So, my birthday isn't until the end of September... But I just saw that the Dixie Chicks (one of my favorite bands) are coming to Arco Arena in September. I have wanted to see them in concert since they first came out and have never gotten the chance. Until now. I immediately told Gabe "I know what I want for my birthday!". And since this is the BIG one.. 30.. I figured we could splurge on the tickets. So I marched myself out today and bought their new CD (which I wanted anyway), got the presale ticket code, and just now purchased our tickets for their concert.
This will soften the blow of turning that unspeakable number.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
A mind shattered into a thousand pieces
I am catering a wedding reception this Saturday for 100 people at 6pm. The preparations have started. My mind is about to explode. There is so much I have to do... All whilest caring for the two crazies that suck every last ounce of life out of me. Have I mentioned that I am 5 months pregnant and oh so very tired all the time (see afore mentioned crazies)? Because I am. But I am, of course, so thrilled to have this opportunity. It is a great experience and notch on my catering belt. It's always at this point before the event that I yearn for it to be over and done with. It is now that I long for a full time nanny, a bigger kitchen and (at least) double ovens. That pregnant, lifeless, exhausted part of me wants to just throw in the towel and figure out some other way to provide the food (a way that doesn't involve me preparing it). But the soul of me, that part is as giddy as a school girl at this opportunity to do what it is I love to do. To get one step closer to having my dream job. I am trying to unleash that part so that it devours the other part. That battle is a bloody one.
I cannot wait until Saturday at 11 pm when I lay my weary head down on my pillow and breath a HUGE sigh of relief.
I cannot wait until Saturday at 11 pm when I lay my weary head down on my pillow and breath a HUGE sigh of relief.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
For a dear friend
Now that our friend Steve is who knows where out in the yonder.. I feel a sense of responsibility to keep him posted as to the happenings in our world, as he is a bit incognito. So Steve, if you read this, we miss you, we are praying for you, and we can't wait for you to return. I know it must be hard to be away from Steph.
And in case you didn't know, we found out we're having a boy! He will be called Porter. Porter Cash. He is due to arrive at the end of September, so figure most likely he'll make his debut at the beginning of October. We are very excited to be adding to our brood.
Here are some pictures of London and Adelaide.
Thank you for your service to this country. You deserve the utmost respect for doing what you are doing to help keep the rest of us safe and free. You are more of a man than most.
And in case you didn't know, we found out we're having a boy! He will be called Porter. Porter Cash. He is due to arrive at the end of September, so figure most likely he'll make his debut at the beginning of October. We are very excited to be adding to our brood.
Here are some pictures of London and Adelaide.
Thank you for your service to this country. You deserve the utmost respect for doing what you are doing to help keep the rest of us safe and free. You are more of a man than most.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Bugga
We have termites. Western subterranean termites that live way underground. They look like flying ants. They are what is known in the termite world as swarmers. They are the scouts sent out this time of year (once the colony has gotten too big) to locate vacant space and start new colonies. Once they find a place to start a new colony they shed their wings and mate. Fabulous. The great thing about these underground termites is you can have them for years and years and not know it until one day (last Friday) they dig a tunnel out of the side of your foundation and start scouting.
We had the termite people out here to "fix" the problem. Their solution should last about 10 years. In my calculations, that means we just spent $110 per year for the next 10 years to hopefully keep us termite free. Of course if we move, we just payed for the future owners to not have to worry their pretty little heads about our winged friends.
We had the termite people out here to "fix" the problem. Their solution should last about 10 years. In my calculations, that means we just spent $110 per year for the next 10 years to hopefully keep us termite free. Of course if we move, we just payed for the future owners to not have to worry their pretty little heads about our winged friends.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Farewell old friend, hello new love
We said goodbye to our Jeep on Saturday. It was quite hard for me. Which I know sounds odd, it is after all just a car. Actually I take that back. It's not just a car. It's a Jeep. The first (and only to date) new car I've ever owned. We owned that Jeep for almost 5 years (we fall 3 months short of the 5 year annivesary). That Jeep treated us well. But alas, we have a growing family and it has outlived its usefulness. It was a tight squeeze with just the 2 kids, we knew there was absolutely NO WAY we could put 3 kids in it.
Let me tell you a little story. Gabe and I, with the impending arrival I am carrying in my womb, knew that by September we would have to purchase a bigger vehicle. We've debated over a mini-van, Suburban and Expedition. Our preference has always been the Suburban. Saturday we took a jaunt to a car dealership with the intention of just starting our search. We were curious to see what's available out there and at what price. We had done a little research and knew the market value of several years of Suburbans. Our goal was to get a 2001, since we knew we couldn't afford any younger than that, and that was the first year of the new body style. And we figured our Jeep is a 2001, so we wouldn't be down grading any if we got a comparable year. We also hoped to get a vehicle with around the same mileage, 75,000. One problem we found with these big family vehicles (other than the money rushing out of our wallets into the gas pumps) is that they tend to have LOTS of miles on them. My brother has a 2001 Yukon XL, which they purchased soon after we purchased our Jeep, and their vehicle has 35,000 more miles on it than our Jeep. I guess those vehicles are just made to be taken on family trips!! (We have made several family trips in my parents' mini-van). I digress. Our other criteria was to find a 2-wheel drive Suburban. 4-wheel drive is so overrated (we had it on the Jeep and just used it for the first time this last winter when we got stuck in Tahoe during a snow storm. It went unused for almost 5 years!!). So we get to this car lot and as we get out of the Jeep we are promptly apprehended, I mean, welcomed by a car salesman (one of the worst occupations on this planet in my opinion). His name was Dan. He was a tall fellow with a bright yellow sweater on. The first vehicle we looked at happened to be a 2001 Suburban, 2-wheel drive. Knowing it would be WAY out of our price range I didn't think much of it, other than OH MY GOSH I WANT THIS TRUCK. When I found out the mileage I almost wet myself. Just under 63,000 miles. WHAT?! Less than the Jeep???!!! We perused a few more vehicles and decided, what the heck, let's talk numbers. The cost was more than we thought we could afford, but we threw caution to the wind and went inside with Dan.
(Now I want to interject here and say it is already at this point probably 1:30 or 2:00 pm. We had both kids with us and my dad - since he's quite the vehicle expert. The kids' nap time is about 1:00 pm. We are already pass that.)
Well, good old Dan and his sleezy car salesman boss, Boyce, actually made the monthly payments something we could afford. They offered us decent money to trade in our Jeep (which saved us from actually having to clean it and go through the whole selling process ourselves). So after 4 hours from when we walked into the office, we were driving away in our new Suburban. The kids were basket cases in those 4 hours. We pumped them full of snacks, balloons, toys, pacifier, threats and hugs.. Not much worked. London was running amuck in the dealership and Adelaide was just sitting in the stroller crying. It was a horrible 4 hours.
Now that we've had our new vehicle a few days, I can say we are so happy with it. The kids are no longer cramped. Gabe no longer has to sit in the trunk if an extra person wants to ride with us somewhere. People no longer have to complain how hard it is to get into that cramped back seat. This thing is a tank. I love it. I have yet to master confidence when it comes to parking it and we can no longer fit into compact spaces. But we are a happier, more spacious family because of our lovely Suburban. We can't wait till we get to drive it down to Disneyland in a month!
Let me tell you a little story. Gabe and I, with the impending arrival I am carrying in my womb, knew that by September we would have to purchase a bigger vehicle. We've debated over a mini-van, Suburban and Expedition. Our preference has always been the Suburban. Saturday we took a jaunt to a car dealership with the intention of just starting our search. We were curious to see what's available out there and at what price. We had done a little research and knew the market value of several years of Suburbans. Our goal was to get a 2001, since we knew we couldn't afford any younger than that, and that was the first year of the new body style. And we figured our Jeep is a 2001, so we wouldn't be down grading any if we got a comparable year. We also hoped to get a vehicle with around the same mileage, 75,000. One problem we found with these big family vehicles (other than the money rushing out of our wallets into the gas pumps) is that they tend to have LOTS of miles on them. My brother has a 2001 Yukon XL, which they purchased soon after we purchased our Jeep, and their vehicle has 35,000 more miles on it than our Jeep. I guess those vehicles are just made to be taken on family trips!! (We have made several family trips in my parents' mini-van). I digress. Our other criteria was to find a 2-wheel drive Suburban. 4-wheel drive is so overrated (we had it on the Jeep and just used it for the first time this last winter when we got stuck in Tahoe during a snow storm. It went unused for almost 5 years!!). So we get to this car lot and as we get out of the Jeep we are promptly apprehended, I mean, welcomed by a car salesman (one of the worst occupations on this planet in my opinion). His name was Dan. He was a tall fellow with a bright yellow sweater on. The first vehicle we looked at happened to be a 2001 Suburban, 2-wheel drive. Knowing it would be WAY out of our price range I didn't think much of it, other than OH MY GOSH I WANT THIS TRUCK. When I found out the mileage I almost wet myself. Just under 63,000 miles. WHAT?! Less than the Jeep???!!! We perused a few more vehicles and decided, what the heck, let's talk numbers. The cost was more than we thought we could afford, but we threw caution to the wind and went inside with Dan.
(Now I want to interject here and say it is already at this point probably 1:30 or 2:00 pm. We had both kids with us and my dad - since he's quite the vehicle expert. The kids' nap time is about 1:00 pm. We are already pass that.)
Well, good old Dan and his sleezy car salesman boss, Boyce, actually made the monthly payments something we could afford. They offered us decent money to trade in our Jeep (which saved us from actually having to clean it and go through the whole selling process ourselves). So after 4 hours from when we walked into the office, we were driving away in our new Suburban. The kids were basket cases in those 4 hours. We pumped them full of snacks, balloons, toys, pacifier, threats and hugs.. Not much worked. London was running amuck in the dealership and Adelaide was just sitting in the stroller crying. It was a horrible 4 hours.
Now that we've had our new vehicle a few days, I can say we are so happy with it. The kids are no longer cramped. Gabe no longer has to sit in the trunk if an extra person wants to ride with us somewhere. People no longer have to complain how hard it is to get into that cramped back seat. This thing is a tank. I love it. I have yet to master confidence when it comes to parking it and we can no longer fit into compact spaces. But we are a happier, more spacious family because of our lovely Suburban. We can't wait till we get to drive it down to Disneyland in a month!
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