My Friend Cindy

I've been trying to decide what I wanted to say about my friend, Cindy. She's so vibrant and fun and genuinely caring. It's so unfair that she's gone from our lives so quickly.

I came back from Cindy's funeral on Sunday night. She, along with the rest of my college friends, still lives on the east coast, so I rarely see her. Actually I think it's been a meager 4 times this decade. My day to day life could go on unchanged. We didn't talk on the phone and we barely emailed. But when we got together it's was as if we'd never gone separate ways. Our little group easily meshed back together even though years pass between meetings.

Since we don't see each other regularly it hardly seems like it's real that she's gone. Mostly I feel the loss when a flash of something she'll never get to do comes to mind. But after seeing the bazillion people at her funeral who were sincerely touched by knowing Cindy, I am somewhat comforted by the fact that she is without a doubt the one person I know who absolutely lived life to the fullest.

If we are to believe everything happens for a reason the only reason I can figure is that this experience of losing her is supposed to be a catalyst for the rest of us to get our heads out of butts and enjoy every minute that we have with the people that we care about doing the things that we care about.

In Cindy's honor I plan to make every effort to be without regrets and not sweat the small stuff and not waste time on meaningless bunk that we seem to let overtake our lives. I know none of my Washington friends who read my blog know Cindy. I'm sorry you missed out on that opportunity. I urge you to think about what changes you need to make. If you were to die next Tuesday would you be happy with how you spent your weekend?

Do you think this new philosophy could include never washing another bathtub?

Meal Plan Monday

MONDAY: Homemade Pizza
TUESDAY: Spaghetti
WEDNESDAY: Zari's Kitchen Chicken, baked acorn squash, green beans
THURSDAY: big fat pork ribs, sweet potato fries, broccoli and cauliflower
FRIDAY: leftovers
SATURDAY: Quesadilla
SUNDAY: leftovers
Head over to Orgjunkie.com for more great menu plans!

First Haircut

Lunch at taco bell a little before the first haircut--big yawn.

Sipping dad's raspberry tea.

Waiting our turn with Candy Gram.

Getting the spritz down.

Sitting on daddy's lap while Miss Cindy gets started.

Little snippets at a time so mommy doesn't freak out.

Feeling the "tickler" the buzz cutter thingy.

Thanks Miss Cindy it wasn't so bad!

BIG BOY!!

and of course I had to take some video:

Fun in the Basement

Reese came down to the basement in the laundry basket. He was a little disgruntled by this mode of transportation, but he doesn't want to be left alone upstairs when the laundry must be done, so he has to get down there somehow.Once he was out of the basket he was happy to play while we tried to get some basement stuff done.

He's turning to see if I'm watching his break for the stairs.

Here's the "haha look where I am pose."

Meal Plan Monday

We've got a busy week so I'm not sure how well we're going to stick to this. Kyle is working 12.5 hour days on swing shift which really means 5:30pm-6am. So he leaves about 5pm. We have a relatively normal early dinner on this shift...usually we eat dinner before he goes to work at 3:15 pm. But cooking dinner while he sleeps is weird. I'm sure waking up and eating dinner is weirder. I just looked back and realized we did not eat enchiladas or ribs last week because we had so many leftovers. I feel like I need to plan something every night but really I could probably cook 2 or 3 times and have enough. Maybe I need to cut my recipes in half.

MONDAY: eat at Mimi's and Poppop's
TUESDAY: chicken alfredo ravioli
WEDNESDAY: meatloaf muffins (we never had this last week), butternut squash, salad
THURSDAY: ham casserole with mixed veggies
FRIDAY: leftovers
SATURDAY: butternut squash ravioli
SUNDAY: Baked chicken with a marinade from Kyle's mom, chicken whole grain rice roni, peas

Jon Bonham better step aside

......okay so I think Bonham may be dead, but if he was alive he had better watch out for my little drummer boy. Reese's new favorite thing is to take a stainless steel pot lid around to various locations in the house and drum on it with 2 spatulas or wooden spoons. So my brother, Dylan, set up a mini kit for Reese in their garage. He has a drum and a cymbal of his own so he can jam with Uncle Dylan, drummer of the soon to be catapulted to rock stardom, Velvet Noiz (spelling to be determined--actually they may not have really chosen this name but it was my suggestion so I'm voting for it).

This is a 2 minute long video--I know it's too long, but I haven't mastered the perfect 15 second shot yet.

Here are some still photos as well if you don't feel like watching the whole 2 minutes.

Play Place at The Mall

We met up with Amy and her boys, Matthew and Austin, at the play place in Silverdale Mall. It was absolutely jam packed. WAY too many big kids. I mean really people this is a little kid play area. 4th graders should be on a regular playground not in the toddler play area. BUT what are you gonna do? We witnessed a throw down between 2 parents. Serious potty mouth was screeched at the top of one of their mouths. Security was called and Ms. Potty Mouth was provided with a brochure which I guess included the rules of appropriate conduct in a children's public area. I remember wanting to just die every time my dad stopped and told a group of guys "this is a family place so watch your mouth." But of course now I'm thinking what is wrong with people that need to be told not to act so trashy in front of other people's kids.

So I don't know what is wrong with this bermuda triangle of photography but all play place photos come out kind of shakey -- it's weird. Amy's were all blurry too. This is Reese navigating all the giant kids that bumped him to play in the submarine.

This is Matthew trying to escape his mommy's clutches--this is on the sideline so the photo was clear. After play place we kicked around in Barnes and Noble for awhile. Reese sat at the table with another little kid while I made a Christmas list of book desires for his collection.

No Sanctuary

Here is Reese squeezing between the wall and the futon in the spare room. At first I thought he was after the electrical socket and plug.

But then he really tried to squeeze himself behind the futon. He cocked his head to see behind it--moved to fast for a photo though.

Then he raced around to the other side which has way easier access.

He almost successfully got behind the futon. What was this all about you may ask.......

The coveted prize: Tara seeking the last sanctuary in the house.

Amazingly Simple Home Remedies

Amazingly Simple Home Remedies courtesy of my friend Karin who has no blog even though she has a super cute kid she should be showing off!!

1. Avoid Cutting Yourself When Slicing Vegetables By Getting Someone Else To Hold The Vegetables While You Chop.

2. Avoid Arguments With The Females About Lifting The Toilet Seat By Using The Sink. It All Goes To The Same Place Anyway.

3. For High Blood Pressure Sufferers ~ Simply Cut Yourself And Bleed For A Few Minutes, Thus Reducing The Pressure On Your Veins. Even George Washington Did This! Remember To Use A Timer.

4. A Mouse Trap Placed On Top Of Your Alarm Clock Will Prevent You From Rolling Over And Going Back To Sleep After You Hit The Snooze Button.

5. If You Have A Bad Cough, Take A Large Dose Of Laxatives. Then You'll Be Afraid To Cough.


6. You Only Need Two Tools In Life - Wd-40 And Duct Tape.
If It Doesn't Move And Should, Use The Wd-40. If It Shouldn't Move And Does, Use The Duct Tape.


7. If You Can't Fix It With A Hammer, You've Got An Electrical Problem.


Daily Thought:

Some People Are Like Slinkies - Not Really Good For Anything But They Bring A Smile To Your Face When Pushed Down The Stairs.

Sorry no photos. I've been a slacker photographer and I'm quite tired but still have to watch Bones and Criminal Minds (surely you don't expect me to let them languish overnight on the Tivo) and probably read some of my book before I can hit the sack because I'd lay awake thinking I MUST know what's happening with JJ and that hottie New Orleans detective --- and yet the first 2 episodes of the season failed to address this subject. AND tomorrow is the CSI premeire --- I so hope Gary Dourdan is done with heroin and Warrick will continue on the show. I'm still holding out hope for a romance with Catherine.

Invitation

You're invited to join us at the Silverdale Barnes & Noble tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:30pm for a reading and book signing by Graeme Base. His new book is Enigma a magical mystery.

Reese and I are really excited! See you there!!

FOLLOWERS

Hey I just added the "followers" gadget. So if you follow my blog sign up.

It's Monday already?!?!?

Last week we had SO many leftovers that I did not make everything we planned. Since Reese had viral throat infection similar to strep that comes with a fluids and rest treatment plan (104.9 fever was the max and we got slowly better from there) I made a HUGE batch of chicken noodle soup. Modified from Kyle's mom's Oregon Cookbook. I put my recipe at the very bottom of the blog. I thought I could create a link but apparently I can't.

MONDAY: teriyaki chicken, brown rice, peas
TUESDAY: meatloaf "muffins" and a jolly green giant bag of mixed broccoli/cauliflower. I saw this on Rachel Ray once so I investigated www.foodnetwork.com and decided to make meatloaf however I feel like and then cook individual portions in a muffin pan. I will use RR's tip to pt veggies in a food processor to make tiny pieces (celery, bell pepper, zuccini, tomato)--trying to use up my garden tomatoes before they rot---I planted SOOO many!!
WEDNESDAY: chili--I use white, black and red beans, ground turkey, onion, corn, tomatoes, bell pepper, v8 juice and/or tomatoe sauce, tons of ground cumin, chili powder
THURSDAY: enchiladas--chicken and cheese I use the El Paso can of enchilada sauce and use their recipe but substitue chicken for the ground beef. Something about ground beef enchiladas just tastes yucky to me.
FRIDAY: leftovers
SATURDAY: homemade pizza
SUNDAY: big ole fat pork RIBS!!! mashed potatoes--little reds mashed with sour cream a la Rachel Ray, green beans.

out for pizza

Kyle made it home from San Diego and we got a few things done at home over the weekend. On Monday he started on 5:30pm-6am at Bangor, so Reese and I have been house bound (no car.) He was kind of punky Monday, but perked up when Mimi visited. Tuesday he was flat out yucky attitude, horrible sleeper. When his temp hit 104.9 on Wednesday am I figured we better go in to the doctor. He had swollen lymph nodes and pus filled yuckiness in his throat. They did a strep test and it was negative, so treatment is fluids, rest, and tylenol/ibuprofen. yipee for modern medicine.
He was feeling much better on Friday night. Since Candy Gram and Grandad were out of town they let Kyle use one of their vehicles to go to work, so Reese and I had wheels!! We headed out to Godfather's Pizza with Mimi and Uncle Dylan.

Reese rode the race car for the first time. Here he is with Uncle Dylan.

He also rode the merry go round thingy. For my fellow Teletech folks there's a blast from the past in the background. Remember Shawna Ewing. She married Matt Berry from NWW. Well they are still together and had a little girl named Erica who just turned 2. So I guess all of us naysayers were wrong--they seem to be doing well.

Finally sitting down to eat some pizza and monkey bread.

getting so big

I think he was ticked off about wearing the big boy jacket.

Finally found a sippy cup he likes and can tip up himself!!

ok, ready to head out the door.

Here Kitty, Kitty