....I step into a puddle of water...water is all over my laundry room floor.  My first thought..I screwed up the damn washer again. Water has soaked into the couple cardboard boxes we have in there filled with linens...yeah, more of that "luck" coming into play.   We use most of the towels in the house to clean up the water and then toss them into the washer...because we are sure, I must have did something to make it overflow or something.  We turn on the washer, water flows into the tub nicely and flows out the bottom nicely too.....oh crap!   Not a little leak.....we scramble for more towels.  UGH!!  I dream all night of washers...

I get up this morning...get on Google and try to figure out what happened.  I don't think it is the pump...or a seal...those both have signs beforehand.  I did a test....I poured a bowl full of tap water into the mashing, nice warm water...so I would know it was the water I put in.  The nice warm water, came out in seconds....looks like my tub is leaking.   Yippee....the websites all say my beloved washer is a goner.  


THERE WILL BE A PART TWO TO THIS POST.....the story is not over yet.

Mourning a secret love....

Jenny and Greg, on All My Children, February 1984

There is a little something a mom teaches her daughter....it is not in the usual stuff that she teaches, like makeup and that girlie kind of stuff.  It is the love of "drama"....even though many women will say they hate all the drama...we secretly love it.  Why do you think all these Real Housewives of Some City shows are so popular....yeah, I admit it, I watch every show!

It was not that type of drama my mom taught me though....I learned about drama from watching "All my Children"....which I have probably watched off and on since I was a toddler.  All My Children airs its last show next Friday the 23rd.  I will be DVRing these last episodes...to watch, because soaps were a special bond I had with my mom.  My mom and I loved All My Children and General Hospital...often talking on the phone while watching the episodes together.  We discussed Luke and Laura on General Hospital....the story lines captivated and sometimes were just a little too out of this world...like when Elizabeth Taylor was going to freeze Port Charles..there were a couple possible alien story lines in there too!

On February 14th, 1984...my mom let me stay home "sick" to watch the wedding of Jenny and Greg!  It was awesome!  We would discuss all of Erica Kane's husbands...we always liked Jack though!  The story of Angie and Jessie was a favorite too.  

For a while, my mom was really into One Life To Live...the spring before she got sick, she and I went to the women's show in downtown Seattle.  One of the cuties from OLTL would be there.  I cannot remember his name...but he was English and very good looking!   As we got ready to leave, we get on the elevator...and there he is...Oh my!!!  We told him we were fans of the show and he thanked us....we get out of the elevator kinda dumbstruck.  Then I remembered my cell phone had a camera...damn it!!!  She would have loved to have a picture of the two of them together.

It was not only me that she passed the love of soaps to...she got my dad too.  She got him hooked on the British ones.  This makes me smile.  

So, on Friday the 23rd....at exactly noon, I will be busy..likely crying too...watching the last episode of All My Children...and remembering all the times I had with my mom while watching a silly soap opera.  I will be grateful to the soaps for those moments.

A couple Mason and Arrielle pics...

I am really lucky...Mason's mother in-law, Marielle is always sending me cell phone pics of Mason and Arrielle.  I thought I would share the last two.

 Mason and Arrielle, this past Thursday!  I love their smiles!!  It looks like they were on the ferry!

This one is priceless...they are both conked out on the couch at Arrielle's parents house!

Gotta love these two!!!

Ugh....

Our dog Key....who in the 21 months we have lived here has only gone up the stairs twice, and that was because fireworks had scared him.  Key is afraid on flies...really!  A really big fly was in the house a couple weeks ago and Key ran laps downstairs trying to keep away from the fly...honestly it was quite hysterical!  Well, a housefly made its way into the house and Key was taking no chances, and plopped his booty on the third step of the stairs and "hid" from the fly!  And the goofy smile (and yes, Key has "buck" teeth)...well, that is his "I am panicking" face!  What a goober!!!

As for my "ugh"....I have been job hunting.....and it really sucks.  I dislike...as most do...putting myself out there to be judged.  Then I have to factor in being out of the work force for two years and the fact that many employers see military wives as temporary.  I cannot really hide the fact that Lee is in the Coast Guard, when I live on Coast Guard street.  It is hard, especially when I have applied for jobs I have done in the past...and all I hear is crickets.  I will keep trying, because I know something will happen.  I have never had a problem before (finding a job) and this is just frustrating.

On a good note....I feel fall in the air!  The breeze has come back, and the tree's rustle in the afternoons.  Fall magazines are full of recipes I want to try...my goal this fall, to find a new favorite soup and to find a recipe with squash in it that Lee and Elliott will eat.  I love getting out the crock pot and letting the perfect soup simmer away!  I will jump for joy when it rains for the first time...I know, I must be crazy for loving the rain!

It's September...

 The beach out at Table Bluff....I did not know this was here, it was so pretty!!!

Someone para sailing (I think that is what it is called) out at Table Bluff (south of us in Loleta)....right after we took this picture, he flew over us and was kinda yelling (I would be too...from terror!!)...a little ways down the road Elliott says to me..."Do you think he was yelling for help, because it kinda sounded like it??!!"

Just a quickie....the Suburban has a date to get her oil changed.  I was looking at the sticker they always place in your window and it takes me about 6 months to go the 3000 miles they use as a marker to change your oil. That means I drive a heck of a lot less than I did in Washington.  I will admit, that I miss the hour long drive home, from a visit with my dad.  Shoot...I get frazzled when there is summer (lots of RV's) traffic on Broadway here.....which makes me laugh at myself.

Elliott has survived the first week at college.  I think he likes it.  He was able to catch up with a couple friends as well.    He says the lectures can get kinda boring, but he finds the classes interesting.  Let's hope that sticks for the whole semester.  He has already had his first geology field trip.  I told him that the land forms will seem totally different after this class, once you know why they are the way they are.  

I have been on the job hunt....all I can say is UGH!!!  Something I thought would be so easy has turned out not to be easy at all.  I will keep plugging away though...

Ok...off to Leon's, lets just hope we only need an oil change today!!!